Train Sim World Graphical Settings Guide

Recommended Settings

To get the best experience, we'd recommend that players choose a suitable Resolution and Graphical Preset that matches the capabilities of their PC. The table below covers our recommendations for different levels of PC hardware. 

*You may require upscaling/frame generation to reach your performance target.

Screen

In this section we will cover how to customize your graphical settings, starting with the Screen menu. To get a better view of comparison images, alt-click and open them in a new tab.

Screen Resolution

This setting allows you to set the rendering resolution of the game (how many pixels make up the image on screen). We'd recommend that you set this option to the native resolution of your monitor, unless you are running on very low-end hardware. 

Common monitor resolutions include: 

• 1280x720 (720P) 
• 1920x1080 (HD/1080P)
• 2560x1440 (QHD/2K/1440P)
• 3840x2160 (4K)

Important: Train Sim World does not natively support multiple monitors. If you manually stretch the image across multiple monitors, it may cause issues with the UI.

Windows Mode

This setting allows you to customize how the game is presented on your monitor. 

Windowed

The game is presented in a window with borders. You can select any resolution, and the window can be re-positioned to allow you to interact with other windows. However, the game doesn't typically fill the screen in this mode. 

Windowed Fullscreen

This will be the best option for most players, as it allows for seamless switching between windows. The game fills the screen without borders, using the same resolution as your desktop.

Fullscreen

This mode is often called exclusive fullscreen. You can choose any resolution your monitor can support and it will fill the screen. However, switching windows takes longer and will cause the screen to flicker momentarily. 

Graphics Preset

Your first priority should be to choose a Graphics Preset that suits the capabilities of your PC. Ideally, this would represent a balance between visuals and performance. To view your frame rate we recommend using the Steam overlay Performance Monitor. 

For those more concerned with performance, some sacrifice to visual fidelity may be worth the performance gains. Later on we will go our our own optimized settings which create a middle ground between High and Ultra with minimal impact to visual fidelity.

Low

Medium

High 

Ultra

Epic

Epic + Enhanced Lighting

Advanced Settings

The Advanced Settings menu allow you to fine tune your graphical settings to strike a balance between visuals and performance. However, changing the Graphical Preset again will override these settings. 

For each setting we have listed the relative performance cost, and our optimized recommendation based on the setting that provides the best balance between image quality and performance.

Foliage Quality

Performance Cost: Medium

Optimized Setting: High

This setting defines the quality and quantity of trees and foliage. Above medium you will notice the most difference in the far distance. At the Epic setting, LOD pop-in on foliage will be greatly reduced at the cost of performance.

Shadow Quality

Performance Cost: Medium

Optimized Setting: Medium

This settings defines the detail and sharpness of shadows. The Medium and High setting can look quite similar up close. At the high end the main difference is how far into the distance shadows are rendered at full detail. The performance cost is greatly increased at the Epic setting.

Effects Quality

Performance Cost: High

Optimized Setting: High

This setting defines the quality of reflections. Medium looks almost as good as High, but the performance difference is too small to worry about lowering this setting. Going below Medium can look significantly worse.

Sky Quality

Performance Cost: High

Optimized Setting: High

This setting defines the quality, depth, and complexity of clouds. Lower settings will generally look noisier upon close inspection. This setting can be significantly more expensive on Ultra/Epic, so going down to High can save you performance for minimal difference in visual quality.

Fog Quality

Performance Cost: Low

Optimized Setting: Ultra

This setting defines the quality of the volumetric fog. At lower settings light rays in the fog can appear less defined.

Post Process Quality

Performance Cost: Medium

Optimized Setting: High

This setting defines the quality of motion blur and ambient occlusion.

Motion Blur - Motion Blur can appear more grainy at lower settings.

Ambient Occlusion - A subtle effect that draws additional shadows where light would be occluded, giving objects a more grounded look and adding depth to the image.

View Distance Quality

Performance Cost: Low

Optimized Setting: High

This setting defines the distance at which some objects "pop-in". There are small performance improvements to be had at the high setting, and in many places there is negligible difference between High and Epic.

Texture Quality

Performance Cost: Low

Optimized Setting: Ultra

Lower settings will more aggressively cull unused textures, have less detail in distance textures and reduce texture filtering quality. This can be difficult to perceive in a still image, but in motion you are more likely to notice texture streaming (pop-in) at lower settings. Lowering texture quality will have little to no impact on your frame rate, but it can help you get a smoother experience on low-end hardware.

Enhanced Lighting

Performance Cost: Low

Optimized Setting: On

Enhanced lighting is a separate toggle that adjusts the lighting profile of the game to create a more balanced and striking image. Shadow detail is increased, indirectly lit areas now appear darker, and objects more naturally blend into the scenery. On top this, light rays will now filter through the trees, and other scenery giving the scene added depth and atmosphere. 

Upscaling & Quality Mode

Performance Cost: Low

Optimized Setting: FSR/DLSS Quality

DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4 allow the game to take a lower resolution input and reconstruct it back up to the native resolution of your monitor using machine learning. This will boost image clarity, increase perceived detail, and reduce ghosting/shimmering on sub-pixel detail. All together it makes for a much cleaner image and more pleasing image. 

Using upscaling can also reduce the load on your graphics card. Therefore reducing heat and energy consumption, extending the life of your hardware and keeping your energy bills down.

DLSS

To use DLSS upscaling you will need a compatible Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card. 

The DLAA quality setting will produce the best image quality at the cost of performance. Reducing the quality setting will incrementally increase your performance in GPU constrained scenes, but at the cost of image breakup and artifacts.

FSR

To use the latest AMD machine learning powered upscaler (FSR 4) you will need a compatible Radeon RX 7000/9000 graphics card. If you don't have a graphics card compatible with DLSS or FSR 4, then it will fallback to a software based solution (FSR 3).

The Native AA quality setting will produce the best image quality at the cost of performance. Reducing the quality setting will incrementally increase your performance in GPU constrained scenes, but at the cost of image breakup and artifacts.

Frame Generation

Frame Generation can make motion appear smoother by interpolating generated frames between those rendered by the graphics card natively. This will increase input latency and may result in minor visual artifacts, but the results are often convincingly smooth. The higher your base frame rate the less noticeable artifacts will be.

Frame Generation can only be enabled in combination with FSR upscaling which requires DirectX 12. If you'd like to use Frame Generation with DLSS upscaling, we'd recommend using Nvidia Smooth Motion, which can be enabled through the Nvidia App.

When coupled with a frame rate limit you can consistently hit without frame generation, you can often double your perceived frame rate. Using the Max FPS setting will only limit your frame rate before frame generation is applied.

DirectX Mode

DirectX 12 will be enabled by default, and has the potential to get more performance out of your graphics card, but your experience may vary depending on the age of your hardware.

The following examples show what's possible in different situations using an AMD RX 9070 graphics card at Optimized settings (1440P). You will generally see better results in scenes where your graphics card is the limiting factor (e.g. away from busy hubs with a lot of track, trains and AI).

DirectX 12 is required to enable Upscaling or Frame Generation.

Max FPS

Performance Cost: None

Optimized Setting: 60

Before you make any changes consider the refresh rate of your monitor. This setting allows you to limit you FPS to an arbitrary number, but we'd recommend using numbers divisible by your monitor's refresh rate to minimize judder. For a 120hz monitor we'd recommend using 30, 60, 90, or 120 FPS.

The second factor you should consider is your average performance. Your FPS will vary depending on how demanding a scene is. To create a smooth experience we want the distance between your average highs and lows to be as small as possible. Consider what your average FPS is then, set the Max FPS limit slightly below this. If you get between 65-80 fps on average, then set the limit to 60. Doing this can also increase the lifespan of your graphics card by reducing heat and noise.

Anti Aliasing

Performance Cost: Low

Optimized Setting: FSR/DLSS

When you see jagged edges on 3D objects you are looking at aliasing. It happens because the image rendered on your display is made out out pixels which limits how much detail it can represent. Anti Aliasing uses various techniques to smooth out the appearance of edges on 3D objects. 

Off - No anti aliasing is applied to the image. Edges will appear jagged which is especially noticeable on thin straight lines like catenary. 

FXAA (Fast Approximate Anti Aliasing) is an anti-aliasing algorithm created by NVIDIA and works by selectively reducing the contrast of an image, smoothing out visually obvious jagged edges and isolated pixels. 

TAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing) creates a smoother, clearer image than any other anti aliasing solution by combining high-quality MSAA (MultiSample Anti-Aliasing), post processes, and temporal filters (comparing previous frame with current frame). Overall the image quality is very good albeit a little soft at lower resolutions, but it can also produce ghosting on high contrast edges. 

FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) Selecting FSR as your upscaling solution with override the Anti Aliasing setting and provide better results.

DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) Selecting DLSS as your upscaling solution with override the Anti Aliasing setting and provide better results.

V-Sync

Performance Cost: None

Optimized Setting: On

V-Sync (Vertical Sync) synchronizes the output of each frame with the refresh rate of your display to eliminate screen tearing. Screen tearing can occur when a new frame is delivered while the display is refreshing. A typical 60hz display will refresh 60 times a second. It has negligible impact of performance and minor increase in input latency that most will not notice in slower paced games like this.

Example of screen tearing:

Screen Percentage

Performance Cost: Very High

Optimized Setting: 100%

Screen Percentage can render the game at a lower or higher internal resolution and then scale it to fit your display. Lowering this setting below 100% can increase your performance in GPU bound scenes, but at great sacrifice to your image quality. Raising the setting above 100% is a very effective method of anti aliasing, but it comes at a significant cost to your performance. This can help reduce aliasing in sub pixel detail like distance catenary. However, we recommend keeping the setting at 100% for a balance between sharpness and performance.

Selecting FSR/DLSS as your upscaling solution will override this setting and provide better results.

Field of View

Adjusting the FOV (Field of View) can help you see more of your surroundings and can reduce feelings of motion sickness. FOV will be scalable from 60 to 120 degrees.

Optimized Settings

The following settings are suitable for players whose PC meets or exceeds the recommended requirements of the game. Using optimized settings we've seen a performance increase of around 11% compared to Ultra settings in GPU bound scenes. However, it's important to remember that graphical settings will have little impact on your performance if you are in a CPU bound scene, such as a busy HUB with a high density of track and trains.

• Foliage Quality: High
• Shadow Quality: Medium
• Effects Quality: High
• Sky Quality: High
• Fog Quality: Ultra
• Post Process Quality: High
• View Distance Quality: High
• Texture Quality: Ultra
• Enhanced Lighting: On
• Upscaling: FSR/DLSS
• Quality Mode: Quality
• Frame Generation: Optional
• DirectX: DirectX 12
• Max FPS: 60
• Anti Aliasing: Upscaling Overrides this setting
• V-Sync: On
• Screen Percentage: Upscaling Overrides this setting
• Field of View: Adjust to Preference

Optimized Settings (97 FPS): 

Epic Settings + Enhanced Lighting (60 FPS): 

Further Reading

• How Do I Optimize My PC for the Best Performance?
• Train Sim World Settings Explained
• How do I troubleshoot technical issues on PC?