Train Simulator vs Train Sim World.. What’s The Difference?

Train Simulator vs Train Sim World..

What’s The Difference?

What’s going on beautiful people welcome back its ya boy Blu Games. So I recently got into train simulators and the first one I bought was Train Sim World by Dovetail Games.. but shortly after that Dovetail Games also released another Train Simulator.. so I was like what the heck this. Train Simulator vs Train Sim World. What’s the difference? 

Is this an update? A DLC? Or a whole new game? So I asked around.. did some digging and now I own both.
So let me help you understand the difference. Because this is extremely confusing for new users.

First of all these are 2 completely different games and they are in no way compatible with each other and they do not share DLC’s but they are made by the same company but different teams. Confused yet lol.

Train Simulator 2021 (Classic)

Lets start with Train Simulator 2021, or some call it 20XX because the date changes every year, but we will call it Train Simulator “Classic”.

Which was Originally called Railworks back in 2009. Then it got a major game engine update in 2011, which is what the current Train Simulator is built on. Which explains the ancient Playstation 1 graphics.

Train Sim World was built with a modern graphics engine, which allows for much more all around graphic detail and console support. Which makes it more attractive and accessible to more users!

Train Simulator Classic is only available on PC but it has been around a looong time. Every year they release a new quote un quote game, but truth is from 2012 to 21 its all the same game it just updates with a couple new routes, optimizations and a new # on the cover. But there is now over 600 paid DLC and a ton of free DLC available to download. Compared to Train Sim World’s 30.

So With Train Simulator Classic you get a big variety of locos and routes. You get much longer Routes, and much longer trains. There’s a massive community of 3rd party addon developers. You can create and share routes and scenarios. With the steam workshop. Speaking of steam.. there’s actual steam trains.
Im still waiting for that to come to TSW. 

The physics in TS Classic tend to be more realistic but that depends on the route & locomotive. Heavy actually feels heavy. Stopping and going is a lot more challenging. This sim does not hold your hand, and will penalize you for almost anything. Even wheel-slip.. But every route does come with a manual for those who choose to read it. 

The in-game user interface is helpful but .. I hate it, its ugly and i never wanna see it again ill leave it at that.

Performance wise TS Classic is surprisingly buggy and sometimes choppy even on high end machines. For some reason I thought a game of its age would run a bit smoother. There is Trackir support but I haven’t see. Anything about Virtual Reality..

Train Sim World

So Lets talk about Train Sim World TSW gives a fresh new look to Train Simulators. Its obviously better looking, with better lighting, weather effects and motion blur. The user interface is clean, minimal, and very new user friendly except for the map.. not sure what happen there. And for me the load times are way faster. And the Perfomance on my machine is much smoother then TS Classic.

Many hardcore train sim fans will say TSW is more of a game then a simulator. But I would disagree. I would say its still a simulator but sometimes it does hold your hand & assist you. There are in-game simple interactive tutorials for every train but no manuals included yet. Also some there are some much needed interactive features. Such as being able to walk around on foot, explore stations, couple trains, and switch switches manually by hand which are some of my fav things about TSW. There’s also a livery & scenario designer but not yet a way to share them. Trackir support is coming soon and I have not seen any details on Virtual Reality.

Recommended Best Train Simulator

So personally I would recommend Train Sim World if you are brand new to train simulators. Its much better for new users and will help you learn the basics pretty quickly. It will also guage how interested you actually are in trains.

Train Simulator Classic has a ton of DLC its actually overwhelming, intimidating and can get expensive. But of you are looking for more complex & realistic trains and I would recommend the TS pro series of dlc.

Direct Message to Dovetail Games

Last thing I wanna say is directly to dovetail games… let classic go.. seriously. And focus your attention on Train Sim World & 3rd party support fot Train Sim World. Bring the core features everyone loves up to par and push forward. Gotta stop living in the past. Every game developer has to do it at some point. Its a risk but it will be worth it.