Train Sim World 5 - a game for those in love with the railroad

My love affair with train simulations started with Microsoft Train Simulator, which was released in 2001. More than 20 years later, I'm playing a direct descendant of the same game, Train Sim World 5 by Dovetail Games.

From Microsoft Train Simulator to Train Sim World 5

It so happened that Microsoft did not want to continue the Microsoft Train Simulator series. At the time, all the attention of the company's gaming division was focused on the new Xbox console, and what other trains there were... Well, they tried, even twice. Microsoft Train Simulator 2 was first announced in 2003 and closed in 2004, announced for the second time in 2007, and ceased to exist in 2009. In the latter case, it led to the closure of Aces Game Studio, which had been working on the Microsoft Flight Simulator series for many years.

But the authors of the original Microsoft Train Simulator, the British studio Kuju Entertainment, despite its Japaneseized name, turned to Electronic Arts and released an almost sequel called Rail Simulator (2007). After the project was completed, the studio was going to disband the team working on the simulator, but some of the developers, with the support of an investment fund, created a new studio, Rail Simulator Developments, which began supporting and releasing DLC for Rail Simulator.

After several major updates, the name of the game was changed to RailWorks (2009) aka Rail Simulator 2: RailWorks. In 2012, RailWorks 3: Train Simulator 2012 was released, and in 2015, after another update, the name was changed to simply Train Simulator. Back in 2013, Rail Simulator Developments was renamed Dovetail Games. By the way, RailWorks/Train Simulator is still alive and supported by the studio. The latest version, Train Simulator Classic 2024, was updated on October 8, 2024 (the original release took place in 2009), and there are 864 (!!!) add-ons to the game with a total value of more than 250 thousand hryvnias!

The latest iteration of railroad simulators from Dovetail Games was released in 2017. The Train Sim World series, unlike RailWorks/Train Simulator, paved the way for consoles and began with the experiment game Train Sim World: CSX Heavy Haul, with new graphics that PCs were struggling to pull off at the time, and with only one route and train - a powerful AC4400CW diesel locomotive and a 100-km section of the Sand Patch Grade on the East Coast of the United States. Now that game exists as DLC to the Train Sim World games.

Yes, an interesting feature of Dovetail Games is that add-ons to previous parts are compatible with subsequent parts. So if you bought, for example, Train Sim World 3 (2022), Train Sim World 4 (2023) or Train Sim World 5 (2024), you will get all the routes and trains you had in Train Sim World 2 (2020). By the way, I received Train Sim World 2 as a free update to Train Sim World: CSX Heavy Haul. In general, until Train Sim World 2020, all new versions were free for players who had previous games. Add-on compatibility works with Train Sim World 2, although you need to buy a new version (but there are interesting nuances here, which will be discussed later). Currently, 109 add-ons to the previous parts are compatible with Train Sim World 5 (the total cost is 52 thousand hryvnias, but some old DLC can be bought very cheaply on sale) and new DLC is released every month.

Boring gameplay

Every time I review a transportation, construction, industrial, or agricultural simulator, there are people who consider it their duty to tell everyone how boring and uninteresting they think the gameplay in such games is. In some ways, such people remind me of a character in a well-known Internet meme who bellowed at players gathered around a console/PC: "Quit Having Fun!". Gentlemen or ladies, maybe that's enough! Maybe you should accept the fact that there are people who like this kind of melancholic, calm gameplay, who enjoy simple things like moving goods with a forklift, mowing lawns, washing things, plowing fields, harvesting crops, and watching the scenery change outside the train window.

Train Sim World 5 allows you to customize the level of simulation from the initial one, when, relatively speaking, all you need to do is add power and brake, to an almost realistic one, in which it will take you several minutes to prepare the locomotive for operation, during which you have to press the appropriate buttons and levers in a strictly defined sequence, as it happens in reality. Needless to say, almost all of the switches and screens in the game are working and can and should be used.

In the realistic mode, all additional GUI indicators are removed, switching to external cameras is prohibited, and you only need to focus on the semaphore indication and speed limit signs. At the same time, it is worth knowing the route you are driving to slow down in advance before slow sections and possible prohibition signals. This, by the way, is not so easy, especially in the case of huge freight trains of dozens of cars, for example, with ore and several independent braking systems. Or in the case of an ICE that can accelerate to 250 km/h. The braking distance of such trains can be several kilometers.

The basic version of Train Sim World 5 has three routes: the London West Coast Main Line, the German Frankfurt - Fulda line, and the American San Bernardino Line near Los Angeles. For each line, 2-3 trains have been added; 5-6 scenarios, both simple and with some problems on the way; plus hundreds of real train schedules that you can follow. In addition, there is a free mode in which you can set the date, time, weather, and even walk around the stations on foot, or get on any of the trains as a passenger and enjoy the views from the window. That is, even in the basic version of the game, you can spend hundreds of hours.

However, there is one small problem: on some new lines, such as Frankfurt - Fulda or San Bernardino Line, especially at high speeds, there is a significant drop in fps and some freezes when loading new sections of the route. On the old routes, there are no performance issues, so we hope this will be fixed with patches soon.

There is something very calming about driving the first morning train somewhere near London at 5 a.m., collecting passengers, stopping at stations on time, not braking too hard to avoid hurting people, watching the sun rise. Or to drive from Aachen to Cologne in winter, to look at the rock-like cathedral that literally hangs over the central station.

Trains and railroads are love. Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper will not let you lie.

Something for nothing

You don't even need to buy the game to try Train Sim World 5. First of all, it is available in Game Pass, which is where I tried it after a long break, because the last time I played Train Sim World 2 before the full-scale invasion.

But in the end I decided to go back to Steam because Dovetail Games offers the Train Sim World 5: Free Starter Pack, a basic version of the game without routes and only with a training center, but... it supports all the routes and trains you had in the previous parts. For me, it turned out to be the Sand Patch Grade Route (the same one from Train Sim World: CSX Heavy Haul 2017), Bakerloo Line Route (it's the London Underground!) and Koln-Aachen Route (I love Cologne!). Plus, during the sale in honor of the release of Train Sim World 5, I bought Brighton - Eastbourne & Seaford Route with a 70% discount for only 144 UAH. Not a bad starter set.

In addition, I turned on the tracking of the Train Sim World 5 page and am going to buy the full version of the game and maybe, if the discount is nice, some of the add-ons at the next sale. For example, the LIRR Commuter looks very interesting: New York - Long Beach, Hempstead & Hicksville Route, Berninalinie: Tirano - Ospizio Bernina Route or Semmeringbahn: Wiener Neustadt - Mürzzuschlag Route.

The Free Starter Pack can be picked up for free on Steam until early 2025, and will do so.

Train simulators, what's next?

As of now, Dovetail Games is almost a monopolist on the railroad simulation market.

Since 2000, there has also been a Trainz series from Australia's Auran/N3V Games, but recently its developers have been more interested in mobile versions, while the PC series seems to be stagnating. The latest release is Trainz Railroad Simulator 2022 with 316 DLCs.

Plus, there is a completely separate world of Japanese train simulators like Train Simulator (Ongakukan) / Railfan and Densha de Go! that exist on consoles, arcade machines and special train cabin simulators (this is something!) and only occasionally appear on PCs. Instead of 3D graphics, they use video taken from train cabins on real routes (but there's really a lot of that on Youtube!). Of course, these games feature exclusively Japanese railroads.

Dovetail Games has a plan to develop the Train Sim World series for several years to come. The first major DLC is MBTA Commuter: Boston-Worcester/Framingham Line will be released at the end of October 2024. DLC updates from both Dovetail Games and external partners are planned (yes, the same scheme as in Microsoft Flight Simulator works here), major patches, new challenges, online features, etc. The next DLCs include the first Japanese line - Tadami Line, the first Dutch line - Spoorlijn Zwolle - Groningen, and so on. Later on, Train Sim World 5 will have an additional controller mode where you will have to check tickets and help passengers.

So, yes, the position of Dovetail Games and the Train Sim World series looks unshakable now. This is the railroad simulator that you can play for the next 5-10 years if you want, but... in early 2024, the Ukrainian studio Fishing Planet LLC, known for the Fishing Planet fishing simulator, announced Train Planet, a free-to-play competitor to Train Sim World. Ukrainian developers have big plans, including the recreation of the Ukrainian railroad, so keep your fingers crossed. Because competition is always good.