N15 King Arthur Class 30777 ‘Sir Lamiel Out Now For Train Simulator 2015 On Steam!

Published and developed by Dovetail the N15 King Arthur Class ‘Sir Lamiel' add-on is now avalible for Train Simulator 2015  on steam for the usual price of £11.99. The add-on features the only preserved locomotive in the Class, ‘Sir Lamiel’ and unl;ike most recent Dovetail steam add-ons it does not just use Black 5 sounds. It can be found at: http://store.steampowered.com/app/258674.

 For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

BR 9F Update Out Now For Train Simulator 2015!

An update for the British Railways Class 9F  DLC is now available  for Train Simulator 2015 at http://store.steampowered.com/app/222631  People who previously purchased the older version from Steam will receive the brand new one for free. (Thanks Dovetail, now what about the 66?) Apparently it uses the Black 5 sounds though!

 For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

GWR Small Prairies Coming Soon to Train Simulator 2015 On Steam!

Developed by Victory Works and published by Dovetail on Steam the GWR Small Prairies are coming soon to Train Simulator 2015!

(Oh and still no update on TAADevelopments's Large Prairie)
For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

South London Network Out Now for Train Simulator 2015 On Steam!

The South London Network add-on is now available for Train Simulator 2015 at the usual price of £24.99 including the Class 456 and 375. A map of the route can be found below, but amazingly someone going by the Steam username of Danny has successfully merged the route with London to Brighton already and uploaded it to Steam Workshop before I even wrote this blog post it can be found at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=341200017. For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

BR Class 45 Peak Update Out Now for Train Simulator 2015!

The Class 45 has been updated and put back on the Steam store and good news, all owners of the original Railworks Class 45 Peak who purchased it through Steam will get the new Class 45 for free automatically! A very welcome change from Dovetail actually showing some respect for their customers.

For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

BR 6MT Clan Class Coming Soon To Train Simulator 2015

In a surprising (but good) bunch of steam loco releases Dovetail have announced the BR 6MT Clan Class as an upcoming loco DLC for Train Simulator 2015 via their Railsimulator Facebook page.

For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com

Class 456 and 375 Included In South London Network With 378 Available Separately

Today Dovetail Games have announced on their RailSimulator.com Facebook page  that the recently announced South London Network DLC will come with both a Class 456 and a Class 375, with a Class 378 available as a twin pack. This is despite the fact that in reality 456s have moved to South West Trains and no longer run down any of the line in the add-on, however its appear to be modeled as it currently is with London Overground branding (see picture below). Presumably this because the route will include London Victoria while now 378s only run as far as Clapham Junction. 

The route will include the main line from Victoria to East Croydon forming the western boundary, while the line from London Bridge south to West Croydon crosses at Selhurst and forms the eastern boundary. Both lines join at Selhurst into he Brighton Main Line. Two roughly concentric semi-circles link the two lines further into the city, the 9-mile inner circle (via Denmark Hill) and 16-mile outer circle (via Crystal Palace).

For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com

South London Network Coming Soon To Train Simulator 2015!

A new route for Train Simulator 2015 entitled South London Network  has been announced by Dovetail Games on their RailSimulator.com Facebook Account with no more information other the two screenshots below.

Above: This screenshot appears to be of London Bridge and show Southeastern  Class 375s as being included as being included in the DLC the tall building on the right is very obviously The Shard.

This Screenshots appears to show West Croydon which is managed by Southern and not ordinarily served by Southeastern meaning that there is likely to to be other stock included in this route.
For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com

BR 9F Coming Soon To Train Simulator 2015!

The BR 9F has been announced on Dovetail Game's RailSimulator.com Facebook page. Good to see a steam loco in my opinion as almost all DLC nowadays is modern trains.

For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com

West Highland Line Extension Out Now For Train Simulator 2015 On Steam!

The West Highland Line Extension route is now avalible for Train Simulator 2015 on  steam at: http://store.steampowered.com/app/277748   for the usual price of £24.99 the route features an "all new" Class 37/4 locomotive and is 41 miles in length.

 For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

Train Simulator 2015 Out Now!

The latest update for Railworks is now available adding all the reviously covered new features and changing the title from Train Simulator 2014 to Train Simulator 2015.

 For your rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

West Highland Line Extension Coming Soon To Railworks on Steam!

A new route has been announced for Train Simulator 2014/15 (TBC hence the unusual use of Railworks in the title of this post). Developed by Thompson Interactive  West Highland Line Extension will feature the scenic route from Fort William to Mallaig (around 50 miles) with an all new Class 37/4 Locomotive. Sounds good despite the low quality textures.

For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

Train Simulator 2015 Coming Soon!

The latest update for Railworks has been announced and doesn't appear to include any bug fixed includes the following new features:

• 3D Weather. A 3D cloud system from SilverLining.
• Rolling Starts. A feature allowing a scenarios to start with train already in motion like in MSTS.
• Hide Instructions. A feature allowing scenario creators to make the instructions hidden, meaning events that occur later in the scenario can be a surprise to the user.
• The ability to remove passengers from rolling stock.
• Expanded 'Snap To' functionality in the route builder.
• Academy. This is a new route featuring custom trains and a whole host of training scenarios to teach users all about driving and operating trains.
• More shortcut keys.

I'm usually critical of DG but this seems like it will be the best update in years! There are some genuine new features listed, some of which were really lacing. For scenario creators this is going to be the best update yet with "rolling starts" and the ability to hide instructions (which has spoiled many surprises even before Rail Simulator!). They are not mentioning the 3d weather much meaning it may not be as much of an improvement as it sounds and it is one of few improvements which will apply to existing products. You can expect included routes to be updated but products won't except some third-party ones.

TS15 will feature New York to New Haven, London to Peterborough and Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen routes, and additionally, this year, three trains  – Amtrak’s Acela Express, Deutsche Bahn’s ICE-T and Hitachi's Class 801 SET. The 801 won't be any sue on the ECML yet though and by the time it is the non backwards compatible unreal engine Train Simulator will probably be out . But excellent news people who already have the 801 will get an updated version free of charge! (unlike most DG products scammers).

So overall a good last major update fro Railworks addingsome features which have been missing and building worthy of being a paid update/sequel to Rail Simulator after 7 years if you want to read the full article go to http://www.engine-driver.com/article/show/4681/train-simulator-2015-announced-for-18-september-2014 and I leave with this:

TRAIN SIMULATOR 2015 IS NOT THE TRAIN SIMULATOR USING UNREAL ENGINE!


For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com

Armstong Powerhouse Class 92 Sound Pack - Temperature Simulation

Armstrong powerhouse have posted a video showing off new features in their upcoming Class 92 sound pack on Facebook to see the video visit https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=874956432532497&set=vb.179798165381664&type=2&theater

For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

The Next Generation of Rail Simulation

Yes we're a few hours late, but major news today RailSimulator.com Dovetail Games (sorry I can't help but still do that ocationally)  have announced their next train simulation project (presumably Train Simulator 2016) which will compete with Trainz: A New Era. (the text that follows in small is what was intended to be short introduction but ended up being a detailed history)  This will be the eighth generation of rail simulation, the first including Southern Belle and Evening Star, the second Densha de Go! ,and first version of Trainz. The third and best generation was when Microsoft the creators of Windows supported train simulation themselves with Microsoft Train Simulator and despite downloads not being popular as distribution method back then "third-party content" was very popular boxed, Trainz got major improvements as well. Then followed the fourth generation An earlier attempt at building a second version to MSTS was originally announced during the Spring of 2003 but halted by Spring of 2004. Much of the former development team from Kuju later established Rail Simulator. Meanwhile Trainz had lost most of it's popularity in the UK but continued with biannual paid updates released in the UK and TML-Studios started their World of Subways franchise. With the release of Rail Simulator a new company was set up from some of the core members of the initial development team with the specific aim of fulfilling continued development of the brand and supporting users and 3rd party developers with add-on projects. RSDL produced two patches, developed and released add-ons and  helped the release of 3rd party products.In April 2009, a take over of RSDL was announced, with the development switching to a new version of the software called RailWorks which would be released on Steam. This change heralded a break from EA being the publisher in Europe and rights over the source code for Rail Simulator being transferred to single ownership by RailSimulator.com Ltd^{. Then Followed Railworks 2, Railworks 3 Train Simulator 2012, Train Simulator 2013 and Train Simulator 2014 all the exact same game! NV3 Games as Auran are now known announced a Kickstarter for Trainz: A New Era, it was a huge success and TML-Studios upgraded their World of Subways 4 to modern spec ...and now Dovetail Games have announced an actual new train simulation probably to be titled Train Simulator 2016 which alongside TANE and WOS4 comprises the fifth generation of rail simulation.}

^{The next generation version of Train Simulator will use Unreal Engine 4 meaning we can expect graphics to be similar to or better than Dovetail Games Fishing which can be seen in this video (note probably enhanced during post production). Other than that very little is known Dovetail Games have an made some statement on Engine Driver it's short and worth a read http://www.engine-driver.com/article/show/4644/dovetail-games-begins-work-on-next-generation-train-simulator most of which is pasted below:}

What about the press release which said Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) will also be used as the basis for a new generation of Train Simulator?
I am very excited indeed about this. If you read up on UE4 you'll learn that it's a tremendous platform for developing stunning and exciting games and I'm really looking forward to us moving Train Simulator massively forwards with it. We have gained valuable experience from producing Dovetail Games Fishing using Unreal Engine 4, and all of this experience and technical know-how is helping us develop the next generation of Train Simulator using UE4. Even though fishing and trains might seem a world apart, there are a lot of common areas - including visual things like the skies, water, trees and people - which we can carry over to Train Simulator. There are numerous other reasons why UE4 will enable us to take Train Simulator to a new and very exciting standard.
Will there be a UE4-powered Train Simulator released this year?
Not this year I'm afraid, it's a big job! But work on the next generation UE4-powered Train Simulator is well under way. It's way too early yet to show screenshots or discuss technical features in any detail but I am very excited by what this means for train simulation and really looking forward to bringing out a totally up-to-date, more realistic and better looking Train Simulator rebuilt from scratch using Unreal Engine 4.

Experience gained in the development of Dovetail Games Fishing is the foundation for a UE4-powered Train Simulator. 
So, what is the timescale for the next-generation Train Simulator? And what will happen this year?
We are not quite ready to share the target dates just yet for the next generation Train Simulator. This year we are continuing to develop and expand the existing generation of Train Simulator and you can look forward to an official announcement on those plans later this month. You can keep up with all the latest information from us by "liking" us on Facebook and signing up for our email newsletter.
When the UE4-based Train Simulator becomes a reality, what will happen to existing users’ older versions of Train Simulator? And what about the DLC they have purchased?
We are mindful that a lot of people in the community have built up some fantastic collections of locomotives and routes over the last few years and we're absolutely going to continue to support those products, and indeed create new content, for the current generation Train Simulator. I can say that we are looking at making the next generation Train Simulator an optional upgrade so you can continue to use the current generation product with all of your current add-ons, whether or not you choose to upgrade to the next generation. So, if you are concerned that your machine might not be up to handling Unreal Engine 4, don't worry.
What about user-created content? User-generated and third-party content has been a staple of Train Simulator since the beginning.
Unreal Engine 4 comes with some absolutely top-of-the-line tools that offer features and capabilities that we are keen to leverage in the next generation Train Simulator. At this point it's still too early to say exactly how we will package these tools for use by our content creators, but we very keen to ensure that significantly improved developer tools are available to the community and to third party developers.

So not much answered there. Backwards compatibility seems unlikely if I were DTG I would be looking into writing some sort of converter but even then the graphics wold really not work very well though... I hope there is a converter of sorts because it could be years (if ever for some routes) before a new version is released. Also it seems likely that DTG wil be re-releasing a lot of trains with exact same model and unrealistic sounds for another £11.99! The "continued support" for previous generation of Train Simulator likely won't last long amd after a year I doubt new content will continue to be created with probably either versions of DLC released for both or backwards conversions. It's possible the old DLC will be removed from Steam after a couple of years I hope not.

The release date of this version of Train Simulator will not be any time soon I expect it around October 2015 or even Autumn 2016. I also expect we won't hear any news on this product for a while as Train Simulator 2015 will be updated in September and they'll want people to buy it and even after that they'll want people to buy DLC so we may not hear more news for up to a year!

They will almost definatley still support "third-party content" but it wouldn't surprise me if they made it more difficult and less professional. If they don't I won't buy it.

As for the most important thing what will this new version add/improve very little is known. The graphics and other eye candy will be improved as mentioned above. DTG say "There seems to be a little confusion over what exactly the Unreal Engine 4 is and what it can do. Here is a very nice tech demo created by Epic, who makes the engine, to showcase its power. <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/PD5cRnrMqWw?hl=en_US&amp;version=3&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/PD5cRnrMqWw?hl=en_US&amp;version=3&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Now take all of that and imagine what Train Simulator could look like." Still not much info but it's all we've got. I think they should include:

• More realistic phyics
• Multi core processor support (allowing more PCs to run the software =more money)
• Support for longer routes
• Passengers actually getting on the train not just fading (it's pretty minor but is really outdated)
• Native support for RailDriver
• Mac and Linux ports with full third-party content compatibility across all platforms.

NOTE: These are some  top suggestions for major improvements to the base not content or pricing.

This version will probably be developed for higher end PCs so they can keep re-releasing it for another 8 years. Video game console ports are a possibility judging by the Dovetail Games Fishing trailer I hope not though as it'd be a waste of time there would be no third-parts support.

For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

AP40: GEML Scenario Pack (Passenger 1998-2004) Out Now for Train Simulator 2014

Armstrong Powerhouse has released a scenario pack for the GEML London to Ipswich route. Based in the post privatisation era between 1998 & 2004, these six scenarios include the old (InterCity/Network SouthEast) and the more colourful (Anglia/First Great Eastern). Whether it's driving the ageing class 86s or the new order class 360s, you are sure to be kept amused and engrossed in a previous era.
For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

Liverpool-Manchester coming soon to Train Simulator 2014 on Steam

Dovetail Games have announced the next UK route DLC: Liverpool-Manchester, it is currently unknown what stock will be included with the route.

For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

Pietermaritzburg – Ladysmith Coming Soon to Train Simulator 2014 on Steam

Our analysis was mostly correct with very few things missed for the full answer see www.engine-driver.com.  This will be the first African for Railworks on Steam.

For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

Where In The Wolrd? Train Simulator 2014: The Clues So Far

This post was originally posted on 14 May 2014 and will be updated daily until the route is announced. But previously entered details about clues will not be edited, with any information connecting them named on the later clue.
 Recently Dovetail Games have been posting hints about a new route on Facebook. Below is a list of the clues with a short analysis. It is worth noting that because of the publicity DG are generating for this route it is likely to be a major release possibly entering a new country, adding new features and/or a famous route. This has also been widely discussed on UKTrainSim and Railworks America These clues are likely to get increasingly obvious as the announcement draws near knowing DG (RSC). Some other possibly related information (may be edited later) is that DG say they currently have a US freight almost completed (confirmed to be unrelated although in Pennsylvania which should please people thinking it was there http://www.engine-driver.com/article/show/3574/norfolk-southern-mon-line-comes-to-train-simulator), expansion into Italy has previously been hinted at and they have discussed bringing French high speed lines to Railworks. For any lazy people South Africa seems quite a possibility at the moment.

The fifteenth clue a picture from District 9. District 9 is a 2009 independent science fiction action/thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James. Which was filmed in South Africa! Theories on Facebook include Gautrain and Johannesburg.

The fourteenth clue a picture of some Macademia nuts. Macademia nuts are grown in South Africa and Austrailia amongst others. Also DG reply to a comment with "No one has actually guessed the route yet. We have had lots of suggestions about which country it might be but no one has actually got the exact route let. All the clues are there to work it out". Theories on Facebook include Sweden and Chester.

The thirteenth clue a picture of Georgette Heyer. Georgette Heyer is the writer of The Spanish Bride, which is based on the Autobiography of Sir Harry Smith, Governor-General of South Africa and was the
wife of a mining engineer but was borne in London. Theroies on Facebook include South America and London.

Dovetail Games replies to comments "All the clues are there to work out not the just the country but also the exact location of the route." I think this basically confirms South Africa and my guesses for the route is either The Southern Line or The Blue Train.

The twelth clue a picture of boxing. 'PEACEFORCE' clearly visible on the lower right corner is a security group in South Africa. The picture is 1:02 into round 1, the poor quality suggests either enlargement of the photo or copyright infringement, the people have yet to be identified.Theories on Facebook include Branson Missouri and Poland.

The eleventh clue a screenshot from the sandbox indie video game Minecraft. Gold is clearly visible in the sreenshot this is probaly a refference South African gold mines such as TauTona Mine. It is also worth noting that gold is Au on the periodic table, Au is short for Australia. Or maby it's a minning rilawy that'd be a new type of railway to bring to Railworks and that Minecraft was developed in Sweden. Theories on Facebook include an undergorund railway and Alaska.

The tenth clue a picture of a sign in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The sign appears at a a large white-columned mansion called Graceland which bears no railway significance. US fans are ofcourse taking this a clue for a route out of Memphis, howether it is more likely (while trying to avoid confirmation bias) a refference to Paul Simon's album Graceland was recorded in South Africa and features South African musicians. Theories on Facebook include a CSX freight route and Thameslink.

The ninth clue a picture of a person bungee jumping. Another clue about which not much can be said. It is worth noting that South Africa has the highest commercial bungee jump off Bloukrans Bridge on the south coast. Other than that not much can be said even the cloud can't be analyzed to provide any information! As Ian Storey said on Facebook "Wouldn't be surprised if everyone is wrong and way off the mark" Perhaps the answer is hidden in plain sight on the blue background. Theories on Facebook include The Cliffton Supension Bridge (howether this is already featured in a route) and  Salisbury Viaduct on the Sandpatch grade.

 The eighth clue a picture of either an African Penguin or a Magellanic Penguin. Assuming it's an African Penguin it's a strong hint at South Africa when combined with the third clue and the second clue as that's where most of them live. It's also quite possibly a hint at the Pittsburgh Penguins but the United States seems unlikely. This can also be seen as a hint to anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere or near a zoo. Theories on Facebook include Nottingham to Skegness and Alaska.

The seventh clue a picture of the human chest with heart emphasized. This clue will probably only be of use when combined with other clues as they are many lines refereed to as The Heart of...   
The Amsterdam to Rotterdam via Schiphol High Speed line pases through the countries "Green Heart" Not to mention Hertford. Other theories on Facebook include First heart transplantation in South Africa!

The sixth clue a picture of clogs. Many think this hint at Holand The Netherlands, but clogs are actually found in many different countries.

The fifth clue a poster for the film Witness with the actor Harrison Ford clearly visible. The film is set in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Theories on Facebook include the actors last name Ford hinting at Ford railway station, West Sussex ,UK but this seems unlikely.

The fourth clue a picture of H.M. queen Elizabeth II. Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations. Many people interpret this as a strong hint of a UK route but that is only one of the possible countries it could be hinting at, it's worth taking a look at the list.

The third clue a picture of Mostert's Mill, Cape Town, South Africa. The Southern Line is less than 1 mile from the mill.  Tying in with clue 2 SA is member of The BRICS nations. Although Dovetail Games may have just looked for a picture of a windmill to use, if this were true then The Netherlands is a possibility howether Mostert's Mill certainly doesn't look like a dutch Windmill. .

The second clue a brick wall. Again not much can be said about this one, it does look like British brick work. A close look at it shows it's likely computer generated (at a much higher resolution than TS though). Theories on Facebook include: The channel Tunnel with Ian B G Mills citing this video and China. This could a hint at The BRICS nations.

The first clue a picture of a globe, posted with the text "There is a new and exciting route coming soon to #TrainSimulator, but we are not going to tell you what it is just yet. Instead over the next few weeks we will be sharing with you a series of clues to see if you can guess what it is. Are you up to the challenge of cracking the clues and figuring out what our next route will be?" Probably just a convenient  picture of a globe. But a quick look at it shows Africa, Europe and Asia (and surrounding islands) The UK is visible howether seems unlikely, but Australasia and America are not visible.
For your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.

South Afriacn routes coming soon to Train Simulator 2014 on Steam?

Dovetail Games have been posting several hints about a new route on Facebook.

The First "clue" (above) is a picture of windmill which happens look just like Mostert's Mill, Cape Town, South Africa!

The second "clue" is a picture of Her Majesty The Queen. Tying in with our South African theory the possibilities include a route located near Port Elizabeth (although Cape Town to Port Elizabeth is unlikely due to it's 465 miles length!). It is also worth noting that South Africa is part of the commonwealth. Other theories being expressed on the Facebook page include The Channel Tunnel although this seems unlikely considering the above clues. With thanks to Juan A. Bermúdez Blanco. See Also: Italion Routes Coming Soon To Railworks?

For all your latest rail and bus simulator news check back on RailSimulationUK.blogspot.com.