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Microsoft Train Simulator

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Microsoft Train Simulator
Cover art featuring LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman
Developer(s)Kuju Entertainment
Publisher(s)Microsoft Games
Director(s)Paul Chamberlain
Designer(s)Phil Marley
Programmer(s)Rhona Robson
Paul Wright
Artist(s)Dan Frith
Tony Zottola
Platform(s)Windows
Release
  • NA: June 18, 2001[1]
  • EU: July 20, 2001
Genre(s)Vehicle simulation
Mode(s)Single player

Microsoft Train Simulator (informally abbreviated to MSTS) is a 2001 train simulator game developed by UK-based Kuju Entertainment and published by Microsoft Games (now known as Xbox Game Studios) for Windows. It was released on June 18, 2001.[2]

Features

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Microsoft Train Simulator allows players to operate a selection of trains on various routes within Europe, Asia, and North America. Gameplay features include the ability to couple wagons, start and stop them, as well as operate trains using mouse and keyboard or hardware accessories (e.g. Raildriver) as controls.[3]

Routes

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The game features six routes in four countries: Austria, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.[4]

Route name Featured operators AI Featured operators Featured trains AI Featured trains Terminal
stations 		miles km Set
in 		Co
Hisatsu Line JR Kyushu JR Kyushu KiHa 31 KiHa 140 Yatsushiro to Yoshimatsu
via Hitoyoshi 		53 85 2000
2001 		Japan
Innsbruck - St. Anton BBÖ BBÖ Gölsdorf 380 Gölsdorf 310 Innsbruck to St. Anton
via Imst-Pitztal 		63 101 1920s Austria
Marias Pass BNSF BNSF Dash 9
GP38-2 		SD40-2 Shelby to Whitefish, including Kalispell branchline 152 245 2000
2001 		United States
Northeast Corridor Amtrak Amtrak Acela Express
Acela HHP-8 		P32AC-DM
E60 		Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
via Baltimore 		133 214 2000
2001 		United States
Settle & Carlisle Line LNER LMS
GWR 		Flying Scotsman Royal Scot
Pendennis Castle 		Settle to Carlisle
via Appleby 		72 116 1920s United Kingdom
Tokyo - Hakone Odakyu Electric Railway Odakyu Electric Railway Odakyu 2000 series
Odakyu 7000 series LSE 		Odakyu 30000 series EXE Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto
via Ebina and Odawara 		55 88 2000
2001 		Japan

Reception

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Critic reviews

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The game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[5] John Lee of NextGen said of the game, "All aboard for HO scale fans, trainspotters, and nostalgic rail buffs. Train haters, however, may prefer the old cliché, 'Run for the roundhouse, boys. They can't corner you there.'"[13]

Sales

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The game sold 191,952 units in the U.S. by the end of 2001, which drew revenues of $8.7 million.[17] These numbers rose to 330,000 units ($11.6 million) in the U.S. by August 2006. This led Edge to rank it as the country's 54th-best-selling computer game released in the 21st century in 2006.[18]

Internationally, the game received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[19] indicating sales of at least 100,000 units in the UK.[20] In the German market, the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) presented it with a "Gold" certification in early 2003,[21] for sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.[22]

The game sold one million units by 2005,[23] and, despite its age, is still very popular and has a large, active community.[24]

Awards

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The game was nominated for the "PC Simulation" award at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which ultimately went to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002.[25]

Mods

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The game also included a route and activity editor that enabled users to create and modify routes, trains, and activities.[26] Additionally, the game also allowed for mod support to add and change routes, trains, cargo, scenery, etc. Over 30,000 mods have been created and are mostly hosted on community sites such as TrainSim.com, UKTrainsim.com, and ElvasTower.com.[27] MSTS BIN, a community mod aimed at adding features and fixing old MSTS, was released in 2006.[28]

Cancelled sequel

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Main article: Microsoft Train Simulator 2

On May 7, 2003, Microsoft announced that it would be developing a sequel called Microsoft Train Simulator 2;[citation needed] it was first demoed to the public at E3 on May 15.[29] 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.) and turntables. It was being developed by Kuju Entertainment, the original MSTS creators. Despite restructuring efforts at Kuju, the project was handed over to Microsoft Game Studios on August 18, 2003.[30]

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."[31]

On January 19, 2007, Microsoft announced the relaunch of the Microsoft Train Simulator project. This time the game was being developed 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 Little Wheel Goes in Back" blog, written by one of the developers, on August 23, 2007, suggested the working title was "Train Simulator 2".[32]

Open Rails

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The Open Rails logo

MSTS is compatible with the open source project Open Rails, created by followers of MSTS,[33] which hosts a collection of third party digital content.[33] MSTS's development ended in 2009; however, community support for MSTS led to the creation of a third party team which created Open Rails.[33]

Open Rails uses the GPL license, and the project has progressed from providing legacy support for MSTS to adding new features.[33] Open Rails supports modern graphics processors, which allows it to achieve increased frame rates compared to MSTS.[33]

A form of Open Rails was used in several studies about the real life operation of railroads, such as in a 2016 study analyzing the impact of cyber attacks on railroads.[34]

Community

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TrainSim.Com was the first community to embrace MSTS in 2001, and has an active support community as well as a file library of user created content for the game.[35] Over 50,000 files ranging from entire routes to individual locomotives and cars are available to use with the legacy MSTS game and with Open Rails. As of August 2024, new content is still being developed for the game.[36]

Additional communities, such as UK TrainSim, also emerged, however many of these have since closed down.[37]

References

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  1. ^ "Microsoft 'Train Simulator' Rides the Rails of Realism, Capturing the Challenge and Romance of Railroading". Microsoft. June 18, 2001. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  2. ^ "Train Simulator - PC". Amazon. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  3. ^ Marchelletta, Courtney. "Microsoft Train Simulator". About.com. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on March 20, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  4. ^ "The Routes". Microsoft Train Simulator - Engineer's Handbook. Microsoft. 2001. pp. 76–87.
  5. ^ a b "Microsoft Train Simulator". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on December 4, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  6. ^ Case, Loyd (September 2001). "Get Onboard (Microsoft Train Simulator Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 206. Ziff Davis. p. 88. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 29, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  7. ^ MacIsaac, Jason (September 25, 2001). "Microsoft Train Simulator". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on August 21, 2002. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  8. ^ Bye, John "Gestalt" (July 24, 2001). "Microsoft Train Simulator". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on August 6, 2001. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  9. ^ Osborne, Scott (June 11, 2001). "Train Simulator Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on June 24, 2001. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  10. ^ McConnaughy, Tim (June 24, 2001). "Microsoft Train Simulator". GameSpy. GameSpy Industries. Archived from the original on June 2, 2002. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  11. ^ Lafferty, Michael (June 11, 2001). "Microsoft Train Simulator Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 1, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  12. ^ Butts, Steve (June 20, 2001). "Train Simulator". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Lee, John (September 2001). "Microsoft Train Simulator". NextGen. No. 81. Imagine Media. p. 90. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  14. ^ "Microsoft Train Simulator". PC Gamer. Vol. 8, no. 9. Imagine Media. September 2001.
  15. ^ Presley, Paul (September 2001). "Microsoft Train Simulator". PC Zone. No. 106. Dennis Publishing. p. 72. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  16. ^ Saltzman, Marc (July 25, 2001). "'Train Simulator' on the right track". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on August 11, 2001. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  17. ^ Bradshaw, Lucy (January 31, 2002). "Markle Forum on Children and Media" (PDF). Maxis. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 19, 2004.
  18. ^ Edge staff (August 25, 2006). "The Top 100 PC Games of the 21st Century (Page 5)". Edge. Future Publishing. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  19. ^ "ELSPA Sales Awards: Silver". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
  20. ^ Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Game Developer. Informa. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  21. ^ "VUD-SALES-AWARDS Januar 2003". Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (in German). January 2003. Archived from the original on April 22, 2003.
  22. ^ Horn, André (January 12, 2004). "VUD-Gold-Awards 2003". GamePro Germany (in German). Webedia. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018.
  23. ^ Stuart, Keith (June 24, 2005). "EA takes the train". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015.
  24. ^ Hilliard, Kyle (September 6, 2014). "Gears Of War's Rod Fergusson On the Franchise's Past And His Optimism For The Future". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  25. ^ "5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards: Winners". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  26. ^ "The Editor and Tools". Microsoft Train Simulator - Engineer's Handbook. Microsoft. 2001. pp. 89–90.
  27. ^ "MSTS Add-On Web Sites". TrainSim.com. May 18, 2010. Archived from the original on January 26, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  28. ^ "MS train simulator upgrade". MSTS BIN. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  29. ^ Calvert, Justin (May 15, 2003). "Train Simulator 2 Impressions". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  30. ^ Parker, Sam (August 18, 2003). "Microsoft takes over Train Sim 2". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  31. ^ Calvert, Justin (April 29, 2004). "Train Simulator 2 canceled". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  32. ^ tdragger (August 23, 2007). "Guter Tag von Leipzig!". Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 13, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  33. ^ a b c d e "Open Rails - Free train simulator project". Open Rails. Archived from the original on January 1, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  34. ^ Teo, Zhan-Teng; Tran, Bao Anh N.; Lakshminarayana, Subhash; Temple, William G.; Chen, Binbin; Tan, Rui; Yau, David K. Y. (2016). "Secure Rails: Towards an open simulation platform for analyzing cyber-physical attacks in railways". 2016 IEEE Region 10 Conference (TENCON). pp. 95–98. doi:10.1109/TENCON.2016.7847966. ISBN 978-1-5090-2597-8. S2CID 24841299.
  35. ^ "Trainsim.com About Us". January 2024.
  36. ^ "Trainsim.com New Files". August 19, 2024.
  37. ^ "UKTrainSim Formal Closure". UKTrainSim. January 27, 2023. Archived from the original on July 30, 2023.
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