Main Reviews & Features

Rail Simulation
Densha de Go
Loksim
Microsoft Train Sim
Microsoft Train Sim 2 (World of Rails) Preview
Rail Simulator (EA) Review
Trainz
Trainz Classics 3 (Preview)
Zusi

Transport Strategy
A Train Series
Railroad Tycoon Series
Transport Tycoon & Locomotion
Sid Meier's Railroads
Sundry Other Strategy Titles

Archive Reviews
(Reviews of older programmes retained for posterity)

Train Driver 3
Trainmaster

Other Pages:

News Archive 2007
Download Page
Links Page (under construction)
About/Contact Webmaster

19 June 2008

Trainz Classics 3 is now available to pre-order from the Auran Shop - release date has been confirmed as 23rd July. Cost as stated below is £13.99 though you will need to add another £4.95 to that for postage. Still very reasonable considering the route and motive power/rolling stock on offer.

7 June 2008

Some interesting news and developments from Trainz developer Auran. They have just announced that the franchise has been picked up for further development first with Trainz Simulator 2009 (TS2009) followed by Trainz Simulator X (TS-X). You can read more about the Auran plans on the Trainz Forum. Reading through the announcement it looks as if Trainz is finally going to get a thorough overhaul and update and I'm looking forward to hearing more about the plans in due course.

Still on the subject of Trainz and following on from yesterdays news, Auran have now advised the release date of Trainz Classics 3 was incorrect and it should in fact be available prior to the stated date of 23 August. They've not said or updated the order page as yet to say exactly when, but keep checking back.

6 June 2008

The long awaited Trainz Classics 3 has now been given a release date of 23 August 2008. Visit the official Auran Shop for further information. Nice price too at £13.99 for a superb looking route and motive power pack. Note the item has not yet been opened up for pre-order, presumably that will follow in the next couple of weeks.

24 May 2008

Okay, a couple of news tidbits today. First off RSDL, the Kuju spin off company now responsible for supporting and developing Rail Simulator, have just announced they have an expansion pack in development based on the Isle of Wight Island line and the heritage IOW Steam Railway. More information at the official RSDL site. Also of interest in the same article is a footnote that Upgrade 2 (patch?) to Rail Simulator is nearing completion. Now I have to confess although I sold my UK version of Rail Simulator back at the beginning of the year, I have since repurchased the US version. Once Upgrade 2 is released I plan to revisit my review and will also hopefully be able to offer a review of their IOW pack.

Veteran train simmers may recall the Eisenbahn.exe programme (or its various aliases) which has been around for some considerable time. The programme developers recently contacted me to advise they have just released an updated version of the programme, entitled Train Model Simulator 2008 (aka EEP 5.0). Now they have supplied me with a review copy which I hope to take a look at over the coming weeks and write up a feature article. In the meantime, more information at the Train Model Simulator Homepage.

14 May 2007

It's always good to hear news of a new train simulation product in development. Take a look at this site... World of Subways ... for information on what appears to be an all new standalone train sim product. The site is only in German at the moment but you can run the link through Google translation to get the gist of what it's all about. These guys are the same group who developed the Berlin Subway add-on for MSTS which was very highly regarded. This could well be worth a look if, like me, you are starting to get a bit fed up with the constant MSTS/TRS/KRS cartel.

While on the subject of subway simulators, more mature readers might be interested to learn that the recently released GTA IV contains a very realistic depiction a fictional rapid transit system based on New York City and surrounding area. Unfortunately, you can only ride the trains not drive them but developer Rockstar have created a truly authentic environment where the trains look, sound and have physics qualities (dip and sway) better than that of the three big train sims. Somewhat ironic that Rockstar unintentionally created a better simulation of train movement and dynamics as a peripheral feature in their console gamethan Kuju managed in Rail Simulator!

22 April 2008

Bus Simulator 2008 now has a UK release date of 9th May and is available for a nice price of £14.99 at Play.com. So if you fancy a change from steel wheels to rubber wheels, might be worth a look.

The Trainz Classics 3 website has received a couple of updates since the last entry on here, including a very enticing Sulzer Class 24 locomotive and information on the Mark One coaching stock which will be included in the pack. Release date still to be announced but hopefully not too far off.

3 March 2008

A-Train HX finally gets a UK/Western release! This Friday 7th March sees the release of the latest version of the A-Train series, for the X-Box 360. At the moment that's the only platform it seems to be coming out for, would have been nice to see a version for the PC too. At the moment, still weighing up whether it's worth paying £300 for another console just to play one game. In the meantime, you can read more about the title (and order) from at least three of the big online retailers - Play.com, Amazon UK and Game. If anyone buys/plays it in the meantime, please contact me with your experiences!

20 February 2008

The freeware BVE remains one of the most popular and authentic train sims. Fans of UK routes would be advised to pay a visit to "Easypeazy's BVE Page", the author specialises in routes featuring the North of England and today sees the launch of an updated ECML (East Coast Mainline) Northumberland for BVE4. I recently drove the previous version (using the Class 37/4 available from Trainsimcentral) and was well impressed. This is train simming at its purist - no distraction of external or flyby views, just a superb and realistic in cab forward looking experience. As a reminder (pending me getting round to putting a page up) the BVE programme can be obtained from the author's (Mr. Mackoy) BVE Website.

13 February 2008

Well it's been an age since any update to the site, unfortunately real life issues and heavy work commitment have precluded much time for updates or writing new articles.

Top of the recent news...well, if you pop over to the Microsoft Train Sim 2 page, the developer has now uploaded a video clip of early in game footage from the game. I'm quite impressed, obviously early days and very much a WIP but a sign of good things to come etc.

As regards Trainz, well as anyone who frequents the forums will be aware just prior to Christmas the developer Auran went into administration. This has resulted in a major downsizing of the company though it seems Trainz and the support functions - Download Station and official forum - will continue to operate for the forseeable future. Trainz Classics 3 is still in development and a visit to the developer's site indicates this will offer a number of substantial improvements over existing versions of the game.

The following are links to message boards which may be useful:

Auran Trainz Forum - the official board to discuss Auran's train sim products.

Densha de Go Board - English language forum for users of Japanese console train driving games.

Train-sim.com - US orientated discussion site.

Transport Tycoon Forum - For TT etc. & Locomotion discussion.

Truck Pol Forum - C'mon good buddy, 10-4, rubber duck (plastic chicken) discuss all those road transport driving games out there!

UK Trainsim - UK orientated, primarily MSTS.

UK Trainz Forum - Independent UK site, primarily Trainz.

Zusi - Official board of the German sim. English language section available.