Of all the simulators I've tried, SimRail has the worst onboarding experience. I've never seen such a discrepancy between required and provided information.
For simulators like this one which requires several hours of tutorials and practice to really get into it, I'd expect multiple detailed tutorials covering all aspects from basic player controls, startup procedures, normal operation, edge cases as well as a detailed handbook to help with troubleshooting. This game gives you a few flimsy, sometimes buggy tutorials with too little information. Everything else gets provided by the community. For a fully released game, this is unacceptable.
Tutorials
As most players would, I'll start with the tutorials. Keep in mind that all of this is from a newbie's perspective and refers to information provided within the game or via a document or website easily accessible from within the game. This is something I expect from a game released in 2024.
Getting to the tutorials screen is very easy but that's where my praise ends.
Movement, camera controls and basic interactions are never explained.
The first tutorial you're presented with is not a tutorial at all, but instead a sandbox that throws a bunch of prompts at you and then gives you a train without any further explanations. Good luck!
The second tutorial (ETCS Training Scenario Level 1) is very buggy, punishing and not at all suitable for someone completely new to the game. The intro is unskippable, and you'll probably see it a lot, because the tutorial will just kick you out if you don't follow its instructions just the way it wants to, so your only recourse is to restart the entire scenario and lose all progress.
With each restart after the cutscene ends the game might shout at you not to leave the training area while the train is right in front of you. The radio might not work (and you can't turn it on yourself) and as a result the game will constantly shout at you. My personal favorite and most common occurrence is when you get seated and the tutorial and/or the train just refuse to start.
After several tries, I really learned to "appreciate" the unskippable cutscene, the repeated time stops with unskippable explanations, only to find out another way the game will kick you out of the tutorial.
For example:
- You started braking when the train system told you to. Then it shouts at you because you should've started braking 10 seconds earlier. Emergency brake -> kicked out.
- The tutorial tells you that there's a stop light ahead, but you'll be allowed to drive through it on sight with a 20km/h speed limit. If you drive through, the emergency brake engages, and you get kicked out. Should've stopped before that signal.
The best part? Nothing else is this punishing. In singleplayer scenarios and in multiplayer the game just teleports you behind the red signal if necessary or forces the emergency brakes then allows you to keep driving afterwards.
To be fair, in the tutorial's description it says that you must already be proficient at driving this train without the ETCS system. It would be great if there was, you know, A TUTORIAL FOR THAT. Also, I suspect many people who want to get started with the game will just press Start without reading the description. Like someone who is used to almost every other game which presents you with a list of tutorials.
Sometimes your train flings codes at you. What does W18 mean? Or W24? Good luck trying to get clear concise information from the game.
At the time of writing this, I've sunk at least four hours into this tutorial without success.
The most beginner-friendly tutorial is #4 on the list, and even that doesn't explain things like player movement or camera controls to you. Also, for any tutorial, if you missed a prompt, there's no way to bring the textbox back. You'll either have to press buttons randomly until you find the right one or restart the entire tutorial. Technically the game highlights buttons, but it's in the worst highlight I've ever seen in any game ever in my entire life.
In singleplayer mode there's no in-game handbooks or easily accessible instructions. The best onboarding experience seems to be by the community, like forum posts or a few three year old YouTube videos. These funnily enough show that the tutorials haven't improved in said three years. E.g. the instructor sometimes calls buttons by the wrong name.
Eventually I found the official wiki which gave me some interesting info about signals but its vehicle infos were so useless it was almost funny.
Singleplayer Scenarios
If you make it past the introduction, the game makes it easy to choose a track and an easy scenario. From there it’s a nice way to learn the game. Just drive forward, stop when the game tells you to, open the doors for passengers, enjoy the landscape and get annoyed when the game deducts points for not using the horn in time, even though it never explains when to do that.
The problem starts with more difficult scenarios. How do you set up lights for shunting or driving on the left track? How do you properly switch cabins? Once again, no information provided.
Dispatching
I thought the train tutorials were bad but then I got confronted with the dispatching tutorial. Once again, I'm referring to in-game information or easily accessible official documents or websites.
There's no way to get introduced to dispatching via a singleplayer tutorial or guide.
The only way the game will teach you about dispatching is by joining a multiplayer lobby. The first time you join, your movement and camera get locked while the game spouts somewhat comprehensible information at you, without checking whether you're keeping up. Just like in the train tutorials, the dialogue continues automatically. You cannot press a button to get to the next text box or get back or repeat that dialogue. This goes on for what feels like three minutes. I'm not sure though. I can't replay that part.
Then the game throws you straight in and nothing waits for you to get acquainted. There are trains to be dispatched and if you don't know what you're doing, you'll cause them to be late. Better get used to the communication system quickly or the neighboring AI dispatchers will badger you. Depending on the station, don't forget to manage temporary line locks, railway crossings, permissions for trains to enter single-track lines, departure confirmations, make trains with "ph" or "pt" stops wait in your station, cancel a route if the computer decides to make a train go in a slalom instead of straight through. Was that too much for you? Don't worry, there's a handbook accessible in the top left corner! Have fun trying to read it while everyone's waiting for you!
It is a fairly common occurrence that a newbie dispatcher willingly leaves (or worse, gets kicked) so a bot takes over and cleans up their mess. Had I not consumed hours of community-made tutorials beforehand, I'm sure I would've been completely overwhelmed at first.
Of all the simulators I've tried, SimRail has the worst onboarding experience. I've never seen such a discrepancy between required and provided information. For simulators like this one which requires several hours of tutorials and practice to really get into it, I'd expect multiple detailed tutorials covering all aspects from basic player controls, startup procedures, normal operation, edge cases as well as a detailed handbook to help with troubleshooting. This game gives you a few flimsy, sometimes buggy tutorials with too little information. Everything else gets provided by the community. For a fully released game, this is unacceptable. Tutorials As most players would, I'll start with the tutorials. Keep in mind that all of this is from a newbie's perspective and refers to information provided within the game or via a document or website easily accessible from within the game. This is something I expect from a game released in 2024. Getting to the tutorials screen is very easy but that's where my praise ends. Movement, camera controls and basic interactions are never explained. The first tutorial you're presented with is not a tutorial at all, but instead a sandbox that throws a bunch of prompts at you and then gives you a train without any further explanations. Good luck! The second tutorial (ETCS Training Scenario Level 1) is very buggy, punishing and not at all suitable for someone completely new to the game. The intro is unskippable, and you'll probably see it a lot, because the tutorial will just kick you out if you don't follow its instructions just the way it wants to, so your only recourse is to restart the entire scenario and lose all progress. With each restart after the cutscene ends the game might shout at you not to leave the training area while the train is right in front of you. The radio might not work (and you can't turn it on yourself) and as a result the game will constantly shout at you. My personal favorite and most common occurrence is when you get seated and the tutorial and/or the train just refuse to start. After several tries, I really learned to "appreciate" the unskippable cutscene, the repeated time stops with unskippable explanations, only to find out another way the game will kick you out of the tutorial. For example: - You started braking when the train system told you to. Then it shouts at you because you should've started braking 10 seconds earlier. Emergency brake -> kicked out. - The tutorial tells you that there's a stop light ahead, but you'll be allowed to drive through it on sight with a 20km/h speed limit. If you drive through, the emergency brake engages, and you get kicked out. Should've stopped before that signal. The best part? Nothing else is this punishing. In singleplayer scenarios and in multiplayer the game just teleports you behind the red signal if necessary or forces the emergency brakes then allows you to keep driving afterwards. To be fair, in the tutorial's description it says that you must already be proficient at driving this train without the ETCS system. It would be great if there was, you know, A TUTORIAL FOR THAT. Also, I suspect many people who want to get started with the game will just press Start without reading the description. Like someone who is used to almost every other game which presents you with a list of tutorials. Sometimes your train flings codes at you. What does W18 mean? Or W24? Good luck trying to get clear concise information from the game. At the time of writing this, I've sunk at least four hours into this tutorial without success. The most beginner-friendly tutorial is #4 on the list, and even that doesn't explain things like player movement or camera controls to you. Also, for any tutorial, if you missed a prompt, there's no way to bring the textbox back. You'll either have to press buttons randomly until you find the right one or restart the entire tutorial. Technically the game highlights buttons, but it's in the worst highlight I've ever seen in any game ever in my entire life. In singleplayer mode there's no in-game handbooks or easily accessible instructions. The best onboarding experience seems to be by the community, like forum posts or a few three year old YouTube videos. These funnily enough show that the tutorials haven't improved in said three years. E.g. the instructor sometimes calls buttons by the wrong name. Eventually I found the official wiki which gave me some interesting info about signals but its vehicle infos were so useless it was almost funny. Singleplayer Scenarios If you make it past the introduction, the game makes it easy to choose a track and an easy scenario. From there it’s a nice way to learn the game. Just drive forward, stop when the game tells you to, open the doors for passengers, enjoy the landscape and get annoyed when the game deducts points for not using the horn in time, even though it never explains when to do that. The problem starts with more difficult scenarios. How do you set up lights for shunting or driving on the left track? How do you properly switch cabins? Once again, no information provided. Dispatching I thought the train tutorials were bad but then I got confronted with the dispatching tutorial. Once again, I'm referring to in-game information or easily accessible official documents or websites. There's no way to get introduced to dispatching via a singleplayer tutorial or guide. The only way the game will teach you about dispatching is by joining a multiplayer lobby. The first time you join, your movement and camera get locked while the game spouts somewhat comprehensible information at you, without checking whether you're keeping up. Just like in the train tutorials, the dialogue continues automatically. You cannot press a button to get to the next text box or get back or repeat that dialogue. This goes on for what feels like three minutes. I'm not sure though. I can't replay that part. Then the game throws you straight in and nothing waits for you to get acquainted. There are trains to be dispatched and if you don't know what you're doing, you'll cause them to be late. Better get used to the communication system quickly or the neighboring AI dispatchers will badger you. Depending on the station, don't forget to manage temporary line locks, railway crossings, permissions for trains to enter single-track lines, departure confirmations, make trains with "ph" or "pt" stops wait in your station, cancel a route if the computer decides to make a train go in a slalom instead of straight through. Was that too much for you? Don't worry, there's a handbook accessible in the top left corner! Have fun trying to read it while everyone's waiting for you! It is a fairly common occurrence that a newbie dispatcher willingly leaves (or worse, gets kicked) so a bot takes over and cleans up their mess. Had I not consumed hours of community-made tutorials beforehand, I'm sure I would've been completely overwhelmed at first.
