Train Simulator 2015 Guest Article

Please Note: This was written by Simon Sauntson from Dovetail Games.

We have been developing and publishing Train Simulator (formerly under the ‘RailWorks’ title) since early 2009, and every month we see a large number of new players enter the world of Train Simulator. With TS 2015 now available on Steam, it seems the perfect time to look at it with fresh eyes and talk a bit about what the game offers for those who are completely new to the series.

One of the great things about Train Simulator is its ability to offer different things to different people. To some it’s a digital hobby, like those users who crack open the world editor and build routes or write scenarios instead of driving trains every time they load up the software. To others it’s about realism and getting as close to real train driving operations as possible. Then to people like me, it’s about escapism, taking pleasure in completing an undemanding midnight journey down to Gatwick with the last train of the night, or effortlessly rounding bends between the snowy peaks of Montana at the controls of the classic Empire Builder with the winter sun peeping through. I may never ride through the Alps to Munich, and I will certainly never travel through the hills of 1950s Pennsylvania, but in Train Simulator I have been able to enjoy these, and many more great railway journeys.  

There’s a certain ‘big boys’ toys’ element to it too. If you’re into mighty machines, it’s hard not to be excited at the prospect of sitting in the engineer’s seat of a BNSF ES44AC, and hearing the air brakes hiss and the 4,400-horsepower diesel engine behind you pounding away as it gets 60 fully-laden coal wagons on the move. It’s a rare combination of the pleasant feeling of being in charge, while at the same time having the power of choice over what you’re in charge of. Drive a 280km/h German ICE train out of Munich or run a stopping commuter train into New York; the choice is yours.

When it came to designing the software update to TS 2015 (which went out free to all existing users on 18th September this year), our focus from the start was on new players. We’ve always been committed to responding to the needs of our core consumers but we realised that we also needed to start attending to the needs of newcomers too. That’s why this year we introduced TS Academy as a one-stop destination for people who are new to Train Simulator. Essentially, TS Academy does the same as the training stages of most video games. It’s a case of ‘here’s what you need to do and here’s how you need to do it’. From changing the player camera view to operating the dynamic brakes on US freight locomotives, TS Academy is designed to walk you through it all in a way which total beginners will find intuitive and encouraging. Once you have the basic skills and are keen to get your teeth into something more challenging, you can start to tackle the full range of scenarios in Train Simulator and really start getting the best out of it. And when you have taken the time to explore the routes we provide, maybe you’ll get a little more involved and start building your own.  

The creative aspect is an important part of the software for many of our fans. We provide players with the same tools our development team uses to create routes and the scenarios/missions included with them, and there is a large, talented and creative community out there continuously making new routes and new scenarios which they publish on Steam Workshop. Any Train Simulator fan can go to the Workshop and download these fantastic free creations, which currently number more than 6,500. For those who want to take their creativity a stage further, there’s our partner programme: If you are creating Train Simulator locomotives or routes, you can sell them – fully QA’d and with full marketing support – on Steam alongside our core game. Anybody wanting more details on that should contact us at partners@dovetailgames.com.

One thing many gamers associate with Train Simulator is the extensive catalogue of add-on content (DLC) that is available. Our aim is to give fans choice and let them build the train and route collections that most appeal to them. For those trying TS for the first time, it’s important to understand that you don’t need to buy every piece of DLC for Train Simulator to progress or complete the game, any more than you need to buy every bag of sweets in a sweet shop – you just pick the ones you want. It’s all about personal choice. A Train Simulator user who lives in the US and is really into Amtrak trains, for example, can buy just Amtrak add-ons if they like and build a great collection of Amtrak routes and rolling stock. The guy who lives in Britain and likes Great Western steam engines can do the same with Great Western steam engine add-ons, or whatever it is that feeds their particular interest. We can’t make the core Train Simulator content perfect for all train fans in the world at once, there are too many different interest groups out there to make that practical, but instead we offer a range of add-ons to enable players with different interests to satisfy their own requirements. 

We hope that if you've taken the time to read this and enjoy this article, you might also take the plunge in trying Train Simulator. If you do, we’d love to hear about your experience of the game over at our community site http://www.engine-driver.com/

Train Simulator 2015 is available now on Steam. The game can also be purchased as a boxed product for PC at leading videogame retail stores.