2021-2025 Train Sim World DLCs

DLC Release List, Most Recent to Oldest:

• TSW 5 ECML Diesel Railtour Pack – https://store.steampowered.com/app/2970630/Train_Sim_World_5_ECML_Diesel_Railtour_Pack
• TSW 3 Midland Main Line Route – https://store.steampowered.com/app/2101381/Train_Sim_World_3_Midland_Main_Line_Leicester__Derby__Nottingham_Route_AddOn
• TSW 2 Horseshoe Curve Route – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1664930/Train_Sim_World_2_Horseshoe_Curve_Altoona__Johnstown__South_Fork_Route_AddOn
• TSW 2 DB BR 187 Loco Add-On Pack – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1418845/Train_Sim_World_2_DB_BR_187_Loco_AddOn

Overview

Since 2021, my professional work as a game developer has been focused on 3rd Party DLC content releases for the Train Sim World franchises at both Skyhook Games (2021-2024) and Athena Worlds (2024-Present).

Throughout all 4 DLCs, I have worked on a majority of the gameplay elements that players will interact with. These core elements are:

• Locomotive setups & gameplay functionality
• Scenarios (Curated instanced sequences of goals) & their Technical Implementations
• Frontend data management for each DLC
• Playtesting and iterative bugfixes/quality improvements
• Importing art assets provided by artists into Unreal Engine
• Material and lighting setups required to make locomotives look graphically correct in-game

These DLC packs are of varying size. The BR 187 and ECML packs are loco packs, solely adding them and curated Scenarios for them to be played in. Midland Main Line and Horseshoe Curve are Route packs, incorporating the full environment and rail network as part of the pack’s development.

For the BR 187 and ECML packs, I was the sole programmer. During the Horseshoe Curve pack, I worked with another programmer who implemented features outside of those listed above such as the rail network itself and signalling systems. During Midland Main Line, I was in a team of 3 programmers.

All content in the Train Sim World franchise is developed in Unreal Engine and exclusively using it’s Blueprints interface to achieve results. In-house tech built by Dovetail Games, the studio behind Train Sim World, was also utilised as this specialised in the physics of operating a train to feel like it’s an accurate representation of the real thing.

Throughout all of these DLCs, I was able to complete work on a single project from start to finish by moving through a development cycle pipeline that was informed by the procedures given to us by Dovetail Games and also as a practical method of achieving them by our own practices at Skyhook. Whilst with Athena Worlds during the development of ECML, being the sole programmer working on this pack meant I had to establish an improved pipeline informed by my previous works whilst addressing new technical challenges that were not encountered in previous DLC.

While the commercial success and customer reception of these products wildly vary based on numerous factors as part of the expectations of a TSW DLC, I have been able to competently achieve a level of quality in the backend work on the core elements listed above that ensured I was able to keep making DLCs