When you think of train simulators, the chances are "extreme" may not be the first word that pops into your mind - but that's something that UK developers Dovetail Games look set to change with their upcoming release, Train Simulator 2016.
Promising a collection of routes, trains and challenges that will push you to the limit, regardless of your level of experience, Train Sim 2016 will throw extreme weather conditions, awkward timetables and maybe even the odd "wrong type of leaves" into the works, to stretch your train driving skills as far as they'll go, when it chuffs onto shelves on the 17th September.
A bit of coast we recognise particularly well...
Oddly enough, though, the screenshots that have currently been released don't exactly seem to get across the "extreme" theme for this year's game - although they do show off some of the locations you'll be able to visit, and trains you'll be able to drive.
Divided into three different "locations", Train Sim 2016 comes with three routes for you to tackle.
Can you guess this is the American line?
For those into their American trains (which, like everything else American, are as big as they come), you have the Sherman Hill line, a 100 mile stretch of American desert through the state of Wyoming. Known for its gigantic freight trains, this is a line that sees dozens of trucks pulled by multiple trains - and with that much weight involved, all it takes is a bit of bad weather to make everything that much trickier (as the trailer at the bottom of this article shows). This route also comes complete with five trains, although admittedly, we're not too hot on US trains:
- Union Pacific Gas-Electric Turbine Locomotive
- Union Pacific ES44AC Diesel Electric Locomotive
- Union Pacific SD70M Diesel Electric Locomotive
- Union Pacific SD40-2 Diesel Electric Locomotive
- Union Pacific SW10 Diesel Electric Switcher Locomotive
Just pulling into Cologne
For continental railfans, we have the Cologne - Koblenz West Rhine line, a route which stretches down the western side of Germany. While all we know about Koblenz is what we've managed to gleam from Google (it has a castle!), Cologne is a city we're a lot more familiar with, as it hosts the largest games show in the world, gamescom every year. We can vouch for the accuracy of the recreation of the area around the station - during our demo at the show, we got a little bit too excited seeing virtual recreations of things we recognised, pointing them out with a less than serious journalistic aplomb...
With the famous-if-mythical German efficiency to be mindful of, there will be strict timetables to stick to on this line - although if real life experience is anything to go by, leaving ten to twenty minutes late should do you just about fine. Or maybe they just did that to make us feel more at home? This line also comes with five different trains for you to sink your teeth into:
- DB BR 155 Electric Locomotive
- DB BR 146.0 Electric Locomotive
- DB BR 146.2 Electric Locomotive
- DB BR 101 Electric Locomotive
- DB BR 294 Diesel Hydraulic Locomotive
Windsor's a world away from Devon...
Perhaps the line that has us the most excited though, is the Riviera Line, a 40 mile track that takes you from Exeter all the way through to Kingswear in its 1950s recreation, essentially taking you back to the twilight years of the golden age of steam, across a route that's actually two different railways in the present day - the Exeter to Paignton route, and the Paignton to Dartmouth Steam Railway. Coming with five thundering steam locomotives for you to try and figure out how to drive, this is where we'll be heading when we first go hands-on with the game. Even if we will still be worried the giant pressure cooker in front of us could explode at any time. Here's the trains you get:
- GWR King Class Steam Locomotive incorporating Driver Assist,
- GWR Castle Class Steam Locomotive incorporating Driver Assist,
- GWR Hall Class Steam Locomotive incorporating Driver Assist,
- GWR Grange Class Steam Locomotive incorporating Driver Assist,
- GWR Pannier Tank Steam Locomotive incorporating Driver Assist (essentially Duck off Thomas the Tank Engine)
The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that each of these old steam trains includes something known as driver assist - a new feature for Train Simulator 2016 that intends to make driving a steam engine that little bit easier. With a myriad of handles, controls and dials to keep an eye on, steam engines are complex beasts, but driver assist helps draw your attention to the bits that need it. If you need to just adjust your speed, inject more water, or do almost anything else, driver assist will highlight the right thing for you to fiddle with, and tell you how much you need to adjust it, providing an incredibly helpful hand for novices to hold. For those who already know their stuff, though, you can easily disable this feature.
Of course, that's not the only new feature for Train Sim 2016, as the game will also include a brand new mode known as Railfan Mode. In the UK, this would probably be better known as Trainspotter mode, as it lets you position yourself at any point along the line, and take screenshots as your train - or another one - chugs by.
We're still intrigued by the passenger mode. Sit in the carriage, and watch the world go by...
Set for a release on the 17th September, Train Simulator 2016 looks set to offer something for everyone. With streamlined menus, easier to drive steam trains, and a great selection of routes, this is one we're looking forward to getting hands-on with nearer its launch. For Train Sim 2016, and the series in general, the future looks bright - at gamescom, it was announced that Dovetail Games' currently-in-the-works "next gen" train simulator will be coming to both Xbox One and PC next year, powered by state of the art graphics engine, the Unreal Engine 4.
There's a lot for train spotters to look forward to!
