More New MSTS2 Screen Shots

[Company Notch]

Check the blog:

http://yardlimits.spaces.live.com

Enjoy!


-Rick

Rick Selby
Lead Game Designer
Microsoft Game Studios

http://yardlimits.spaces.live.com

[eaglefan9727]

The sim is looking very great Rick. Thanks for the screens you have posted. It is great to see some BNSF locomotives as well. The models look excellent from what I could tell. Hope to see some more screens in the near future and hoping for a late 2008 release. Thanks again Rick.

[West_Coast_Railroader]

Those are good looking screen shots, I'm looking forward to the offical release of the new Train Simulator.

Ted Webster
Maple Ridge,BC @ MP 105.61 Cascade Subdivision

Amateur Photographer,Railfan,Train-Simmer

Any time is train time

[OwainGlyndwr]

Looking good, very pleased to see progress. Two railway sims are always better than one. ;-)

cheers,
Mike.

[SCrails]

I haven't played my 1st simulator for a couple of years, hopefully it will hold me until this one's ripe and ready for pickin! Good luck to yall!


PAACE!

Tim Brown

[Company Notch]

Just a quick note to let you know I've uploaded the full-res images to this location:

http://www.pbase.com/rselby/train_simulator

This should make it much easier to see all the details in these screen shots.

Enjoy.

-Rick

Rick Selby
Lead Game Designer
Microsoft Game Studios

http://yardlimits.spaces.live.com

[cougar]

I am completely speechless. Those are amazing screenies. Thank you Rick.

[eaglefan9727]

There is one picture that you posted that is just simply amazing. I am talking about the "Image_3_Blog_Oct16.jpg" picture. I can clearly see the detail in that locomotive from that view and all I can say is "wow".

[Funnel Guy]

Looks great! Can't wait to get the new train-sim.

[TimCourt]

Looks Nice there Rick - I hope those are 3d ladders on those Autoracks :)

I must admit the Track/Terrain blending is looking the part too!

[stephenburr]

The detail and clarity looks great. However, the BNSF engines look like the Kuju units that were in the original sim package. They need to make those and any others from the old Kuju base models look more realistic.

[Company Notch]

>The detail and clarity looks great. However, the BNSF
>engines look like the Kuju units that were in the original sim
>package. They need to make those and any others from the old
>Kuju base models look more realistic.

There is a world of difference between the default MSTS 1 Dash 9 loco and this new one for Train Simulator 2. Someone posted a screen shot of the original over on Trainorders.com, and the difference is staggering. I had forgotten how bad the old ones looked.

-Rick

Rick Selby
Lead Game Designer
Microsoft Train Simulator

http://yardlimits.spaces.live.com

[kerrgg]

<"I had forgotten how bad the old ones looked.">

Not "Bad", Rick, just very simple in shape & form, in comparison. They were pretty darn good back in 2000, though.

May I say, congrats to the TS2 team on the in-game detail & texture art that has been achieved on the new models.

Gary
"What would Long John Silver’s Parrot do?" ~The Parrot being the true brains of the operation.

[BNSF4723]

The only thing I notice that is a bit displeasing about the Dash 9, is the low resolution of the textures. The model itself is highly detailed, at least as much as Maple Leaf Track's replacement for MSTS. In the screenshot where you can see a close up of the radiator and panels behind it, the textures look rather low quality. Of course I don't count this as a flaw, because I'm sure they will improve in time.

Everything else is looking awesome considering the stage in development the project is in. Good work and please keep us updated.

[ns4eva]

I for one don't see how a comparison of the old Kuju Dash9 and the TS2 Dash9 can be made. They look NOTHING alike! I am VERY impressed by the looks of things so far with this new sim and considering the time frame it have been being made and time left to complete. I'm sure for all the nit picky one out there, Im sure that with over a year to go in building the sim these lil things will be worked out.

[font color="red"]My Railfan Photos
[font color="red"]http://ns4eva.rrpicturearchives.net

[font color="black"]--Drifton

<<There's a bit of Norfolk Southern in all of us>>

[Charles King]

well, I'm saving my money for the MSTS 2. :) Amazing shots.

[wakeboarder82]

>The detail and clarity looks great. However, the BNSF
>engines look like the Kuju units that were in the original sim
>package. They need to make those and any others from the old
>Kuju base models look more realistic.

Wow, that might be the least accurate statement I have seen on these forums in a long time. You may want to wipe the fingerprints off your monitor. Look at all the 3d details. And furthermore, what basis do you have to say that the new models are based on Kuju's work from 7 years ago? Poor Rick must have spit his coffee when he read that post.

[Kenny1234]

>I for one don't see how a comparison of the old Kuju Dash9
>and the TS2 Dash9 can be made. They look NOTHING alike!



I could care less how it compares to the native equipment in version 1.

What will matter are the improvements over version 1 with the Streamlines/MLT type add-ons.

In terms of rolling stock, what I see here isnt too far from what those who have invested in the Streamlines and MLT stuff have now.

That difference is going to be what justifies any re-expendature.

For those who never invested in the high-end add-ons, what they see here probably is a remarkable improvement. For those who did invest that couple hundred dollars, well, it visually looks about the same with some minor tweaks (i.e. a new shine on the wheels).

[ns4eva]

I could handle if the loco's and rolling stock was MLT and Streamlines quality :D lol

EDIT: Spelling

[font color="red"]My Railfan Photos
[font color="red"]http://ns4eva.rrpicturearchives.net

[font color="black"]--Drifton

<<There's a bit of Norfolk Southern in all of us>>

[ns4eva]

>Poor Rick must have spit his coffee when he read that post.

LOL I do agree with that.

[font color="red"]My Railfan Photos
[font color="red"]http://ns4eva.rrpicturearchives.net

[font color="black"]--Drifton

<<There's a bit of Norfolk Southern in all of us>>

[Hobart]

Yooz guys are da kings :)

[Kenny1234]

>I could handle if the loco's and rolling stock was MLT and
>Streamlines quality :D lol


If you have spent $300 to $600 for essentially the same quality, where is the incentive to upgrade? Explain it to me. How much have YOU spent?

You have to remember that MLT and Streamlines didnt do this as their day job. They did the work, and "got paid" when they sold the product. TS2 is alot different in that respect, there are requirements to recoup that up-front cost. If they take the same MLT/SLI type of content which others paid hundreds to acquire and market that to those who didnt in a new $50 product, what advantage does that spell for those who DID spend those hundreds?

My fear is that this will become simply a mechanism to deliver the same MLT-SLI type of content in a native product that is mass-marketed to an audience that is larger than the audience that shelled out by the hundreds over the past few years. I fear that the people who are going to be screwed the most financially are the ones who spent the cash to support the third party payware folks who kept version 1 alive the most. Not much official commentary has been heard about that.

[ns4eva]

I've invested quite a bit into MSTS. I'm sry if I don't understand you POV, but I for one am ready to move away from MSTS sometime in the future. The reason for me calling off my second route was because of hearing this was coming and hoping for better building tools. I worked 1 1/2 years on a 40 mile route. Trust me, I don't want to do it again with all the bugs route builders usually enounter. For the ones that like to take advantage of the latest in technology have to eventually move on. When we invested in payware and even invested our own skills towards this sim, we all knew one day it would come to an end, or atleast to a very very slow hault.

So, the incentive you ask, it would be just like the incentive to upgrade operating systems and computer systems. Plain and simple.


[font color="red"]My Railfan Photos
[font color="red"]http://ns4eva.rrpicturearchives.net

[font color="black"]--Drifton

<<There's a bit of Norfolk Southern in all of us>>

[jhilden]

Two things are being missed. One, a default locomotive will never have the quality of a high-end addon. Second, the biggest improvement in the new MSTS will not just be the quality of the objects but in the games graphics engine. Look at the new FS, the addons are clearly better then the default, but the new graphics engine allows the addons to be better in the new version.

As an example, add on locos by MLT are great. But they are developed too high for MSTS, this is why they do not perform well in lower end machines. MS in the documents had rules that one should follow for making content - there was a limit on polygons and texture resolution. These rules were made to ensure that the game works on machines that meet minimum requirements. MLT pushes the envelope in detail and textures for their locos. This is good, but even on my higher end machine, I get stuttering when I have too many of theses lococ rendered in the game.

Why the new MSTS will be great is that the graphics engine will allow excellent add-on improvements. The default equipment in the new MSTS has to follow strict guidelines for basic game performance. What do you think MLT will do for their locos in the new sim. Imagine when they push the envelope, you’ll have very detailed locos –one you could never imagine on the computer. This is why you kiss your MSTS-1 investments good buy and purchase the new sim along with more updated add-ons–it’s called upgrading. Remember, it’s more about the new graphics engine then it is about equipment content.

[NewEnglandRailFan]

Wow, I look away from MSTS for a few months and look what I've missed! All I can say is WOW! The detail of the landscape looks increadible, the 3D ties and rails are awesome, and the scenery is great. I was slightly dissipointed at the first look of that Dash 9, because it does look a lot like the MLT replacement Dash 9. However, That being said, that's a default locomotive, I can only imagine whats going to happen when some of our greater free and payware people get their hands on some modeling equipment.

I am definatly phsyched for the release of this hopefully in the very near future. :D

[ericmp]

I fell out of my chair when I saw those screens. Absolutely Amazing! :D

[CajunRon]

Lookin Good! I'm hoping the lack of steam is a transient situation!?

[trainrcool]

rick, maybe these shots should be on the train simulator website.

[Claude350]

I'll never let screen shots be the judge on whether I buy a product or not. Picture can and will always be doctored to get your attention. I'll let the crowd that's in a hurry to have it get it and do the evaluations before I run out and get it.

[CSX4878]

Ok, I said I'd stick with MSTS.. but I think you are gonna get me hooked onto MSTS 2.

However, I gotta add this.. the tracks and the terrain look a bit like the tracks and terrain from Trainz..

None the less, The detail is amazing!

[scfe_fan]

literally where in the world are those screenshots taken? The looks like it is going to be a fun area of track to run. Especially when you have a long heavy autorack train to pull.

[driver89]

Should I bite or not.... OK, chomp, here goes.
As a member of MLT, and then SLI I can honestly tell you that the models are not even close to the ones that were done by MLT then SLI for MSTS 1. Danny and Jason did a really good job with the original BNSF/NS trains and rolling stock for MSTS 1, however a lot of what they did was "smoke and mirrors". That is using textures to simulate parts of the locomotives/rolling stock so as to keep the look real, but also keep the polygon count down to what MSTS 1 can/could handle.
If you look closely at the details of these new screen shots you can see that there is a lot more real detail to these models than there was in MSTS 1. For example I know in MSTS 1 Danny created fake handrail shadows for the locomotives, but it appears MSTS 2 can actually create those shadows without them needing to be a part of the texture map. This should mean that with MSTS 2 those shadows will move depending on the time of day and direction of the lighting.
OK, I know there are some people that are still saying "big deal, we have a similar quality now", but as has already been pointed out, what does that mean for the future? My guess is that at first you'll notice that MSTS 2 has much more of a dynamic feel to it, shadows move, light really does make a difference. Then like with MSTS 1 as computers and graphics improve, the sim will continue to evolve and a lot more will be possible. Thus improving the WOW factor.
Like I said, if you look at the detail in those models there is much more 3D detail in them than there is in MSTS 1. Which means we should be able to get a better sense of realism in the simulator than we get now. While it may not be obvious now, I'm willing to bet when you actually get the sim you will notice a difference between the MLT/SLI models you have now and the new MSTS 2 ones. Then who knows, if you were to compare those models released with MSTS 2 to some of the add-on models, you will also no doubt notice a difference in quality like you do comparing the original MSTS stuff to the new stuff.

Cheers,
James.