Microsoft announces all-new Train Simulator

[Gilbert B Norman]

Although I purchased both Train Sim and Flt Sim 2K about five years ago, I quickly realized my WIN 98 OS and Celeron processor Hdwe would not support the FS2k and I uninstalled it and never bothered to install TS. Both games faithfully have sat in a closet since then.

However, during January I acquired a new Dell Dimension (deliberately with XP). Last week, my 'wizard' had time and installed both FS 2K and TS on it.

I must say TS is quite the advertisment for the Amtrak NEC; only wish it looked as pristine in real life as it does from the cab of the Sim's HHP-8.

[taoyue]

For keeping track of MSTS developments, at least in the early days of the new product, you should look not to Microsoft.com but to the personal blogs of the various team members. These are linked off the main Train Sim site. There hasn't been much information on the blogs yet (other than "Work is proceeding" and "The art demos look great"). However, the team members can much more easily put information on their personal blogs than on Microsoft.com.

To Masonhornet re: Vatsim et al -- recall that the new Train Simulator will be built on top of the Flight Simulator X platform. Therefore, it will have a number of preexisting integration points available for third-party addons, along with any additional ones created specifically for TS. This is in contrast to the original MSTS, which was an entirely different platform.

[SubaruWRX]

why does this site look pretty new like they are going to release something else?

http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsimulator/

[taoyue]

Hardly new. The site hasn't been updated since January when the new Train Simulator project was announced.

That's why I suggest to look at the blogs, which are also updated very infrequently but occasionally give status reports.

[L'mont]

We're coming up on almost 5 mionths since this was announced. No idea when it'll hit the markets or when some really solid info will be available?

[taoyue]

5 months is not a long time. Look at the first Train Simulator (emphasis mine), from a Trains.com article in May 2001, http://web.archive.org/web/200508301855 ... 6allpy.asp:

After 2 1/2 years of development, and months of anticipation from railroad enthusiasts, Microsoft has begun previewing beta versions of its Train Simulator, with the program set to hit the general market by early June.

This project was announced fairly early. Most of the team comes directly from Flight Simulator X, which released in October 2006. So this is right at the beginning of development. The information coming out of the blogs is probably all you're going to get for quite a while.

[PraiseX6]

One word.
Multiplayer

I want this too! It would be amazing + You can add the MIC element to the game so users can chat with other users.

[LIRRMEDFORD]

I keep geeting more excited as the year goes further. Just Imagine being able to have 32 trains playing together. It would be really fun if we could do it with a major rail that touches NY. Metro North Rail Road, Long Island Rail Road,NYC subway, New Jersey Transit, or path. But I would be one that would take more joy though being in the control tower

[cifn2]

I keep geeting more excited as the year goes further. Just Imagine being able to have 32 trains playing together. It would be really fun if we could do it with a major rail that touches NY. Metro North Rail Road, Long Island Rail Road,NYC subway, New Jersey Transit, or path. But I would be one that would take more joy though being in the control tower

That is what I like about Flight Sim X the ability to play as air traffic controller.

[pnaw10]

I was looking for info on the program that has the Harlem Line sim (couldn't remember the name of it) because I thought that was pretty cool.

At the same time, I came across this thread on MSTS. After seeing so much time pass since the latest post, I was surprised to see the "original announcment" on Microsoft's site appears to be unchanged, more than 9 months later.

From my experience as the webmaster of a fairly popular "SimCity" website in a previous life, I can tell you EA's policy used to be (and probably still is) that a game release date cannot be announced until they're 100% sure the game will be on store shelves on the advertised date. My contact there at the time said it had something to do with stockholders. Sounds crazy, but it made sense, especially since that wasn't the rule when Maxis was a privately-owned company before EA gobbled them up. I can remember several times, even younger, when highly-anticipated Nintendo games would be slated for a particular date, only to learn there would be a delay, then another one, and so on.

Long story short: I'm betting Microsoft will not announce a release date until the game is finished, the box art and manuals are finished and (most of) the bugs are worked out. At any point before that, announcing a release date could prove to be a bad move if, for example, someone discovers a critical mistake at the last minute, which requires an extra month to fix the code and reburn the CDs, or reprint manuals, or whatever else.

And yes, games are usually promised for a certain "broad" release date early on... like "4th Qtr 2007" or "January 2008," and sometimes these loose estimates are pushed back. But you'll never see something as specific as "September 26, 2007" until they're absolutely sure it's finished and copies can be produced and shipped in time for stores to sell it.

[acela 2036]

Lets hope this time they mean it. How many years has it been due? 4 or 5?

[uhaul]

Delete please

[uhaul]

DELETE PLEASE

[toolmaker]

h.

could you expand more on this?

[amoreho1]

the microsoft site has been update ( no longer the signal)
http://www.tsinsider.com/en-US/Pages/default.aspx