Railworks as a "Simulator"

[Nandrews80]

Greetings all,

I've recently decided to give Train Sim a proper go after leaving it relatively untouched since picking it up in a Steam sale. I've got quite a bit of Flight Sim experience and I really enjoyed the "hardcore simulation" aspect of managing all the systems on addons like the PMDG 737/777 and Aerosofts Airbus.

What I'd like to know is, are there any train sim addons that come close to the level of detail/simulation of the Flight Sim counterparts? I've got my eye on the Armstrong Powerhouse Thumper and a couple of RSSLO products. Are there any more I should consider?

From what I've read, DTG tend to play it safe and offer more mainstream "arcade" style addons, which is totally understandable but perhaps there are a few hidden gems that I'm missing out on?

I'm more interested in diesel and electric right now, but feel free to recommend some steam engines too.

Thanks in advance for any help

[jp4712]

Try the Railright class 40, also available from AP - and in steam, anything from Victory Works (available via Steam).

Paul

[dwaterman60163]

Hi,

You can never go wrong with Armstrong Powerhouse Products. Their DMU and EMU Packs are fantastic. Class 321 and 142 packs are great and their newly released 313 looks amazing. Check them out on facebook.

Also have a look at Justtrains advanced range - they are products which are meant to be 'advanced' and therefore highly detailed.

On the steam side of things (which is my favourite!), anything from Meshtools or Victory Works are the most advanced. Meshtools 3F Jinty or VictoryWorks 14xx and autocoach are excellent starting points. Both meshtools and victoryworks are available as steam DLC too.

Hope this helps. I am mainly a fan of steam traction, but I do like driving diesel and electrics too - most AP stuff!

Cheers
Dan

[Juanillo99]

You also have good products in virtualRailroads, specifically in the 'EL' (Expert Line) range.
http://www.virtual-railroads.de/expert-line.html

[longbow]

And if you like US steam, try the FEF-3 by Smokebox.

[Nandrews80]

Big thanks for the replies everyone. Much appreciated. Especially the vR stuff.

I wanted to ask. The weaknesses of FSX/P3D are well known but what aspects of Train Simulator are lacking as a true simulation? And, are these weaknesses likely to be addressed in the upcoming Train Sim World?

[GatwickSpotting]

Big thanks for the replies everyone. Much appreciated. Especially the vR stuff.

I wanted to ask. The weaknesses of FSX/P3D are well known but what aspects of Train Simulator are lacking as a true simulation? And, are these weaknesses likely to be addressed in the upcoming Train Sim World?

In a nutshell:

• Limited SDK with much fewer API calls available compared to FS
• The signalling system and AI was never intended for such advanced usage
• No ability to draw 2D gauges (ala screens), everything must be composited from 3D/stacked mesh
• Physics very simple, although reasonably realistic acceleration/braking behaviour possible with scripting
• Default game behaviour impossible to override in many cases, making certain features impossible (i.e the minimum 'wait' time at a platform is hard-coded, so DOO operation isn't 100% realistic)
• Limit of 256 'nodes' per .Geo/model file, meaning cab functionality is limited unless child-objects are aggressively used for all non-clickable nodes
• 'Deep' simulation requires an extraordinary amount of QA testing due to the unreliable behaviour of using custom code to replace/control default values.

The main issue with TS1 is simply the fact Kuju never had the budget to allow for, or envisioned it A. being used for such advanced trains, and B. still being used at all in 2016.

My experience creating the AP Class 205 made it clear that although technically feasible, advanced simulations in TS1 are simply too much work. As an example, the subtle 'cab sway' that, on paper should've taken 2 days, ended up taking nearly a month and half because it was pushing TS1 to its limits. Believe it or not, there are no 'bug-free' ways of calling the player train's position on a route- so things like approaching station announcements are simply not feasible without risking game-breaking bugs.

DTG are playing their cards close to their chest with TSW so far, but I have no doubt they're aware of the demand for high fidelity add-ons to Train Simulator, and will hopefully do their best to facilitate them at the very least- if not raise the bar on their own work.