1. First attempt: 2003–2004

2. Second attempt: 2007-2009
     Development   Routes  Locomotives  Aces Studio closure 

3. See also

4. References

5. External links

Microsoft Train Simulator 2 (MSTS 2) was a train simulator developed by Microsoft Game Studios until it was postponed indefinitely due to the closure of ACES Studios.

First attempt: 2003–2004

An earlier attempt at building a second version to Train Simulator was originally announced during the Spring of 2003. Many improvements were attempted to make with procedural switches and walking passengers and was again going to be developed by Kuju Entertainment, who were the original creators.^[4] On {{start date|2003|05|15}}, a preview of the title was shown at the E3 Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles to demonstrate much of the new work, such as its new routes, rolling stock, and other features including animated people & functioning turntables.^[5]

However, only three months later into the Summer on {{start date|2003|08|18}}, Kuju had handed the project over to Microsoft Game Studios and they would eventually halt the entire development by Spring of 2004 as the following statement from Microsoft confirmed:

Much of the former development team from Kuju later established Rail Simulator in order to continue development of their own simulation platform. Its first version was later released in October 2007, Later Railworks in June 2009, then Railworks 2 Train Simulator in October 2010.

Second attempt: 2007-2009

Development

The re-launch attempt at Microsoft's second version of the "Train Simulator" project was officially announced on {{start date|2007|01|19}}. This time around the simulation was instead being made in-house by Microsoft's ACES Studio, which was most known for its successful Microsoft Flight Simulator series line, as a part of the "Games for Windows" initiative. The simulation leveraged most of the existing core components of Microsoft Flight Simulator X's platform, thus providing an entire earth model in which to play from, and was planned to be compatible with both Windows Vista and Windows XP. A post on 'The Little Wheel Goes in Back' blog, written by one of the developers, confirmed the working title was 'Train Simulator 2'.^[7]

Microsoft's first demonstration of Train Simulator 2 occurred on {{start date|2007|08|25}} at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany and released an official press kit which included several in-game visual prototype images, asset renders, and two videos. One of these videos presents a brief demonstration of the simulation's ability to model the entire planet's track corridors, reproducing a similar concept in Microsoft's Flight Simulator series, with global rail network data for anyone to operate their trains around freely without limits.^[8] The data would have also been available to route builders for modification of any kind to suit their modeling needs anywhere in the world. As opposed to starting an entire route from scratch, this would require more or less simple cosmetic details & object placement.

Despite having the name in common with its predecessor, backwards compatibility with the first version of Train Simulator would not have been possible due to the completely different base platform used for development and programming designs between the two versions. The original Microsoft Train Simulator uses routes based on individual levels which are loaded separately within the application, whereas this version would have introduced the entire world as a single game playing area where railroad corridors would have been based on their actual real-world locations just as in Flight Simulator.

Routes

In addition to the entire global earth model from which FSX was based, Train Simulator 2 was also going to feature four high-detail routes. They decided they would have only 4 routes including the following lines, along with their respective railroad carriers:

Locomotives

The second attempt contains unknown drivable locomotives and multiple units, unknown if MSTS 2 feature AI-only trains, or a static ingame number.

Aces Studio closure

On {{start date|2009|01|23}}, Microsoft announced that it was permanently closing its Aces Studio, the internal development studio responsible for both Microsoft Flight Simulator and Microsoft Train Simulator. As a result, all future development on Train Simulator 2 (which was just entering the final stages of development at the time of closure) was immediately halted, marking the second time that this project was terminated.^[2][3] A week later, Microsoft issued the following official announcement from Train Simulator Insider:

However, Kuju game studios have continued to make a train simulation product, Rail Simulator.

While Microsoft states that they are committed to both the Flight Simulator and Train Simulator brands, it is currently unknown if the Train Simulator 2 project will ever be resurrected and completed sometime in the future. However, considering the fact that they discontinued support for Windows 2000 in 2010, Windows XP in 2014, and Windows Vista in 2017, it seems unlikely.^[3] Information regarding the product can still be found on Microsoft's official Train Simulator website (now defunct and can only be visited via the Internet WayBack Machine Archive).^[14]

On {{start date|2009|10|12}}, several members of the former ACES Studio team announced the launch of a new simulations-based development studio named Cascade Game Foundry.^[15] Further details relating to their first project are to be announced.^[15]

See also

• Microsoft Train Simulator - The Original Microsoft Train Simulator
• Microsoft Flight Simulator - The Microsoft Flight Simulator Series
• Flight Simulator X - Latest FS release, which was TS2's simulation platform base.
• Rail Simulator - Related product built by former Kuju (MSTS) developers.
• List of Games for Windows titles

References

External links

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090505035300/http://www.tsinsider.com/ Train Simulator Insider] – Official Microsoft Train Simulator 2 Website
• Rick Selby's PBase Gallery – Pre-Production TS2 Screenshots
• Cascade Game Foundry – The simulation development studio founded by former ACES Studio veterans.

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