Get ready to step back into the 1990s as West Cornwall Local: Penzance - St Austell & St Ives route by Rivet Games is coming to Train Sim World 2!

We catch up with Rivet Games to discuss what players can expect from this picturesque West Country route...

Kaya: Hey, I’m Kaya and I am a route builder here at Rivet Games! I have worked for Rivet for just over a year now and have previously worked on Isle of Wight, Arosa Linie, and the Cathcart Circle Line.

Matt: Hi, I’m Matt, I am a vehicle artist for Rivet Games, and I work on creating a lot of the vehicles you play today including the new Class 150/2 in West Cornwall Local.

Kaya: We chose this route for its picturesque scenery and the gameplay opportunities it offered. The route features gorgeous coastal views when you leave Penzance before you see dense fields, bustling towns and industrious areas further along the line towards St Austell. We also have the St. Ives branch which is a beautiful little town and very popular for tourists!

Matt: West Cornwall Local is releasing with the Class 150/2, the Class 37/5 and two wagons. The wagons are the Turbot and the Seacow. Both locos will offer a lot of options for driving the Penzance route. The 150 is an all-new train to Train Sim World 2 and the Class 37/5 has been updated visually for the route plus this version can now be reskinned in the Livery Designer.

Matt: We gathered a lot of reference including drawings and photographs of which some of these were actually provided to us by someone who drove the Class 150s. On top of this we also used surveys which were taken from different periods as this is a train we have been thinking of making for a while. The surveys would include seeing the train in the yard and at platforms where we could get some form of basic audio. So with all these references in hand we would then start to model the vehicle, making sure we pay close attention to them. We also received some feedback from drivers when it came to how the Class 150 operated which was very helpful in the building process.

Kaya: The route offers a variety of playstyles for all fans. An example is you can have a nice relaxing drive similar to the Isle of Wight along the St. Ives branch line. If you want something with a little more speed you can drive the main line from Penzance – St. Austell or take on some challenging freight services. We have also included some additional gameplay aspects for the player to look forward to such as refueling and carriage washers.

Kaya: Modern day survey pictures were taken along this route but since we are setting this route back in the 90s, we had to use a lot of old reference images, video footage, historical view in Google Earth and track data. It was important that we knew what existed along the route at that time, so anything we placed wasn’t out of the ordinary or didn’t fit the era.

Kaya: Although it did present some challenges, I really enjoyed looking through all the old reference material. The 90s still feels so close but it’s actually over 20 years ago and it surprises me how much has changed since then. I’ve loved looking at the references and seeing how the countryside has changed and grown over time, stations becoming more modern and generally just enjoyed putting this route together.

Kaya: That’s a really tough question! The team have worked really hard in making every location look and feel authentic but if I was to choose personally it would be St Ives. You have a really pleasant view of the sea and one of my colleagues as sculpted rocks that look really good and elevate the scenery around the coastline. As you drive along the branch line there are little pockets of wild flowers, gardens to nosey in and beaches that really put you in the holiday mood.

Kaya: We had a lot of reference material from past to present. We always discussed in meetings about how we wanted the overall look and feel of the route to be. We used Google Earth a lot and we would pin key locations and timestamp them in videos, so everyone was working to the same goal. We took care when making the locations along the route, and our artists have modelled iconic buildings such as signal huts, old engine sheds, and you can even catch a glimpse of St Michael's mount along the Penzance shorefront. The artists also created 90s style assets for the stations such as concrete lampposts and luggage trollies!

Kaya: Taking advantage of next gen, we have actually made a few changes in West Cornwall Local to enhance the water and make it appear more realistic. We have worked on blending the waves together, so it doesn’t look as tiled, added foam to the beach edges and we altered the specularity (visual appearance of specular reflections) settings so that it handles reflections in a more realistic way. It now reflects the sun and moon a lot better and combined with the foaming edges, it gives off a much better impression of the sea.

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