Award winner! Best Simulator 2010

[Derek]

Hi guys,
Just a quick note to let you know that RailWorks 2 was voted Best Simulator of 2010 by the readers of Game Industry News (GiN). Thanks to those of you who voted, and a big thanks to all of you who play and enjoy RailWorks 2 and contribute to the community. Full story here:

http://www.railsimulator.com/newsdetail.php?Ref=263

regards

Derek

[johnmckenzie]

Derek, you get my vote there!

[thecanadianrail]

yes that is great! but has anybody read the review on the site? it is just 1 insult after the other.... here is an exaple of what i am talking about: "I’ve seen better graphics come from first year game design students (I hope you texture designers for the game felt that blow)." now is that really neccesary in a review? i think not! then he asked why there is no background music inside of the locos! really...........do you think inside of a real loco you would be able to hear some calm music? personally somebody should knock some sence into this guy, then he started comparing this to the PS3 graphics! wow, that was the finall blow. this is NOT a PS3 game so the PS3 should not even be mentioned in this situation! yes i too admit that there are some bugs in the game but they aren't eye sores like the review said, and nobody should think they are.

i think i blew off enough steam this time but nextime i might just have a boiler explosion!

[blastpop]

I never thought of music while the game is going on- yet it is a requirement for just about every other entertainment software. It is so engaging you don't miss it.

OTH if I were interested in listening to music, I would listen to my IPOD.

[micaelcorleone]

yes that is great! but has anybody read the review on the site? it is just 1 insult after the other.... here is an exaple of what i am talking about: "I’ve seen better graphics come from first year game design students (I hope you texture designers for the game felt that blow)." now is that really neccesary in a review? i think not! then he asked why there is no background music inside of the locos! really...........do you think inside of a real loco you would be able to hear some calm music? personally somebody should knock some sence into this guy, then he started comparing this to the PS3 graphics! wow, that was the finall blow. this is NOT a PS3 game so the PS3 should not even be mentioned in this situation! yes i too admit that there are some bugs in the game but they aren't eye sores like the review said, and nobody should think they are.

i think i blew off enough steam this time but nextime i might just have a boiler explosion!

What do you expect from a guy who probably has never played any other railsimulator or has no interest in trains?
He just compares it to other games, but in the case of a trainsim this is not appropriate.

[Toripony]

What do you expect from a guy who probably has never played any other railsimulator or has no interest in trains?
He just compares it to other games, but in the case of a trainsim this is not appropriate.

This cannot be emphasized enough. While I am not a "gamer" and have limited exposure to computer games, I have never played a computer "game" that simulates a real-life activity better than Railworks. (No comparison here to other train sims; I have no experience with them and that is not the point of this post) What I can compare to, is Tiger Woods Golf, which has gotten more and more realistic with every version... but can still be whipped by kids who have never held a golf club in their life. I'm sorry kids (and some friends of mine ), scoring a 55 on any day on any course in the world is obviously not a realistic simulation. Obviously, you are playing a "game" not controlling a "simulation". I've never played an auto racing game where the cars actually behaved like real cars with real world dynamics, but if you drive a train (especially a long one) in Railworks for a while, you will begin to feel like you are driving a real train. I'm not saying it's perfect; PLEASE let's not get into that debate here. The point I would like to make is that in the world of real industrial "training" simulators, the textures and graphics are generally of little concern. The focus of the programming is on the operations, controls, reactions, the dangers and the ample opportunities for mistakes... the "feel" that the user gets from a simulator is what is important; not the looks.

I think we should make it clear to both ourselves and to others throughout the gaming community that such comparisons of Railworks to other "games" are not valid and should be completely ignored. Railworks' performance as a simulator is good enough to prove to me that I would never have made a good train engineer (nor conductor). No matter how much concentration I [try to] put into my train movement operations, I regularly make costly mistakes like overshooting junctions or slamming into consists causing derailments mostly due to my impatience and inattentiveness. According to Tiger Woods Golf, I would have made a better golfer.

And, one other point here..... those reviewers are comparing scenery textures, not the things that we focus on like locos and rolling stock (and, for me, the texture of the steel rail). That reviewer wouldn't know a good locomotive modeling/painting job from a bad one. Heck, most of us are not even qualified to do that!

His/her review doesn't mean diddly-squat! Forget it. I'm glad to see that we "got out the vote"!

Tori

[Chessie8638]

*snip* I think we should make it clear to both ourselves and to others throughout the gaming community that such comparisons of Railworks to other "games" are not valid and should be completely ignored. *snip*

I agree completely. I'm a gamer. I play Call of Duty: Black Ops, GTA IV, Bad Company 2 and others all on the same PC I play Railworks. There is no way that anyone anywhere can honestly compare Railworks (or any other sim for that matter) to any other game or game genre. I have friends who play COD, BC2, etc who ask me to compare Railworks, and I say I can't really since it's out there by it's self. If you want to compare Railworks compare it something in it's genre, MSTS, Trainz, etc (but that can't really be done since it turns into a !*%#ing contest anyway).


Anyhoo, congrats to the RS team for the award!

[thecanadianrail]

yeah it is like comparing a car to a house! no comparisan possible?!?! someone should have a word with this guy.

[styckx]

Good for RSC they deserve it. For a small team, who since day 1 of releasing Railworks till present day have countless times depending on where you read: will go bankrupt, never make money, will never succeed, falling behind everyone else, chasing away customers away, and false advertise.

Yet, are still here, succeeding, and slowly but surely update by update improving, advancing, and tying up the loose ends on this sim.. They put up with a lot of crap and it's really nice to see a fan based voting win them an award. Speaks volumes.

[jp4712]

Excellent post, Bill. I agree entirely. Well done RSC.

Paul

[arizonachris]

I've said it before, I always root for the underdog, and this time it worked. Everyone at RSC can be proud. Congrats, y'all!

[LoneWolfDon]

Just a quick note to let you know that RailWorks 2 was voted Best Simulator of 2010 by the readers of Game Industry News (GiN).

Derek

Hey, that's awesome! A big congratulations.
You guys deserve it.

I will continue to be supportive of RailWorks and will continue making more routes & scenarios for Railworks too.

I look forward to seeing what more improvements, features and goodies that RS.com will bring to us.
Cheers!