Atomic Systems

After viewing dozens of videos of KRS, I still do not feel like purchasing the product. I would have thought that it would be possible to make a decent sim in 2007, with all the advances in technology and what we learned from existing simulators. I can't believe there is no cab sway, and how awful the trackwork looks. The 166 cab doesn't look that great, compared to the HST, and the sounds just don't seem right to me. And what's up with those doors?

I'm sticking with BVE4, which is free.



P.S. any chance of a few screenshots of Oxford station?

I would recommend (and it's what I'm going to be putting in my interim review) waiting for an official response from Kuju/RSD/EA on the more serious issues and if/when we are likely to see a patch for the product. Others might have a different opinion but I have searched my soul over the last few days and in all honesty I cannot recommend this product as it stands.

As most users have had the product for a week at max, I'd say it is still a little early for realistic assessment, though not being able to delete created routes is a tad annoying.

After reading the 'Help for beginners' things do not forbode to well for EARS. I will certainly not be rushing out to buy this product.
From e-mails i have received from friends that have it the same conclusion is drawn. The product is a beast waiting to be unleashed and being restrained by the bugs in the program. As long as the game engine is sound and can be updated and added to we may have the making of a future good product. Personally i wouldn't be suprised if things like cab sway and superelevation are in the pipeline to be relased as a purchaseable update. This maybe something the community would never be able to hack so would sell well for KUJU.

Contrary to the posts here recommending against buying RS, I would say the opposite.

After all of my posts regarding signalling, you may be wondering if I've lost my mind - but I can assure you I'm quite sane (if you call working in IT all week and volunteering on a heritage railway in as much free time as I can manage sane ).

Let me explain: The future development of the core RS engine will largely depend on the input of RSDL. The future of RSDL depends (largely) on sales of RS. Therefore, the potential to get the known issues in RS fixed relies on sufficient sales of RS being generated to pay the wages and overheads at RSDL.

So, if you want to see RS developed, improved, upgraded etc by the core development team, then I'd suggest you buy it now - stick in in your sock drawer until SP1 if you want, but buy it anyway. If you would prefer that RSDL folds, and all future enhancements to the core product are done much slower by the community (a-la MSTSbin), then sure, leave it on the shelf, and wait for the sunshine after the rain.

The only caveat to my item above is if the price dropped, to the mid-range level of £19.99 (£14.99 with the online retailers) but it's not worth shelling out up to 35 quid on something as flawed as this and vague promises/hopes that it *might* get fixed (if there's any money in the budget). I for one do not see the logic in shelling out the full price for something as broken as this just to provide the devs with the funds to finish the thing properly.

I have to agree with the first poster on this thread. With all the criticism flying about over the bugs, because there is so much, I'm tending to lean towards believing the criticism that is being posted here. The only routes that look distinctly tasty are Oxford-Paddington, and of course York-Newcastle. I'm sorry EA, but you haven't bitten me. There is so much left to flesh out of MSTS.

I'd never suggest anyone buy it or not buy it.

If they've serious doubts before buying it I can't understand why anyone would want to.

They might be pleasantly surprised.

They might not be.

Hav to agree with Vern, hold off, see if the bugs are fixed, the real ones not the list thats on the RS website. MAybe see what the community do once the tools are released, but for now it will just annoy you.

166Driver wrote: I can't believe there is no cab sway

I would have much rather seen more development put into the actual core values of the sim rather than cab sway (which we didn't get any way) or opening doors and moving passengers. I was bitterly disappointed when I first fired it up, but having had the sim for a few days I do find myself gradually warming to it, although I am pinning my hopes, like many others, on the development tools and bug fixes which we are expecting to make it fulfill it's potential.

bigvern wrote:I would recommend (and it's what I'm going to be putting in my interim review) waiting for an official response from Kuju/RSD/EA on the more serious issues and if/when we are likely to see a patch for the product. Others might have a different opinion but I have searched my soul over the last few days and in all honesty I cannot recommend this product as it stands.

Next time I need some wisdom I go searching in Vern's soul. Honestly.
As an average train simmer who was not caught in the release hype, you are certainly better off if you wait for a month.

On top of what Vern mentioned, the "professional development tools" are announced for Nov. 12th, and no one knows yet how they look like and what exactly the terms of the licence are. In contrary to their name, everyone needs them for ordinary things like creating Activities with AI traffic or deleting a test route you might have created.

If you already caught the must-improve-the-world-of-trainsimming virus, things are different. But for you it is early enough to stay from the contaminated.

And if you love BVE4 (or Zusi2, for that matter), you never were likely to love KRS anyway, it is a different segment of the genre.

Reckon Vern's posted his review

Vern's not an average trainsimmer. He was involved when others were in short trousers. What a slap in the face?

I think back to the original MSTS. I bought it early from the USA at the back end of 2000 (I think) at £70 a copy. Played it a few times and was pretty disgusted with it, to be honest. Stuck it in a drawer and forgot about it.

I forgot about it until i saw EB's London to Brighton on the shelves on a computer shop in 2002. I bought that and dug out the old game again, and havent looked back.

This version seems just the same. Im far from impressed at the moment, but it has potential to be excellent if it is supported by commercial and freeware authors. If enthusiasts more capable than i delve into its working and provide community patches and workarounds (in the absence of anything official from RDS). Ive put my copy in the same drawer i used for Msts. Ive got around two years of activity writing to do for the old dog and, after that lot is done, I'll see if its still worth bothering about or not.

Buy it - yes. Use it - not for a couple if years

If you don't buy it....I'll 'send the boys round to break your fingers'............there has that convinced you....

Cheers
Jon

AndiS wrote: And if you love BVE4 (or Zusi2, for that matter), you never were likely to love KRS anyway, it is a different segment of the genre.

The thing is, Andi, we thought we were and the PR from the developer did nothing to dispel the myth (though silence on matters such as superelevation should have triggered warning bells).

I'm as guilty as anyone else in the community of hyping the thing up in my own mind and maybe it is the case we convinced ourselves we were getting something that combined the best of all the other train sims, the experience of the developer and the input of the SME's that Kuju had supposedly gathered to help with the technical side. They were not starting from scratch with this. It was going to be the King of all the Sims knocking everything else out of its path.

Unfortunately that's not what we received.

I'm still working on a review for my site but it is not proving very easy to write. The game is like a virtual Darth Vader, deep down I want to believe there is some good in there but it's getting past the bad parts.