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CTA bus simulator releasing soon


Jruff32

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hi everyone I'm a new member and I came cross a unique and highly detailed bus simulator based on the Cta 124 and 130 downtown bus route. The game is called OMSI 2 Chicago downtown.  The link is here. The simulator uses D40LF and DE60LF and has real bike racks and passengers and you can park in Kedzie Garage and even put in a run number in the clever devices IBIS system. http://www.omsi-chicago.com 

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I actually was approached by someone, developing this game. At least I know it was not a hoax. Looks really good, but this is the future of simulation. Completely rendered cities. Would be nice if it could be expanded to include older type vehicles or even newer ones like the #700's, but it has the best detail in a simulator I've seen yet. 

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I actually own the simulator this add-on will be run on. It's a wonderful simulator, and my bus simulator of choice, but there's only a route and city in Germany, so I'm always lost, don't know how to handle fares, and I don't understand what people are saying. :P This will actually renew my interest in the simulator a LOT. I can't wait! It looks awesome.

BusHunter, I'm thinking it's the real deal. One of the sites listed on the CTA sim site is simulation4u dot com. They're run by Aerosoft, a company that develops high quality flight and train sim add ons. They also distribute add ons by other developers in their shop, and I have bought some add ons from them.

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I would be interested, but hesitant too(I would love to be able to "drive" around Chicago as a CTA Bus Operator operating New Flyers)....

  • site for game info is all German?(it says it's 24.99 in foreign currency.... German?) what is in in U.S Dollars? And is it compatible with our systems(Reg. 1)?

Biggest concern is buying it, giving my Credit Card info and not ever getting the game and finding out my card is now being used overseas by someone. I've never been a big fan of buying a downloadable game because if file(s) are missing or corrupt, you bought a useless game. At least with the CD/DVD, the game should be all there. I went to check the balance on my Sears card once through the automation and it wouldn't let me, instead transferring me to the security dept. where they told me there was a charge on my card that declined of $7.50 at a Casino..... in Oklahoma! I never, ever been to Oklahoma!

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Yea I can't wait to drive the 60 footer downtown and then do some trip runs. If only they could include the 5400 and 6000 Flxible and the older models. Hopefully someone can make the majority of the city and add routes. But even in the trailer the bus engine sounds are realistic. I just wish they had the variations in interior lights in the D40LF series

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I would be interested, but hesitant too(I would love to be able to "drive" around Chicago as a CTA Bus Operator operating New Flyers)....

  • site for game info is all German?(it says it's 24.99 in foreign currency.... German?) what is in in U.S Dollars? And is it compatible with our systems(Reg. 1)?

Biggest concern is buying it, giving my Credit Card info and not ever getting the game and finding out my card is now being used overseas by someone. I've never been a big fan of buying a downloadable game because if file(s) are missing or corrupt, you bought a useless game. At least with the CD/DVD, the game should be all there. I went to check the balance on my Sears card once through the automation and it wouldn't let me, instead transferring me to the security dept. where they told me there was a charge on my card that declined of $7.50 at a Casino..... in Oklahoma! I never, ever been to Oklahoma!

​The English version with US currency is here.

As I've said before, I've bought things from Aerosoft before without a hitch. Since 2004. And if you don't trust them, you might be able to get it on Steam, as the product page mentions Steam.

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Yea I can't wait to drive the 60 footer downtown and then do some trip runs. If only they could include the 5400 and 6000 Flxible and the older models. Hopefully someone can make the majority of the city and add routes. But even in the trailer the bus engine sounds are realistic. I just wish they had the variations in interior lights in the D40LF series

​I want the Novas and DE60LFRs. One can dream!

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You can't just buy OMSI 2: Chicago Downtown and expect it to work, right?

​As far as I know, it's an expansion for OMSI 2, so you'll need the base game. It's $35 on Steam, however due to the Steam Summer Sale, it's currently about $18. If we're lucky, it will be released as a stand alone game, though I don't care because I already own OMSI 2.

Every game has its issues on launch, but the developers for OMSI 2 have been pretty active on squashing bugs in their sim from day one. I'm not saying everything will automatically go without a hitch, but I'm feeling good about this release.

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Also I'm pretty good at editing the buses as I have OMSI and when the buses release I'm going to make variations of the D40LF pre rehabbed and rehabbed also with different light colors based on the bus series sub number. 1000-1629 white interior light 1629-1799 dark purple light 1800-1929 cool blue light 1930-2029 light blue interior light and different engine sounds. With ZF/Allison transmission differences

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Really amazing the detail, even down to the numbers. I'm aware of Aerosoft, but I was approached around the beginning of the project last year when it was not announced yet as an Aerosoft game by Darius. This should sell well. They have a forum on it that I discovered here.

http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/topic/22730-omsi-2-chicago-downtown-wip-by-darius/

Who knows, if it does well maybe there will be an expansion.

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This is probably a bit of nitpicking, but probably can't use the name because of copyright(who knows), but if you at #1831 in the video preview, the logo is not blue, more like a greenish-grey and says "City". Maybe they can't/couldn't get CTA's permission to use their logo rights. Also the web address says www.chicagotraffic.com .

So more like 99.99% authentic.

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​The English version with US currency is here.

As I've said before, I've bought things from Aerosoft before without a hitch. Since 2004. And if you don't trust them, you might be able to get it on Steam, as the product page mentions Steam.

​Yeah I have the original OMSI 1 that I purchased off the simulation4u dot com site and have had very few issues with it.

hi everyone I'm a new member and I came cross a unique and highly detailed bus simulator based on the Cta 124 and 130 downtown bus route. The game is called OMSI 2 Chicago downtown.  The link is here. The simulator uses D40LF and DE60LF and has real bike racks and passengers and you can park in Kedzie Garage and even put in a run number in the clever devices IBIS system. http://www.omsi-chicago.com 

​You are so making me want to go on my Steam account and download OMSI 2 after seeing this. xD

Really amazing the detail, even down to the numbers. I'm aware of Aerosoft, but I was approached around the beginning of the project last year when it was not announced yet as an Aerosoft game by Darius. This should sell well. They have a forum on it that I discovered here.

http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/topic/22730-omsi-2-chicago-downtown-wip-by-darius/

Who knows, if it does well maybe there will be an expansion.

​That's one of several forum sites that you can download other city maps for both versions of OMSI from actually. The main OMSI forum site is omnibussimulator.de. The main forum site is quite extensive and gives pointers on how to play, how to model your own buses, how to put together your own city with routes and so on. Plus once you have the base game for either version, you typically can download other city maps for free off the forum sites. And since the base games are German you can in fact download the European MAN bus from which the Americana got much of its design, for those of you who are Americana fans and wish to visualize yourself behind the wheel of one. xD

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Breaking: The add on has just released on steam for 19.99. I will actually purchase it when I buy my new gaming computer which should be in a couple weeks. Until then ill have to look at YouTube to see how it is when other people play it.

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Breaking: The add on has just released on steam for 19.99. I will actually purchase it when I buy my new gaming computer which should be in a couple weeks. Until then ill have to look at YouTube to see how it is when other people play it.

​I am so wanting this even more now. Especially after looking around the web and seeing how American buses are so much of a part of OMSI 2 beyond this addon.

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hi everyone I'm a new member and I came cross a unique and highly detailed bus simulator based on the Cta 124 and 130 downtown bus route. The game is called OMSI 2 Chicago downtown.  The link is here. The simulator uses D40LF and DE60LF and has real bike racks and passengers and you can park in Kedzie Garage and even put in a run number in the clever devices IBIS system. http://www.omsi-chicago.com 

DUDE THIS IS AWESOME THANKS FOR SHARING!!! As a cta bus operator and fan this is so great to see. The buses look very accurate from the drivers view to the exterior. The switches are a little off as well as the old mdt data system and transit card machine is still attached on the game but we no longer have those on the bus but nevertheless this is so cool lol.

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DUDE THIS IS AWESOME THANKS FOR SHARING!!! As a cta bus operator and fan this is so great to see. The buses look very accurate from the drivers view to the exterior. The switches are a little off as well as the old mdt data system and transit card machine is still attached on the game but we no longer have those on the bus but nevertheless this is so cool lol.

​I guess you can say that this is a historical tour back to 2012.B|

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​I guess you can say that this is a historical tour back to 2012.B|

​Probably because OMSI is defaulted to simulate ticket selling, or in CTA's case transfer selling. So that's a mix of what? 2006 with 2013 given the simulated Ventra readers. And in addition to the CTA symbol being replaced with red "city" circles on the buses and not being shown on the bus stop signs, the Jeffery Jump buses are Leap buses since of course there'd have to be permission from CTA to use that logo also from the real world bus wraps.

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I bought it off Steam and played it for a bit. Had a lot of trouble getting my DE60LF to move and ended up accidentally shutting off the engine. Eventually loaded up a new map and experimented without passengers at Kedzie Garage and read the manual. Did a trip on the 130 from the Adler Planetarium to Ogilvie and Union Stations.

The Good: The buses are amazing, almost everything works on them, and you can click on the hopper windows to open them like with the original German buses. I had to learn how to use the driver interface screen, but that was relatively easy. Both buses also sound great.  There are L trains that run overhead and down the Eisenhower, which is a really nice touch. I was playing it in the company of my friends, and one of them laughed when a passenger paid with Ventra and it made the accepted payment chime. The buses also carry destination signs for routes not included in the game, and as always, the route number can be entered in manually. In addition to the motor sounds, the entire add-on is just ear candy. You can click on the Ventra reader and it will show the Not Accepted screen and play the chimes too. The bus announcements are also included, played both on the internal and external speakers depending on the announcement. Pressing buttons on the screens in the bus also makes a beeping sound. The people boarding the bus speak in English. For someone who regards sound as a VERY important component of a simulation, the amount of unique sounds in this add-on is very satisfying.

The Bad: Unfortunately the real CTA logos and stuff weren't used, but that's a little minor thing, and maybe an update will fix that when the logos can legally be used. My biggest complaint however is that Lower Wacker isn't fully modeled (not that it matters for the route I did), and other missing stuff around the map, like detailed L stations. The Lake Shore Drive bridge was modeled as a single decker bridge, and the Eisenhower is missing the Blue Line stations along the line and the UIC turn back track. The animated trains (which are all four car 5000s with white destination signs) simply run down the line and into the subway. I experienced plenty of lag when I first ran the map, and I had to tone down the graphics on my laptop to regain frame rates.

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The animated trains (which are all four car 5000s with white destination signs) simply run down the line and into the subway.

​I was on a TeamSpeak server with people who were playing this, and they said they only saw 3200s and 2200s. They also said they heard the train announcements from their bus ("This is Madison/Wabash!")...

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Is it just me or it's very ironic how OMSI is going to release this simulator after that horrific accident and now CTA is about to heightened training for bus operators. Hell, they should take notes by distributing this simulator to oncoming operators in the future. Let's see how affective that can be!

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Is it just me or it's very ironic how OMSI is going to release this simulator after that horrific accident and now CTA is about to heightened training for bus operators. Hell, they should take notes by distributing this simulator to oncoming operators in the future. Let's see how affective that can be!

​Yeah that is a bit of sad irony and coincidence. And your thought about using this a part of operator training may sound odd, but OMSI does rate how well the buses are driven as part of the game.

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