Microsoft Announces New Train Simulator

[Nels_Anderson]

No joke! Read about it on their web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsimulator/

[zzmikezz]

"... As Train Simulator 2 development continues, TSInsider.com will be your official source for information, news, and a look behind the scenes. Check back for updates!"

But they haven't seemed to announce availability.

[scand]

If it is true on the first annoucement about the pending release, it may be quite awhile, 1 year + after the initial release that workarounds will be figured out. The announcement stated thit it would be similar to the format fo MSFS-X. Those who know about MSFS knows exactly what I am talking about.

All we can do is see what comes out and then form a formal decision.

Alex
scand

[Muzza]

No joke! Read about it on their web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsimulator/
Has anybody anywhere, got there hands on the next generation on MSTS, which is supposed to contain Train Control and Switching Controls that are done automatically for you in MSTS.

[westerngy]

Maybe next yr for MSTS X........Till then enjoy the version out now....

[PhilTaylor]

Maybe next yr for MSTS X........Till then enjoy the version out now....


fyi, the tsinsider site states 2009 for ts2 availability.

[BNSF5767]

They scrapped a old verison of what would be MSTS2 but that was in 2002 the new verison is way better!

[eaglefan9727]

They scrapped a old verison of what would be MSTS2 but that was in 2002 the new verison is way better!

Just curious...How would you know if it is better? Have you played both sims. If not, Dont you think youre saying that premature?

[TrainMan_112]

Just curious...How would you know if it is better? Have you played both sims. If not, Dont you think youre saying that premature?

I have to agree with you Eaglefan. All of this optimism really isn't based on more than a few screenshots and so-called "promises". I really don't want to crash the party here but you have to realize that all of the hype doesn't necessarily mean that this sim will be the "be-all-and-end-all".

[NorthernWarrior]

If the rumours of the state the original MSTS2 was in when MS took it back from Kuju, so long as the new version loads it will be imprvement!

[PhilTaylor]

I have to agree with you Eaglefan. All of this optimism really isn't based on more than a few screenshots and so-called "promises". I really don't want to crash the party here but you have to realize that all of the hype doesn't necessarily mean that this sim will be the "be-all-and-end-all".

I agree a "be-all-and-end-all" metric is going to generate disappointment, no sw can succeed with that as the bar.

With that said, TS2 will be a significant step up from TS1. The shots on tsinsider.com are all "in-game" and none of them give me the shivers like the infamous FSX DX10 magic screenies did/do.

So the tsinsider.com shots present a realistic appraisal of where we have taken the FSX engine, and we are not done.

As we get closer to 1 year out, I expect I will be able to blog more specifically about engine features, but you can see my back-of-the-envelope post as part of what we are doing now for performance metrics and budget as we add features for TS2.

[BNSF5767]

I have to agree with you Eaglefan. All of this optimism really isn't based on more than a few screenshots and so-called "promises". I really don't want to crash the party here but you have to realize that all of the hype doesn't necessarily mean that this sim will be the "be-all-and-end-all".

The game was schecduled for release in progress but was scrapped i can prove it, there was a steam loco on the front and it said MSTS 2. Ask the microsoft guys about it it's true

[Company Notch]

The game was schecduled for release in progress but was scrapped i can prove it, there was a steam loco on the front and it said MSTS 2. Ask the microsoft guys about it it's true

TrainSim 2 is alive and well. We did in fact stop development on a prior version of TrainSim2, back in 2004 or so. That old version is unrelated to this new version we're now working on. This new version is entirely new (built on the technology underlying FSX, not built on the old Trains1 code base) and is on track for release in 2009.

I know most of you know this - I just want to quell any rumors before they get carried away.... ;)

-Rick

Rick Selby
Lead Game Designer
Microsoft Train Simulator

http://yardlimits.spaces.live.com

[eaglefan9727]

Rick....Got a question for you....Once the sim gets released. Will your team be offering real support compared to the no support with MSTS 1? Just curious....Thanks......

[Brad3816]

To dispell any ridiculous rumors that MS isn't going forward with MSTS2, I just got off the telephone with them. I have been chosen to go to Redmond and participate is a userability study July 30. The telephone interview was comprehensive, and it is obvious they do not want anyone associated with Microsoft or game development to participate.

Good news, and I am sure I will be sworn to secrecey when I get there.

Brad

[Driverman2008]

One thing that I'd like to see in MSTS 2 (over MSTS 1) is that ALL the high detail routes included feature BOTH freight and passenger trains. So far, that's what the Swiss route will offer (according to what I've seen in the renders). But I hope an Amtrak diesel of some sort (Genesis, Dash 9, and/or F40) will appear in the default roster with appropriate Amtrak passenger cars for their regions (on the featured American routes).

[jessiejames2]

Just wondering cause no one asked this Question? I watch all the video's in u- tube Demo game at the 2008 National Train Show, in New MSTS-X Can you get out of the cab and and free fly and jump in another train like in KRS cause to get the and walk around your train is really the best thing about KRS or is there just select Views like that first MSTS game But From what I see you Can't

[Driverman2008]

I have a question for someone at Microsoft to answer. Why isn't this "New" MSTS 2 going to have all of the same routes and trains from the "Old" MSTS 2? I really got my hopes up back in 2003 and 2004 for it because the trains and routes really stiked my fancy back then.:(

[Hack]

Little stands in the way of you creating you're own routes. :rolleyes:

[Driverman2008]

Little stands in the way of you creating you're own routes. :rolleyes:
Are you talking to me?:confused: Well, if you are, then I guess you're right. But I can modify routes the way I want them (if the tools are easy to use).

[coreynolds]

I have a question for someone at Microsoft to answer. Why isn't this "New" MSTS 2 going to have all of the same routes and trains from the "Old" MSTS 2? I really got my hopes up back in 2003 and 2004 for it because the trains and routes really stiked my fancy back then.:(

Well if you liked the first set of routes so well, why don't you trust them to make more good selections?

[Driverman2008]

Well if you liked the first set of routes so well, why don't you trust them to make more good selections?
Well, the original MSTS 2 was going to have 5 routes. The new MSTS 2 is going to have 4 routes (high detailed). So that narrows down options. I'm hoping the other high detail route is somewhere in the UK (England, Scotland, or Wales) That would be ashame if they didn't do that.

[coreynolds]

I missed your saying the first MSTS 2, I thought you were talking about the first MSTS. My apologies.

[Driverman2008]

I missed your saying the first MSTS 2, I thought you were talking about the first MSTS. My apologies.
It's all cool.:cool: The routes in the original MSTS 2 (according to what I remember, I can't find all of the information now in 2008) were:

*Horseshoe Curve in Pennsylvania, USA (Western Pennsylvania) in the 1940s
*Norfolk Terminal in Virginia, USA (Norfolk Area) in the 2000s
*Somerset & Dorset Line (Southern England) in the 1960s
*Lötschbergbahn Line (Swiss Alps) in the 2000s
*Cologne Line (Western Germany) in the 2000s

Now the new MSTS 2 will have the following:
*Horseshoe Curve in Pennsylvania, USA (Western Pennsylvania) in the 2000s
*Stevens Pass in Washington, USA (Northwestern Washington State) in the 2000s
*Lötschbergbahn Line (Swiss Alps) in the 2000s
*Unannounced, somewhere in Europe in the 2000s

[trev]

For those of us who live outside the US of A, when is the Holidays 2009 when TS2 is meant to be released.
Not new to TS, have MSTS, Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006, Trainz Driver and Trainz Classics 1st and 2nd Edition.
:)

[eaglefan9727]

For those of us who live outside the US of A, when is the Holidays 2009 when TS2 is meant to be released.

Anytime between late October through Christmas....

[zarker99]

I like the idea of WoR. To be honest, never having been to hardly any of the high detail route locations, I wouldn';t know realistic from fantasy. So long as there's hills and rivers more or less where there supposed to be on maps, I feel fine with it. :)

Problems I;ve always felt about 'created' routes is that they're never long enough. If it's true that WoR means trundling as far as I like as long as I like, then I'm in heaven. :)

[thegrindre]

I'm far more interested in switching. Driving long distances with nothing to do but look at scenery is not 'my cup of tea'. I want to do something. I want to make up consists to deliver goods and then go deliver them. I want 'puzzles' to figure out. I want real train situations to encounter. I want to do something, not just drive around endlessly.

Rick

[tlittle]

I'm far more interested in switching. Driving long distances with nothing to do but look at scenery is not 'my cup of tea'. I want to do something. I want to make up consists to deliver goods and then go deliver them. I want 'puzzles' to figure out. I want real train situations to encounter. I want to do something, not just drive around endlessly.

Rick

That's what is so neat about an open program such as FSX and (now) MSTS-X, they have an open world "sandbox" where you can do what you want. Enjoy!

[zarker99]

I'm far more interested in switching. Driving long distances with nothing to do but look at scenery is not 'my cup of tea'. I want to do something. I want to make up consists to deliver goods and then go deliver them. I want 'puzzles' to figure out. I want real train situations to encounter. I want to do something, not just drive around endlessly.

Rick

Well I like that too, but in moderation. The switching is cool, but trundling along at low speed between locations isn't my cup-a-tea either. I love travelling fast in trains, the sounds of wind and rails, the roar (or whine) of the diesel engines flatout, flying past close scenery - it makes you feel great o be alive. (well, I'm probably thinking of older stock and power-units, not quite so sound-proofed or motion-proofed. These days all you hear is the air-conditioning. May as well be riding ina bubble).

Long distance high speed travel is also great in a steam loco, and much more to do.

Hopefully TS2 wont just be about slow freight operations, and passenger operation in modern cotton-wool bubbles... which is great for holding preyer meetings and having your soup delivered without spillage, but there's other sides to it too

Rail travel CAN be exhilerating! It really can! :D

[SurvivorSean]

I like both switching and long distance travel. I think MSTS 1 was pretty good at the later (provided the route was long enough, and the AI didn't screw you up). I'm not so sure this sandbox thing will be part of the package (unless your from Microsoft and you know something I don't). I do think with SimConnect (if I can figure it out) will provide the open concept opportunity to make things happen.

Running for the sake of running, especially without purpose or any challenging AI to keep you company can get quite boring for me. I love to run a fair distance, do a few set offs and pickups at an intermediate yard, and be on my way. Having a DRP at the exit to a yard to call for a signal to fit into the AI pattern is the ultimate and I've enjoyed some success with MSTS1 & Activity Generator, and Activity Changer to acomplish this. I can only expect the new sim to offer this and even more challenges.

Thanks

Sean

[zarker99]

The switching is cool, but trundling along at low speed between locations isn't my cup-a-tea either. I love travelling fast in trains, the sounds of wind and rails, the roar (or whine) of the diesel engines flatout, flying past close scenery - it makes you feel great o be alive. (well, I'm probably thinking of older stock and power-units, not quite so sound-proofed or motion-proofed. These days all you hear is the air-conditioning. May as well be riding ina bubble).

Rail travel CAN be exhilerating! Yes it can :D

Oh hell. It just struck me that TS2 is using the FSX engine. So probably it will have as much ambiant and rail feedback (sound and vibration) as a pressurised fuselage hovering 3 feet above the ground.

If that's the case, then I'd better be banned from these forums now - cos I'll be getting as critical as they come.

[Bill Hobbs]

The announced list of routes is certainly not going to discourage me from buying MSTSX. It looks fine to me. I enjoy the non-US routes -- sort of like cheap foreign travel. I am more concerned to have good physics and user development tools that don't require a PhD in computer science.
But please, no d*&ned disk in the drive requirement.
Bill

[bnsf1959]

But please, no d*&ned disk in the drive requirement.
Bill

I hate to say this but, they have it setup in FSX where you need disk in drive to run it.

[djt1]

I hate to say this but, they have it setup in FSX where you need disk in drive to run it.

They do, that’s news to me. I been running FSX/Acceleration for two years now and never had the DVD in the drive to run FSX.

Should we add this info in with the Vista misconceptions?