Railworks America

While browsing around on the TSW discussions at Steam, I came across this link: http://www.glitchfreegaming.com/feature ... -interview that others may find interesting as well.

Some interesting quotes:

"Moving to Unreal Engine 4 has meant that the whole team has had to learn a set of new tools in addition to the ones they are already familiar with to try to get our giant (as compared to most video games) open real world environments working with trains across a 24 hour time period that you can jump to at any location and any point in time!"

Does this mean all future route DLC will offer this fixed Services mode? Multiple players driving their trains, the rest AI controlled?

"We have also added a huge range of our own tools to the Unreal Editor that add map building tools like Track Laying but also larger systems like our SimuGraph system which uses the blueprint visual design tools but is actually entirely developed in-house. SimuGraph is designed to handle all the power and braking physics and allows us to visually define what components are in use and how they are connected, such as diesel engines, brake pipes, various valves, traction motors and all the other common components you’d expect to find in a locomotive."

Creating and editing probably isn't going to be any easier than it is now?

"VR is a very promising prospect for the simulation genre as a whole and we’d be lying if we said that we hadn’t been exploring this opportunity for TSW: CSX Heavy Haul. While it hasn’t been developed with VR firmly in mind, so we have no official support for it at this point, it is certainly something many of us at Dovetail Games are excited about. So we’re not ruling anything out…"

I'd love to have VR, but RailDriver support, custom keyboard maps should come in handy for many players first.

Main question still remains unanswered: game or simulation?

IMHO, editing almost always gets easier, but never takes any less time.

Hack wrote:IMHO, editing almost always gets easier, but never takes any less time.

Wow, best line I've heard all day!

Really?

buzz456 wrote:Really?

Made me laugh. They gave us a new tool at work to use when installing radiators in a certain type of bus. It doesn't save any time and it's not really easier either.

NYWhiskey wrote:

buzz456 wrote:Really?

Made me laugh. They gave us a new tool at work to use when installing radiators in a certain type of bus. It doesn't save any time and it's not really easier either.

I owned my own semi for most of my working life and the cost of those fabulous tools was where they made there money, not the radiators.

Just label this thread hacked and whacked.

In terms of route building, the tools might have got easier (Surveyor for Trainz and the TS20xx world builder) compared to MSTS, but that was countered by the expectations being that much higher, even when it comes to freeware. Whereas with MSTS you could (within reason) get away with a textured box in Train Sim Modeller (aka 3D building for dummies, like me) the newer sims require(d) 3D Canvas/Crafter, Blender or (if you're either a student or millionaire) Max, with something better than JASC PSP7 to do the textures.