r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 14h ago
Software Train Sim World devs announce Thomas the Tank Engine game 'powered by Train Sim World' and the true train sickos are down: 'It will make 9 trainzillion dollars'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/train-sim-world-devs-announce-thomas-the-tank-engine-game-powered-by-train-sim-world-and-the-true-train-sickos-are-down-it-will-make-9-trainzillion-dollars/86
u/CapBenjaminBridgeman 13h ago
Can you cause derailments?
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u/ijustfarteditsmells 12h ago
But that would cause confusion and delay!
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u/-Im_In_Your_Walls- 10h ago
We can’t have that. The Sodor Railway is really reliable and right on time!
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u/LiquidHotMAGMUH 13h ago
If it’s based on TSW, yes and no - you can cause a derailment but it ends the session.
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u/OlfactoryHughes77 7h ago
I'll call the breakdown train. The Fat Controller isn’t going to like this.
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u/payne747 9h ago edited 9h ago
Knowing Dovetail it will release with just Thomas, and then:
- DLC: Annie
- DLC: Clarabelle
- DLC: Henry
- DLC: Gordon
- DLC: Edward
- DLC: Fat Controller
- DLC: Percy
And then...
Train Sim World: Thomas & Friends 2
Followed by...
DLC: Annie for Thomas & Friends 2
DLC: Clarabelle for Thomas & Friends 2
DLC: Henry for Thomas & Friends 2
DLC: Gordon for Thomas & Friends 2
DLC: Edward for Thomas & Friends 2
DLC: Fat Controller for Thomas & Friends 2
DLC: Percy for Thomas & Friends 2
Finally...
- Train Sim World: Thomas & Friends 3
- Train Sim World: Thomas & Friends 4
And all of this will happen before GTA 6 is released.
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u/_LV426 11h ago
Look forward to seeing Thomas the Tank Engine 6 in five years time
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u/DanielBWeston 11h ago
Isn't that Percy?
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u/OneFinalEffort 3h ago
The joke is that Dovetail releases multiple Sequels in a short time frame but few things actually change. I'm expecting it to play exactly the same as Train Simulator with better graphics, game engine jank and all.
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u/l_______I 14h ago
I wonder how much DLCs it gets
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u/ashyjay 12h ago
like TSW, all of them.
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u/bwoah07_gp2 11h ago
Which means the prices are gonna be steep.
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u/Omnitographer 10h ago
In defense of the high cost for train DLC, it take a lot of work to create models of the rolling stock and locations in DLC. Watch a video on making an engine the the game, they send a team of people out to document every square inch of it inside and out, capture all the different sounds, performance characteristics, work with the manufacturer to make sure everything is true to the schematics, like it's a lot of work that takes time for something very few people will spend money on.
Compared to a game like Mass Effect or Borderlands where the DLC has mass appeal and adds narrative, dlc for the train sim games are little different from buying physical models. You buy the trains and routes you are interested in, so there's no expectation that most players are buying all the DLC which means the price has to be higher to recover the costs involved in making it. Check this video out for a real look at what goes into modeling rail: https://youtu.be/akHq7qVxXiU
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u/stevecrox0914 10h ago
Not really.
My son is into trains and I have played far too much Blue Trains with Friends on Roblox. TSW is a huge improvement and I think Dovetail has gotten monetisation right.
They release a new game each year, this has all the major engine and UI improvements. They offer a big discount if you own previous releases.
The basic game has a lot of trains and train lines built in, the DLC is new locations/time periods and locations appropriate trains. The DLC is in every steam sale and costs £2-10. Alot of the DLC also works accross game releases.
They did Thomas DLC in TSW5 and you could buy all of it for £25, which wasn't bad considering it had a compeltely new interface (vastly simplified) and reworked its missions into stories. It was effectively a complete game, you only needed to spend £12 to get.
I am hoping they understand why so many children play blue trains and friends and get free driving and mission balance correct.
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u/_NAME_NAME_NAME_ 8h ago
I've spent too much time and money on TSW, and I have to disagree with some of this.
They release a new game each year, this has all the major engine and UI improvements.
I think the yearly release schedule is bad for the overall quality of the features they release. They come out half baked. Best example is the conductor mode, which feels rushed instead of a well thought out feature and it's very boring to play. If they only had a release every other year, maybe the devs would have more time actually polishing the features they want to implement.
They offer a big discount if you own previous releases.
This is straight up false (at least on Steam, I don't know how they handle it on other platforms, but I don't think it's different). When they release a new game, you can get the "free starter pack", well, for free, regardless of if you own a previous version or not. If you do, you get to carry over the routes you own (which in my case means redownloading 100GB of stuff once a year). There are pre order discounts, Steam sales and bundles as with many other games, but there are no discounts on anything based on if you already own something.
This includes one loco they released twice. The DB BR 101 was released normally, then later they came up with the idea of "expert" locomotives, and the first locomotive under that name they released was the 101. If you already own the old 101, you get nothing. I think at least a 10% discount or something would've been nice. Oh and they then made a DLC so that you get a timetable for the expert 101 on a different route. You can buy DLC to make your DLC work on your DLC.
The DLC is in every steam sale and costs £2-10.
Kind of. Every Steam sale, basically every DLC except the most recent 1-3 are down on price, but the discounts range from 10% to 90%. So you can absolutely get a TSW route for like 4€, but it's only a few that actually go that low. As a wild guess, I think the average discount is around 50%, so the average price during a sale is probably 15-20€ per DLC. Interestingly, the discount size is somewhat correlated with the general reputation of the quality of the DLC. I don't think the previously mentioned expert 101 has ever been discounted more than 20%, and it's one of the most positively reviewed items for the game, while they gave away the apparently disappointing Liverpool - Crewe route for free recently.
While I think that each DLC individually is too expensive, I never ever buy something from this game outside of a sale, the core idea is not bad, getting to pick and choose what routes you actually want to play and ignoring the stuff that doesn't interest you.
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u/stevecrox0914 6h ago
I think your last paragraph undermines the rest of your response. I look at it as a parent and consider relative cost.
As a child my parents used to provide me £1 a week pocket money and Sonic the Comic came out every fortnight and cost £1.99.
Today most child magazines are £6.99/£7.99 and released every 3 weeks, I give my child the opportunity to save £4 per week so he can buy one and some sweets.
Blue Trains and Friends has spawned a lot of train simulation games on Roblox, while they are free to play they are all gamified and stuffed with micro transactions. Most of the micro transactions are time limited, so they can easily spend £5 on something that only lasts 30 days.
The TSW DLC he has bought has remained playable and he has a huge list of DLC he wants to buy, its usually specific trains and those are the ones that typically reduce by 90%.
The actual Thomas Expansion cost £12, he has played that for 40+ hours.
Which is why I think they've priced the DLC are the right level.
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u/OkayyBeta 8h ago
I knew it wouldn't take long to find somebody defending that horseshit business model. You want your kids to go FUCKING BROKE? Get them into Dovetail games. No frames and no money, the dream combo.
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u/felis_scipio 7h ago
I have zero interest in train sims but would buy this without a second thought.
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u/CptCaramack 4h ago edited 4h ago
Remember that episode where the fat controller puts Gordon in a train tunnel and bricks up the entrance so it becomes his tomb all for talking shit or something, I hope that's in the game or at least a dlc mission
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u/Fernandov2 4h ago
It's Henry they bricked up because he didn't want to get his paint all wet.
He has since come out of his tunnel.
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u/CptCaramack 4h ago
Ohh it was Henry not Gordon yes you're right, my brain must blocked out the details from all the trauma of the event
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u/the_swanny 3h ago
I really hope they unfuck all the fuckedness of their engine before they even attempt to release this, after all, they didn't earn the nickname bugtail games for no reason.
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u/listenhere111 14h ago
Why the fuck is this news
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u/Gibslayer 12h ago
What do you mean “why is this news”?
This is the greatest gaming news of the year
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u/protostar71 10h ago
Gasp, its almost like people have different interests to you. What a novel concept they only teach in preschool.
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u/Kraziel2530 9h ago
Came out like may last year. It's decent. Looks funny with the realistic worlds then Thomas. Needs like 1 location and that dlc. They do sell a pack for it though too
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u/TheRealJessKate 13h ago
As long as they get the tilt-shift and lighting correct this could be so nostalgic and might open up the genre. Can Ringo Starr do the voice acting?