Transport Fever 2 is BY FAR the best quality, most stimulating, most useable and most visually appealing of all. Moreover, it is one fixed price including a large choice of locos, scenery, buildings and terrain tools - plus hundreds of high quality workshop addons that are entirely free. If the developers would only include the ability to properly and manually control trains and trams this sim would blow everything else out of the water.
And honestly it’s not even a simulator (I mean the trains flip at the end of the line), it’s just a different OpenTTD which is still cool, but yeah it can’t really be better than the others simulator wise
@@yvonetubla7682 OpenTTD is a free game. It's nearly 30 years old now, and its the same thing as Transport Fever 2, only it has graphics from '95 because that's when it was made. The point of Transport Fever 2 is not to drive trains, it's to create a transport network. That's why you can't drive the trains.
Out of all of them I would say Trainz is the best at combining ideas, it has great driver controls, scenarios, cool animated scenery, incredibly diverse industries system, route building aswell as a faithful modding community And it’s rather easy to use aswell There only a few problems like the very fiddly track layer, the FPS and that most assets span multiple iterations, but even just downgrading to T:ANE helps FPS so much plus it doesn’t look so bad for an older generation, and lower quality assets can be useful aswell, as background assets like cardboard trees or in collaboration with other assets to make a scene more lively Of course Train Sim has a much better driver experience, EEP has a great track layer from what I see and Transport Fever has a fun campaign but Trainz is better if you want a lot to do and not get so easily bored
Thanks for your thoughts. As you can see from my conclusion I think it's very close between Transport Fever and Trainz 19. The video only looks at the creative side of each game and excludes other aspects such as the tycoon element on Transport Fever 2 and the driving on Trainz. Both games have great building controls, very large modding communities and thus a large selection of high quality free assets, high quality graphics and most important are enjoyable to play. I play both, enjoy both and would recommend both to others. So it really comes down at this point to personal preference. If you have either and enjoy it, then that's the game for you.
Trainz dont have the same standard quality as Train Simulator 21. But is a good game for creating content. Creating content for train simulator can be pain when you start, because of their complex system but will be worth it. I learn a lot about train because of that.
I too find Trainz' trackbuilding tools to be the most user friendly and intuitive, however I feel it needs to be said that it's hardly a fair comparison when you obviously have a good level of experience using Trainz but not the others.
Thanks for your comment. I do understand your point Stuart but I don't really agree. Although I know Transport Fever and Trainz the best out of the selection but I think I was pretty fair to the other games. I didn't just pick them up and do the review, I owned each of these games for a period of time and played each of them. As I didn't know the other games as well I also spent more time making those portions of the video making sure I got to similar points on each build. And I do remember mentioning that I knew both of those games best in the video, I didn't try to hide that fact. I think my assessment based on the criteria I set was fair but it's only my opinion. Many people have told me I'm wrong because of X and thats fine. If you love and enjoy any of the games you shouldn't stop because I might not like that game as much. The only game that at the time I thought might warrant it's own video follow up was EEP but to a new buyer I don't think it would have been useful as to get more out of that game you need to learn scripting so you can create a session and that's best left to the others who know the game better and already have videos showing how to do it.
well i get what your saying ,but from my own experience i learned how to connect track together before learning how to move the camera around,that was my first time ever playing Trainz and that was UTC as well at a very young age too
Very cool video, may consider one of them if I consider spending surplus money. Anyway, I'm working on the Twyford to Henley line in the latest version of T:ANE. So far I've got: • tracks placed. • correct trains downloaded. • 1/3 of the route painted. • Google Earth images in the correct sections. I halted work on the Abbey Flyer route due to lack of inspiration and consistency. I may redo it, I may scrap it as it was built before proper knowledge of the game. Thanks for your content.
Sounds like you've planned it out well and you're right, if you lack a bit of inspiration on a part of it then leave that bit until another time. An idea may just pop into your head. No point forcing it.
Very enjoyable and information. Of listed titles I play, I'd rank Train Simulator higher than you do. But...that would be due largely to locomotive/railway car quality, and driving characteristics. As at least one other person points out, many of the game's best locos are to be had at third-party sites like Caledonia Works, Digital Traction and Steam Sounds Supreme. That aspect aside, my feelings toward TS2021 are much as yours. Oh yeah, third-party add-on 'RW Encancer Pro (and the cheaper non 'Pro' version) help improve the game's overall graphics quality. I think of it as an ENB for the game. Though I stayed with TpF1, I agree with you on the franchise. Very fine graphics and route building, especially considering it is at heart an economics/empire building game with a railway-centric outer shell. If you haven't, give Mashinky a look! Despite being based on 'toy' trains, which imposes a few limits on visual realism (parallel track spacing comes to mind) graphics are quite good, is some ways as good as anything on the list. Easy to route build. A small but dedicated modding community. There's even a recently added limited scope train driving capability. (I've not yet tested it.) It's only drawback, for someone primarily interested in the route building / train riding aspect but not the game's economic core, is that there is no 'sandbox' or 'freeplay' mode. At least there wasn't last time I played, months ago. At any rate, you might want to give it a look-see.
There's actually some Mashinky on the channel. Can't remember exactly when... over a year ago. Not that many either as it did horrendously. I did play it a month or so ago just after he added in the driving support. It's much like Loco where you have a slider to control the engine. I think you could call it controlling the engine rather than driving it. It's a nice addition at least. One of the reasons I scored TPF2 as the top game is that it comes across the devs do it for the love of the game rather than just trying to make money from it. They will try and fix issues if you tell them there's one unlike maybe some other games. There's also a real community feeling around the franchise that I have never found else where. That tells me that lots of other people feel the same. I think if I had played (for a period of time) Train Simulator a few years back whilst they were actively working on it maybe I would have a higher opinion of it. The engines I've looked at as you say do look detailed and graphically the issue will likely lie more in its shaders rather than the models. I haven't actively tried it but was certainly aware of the third part enhancer (saw it on YT last year... maybe before) and it's great people want to extend the game. But it's a paid project (and quite rightly as they spent the time creating it) so I suspect it would likely attract current users with multiple DLC's and who have an investment in the game rather than new users. Everything feels like it has to be a paid add-on and that puts me off. To be honest there isn't a perfect game right now. I suspect the genre just isn't big enough to attract investment. I get allot of questions about Loco. And my answer is always we'll have to wait and see.
I would have inverted your 1st and 2nd place selections. TF2 is fun to use, looks great but you can only watch the trains drive around, you can't get in and drive them yourself. Plus my biggest negative is the very limited land that you get to use. Just as a train gets up to speed you have to slowdown before you run out of land. They have what seem to be country or continent sized maps but you soon discover that distances are highly compressed, resulting in places where a single building covers several real cities. Airplanes are even worse in that respect. I find the whole Trainz franchise offerings fun to use. The ease of building a route map is second to none. And if you have some 3D modelling skill, you can even make your own objects to use in your routes and share with others if you are so inclined. While many of the older assets have quality that leaves much to be desired, if they are properly used as background objects, they are OK and have a smaller FPS impact than highly detailed modern versions.
It's funny to me a couple of years on from making this video that it's still pretty relevant. Trainz and eep have new versions but they're still the same, loco is no more, Rolling Line has had many updates and is better, but overall my thoughts would be fairly similar. Map sizes are constrained in TF and acceleration isn't realistic. There are mods to help with this but it'll never be as accurate as Trainz as it's not a simulator. I would say mod support is better on TF. Mods have to be designed to work on TF2 and so use the latest methods. Theres a large selection and generally the standard is pretty good. Trainz also had many mods but a large selection are pretty old which as the game gets updated is becoming a problem. Surveyor 2 isn't compatible with all the mods as I found out in a previous series. I'll concede locos and carriages are far more detailed on Trainz though. Trainz also wins with how you can control the trains, such as having the ability to do runarounds or using turntables. I think at the end of the day most of this is pretty subjective though. We're all looking for slightly different things out of it games so it's likely we're all gonna disagree on which is best and that's okay.
As far as Transport Fever 2, you can do a lot with trains but it's not really the point of the game. You can definitely get your fill with it, but if you're looking to do the driving from time to time, or you're looking for a game completely focused on trains, then remember that Transport Fever 2 is really just a modernized version of OpenTTD, which is free. So if you don't mind graphics from 1995, play OpenTTD for the same experience as Transport Fever 2.
Although TF2 and openTTD are at their core tycoon games, they approach the genre from very different angles and so are very different games however that's a different discussion. Transport Fever 2 is on this list because it fits the criteria of the video which is Creative Train Games. The video isn't about driving games, it's about train games that you are able to build a layout with. You can build track however you want, you can manipulate the terrain, you don't need to play with money enabled and it has thousands of free assets that can be downloaded. The only downside to this game looking at it as a creative train game is that trains flip and visually that's not nice. The only game that I wish wasn't on this video is Loco which is a dead project and was left fairly broken. This is a shame but can happen with indie games.
After get used of it I really like it how the camera and other things works in EEP 16. Remember, this is German software and many Germans like it to work with much precision, what EEP 16 offers you. Regarding the camera movement are many options available with the mouse (in combination with the ctrl or shift key) and with the arrow keys too. And don't forget that you can use the mouse wheel not only to zoom in of out but also to tilt and turn the camera if you hold the cursor near the screen edges. Experiment to find all camera move possibilities and did you used the "set up camera" option in 2d view already to angle en zoom the camera very precise in the 3d view? While doing that don't forget to use the ctrl key to increase the default camera hight. EEP 16 is in fact for building model railroads on the PC, the application is not really for also building real railroads as in Trainz 2019 or Train Simulator 2021. For building model railroads EEP 16 offers mathematical precision, especially in 2d view, what can be both a layout planner and builder. Try to get used with it and find out all options there. Mention at 28:41 The hight of the road surface is by default set at 0.60 meters but you can change this value very precise in the 2d view. See there at the left working screen the hight settings at Abs H (absolute hight) and Rel H (relative hight) showing 0.60 meters. Change the start and/of end road spline point values there to the centimeter precise as you like (by example all absolute and relative hight values reset to 0.15 or 0.20) and see the different results in 3d view to find out how mathematical precise you can work in EEP16. Also mention the variable grid density in EEP 16, being far superior in relation to Trainz 2019. The default setting in EEP is 150 grid (node) points per km but you can change this value in the new layout setup screen to any grid setting you wish as you don't exceed a total grid number above the 1 million grid squares in your layout, this to keep the frame rate in EEP16 for average PC's acceptable. To many grids in a Trains 2019 layout is also there a reason that the application drops below acceptable frame rates. If you increase in a new EEP16 to create layout the default 150 grid density to 500 grid nodes per km your new layout have a grid size of 2 square meters and a maximum layout size of 1x4 km. Setting the default 150 grid density to 200 nodes per km you get the 5 square meters per grid size, being the same as the minimum grid size in Trainz 2019. With that grid size you can create in EEP16 a model layout with the maximum size of 1x25 km or 2x12.5 km or any other size you wish as long as the maximum of 1 million grids per layout is not exeeded. The i.m.o. real disadvantage in EEP 16 is that it is mainly focused on German, Austrian and Swiss layout worlds.
I just spent 30mins replying to your message and YT broke.. Oh well. Essentially my response was this... EEP is a solid game. Honestly all the games on this list except maybe Loco which is still finding its feet are and if you enjoy it theres no reason not to carry on playing it. I did play the game after the video and the camera movements got better but the game just didn't make me want to play it enough. All I could see was it wasn't the game that I wanted to play. I don't need it to be 100% accurate... I simply want to enjoy the process of building something and EEP didn't quite do it for me. It made it to this list because it warrants being looked at and hopefully some people have found this game through the vid, bought it and are enjoying it.
You wrote, "Creative Train Games, which should you buy?" I am really sorry that I didn't understood that you give that advice more for yourself than for others. As you can read, also I am very precise, but I am not from Germany, I live 5 km west of the German border in the Netherlands. There are differences between EEP 16 and Trainz 2019, I have worked with both franchises. I consider Trainz as a hybride of a (Dovetail) Train Simulator and a virtual model railroad layout simulator what EEP 16 in fact is. And the EEP application is also fit for designing real railroad model layouts, thus just not just a train game but also a flexible designer tool. I gave some I am afraid not very usefull hints when fighting in EEP 16 with the camera. What makes EEP 16 unique relative to Trainz is that you can use the 2d overview screen (the window at the lower right in the 3d screen) to move the camera view instantly fast, easy and precise in the EEP 3d screen. For that are the press left Ctrl of Shift keys combined with right mouse clicks available. I didn't see that you tried that very easy to use method. What pressing the Ctrl key plus the right mouse click does while holding your cursor in the 2d overview screen is setting the center of 3d camera view (facing due north) to exact the position where you hold the mouse cursor in the 2d overview screen. Then, by pressing the Shift key in combination with a right mouse click, you can turn the camera view (that will stay on it's position) to the direction where you hold the mouse cursor in the 2d overview screen. This type of instantly fast camera management is unique to EEP, I have never seen this so far in other virtual railroad layout building software. There is much more to tell, but there is the PDF manual for, chapter 3 "Camera management", page 30-36. Also mention the "Set up camera" button, being the 2nd to the right in the menu bar. That is for an extreme precise camera setup when using for that the 2d overview window or the 2d main screen. When using the "set up camera" button in the 2d main screen the 3d view will instantly open to show the new camera view. Another tip I like to give is regarding the video at 26:55 You can right-click in the selected track box, to open a popup window. There you can left click the "track properties" option. That opens the track editor popup window for editing with mathematical precision many values of the selected track piece. That tool is usefull for creating exact the same track pieces as by example made by Märklin or Fleischmann. That makes of EEP 16 not just a train game but in fact also a flexible tool for designing real model railroad layouts. Finally, I have subscribed to your CZcams channel, I like to view your Trainz and Transport Fever 2 video's :)
Thank you for the sub and the tips for EEP. I have a feeling this video really isn't meant for you. It's more meant for someone who's not played one or any of these games before and wishes to see them in action to see if it's something they might wish to play. When editing this video I had a clear choice of what to leave in and what to edit out. I could have edited out any difficulty I had with any of the games and made each one look perfect but that wouldn't have been the truth and would have made the video pretty dry to watch. This video needed to show that I'm no different to the viewer, will face the same issues that they do and if I can build something so can they. And yes of course the views of each game that I convey are my views. I'm offering my personal perspective of each one else I might as well just show a game trailer for each. As mentioned I did play EEP for a time after the video learning more about it with the view to perhaps doing a follow up video and some of what you wrote I had already found out. If I had done this I would have gone into more depth about the different methods of building and other aspects of the game. Now... there are two reasons why I make a video. The first is that I'm really enjoying a game what ever it is and I decide to make a video about it. If this is the case I don't care what the views are. The second is that I think a game will do well for the channel. The problem with EEP after playing it for longer period was that I didn't love the game nor did I think it would bring viewers to the channel and so I left the game and moved on. I think what makes you like this game so much though is perhaps why I don't. I enjoy to ad-hock make something out of my imagination using 3d tools slowly watching the scene being built up as I go along. I don't care about being precise and are just trying to make something look good to me. From your writing you do indeed seem to like precision and maybe EEP is the most precise out of the games. If the precision in this game brings enjoyment to you, then it's doesn't really matter the score I give it or my views. I've read many many comments from this and other videos telling me why someone likes a specific game. To be honest it just comes down to taste. We are all different and like different things. There is no wrong answer.
Thanks for doing this. i have a love/hate relationship with Trainz (sinze the Trainz UTC days) due to FPS issues and the whole pay to faster download assets. Dont mind paying for DLC/payware but come on! Your routes (the unknown and big build) are fantastic and detailed. i reinstalled trainz19 and will download both your routes since i enjoy UK routes and yes, i will have to buy a 7 day FCT :( to get it faster. Trainz is still better than the others in this video hence the love/hate. Please continue the Trainz series whenever you can as i know it a looooong process to create a good route.
I think we all have a love hate relationship with Trainz. The next Big Build notepad vid will be out on Friday. On it I do a split screen both watching a train go through the city. One shot before and the other after the last game update. It hopefully will show how much smoother it was before. I'm not sure how well that's gonna show on YT after they've compressed the vid file but in places its quite pronounced when watching the main copy on my PC. To be honest I don't mind paying for faster downloads. I'm a web designer so deal with servers and the cost of them is big. So for that I'm ok but what I don't like is how you need to subscribe for regular updates. A yearly update for a game that you can spend £50+ on is not right. I am thinking of doing a vid on the different versions of the Trainz game which will include their subscription model. The question might be... is the subscription worth it? I'm glad you like the routes. There's another years work involved to finish The big Build. It'll get done. Whether I do another one I'm not sure. If I do it'll be small as on YT people get board and simply don't watch a lengthy series like this. So far this vid has been watched 103hrs in total and the drive to Evesham on 58hrs and thats been out longer. Most Big Build vids are allot lower. And if you're intested that means on this vid I've made a wapping £1 in ad revenue lol. Lucky I'm not doing it for the money haha.
Cheers, glad the video was of use. There's plenty of other Trainz content on the channel too. Checkout the Big Build playlists where I build a large layout. There're various reveal episodes showing what Trainz can do.
Yeah... I'm with you on that one. I will add for fairness that there are sites that have free assets for Train Sim but most assets are paid for. EEP is actually better than Train Sim in this regard as at least they have an in-built downloader like Trainz and some assets in this are free but they have the smallest amount of assets in totality (paid or free) which holds them back.
Cool,do you know what a MGR system is bc i phrased it a bit too much in railway terms :P Also just tought of it due to,simulour designs (wich the 56s were hauling)existed by the LNER. :D
Merry-go-round.. but I don't know the asset you're thinking of. I assume it's some sort of coal unloader...there's a couple which could be used on a power plant. There is going to be a mine on the final line so a power plant might give it somewhere to go, maybe locate it in Newtown perhaps as there's a line going no-where right now that it could be added to.. That's a while away though. Thanks, you've given me some ideas
Hello@@bluewizard,its great creating inspiration for a big series and helping with build(ing) ideas :) Also I (own map :) ) Would build a harbour W. 2-3 farms,a dairy and a coalmine with a medium station near the harbour(knapford harbour and tidmouth XD) Anyways its interesting writing back and fourth and I hope the Basin goes great and doesnt have to be gotten rid off(off screen)
Great video, used to have model trains as a kid but don't have time to setup my own system these days, finding software that can simulate that is great. Is TF2 my best option for virtually recapturing my youth regarding model trains?
Cheers. TF2 is my favourite game of the bunch and potentially the easiest to get to grips with. Is it the best game for you... it depends. All of the games will let you design an area, lay track and set trains to auto run. TF2 and Trainz have the most mods that will extend the games with extra engines, rolling tock and all kinds of scenery. TF2 and Trainz have the best graphics out of the list. Trainz has the creation aspect and then leans towards simulation allowing you to drive the trains. TF2 lets you build stuff but leans far more towards tycoon games where you can make money with the lines you create... but you can play it without money if that doesn't interest you. Personally I play TF2 as a tycoon game and make parts of the map look good. I'm playing TF2 on the channel right now on a really nice map I downloaded (a mod) called Riverland. A really nice user made map. Trainz I play purely for building and programming the trains to run around. There is a video on the front page of my channel called Geoff Goes to the Fair. This is a Trainz video. All of the vehicle movements and camera changes were programmed in using the in-game session. So the video from start to finish is programmed with no editing. I also have a playlist called "The Big Build". This is a Trainz series where I am very slowing making a fictional 1960's map. If you take a look at any of the later reveal videos (I build an area and then do a reveal vid) it'll give you an idea of the graphics for that game. Trainz is more technical and can be rewarding when it works (if it works.. oh the game crashes) but TF2 somehow is still just more fun and a game that I keep coming back to. Really it comes down to your preference.
@@bluewizard Thank you for such a detailed response. Steam just had TF2 on sale so I picked it up and will try this weekend. I was also thinking that if you use the camera view from outside of the train, it's almost like a virtual model railroad :)
Mate, i have to say that TF2 looks the best out of all these creative train games and is by far the most creative if you get into the modding scene, that is. Without mods, the vanilla game is still enjoyable but has very few assets to play with. I may be biased here because i put many hours into the game, but both visually and creatively it is MILES ahead of the other games in this list. Now it is mainly a tycooon strategy game and not a sim, this has to be mentioned, but for people that wanna design a great looking train map and just watch a few trains go by, TF2 is the absolute king. However the mods really take this game to a new level as you can detain a map to look as realistic as possible and then just take a ride on one of your trains and enjoy your work. I could tell you are british just from the mods you had on during the presentation :D You can make your trains run on the left side even without mods, you just have to use waypoints to tell them which tracks to go on. Great video! Ty for making this.
Trainz and Transport Fever are certainly the games I've spent most time with. Trainz in the looks department will never compete with the Train Sim World series but most of that is because of it has the editor. Theres no way to optimize the graphics in the same way TSW does. The game is a compromise and can't compete with TSW as a sim either. When Trainz 22 came out I drove each route on the channel. On one route the game crashed half way through. I reloaded the game, put it in editor mode, moved the train to to location where it was when the game crashed, went back to drive mode and carried on. At the end I still got top score even though technically on that run I only drive about one third of the route. Its scoring is basic because it has the editor and everything can be made in the editor including sessions (the timetables that are driven). But this video is about Creative train games and it does do that fairly well. It, Transport Fever, EEP and Train Simulator all have similar levels of editing tools but EEP is let down by the lack of train assets and it also uses an older graphics engine and Train Simulator is let down by most of its free assets have to found on the web and manually imported unlike Trainz and Transport Fever (although both can do that) plus it also uses an old game engine which won't ever really get a future update as TSW is the companies real future. Loco is no more and so you are left with Transport Fever or Trainz. The editors on both are good. Both will allow you to just build which is the criteria of this video and both have a good selection of mods but Trainz users do have to pay for access to the download station where most of its mods are stored so Transport Fever just wins out. And I'll also add that I prefer Transports Fever's business model. You pay and then you play. N3V is pushing the Trainz subscription. I see in the future a point that this game will only be playable if you have one. Not good.
The controls for the editor need changing. I chatted with the dev maybe a year ago about this but it didn't seem to be a priority. Its a shames but apart from that it is a great game.
Transport Fever 2 is great for community free assets and mods and decorating and laying things out but you can only watch them run, or put your camera in the front of the train, but I'm not sure it's possible to compare it to other games where you can control the train directly. TF2 trains, you assign them to a route and off they go and you can order them to reverse or return to depot, but you aren't driving trains.
Loco just looks horrible. Set out spaced corner pieces and let the game try to hook them together? Looked like a kid took Snap Trak and it wouldn't quite fit so they left a gap on one rail or another leaving a visible angle. Actually train lines not known for angles where the rails meet.
Locos in TS can be good, like the ones made by Caledonia Works. Only problem I have is the speed of the chuffing never seems to match the wheel rotation except on freeware locos from UKTS
Were the engines made for a previous version of the game perhaps? Miss matches happen all the time on Trainz sure to this. The locos I saw looked nice. The biggest two problems I see with the game is that they've obviously moved into TSW now so updates are likely to be superficial and they never put a free mod installer within the game. I think if you have some paid dlcs and have added a few free assets externally it can provide allot of fun. The question I really have is it the game to buy now if you are just starting out. Not sure. Truly though, playing them all, I don't think that one of them is perfect. Control issues, graphic issues, crashes. Who knows maybe one will come along that solves all this.
@@bluewizard Its the sounds mainly, using loops for different speeds. The locos are completely new models, brilliant textures and using the railworks enhancer and Armstrong Powerhouse weather pack improves the game a lot. And a lot of people play TS because they've been playing it since it first came out, as well as using it for CZcams series. Yes there are crashes etc, the game engine is the same but people just cope with it. One of the best routes I've seen is the Dyffryn Llechi Light Railway by TrolleyFodder. I think its the fact you can pack a lot of detail into routes and locos if you put the time and effort into it.
I absolutely agree. If you own the game and already have DLC's why not keep playing. Yep it's an older game but if you enjoy it play it. I know with Trainz there are ways of changing the train sound. Is there a way of doing that on Train Sim?
Trainz, EEP and Transport Fever are the same. There's more content from external creators than from the devs themselves. Transport Fever2 has over 4000 free mods for the games. For a game only 1yr old thats tremendous.
Something to note about EEP, you have a massive onlineshop with MANY, like, MANY more assets you can purchase. There is also a community created catalogue of all the free downloads that are available on various websites of different people who have made them. Significantly more content is available than just what you see on Steam. As for graphics, the problem is that even now, a lot of the stock assets are old, like, really, really old. Some of the people you placed were still from EEP 6 which is at least 10 years old at that point, possibly older. At some point, they did remove a lot of the old assets and added a few new ones in, but as you can see, there's still really old assets around and they haven't really made up for the lack of assets in other places. A lot needs to be compensated using paid assets, though as these are all also mostly user created from various different authors, the quality between them can still vary a lot. Or if you don't mind old assets, there is a free download to bring all the decade old assets back.
EEP does have an online shop and free mods you can download but the problem is that so do Trainz and Train Simulator. And Transport Fever likely has the largest amount of free mods for all of the games listed. Theres a vast amount been made for that game. So none of these games are unique in that respect. Transport Fever and Trainz in my view do free mods best as you can get them all from one place where as EEP and Train Simulator you have to hunt around websites for them. EEP is certainly better than Train Simulator in this respect but there are still only a small amount of free assets you can download from their store or within the game. When I talk about graphics though I'm not talking about the assets as such, I'm talking more about the game engine. EEP, Trainz and Train Simulator are all about the same age. Each have had updates and new versions through the years but they were all first created around the same time. The companies behind Train Simulator and Trainz a few years back though both saw that the game engines they were running needed updating. Trainz crowd funded and brought out TANE which was backward compatible but ran a totally new engine and Dovetale the devs behind Train Simulator decided to leave that game but instead bring out a totally new game Train Sim World. In retrospect that wasn't a bad move as they still managed to keep selling Train Simulator even though it ran an old game engine but now were also able to sell their new game(s). You could argue which company made the better decision but the point is they did something where as I don't think the company behind EEP did. EEP doesn't look bad but the graphics don't have the realism that Trainz or Train Sim World does because of its aging game engine. The issue will be the cost of updating it though. Our hobby is a very niche hobby and not enough people buy these games meaning the companies behind them have to really think about when and if to large updates. And with the assets themselves its not how they look so much but more that they methods the older assets would have been made by will not be a refined as the new assets which will slow down the games. EEP and Trainz in my opinion should remove the compatibility for the older mods all together. Yep... this removes allot of usable assets but this would also mean they could remove the functions within the game that makes the older assets work. This would vastly help the games run better and Trainz really needs help in this respect. But the likely hood of that happening is extremely low. When Trainz 22 came out I decided to do a search for a number or types of assets on their Download Station but refining the search to Tane version (new game engine) of the game and later. So no assets older than that. There are remarkably few. I don't know EEP as well but I have a feeling the issue would be the same there. There are still people playing and making mods for train games. As I said Transport Fever 2 has thousands. And these mods are all being made now. These aren't old mods that still work on the game. They are all made for TF2. So there are people making train mods. The issue is the people making them don't wish to play these older titles and so mods aren't being made as much for them. It's a spiralling issue that both Trainz and EEP have to deal with quickly else in a few years time neither will be here any longer.
@@bluewizard Fair, fair. The problem with EEP is that over time, people accumulate a lot of assets. They did do a complete engine upgrade at one point with EEP 7. All old EEP 6 models that one may had were incompatible with the newer game, which a lot of people weren't too happy about. Pick the game that looks n runs better and has better features, or go with the one that you've already spent years accumulating a lot of assets for. Nowadays this isn't as big of a problem anymore as it has been around for long enough that nearly everything you used to have back then has a modern alternative, but I do know that there's still a small dedicated group of people making assets for EEP 6 and still playing on EEP 6. Back then, that was also the reason that they offered a model converter (for a price of course) to convert old assets to the new format, but individual mod authors could disagree and so some assets could not be converted. Thinking about it, I'm actually surprised EEP is holding up as well as it does. Proper games appealing to a larger crowd, like Transport Fever 2, let you create and share mods for free. EEP on the other hand requires you to purchase a tool with which you can actually convert and setup models to be used. The assets themselves that you buy are in a locked format that you can't edit or extract (or at least I don't know anyone who has attempted to open these) and all the items you buy on the shop are locked specifically to your registration number, meaning that whatever you buy on the store will only work for you but if you were to share these files with other people, it wouldn't actually work. They set themselves up in a way that every user heavily depends on the store and heavily monetize their own tools and later games. That and just the fact that it is super niche in general. Usually the people who know about it and play it are Germans who either have an actual model railway, had one in the past or have been wanting to have one. Is also why I was looking around for other games / software. I do love the sandbox nature of EEP a lot also because you can do car traffic (which interests me more) and you can set up automation in what ever way you want, so I was curious about other games that might offer something similar to that.
One of the reasons I started playing Trainz was the fact that it had the download station. Like Transport Fever on the face of it there is a large selection of mods available. You have to pay for access to the download station but after that there's a large selection to download. Trains, scenery routes, sessions. There quite a bit and in theory it's great. I stopped playing games for a very long time but the first real game that got me back into playing was Train Fever. It was a fun game and I enjoyed the route making. I then stumbled across Trainz and a few others including EEP and ended up buying Tane. I was amazed how I could program the engines in a very simple way using a drag and drop system. When I saw I could program a loco to unhook from its carriages, go to a turn table, turn around, hook onto the other end of the loco and off it went all automatically I was hooked (pun intended). I started building routes and creating sessions and enjoyed playing. In that respect Trainz is an excellent game but Trainz does have its issues. It tries to be too many things and please too many people. It wishes to be a creative game but the more you play you see that it falls down here. The tools aren't bad but could certainly be better. Its only now getting a tilt options for instance. It also tries to be simulator and that side of the game is terrible. I play a £15 game called Diesel Railcar Sim and its in cab controls and gameplay is leagues better. Unlike Trainz where your options are easy or hard controls and there is no end points gain for using the harder level DRS has a plethora of options and bonuses for using less helpers. And theres the graphics, on the sim side it has to go up against Train Sim World 1/2 and it can't. TSW is built just as a sim and is far more optimised because of it. I recently put a vid of both on my Steam Deck. One plays and one doesn't. I think you can guess which way round it is. I think the scope of EEP is far smaller than Trainz. It doesn't try to be all the things that Trainz does and that a good thing but it is also noticeable straight away and like you say that it is fairly locked down. I didn't know you had to buy a tool to make mods compatible with it and that's really not going to help with its growth. Trainz doesn't do this and you can use mostly any tool. The issue with Trainz though as I said previously the more you look at its mods the more you notice how old most of them actually are. Younger players don't seem to be playing it as much. It also has the same issue that you mention that users vocally aren't happy if there is any suggestion that their old mods won't play on a new version of the game. Honestly my view is that they theres no reasons why players can't play their old mods on their old version of the game and let new mods be created for new versions. The reason why Transport Fever plays so well is that on each of its 3 versions modding has been different. They gave clear instructions how to upgrade old mods so they could work on the newer games but out of the box old mods wouldn't work. And this in my view is how to do it. But the biggest issue I have with Trainz is its business practice. They have membership plans and in theory thats fine. There are multiple levels. You can either buy the game and then effectively rent the routes to drive with one plan or you can rent the game and routes all together in another. I get my pleasure from building things and have no need to rent the routes so I simply buy the game and then buy access to the download station. But here's my gripe. They treat people who buy the game as second class citizens compared to people that take out a membership. Last year I saw an issue in the game and reported it. I got a message a couple of weeks later that the issue was fixed. People with a membership got the fix straight away but people who bought it had to wait for the service pack update that places all the fixes in one download. This was months later. They are now favouring memberships over sales too much and frankly I don't like this practice. In the end I think this will hurt them and back fire but memberships are a trend right now and so they're just following a trend. There is no perfect creative game out there. I think on this vid I rated Transport Fever highest and part of that is they look like a company genuinely trying to create a good game and not rip people off. Trainz is a good game and 19 can be pickup pretty cheaply now as 22 is very nearly out on full release. EEP also has a new release. I'm not sure I will buy it as their promo vid hasn't shown me anything new. Rolling Line is actually becoming a great game and now has a small level of automation. Its not on this vid but well worth a look.
@@bluewizard Oh I didn't even know Trainz had membership stuff. Transport Fever doesn't just look like a game where the developers genuinely care to make it a good experience, but also it's the most "game" out of most of these I feel like. Compared to EEP, it's purely a sandbox. There's no economy, no challenges, no missions to play, just a few stock maps to watch usually without manual input. Also, Home-Nostruktor is the program required to create assets for EEP. You can model them in whatever program you want, like you can create a model using Blender and texture it like normal, but to get it all setup for use in EEP, you need Home-Nostruktor, and each version of EEP has its own version of Home-Nostruktor, so if EEP gets a new release, then Home-Nostruktor also gets a new release and it costs 30 bucks if you buy it without owning a previous version. I generally do like EEP, but if they ever decide it's not worth it anymore and take the store offline, I don't know if you would even be able to really reinstall the game since you can't register it again, since that usually also requires connecting to the store. Rolling Line seems neat especially because I do have VR and could play it in VR but I actually tend to be bit more interested in seeing car traffic or combined traffic rather than just trains so I fall into the niche of the niche being interested mainly in a different type of transportation than most.
Interesting. I use Trainz19 and EEP16, and personally, find EEP much better. I have more trouble with the camera controls in Trains, but I guess it depends on which you're most used to. The best thing about EEP is the use of the Lua programming language. This lets me set up complete automatic control of pretty much everything using fairly simple subroutines. I have fully automated traffic junctions, pedestrian crossings, rote and block functionality of all trains (and often road vehicles and boats....even people and animals). It is this aspect that adds a complete new dimension to the game (but I love programming, so maybe that is why). I find the AI in Trains to be very hot and miss, with trains often trying to drive backwards to the next location for no apparent reason.
I think with the controls you are right, it's pretty much what you are used to. After filming I found the right Alt changes the behaviour of the arrow keys. Press that once then the up and down arrow keys won't affect height. Before I was always holding the right ctrl key whilst moving which felt less comfortable. The speed of the movement still feels too slow though. I do think the game should have key binding but I think that about all keyboard based games as left handed and right handed people need different things. For such as mature game it's an interesting move not adding this in. I hadn't looked at the automatisation within EEP although it was fairly obvious it had it. I did notice the LUI script editor screen but hadn't put two and two together. I'd thought there might have been a GUI method of doing this. I've just taken a very quick look at the fire LUI tutorial. The language seems simple enough. A very simple function which loops around. I do have a question about the asset search. I dunno if you might know the answer. I searched for steam locos under rolling stock > Railway > Standard > Locos > steam and excluding the depreciated models there are 3. I then did a search using the UMS search and found an A4 Mallard. The UMS search seems to bring up everything from the game and their shop. The A4 was free so I added it to the map. I assumed that I had downloaded it when selecting it and it would then show in the local search but it doesn't. There is also a user definable categories within the local search so I thought I might be able to add it in there but also cannot see a way of doing this. And so finally at the bottom of the rolling stock menu I checked the Search Model checkbox where every local asset seems toshow but it still doesn't show. Do you know if there is a way of getting it to show on the local search in some capacity? If you right click the engine and look at its properties there's no visible way. And Trainz.. locos will always take the fastest route to a destination. If going backwards is the fastest way it'll do that. The way to stop this is to use the VIA command. Add in one or two markers that are along the route you want a loco to take, name them so you know what and where they are and then add them into the session using the Drive Via or Navigate Via commands. I use these all the time to force locos where I want them. The game gets confused otherwise.
@@bluewizard The searching within EEP isn't particularly intuitive (or even very helpful) - must admit that I don't really use it much, I tend to just browse the available objects when in edit mode, after selecting the particular sub category. Regarding your download - did you use the Install Model and Scan Model from the main menu after downloading? If not then it won't be installed to the game database (the model scan can take quite a while, depending on how many assets you have (it rescans all assets to rebuild the database) - installed assets can be used without scanning, but they will only appear in the 'New Models' category and I don't think they will appear in a search. Once scanned, then they are moved from the New Models category to the correct one (e.g. Steam Locomotive).
Ah... @TheSpeegy that might be it. I haven't rescanned. Although it's not apearing in the New Models either. The only place it shows is the UMS search. I'll try that and hopefully that's it, thanks.
@@bluewizard Looked into this a little more - I already had the A4 Mallard installed, but it didn't show up under rolling stock > Railway > Standard > Locos > steam - which seemed odd. I looked at the in file for this model (which is called LNER_A4_Mallard.ini) - this shows that the model has 'Deprecated = 1'. When I switched off 'hide deprecated models' under the filter in the search categories window, it suddenly appeared (along with a whole load of others) that I thought had long gone. See if that helps. By the way, really enjoy watching your Trainz builds...sometimes it even inspires me to go back to giving Trainz19 (or even TAME) another look.
Cheers for looking into it further. I scanned the models twice and checked the box to view depreciated models but it still doesn't show. Like you I'm looking under rolling stock > Railway > Standard > Locos > steam. More stuff show when enable depreciated stuff but not the Mallard. Might have a look at it's ini file when I get time. Good to know it's meant to and does for you. Likely means the issue is on my install some how. And thanks... glad you enjoy the Big Build stuff. Trainz can be a frustrating game. Latest issue... revision numbers but when it's working it can be very rewarding seeing the results of a build. Next vid on Friday :-)
I don't know much about Train Simulator but what it felt like was that the controls had been put in over time. They didn't feel like the gelled together that well. I'm sure if I had continued to practice I would have got better but I never felt I wanted to. There didn't feel a compelling reason to play it. I haven't touched the game since this vid. So I fully understand why you uninstalled it.
well you missed TSW (so thats your zero score) other than that pretty much agree -- -Yep Trainz 19 is a fps guzzler but the setup of backward compatability and its gfx more than make up for it .. Its odd though that Trainz/Auren have always been masters of releasing routes/final products that dont make full use of the capabilities.. I dont think they even know how there own environment lighting works.
TSW didn't meet the criteria (you can't create your own route... unless there's a map editor mod that I don't know of). The one I regretted not adding was Rolling line so did a separate vid for that in the end. There are two camps of thought with backward compatibility. More content/ assets against more FPS. I lean towards the FPS. Transport Fever is on it's 3rd version. They offered clear instructions how to update assets to the new games each time and because of that there's no need for backwards compatibility. They have thousands upon thousands of mods so it obviously works for them. Done correctly and thoughtfully Auren could do the same thing. That said I fully understand why they won't as it's far too much of a risk. Less content up front in their eyes will mean less sales. It's interesting how Dovetail and Auren approach their new games. Dovetail chose to keep putting out tiny updates for their Train Simulator game so they still have a current (not really) train building game with backwards compatibility. They then wrote a completely new name without the building and backwards functionality which allowed them to have a more realistic looking sim game. Auren on the other hand chose to stick with and keep updating Trainz. Very interesting to watch them both. My advice when asked if you just want to drive choose TWS, if you want to build choose Trainz, but if you just want to smile, then Transport Fever is the game.
There's a mod for TF2 that adds night mode. No idea how well it works. Screenshots look good. steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1928662384
I really want to invest in Trainz22 but I must say outside of Approach Medium and K&L, I see surprisingly little new content about the game itself here on YT. The difference I've noticed is search TS or TSW and a plethora of videos come up nearly daily. Trainz...not as much. Not that that, in and of itself, detours me from going headlong into investing in 22 but just something I've noticed. The route building aspect is why I am into these sims though I haven't looked into TF much, but from what I have seen, it's more of a game than a sim and that's not really my cup of tea.
As much as I tried to make sure it wasn't unless you're talking about pure numbers, a review will always be subjective. The reality is that everyone will want something different and what game you should choose if any will depend on what you want it to do. For pure building both Trainz and Transport Fever are excellent choices with many scenery mods to play with but if you put aside the building aspect both games go in different directions. Trainz leans towards being a simulator and TF2 is a great tycoon game. So if its important for you that it not only looks great but (looks like) it works like a real railway then Trainz would be your better choice. Trainz 19 and 22 are essentially the same game. They basically stopped working on 19, and then brought out 22 which is the Platinum version of 19 and then carried on working on it. If you buy the new game you get some new routes included but other than that it looks and feels like 19. The new route editor is only included at present if you rent the game. If you buy you only get the "classic" surveyor tool that comes with all previous games. As for coverage. Most people covering train games wish to drive the train. And Trainz in my opinion isn't a good simulator. The controls are horrible and because you have the surveyor tool the means you are marked is very basic. I did a video at launch where I was driving and the game crashed half way through. I put the game into surveyor mode, moved the train to point where the game crashed, back into play mode and carried on. I got a full score. My issues with Trainz though isn't the game itself. The game is an excellent model railway game no matter the version you buy. My issue is with the company itself as they seem to treat people who buy the game as second class citizens. Im fine with them renting the game out and the subscription options they offer. But the basics such as game fixes should be given to everyone at the same time and they aren't. People who subscribe get them as soon as they are released but people who buy have to wait for a service update which puts all the updates into a single patch. This update can take months. A few years back I reported a game issue that they created when releasing a service update. They quickly reported back it was fixed and indeed subscribers did then have the fix but as I bought the game I had to wait 6-7 months for the next service update to get the fix. This is why you don't see me doing very many videos any longer. I don't really feel comfortable advertising this game any more.
@@bluewizard I appreciate the feedback. I am currently invested in TS to the tune of hundreds of dollars and in terms of route building I have been mostly pleased if not for the lack of useful assets. If DTG would take a Trainz approach to allow community access without jumping thru hoops, the sim would be nearly perfect. DTG finally unthrottled PhysX in a massive core update which has substantially improved the overall performance of the sim. My beef with TS is that I have had many occasions in which I have had to buy an entire route that I will never play only because there are new assets, buildings, cars, ect. that I needed for the route I am building. Back in the early 2010's I started with Trainz and made a fair number of assets for my own use. A few I even uploaded to the Download Station. At that time, I only had a 750Ti which was simply not enough card for what I wanted to do in surveyor, thus I became frustrated and went to DTG. I have since, upgraded substantially in the computer department which has made me consider Trainz again. But as you say, each game has it's advantages and disadvantages. The entire "rental" aspect for the use of surveyor 2.0 is certainly a draw back. I will continue to be diligent in researching before investing. Again, I appreciate your feedback. Certainly food for thought.
Not sure if it is totally relevant but I think the sparse YT presence could in part be due to the robust forum that is hosted by Trainz. If you have anything to say about Trainz, the good, bad or ugly, it is the place to go. As for which sim to use, I agree with Bluewizard, it mostly depends on what you intend to do with it. If it is purely driving existing routes, TS or TSW is probably the better choice. but if you want to deviate from the predefined script to go exploring, it might not be such a good choice. If you lean more towards building your own world, either from scratch or by continuing someone else's route, Trainz with its first class Surveyor is the way to go. Plus building your own objects is not that hard if you have a basic skill in 3D modelling. And while many of those models that have been shared on the Down Load Station might not be top notch, they are free. Some creators have gone into Payware where quality is expected and generally delivered for a modest price.
Great video thanks for sharing 👍🏻 The only game I played somewhat related with the trains are mini metro on android. I loved its simplicity and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm pretty noob to this train-gaming universe. What do you recommend me who has no experience? I'm looking for just fun and have a good time not want to get lost in extremely realistic simulation.
Glad you liked the video. The easiest game on the list to get started with would be Loco. Place some track and some assets and you can play with your creation. Its very simple to use. The game is early access though and is very limited and raw. But because it has limited functionality it is simple to play. For me it's one for the future. My favourite on this list is Transport Fever 2. It's less easy to get started with than Loco but has alot more content and many many free mods such as engines and scenery. Once you get the hang of it you can loose many hours playing. Not on this list you could check out Rolling Line. I have another video on the channel looking at it. It is fun to play but not great for video. It started out as a VR only game but now can be played on a desktop with mouse anf keyboard. It also now has a fair few mods that adds extra content and is worth a look. But if you want real simplicity then have a look at Model Rail Easily. I don't like it on PC as it's a glorified Android game. On Android though playing for a few minutes here and there it's worth a look. The other thing to look at on PC is what specs you need to play the game. Make sure your PC meets the min stated specs before buying. Transport Fever will need a dedicated GPU but the rest I mentioned should be fine on an integrated GPU.
Wow thanks a lot for detailed answer. I'll take notice your advices and that'll will help my first steps into this genre. Thanks again your kindness. Greetings and love from Turkey 🇹🇷✌🏻
The 1080 plays most things. Trainz is likely the hardest game on the gpu that I play and it plays at medium to high settings. I think the best way to compare both cards is to look at the webpage comparison gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-3050-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1080/4127vs3603
@@bluewizard I got the acer nitro 5, with the fairly decent rtx 3050, plays trainz 19, with draw distance at low, shadows at low, shaders at ultra, anda mix of low and high for the rest, even with bigger routes!
I'd like to make a fairly accurate model of my city and add in a modern metro system... Any thoughts for the best game for that? I'm leaning toward Trainz or Transport Fever 2, but not set yet. (I don't fully understand what one gets with Trainz22 without a subscription...) Do any of them let you get into the weeds on things like Spanish-solution platforms? Do any of them permit underground sections of track?
Trainz is likely the best game to do this with. It's the game most likely to have enough features for you to be able to build the most accurate representation. It has add-ons that would allow you to place images (From Google maps for instance) as the ground so you can build on top. There are mods to do that and I've not really used them so I would advise to head to the Trainz forums as there would be people who could help you. Both transport fever 2 and Trainz (latest version is now Trainz 22) allow you to build underground. Transport Fever build tools are easier to use and tunnels are far easier to create but you would again likely build better more accurate tunnels using Trainz. I've not built underground metros on either game and I'm not sure what tunnel mods there would be. There are some old London underground tunnel mods I came accross on Trainz but I'm not sure what underground stations there are as I've not looked. There is a basic underground station on Transport Fever 2 but I think it is quite basic. As for underground metro rolling stock... I'm not sure about this on either game either. You would need to check the download station on Trainz and the workshop on Transport Fever to see is either has the trains you want to use. The Trainz download station is like the Steam workshop where you can download mods. As for Trainz subscriptions. N3V is highly marketing their subscriptions. They have 2 subscriptions at present. The first lets you rent the game and gives you access to the download station (where you download mods and other free user made assets). It also gives you early access to new builds of the game including a new version of their route/ map editor (i have videos on this). The second gives you that plus access to a large selection of routes to drive (a route is a map and a session is the time table you are currently driving). If you were to buy the game and not subscribe you would get the game plus 5 routes. You would not have access to the download station (you do but the download speed is so slow its not usable). To get propper access to this you would need to purchase a "Download Ticket". These come in various lengths from a single day up to a year. You could in theory buy a days access and spend the whole day downloading assets. Once you have them they remain on your pc and are free to use for ever. To build your own route (the route is the map) you can use assets that come with the base game and from any other installed route. You can also download mods/ assets from the download station. If you plan to let others download your route and use it then do not use assets from other routes as other players might not have access to these routes (and their assets) or may not have all the base game routes installed (and so won't have the assets). So if you want to share the route only use assets from the base game and the download station. If you dont plan on sharing the route you can use any asset you have access to. Both Transport Fever 2 and Trainz 22 are good games. Neither will have every asset you need (buildings). You will be able to build something simular but likely not completely accurate so do bare this in mind. Unless you have the skill to make you own assets of course. Both games will allow you to make your own. Trainz will take a while to learn. Its not pick up and play. TF2 is easier. Hope thie info helps.
I'm over a year late to the party, I'd say your thoughts pretty much echo my own with regards to the games I have played. One thing I am surprised about though is that I recently purchased Loco and it doesn't seem anything like what you show here. I cannot work out how to fuel the loco for a start, whereas you just seem to jump in and go, is it possible that there are 2 games with the same name or simply that they have changed so much in the past year? My highest ranking video content is Transport fever/TpF2, even though it's been a long time since I played, anyone who loves trains, but discounts it because you cannot do the driving yourself, does themselves a disservice if they have any interest in the building side at all.
Yep there are indeed 2 games called Loco. This one was the original and was called Loco Railroad but I'm afraid is no more. They're still selling it but there hasn't been an update is nearly a year. It had potential but I have a feeling the dev I was learning to program and took it as far as he could. Don't buy it. The game I think you purchased is just called Loco and has only just came out. It is very very early access. I covered it recently on the channel czcams.com/video/NZNfgZodPf4/video.html. It's mostly playable and made by a couple of devs. I don't recall needing actual fuel. You just need to find the fuelling input spot (changes on each loco) and mouse click it to fuel it. I think you have to water the loco also. Honestly forgotten as it's been a month since I played and it might also have changed. Transport Fever 2 is an excellent game and the devs also come across really well. They come across as loving what they do and have a passion for the game. Trainz on the other hand, although is a game I enjoy is a game that I find it hard to recommend. Trainz 22 recently came out, I bought it and covered it. As far as I can see it is Trainz 19 with a few accumulative updates. It comes across as a money grab and thats a shame.
@@bluewizard I own T:ANE and Trainz 19, but I have avoided 22 simply because if limited playtime on the former two, plus it does feel like they are following the Dovetail model of selling updates as new games with very little extra substance. Much like EA SPORTS now I think about it 😆
Thanks for the video. Are there any of these programs that allow you to control individual trains on the same track, setting individual speeds and such without stopping the train that is not being selected?
Trainz allows you to control multiple trains at the same time (any version) . You can either click on the train or the driver to select it and do what you wish. If you click away from a train it will just continue at the speed you set. You can also program multiple locos to do things or program a few trains to do things and control multiple other trains. Programming trains uses a visual system. No coding is required. It's been a while since I've used Train simulator and eep but I seem you remember you can control multiple locos on these also. Eep has a method to program locos also but this uses a basic programming language and world be more difficult to learn than Trainz. Loco hasn't been updated in a couple of years now. They did get to a point you could control multiple trains but it has issues and I don't recommend it. Another game to look at is Rolling Line. I have videos on the channel and a map uploaded to Steam. It now has a basic method to automate trains and you can also control multiple trains at the same time. So.... Yep there are a few games that can do this 👍
@@bluewizard Thanks for your reply. Actually, I was interested primarily in a MODEL train program (desktop layout) that would allow me to run multiple engines on the same track while still selectively controlling their speeds, switching, etc., independently. With those abilities, I could sidetrack a slow moving freight off the mainline temporarily while a passenger speeded by. I know Rolling Line allows you to control multiple engines, but can they be on the same track? Thanks!
Yes, Rolling line is the nearest game that can do this. You hold a controller that you point to the engine to select it and control it. Multiple trains can indeed be on the same line. As for changing points for a train you can either click on the point to change it, let a loco through and change it again so the next loco goes a different way or you can set up a (I'm not sure what this is called) track points controller for an area of track. You can then use this to more easily change points as desired. Trainz and I'm fairly sure eep could also do this. In Trainz you would use the free cam to position yourself above the train board you've created. A picture of the current selected driver for the loco you are currently controlling would be positioned bottom left. If you click on the picture all the drivers for all locos show. Selecting a different driver selects a different train. Once selected you have it under your control. Multiple trains can run on the same bit of track. Or as I said previously you can click on a loco directly to take control of it. Trainz origins are as a model railway SIM and not a driving SIM. They sell it as a driving SIM theses days but you can still use it as a model railway SIM if desired. Even so I would still go with Rolling Line out if the two. It only tries to be a model railway game unlike Trainz that tries to be everything to everyone and doesn't quite hit the mark on any front.
@@bluewizard Again, much thanks! I will go ahead a get ROLLING LINE. I may also pick up TRANZ at some point. I do have TRAIN SIM that's about 8 years old, but it doesn't lend itself to what I'd like to do and joining track sections in that sim can be very difficult. Again... much thanks and I will look forward to your future CZcams offerings.
Rolling Line is a great game and you should enjoy it. I have a map on the workshop you can download. It shows off the new automation options but can certainly be played manually. steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2788564328&searchtext=my+trainset Theres also a whole series showing it being built czcams.com/video/nkCjFTBofag/video.html The final episode if a full reveal showing off its features. Have fun :-)
Heres the list from my last series. steamcommunity.com/id/Bluewizardplays/myworkshopfiles/?appid=1066780&sort=score&browsefilter=myfavorites&view=imagewall You might be better jut searching the workshop though. Try searching for LMS, GWR, and UK. Loads come up.
It looks to slightly cheaper on the trainz website than Steam but there are sales in both every couple of months so bookmark the page and keep checking back store.trainzportal.com/pages/trainz-railroad-simulator-2019
Ok I have ts, trainz 22 transport fever, exetara, but trainz has the best library cause of mods and freeware, transport fever is fun but trains are pretty low quality honestly, train sim just sucks
Most people would be happy with Trainz or Transport Fever. Which one comes top will always be down to personal preference. And I know others will like the other games also which is also fine. I tend to mark Trainz down though due to the age of allot of their assets. New assets are being made but allot are old. When I did my last series I needed to go back as far as Trainz 12 to find assets that fitted with the layout and that can only hurt the games performance. Transport Fever assets were made for that version of the game and there are also allot of them. You are completely right though the detail of the rolling stock is far greater in Trainz. Some excellent work by the mod makers.
Any of these simulator allows interconnects with other players and their tracks ? or connect with train controller games ? (I don't know if this kind of world train simulator exist.
The closest I can think of is Trainz has multiplayer building support so multiple people can help to build a single map at the same time. I'd suggest to visit their site forum for more info and chat with other players to see how well that works as I've not tried it. The latest version of the game as if writing this is Trainz 22 platinum.
As far as I understand you can't build or edit the maps on Simrail. It does have multiplayer which I believe you can drive or work the signals on. If you're looking for a multiplayer experience where you actually do jobs Railroader might be something worth looking at. I have many solo player videos on the channel. It's not really a train driving SIM but more of a railway SIM with driving
model railway worth your money is the thumb nail, BUT these are more real life railway sims!!! not model railway sims. "Rolling Line" is what i would call model railway sim.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I disagree though as you can do whatever you like with the games listed. Each has an editor which allows you to build anything you like. If you only wish to think of some of these games as "real life Sims", that's fine but others will use these games for other things such as building model railways. Trainz is also extensively used by creators to make Thomas the tank engine videos which shows its versatility. The beauty of these games is they can all be played in different ways and this video just highlights one of them.
I actually have a vid on the game here which follows the same formula: czcams.com/video/6h5iV_VRhW4/video.html There's no score on the vid but it would rank maybe third. It's a highly stylized game with simple graphics which in non VR mode can be played on a humble machine. It has set length pieces of track which in my view is normally a negative as it limits what you can build, but the build system has been optimised and has a bit of track that can auto connect most spaces which redeems it in the most part. My only small gripe is that you need to go back and forth to the draws to pick up the different assets. In VR mode this make sense as it mimics being in a real room but in desktop mode it just slows down the building. It's a small thing though. Overall it's a great game which isn't quite on the same level as TF2 & Trainz but is still fun to play.
Download station. It's depreciated though and may not now come up on searches. If you download my route "the simple route" (user unknownplays) it should download it if you can't find it.
Railroad Tycoon 3. £7.50 on Gog. Playable on nearly anything because of it's age. Not sure if it fits this list though as I believe you have to play with cash. Nice suggestion though
If I did that I would also need to include previous versions of EEP and Transport Fever. Adding older versions of the same game wouldn't add anything to the video except for the length
they don't design good railroading games anymore. all just big nonsense sandboxes with the exception of TPF2 which is just massive random generator game with totally left hand designed economy. railroad tycoon 2 & 3 are still the only actually good games in the railroading scene.
I'm not entirely sure I agree with that. Certainly this set of games is nothing like The Railroad Tycoon games. As the video suggests these are games for those who want to play creative games. If you don't like this type of game thats fine, theres certainly modern railway tycoon games out there though. There's open TTD which is heavily influenced from Railroad Tycoons. Simutrans is another. Theres Mashinky, Railway Empire, The Transport Fever series, Railroad Corrporation. There's smaller games such as Cargo Company, Sweet Transit, Transports just to name a few. There's upcoming games such as Art of Rail and Metroland. None of these games will be copies of the Railway Tycoon games and thats a good thing as each wants to be unique. Whether they all manage to be good games is another thing but modern Rail tycoon games do exist. Maybe I'll do a video on Train Tycoon games like this one at some point. Maybe.
@@bluewizard Thanks for well thought response. Many of these names were unknown to me, I think I will look into these games if they are worth putting money into.
Transport Fever 2 is BY FAR the best quality, most stimulating, most useable and most visually appealing of all. Moreover, it is one fixed price including a large choice of locos, scenery, buildings and terrain tools - plus hundreds of high quality workshop addons that are entirely free. If the developers would only include the ability to properly and manually control trains and trams this sim would blow everything else out of the water.
Eh OpenTTD is far better quality
And honestly it’s not even a simulator (I mean the trains flip at the end of the line), it’s just a different OpenTTD which is still cool, but yeah it can’t really be better than the others simulator wise
lemme guess its the one you bought and you're coping
@@yvonetubla7682 OpenTTD is a free game. It's nearly 30 years old now, and its the same thing as Transport Fever 2, only it has graphics from '95 because that's when it was made. The point of Transport Fever 2 is not to drive trains, it's to create a transport network. That's why you can't drive the trains.
@@WeekdayWeekend openttd is shit compared to chris sawyers locomotion
Out of all of them I would say Trainz is the best at combining ideas, it has great driver controls, scenarios, cool animated scenery, incredibly diverse industries system, route building aswell as a faithful modding community
And it’s rather easy to use aswell
There only a few problems like the very fiddly track layer, the FPS and that most assets span multiple iterations, but even just downgrading to T:ANE helps FPS so much plus it doesn’t look so bad for an older generation, and lower quality assets can be useful aswell, as background assets like cardboard trees or in collaboration with other assets to make a scene more lively
Of course Train Sim has a much better driver experience, EEP has a great track layer from what I see and Transport Fever has a fun campaign but Trainz is better if you want a lot to do and not get so easily bored
Thanks for your thoughts. As you can see from my conclusion I think it's very close between Transport Fever and Trainz 19. The video only looks at the creative side of each game and excludes other aspects such as the tycoon element on Transport Fever 2 and the driving on Trainz. Both games have great building controls, very large modding communities and thus a large selection of high quality free assets, high quality graphics and most important are enjoyable to play. I play both, enjoy both and would recommend both to others. So it really comes down at this point to personal preference. If you have either and enjoy it, then that's the game for you.
Trainz dont have the same standard quality as Train Simulator 21. But is a good game for creating content.
Creating content for train simulator can be pain when you start,
because of their complex system but will be worth it. I learn a lot about train because of that.
For TS2021 Hold control of you want to join tracks or the snap to track button.
I too find Trainz' trackbuilding tools to be the most user friendly and intuitive, however I feel it needs to be said that it's hardly a fair comparison when you obviously have a good level of experience using Trainz but not the others.
Thanks for your comment. I do understand your point Stuart but I don't really agree. Although I know Transport Fever and Trainz the best out of the selection but I think I was pretty fair to the other games. I didn't just pick them up and do the review, I owned each of these games for a period of time and played each of them. As I didn't know the other games as well I also spent more time making those portions of the video making sure I got to similar points on each build. And I do remember mentioning that I knew both of those games best in the video, I didn't try to hide that fact. I think my assessment based on the criteria I set was fair but it's only my opinion. Many people have told me I'm wrong because of X and thats fine. If you love and enjoy any of the games you shouldn't stop because I might not like that game as much. The only game that at the time I thought might warrant it's own video follow up was EEP but to a new buyer I don't think it would have been useful as to get more out of that game you need to learn scripting so you can create a session and that's best left to the others who know the game better and already have videos showing how to do it.
well i get what your saying ,but from my own experience
i learned how to connect track together before learning how to move the camera around,that was my first time ever playing Trainz and that was UTC as well at a very young age too
Railroad Online ;) Maybe, they will keep growing that game and it will take the number one spot :)
haha... maybe.
This video is exactly what I've been looking for 😂☺️ Thank you so much.
Very cool video, may consider one of them if I consider spending surplus money.
Anyway, I'm working on the Twyford to Henley line in the latest version of T:ANE.
So far I've got:
• tracks placed.
• correct trains downloaded.
• 1/3 of the route painted.
• Google Earth images in the correct sections.
I halted work on the Abbey Flyer route due to lack of inspiration and consistency. I may redo it, I may scrap it as it was built before proper knowledge of the game.
Thanks for your content.
Sounds like you've planned it out well and you're right, if you lack a bit of inspiration on a part of it then leave that bit until another time. An idea may just pop into your head. No point forcing it.
@@bluewizard CZcams
@@bluewizard making the gameplay video of trainz 19
@@bluewizard you videos are great
Why don't you make a live stream in trainz 19
OMG IVE WAITED AGES TO FIND SUCH A HELPFUL VID LIKE THIS. THE LORD HAS ANSWERED MY PRAYERS!
Checkout the Rolling Line vid also. It's also a pretty good game with mod support.
I recommend Railroads Online! Trainz, Derail Valley, and Rolling line
Very enjoyable and information. Of listed titles I play, I'd rank Train Simulator higher than you do. But...that would be due largely to locomotive/railway car quality, and driving characteristics. As at least one other person points out, many of the game's best locos are to be had at third-party sites like Caledonia Works, Digital Traction and Steam Sounds Supreme. That aspect aside, my feelings toward TS2021 are much as yours. Oh yeah, third-party add-on 'RW Encancer Pro (and the cheaper non 'Pro' version) help improve the game's overall graphics quality. I think of it as an ENB for the game.
Though I stayed with TpF1, I agree with you on the franchise. Very fine graphics and route building, especially considering it is at heart an economics/empire building game with a railway-centric outer shell.
If you haven't, give Mashinky a look! Despite being based on 'toy' trains, which imposes a few limits on visual realism (parallel track spacing comes to mind) graphics are quite good, is some ways as good as anything on the list. Easy to route build. A small but dedicated modding community. There's even a recently added limited scope train driving capability. (I've not yet tested it.) It's only drawback, for someone primarily interested in the route building / train riding aspect but not the game's economic core, is that there is no 'sandbox' or 'freeplay' mode. At least there wasn't last time I played, months ago. At any rate, you might want to give it a look-see.
There's actually some Mashinky on the channel. Can't remember exactly when... over a year ago. Not that many either as it did horrendously. I did play it a month or so ago just after he added in the driving support. It's much like Loco where you have a slider to control the engine. I think you could call it controlling the engine rather than driving it. It's a nice addition at least.
One of the reasons I scored TPF2 as the top game is that it comes across the devs do it for the love of the game rather than just trying to make money from it. They will try and fix issues if you tell them there's one unlike maybe some other games. There's also a real community feeling around the franchise that I have never found else where. That tells me that lots of other people feel the same.
I think if I had played (for a period of time) Train Simulator a few years back whilst they were actively working on it maybe I would have a higher opinion of it. The engines I've looked at as you say do look detailed and graphically the issue will likely lie more in its shaders rather than the models. I haven't actively tried it but was certainly aware of the third part enhancer (saw it on YT last year... maybe before) and it's great people want to extend the game. But it's a paid project (and quite rightly as they spent the time creating it) so I suspect it would likely attract current users with multiple DLC's and who have an investment in the game rather than new users. Everything feels like it has to be a paid add-on and that puts me off.
To be honest there isn't a perfect game right now. I suspect the genre just isn't big enough to attract investment. I get allot of questions about Loco. And my answer is always we'll have to wait and see.
Thanks for the effort mate. Well done.
I would have inverted your 1st and 2nd place selections. TF2 is fun to use, looks great but you can only watch the trains drive around, you can't get in and drive them yourself. Plus my biggest negative is the very limited land that you get to use. Just as a train gets up to speed you have to slowdown before you run out of land. They have what seem to be country or continent sized maps but you soon discover that distances are highly compressed, resulting in places where a single building covers several real cities. Airplanes are even worse in that respect. I find the whole Trainz franchise offerings fun to use. The ease of building a route map is second to none. And if you have some 3D modelling skill, you can even make your own objects to use in your routes and share with others if you are so inclined. While many of the older assets have quality that leaves much to be desired, if they are properly used as background objects, they are OK and have a smaller FPS impact than highly detailed modern versions.
It's funny to me a couple of years on from making this video that it's still pretty relevant. Trainz and eep have new versions but they're still the same, loco is no more, Rolling Line has had many updates and is better, but overall my thoughts would be fairly similar.
Map sizes are constrained in TF and acceleration isn't realistic. There are mods to help with this but it'll never be as accurate as Trainz as it's not a simulator.
I would say mod support is better on TF. Mods have to be designed to work on TF2 and so use the latest methods. Theres a large selection and generally the standard is pretty good. Trainz also had many mods but a large selection are pretty old which as the game gets updated is becoming a problem. Surveyor 2 isn't compatible with all the mods as I found out in a previous series. I'll concede locos and carriages are far more detailed on Trainz though.
Trainz also wins with how you can control the trains, such as having the ability to do runarounds or using turntables.
I think at the end of the day most of this is pretty subjective though. We're all looking for slightly different things out of it games so it's likely we're all gonna disagree on which is best and that's okay.
As far as Transport Fever 2, you can do a lot with trains but it's not really the point of the game. You can definitely get your fill with it, but if you're looking to do the driving from time to time, or you're looking for a game completely focused on trains, then remember that Transport Fever 2 is really just a modernized version of OpenTTD, which is free. So if you don't mind graphics from 1995, play OpenTTD for the same experience as Transport Fever 2.
Although TF2 and openTTD are at their core tycoon games, they approach the genre from very different angles and so are very different games however that's a different discussion.
Transport Fever 2 is on this list because it fits the criteria of the video which is Creative Train Games. The video isn't about driving games, it's about train games that you are able to build a layout with. You can build track however you want, you can manipulate the terrain, you don't need to play with money enabled and it has thousands of free assets that can be downloaded. The only downside to this game looking at it as a creative train game is that trains flip and visually that's not nice.
The only game that I wish wasn't on this video is Loco which is a dead project and was left fairly broken. This is a shame but can happen with indie games.
After get used of it I really like it how the camera and other things works in EEP 16. Remember, this is German software and many Germans like it to work with much precision, what EEP 16 offers you. Regarding the camera movement are many options available with the mouse (in combination with the ctrl or shift key) and with the arrow keys too. And don't forget that you can use the mouse wheel not only to zoom in of out but also to tilt and turn the camera if you hold the cursor near the screen edges. Experiment to find all camera move possibilities and did you used the "set up camera" option in 2d view already to angle en zoom the camera very precise in the 3d view? While doing that don't forget to use the ctrl key to increase the default camera hight. EEP 16 is in fact for building model railroads on the PC, the application is not really for also building real railroads as in Trainz 2019 or Train Simulator 2021. For building model railroads EEP 16 offers mathematical precision, especially in 2d view, what can be both a layout planner and builder. Try to get used with it and find out all options there. Mention at 28:41 The hight of the road surface is by default set at 0.60 meters but you can change this value very precise in the 2d view. See there at the left working screen the hight settings at Abs H (absolute hight) and Rel H (relative hight) showing 0.60 meters. Change the start and/of end road spline point values there to the centimeter precise as you like (by example all absolute and relative hight values reset to 0.15 or 0.20) and see the different results in 3d view to find out how mathematical precise you can work in EEP16. Also mention the variable grid density in EEP 16, being far superior in relation to Trainz 2019. The default setting in EEP is 150 grid (node) points per km but you can change this value in the new layout setup screen to any grid setting you wish as you don't exceed a total grid number above the 1 million grid squares in your layout, this to keep the frame rate in EEP16 for average PC's acceptable. To many grids in a Trains 2019 layout is also there a reason that the application drops below acceptable frame rates. If you increase in a new EEP16 to create layout the default 150 grid density to 500 grid nodes per km your new layout have a grid size of 2 square meters and a maximum layout size of 1x4 km. Setting the default 150 grid density to 200 nodes per km you get the 5 square meters per grid size, being the same as the minimum grid size in Trainz 2019. With that grid size you can create in EEP16 a model layout with the maximum size of 1x25 km or 2x12.5 km or any other size you wish as long as the maximum of 1 million grids per layout is not exeeded. The i.m.o. real disadvantage in EEP 16 is that it is mainly focused on German, Austrian and Swiss layout worlds.
I just spent 30mins replying to your message and YT broke.. Oh well.
Essentially my response was this... EEP is a solid game. Honestly all the games on this list except maybe Loco which is still finding its feet are and if you enjoy it theres no reason not to carry on playing it. I did play the game after the video and the camera movements got better but the game just didn't make me want to play it enough. All I could see was it wasn't the game that I wanted to play. I don't need it to be 100% accurate... I simply want to enjoy the process of building something and EEP didn't quite do it for me. It made it to this list because it warrants being looked at and hopefully some people have found this game through the vid, bought it and are enjoying it.
You wrote, "Creative Train Games, which should you buy?" I am really sorry that I didn't understood that you give that advice more for yourself than for others. As you can read, also I am very precise, but I am not from Germany, I live 5 km west of the German border in the Netherlands. There are differences between EEP 16 and Trainz 2019, I have worked with both franchises. I consider Trainz as a hybride of a (Dovetail) Train Simulator and a virtual model railroad layout simulator what EEP 16 in fact is. And the EEP application is also fit for designing real railroad model layouts, thus just not just a train game but also a flexible designer tool. I gave some I am afraid not very usefull hints when fighting in EEP 16 with the camera. What makes EEP 16 unique relative to Trainz is that you can use the 2d overview screen (the window at the lower right in the 3d screen) to move the camera view instantly fast, easy and precise in the EEP 3d screen. For that are the press left Ctrl of Shift keys combined with right mouse clicks available. I didn't see that you tried that very easy to use method. What pressing the Ctrl key plus the right mouse click does while holding your cursor in the 2d overview screen is setting the center of 3d camera view (facing due north) to exact the position where you hold the mouse cursor in the 2d overview screen. Then, by pressing the Shift key in combination with a right mouse click, you can turn the camera view (that will stay on it's position) to the direction where you hold the mouse cursor in the 2d overview screen. This type of instantly fast camera management is unique to EEP, I have never seen this so far in other virtual railroad layout building software. There is much more to tell, but there is the PDF manual for, chapter 3 "Camera management", page 30-36. Also mention the "Set up camera" button, being the 2nd to the right in the menu bar. That is for an extreme precise camera setup when using for that the 2d overview window or the 2d main screen. When using the "set up camera" button in the 2d main screen the 3d view will instantly open to show the new camera view. Another tip I like to give is regarding the video at 26:55 You can right-click in the selected track box, to open a popup window. There you can left click the "track properties" option. That opens the track editor popup window for editing with mathematical precision many values of the selected track piece. That tool is usefull for creating exact the same track pieces as by example made by Märklin or Fleischmann. That makes of EEP 16 not just a train game but in fact also a flexible tool for designing real model railroad layouts. Finally, I have subscribed to your CZcams channel, I like to view your Trainz and Transport Fever 2 video's :)
Thank you for the sub and the tips for EEP.
I have a feeling this video really isn't meant for you. It's more meant for someone who's not played one or any of these games before and wishes to see them in action to see if it's something they might wish to play. When editing this video I had a clear choice of what to leave in and what to edit out. I could have edited out any difficulty I had with any of the games and made each one look perfect but that wouldn't have been the truth and would have made the video pretty dry to watch. This video needed to show that I'm no different to the viewer, will face the same issues that they do and if I can build something so can they. And yes of course the views of each game that I convey are my views. I'm offering my personal perspective of each one else I might as well just show a game trailer for each.
As mentioned I did play EEP for a time after the video learning more about it with the view to perhaps doing a follow up video and some of what you wrote I had already found out. If I had done this I would have gone into more depth about the different methods of building and other aspects of the game. Now... there are two reasons why I make a video. The first is that I'm really enjoying a game what ever it is and I decide to make a video about it. If this is the case I don't care what the views are. The second is that I think a game will do well for the channel. The problem with EEP after playing it for longer period was that I didn't love the game nor did I think it would bring viewers to the channel and so I left the game and moved on.
I think what makes you like this game so much though is perhaps why I don't. I enjoy to ad-hock make something out of my imagination using 3d tools slowly watching the scene being built up as I go along. I don't care about being precise and are just trying to make something look good to me. From your writing you do indeed seem to like precision and maybe EEP is the most precise out of the games. If the precision in this game brings enjoyment to you, then it's doesn't really matter the score I give it or my views. I've read many many comments from this and other videos telling me why someone likes a specific game. To be honest it just comes down to taste. We are all different and like different things.
There is no wrong answer.
Thanks for doing this. i have a love/hate relationship with Trainz (sinze the Trainz UTC days) due to FPS issues and the whole pay to faster download assets. Dont mind paying for DLC/payware but come on!
Your routes (the unknown and big build) are fantastic and detailed. i reinstalled trainz19 and will download both your routes since i enjoy UK routes and yes, i will have to buy a 7 day FCT :( to get it faster.
Trainz is still better than the others in this video hence the love/hate. Please continue the Trainz series whenever you can as i know it a looooong process to create a good route.
I think we all have a love hate relationship with Trainz. The next Big Build notepad vid will be out on Friday. On it I do a split screen both watching a train go through the city. One shot before and the other after the last game update. It hopefully will show how much smoother it was before. I'm not sure how well that's gonna show on YT after they've compressed the vid file but in places its quite pronounced when watching the main copy on my PC.
To be honest I don't mind paying for faster downloads. I'm a web designer so deal with servers and the cost of them is big. So for that I'm ok but what I don't like is how you need to subscribe for regular updates. A yearly update for a game that you can spend £50+ on is not right. I am thinking of doing a vid on the different versions of the Trainz game which will include their subscription model. The question might be... is the subscription worth it?
I'm glad you like the routes. There's another years work involved to finish The big Build. It'll get done. Whether I do another one I'm not sure. If I do it'll be small as on YT people get board and simply don't watch a lengthy series like this. So far this vid has been watched 103hrs in total and the drive to Evesham on 58hrs and thats been out longer. Most Big Build vids are allot lower. And if you're intested that means on this vid I've made a wapping £1 in ad revenue lol. Lucky I'm not doing it for the money haha.
Yeah considering how much dlc and the games cost, making you wait like 20 minutes for one asset is just really unfair
I can't wait for the next one
Excellent video, I watched this like three times and finally decided on Trainz Simulator 19. Excellent work. New Sub...
Cheers, glad the video was of use. There's plenty of other Trainz content on the channel too. Checkout the Big Build playlists where I build a large layout. There're various reveal episodes showing what Trainz can do.
Trainz = Every locomotive, rolling stock, building, or route you can think of, for free!
Train Sim = I just spent $300 on five locomotives
Yeah... I'm with you on that one.
I will add for fairness that there are sites that have free assets for Train Sim but most assets are paid for. EEP is actually better than Train Sim in this regard as at least they have an in-built downloader like Trainz and some assets in this are free but they have the smallest amount of assets in totality (paid or free) which holds them back.
Tip for the big build,if its in the 1950s build a powerstation basin with a MGR system :)
Cheers. I'll certainly take a look
Cool,do you know what a MGR system is bc i phrased it a bit too much in railway terms :P
Also just tought of it due to,simulour designs (wich the 56s were hauling)existed by the LNER.
:D
Merry-go-round.. but I don't know the asset you're thinking of. I assume it's some sort of coal unloader...there's a couple which could be used on a power plant. There is going to be a mine on the final line so a power plant might give it somewhere to go, maybe locate it in Newtown perhaps as there's a line going no-where right now that it could be added to.. That's a while away though. Thanks, you've given me some ideas
Hello@@bluewizard,its great creating inspiration for a big series and helping with build(ing) ideas :)
Also I (own map :) )
Would build a harbour
W. 2-3 farms,a dairy and a coalmine with a medium station near the harbour(knapford harbour and tidmouth XD)
Anyways its interesting writing back and fourth and I hope the Basin goes great and doesnt have to be gotten rid off(off screen)
Also just a generic coal unloader and not really a certain one. :)
Nice review 👍
Great video, used to have model trains as a kid but don't have time to setup my own system these days, finding software that can simulate that is great. Is TF2 my best option for virtually recapturing my youth regarding model trains?
Cheers. TF2 is my favourite game of the bunch and potentially the easiest to get to grips with. Is it the best game for you... it depends. All of the games will let you design an area, lay track and set trains to auto run. TF2 and Trainz have the most mods that will extend the games with extra engines, rolling tock and all kinds of scenery. TF2 and Trainz have the best graphics out of the list. Trainz has the creation aspect and then leans towards simulation allowing you to drive the trains. TF2 lets you build stuff but leans far more towards tycoon games where you can make money with the lines you create... but you can play it without money if that doesn't interest you. Personally I play TF2 as a tycoon game and make parts of the map look good. I'm playing TF2 on the channel right now on a really nice map I downloaded (a mod) called Riverland. A really nice user made map. Trainz I play purely for building and programming the trains to run around. There is a video on the front page of my channel called Geoff Goes to the Fair. This is a Trainz video. All of the vehicle movements and camera changes were programmed in using the in-game session. So the video from start to finish is programmed with no editing. I also have a playlist called "The Big Build". This is a Trainz series where I am very slowing making a fictional 1960's map. If you take a look at any of the later reveal videos (I build an area and then do a reveal vid) it'll give you an idea of the graphics for that game. Trainz is more technical and can be rewarding when it works (if it works.. oh the game crashes) but TF2 somehow is still just more fun and a game that I keep coming back to. Really it comes down to your preference.
@@bluewizard Thank you for such a detailed response. Steam just had TF2 on sale so I picked it up and will try this weekend. I was also thinking that if you use the camera view from outside of the train, it's almost like a virtual model railroad :)
Mate, i have to say that TF2 looks the best out of all these creative train games and is by far the most creative if you get into the modding scene, that is. Without mods, the vanilla game is still enjoyable but has very few assets to play with. I may be biased here because i put many hours into the game, but both visually and creatively it is MILES ahead of the other games in this list.
Now it is mainly a tycooon strategy game and not a sim, this has to be mentioned, but for people that wanna design a great looking train map and just watch a few trains go by, TF2 is the absolute king. However the mods really take this game to a new level as you can detain a map to look as realistic as possible and then just take a ride on one of your trains and enjoy your work.
I could tell you are british just from the mods you had on during the presentation :D
You can make your trains run on the left side even without mods, you just have to use waypoints to tell them which tracks to go on.
Great video! Ty for making this.
Trainz and Transport Fever are certainly the games I've spent most time with. Trainz in the looks department will never compete with the Train Sim World series but most of that is because of it has the editor. Theres no way to optimize the graphics in the same way TSW does. The game is a compromise and can't compete with TSW as a sim either. When Trainz 22 came out I drove each route on the channel. On one route the game crashed half way through. I reloaded the game, put it in editor mode, moved the train to to location where it was when the game crashed, went back to drive mode and carried on. At the end I still got top score even though technically on that run I only drive about one third of the route. Its scoring is basic because it has the editor and everything can be made in the editor including sessions (the timetables that are driven). But this video is about Creative train games and it does do that fairly well. It, Transport Fever, EEP and Train Simulator all have similar levels of editing tools but EEP is let down by the lack of train assets and it also uses an older graphics engine and Train Simulator is let down by most of its free assets have to found on the web and manually imported unlike Trainz and Transport Fever (although both can do that) plus it also uses an old game engine which won't ever really get a future update as TSW is the companies real future. Loco is no more and so you are left with Transport Fever or Trainz. The editors on both are good. Both will allow you to just build which is the criteria of this video and both have a good selection of mods but Trainz users do have to pay for access to the download station where most of its mods are stored so Transport Fever just wins out. And I'll also add that I prefer Transports Fever's business model. You pay and then you play. N3V is pushing the Trainz subscription. I see in the future a point that this game will only be playable if you have one. Not good.
Diesel Railcar SImulator is great. The map editor is really painful, i can't even place some rails without running out of patience!
The controls for the editor need changing. I chatted with the dev maybe a year ago about this but it didn't seem to be a priority. Its a shames but apart from that it is a great game.
Transport Fever 2 is great for community free assets and mods and decorating and laying things out but you can only watch them run, or put your camera in the front of the train, but I'm not sure it's possible to compare it to other games where you can control the train directly. TF2 trains, you assign them to a route and off they go and you can order them to reverse or return to depot, but you aren't driving trains.
Loco just looks horrible. Set out spaced corner pieces and let the game try to hook them together? Looked like a kid took Snap Trak and it wouldn't quite fit so they left a gap on one rail or another leaving a visible angle. Actually train lines not known for angles where the rails meet.
Locos in TS can be good, like the ones made by Caledonia Works. Only problem I have is the speed of the chuffing never seems to match the wheel rotation except on freeware locos from UKTS
Were the engines made for a previous version of the game perhaps? Miss matches happen all the time on Trainz sure to this. The locos I saw looked nice. The biggest two problems I see with the game is that they've obviously moved into TSW now so updates are likely to be superficial and they never put a free mod installer within the game. I think if you have some paid dlcs and have added a few free assets externally it can provide allot of fun. The question I really have is it the game to buy now if you are just starting out. Not sure. Truly though, playing them all, I don't think that one of them is perfect. Control issues, graphic issues, crashes. Who knows maybe one will come along that solves all this.
@@bluewizard Its the sounds mainly, using loops for different speeds. The locos are completely new models, brilliant textures and using the railworks enhancer and Armstrong Powerhouse weather pack improves the game a lot. And a lot of people play TS because they've been playing it since it first came out, as well as using it for CZcams series. Yes there are crashes etc, the game engine is the same but people just cope with it. One of the best routes I've seen is the Dyffryn Llechi Light Railway by TrolleyFodder. I think its the fact you can pack a lot of detail into routes and locos if you put the time and effort into it.
@@bluewizard And people rely on third party DLC a lot, as content creators seem to be better than DTG themselves.
I absolutely agree. If you own the game and already have DLC's why not keep playing. Yep it's an older game but if you enjoy it play it.
I know with Trainz there are ways of changing the train sound. Is there a way of doing that on Train Sim?
Trainz, EEP and Transport Fever are the same. There's more content from external creators than from the devs themselves. Transport Fever2 has over 4000 free mods for the games. For a game only 1yr old thats tremendous.
Something to note about EEP, you have a massive onlineshop with MANY, like, MANY more assets you can purchase.
There is also a community created catalogue of all the free downloads that are available on various websites of different people who have made them.
Significantly more content is available than just what you see on Steam.
As for graphics, the problem is that even now, a lot of the stock assets are old, like, really, really old. Some of the people you placed were still from EEP 6 which is at least 10 years old at that point, possibly older. At some point, they did remove a lot of the old assets and added a few new ones in, but as you can see, there's still really old assets around and they haven't really made up for the lack of assets in other places. A lot needs to be compensated using paid assets, though as these are all also mostly user created from various different authors, the quality between them can still vary a lot.
Or if you don't mind old assets, there is a free download to bring all the decade old assets back.
EEP does have an online shop and free mods you can download but the problem is that so do Trainz and Train Simulator. And Transport Fever likely has the largest amount of free mods for all of the games listed. Theres a vast amount been made for that game. So none of these games are unique in that respect. Transport Fever and Trainz in my view do free mods best as you can get them all from one place where as EEP and Train Simulator you have to hunt around websites for them. EEP is certainly better than Train Simulator in this respect but there are still only a small amount of free assets you can download from their store or within the game.
When I talk about graphics though I'm not talking about the assets as such, I'm talking more about the game engine. EEP, Trainz and Train Simulator are all about the same age. Each have had updates and new versions through the years but they were all first created around the same time. The companies behind Train Simulator and Trainz a few years back though both saw that the game engines they were running needed updating. Trainz crowd funded and brought out TANE which was backward compatible but ran a totally new engine and Dovetale the devs behind Train Simulator decided to leave that game but instead bring out a totally new game Train Sim World. In retrospect that wasn't a bad move as they still managed to keep selling Train Simulator even though it ran an old game engine but now were also able to sell their new game(s). You could argue which company made the better decision but the point is they did something where as I don't think the company behind EEP did. EEP doesn't look bad but the graphics don't have the realism that Trainz or Train Sim World does because of its aging game engine. The issue will be the cost of updating it though. Our hobby is a very niche hobby and not enough people buy these games meaning the companies behind them have to really think about when and if to large updates.
And with the assets themselves its not how they look so much but more that they methods the older assets would have been made by will not be a refined as the new assets which will slow down the games. EEP and Trainz in my opinion should remove the compatibility for the older mods all together. Yep... this removes allot of usable assets but this would also mean they could remove the functions within the game that makes the older assets work. This would vastly help the games run better and Trainz really needs help in this respect. But the likely hood of that happening is extremely low. When Trainz 22 came out I decided to do a search for a number or types of assets on their Download Station but refining the search to Tane version (new game engine) of the game and later. So no assets older than that. There are remarkably few. I don't know EEP as well but I have a feeling the issue would be the same there. There are still people playing and making mods for train games. As I said Transport Fever 2 has thousands. And these mods are all being made now. These aren't old mods that still work on the game. They are all made for TF2. So there are people making train mods. The issue is the people making them don't wish to play these older titles and so mods aren't being made as much for them. It's a spiralling issue that both Trainz and EEP have to deal with quickly else in a few years time neither will be here any longer.
@@bluewizard Fair, fair. The problem with EEP is that over time, people accumulate a lot of assets. They did do a complete engine upgrade at one point with EEP 7. All old EEP 6 models that one may had were incompatible with the newer game, which a lot of people weren't too happy about. Pick the game that looks n runs better and has better features, or go with the one that you've already spent years accumulating a lot of assets for. Nowadays this isn't as big of a problem anymore as it has been around for long enough that nearly everything you used to have back then has a modern alternative, but I do know that there's still a small dedicated group of people making assets for EEP 6 and still playing on EEP 6. Back then, that was also the reason that they offered a model converter (for a price of course) to convert old assets to the new format, but individual mod authors could disagree and so some assets could not be converted.
Thinking about it, I'm actually surprised EEP is holding up as well as it does. Proper games appealing to a larger crowd, like Transport Fever 2, let you create and share mods for free. EEP on the other hand requires you to purchase a tool with which you can actually convert and setup models to be used. The assets themselves that you buy are in a locked format that you can't edit or extract (or at least I don't know anyone who has attempted to open these) and all the items you buy on the shop are locked specifically to your registration number, meaning that whatever you buy on the store will only work for you but if you were to share these files with other people, it wouldn't actually work. They set themselves up in a way that every user heavily depends on the store and heavily monetize their own tools and later games. That and just the fact that it is super niche in general. Usually the people who know about it and play it are Germans who either have an actual model railway, had one in the past or have been wanting to have one.
Is also why I was looking around for other games / software. I do love the sandbox nature of EEP a lot also because you can do car traffic (which interests me more) and you can set up automation in what ever way you want, so I was curious about other games that might offer something similar to that.
One of the reasons I started playing Trainz was the fact that it had the download station. Like Transport Fever on the face of it there is a large selection of mods available. You have to pay for access to the download station but after that there's a large selection to download. Trains, scenery routes, sessions. There quite a bit and in theory it's great.
I stopped playing games for a very long time but the first real game that got me back into playing was Train Fever. It was a fun game and I enjoyed the route making. I then stumbled across Trainz and a few others including EEP and ended up buying Tane. I was amazed how I could program the engines in a very simple way using a drag and drop system. When I saw I could program a loco to unhook from its carriages, go to a turn table, turn around, hook onto the other end of the loco and off it went all automatically I was hooked (pun intended). I started building routes and creating sessions and enjoyed playing. In that respect Trainz is an excellent game but Trainz does have its issues. It tries to be too many things and please too many people. It wishes to be a creative game but the more you play you see that it falls down here. The tools aren't bad but could certainly be better. Its only now getting a tilt options for instance. It also tries to be simulator and that side of the game is terrible. I play a £15 game called Diesel Railcar Sim and its in cab controls and gameplay is leagues better. Unlike Trainz where your options are easy or hard controls and there is no end points gain for using the harder level DRS has a plethora of options and bonuses for using less helpers. And theres the graphics, on the sim side it has to go up against Train Sim World 1/2 and it can't. TSW is built just as a sim and is far more optimised because of it. I recently put a vid of both on my Steam Deck. One plays and one doesn't. I think you can guess which way round it is.
I think the scope of EEP is far smaller than Trainz. It doesn't try to be all the things that Trainz does and that a good thing but it is also noticeable straight away and like you say that it is fairly locked down. I didn't know you had to buy a tool to make mods compatible with it and that's really not going to help with its growth. Trainz doesn't do this and you can use mostly any tool. The issue with Trainz though as I said previously the more you look at its mods the more you notice how old most of them actually are. Younger players don't seem to be playing it as much. It also has the same issue that you mention that users vocally aren't happy if there is any suggestion that their old mods won't play on a new version of the game. Honestly my view is that they theres no reasons why players can't play their old mods on their old version of the game and let new mods be created for new versions. The reason why Transport Fever plays so well is that on each of its 3 versions modding has been different. They gave clear instructions how to upgrade old mods so they could work on the newer games but out of the box old mods wouldn't work. And this in my view is how to do it.
But the biggest issue I have with Trainz is its business practice. They have membership plans and in theory thats fine. There are multiple levels. You can either buy the game and then effectively rent the routes to drive with one plan or you can rent the game and routes all together in another. I get my pleasure from building things and have no need to rent the routes so I simply buy the game and then buy access to the download station. But here's my gripe. They treat people who buy the game as second class citizens compared to people that take out a membership. Last year I saw an issue in the game and reported it. I got a message a couple of weeks later that the issue was fixed. People with a membership got the fix straight away but people who bought it had to wait for the service pack update that places all the fixes in one download. This was months later. They are now favouring memberships over sales too much and frankly I don't like this practice. In the end I think this will hurt them and back fire but memberships are a trend right now and so they're just following a trend.
There is no perfect creative game out there. I think on this vid I rated Transport Fever highest and part of that is they look like a company genuinely trying to create a good game and not rip people off. Trainz is a good game and 19 can be pickup pretty cheaply now as 22 is very nearly out on full release. EEP also has a new release. I'm not sure I will buy it as their promo vid hasn't shown me anything new. Rolling Line is actually becoming a great game and now has a small level of automation. Its not on this vid but well worth a look.
@@bluewizard Oh I didn't even know Trainz had membership stuff.
Transport Fever doesn't just look like a game where the developers genuinely care to make it a good experience, but also it's the most "game" out of most of these I feel like. Compared to EEP, it's purely a sandbox. There's no economy, no challenges, no missions to play, just a few stock maps to watch usually without manual input.
Also, Home-Nostruktor is the program required to create assets for EEP. You can model them in whatever program you want, like you can create a model using Blender and texture it like normal, but to get it all setup for use in EEP, you need Home-Nostruktor, and each version of EEP has its own version of Home-Nostruktor, so if EEP gets a new release, then Home-Nostruktor also gets a new release and it costs 30 bucks if you buy it without owning a previous version.
I generally do like EEP, but if they ever decide it's not worth it anymore and take the store offline, I don't know if you would even be able to really reinstall the game since you can't register it again, since that usually also requires connecting to the store.
Rolling Line seems neat especially because I do have VR and could play it in VR but I actually tend to be bit more interested in seeing car traffic or combined traffic rather than just trains so I fall into the niche of the niche being interested mainly in a different type of transportation than most.
Interesting. I use Trainz19 and EEP16, and personally, find EEP much better. I have more trouble with the camera controls in Trains, but I guess it depends on which you're most used to. The best thing about EEP is the use of the Lua programming language. This lets me set up complete automatic control of pretty much everything using fairly simple subroutines. I have fully automated traffic junctions, pedestrian crossings, rote and block functionality of all trains (and often road vehicles and boats....even people and animals). It is this aspect that adds a complete new dimension to the game (but I love programming, so maybe that is why). I find the AI in Trains to be very hot and miss, with trains often trying to drive backwards to the next location for no apparent reason.
I think with the controls you are right, it's pretty much what you are used to. After filming I found the right Alt changes the behaviour of the arrow keys. Press that once then the up and down arrow keys won't affect height. Before I was always holding the right ctrl key whilst moving which felt less comfortable. The speed of the movement still feels too slow though. I do think the game should have key binding but I think that about all keyboard based games as left handed and right handed people need different things. For such as mature game it's an interesting move not adding this in.
I hadn't looked at the automatisation within EEP although it was fairly obvious it had it. I did notice the LUI script editor screen but hadn't put two and two together. I'd thought there might have been a GUI method of doing this. I've just taken a very quick look at the fire LUI tutorial. The language seems simple enough. A very simple function which loops around.
I do have a question about the asset search. I dunno if you might know the answer. I searched for steam locos under rolling stock > Railway > Standard > Locos > steam and excluding the depreciated models there are 3. I then did a search using the UMS search and found an A4 Mallard. The UMS search seems to bring up everything from the game and their shop. The A4 was free so I added it to the map. I assumed that I had downloaded it when selecting it and it would then show in the local search but it doesn't. There is also a user definable categories within the local search so I thought I might be able to add it in there but also cannot see a way of doing this. And so finally at the bottom of the rolling stock menu I checked the Search Model checkbox where every local asset seems toshow but it still doesn't show. Do you know if there is a way of getting it to show on the local search in some capacity? If you right click the engine and look at its properties there's no visible way.
And Trainz.. locos will always take the fastest route to a destination. If going backwards is the fastest way it'll do that. The way to stop this is to use the VIA command. Add in one or two markers that are along the route you want a loco to take, name them so you know what and where they are and then add them into the session using the Drive Via or Navigate Via commands. I use these all the time to force locos where I want them. The game gets confused otherwise.
@@bluewizard The searching within EEP isn't particularly intuitive (or even very helpful) - must admit that I don't really use it much, I tend to just browse the available objects when in edit mode, after selecting the particular sub category.
Regarding your download - did you use the Install Model and Scan Model from the main menu after downloading? If not then it won't be installed to the game database (the model scan can take quite a while, depending on how many assets you have (it rescans all assets to rebuild the database) - installed assets can be used without scanning, but they will only appear in the 'New Models' category and I don't think they will appear in a search. Once scanned, then they are moved from the New Models category to the correct one (e.g. Steam Locomotive).
Ah... @TheSpeegy that might be it. I haven't rescanned. Although it's not apearing in the New Models either. The only place it shows is the UMS search. I'll try that and hopefully that's it, thanks.
@@bluewizard Looked into this a little more - I already had the A4 Mallard installed, but it didn't show up under rolling stock > Railway > Standard > Locos > steam - which seemed odd. I looked at the in file for this model (which is called LNER_A4_Mallard.ini) - this shows that the model has 'Deprecated = 1'. When I switched off 'hide deprecated models' under the filter in the search categories window, it suddenly appeared (along with a whole load of others) that I thought had long gone. See if that helps.
By the way, really enjoy watching your Trainz builds...sometimes it even inspires me to go back to giving Trainz19 (or even TAME) another look.
Cheers for looking into it further. I scanned the models twice and checked the box to view depreciated models but it still doesn't show. Like you I'm looking under rolling stock > Railway > Standard > Locos > steam. More stuff show when enable depreciated stuff but not the Mallard. Might have a look at it's ini file when I get time. Good to know it's meant to and does for you. Likely means the issue is on my install some how.
And thanks... glad you enjoy the Big Build stuff. Trainz can be a frustrating game. Latest issue... revision numbers but when it's working it can be very rewarding seeing the results of a build. Next vid on Friday :-)
13.30 Coming from Trainz I kept fighting the track editor a few ours until I unistalled it for that reason. No idea why they made it so complicated...
I don't know much about Train Simulator but what it felt like was that the controls had been put in over time. They didn't feel like the gelled together that well. I'm sure if I had continued to practice I would have got better but I never felt I wanted to. There didn't feel a compelling reason to play it. I haven't touched the game since this vid. So I fully understand why you uninstalled it.
Love your videos bro
Cheers buddy
well you missed TSW (so thats your zero score) other than that pretty much agree -- -Yep Trainz 19 is a fps guzzler but the setup of backward compatability and its gfx more than make up for it .. Its odd though that Trainz/Auren have always been masters of releasing routes/final products that dont make full use of the capabilities.. I dont think they even know how there own environment lighting works.
TSW didn't meet the criteria (you can't create your own route... unless there's a map editor mod that I don't know of). The one I regretted not adding was Rolling line so did a separate vid for that in the end. There are two camps of thought with backward compatibility. More content/ assets against more FPS. I lean towards the FPS. Transport Fever is on it's 3rd version. They offered clear instructions how to update assets to the new games each time and because of that there's no need for backwards compatibility. They have thousands upon thousands of mods so it obviously works for them. Done correctly and thoughtfully Auren could do the same thing. That said I fully understand why they won't as it's far too much of a risk. Less content up front in their eyes will mean less sales. It's interesting how Dovetail and Auren approach their new games. Dovetail chose to keep putting out tiny updates for their Train Simulator game so they still have a current (not really) train building game with backwards compatibility. They then wrote a completely new name without the building and backwards functionality which allowed them to have a more realistic looking sim game. Auren on the other hand chose to stick with and keep updating Trainz. Very interesting to watch them both. My advice when asked if you just want to drive choose TWS, if you want to build choose Trainz, but if you just want to smile, then Transport Fever is the game.
diesel railcar simulator is great Transport Fever 2 is great to how ever i however i wish it had night view
There's a mod for TF2 that adds night mode. No idea how well it works. Screenshots look good.
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1928662384
I really want to invest in Trainz22 but I must say outside of Approach Medium and K&L, I see surprisingly little new content about the game itself here on YT. The difference I've noticed is search TS or TSW and a plethora of videos come up nearly daily. Trainz...not as much. Not that that, in and of itself, detours me from going headlong into investing in 22 but just something I've noticed. The route building aspect is why I am into these sims though I haven't looked into TF much, but from what I have seen, it's more of a game than a sim and that's not really my cup of tea.
As much as I tried to make sure it wasn't unless you're talking about pure numbers, a review will always be subjective. The reality is that everyone will want something different and what game you should choose if any will depend on what you want it to do. For pure building both Trainz and Transport Fever are excellent choices with many scenery mods to play with but if you put aside the building aspect both games go in different directions. Trainz leans towards being a simulator and TF2 is a great tycoon game. So if its important for you that it not only looks great but (looks like) it works like a real railway then Trainz would be your better choice.
Trainz 19 and 22 are essentially the same game. They basically stopped working on 19, and then brought out 22 which is the Platinum version of 19 and then carried on working on it. If you buy the new game you get some new routes included but other than that it looks and feels like 19. The new route editor is only included at present if you rent the game. If you buy you only get the "classic" surveyor tool that comes with all previous games.
As for coverage. Most people covering train games wish to drive the train. And Trainz in my opinion isn't a good simulator. The controls are horrible and because you have the surveyor tool the means you are marked is very basic. I did a video at launch where I was driving and the game crashed half way through. I put the game into surveyor mode, moved the train to point where the game crashed, back into play mode and carried on. I got a full score.
My issues with Trainz though isn't the game itself. The game is an excellent model railway game no matter the version you buy. My issue is with the company itself as they seem to treat people who buy the game as second class citizens. Im fine with them renting the game out and the subscription options they offer. But the basics such as game fixes should be given to everyone at the same time and they aren't. People who subscribe get them as soon as they are released but people who buy have to wait for a service update which puts all the updates into a single patch. This update can take months. A few years back I reported a game issue that they created when releasing a service update. They quickly reported back it was fixed and indeed subscribers did then have the fix but as I bought the game I had to wait 6-7 months for the next service update to get the fix. This is why you don't see me doing very many videos any longer. I don't really feel comfortable advertising this game any more.
@@bluewizard I appreciate the feedback. I am currently invested in TS to the tune of hundreds of dollars and in terms of route building I have been mostly pleased if not for the lack of useful assets. If DTG would take a Trainz approach to allow community access without jumping thru hoops, the sim would be nearly perfect. DTG finally unthrottled PhysX in a massive core update which has substantially improved the overall performance of the sim. My beef with TS is that I have had many occasions in which I have had to buy an entire route that I will never play only because there are new assets, buildings, cars, ect. that I needed for the route I am building. Back in the early 2010's I started with Trainz and made a fair number of assets for my own use. A few I even uploaded to the Download Station. At that time, I only had a 750Ti which was simply not enough card for what I wanted to do in surveyor, thus I became frustrated and went to DTG. I have since, upgraded substantially in the computer department which has made me consider Trainz again.
But as you say, each game has it's advantages and disadvantages. The entire "rental" aspect for the use of surveyor 2.0 is certainly a draw back. I will continue to be diligent in researching before investing. Again, I appreciate your feedback. Certainly food for thought.
Not sure if it is totally relevant but I think the sparse YT presence could in part be due to the robust forum that is hosted by Trainz. If you have anything to say about Trainz, the good, bad or ugly, it is the place to go.
As for which sim to use, I agree with Bluewizard, it mostly depends on what you intend to do with it. If it is purely driving existing routes, TS or TSW is probably the better choice. but if you want to deviate from the predefined script to go exploring, it might not be such a good choice.
If you lean more towards building your own world, either from scratch or by continuing someone else's route, Trainz with its first class Surveyor is the way to go. Plus building your own objects is not that hard if you have a basic skill in 3D modelling. And while many of those models that have been shared on the Down Load Station might not be top notch, they are free. Some creators have gone into Payware where quality is expected and generally delivered for a modest price.
Great video thanks for sharing 👍🏻 The only game I played somewhat related with the trains are mini metro on android. I loved its simplicity and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm pretty noob to this train-gaming universe. What do you recommend me who has no experience? I'm looking for just fun and have a good time not want to get lost in extremely realistic simulation.
Glad you liked the video. The easiest game on the list to get started with would be Loco. Place some track and some assets and you can play with your creation. Its very simple to use. The game is early access though and is very limited and raw. But because it has limited functionality it is simple to play. For me it's one for the future. My favourite on this list is Transport Fever 2. It's less easy to get started with than Loco but has alot more content and many many free mods such as engines and scenery. Once you get the hang of it you can loose many hours playing. Not on this list you could check out Rolling Line. I have another video on the channel looking at it. It is fun to play but not great for video. It started out as a VR only game but now can be played on a desktop with mouse anf keyboard. It also now has a fair few mods that adds extra content and is worth a look. But if you want real simplicity then have a look at Model Rail Easily. I don't like it on PC as it's a glorified Android game. On Android though playing for a few minutes here and there it's worth a look. The other thing to look at on PC is what specs you need to play the game. Make sure your PC meets the min stated specs before buying. Transport Fever will need a dedicated GPU but the rest I mentioned should be fine on an integrated GPU.
Wow thanks a lot for detailed answer. I'll take notice your advices and that'll will help my first steps into this genre. Thanks again your kindness. Greetings and love from Turkey 🇹🇷✌🏻
Train simulator 2021/2022/Classic
Sorry Im super late, but nice! Also how is the gtx 1080? I have a 3050
The 1080 plays most things. Trainz is likely the hardest game on the gpu that I play and it plays at medium to high settings. I think the best way to compare both cards is to look at the webpage comparison
gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-3050-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1080/4127vs3603
@@bluewizard I got the acer nitro 5, with the fairly decent rtx 3050, plays trainz 19, with draw distance at low, shadows at low, shaders at ultra, anda mix of low and high for the rest, even with bigger routes!
Nice
@@bluewizard also again, thanks for all your help in the past!
@@bluewizard found the comment lol
I'd like to make a fairly accurate model of my city and add in a modern metro system... Any thoughts for the best game for that?
I'm leaning toward Trainz or Transport Fever 2, but not set yet. (I don't fully understand what one gets with Trainz22 without a subscription...)
Do any of them let you get into the weeds on things like Spanish-solution platforms? Do any of them permit underground sections of track?
Trainz is likely the best game to do this with. It's the game most likely to have enough features for you to be able to build the most accurate representation. It has add-ons that would allow you to place images (From Google maps for instance) as the ground so you can build on top. There are mods to do that and I've not really used them so I would advise to head to the Trainz forums as there would be people who could help you.
Both transport fever 2 and Trainz (latest version is now Trainz 22) allow you to build underground. Transport Fever build tools are easier to use and tunnels are far easier to create but you would again likely build better more accurate tunnels using Trainz. I've not built underground metros on either game and I'm not sure what tunnel mods there would be. There are some old London underground tunnel mods I came accross on Trainz but I'm not sure what underground stations there are as I've not looked. There is a basic underground station on Transport Fever 2 but I think it is quite basic.
As for underground metro rolling stock... I'm not sure about this on either game either. You would need to check the download station on Trainz and the workshop on Transport Fever to see is either has the trains you want to use. The Trainz download station is like the Steam workshop where you can download mods.
As for Trainz subscriptions. N3V is highly marketing their subscriptions. They have 2 subscriptions at present. The first lets you rent the game and gives you access to the download station (where you download mods and other free user made assets). It also gives you early access to new builds of the game including a new version of their route/ map editor (i have videos on this). The second gives you that plus access to a large selection of routes to drive (a route is a map and a session is the time table you are currently driving).
If you were to buy the game and not subscribe you would get the game plus 5 routes. You would not have access to the download station (you do but the download speed is so slow its not usable). To get propper access to this you would need to purchase a "Download Ticket". These come in various lengths from a single day up to a year. You could in theory buy a days access and spend the whole day downloading assets. Once you have them they remain on your pc and are free to use for ever.
To build your own route (the route is the map) you can use assets that come with the base game and from any other installed route. You can also download mods/ assets from the download station. If you plan to let others download your route and use it then do not use assets from other routes as other players might not have access to these routes (and their assets) or may not have all the base game routes installed (and so won't have the assets). So if you want to share the route only use assets from the base game and the download station. If you dont plan on sharing the route you can use any asset you have access to.
Both Transport Fever 2 and Trainz 22 are good games. Neither will have every asset you need (buildings). You will be able to build something simular but likely not completely accurate so do bare this in mind. Unless you have the skill to make you own assets of course. Both games will allow you to make your own. Trainz will take a while to learn. Its not pick up and play. TF2 is easier.
Hope thie info helps.
Trainz is the best guys
take it from me
I'm over a year late to the party, I'd say your thoughts pretty much echo my own with regards to the games I have played. One thing I am surprised about though is that I recently purchased Loco and it doesn't seem anything like what you show here. I cannot work out how to fuel the loco for a start, whereas you just seem to jump in and go, is it possible that there are 2 games with the same name or simply that they have changed so much in the past year?
My highest ranking video content is Transport fever/TpF2, even though it's been a long time since I played, anyone who loves trains, but discounts it because you cannot do the driving yourself, does themselves a disservice if they have any interest in the building side at all.
Yep there are indeed 2 games called Loco. This one was the original and was called Loco Railroad but I'm afraid is no more. They're still selling it but there hasn't been an update is nearly a year. It had potential but I have a feeling the dev I was learning to program and took it as far as he could. Don't buy it.
The game I think you purchased is just called Loco and has only just came out. It is very very early access. I covered it recently on the channel czcams.com/video/NZNfgZodPf4/video.html. It's mostly playable and made by a couple of devs. I don't recall needing actual fuel. You just need to find the fuelling input spot (changes on each loco) and mouse click it to fuel it. I think you have to water the loco also. Honestly forgotten as it's been a month since I played and it might also have changed.
Transport Fever 2 is an excellent game and the devs also come across really well. They come across as loving what they do and have a passion for the game. Trainz on the other hand, although is a game I enjoy is a game that I find it hard to recommend. Trainz 22 recently came out, I bought it and covered it. As far as I can see it is Trainz 19 with a few accumulative updates. It comes across as a money grab and thats a shame.
@@bluewizard I own T:ANE and Trainz 19, but I have avoided 22 simply because if limited playtime on the former two, plus it does feel like they are following the Dovetail model of selling updates as new games with very little extra substance. Much like EA SPORTS now I think about it 😆
They and Dovetale are in a similar business but Trainz takes subscriptions to a whole new level. Not a business practice I like
Thanks for the video. Are there any of these programs that allow you to control individual trains on the same track, setting individual speeds and such without stopping the train that is not being selected?
Trainz allows you to control multiple trains at the same time (any version) . You can either click on the train or the driver to select it and do what you wish. If you click away from a train it will just continue at the speed you set. You can also program multiple locos to do things or program a few trains to do things and control multiple other trains. Programming trains uses a visual system. No coding is required.
It's been a while since I've used Train simulator and eep but I seem you remember you can control multiple locos on these also. Eep has a method to program locos also but this uses a basic programming language and world be more difficult to learn than Trainz. Loco hasn't been updated in a couple of years now. They did get to a point you could control multiple trains but it has issues and I don't recommend it.
Another game to look at is Rolling Line. I have videos on the channel and a map uploaded to Steam. It now has a basic method to automate trains and you can also control multiple trains at the same time.
So.... Yep there are a few games that can do this 👍
@@bluewizard Thanks for your reply. Actually, I was interested primarily in a MODEL train program (desktop layout) that would allow me to run multiple engines on the same track while still selectively controlling their speeds, switching, etc., independently. With those abilities, I could sidetrack a slow moving freight off the mainline temporarily while a passenger speeded by. I know Rolling Line allows you to control multiple engines, but can they be on the same track? Thanks!
Yes, Rolling line is the nearest game that can do this. You hold a controller that you point to the engine to select it and control it. Multiple trains can indeed be on the same line. As for changing points for a train you can either click on the point to change it, let a loco through and change it again so the next loco goes a different way or you can set up a (I'm not sure what this is called) track points controller for an area of track. You can then use this to more easily change points as desired.
Trainz and I'm fairly sure eep could also do this. In Trainz you would use the free cam to position yourself above the train board you've created. A picture of the current selected driver for the loco you are currently controlling would be positioned bottom left. If you click on the picture all the drivers for all locos show. Selecting a different driver selects a different train. Once selected you have it under your control. Multiple trains can run on the same bit of track. Or as I said previously you can click on a loco directly to take control of it. Trainz origins are as a model railway SIM and not a driving SIM. They sell it as a driving SIM theses days but you can still use it as a model railway SIM if desired. Even so I would still go with Rolling Line out if the two. It only tries to be a model railway game unlike Trainz that tries to be everything to everyone and doesn't quite hit the mark on any front.
@@bluewizard Again, much thanks! I will go ahead a get ROLLING LINE. I may also pick up TRANZ at some point. I do have TRAIN SIM that's about 8 years old, but it doesn't lend itself to what I'd like to do and joining track sections in that sim can be very difficult. Again... much thanks and I will look forward to your future CZcams offerings.
Rolling Line is a great game and you should enjoy it.
I have a map on the workshop you can download. It shows off the new automation options but can certainly be played manually.
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2788564328&searchtext=my+trainset
Theres also a whole series showing it being built
czcams.com/video/nkCjFTBofag/video.html
The final episode if a full reveal showing off its features.
Have fun :-)
All of them
Do you have a list of your Transport Fever Mods? looking for 1930-1950s era stuff
Heres the list from my last series.
steamcommunity.com/id/Bluewizardplays/myworkshopfiles/?appid=1066780&sort=score&browsefilter=myfavorites&view=imagewall
You might be better jut searching the workshop though. Try searching for LMS, GWR, and UK. Loads come up.
I own Train Simulator 2021 and I love it and I want to get Trainz Simulator 2019, but it’s so expensive which is really disappointing
It looks to slightly cheaper on the trainz website than Steam but there are sales in both every couple of months so bookmark the page and keep checking back
store.trainzportal.com/pages/trainz-railroad-simulator-2019
@@bluewizard thanks, this is gonna really help
Ok I have ts, trainz 22 transport fever, exetara, but trainz has the best library cause of mods and freeware, transport fever is fun but trains are pretty low quality honestly, train sim just sucks
Most people would be happy with Trainz or Transport Fever. Which one comes top will always be down to personal preference. And I know others will like the other games also which is also fine. I tend to mark Trainz down though due to the age of allot of their assets. New assets are being made but allot are old. When I did my last series I needed to go back as far as Trainz 12 to find assets that fitted with the layout and that can only hurt the games performance. Transport Fever assets were made for that version of the game and there are also allot of them. You are completely right though the detail of the rolling stock is far greater in Trainz. Some excellent work by the mod makers.
Which ones are free?
none
i fine trainz is the best i do have most train sims
Any of these simulator allows interconnects with other players and their tracks ? or connect with train controller games ? (I don't know if this kind of world train simulator exist.
The closest I can think of is Trainz has multiplayer building support so multiple people can help to build a single map at the same time. I'd suggest to visit their site forum for more info and chat with other players to see how well that works as I've not tried it. The latest version of the game as if writing this is Trainz 22 platinum.
@@bluewizard searching a little, I find simrail that has this approach.
As far as I understand you can't build or edit the maps on Simrail. It does have multiplayer which I believe you can drive or work the signals on.
If you're looking for a multiplayer experience where you actually do jobs Railroader might be something worth looking at. I have many solo player videos on the channel. It's not really a train driving SIM but more of a railway SIM with driving
Have you heard about the game "rolling line" i think you might like it.
One step ahead of you lol
czcams.com/video/6h5iV_VRhW4/video.html
The dev even re-tweeted my link to the vid :-)
i Thought this vide o was uploaded like 2015? but its 2021 lmao
Trainz and eep first came out around 10 years ago so I could of done a video for this then.
model railway worth your money is the thumb nail, BUT
these are more real life railway sims!!! not model railway sims.
"Rolling Line" is what i would call model railway sim.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I disagree though as you can do whatever you like with the games listed. Each has an editor which allows you to build anything you like. If you only wish to think of some of these games as "real life Sims", that's fine but others will use these games for other things such as building model railways. Trainz is also extensively used by creators to make Thomas the tank engine videos which shows its versatility. The beauty of these games is they can all be played in different ways and this video just highlights one of them.
Is not the same type of game but where you put "Rolling Line" in your review ???
I actually have a vid on the game here which follows the same formula:
czcams.com/video/6h5iV_VRhW4/video.html
There's no score on the vid but it would rank maybe third. It's a highly stylized game with simple graphics which in non VR mode can be played on a humble machine. It has set length pieces of track which in my view is normally a negative as it limits what you can build, but the build system has been optimised and has a bit of track that can auto connect most spaces which redeems it in the most part. My only small gripe is that you need to go back and forth to the draws to pick up the different assets. In VR mode this make sense as it mimics being in a real room but in desktop mode it just slows down the building. It's a small thing though. Overall it's a great game which isn't quite on the same level as TF2 & Trainz but is still fun to play.
Where did u get the black 14xx from at 1:40
Download station. It's depreciated though and may not now come up on searches. If you download my route "the simple route" (user unknownplays) it should download it if you can't find it.
@@bluewizard ok thx
RRT 3
Railroad Tycoon 3. £7.50 on Gog. Playable on nearly anything because of it's age. Not sure if it fits this list though as I believe you have to play with cash. Nice suggestion though
None of the above; Run8.
Run8 doesn't (I believe) have a route editor or creation tools and so cannot be part of this list.
Why is duck in the thumbnail?
Because... Thomas wasn't available 😉
surprised you down have trainz12 in the list
If I did that I would also need to include previous versions of EEP and Transport Fever. Adding older versions of the same game wouldn't add anything to the video except for the length
@@bluewizard well trainz 12 and new era have multiplayer support
Trainz 19 has multiplayer
@@bluewizard really doesn't show it on steam says it's singleplayer sigh 😔 ok ill have to save and get it
22 is coming out in Jan. 19s price should come down then
Transport fever 2 is the only good game on this list
they don't design good railroading games anymore. all just big nonsense sandboxes with the exception of TPF2 which is just massive random generator game with totally left hand designed economy. railroad tycoon 2 & 3 are still the only actually good games in the railroading scene.
I'm not entirely sure I agree with that. Certainly this set of games is nothing like The Railroad Tycoon games. As the video suggests these are games for those who want to play creative games. If you don't like this type of game thats fine, theres certainly modern railway tycoon games out there though. There's open TTD which is heavily influenced from Railroad Tycoons. Simutrans is another. Theres Mashinky, Railway Empire, The Transport Fever series, Railroad Corrporation. There's smaller games such as Cargo Company, Sweet Transit, Transports just to name a few. There's upcoming games such as Art of Rail and Metroland. None of these games will be copies of the Railway Tycoon games and thats a good thing as each wants to be unique. Whether they all manage to be good games is another thing but modern Rail tycoon games do exist. Maybe I'll do a video on Train Tycoon games like this one at some point. Maybe.
@@bluewizard Thanks for well thought response. Many of these names were unknown to me, I think I will look into these games if they are worth putting money into.
Run8 is the best train sim by far, cope
Good for you for having an opinion. Shame you didn't watch the video as you would have known it's not valid for this video