Edinburgh to Glasgow Extension - V1.2b Released

I have just published the latest version of the Edinburgh to Glasgow scenery extension to the Steam Workshop, this update brings the version to 1.2b.

Included in this upgrade are the following additions to the original route:

Track and scenery extension from Haymarket to Curriehill Groundframe.
Scenery extension from Larbert to Stirling.
Scenery extension at South Gyle.
Quick Drive functionality covering all new locations.

On the new section from Haymarket to Curriehill Groundframe, track is laid with reference to the prototypical gradients and also has correct speed limits, signalling and signal numbering.

One issue from an uploaders perspective is that one released, I've absolutely no way of knowing whether the upload has found it's way to subscribers, or even if the thing has updated properly, the download screen seems to say so anyway. If anyone does happen to read this and gets the update, be as kind as to let me know. Thanks.

The Workshop page can be found by following this link, or by using the in-game workshop page in Train Simulator 2014.

DPSimulation Prize Draw

People will have noticed in the past that I often post to show my appreciation to all of those who donate to DPSimulation. I'd like to go further than that, and try and give something back. Because I do not sell anything on the DPSimulation website, and therefore cannot offer things such as reward points or complimentary content, I've had to think of another way.

I will now hold a bi-monthly prize draw for all of those who donate. The first prize draw will be at the end of December or thereabouts, so anyone who donates between today (25th October) and the end of December will receive an entry into the prize draw for every £5 donated, there is no maximum entry limit. The winner will be picked at random from all entries received during the quaifying period.

The prize will most likely be an item of Steam DLC up to the value of £25, gifted to the winner of the prize draw. If a Steam sale is running at the time of the draw, the winner can choose more than one item of DLC up to the £25 value.

Once the winner is randomly drawn at the end of December, the names will be removed and a new draw will start the following day. The second draw will take place at the end of February or thereabouts, and draws will then continue on a bi-monthly basis.

Thankyou for reading and good luck to anyone who takes part.

City Lines V1.2

I have just published the latest version of the City Lines route to the Steam Workshop. Subscribers should now see the route updated to V1.2 with the addition of new track and scenery to the North-Eastern section of the route including a new three way graded junction and engineers yard.

City Lines V1.2 - Progress Screenshots

Just a few shots of the newest section of City Lines. V1.2 should be released within the next couple of days.....

Train Simulator 2014 - Freeware Database

After being contacted various times by users of the sim who have no facility to buy further content, I have decided to try and collate as much information as I can in order to provide a freeware database** both for my own benefit, and for that of others.

One sticking point is that not everyone now has the same 'default' content. For that reason, as the largest number of users would probably have existed before the content was debundled for TS2013, so my initial database collates all information based on freeware content that requires nothing more than the original 'Kuju' default content, GWML, ECML, HST, Class 47 etc.

It's important to note that this initial database does not contain reskins of free stock, nor does it contain routes that require freely available assets. The initial database has a caveat that nothing further is required to run the download, and should work provided this original 'Kuju' stock and assets are present on your system.

A second note of importance is that this is a mammoth project, and this initial publication only scratches the surface of what is available out there. For instance, many do not realise that much of the freeware content is still listed on many sites under 'Rail Simulator' or 'Railworks', both previous guises of Train Simulator, when in reality, that content should still run on the newest guise without issue. Despite only scratching the surface, it's already obvious to me that there is much more content out there, for free, than I and probably everyone ever thought existed. And this list is only going to get bigger.

Feel free to take a look, you might even be surprised to find something listed that you never even knew was available, and for free!

Routes - Link

There are initially over 30 routes listed and all, according to their respective download locations appear to require nothing more than Kuju content with the possible exception of the solitary APStation Pack, a link to which is provided on the database page.

Scenarios - Link

There are initially over 30 scenarios listed and again, all seem to require nothing more than this original default content.

Rolling Stock - Link

The rolling stock list is the most expansive of this initial release of the database and includes over 20 items of diesel & electric rolling stock/multiple units. There are also in excess of 30 steam locomotives and in excess of 40 items of passenger and freight stock.


** I have tried to provide the latest version for each item of stock. However, fragmentation is rife on certain download sites, and multiple versions of several items exist.

The Freeware Community - What Happened?

Forgive me if this seems like a rant, but then again, it probably is, but what is wrong with the train simulation community these days? It's worth pointing out from the outset that there are some very genuine members of the community that will go out of their way to help and provide feedback, so this isn't in any way aimed at them, these people know who they are and I salute them.

For years, I was always the first one to reply on a forum if a freeware developer felt a bit down if they received no recognition or feedback for their work. I always maintained that they should do whatever they do for themselves and not expect anything in return, any expectation of recognition would leave them disappointed.

However, I'm starting to see their point more and more now, many developers I am contact with are either very near to, or have already given up. Why? Because the vast majority don't really seem to care any more. It's really apparent now that in order to gain some praise, recognition or feedback, you have to be selling something. The sense I now get is that unless something is payware, then it must be of inferior quality.

Take a forum such as UKTS, apparently such a 'community' focused forum, a 'pillar of freeware' some would call it. Yet all I see these days are thread after thread of payware related discussion. You have someone that will announce an obscure foreign locomotive which will spawn page after page of discussion. You have payware companies actually using the forums as a means of advertising, threads full of 'look at my new company website' or 'vote here for the next thing you want me to sell' or even 'look at my 25% off deal that ends today, but actually will end tomorrow as I am desperate to take your cash', shouldn't these guys be actually paying for their advertising by way of banners or similar?

If you do happen to see a freeware related thread, don't expect to see it for long. It will be get pushed down the front page of a forum so quick by payware threads that it will receive hardly a reply, and most will never even know it existed.

So what actually happened? It's not for the lack of effort by many. Personally, I have tried as much as I can to promote freeware, both from myself and others. I opened a website to try and promote freeware as much as possible, but even that is becoming a struggle to maintain. Although I still receive the odd donation, these are generally repeat donations by some very kind folk who truly do want to see resources such as this remain. If things continue as they are, at the current rate, I cannot really see me being able to continue providing content in the way I do on the website, it will bleed me dry and for what?

This brings me back to recognition. I don't necessarily need everyone who downloads something from me to tell me 'it was great' or even to tell me if it was crap. But let's be honest here, although I create what I want and what I like to see, the end result is that I also want to release something to benefit the community. Take the recently expanded Steam Workshop. I have released two routes on there, making clear a commitment that I want to continue to update them. Now, they may not be to everyones liking, I may even be kidding myself into think they are any good! But I have to look at facts and figures, so far they have received over 1600 subscriptions but how many ratings? 20, and even one of those was negative, for a completely free route! That kind of ratio doesn't exactly fill me with any drive to keep going.

Let's go further, take the recent Class 90 scenario pack I released, it actually reached 1200 downloads yesterday. But I would never have known it unless I looked at my own website statistics, I only know two people that have downloaded it as they were the only two to have bothered saying so! I even had one person contacting me after I did make a post asking people if they had downloaded my recent content, and they said that they weren't going to bother, they were going to wait and pay for a future scenario pack instead!

So what can be done about it? I'm not even sure any more, if payware is taking over the scene completely and freeware takes on a label of inferior quality, I'm not sure what else can actually be done. Far too many people are climbing on board, seeing the opportunity of making a quick buck for some really poor quality stuff and I feel it is detracting from the freeware scene and putting people off.

All I can really suggest is that if you do download freeware, from anywhere, then at least appreciate the time these people take to provide it, at no cost to you. Give them a bit of feedback, if it is from somewhere that provides a ratings system then take a few seconds of your time to provide a rating. If you feel that the product can be improved, then give constructive feedback. Encouragement can be everything.

If the current trend continues, I can honestly see that freeware will dry up completely Of course, as times moves on and if no new blood arrives, then the freeware would naturally dry up anyway, but I can see there being a premature end. What will be ironic if this happens, is that the same people that couldn't be bothered to spare a bit of time originally will then flood forums with posts asking why it is dried up, blaming anyone but the people that caused it, themselves.