The U.S. focus

[Kariban]

I stand corrected on the Class 33! Although it's hardly been making headlines has it?

Still would like to see Classes 73, 87, 90, 91, 92, 58, 81-83.

There already is a 58, there's multiple 73s underway, in fact the only thing I can't think of on that list I know about being worked on is the early AC electrics - and I bet someone's beavering away quietly on one. And then what? other than oddities and prototypes that is the entire range of British diesel + electrics since the 50s done, and you're begrudging a bit of focus elsewhere? I couldn't care less for most of whatever BR used, been a bummer for me for quite a while eh? what are you going to do when everything's done, complain you're bored and they need to start over?

[paulz6]

TS2012 has certainly seems to have a US feel to it, and the DLC udpates seem to be taking an initial US focus.
RSC really do need to capture the US market before a competitor steps up to the plate. If they can do this, capture the current worlds largest market, then users across the world, including the UK, are going to get a better core product.
And if the dispatcher is improved to cater for US freight operations, we get a better dispatcher for dealing with UK wagon load freight in a bygone era.
I'm sure once the US is captured, RSC will then shift focus to the next largest market.
I severely doubt though, that RSC are suddenly going to start ignoring UK pockets.

[RSderek]

To be fair, there has only been 1 or 2 folks getting the hump, and in my opinion were well over the top.

Most folks fully understand the need to address other countries as well as the UK.

I personally have grown to really enjoy making the US stuff.

d

[davejc64]

Perhaps those who are complaining about the lack of a particular loco class, would like to have ago at making them.

[jimmyshand]

I think some of you need to re-read some of my posts, I'm not moaning and complaining, in each post I've stated my understanding of the reasons why RSC are focusing on the US but that doesn't mean I have to like it! I have no interest whatsoever in US railways much the same as I have no interest in US football despite being a football fan myself. Lots of people have posted saying they think its great and how much they love US railways but I disagree and am simply pointing out that there are some people out here who don't have an interest in US railways. If we all clapped and cheered RSC for switching to USA and it proved a huge hit here, there and everywhere then pretty soon that's all we'd ever see.

[bigvern]

Re the Pennsy signals, I soon worked out that horizontal means "stop", the biggest problem is the illumination which is worse than the oil lamp on a UK semaphore. You really can't see them until you are right on top of them, so a little bit of licence would perhaps have been preferred in that respect. What we still lack is a set of generic US colour lights, as used by UP, SF, CP, CN etc. We have the double headed signals from the BN joined by the NEC and PRR variants but AFAIK the majority of US and Canadian Railroads use the one/two/three aspect searchlight signals.

I still want to see some Yugoslavian narrow gauge locos and stock, which is about as obscure as you can get!

[lemberg]

Although I'm a British Railways thru & thru I think it's imperitive that RSC look to the US market, More sales mean being able to employ staff and that means being able to improve the core product which benefits all of us.
thanks Keith

[USRailFan]

And then what? other than oddities and prototypes that is the entire range of British diesel + electrics since the 50s done

Seems everybody is forgetting about the Class 59...

[haddock1000]

Time for my tuppence.

Assuming the percentage of rail fans in the US is the same as here in the UK, I think that the move to produce US content will be beneficial to RS.Com, and thus to us all. If I sell RW3 to 1% of the UK population at a tenner, that's a revenue of £7,000,000, or, assuming that there is a 10% profit margin, a profit of £3,500,000. If I sell RW3 to 1% of the US population though, I recieve a profit of £15,000,000! That's 4.2 times more profit! And that'll be more money for RSC to develop more great DLC, and more great Core content.

thanks,

had

[partyspiritz]

I don’t think its is a bad thing at all and in my msts days I had loads of the them. Even showing them at live shows. When I am able to get RW3 to run better I might build a fictitious route like the Full Bucket Line.

http://www.fullbucket.com/msts/

Maybe a team build


Regards


John

[transadelaide]

TS2012 has certainly seems to have a US feel to it...

This is an interesting idea, and I think I know where it came from.

New British content for TS2012 included a replacement Class 47, a replacement Class 166 and the IEP concept. We also know a new DLC route is coming soon.
New US content for TS2012 included a replacement SD40-2 and a new DLC route. But most importantly they got that magnificent loading screen - that's where the US feel comes from

I think some of you need to re-read some of my posts, I'm not moaning and complaining, in each post I've stated my understanding of the reasons why RSC are focusing on the US but that doesn't mean I have to like it! I have no interest whatsoever in US railways much the same as I have no interest in US football despite being a football fan myself. Lots of people have posted saying they think its great and how much they love US railways but I disagree and am simply pointing out that there are some people out here who don't have an interest in US railways. If we all clapped and cheered RSC for switching to USA and it proved a huge hit here, there and everywhere then pretty soon that's all we'd ever see.

The thing is that there is no evidence yet to suggest that RS.com are "focusing on the US" or "switching to USA" at this point. Of the in-house projects that we know about at the moment, there are still far more UK items than US ones, even despite the far bigger market in the USA.

My main interest is not in UK content or US content. I'm an Aussie who would love to see some of our great routes and trains modelled more than anything else, so you cannot count me as one of the phantom "lots of people have posted saying ... how much they love US railways" you talk about. I don't particularly have a huge interest in US railways and probably won't purchase most of the US content on offer, but I'm still big enough to see that it's not a problem having some items I'm not interested in sitting on the list of DLC, especially when they subsidise the content I do like. Try considering a more reasonable view that has space for content you don't like being made for people who will provide more funds for content you do like and core improvements to be made.

[jimmyshand]

Hmm interesting to hear I'm seemingly in a silent minority wishing for UK content on a UK forum, from a UK company. I'm going to quit my post now before the death threats start arriving! Will be interesting to see how TS2012 develops over the coming months and years. With a distinct lack of major 3rd party production powerhouses then competition for RSC's attention is going to be fierce. As RSC themselves have said, as the sim gets more and more complex then 3rd party developers may struggle to keep up technically. That's the big difference between this sim and MSTS. In MSTS every country in the world had their own industrial powerhouses churning out custom tailored content, with Railworks the baton mostly lies with RSC and seemingly will be more firmly in their grasp with the rise in complexity. In some ways RSC's continued involvement is a great thing but at the same time one can't help but remember how MSTS grew from average to great purely from community and 3rd party development with zero input from the game creators

[transadelaide]

No, you're in a near solitary minority wishing for exclusively UK content. Everybody else seems to be fine with content from all around the world co-existing without compromising the selection of UK content available. Really, what harm can it do having both?

[paulz6]

Perhaps additional people have been employed to produce the US content, rather than sucking workers away from UK content.

The US feel is more than just a loading screen. The background loading ambience has a rather annoying bell, but a lovely moody diesel sound. I'd rather the bell than a UK LC siren though! I think I prefer it to RS bird disturbance simulator. The loading screen advertisements so far have been US too.

[Oldpufferspotter]

Hi Vern,
I don't know if these are the American signals that you are looking for, but smmdigital.net have a set of freeware searchlight signals called US & S H2 Searchlight Signals. I have tried one or two out on my embryo US route and they work very much the same as the RS UK default semaphores. I am even tempted to use them as GWR/LNER searchlight signals on my British route!
regards Ted.