Railworks America

Hello all. Not sure if this is the right place but thought I would introduce myself. Just dl Rail Simulator 2015. Completely new to Railworks. Been a railfan forever. My first memory was sitting on my grandfathers lap while he was giving me a ride in a old GMD1 in the old CP rail yard in Regina Sk. My question to the community is what are some of the " must have " add-ons ( pay and freeware ). I already dl the Canadian Mountain Passes route off Steam. Thanks in advance.

Rugid wrote:Hello all. Not sure if this is the right place but thought I would introduce myself. Just dl Rail Simulator 2015. Completely new to Railworks. Been a railfan forever. My first memory was sitting on my grandfathers lap while he was giving me a ride in a old GMD1 in the old CP rail yard in Regina Sk. My question to the community is what are some of the " must have " add-ons ( pay and freeware ). I already dl the Canadian Mountain Passes route off Steam. Thanks in advance.

Hello!

Welcome to RWA!

In my Honest Opinion the freeware musthaves would be Krellnuts Sound pack and the FMC railbox.

For Payware i would say Stevens Pass.

Wow, A cabride in a GMD-1?

Insanely rare to see those nowadays!

Welcome aboard Rugid!

Like BNOV2 just said, Krellnuts freight car sound pack is a must have (and also free) download from the file library here.

For Canadian power the SD40-2W add on is a good one when combined with these repaints:
http://railworksamerica.com/index.php/d ... e-repaints

Otherwise, a good 'starter' DLC would be Cajon Pass in my opinion since it includes the 'US Loco & Asset Pack' which a lot of the freeware repaints here are based on.

Are 2014 add ons compatible with 2015? How about the donationware packs. Thank again for all the pointers.

Hello.
Also Marias Pass.
Also again, the Riverside Waterton and Atlantic, found here at RWA. It's a great little short haul, mid 50s, donationware program. It's a great place to run steam and early diesels.
http://railworksamerica.com/index.php/h ... side-route

Rugid wrote:Are 2014 add ons compatible with 2015? How about the donationware packs. Thank again for all the pointers.

Yes everything is pretty much compatible going back to RW3. Some RW2 stuff is OK some may have some issues.

Welcome Rugid. Hope you enjoy Railworks and this forum as much as I do. Be patient and take your time as far as add-ons go. Be sure you're confident with operating the locos and then browse the file library. Each download has specific installation instructions that you must follow.

harryadkins wrote:Welcome Rugid. Hope you enjoy Railworks and this forum as much as I do. Be patient and take your time as far as add-ons go. Be sure you're confident with operating the locos and then browse the file library. Each download has specific installation instructions that you must follow.

Thanks for the insight harryadkins. I don't see myself straying away from the Canadian mountain route for awhile.

Welcome!
That's a good idea. Avoid the temptation of dowloading everything in sight.

First get to learn the CP route, play all scenarios that come with it.
Then look in the TS 2015 Workshop on Steam for free scenarios for this route. Start with the ones that require no additional DLC. Then look at the ones that do, evaluate if it is worth it for you to purchase the required DLC. Before buying any asset (engine or car), I ask myself how much I will actually use it.

Then start looking for a new route. There are 3 types:

- Payware official routes: usually high quality, with many scenarios available. For example the HorseShoe Curve is a classic. It will keep you busy for weeks. They are low-maintenance: installation and updates are done automatically in the Steam client. Scenarios are available for free in the Steam workshop. You get these routes from Steam, and if you're patient you can get them dirt cheap during one of the regular Steam sales that happen around various holidays. Old routes such as Colton&Northern are very cheap and yet excellent, they can keep you busy for weeks.

- Payware (or donationware) 3rd-party routes: usually high quality, for some of them many scenarios are published, for others few or no scenarios. Usually cheaper than official DLC, but sales are rare. You get these from 3rd-party sites, most of which make announcements here in the RWA forums. I highly recommend our own RW&A donationware route, available for peanuts here in the RWA file library. It comes with lots of scenarios, custom assets and custom repaints.

- Freeware 3rd-party routes: most of them high quality, for some of them many scenarios are published, for others few or no scenarios. Classic examples are the NERW, the Bay of Quinte, the MSCA. You can get these here in the RWA file library, and a few others in the Steam Workshop and on Otto's web site.

Understand that "free" has a price. If installing a free route requires you to spend 20 hours reading forums, hunting for required assets, tweaking files, applying patches, swapping rolling stocks in scenarios, etc, then it is not really free, unless you don't value your time. Most aggravating are scenarios: some of them are poorly documented and require a lot of tampering in RW-Tools before they run on your game with the assets that you have. Two notable exceptions are the RW&A and the NERW route, for which the teams made sure everything needed is available from a single source.

On the other hand, official DLC and most scenarios from the Steam workshop are simple to use, and they just simply work.

Notice that I've put a lot of emphasis on scenarios. Some people are happy with free-roaming or quick-drive, but I only play scenarios. I won't install even the most beautiful route if it doesn't come with standard scenarios. Your own tastes may differ.

Welcome to RWA

Welcome aboard.

Rule 1 - Enjoy playing.

Rule 2 - See Rule 1.

Rule 3 - Ask questions, and then ask more questions.

Rob