Train simulator

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A locomotive driving simulator of a China Railways HXD3B electric locomotive, produced by CNR Dalian and Southwest Jiaotong University HXD3B locomotive driving simulator.jpg
A locomotive driving simulator of a China Railways HXD3B electric locomotive, produced by CNR Dalian and Southwest Jiaotong University

A train simulator (also railroad simulator or railway simulator) is a computer based simulation of rail transport operations. They are generally large complicated software packages modeling a 3D virtual reality world implemented both as commercial trainers, and consumer computer game software with 'play modes' which lets the user interact by stepping inside the virtual world. Because of the near view modeling, often at speed, train simulator software is generally far more complicated software to write and implement than flight simulator programs.

Contents

Industrial train simulations

A Ferrocarriles Argentinos Railway Simulator. Centro Nacional de Capacitacion Ferroviaria 1.jpg
A Ferrocarriles Argentinos Railway Simulator.

Like flight simulators, train simulators have been produced for railway training purposes. Driver simulators include those produced by:

Signaller training simulators have been developed by Funkwerk in Germany, [15] [16] The Railway Engineering Company (TRE) in the UK, [17] [18] OpenTrack Railway Technology in Switzerland, [19] [20] and PS Technology in the US. [21]

Types of train simulators

There are various types of train driving simulators that are adapted to varying training needs and can be combined to meet operators' training needs in the most efficient way.

Full-cabin simulators

Similarly to flight simulators, train simulators can be a replica of a full driving cabin, on a one-to-one scale. This type of simulator is opted for when a train operator needs an immersive training tool for particularly effective training sessions. [22]

Intermediate, more compact simulators

Certain simulators can uphold a certain level of immersion while optimising the space of a training room. When a certain balance between immersion and scalability is needed, this type of simulator is chosen by instructors. [23]

Portable simulators

When a train operator has various training centres, it is sometimes easier and more logical to invest in smaller simulators that can be transported from one centre to another. [24] The company Transurb Simulation was the first to propose such a tool, which has now been adopted by many operators around the world and is becoming of a growing interest for smaller operators.

Consumer train simulation

Many consumer train simulations have been produced, often focusing on different aspects of real-life railways.

Driving simulation

Train driving simulation games usually allow a user to have a "driver's view" from the locomotive's cab and operate realistic cab controls such as throttle, brake valve, sand, horn and whistle, lights etc.

Train driving simulation software includes:

The PC game 3D Ultra Lionel Traintown , amongst some others, give a different experience to driving, by being in a 3rd person omniscient perspective, controlling the trains from a bird's eye view.

Peripherals specifically designed for use with driving simulations include RailDriver by US manufacturer P.I. Engineering. RailDriver is a programmable desktop cab controller with throttle, brake lever and switches designed to work with Trainz , TrainMaster, Microsoft Train Simulator and Rail Simulator . [34]

Strategy simulation

Railroad-themed strategy simulation video games are focused mostly on the economic part of the railroad industry rather than on technical detail. The A-Train series (1985 to present) is an early example. Chris Sawyer's Transport Tycoon (1994) was an influential game in this genre, [35] spawning remakes such as Simutrans (1999 to present), OpenTTD (2004 to present) and Sawyer's own Locomotion (2004). Sid Meier designed two railroad simulations: Railroad Tycoon (1990) and Railroads! (2006). The Railroad Tycoon series itself inspired other rail games such as Rails Across America (2001). [36]

Other genres

Some rail simulation games focus on railway signalling rather than driving or economics. Examples include The Train Game (1983), SimSig , JBSS BAHN, [37] Train Dispatcher , and the series of signalling simulations produced by PC-Rail Software. [38]

History

Train simulators are particularly popular in Japan, where rail transport is the primary form of travel for most citizens. [39] Train video games have been developed in Japan since the early 1980s, with Sega's arcade action game Super Locomotive (1982) being an early example, before more realistic train simulators emerged, such as Ongakukan's Train Simulator series (1995 debut) and Taito's Densha de Go series (1996 debut), [39] as well as train business simulations such as the A-Train series (1985 debut). [40] Non-commercial Japanese sims include the freeware BVE, first released in 1996, which was later remade as the free and open-source OpenBVE.

One of the first commercially available train simulators in the West was Southern Belle , released in 1985. The game simulated a journey of the Southern Belle steam passenger train from London Victoria to Brighton, while at the same time the player must comply with speed limits, not to go too fast on curves and keep to the schedule. It was followed with Evening Star in 1987. The first two train simulators to achieve large sales in the West, Microsoft Train Simulator and Trainz , arrived within a few months of one another in 2001. These featured differing design philosophies - Microsoft Train Simulator focused on providing a realistic driving experience, whereas Trainz focused more on the ability of the user to create their own content such as trains and routes.

The developers behind Microsoft Train Simulator, Kuju Entertainment, later released a spiritual successor called Rail Simulator , which was later purchased by a separate company and rereleased as Railworks .

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simulation</span> Imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time

A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in which simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the simulation represents the evolution of the model over time. Another way to distinguish between the terms is to define simulation as experimentation with the help of a model. This definition includes time-independent simulations. Often, computers are used to execute the simulation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gmax</span>

Gmax is an application based on Autodesk's 3ds Max application used by professional computer graphics artists. 3ds Max is a comprehensive modeling, animation and rendering package with some secondary post-production and compositing features. Gmax is much more limited due to its singular intended use—game content creation. Infrequently used tools and features, or the ones completely unrelated to creating 3D game models, were removed, leaving the core modeling, texturing, and basic animation rigging and keyframing capabilities. In 2005, the promotional freeware software was discontinued after version 1.2.

<i>Microsoft Train Simulator</i> 2001 video game

Microsoft Train Simulator is a 2001 train simulator game developed by UK-based Kuju Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Windows. It was released on June 18, 2001.

<i>Trainz</i> Train simulator video game series

Trainz is a series of 3D train simulator video games. The Australian studio Auran released the first game in 2001.

BVE Trainsim is a Japanese three-dimensional computer-based train simulator. It is notable for focusing on providing an accurate driving experience as viewed from inside the cab, rather than creating a network of other trains —other trains passed along the route are only displayed as stationary objects. BVE Trainsim was designed and developed by Takashi "Mackoy" Kojima starting in 1996 with the original program name coming from the Japanese 255 series multiple unit trains found in routes in Japan.

driving simulator Professional simulator designed for beginner drivers

Driving simulators are used for entertainment as well as in training of driver's education courses taught in educational institutions and private businesses. They are also used for research purposes in the area of human factors and medical research, to monitor driver behavior, performance, and attention and in the car industry to design and evaluate new vehicles or new advanced driver assistance systems.

Train Simulator is a Japanese train simulation game series produced by Ongakukan. The game is significant as it was one of the earliest of its kind since the series started in 1995. No titles were released outside of Asia until the 2022 title JR East Train Simulator.

<i>SimSig</i> Video game

SimSig is a mixed donationware and commercial Windows-based train simulator of modern railway signalling systems in Great Britain, from the point of view of a railway signaller. Users have also had success running SimSig on Linux using Wine.

<i>Rail Simulator</i> 2007 video game

Rail Simulator is a train simulation published by Electronic Arts (EA). It was produced by Kuju Entertainment. After release of the EU version, EA's support and further development of the title was taken over by Rail Simulator Developments Ltd, who continued to provide updates, fixes, official expansion packs and new content to players. RSDL has also released a sequel to the first game called RailWorks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RailDriver</span>

RailDriver is a desktop cab controller for train simulation software. It replaces keyboard and mouse operation as far as possible to provide a more realistic train driving experience. It is designed to be compatible with Microsoft Train Simulator. N3V's Trainz, BVE Trainsim and World of Subways also support RailDriver. As of December 2020, Dovetail Games' Train Sim World 2 added an open beta for Raildriver on PC. Other software may be controlled using downloadable resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N3V Games</span> Australian video game developer

N3V Games is an Australian video game developer and publisher based in Helensvale, Queensland, Australia. Auran is now operated as a holding company, with operations and development ceded to N3V Games, a different closely held company.

Microsoft Train Simulator 2 was a train simulation game in development by Microsoft Game Studios on two occasions. Meant to be the successor to Microsoft Train Simulator, it was originally announced in 2003, until being cancelled in 2004. The second attempt at the game was first announced on January 19, 2007, and originally scheduled for release in the last quarter of 2009. It was postponed indefinitely and virtually cancelled due to the closure of Aces Game Studio in 2009.

Vehicle simulation games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles. This includes automobiles, aircraft, watercraft, spacecraft, military vehicles, and a variety of other vehicles. The main challenge is to master driving and steering the vehicle from the perspective of the pilot or driver, with most games adding another challenge such as racing or fighting rival vehicles. Games are often divided based on realism, with some games including more realistic physics and challenges such as fuel management.

A train simulator is a computer-based video game that simulates rail transport operations. Train Simulator may also refer to any of the following specific simulators:

<i>Train Simulator Classic</i> 2009 video game

Train Simulator Classic is a train simulation game developed by Dovetail Games. It is the successor to Rail Simulator, and was released online on 12 June 2009 and in stores on 3 July 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flight simulation video game</span> Video game genre

A flight simulation video game refers to the simulation of various aspects of flight or the flight environment for purposes other than flight training or aircraft development. A significant community of simulation enthusiasts is supported by several commercial software packages, as well as commercial and homebuilt hardware. Open-source software that is used by the aerospace industry like FlightGear, whose flight dynamics engine (JSBSim) is used in a 2015 NASA benchmark to judge new simulation code to space industry standards, is also available for private use. A popular type of flight simulators video games are combat flight simulators, which simulate combat air operations from the pilot and crew's point of view. Combat flight simulation titles are more numerous than civilian flight simulators due to variety of subject matter available and market demand.

V-scale, Vscale, or V scale is a scale of model railroading utilizing self-defining three-dimensional models and a compatible graphics engine to create an alternative modeled world. Though it has not been classified or recognized by either the NMRA or MOROP, the term Vscale has gradually taken on widescale de facto use in railfan and model railroading circles. V-scale model railroading was created when Japanese game developer Artdink released A-Train in 1985, but it was not widely popularized until Microsoft released Microsoft Train Simulator and Australia's Auran/N3V Games released the successful family of Trainz railroad simulators, both in 2001. With the ability to enter into the cab of a modeled train consist in a modeled landscape and track system, the 'play' modes of the two simulators gradually established a following among rail enthusiasts.

Dovetail Games (DTG), a trading name of RailSimulator.com Ltd (RSC), is a British simulation video game developer and publisher. It was formed in 2008 by Paul Jackson, Tim Gatland and Charlie McMicking. It originally produced the RailWorks franchise, now called Train Simulator Classic, as well as Train Sim World and several fishing simulation games.

AirSim is an open-source, cross platform simulator for drones, ground vehicles such as cars and various other objects, built on Epic Games’ proprietary Unreal Engine 4 as a platform for AI research. It is developed by Microsoft and can be used to experiment with deep learning, computer vision and reinforcement learning algorithms for autonomous vehicles. This allows testing of autonomous solutions without worrying about real-world damage.

FAAC Incorporated is an American immersive simulation training company. They began as a military contractor, providing flight and weapons simulation systems to the U.S. Air Force, but have since branched out into transit and transportation simulation, law enforcement, Fire/EMS, research, and human-interaction simulation.

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