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Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

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Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#111

Post by bena »

simondotau wrote: post #58
nomel wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2026 Steam hardware survey [1]: Windows: 94.10% Linux: 3.68% macOS: 2.21% [1] Click the "OS Version" row to expand the table, https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Softw...

Something of a self-reinforcing statistic. Steam is rarely installed on Mac because there’s hardly any point doing so.

Proud 2.2%er

But I also have had it installed via Crossover at some points to check out a Windows-only game.

Which I just realize also skews the statistic because Crossover basically creates a Windows VM.

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#112

Post by hananova »

denkmoon wrote: post #44
Insanity wrote: post #14

I never got the appeal for these sim games. From the screenshots, it looks like a beautiful game and I guess I could enjoy the visuals for an hour or 2. But I don't see how it'd entertain me for hours on end. If someone here is into these sim games, what's the reason you keep going back to them?

The simple pleasure of a job well done, even if the job is completely imaginary, because my real job is complex and stupid. Driving the train is a little technical, but not overwhelmingly so. You need to pay attention to the gradient, speed, train weight and rail slipperiness to brake with perfect accuracy every time you come to a station. Signalling is not overly complex but you can benefit from tabbing over to a re…

These Japanese style train sims are quite a bit less realistic, including fewer signals you need to know (Densha de GO!! essentially only has speed limits, g-forces, train load, and weather modeling.) and simplifying the controls to essentially a single handle that goes from full brake when pushed all the way forward to full traction when pulled toward you, with a switch you need to press to be able to pull it past neutral.

But in return they add very technically difficult tasks, such as stopping within a millimeter of the stopping point within a second of the time in the timetable without re-braking or making passengers uncomfortable, or stuff such as pointing at signals. They even add completely unrealistic stuff just for the sake of gameplay such as bonus zones where you need to stay at an exact speed, sounding the horn for overpasses and level crossings, or dimming the lights for oncoming trains.

They "feel" very different to games like Train Sim World, but I like them both regardless.

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#113

Post by freetime2 »

Loughla wrote: post #105
freetime2 wrote: post #102

Looks beautiful and I am filled with an instant sense of nostalgia looking at the screenshots. Personally if I were going to adopt a nerdy train hobby, I would tend more toward train photography. Recently train photographers have been in the news for mostly bad reasons [1], but I have also seen train photographers setting up in rural locations and the scenery looks stunning and also totally chill. The problems arise…

The one thing that is keeping me from riding the routes that I believe would be the must fun/scenic is the OBSCENE cost of those tickets. Granted, these aren't commuter tickets. I would love a trip across the high plains and through the mountains by train. Just like I would love to take a cruise from the bottom of the Mississippi to the top. But them tickets is too high.

In Japan it's quite reasonable to ride local trains. I've been meaning to do a trip along the recently re-opened Tadami Line [1], for example. The one way cost for the full 4-hour, 135km trip is only ¥2,750 ($17).

Though when you add in the costs of getting to the start/end of the line, overnight accomodations, and potentially the cost of getting to Japan first - it gets quite a bit more expensive. But staying at a little guesthouse along the way is also part of the charm.

[1] https://fukushima.travel/blogs/tadami-line-5-sights-you-shou...

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#115

Post by mikeaskew4 »

Insanity wrote: post #14

I never got the appeal for these sim games. From the screenshots, it looks like a beautiful game and I guess I could enjoy the visuals for an hour or 2. But I don't see how it'd entertain me for hours on end. If someone here is into these sim games, what's the reason you keep going back to them?

To crash the [train, plane, automobile] of course.

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#116

Post by corysama »

VikingCoder wrote: post #67
Sharlin wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No engine in the world can make bad assets look good.

Eskil Steenberg's LOVE has entered the chat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-A8xvFKaRA

His Behind the Scenes video for LOVE is one of my favorite developer vids ever.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f90R2taD1WQ

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#117

Post by mcmoor »

Ferret7446 wrote: post #9
bitwize wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the Touhou games or Cave Story were released today, all of Hackernews would be like "dude, I wonder what their LLM workflow is like!" Japanese solo hikikomori devs have been putting out insane stuff since long before LLMs emerged.

Not really, those games are very simple code wise. A high schooler could do it (source me). You could make a bullet hell game engine as a project in an intro CS course. The hard part is the content in the game, and ZUN was already a composer. That just leaves the code which is easy, and the bullet patterns, which ZUN clearly improved at through his earlier games. (and the art, which is famously bad though endearing)

The other comment said that obviously no solo dev do everything by himself. They must have asset maker or song maker who do all things mostly uncredited. But, here we are, of course there are true solo devs!

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#118

Post by laserDinosaur »

AmVess wrote: post #76
topgrain2 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every time I see a halfway polished “solo developer” game, they did not do all the work themselves. Especially, they usually hire out the music, maybe other sounds, and much of the artwork. Sometimes they also have freelancers doing marketing and such. Sometimes even some paid help writing the software. I highlight this not to bring those developers down, but because I think it’s important people understand ho…

Solo developer just means they developed the game themselves, not made it all themselves. I'm not sure how you could write what you wrote without that occurring to you.

In that case, please, define "developed the game" for us. Is doing all the programming "developing" the game? Is coming up with the game design and hiring programmers "developing" the game?

sits back with popcorn

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#120

Post by culi »

epx wrote: post #95

Another notable, if old, train simulator from Japan is OpenBVE. It was easy to model railroads on it. Many short Brazilian routes were/are modeled in OpenBVE. It is particularly convincing since it simulates well the typical lateral wobbling that metric trains are known for.

Do you mean actual Brazilian railway track engineers used this game to plan/develop actual routes? Or just that you can play Brazilian routes in the game?
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