I was just about to say that. I thouroughly enjoy Railroader. but I think that type of gameplay is not something for TSW. a route like that as it is a real route would be cool though. and I suggested some freight loading/unloading graphical changes like that game so local industries seem like they actually do something and shunting makes sense.
But the question is would the time and money invested on it be worth it the end. From the way I saw it is they have spent already years trying to figure it out. At least 2 years of hyping they are working on it before Spirit of Steam plus the time they were still trying to work it out it became way over budget and not worth it in the end. The other thing is none of us have actually seen any survey results or sales figures so we can't say what is the best selling part of the game or the most wanted if we don't have the facts. Except to just go off of what DTG tells us. What if 80% of people put Steam as the last category they wanted in the survey? It could happen, it could be opposite in fact. All we know is they say the majority like shiny and modern stuff. I am one of them and yes steam was last on my list. I know but there are so many people in the community that want it so could it be true what they say. I hate to break it but seems to be the same 30 people requesting steam be revisited over and over. Hardly the majority. Even if the majority of the active forum community wants Steam, i'm pretty sure there are way more players who don't go on the forums than who are on them. So again hardly a majority. But either way I'm pretty sure its a profit vs loss thing on why it is gone.
Indeed. There is still a huge mystery surrounding the ditching of steam, particularly so soon after releasing Flying Scotsman. Now admittedly that was the worst of the bunch, I mean apart from not physically consuming coal and water I could just about live with the three ex LMS locos. But it was almost like someone literally pulled the plug. Still have my suspicions it came from way above the EP level, and sufficiently severe it can never be made public, maybe even from Focus themselves despite the outward message they don’t interfere in the day to day running of the business.
Well judging by the steam galas I go to there are plenty of people loving steam, they always seem a little busier than the diesel ones in my neck of the woods. Then there is US steam to bring to the game as well, some impressive engines over there. I don’t see how you can have a train simulator without steam in all honesty. I don’t have a favourite category, I like ALL types of trains from any era and nation; steam, diesel and electric. I think that is the healthiest outlook.
Actually yes we do. They used to give us regular updates on the progress of steam before Rush hour even came out. On the roadmap streams. With videos and work in progress pics as well. So if you have watched every stream since TSW 2020 you would know as well.
That they shared some WIP pics does not mean that "they tried for years but just couldn't figure it out". After all, when he comes to dropping steam they've been dead silent on the reasons. And, of course, there were several promises made about stuff like manual firing that have now been swept under the rug.
That they talked about it every month from when TSW2020 was out about how they are working on steam. Not just a pic And yes they have given a definitive answer on why they are not doing steam. You are just one of the ones that doesn't like the answer or accept it. Because its not what you want to hear.
Talk is cheap and not necessarily indicative of how much work has gone into something. Please link to where "they gave a definitive answer on why they are not doing steam".
It was great to see a lot of questions about random events, in the survey. The sorts of things they're asking about could hugely enhance timetable mode - providing it's the things which add realism by creating variation in signal checks, station dwell times, TSRs etc - not gimmicks like getting extra points for sounding the horn at 'railfans'!
