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How to Find Missing Content in Train Simulator

Updated

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

If you can't find add-on content in-game, then you are in the right place. This article will help you identify what you own, how to find it, and resolve any outstanding issues that prevent it from appearing in-game. The steps below are in order of escalation, so please start at Step 1 and work your way down the list until you have access to your content.

Step 1: Is the add-on installed?

Firstly, we will make sure that the add-on you want to access is installed. The following article will explain how to install/remove add-ons using the DLC menu in the Steam client.

How to Manage Your Games & Add-Ons in Steam

Step 2: Where do I find the scenarios?

The next step is to identify the type of scenarios that come with your add-on and where to find them in-game. We can do this by reading the product description on the Steam Store. Typically, most modern add-ons come with Career scenarios. However, some third-party developers still create add-ons with Standard scenarios. So, it is going to be important to fully read the product description, so we know what to expect.

 

Example: Metropolitan Line: Aldgate - Uxbridge & Amersham Route Add-On

 

In Train Simulator, we have five game modes which are accessible from the Drive menu.

  • Quick Drive - If your add-on is "Quick Drive Compatible" then you can set a route between two given locations and drive it with the loco of your choice.
  • Career - Added later in the game's development history, most modern add-ons support career scenarios.
  • Workshop - Workshop scenarios are community made and downloadable, exclusively from the Steam Workshop.
  • Standard - Typically used by older add-ons and some third-party developers.
  • Free Roam - These scenarios are typically found in older add-ons, which may not have Quick Drive compatibility.

Step 3: Does the add-on have any dependencies?

A dependency is where the player is required to own a specific add-on/s in order to play the included scenarios. Below, we will go through four distinct types of add-on and what a dependency may look like. All of this information can be found in the product description. Dependencies may come at an additional cost, so it is important to understand what dependencies there are before committing to a purchase. 

 

Route Add-ons

Typically, routes created by Dovetail Games will come with everything you need to enjoy the included content. However, there are some third-party routes which will come with additional requirements. 

 

Example: Metropolitan Line: Aldgate - Uxbridge & Amersham Route Add-On

 

Loco Add-ons

Loco add-ons will come with scenarios that are designed for a specific route. Therefore, you must own the required route to play them.

 

Example: Flying Scotsman Centenary Steam Loco Add-On

 

Extensions

Extension add-ons quite literally extend an existing route, meaning they cannot be used without the required route.

 

Example: Frankfurt High Speed: Frankfurt – Karlsruhe Route Extension Add-On

 

Scenario Packs

Scenarios packs bring together content from multiple add-ons to provide new scenarios to play. However, they are not standalone products and will always require the player to own the route the scenarios are designed for and possibly several other locos that make up the timetable.

 

Example: Bernina Pass Scenario Pack 01

Step 4: Have any add-ons been disabled?

As we covered in the previous step, add-ons are often dependent on other add-ons to function properly. When you install a route for the first time, it may install asset packs and locos alongside the base route because it is dependent on this data. Removing these dependencies will prevent the route from working properly. 

 

Therefore, it is important not to remove any add-ons without fully understanding the impact it will have on other content. Please follow these instructions to check whether you have any disabled add-ons, and re-enable them where needed.

  1. Open Steam.
  2. Go to Library Train Simulator.
  3. Right-Click on the game and go to Properties DLC.
  4. Everything you have a check in the Install column. If a DLC doesn't have a check, then place tick the checkbox and close the window.
  5. Wait for Steam to finish downloading any missing files, before launching the game

Step 5: Do I have missing or corrupt files?

If your download was interrupted for any reason or your antivirus software wrongly deleted or quarantined game files, then you may have missing or corrupt files. This could mean that the content is not visible in-game, but can also cause the game to crash. To resolve this problem, we need to use the Steam client to verify our games files, then clear the in-game cache, so the game can build a new library of installed content.

 

How to Verify Integrity of Game Files

  1. Restart your computer and launch Steam
  2. From the Library section, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu.
  3. Select the Local files tab and click the Verify integrity of game files... button.
  4. Steam will verify the game's files - this process may take several minutes.

Clearing Your In-game Cache

  1. Open Train Simulator
  2. Select Settings Tools
  3. Click Clear Cache
  4. Restart Train Simulator

Step 6: Has the in-game cache been corrupted?

The in-game cache can become corrupted by crashes or by interrupting the loading process. If the cache has become corrupted, it may be necessary to force the game to rebuild the cache by deleting the existing cache files.

 

How to manually clear the cache

  1. Close Train Simulator.
  2. Open Steam, locate Train Simulator in the Library
  3. Right-click, go to Manage Browse Local Files
  4. Open the folder Railworks\Content
  5. Delete every file with "cache" in the name
  6. Restart Train Simulator and allow it to rebuild the cache without interruption.

Step 7: Is there a problem with the ".ap" file?

 

In rare cases, some computers can have trouble reading a compressed ".ap" file, meaning you are missing an entire route or loco. Therefore, it may be helpful to extract the contents of the ".ap" file, as explained below. If you do this, the game will always read the uncompressed data first.
  1. Open Train Simulator.
  2. Go to Build.
  3. Select the Route you are having trouble with.
  4. Press Open
  5. Right-Click the MainContent.ap file and select Open With.
  6. Open with 7zip (Free download - https://www.7-zip.org/download.html).
  7. Extract the contents of the file to the same folder.
  8. Restart the game.


If you are having trouble finding or opening the route from the Build menu, please ask Dovetail Support for the Route ID of the add-on you are looking for. This is a unique alphanumerical string which represents the name of the folder you find the route data in. These folders can be found under Railworks/Content/Routes.

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