There is a new train coming!

Many have been waiting for a new train simulator platform for over a decade. Now it's here!

Explore and drive trains on impressive routes with different environments, speeds and service types. Expand Train Simulator NEXT with community-shared mods! Editors and tools allow you to create new routes, activities, and trains.

In this simulation game, you carry and transport passengers and goods in different types of trains. Get to know different careers in the railway industry, for example experimental train driving, local transport and train preparation work.

We have made sure that the application is designed to work for both beginners and professionals: choose from a various driving modes, from high-quality realism to relieved conditions through to automatic vehicle control and assistance with operation. In the Learning Center you can learn how to control a train, how to operate on the network and how to interpret signals and their rules.

Train Simulator NEXT provides the editors and tools needed to create and edit routes, activities and build new trains. Also included in the box is a Developer's Guide that shows how to create objects and how to use the applications. The reference manual also shows how to interact with the simulation and its environment. The brand new Train Simulator NEXT platform, created from the best parts of classic train simulations, offers many functional elements in a fresh, modern environment.

If you would like to know more about the simulation and its content, read the page about the game. You can learn more about this platform in the following sections:

A train simulator with editors and tools

We know how important it is to enhance a game with mods and how important it is to be able to create your own content for the application you use and like: since day one we have been inviting users and developers to create content for Train Simulator NEXT. We share the editors and tools and provide a documentation. This is the way to make train simulation great again!

This is the object editor where you can import your 3D models and design them to look shiny to the player:

If you would like to learn more about the editors and tools, read the about editors page. Also note: If you support Train Simulator NEXT with 25 euros or more, you will get access to the latest builds of the editors and tools today!

The new platform for a great future

Train Simulator NEXT leverages cutting-edge technology platforms and design principles to enhance your experience and maintain developer focus. Find out how Train Simulator NEXT is preparing the simulation landscape for a long-term future:

Instead of using pixel-based solutions, the renderer in Train Simulator NEXT uses a ray tracing renderer from day one. Look under the locomotive, look at machine parts under the housing: this is the new standard for self-shading. Many parts of the machine part have no texture, but only a material color with physically determined material properties. Many problems such as shadow acne or vignettes are also a thing of the past. Physical material is also very exciting!

The loading times for textures and objects have been significantly improved thanks to the standardized DirectStorage technology. Since there are many objects in an open world, loading times are usually a big problem. Train Simulator NEXT shortens the waiting time until the game is ready to play. We've put so much effort into reducing image stuttering that you'll hardly notice it.

In Train Simulator NEXT you can easily expand the application with new routes, trains and assets. The content structure is open and effective, taking the best design principles of older train simulations and bringing them into a modern setting.

If you would like to learn more about the new platform, read the page about the technology of Train Simulator NEXT.

The global community is very big

There are more than 1,500,000 train simulation users worldwide, including more than 25,000 daily active users. There are more than 18,000,000 people who have played train, truck, or flight simulation games. We have many virtual engineers, drivers, and pilots! Train simulation communities play an important role in this ecosystem. We would like to highlight some important places:

	Many users and developers have met in one place on Discord, and it's called the Train Sim Community. This place is very lively and is divided into various forums for simulators. The community also a sub-community for developers who want a little more peace and quiet.
	There are many international users on Reddit who talk about topics on the Reddit channel. In the discussions, many users share pictures of their developments or screenshots from their virtual train journeys. Various topics are also specifically discussed here.
	For many North Americans, the trainsim.com community based on classic forums is the number 1 place to go. You can still meet many people here from the heyday of Microsoft Train Simulator. Many English people are currently moving or fleeing from uktrainsim into the community.

Communities in the DACH region

German-speaking members of the railway simulation prefer classic forums to large standard platforms. There is still a fairly large diversity of forums and the exchange is still very active. We would like to introduce you to the two most important contact points for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland:

	The forum emerged from a fan community surrounding the Kuju Rail Simulator from Electronic Arts. The place is now the central place for many German virtual railway fans to exchange news, opinions, and screenshots. There are categories for each simulator.
	The virtual railway fans from Austria and Switzerland maintain their forum that focuses on content in their home country. Even though the regions are tiny and delicate, the compatriots are very active and hammer around with their routes and vehicles so hard that it can only be so loud.

There are many more places to talk about train simulation. We would like to thank all of you and many small manufacturers for making the virtual railway an attractive place. If you would like to learn more about communities, providers and the historical development of train simulation, read the page about global communities.

We want to reach 1.5 million customers in Train Simulator NEXT. Every community, every freeware mod, every payware extension and every developer contributes to making train simulation great again! Further, we know that a great platform listens to communities, learns from mistakes made and your opinions, and shares editors, tools and documents with developers to improve the gaming experience for all players. This is what we have done in history today and this is what we will do in the future!

Our plan and your support

Train Simulator NEXT has been in development since 2018. We expect a full release in 2025. Here is our development plan:

When	Milestone
December 2023	Announcement and first builds for developers.
March 2024	First shared builds of the route editor.
October 2024	First shared builds of the simulator.
October 2025	Release of Train Simulator NEXT.

We have reached the end of the core development progress and are continuing with application and content development.

We would like to thank all the supporters who make a great new train simulation with editors and tools possible for everyone!

The system requirements

To run the development builds provided on Patreon, your computer system needs to fulfill these requirements:

Component	Requirement	Recommended
Operating System (OS)	Microsoft Windows 10 19H2 or newer	An up-to-date Microsoft Windows 11
Processor (CPU)	- Intel processor of 4th generation, or a - AMD Ryzen processor of 3rd generation	- Intel Core i7 4770K / 6700K is okay - Intel Core i5 11600 / 12600 / 13400 is okay - AMD Ryzen 5 3600X is good - AMD Ryzen 5 5700X / 7600X is good
Graphics Card (GPU)	- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2000 Series or - AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series - At least 16 GB video memory (VRAM)	- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB for Full-HD - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 for QHD - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 for 4K - AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT for QHD - AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX for 4K
Main Memory (RAM)	- 16 GB or more - 64 GB for some tools	- 16 GB for simulation and editors - 64 GB if you use the special tools
Disk Space	- 10 GB or more	- 10 GB or more
Monitor	Full-HD monitor	- QHD or 4K monitor - HDR compatible - Good Rec. 2020 color space usage
Other	- Mouse - Keyboard - 2.1 sound system	- PCI sound card - TrackIR (optional)

Train Simulator NEXT automatically adjusts the graphics quality depending on your hardware to target a good frame rate.
You can turn on features like upscaling. In all of these ratings, upscaling technology has not been considered.

The video memory can also be combined with shared memory from the main memory. This is not recommended. The developer builds of Train Simulator NEXT seem to work with 4 GB of VRAM too, but don't count on this in the long run.

Newer GPU Series are supported. The application may also run with older graphics card Series in a fall-back mode.

If your computer does not fulfill these requirements, the application will force you to stop using it.

Please note that these relative high requirements are laid out into a future release date.