I never expected DLC for Train Sim World to make me emotional
Who knew you could be so attached to a rail line?
What could possibly be so emotional in a train simulator game? The Boston-Worcester MBTA train line, apparently. As I watched the trailer for the newly released DLC for Train Sim World 5, I couldn’t help my eyes do anything but tear up seeing something I didn’t realize I was so attached to be lovingly recreated inside a video game.
When I used to work in the Boston area at Harmonix, this train line is what I rode each and every day to commute into the city. My quick back of the napkin math says I have spent at least 1,200 hours riding this train line, and that’s not even accounting for delays due to train traffic, weather, speed restrictions, and the often enough engine fire in the middle of winter.
I am so intimately familiar with this route that not only do I know it like the back of my hand, I probably have spent more time riding it than doing most other things in life at that time. It was practically a part time job given those hours.
I even fondly remember being there the day they ran the first direct Worcester-Boston express train, celebrating the ribbon cutting with Worcester’s government officials. Many strange, but also fascinating memories are associated with this one stretch of track.
Oddly enough, as it relates to the game and this content itself, I haven’t picked the DLC up just yet, however with the weekend quickly approaching I think I know just what I am going to be sinking my time into. I am sure I will follow up in the not-so-distant future with my thoughts, after I obsess over every single nook and cranny along the entire route.
In other news, a few days ago Planet Coaster 2 released, and then in just a week we’ll be getting Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Add in this week’s Train Sim World 5 DLC and that might just make it one of the biggest months for games this year. At least for me, someone who loves to play lots and lots of simulation games.
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Till next time, be kind and stay well.