Railworks America

Looks very uninspiring, this dull grey train, short stop-n-go route. One train, one kind of service, boring, boring, boring.

Germans not too enthusiastic on their forum.

Even the discounted introductory price isn't tempting me.

Best put TSW off my mind until the editors arrive and I can start 'playing with trains' again.

Graphics looks more promising.

Yes, the trains look great. But a railroad simulation is so much more ....
It should be interesting, challenging, varying, satisfying ...

The bar is set rather high, here are some checkmarks:
realistic simulation of traction and braking of a high performance EMU,
realistic sounds, doors and extendable footboard to close the gap,
realistic operation of the vehicle, all displays, levers and buttons fully functional,
realistic surroundings, buildings, scenery,
realistic trackwork,
realistic catenary,
realistic signalling system,
realistic safety systems,
realistic on board and on platform announcements including destination boards,
realistic environmental effects, such as darkening and sound occlusion in tunnels,
realistic weather effects ....

I am torn between buying this, showing and giving DTG some financial support, participating in the user groups, reporting bugs, hoping for the best,
or waiting for the game to be fixed and promises delivered first.

sumitsingh wrote:Graphics looks more promising.

Graphics!!!!!!!! Graphics!!!!!!!! Is that all you youngsters think about???? It looks pretty, so, it must be good......

ex-railwayman wrote:

sumitsingh wrote:Graphics looks more promising.

Graphics!!!!!!!! Graphics!!!!!!!! Is that all you youngsters think about???? It looks pretty, so, it must be good......

It is a game of future.

I have not purchased it yet until it is stabilised.
And yes youngsters think about graphics..it is 100% true.

TSW Graphics are eyecandy, gameplay might not be.

_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha wrote:Yes, the trains look great. But a railroad simulation is so much more ....
It should be interesting, challenging, varying, satisfying ...

The bar is set rather high, here are some checkmarks:
realistic simulation of traction and braking of a high performance EMU,
realistic sounds, doors and extendable footboard to close the gap,
realistic operation of the vehicle, all displays, levers and buttons fully functional,
realistic surroundings, buildings, scenery,
realistic trackwork,
realistic catenary,
realistic signalling system,
realistic safety systems,
realistic on board and on platform announcements including destination boards,
realistic environmental effects, such as darkening and sound occlusion in tunnels,
realistic weather effects ....

I am torn between buying this, showing and giving DTG some financial support, participating in the user groups, reporting bugs, hoping for the best,
or waiting for the game to be fixed and promises delivered first.

I wish this game don't get wasted.

Plenty of iconic German routes, motive power and indeed eras DTG could have chosen from.

Sadly this represents none of them.

The German train sim market is, if anything, even more fussy than their other customer base and will be unforgiving if what they are offering has the shortcomings evident in Heavy Haul and GWE, particularly with regard to physics and operations/signalling practice etc,

Not much in the way of reviews or opinion on any of the English language forums as yet. Anyone purchased it who can post a brief write up (good and bad)?

The German board members aren't particularly impressed with the offering.
Looks rather lifeless, empty yards, empty streets, limited play value.
Still unsolved is the annoying brightness of the cab. Incorrect signaling, poor catenary, lots of bugs and failure of QA to notice them before commercial release.
Apparently, the passenger seats move around the train interior even.

Several patches will be needed.

Thanks Edwin, I will keep my Xmas Steam vouchers towards a decent TS2018 add-on.

Not entirely happy with the last update. TSW on the back burner for now and no new DLC for me. I have been running a lot of TS2018 lately. Actually a lot more fun than the up and back of TSW.

It seems to me DTG is struggling very badly with all the scripts TSW requires on the constantly developing UE4 game engine.
Models can be commissioned from qualified 3D artists on the freelance market. I see no problem there.
The scripting of the UE4 engine ties it all together and makes TSW come alive. Here IMO lies the main problem.

Even in build 206 of CSX:HH there are recurring glitches in cab audio occlusion, smoke emitters, those still too short brake and m.u. hoses flying around, jittery cars when uncoupled, bouncing the player around when climbing cars or even standing in the cab, plus lots more of scripted events suddenly stalling, rubberbanding or acting wonky all of a sudden.

Too much going on at the same time? UE4 game engine priorities? Simugraph bottlenecks? Not enough CPU threads?
And some poor programmers trying to sort it all out under deadlines of new DLC required for securing some cash flow. Adding new bugs at every new release, rushed and hardly tested.

All of my previous bug reports have been closed with this excuse or that, while the bugs still persists ...

And GWR and RT brought a whole slew of new bugs to the unsuspecting player.

Many of the deficiencies from Railworks recur in TSW now, as if nothing has been learned as to how proper GBR and GER signalling and security systems work. Even the implementation of basic Newtonian physics, laws of electromagnetism or Westinghouse air brakes still leave much to be desired.

Only some train and scenario editors can revive my interest in TSW, until these arrive in working condition, no more purchases from me.