The right Train Sim?

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[Third Mate]

I noticed there are a lot of train simulators out there  but, which is the best one? So far as I know there is Auran company who developed Trainz to Trains 12  . Microsoft has their Train Sim but cancelled the development of Train Sim 2. Then there's Rail Simulator and next to that one is Rail Works 2. The whole idea is to have the most realistic train driving experience, so a lot of companies claim to have it. At the momment, I have Rail Simulator and planning to upgraded to Rail Works 2.

[vin_sun]

Hello 3rd,

It's possible that Railworks 2 is leading at the moment, though fans of Trainz may think differently.

Personally, I am a fan of Microsoft Train Simulator (MSTS) and there is simply a world out there when it comes to add ons and free downloads. I understand that MSTS is quite an old sim but there are many who will stay "faithful" to it. MSTS has also fairly simple controls and it is quite easy to handle the trains. The  MSTS disk is also very cheap (A$ 7.00 in India). If you visit www.trainsim.com , you will see the abundance of downloads available for MSTS and most of them are free. I must admit though that the graphics are not that great and SSE is way beyond. Railworks has better graphics than MSTS.

MSTS poses its own challenges when it comes to downloading and installing routes and all the rolling stock it requires as you will need to be very patient with the error messages that show up. It is mainly due to to the fact that some consists / locomotives / wagons have not been installed which the route requires. But they are all there and searching will always give you positive results. In the past week, I downloaded the Newark & Jersey City route and it took quite a while to eventually get all that was required but if you have the 'never say die' attitude you will succeed. The route after installation threw 23 error messages and I cleared them all by reading on the Forum and using searches. I now have 19 freight activities to try out. India has a huge railway network and Indian fans have created routes too on MSTS. Just yesterday I downloaded a route which runs from Bombay to Pune. The activities (missions) included operating the local commuter trains in Bombay and since I know Bombay well I was impressed with what the route gave. What really amazes me is the generosity of the route creators as they have put in many hours of hard work to create lengthy routes and they then put it up for a free download. There are also many Australian routes which you may find interesting.

The other aspect of any train sim is what you are more interested in - passenger activities or freight activities. I find freight activities more challenging. There are some routes in which you go from Point A to Point B and they can be as long as 5 hours (eg, Maple Leaf Tracks). I am sure there are many who would enjoy this train ride just for the scenery.

I had also checked out Railworks  2 at their website. It seems that you have to buy all the add ons and they are a bit on the expensive side.

If you are familiar with www.trainsim.com you will notice how MSTS rules there. See attachment - it gives you an idea as to the amount that is available as free downloads.

Regards
vin_sun

[Third Mate]

Greetings Vin,

Indeed Microsoft Train Sim, I like to call it the Ancient God of Train Simulation. I am very comfortable with the sim, I have had it since it came out, I have over 10 GB of add ons and modifications to make it more realistic  . I have a payware route, cambiran coast line which it comes with a cozy little steam engine. The sounds now, are ultra realistic compared to other Train Sims. If you know what you are doing you can make it the best train sim ever  I personally like Romanian Trains because that was my home country until I migrated to Australia. The Romanian brand of trains is CFR, I love it alot. I am still looking for accurate sound pack for the passenger boogies to match the real life sounds . I tryed trainz 2010 and it's not as good as I hoped for, the routes are too short, I just never made a personall connection with it. So I had Rail Simulator instead with more payware add-ons now, and now I find out they have Rail Works 2 which is a more upgraded version of Rail Sim. Now I am excited to get it sometime.

Third

[clanky]

It depends what you want to do, for me Trainz is better for creating routes, the editor is fairly intuitive and with a little effort and a bit of familiarity with the system the results can be fantastic.  The scenario creation system is also very good.

[2000]

@ Third Mate I was in the same situation and got Railworks 2 from Steam it is awesome.

[IRI5HJ4CK]

I also have Railworks 2, It's very good

[clanky]

Does Railworks have an equivalent of Trainz' surveyor where you can make your own routes?

[Snakebyte92]

Does Railworks have an equivalent of Trainz' surveyor where you can make your own routes?

Yep it has.
I have also railworks. And the gameplay is great. There's only not so good graphics. Something they really should improve.
But still I could recommend it.

[larsdehaan]

can anyone recommend me a train sim with good graphics and simple controls

[The Ferry Man]

Railworks 2 has really good graphics, and I believe there is a option for "simple controls", though I have never used them 

[larsdehaan]

nice! is there a demo availble?

[The Ferry Man]

Can't see one I am afraid

[larsdehaan]

 

Can't see one I am afraid

[Snakebyte92]

nice! is there a demo availble?

There's no demo. I'm sorry

Probally there is..?

[vin_sun]

nice! is there a demo availble?

Hello Lars,

I found this demo, but it is for the earlier version - Rail Simulator. I have not downloaded it however. Visit this website:-

http://www.gamershell.com/news_43543.html

This video should give you some idea about Railworks 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFbObmOI23E


Regards
vin_sun

[vin_sun]

just came back from buying the game 

Good for you !  Please tell me ..... is it a DVD like SSE where you can install it directly to your computer or you have to use it through Steam ?

Regards
vin_sun

[The Ferry Man]

Railworks 2 is only through Steam...

They have less add-on delays and problems though compared to a certain other simulator though...

[larsdehaan]

Railworks 2 is only through Steam...

They have less add-on delays and problems though compared to a certain other simulator though...

yah make that steam lol...

[vin_sun]

well mine is just dvd like...  

Ah! OK .... was just curious 'cos I read this on a website (see attachment)

[Snakebyte92]

Ah! OK .... was just curious 'cos I read this on a website (see attachment)

How you wanna get all the DLC without steam?

[vin_sun]

How you wanna get all the DLC without steam?

  My knowledge about Steam versions is almost nil .... so can't really comment ! 

[Snakebyte92]

My knowledge about Steam versions is almost nil .... so can't really comment ! 

I don't know aswell. I kinda assumed Railworks is only avalaible by Steam..
Odd..

[The Ferry Man]

You can get a lot of DLC on Steam, and there is something being added practically every week...

(Normally on a Friday, although the past couple of weeks has gone... slightly dry)

[Snakebyte92]

You can get a lot of DLC on Steam, and there is something being added practically every week...

(Normally on a Friday, although the past couple of weeks has gone... slightly dry)

Yeah I know that. That's why I found it odd that you can get Railworks without Steam.
Personally I find they're releasing to much DLC for railworks..

[The Ferry Man]

Hmm not sure about too much

he routes seem short though,

I have both Railworks and MSTS

Railworks I got Portsmouth to Woking; It has a few branchlines coming off, but these are basically just track
MSTS has Portsmouth to Brighton, then up to London, including a alternative route vie Horsham, all are modelled

So MSTS has more, but less detailed graphically, and Railworks has less, but better graphics...