New UR4 based train sim announced

[Captainbob]

Seeing what is capable in UE4 gives hopes of the upcoming DTG UE4.

Inserted my "queens hotel" made in blender and exported as an .fbx.



Hope DTG does it right and makes a whole new sim around the UE4 with no half baked "backwards compatible" mess, ie: T:ANE.

Harold

Then the next question will be, how many people are going to throw all their present TS content in the trash bin and start all over again buying DLC that will work with UE4, not to mention possibly needing a new computer to run it on.

[hminky]

After messing with UE4, count me in with a new sim no matter who makes it.

The hotel after messing with shadows:



Can't imagine my hotel with bump mapping.

Need a UE4 sim NOW!!!

Harold

[Bananarama]

Then the next question will be, how many people are going to throw all their present TS content in the trash bin and start all over again buying DLC that will work with UE4, not to mention possibly needing a new computer to run it on.

Didn't seem to bother folks much going from MSTS to RS/RW/TS or from one version of Trainz to another. To be throttled by backward-compatibility is not progress, but instead a handicap.

[Captainbob]

Then the next question will be, how many people are going to throw all their present TS content in the trash bin and start all over again buying DLC that will work with UE4, not to mention possibly needing a new computer to run it on.

Didn't seem to bother folks much going from MSTS to RS/RW/TS or from one version of Trainz to another. To be throttled by backward-compatibility is not progress, but instead a handicap.

And there are still quite a few people that are still running MSTS today and they don't have hundreds and hundreds of dollars invested in DLC.

[Bananarama]

Your odd response aside, nor do I, but then I found more important things to spend my money on.

[JerryC]

Then the next question will be, how many people are going to throw all their present TS content in the trash bin and start all over again buying DLC that will work with UE4, not to mention possibly needing a new computer to run it on.

I don't think that will be an issue at all. At the heart of it is the fact that most folks who play the games both love the hobby of trains and are delighted by then prospect getting new hardware. I built a new computer to get from WinXP to WinVista and a new one to get to the TX version of RW ( no, i'm not rich, I simply sell the old computer along with a few junk items lying around the house ). Computer power seems to have plataued in the last couple of years, so the graphics card may require no more than a couple of memory sticks and a graphics card. Also, it's not like you have to throw away the old copies of TS. I've got MSTS, two versions of Trainz, Run8, and TS on board, playable for whatever mood strikes me.

BtW, nice hotel!

[Captainbob]

Then the next question will be, how many people are going to throw all their present TS content in the trash bin and start all over again buying DLC that will work with UE4, not to mention possibly needing a new computer to run it on.

I don't think that will be an issue at all. At the heart of it is the fact that most folks who play the games both love the hobby of trains and are delighted by then prospect getting new hardware. I built a new computer to get from WinXP to WinVista and a new one to get to the TX version of RW ( no, i'm not rich, I simply sell the old computer along with a few junk items lying around the house ). Computer power seems to have plataued in the last couple of years, so the graphics card may require no more than a couple of memory sticks and a graphics card. Also, it's not like you have to throw away the old copies of TS. I've got MSTS, two versions of Trainz, Run8, and TS on board, playable for whatever mood strikes me.

BtW, nice hotel!

Well the head programmer at DTG has stated in a couple of blogs that they intend to continue to create DLC and support the current version of TS, after the UR4 is released, whenever that is. I think the folks that think that this is going to be the TS2016 release are going to be disappointed frankly, because I feel that this will take quite awhile to get set up. Look at how long Trainz has been trying to get some kind of modified version of TS12 going, and how successful it has been so far. I constantly read posts on steam where people are trying to run TS2015 on a laptop and are lucky to get 15 FPS, so these folks are going to have to start from scratch when the new version is finally released, and start buying a new PC, routes and DLC to get back to where they are today. This won't happen overnight, and that is why DTG is probably going to continue to market the current version so that they have some cash flow, while they wait to see how many of the current users jump to the new version. I can hear the discussions now, " Gee my current version runs well, looks good, and I already own all the routes I like, why should I have to spend a fortune for something that looks a bit better?"

I remember when FSX was first released, and the people that were using FS9 basically said the same thing. MY FS9 looks good, I have hundreds of dollars in add ons for it that work well, what is FSX going to offer me that I don't have already. Here it is many years later, and there is still a hard core group of FS9 active users. The last thing that happened with MSFS, was the release of Flight with an improved game engine, a couple of years ago. Flight was the smoothest FS that MS ever made, good graphics, almost no stuttering, good flight physics ( I am a pilot and can attest to that), and what happened, the active FS community felt that it was lacking too much compared to what they already had in their 10 year old FS setup, so they had no interest in it, and MS quickly cut their losses and shut it down.

[hminky]

Maybe the UE4 version isn't about the looks but the present version is a dead end.

Nothing can be improved without breaking the "legacy" content so better to move on with a better game engine.

Harold

[artimrj]

Maybe the UE4 version isn't about the looks but the present version is a dead end.

Nothing can be improved without breaking the "legacy" content so better to move on with a better game engine.

Harold

I agree with the second sentence but not the 1st. I still think they will do something to what we have to make it better, I don't think it is a dead end yet.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Maybe the UE4 version isn't about the looks but the present version is a dead end.

Nothing can be improved without breaking the "legacy" content so better to move on with a better game engine.

Harold

I agree with the second sentence but not the 1st. I still think they will do something to what we have to make it better, I don't think it is a dead end yet.

Well, MSTS isn't dead either after like 12 years from its launch. It is still very much alive and kicking in Open Rails.

To me, I want any new train simulator to be first and foremost a simulator. Proper physics, proper operation. Single player with AI or multiplayer with a dispatcher.
DTG has Railworks veering too much towards the gamer, and perhaps collector of ever increasing numbers of routes and trains that are starting too look alike each other.

So far, I haven't come across a single "game" in UR4 that even approaches the complexity of a simulation of any kind of vehicle in numbers in a large 3D world./
Fancy graphics on a project page might be faked in Photoshop, who knows? Can the UR4 take care of AI or manual dispatching of multiple trains? Can it realistically simulate a 500 axle train of 15000 tons going thru Tehachapi Loop with DPU with you behind a full set of controls, MFD's and all?

I imagine have a good and free set of tools is a great bonus for content creators, either established commercials or aspiring amateurs. Look what has been created for Farming Simulator, a "game" that does come with a full toolkit and support for content creation.

I welcome JR's intentions, and given the fact that they have a huge stock of source files for modern US railroading, I wish them the very best in their pursuit of the ultimate train simulator.

Time will tell if Bob's prediction comes true, perhaps the non-professional creators will keep TS2015 alive if the UR4 TS2020 is heavily DRM-ed for the sake of commercial creators?

[plovdiv21]

I'm not going to throw any of my TS2015 content away,I'll just keep it and if I like the UE4 version TS20XX I 'll buy it as a separate install,and have both.No problem.

[NYWhiskey]

It is nice to see someone in a community "walk the walk".

It's called "talk the talk" . I don't see anyone walking yet but I hope them the best for all of us.