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THE BRIDGE IS OUT, THE BRAKES ARE SHOT - BUT, HEY, ENJOY THE VIEW

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 60 / 72
Date: January 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I must confess: I am not a great fan of simulators. I mean, until we manage to rig-up an actual holodeck, what is the point? Over time, I tried most of them: steering ships and piloting planes and conducting trains - on rainy Sunday afternoons, in a T-shirt and flannel PJ pants, in front of a 17" TFT-panel: how immersed can one get? Honestly.
But I guess the little boy in us will always be impressed and yearn to be in the helm of great powerful machines. To prove to ourself that we can tame these beasts. So I couldn't resist and gave RAIL SIMULATOR a try. After all, it was supposed to be MICROSOFT's TRAIN SIMULATOR successor, sharing the same developer and all.

Is it realistic? Well, I am no real-life conductor, so how would I know? It would hardly be fair for me to comment on subjects that I am not an expert on, so I will refrain from doing it.
What I CAN tell you is that the game physics give off an original feeling all right. Heavier trains need a long stopping run; apply too much regulator and the wheels will slip; and one needs to master the reverser to successfully negotiate steep hills.

Graphically the game is improved compared to its "predecessor"; the routes are delightfully recreated, as are the individual trains - and I especially liked the option to have a free-roving camera instead of just the one following the train. Yet it manages to convey a feeling of unfulfilled potential. Much better graphics are available today.

The sounds are one of the first aspects that ruin immersion - and made me withhold the first star. True, the diesels and electrics all have their own distinctive engine notes, and environmental sounds (birds and church bells) were considered a nice touch. Yet, like a badly conducted orchestra, they managed to miss their mark every time it counts. It makes no difference whether you are in or outside the cab, the sounds are the same! And who can hear birds twerping when passing by in a speeding train?

What really ruins this game's potential is the inevitability of crushing bugs - another star missed. When certain combinations of warning signals and speeds coincide: back to the desktop. Try using the 2nd map: ditto. This one got rushed into the pre-Christmas market - and it shows.

The game comes with a nice and friendly editor which lets you edit the world, and even create your own levels from scratch. Moreover, it is backed by free downloadable content [railsimulator(dot)com] from where one can get free engines, carriages, some new scenarios as well as whole new editor packs. Apparently, RS developers are counting heavily on the fan-base to come up with new models and MODs. This is supposedly a greatly supported game. Now, let's only hope they support it with some much needed patches! Don't release a half-baked game and expect the gaming community to do the rest.

Finally, such a complicated game just screams for a good ol' thick detailed manual. No such luck I am afraid - and this is where it looses its third and final star. I understand that those RS-GUIDES are not going to sell themselves - but, come on, paper is cheap, through us a freaking bone here!...

My suggestion: a good game but wait till they fix it.

A review by a Rail Fan

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 23 / 25
Date: January 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The other review on here was written by someone who isn't a big fan of simulators, so here's one from someone who is. I bought this game after seeing that Train Simulator 2 will be coming out next year, and in all honesty, I'm tired of waiting. I had been following this game months before it came out, and was surprised to see that they had already released it a few days ago. I have played it for a few days now, and here are its aspects:
Graphics: Now, the graphics of this game are much better than they are in MSTS. In all honesty, they should be; MSTS was released seven years ago when video cards weren't that powerful. Of course today, we have nice Nvidia 8800's and ATI 2900's (and so on). However, the graphics aren't as good as they could be. In fact, I hate to say it, but some of the photograps of renders in the game look better than they actually do in-game. Also, the resolution cannot be changed in the in-game menu itself; this must be done before you begin playing. But, surprisingly, this game supports HD resolutions, so maybe that's why the photos look good. I am using a monitor that only goes up to 1280x1024, so I couldn't tell you how that looks. I also do not like the fact that there are no anti-aliasing controls. I'm using an Nvidia 8800GT to power this game, and I want these games to take advantage of the hardware I own. But, in the end, the graphics are good; I have seen much worse. I do like the fact that people can be seen and that there is an engineer in the cab.

Sound: The sound in this game is again an improvement over MSTS. The natural sound effects are much more realistic (IE; the birds chirping, cars going by, etc.), but I don't understand why you can still hear these sounds clearly even when your train is going at a high speed. When was the last time you heard a bird whistling while your car was going 65? Exactly. Lol, but the locomotive sounds are nice, but I didn't like the fact that the two North American locomotive's horns were both the same; I like variety when it comes to the horns and whistles. The British horns on the diesels make me laugh; they sound like the horns those really old cars used to have (In my opinion, North American diesels have the nicest, prettiest sounding horns around)

Gameplay: The controls for this game are very similar to those of MSTS, so making a transition to this game should you buy it won't be hard. The only thing I had to get used to was the fact that the A key increased the throttle and the D key decreases it (vice-versa to the layout of MSTS; It was funny when I first played this game as I kept trying to slow down my train, only to realize I was speeding it up!) The display Menu's and HUD's are much more helpful, although it doesn't show you the speed limit of the tracks ahead (at least I don't think it does). The scenarios are nice, but I didn't think there were enough of them.

Game Options: This is the part that aggravates me: In MSTS, you could choose the locomotive you wanted for a route, and play from there. There was also a seperate place to make your own consists. In this game, you have to do all of this in a scenario editor, something I don't yet understand. I may be good with computers, but I'm not this good. I have downloaded content for it, but I haven't been able to use most of it. I'll have to learn more about this process.

Overall: I am glad I bought this game. I am enjoying it, but all the while I feel as though there could have been more potential to it. Perhaps the company will release patches for it that fiz up minor areas and add more options. They already give away official content for it for free (you just have to make an account with the site, which is also free) I will continue to play this game until MSTS 2 comes out, which will probably be one of the best Train-Sims out there. It will be using DirectX10, so it will definitely be using my hardware to is potential. Lol, by the time this game is out, Nvidia will most likely have there 9000 series out, so this card won't be one of the greatest anymore. Oh well. Overall, I give this game three stars. I hope this review has helped some of you.

Flawed Train Simulation

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: February 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Two and a half years in development this game was eagerly awaited by the train sim community as the title which would re-define the genre after a long gap between genuine new releases.

Unfortunately I can only concur with previous reviews regarding the buggy and flawed game we have been given. It appears as if all the money and effort has been expended on the graphics engine, which does not look a whole lot better than improved MSTS/Trainz anyway, rather than the core features such as signalling to make a train sim work properly. The cabs are quite detailed and 3D but not many of the switches or levers work correctly. In external view the train often looks like a sprite floating over the ground and in both cab and exterior view there's a disturbing and nausea inducing side to side "hunting" of the track which, if it's supposed to represent the cab swaying, is totally wrong.

Sound is not much better. The HST is quite good but the Turbo DMU sound like it was sampled from a bin lorry. The Deltic is rather weak and the Class 47 just doesn't sound right. there's no distiction between the level or type of sound heard in exterior or interior view either. Track sound is awful a sort of disembodied tinkle every now and again or when you cross over points. A Gameboy would put it to shame.
The North American version is missing the York to Newcastle route of the European release with a version of Cajon Pass in California instead. Although the publisher (now working under the Rail Simulator Developments - RSDL - banner rather than Kuju) has stated they will release the respective routes at some stage (free or paid unclear) this creates an immediate incompatibility between the two versions for third party routes etc. which use objects not found in its transatlantic counterpart.

One reasonable point (which is why it gets two stars rather than one) is the train physics. The HST actually takes a realistic time and distance to accelerate and brake though the top end of the power curve is questionable on all the traction. They should just about hold top speed one notch below full power but they want to keep on going. steam physics is about on a par with MSTS, that is to say a reasonable stab but wide of the mark. It does not seem possible to induce wheelslip on any of the locomotives.

Where the sim really falls down is on the operations and signalling. The signalling is poorly scripted and implemented - it does not give proper warning of upcoming junctions and can easily cause your train to derail or collide with another even when you get the correct aspects. The German signalling seems to be derived from the UK signalling and is totally wrong for DB practice. There's a lack of proper warnings for upcoming speed limits. The "Track Monitor" is useless as it only shows the state of the line about 800 metres ahead.

Very few activities or scenarios are included in the box, some will have beginners scratching their heads with complex shunting while others are "broken" as a result of the pathetic signalling. It's not possible to run to a timetable and the game shipped without the proper tools to create such an activity. The development tools need to be downloaded seperately and only after signing a licence with RSDL - reason for this is not entirely clear, but seems tied up with ensuring any commercial third products sold for this sim pay a royalty fee back to the developer. Route building is not as intuiative or easy as MSTS and light years behind Trainz - everything has to be set up via blueprints and the documentation, which also has to be registered for and downloaded separately is quite muddy in places and seems more aimed at the technical high end (commercial?) orientated user than the little guy. The route editor itself is quite buggy particularly when it comes to joining tracks, creating junctions or laying roads and fences.

In conclusion it's a bit of a mess and a disappointment. There is potential there but it will take a bucket load of patches and/or a major rewrite of some of the code to get there. At the time of writing (Feb 2008) a patch is imminent but if you're really eager for a new train sim you might be better advised to wait and see what Microsoft have to offer in their proposed new train simulation some time in 2009.

Nay-sayers not always right!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 16
Date: February 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Rail Simulator (RS) is an extremely good simulation that is extremely well supported by a website that includes additional downloads, a forum, news, etc. Add-on content is appearing on a regular basis and a major, free upgrade has already appeared, along with editing tools for the more adventurous. RS beats the pants off MSTS and Trainz, which isn't even in the running anymore because it is not compatible with Vista.
If you want to try driving trains, this is the simulator to get!

Compatibility problems prevent game from working

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 17
Date: January 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I would highly advise against the purchase of this game. After installing 3X times on my system it still doesn't work.

I realize that there may be an issue with my graphics card (ATI X1650), but after searching far and wide for ways to resolve the issue it still doesn't function. Bascially, the game crashes as soon as I try to play.

EA support site provides no help at all to resolve the issue. So, I have un-installed this game after paying good money for it.

Considering that this is the first game in the almost two years that has failed to run on a computer that has given me little or no problems with any other game over the last two years, I have to assume that something within the game is causing it not to function properly.

So much promise, so many times being delayed, but it's light on the wow factor and is a disappointment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: February 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When I heard about Rail Simulator I was happy to see a railroad simulator back in the market since Train Simulator 2 was cancelled (but restarted for a 2009 release). Train Simulator was a good foundation and the sequel had so much promise. Also, Train Simulators minor expansions were a waist. I found the Trainz franchise too model like and not heavy on the simulation. I love both however. I grew up with Lionel trains and building a decent size layout with my father but our space was limited. Even after 17 years when we first laid out our own track, we miss it but don't have the space to rebuid (obviously I've since moved out). I am a lover of the tycoon and buisness games and while I'm not a huge technofile, I will knitpick at every little detail of a computer game. So I do love both model trains and a deep simulation. What hurt Trainz is it's download content manager. It is a pain in the neck to manage and download content (even to this day). The speed of the downloading depended on the "ticket" you bought. If you didn't by the ticket your downloading time was at a snails pace. If you bought a first-class ticket, the speed was way faster. Another problem was that you had to search the for the content and the parts to go with it. If you didnt find it all, it wouldn't work which would prove ot be very frustrating. It was annoying and involved too much work and sometimes upon loading Trainz to play, it acted screwy more times after you started to download content. The manual wasn't a help either.

Now comes Rail Simulator. The newest simulation game using the trains theme. The graphics are very vice; not stunning, but very nice (about 2 notches from being stunning). Much better than Train Simulator and the Trainz Franchise (created by Auran). The people and cars are more realistic in Rail Simulator. Unfortunatley the game fails some major aspects. Shipped in the North American version, 99% of the routes were European. Only one route is from North America (California) and it wasn't even a passenger route. For people who love to drive passanger trains or complete or build passenger routes this was disheartning and unbelievable. What were they thinking? Even in a PC-DVD you would expect a little more passenger routes. The European routes also were mostly non-passenger. The one I played in Britain was soooo boring, I didn't even get to the first station (it was 34 miles away). I quit the program feeling very depressed because I was looking foward to the game and with all it's hype; it left me with a question: When will anyone create a great buisness/simulator/modeling train simulator. Don't get me started with Sid Meier's Railroads! I read a few articles that although this is a European game, the North American publishers were going to include mostly North American routes and passenger routes as well. This wasn't the case, as I was very disappointed. (How many times have you counted the word disappointed in my review, can you guess if I was disappointed :-) I was also looking at the website where you can register and download content. Not much is available which is ok, since the game was just released. In Trainz: Railroad Simulator 2006, you can go on the download manager and get NYC subway cars and platforms as well as near look-a-like Long Island Railroad cars. None on Rail Simulators. I was shocked to see no Amtrak both as a route included in the game as well as in the download section of the website. When is any train game going to include the NYC subway system, the trollies, the monorail in the Disney area complete with passenger routes, Amtrak's route from NYC to Orlando (AutoTrain), or how about all routes and trains across all of the United States.

Part of me is wondering, for $39.99, seems like they spent most of the money on the graphics because there is hardly any content. Since it is a PC-DVD, I was expecting a lot. Sadly, I was wrong. You click on 3-4 main scenarious and it gives you at most about 4-5 "jobs". The original Train Simulator had many more routes.

From startup the installer was perfect and it didn't take long to install. After the initial install, the game worked perfectly, no crashes and no error messages. I hope people will realize that you can't get away with running a computer with 64-512mb of RAM and a video card with 64-128mb of RAM. Onboard graphics is a no-no. If you have any questions about this or need help, don't hesitate to email me.

I hope more routes will be added as I enjoy passenger routes the most. It would be nice for Railroad Simulator to appeal to everyone; ones who like passenger scenarios and industrial scenarios as well. Sadly on this PC-DVD, the passenger scenarios are lacking; as in there are none in North America! The passenger scenarios in Germany can all be done in one day (not totally but you can get drift) and the same goes for Britain as well. I gave the game 2 stars because of the lack of content but with nice graphics/scenery and the fact that people don't look like blocks (they did in Trainz if you were able to see any). One thing that was puzzling was when I was approaching road crossings, the cars never stopped. Some disappeared when they reached the gates. In MSTS, you heard the bells go off and the whistle along with the gate going down. The cars also stopped and formed a line in real life. If it weren't for the graphics, then it would of gotten 1 star. I'm still disappointed and hope more passenger scenarios are added (in North America). It would be nice to drive the Maglev and high speed bullet trains in Japan and in Germany. What about the monorail in Florida (from the transportation and ticket center to all the parks and hotels that it stops at which would make a great passenger scenario). I wish I can drive the NYC subway lines dropping off passengers and picking them up. What about Amtrak/Acela (auto train also), the Long Island Railroad, and New Jersey Transit? Train Simulator had Amtrak's Acela high speed train.

It would of also been nice to see some speaking on the station platforms to announce the inbound and outbound trains and the fact that you see people entering and exiting your train yet you see no movement when you are in passenger mode inside one of the passenger cars. Also it would be nice to see some announcements in the trains to let passengers know what the next stop is as well as the trains route. Wouldn't it be funny if you announce the trains stops and see some passengers quickly get off with a sad look on their face. How about adding licensing, to become an engineer you have to learns about speed limits, traveling at high speeds, braking correctly at station platforms, honking the horn at road crossings, and emergencies and if you fail one of these while on the job, you can get fired. In other words, follow the rules or else you would have to find work at another railroad company. If you did such a poor job or killed someone you wouldn't be able to find another job and the game ends. Incorportating a business sim would be interesting. I know this isn't a tycoon game but it certainly would keep you entertained. You could buy locomotives and additional passenger cars and get and increase ridership. You can raise fairs (multiple types), have to pay your workers (ticket agents, cleaning crew and mechanics), and maintain stations and their platforms as well as maintaining your railyard to make it efficient. You can build/create routes in all cities in the United States and Canada (subway or above gound).

Did the developers do their homework? Did they purposely leave out most of North America? The California scenarios are non-passenger ones and this is it in the United States. Did they purposley concentrate on mostly non-passenger scenarious for a future expansion? Will there be future expansions for North America?

Concerning the manual. These days most games don't come with manuals or they have it as a pdf file on the disc. For people who jump right into the game and learn as they go (like me), it doesn't bother me that there was no manual in the box. For people who do read the manuals, the pdf file is easy to access. The minor issue you might have is printing it out and using up your paper supply. Maybe the company was thinking that most people don't pay attention to the manual and jump right in....perhaps to cut costs. Who knows. There's a small pamphlet explaining the controls which is pretty straight foward in understanding. There is a very small "guide" in the box but you would think since there is no manual inside this "guide" would be a lot thicker. As for me, I'm waiting for Train Simulator 2 but I haven't given up hope for this one. This game needs and I hope it gets more content! Disappointed; Yes. Given up on it; No! Hopeful; Yes.

Rail Simulator

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: February 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a great train simulator (not a tycoon type game), though its early in its growth (US version has only been out a month or so as of this date) expect much content from both its creators and fans both as time goes on.

It has editors included out of the box so you can make your own maps and such, as well as developers tools which can be downloaded from the official website.

For more info on the game you can visit their website and also check out their fan forums as well.

New game has promise

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: February 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This can be a very good game, the graphics are great, the scope is limited now, but hopefully add-ons will expand it. The directions are limited, but getting on the forum,you can learn a lot. The scenery for the Cajon Pass is quite accurate. I have watched train tapes of this area to see it in real life. There are set scenerios you can use, make your own or just make up a train and go where you want. New engine skins, freight cars etc. are coming up almost daily. If you like trains and want to see what its like to be an engineer, This is for you.

Train Sim

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 7
Date: February 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Rail Simulator is a fun game for train lovers. I will spend many an hour with this program. I have purchased past games of this type and have enjoyed them greatly and am enjoying this one also. So if you love to drive trains, create routes, or stations, etc. then this is for you.

Rail Simulator Delivers on it's promise

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: February 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have had limited time to run the simulator...but it seems like a very nice simulator...just enough hand-holding to help novice rail sim users get going

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