Bab skrev: On May 7, 2003, Microsoft announced that it would be making a sister game of MSTS called Microsoft Train Simulator 2 [5] and it was first demoed to the public at E3 on May 15.[6] Seemingly its main improvements were the addition of people to the game (e.g. passengers waiting at the stations, people operating the new locomotive roster, etc.), more realistic crashes and other accidents, and turntables. It was being developed by Kuju Entertainment, the original MSTS creators. Despite restructuring efforts at Kuju, the project was however handed over to Microsoft Game Studios on August 18, 2003.[7]
This project was ultimately halted, as the following statement from Microsoft confirmed:
April 24, 2004 – Microsoft Game Studios has halted the Windows-based game "Train Simulator 2.0." The decision to halt "Train Simulator 2.0" was made some time ago and was based on a long, hard and difficult look at our business objectives and product offerings. We remain focused on the simulations category with successful, platform-driving franchises such as "Microsoft Flight Simulator."
Og det er jo kun en lille del af historien, og åbenbart ikke fortalt af en, der oplevede den. KUJU kunne ikke få den gamle MSTS til at makke ret (og hvem har kunnet det!) i arbejdet med at lave 2'eren, hvorfor MS afbrød samarbejdet efter rimelig lang tids forsøg fra KUJUs side. Da KUJU insisterede på at lave deres egen simulator (RS), gik MS i gang med en 2'er baseret på erfaringerne fra Flight Simulator. Og det er den, der nu er stoppet.
Vi, der var med fra starten, husker optimismen omkring den daværende MSTS2 og den efterfølgende nedtur, da KUJU ikke magtede opgaven. Og det er netop for at undgå flere "nedture", at vi er nogen, der ikke stemmer i med alt for stor optimisme, når vi hører om nye tiltag fra det engelske. Kommer vi i tvivl, starter vi bare KUJUs Train Simulator (MSTS1), så bliver vi rolige igen!
Og den unge og allerede hedengangne RS fortæller vel også et eller andet om KUJUs evne til at lave virtuelle togspil?
Bjarne
Railsimulator 2: Railworks
