Microsoft Train Simulator

Microsoft Train Simulator
Cover Art
Developer(s)	Kuju Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Microsoft
Director(s)	Paul Chamberlain
Designer(s)	Phil Marley
Programmer(s)	Rhona Robson
Artist(s)	Dan Frith Tony Zottola
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, 7)
Release	July 2001
Genre(s)	Simulation
Mode(s)	Single player

Microsoft Train Simulator (abbreviated to MSTS) is a train simulator for Microsoft Windows, released in July 2001 and developed by UK-based Kuju Entertainment.

Gameplay

The simulation allows players to operate a train on various routes in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Players need to stop and start the train, couple wagons, using the computer mouse, keyboard or a hardware addition such as Raildriver to operate the controls. Sound effects are enabled.

Routes

The original game featured six routes:

Route name	Image	Featured trains	Rolling stock	AI rolling stock	Terminal stations	miles	km	Set in	Country	Notes
Hisatsu Line		JR Kyushu	KiHa 31	KiHa 140	Yatsushiro to Yoshimatsu via Hitoyoshi	53	85	2000/2001	Japan	—
Innsbruck - St. Anton		Orient Express	Gölsdorf 380	Gölsdorf 310	Innsbruck to St. Anton	63	101	1930s	Austria	—
Northeast Corridor		Amtrak	Acela Express Acela HHP-8	Genesis Metroliner	Philadelphia to Washington via Baltimore	133	214	2000/2001	USA	—
Marias Pass		BNSF Amtrak	Dash 9 GP38-2 SD40-2 (1.2)	Genesis SD40	Shelby to Whitefish, including Kalispell branchline	—	—	2000/2001	USA	—
Settle-Carlisle Railway		LNER LMS GWR	Flying Scotsman BR Class 50 (1.2)	6100 Royal Scot Pendennis Castle	Settle to Carlisle	—	—	1920s/1930s	UK	—
Tokyo - Hakone		Odakyu Electric Railway	Odakyu 7000 series LSE Odakyu 2000 series	Odakyu 30000 series EXE	Shinjuku to Odawara	55	88	2000/2001	Japan	—

Included with the game was the Editors & Tools program, which allowed the user to build custom routes, create activities for any route, create custom consists, create custom cabviews, or edit the default ones. The Editors & Tools program is also included with later versions of the game.

Locomotives (1.0/1.2)

The 1.0 base package contains 9 drivable locomotives and multiple units plus 8 AI locomotives/multiple units (AI units cannot be operated by the player).

Train	Image	Ingame number	Type	mph	km/h	Built	Country	Route	Livery(s)	1.0	1.2	Player driveable	Notes
Flying Scotsman		4472 Flying Scotsman	Steam	100	160	1923	UK	Settle-Carlisle Railway	LNER Green	Yes	Yes	Yes	—
Royal Scot		6100 Royal Scot	Steam	90	145	1927	UK	Settle-Carlisle Railway	LMS Red	Yes	Yes	No	Features German-style smoke deflectors.
Pendennis Castle		4079 Pendennis Castle	Steam	75	120	1924	UK	Settle-Carlisle Railway	GWR Green	Yes	Yes	No	—
BR Class 50		50015 Valiant	Diesel	100	160	1967	UK	Settle-Carlisle Railway	BR Blue	No	Yes	Yes	—
Gölsdorf 310		310.23	Steam	—	—	—	Austria	Innsbruck - St. Anton	OBB	Yes	Yes	No	—
Gölsdorf 380	—	380.119	Steam	43	60	1911	Austria	Innsbruck - St. Anton	OBB	Yes	Yes	Yes	Cabview comes from Gölsdorf 180 steam locomotive
Dash 9		4723	Diesel	70	112	1993	USA	Marias Pass	BNSF	Yes	Yes	Yes	—
Genesis		705	Diesel	100	160	1994	USA	Marias Pass Northeast Corridor	Amtrak	Yes	Yes	No	—
GP38-2		2081	Diesel	70	112	1972	USA	Marias Pass	BNSF	Yes	Yes	Yes	—
SD40		7171	Diesel	83	134	1966	USA	Marias Pass	BNSF	Yes	Yes	No	—
SD40-2		8010	Diesel	70	112	1972	USA	Marias Pass	BNSF	No	Yes	Yes	—
Acela Express		2001	Electric	150	240	1998	USA	Northeast Corridor	Amtrak	Yes	Yes	Yes	—
Acela HHP-8		651	Electric	135	217	1999	USA	Northeast Corridor	Amtrak	Yes	Yes	Yes	—
Metroliner		620	Electric	90	145	1972	USA	Northeast Corridor	Amtrak	Yes	Yes	No	Uses Odakyu 2000 series sounds
KiHa 31		KiHa 31-12	DMU	60	95	1986	Japan	Hisatsu Line	JR Kyushu	Yes	Yes	Yes	Red interior (Blue interior in passenger view)
KiHa 31 Isaburo Shinpei		KiHa 31-12	DMU	60	95	1986	Japan	Hisatsu Line	JR Kyushu	Yes	Yes	Yes	Blue interior (Red interior in passenger view) Has headboards on its front and rear stating that it is the Isaburo Shinpei sightseeing train.
KiHa 140		—	DMU	—	—	1977	Japan	Hisatsu Line	JR Kyushu	Yes	Yes	No	—
Odakyu 7000 series LSE		—	EMU	70	110	1980	Japan	Tokyo - Hakone	Odakyu Electric Railway	Yes	Yes	Yes	—
Odakyu 2000 series		—	EMU	60	100	1995	Japan	Tokyo - Hakone	Odakyu Electric Railway	Yes	Yes	Yes	—
Odakyu 30000 series EXE		—	EMU	75	120	1996	Japan	Tokyo - Hakone	Odakyu Electric Railway	Yes	Yes	No	Centre gangwayed cab cars never modeled. Uses end car 1 and 10 cabs instead.

Large amounts of post-release DLC was also distributed, providing routes, locomotives, wagons and sessios.

Gameplay issues

The original version contained many bugs. For example, the "front coupling bug", where the locomotive's front coupler would not work, the "white void bug", where the route scenery disappears, leaving a white void, and the "end-of-the-line bug", where the locomotive, if it crashes through the last buffers on the route, would fall into an empty void. There are also issues with the signalling and AI dispatching. The game is also notoriously unstable, with unusually high tendencies to hang or crash without reason, and display error messages incorrectly and/or at the wrong times. In many instances, out-of-place error messages, usually for missing files, will cause a crash at the wrong time. MSTS 1.2 addressed some of these issues.

Updates

Version 1.2 added new items such as British and American rolling stock, namely the British Rail Class 50, British Rail Mark 1 Coaches, an EMD SD40-2 and general US freight cars, along with two new activities each for the SD40-2 and Class 50.

Reception

The game sold over a million units and is, despite its age, still very popular and has a large, active community.

Mods

The game features mod support as routes, trains, cargoes, scenery, etc. are abundant in the game. The installment of the mods is quite tricky since they have to be loaded into set files like Routes for Routes and Trainset for Trains, rollingstock, consists, etc. Over 1000 mods were created for the game and are mostly hosted on large community sites such as trainsim.com, uktrainsim.com and elvastower.com, to name a few. Additionally, MSTS BIN, a community mod that aimed to add features and fix old MSTS bugs has since been released.

Microsoft Train Simulator 2

Main article: Microsoft Train Simulator 2

On May 7, 2003, Microsoft announced that it would be developing a sequel called Microsoft Train Simulator 2 and it was first demoed to the public at E3 on May 15. Seemingly its main improvements were the addition of people to the game (e.g. passengers waiting at the stations, people operating the new locomotive roster, etc.), more realistic crashes and other accidents, and turntables. It was being developed by Kuju Entertainment, the original MSTS creators. Despite restructuring efforts at Kuju, the project was however handed over to Microsoft Game Studios on August 18, 2003.

This project was ultimately halted, as the following statement on April 24, 2004 from Microsoft confirmed:

Microsoft Game Studios has halted the Windows-based game "Train Simulator 2.0." The decision to halt "Train Simulator 2.0" was made some time ago and was based on a long, hard and difficult look at our business objectives and product offerings. We remain focused on the simulations category with successful, platform-driving franchises such as "Microsoft Flight Simulator."

— 

On January 19, 2007, Microsoft announced the relaunch of the Microsoft Train Simulator project. This time the game was being made in-house by ACES Game Studio (Microsoft Game Studios) known for its long line of Microsoft Flight Simulators, as a part of the "Games for Windows" initiative. The game would have used the Microsoft Flight Simulator X graphics engine and it was planned to be compatible with both Windows Vista and Windows XP. A post on the 'The Little Wheel Goes in Back' blog, written by one of the developers, on August 23, 2007 suggested the working title was 'Train Simulator 2'.

On January 23, 2009, Microsoft announced that it was permanently closing ACES Game Studios, the internal development studio responsible for both Microsoft Flight Simulator and Microsoft Train Simulator. As a result, all future development on Train Simulator 2 (which was entering the final stages of development at the time of the closure) was immediately halted, marking the second time that the project was terminated. While Microsoft states that "they are committed to both the Flight Simulator and Train Simulator brands", it is unknown if the Train Simulator 2 project will ever be resurrected and completed sometime in the future. Many former employees of ACES Game Studios went on to join Cascade Game Foundry, a new company that was itself founded by two ACES alumni. Cascade Game Foundry focuses on developing entertainment simulations.

Open Rails

Open Rails is a open-source freeware project launched, developed, maintained and nurtured by a team of volunteers and licensed under GPL. Its project summary states the following:

Open Rails is a train simulator that supports the world's largest range of digital content.
Accurate behaviour for steam, diesel and electric traction including trains with multiple locos.
Signals which correctly protect the train and permit complex timetabled operations.
Multi-user mode in which any timetabled train can be driven in person or by computer.

Key technical objectives are to be backward compatible with as well as extend all MSTS content. It adds new features such as improved multiplayer and mouse controls along with a newer engine that has better graphics and more realistic physics than MSTS. It is optimised to be able to take advantage of the features of newer CPUs, and can support more detailed models.

Open Rails 1.1 was released in 25 March 2016. This release brings the following new features since Open Rails 1.0:

• System Additions
  • quick menu access to documentation.
  • New options to:
    • limit the safe speed through curves, including penalties.
    • automatically correct faulty parameters in locomotives.
  • New keyboard commands for locomotive control:
    • to cut off all power.
    • to cut off all brakes.
  • multiplayer can now connect directly to domain names.
• Environment Additions
  • Wagons may now have multiple "freight animations" attached, including the ability to be loaded and unloaded through player-triggered animations.
  • Activities can now dynamically change the weather as a normal part of gameplay.
  • Sound triggers have been added for brake pipes, cylinder cocks and more.
  • 3D cab views are loaded by default, when present.
  • New cab controls for gears and projected speed have been added.
• Locomotive Additions
  • Support added for
    • Auxiliary tenders
    • Blended dynamic brakes
    • EP brake partial release
  • Engine brakes have been extended to work with tenders.
• Operation Additions
  • Operators may:
    • Switch control between all available player, AI and static trains in-game.
    • Refuel from water troughs.
    • Engage manual mode (signalling) whilst still moving.
  • Restricted speed zones have been added.
  • AI trains can request permission to pass signals at danger.
• General Improvements
  • Sound Performance:
    • distance cut-off.
    • a new looping algorithm.
    • better compatibility with stereo/mono switching for cab/outside views.
    • Dynamic Sounds
  • Improved joining/splitting trains during an activity, with more options for the player and AI trains.
  • Improved super-elevation
  • Harmonic rocking replaces vibration.
  • Several brake-related improvements for compatibility and accuracy.

See also

• Train simulator – reference article to other train simulator products.

External links

• Official website
• Microsoft Train Simulator at Curlie