Feedback for the devs, as asked on the store page

[NoSuchAgency]

Hi players, hi JR East, hi Ongakukan,

Glad to see Ongakukan back on the non-professional side of Train Simulator series, i'm a fan from PSP and PS2 era.

This is a small feedback for JR East and Ongakukan, compairing this game to other train sims and the previous titles in the Ongakukan's Train Simulator series.

Some people didn't seemed to understand the main thing about this game, that is to say : "Driving a train while playing a video".

Pros:
- High quality video with better framerate than previous titles, better feeling when driving slow.
- The 2 routes are good and completely opposite, one very busy one, and a more rural one.
- Sounds are nice, feels immersive. But isn't there missing famous "japanese station annoncement songs, different on all stations"? I'm not sure.

Things to improve:
- The UI. In begineer mode, it would be great to have Speed, Max speed on the top right corner display, as on previous versions.
- On some Train Simulator titles, you added, on the bottom left of the screen, a "repetition" of signs as seen along the line, blinking faster as you approach. Can be good for mobile players (later on that) and people with visual difficulties.

Missing and "important":
- Add generic Xbox controller support, either through your game itself or a Steam official controller scheme.
- Doesn't run on SteamDeck, with Shaders error on launch. Could be great to have SteamDeck support as it just came out in Japan as well, might not be too hard to pinpoint the problem to have Proton support.
- Add some "signal database" like on most of your titles in the main menu, for non-japanese fans to be able to obey signals along the track.

Missing and "could be fun":
- Maybe some kind of disruptions occuring randomly (just like you would have on a professionnal Train Simulator for drivers) : level crossing red signal (obstructed), or a late train in front of us (even though we can not see it, playing just with signals), obliging us to keep a very careful eye on signals. If you have other ideas, it might be fun.

If you are a player, and you have a constructive feedback as well, maybe we can combine all this in a super thread for the devs.

Keep up the good work, and hoping to hear about your ideas soon,
Max, a French fan <3

[Green Cat]

Sanbox mode: just drive with no responsibility or objectives, aka the fun is just driving!

Steam deck and generally game control is a must... I keep mapping. My game control with keyboard keys and yes, the gameplay experience gets better and better the better i manage to "map"

[gokustan]

One thing that struck me was the cab view. It looks too static, even the older PS2 games (for example Midosuji and Yamanote Line) had slight lighting changes when the train enters a roofed station or passes a overhead light in a tunnel.

[NoSuchAgency]

Originally posted by gokustan:

One thing that struck me was the cab view. It looks too static, even the older PS2 games (for example Midosuji and Yamanote Line) had slight lighting changes when the train enters a roofed station or passes a overhead light in a tunnel.

Indeed you're right. I like the animated display screens though.
Maybe something worth looking into, just some wobble of the cab when passengers board, or on curves. Even a slight effect might be good :)

[Gerd]

The game already has Xbox controller support.

[NOCTORNUS]

Any one found a steam deck solution I'm in Tokyo right now and have my steam deck but alas it won't run

[NoSuchAgency]

Originally posted by NOCTORNUS:

Any one found a steam deck solution I'm in Tokyo right now and have my steam deck but alas it won't run

Nope. Tried installing missing dependencies, even running Windows on the Deck shows an error about h265 codec. Sorry mate :/

[KajFlo]

Does the game close for you once you exit it through the menu? For me Steam always says it is still running and i have to terminate Steam completely it seems.

[NoSuchAgency]

In case of game crash, it may take some time for Steam to register the closing of the game.

[KajFlo]

It's not about a game crash. People who have this problem close the game regularly in the ingame menu "shut down".

[KajFlo]

Ok, after I installed the game again the problem with the game not terminating correctly is gone. I dont know if they fixed it in the last patch but at leas I no longer have this problem.

[Jonas]

"On some Train Simulator titles, you added, on the bottom left of the screen, a "repetition" of signs as seen along the line, blinking faster as you approach. Can be good for mobile players (later on that) and people with visual difficulties."

This is exactly what I would love to see to learn the routes. Please add this JR East + Ongakukan.

[KajFlo]

They should at least add the darkening of the cab when entering a tunnel. This needs to be added to make the cab look less flat and static.

Also speed restrictions (including curve speeds !) need to be optionally added to the HUD. There should be a display for current and upcoming speed restriction that you can turn on/off in the menu.