Having created two MSTS payware projects, the Canton route and the Activity Enhancer utility, I thought I would share my perspective on what it’s like to be a payware vendor. I’m going to focus primarily on my Canton project.

Train Artisans' Empire State Express on Rich Garber's Ohio Rails route.

In my experience, many people have different ideas of what we as payware developers/vendors do. Since I represent the smallest of payware developers/vendors, be aware that my experiences do not represent the majority of those who create payware. Instead these are only my experiences I am sharing.

Moreover, its only for the purposes of this presentation that I even think of myself as a payware creator. While I do create payware, the projects I create are essentially an extension of what I created as a freeware contributor. In other words, I still design the kind of routes I believe would be the most interesting for me if I were the consumer. I came to the conclusion some time ago that I’m most comfortable with semi-prototypical routes with fictitious embellishments, because to me MSTS is as much a game as it is a simulator. Creating activities would be most arduous if I targeted routes based purely on what I thought were qualities of salability.

Taking the leap from creating freeware to creating payware is not easy. There are many upfront costs that have to be made. Second to the upfront costs, in order to release a route in timely fashion, knowledge of many programs is needed. If all that isn’t enough, then there is the stamina and general all around good luck to finish the project. Both are needed in ample supply.

Another shot of Train Artisans' Empire State Express on Rich Garber's Ohio Rails route.

Having completed and distributed a couple of freeware routes helped me know what a lot of people were looking for in a route. Canton is a good example of a route that, while it appealed to me as a route concept, I believed it would also fit in with what a lot of people conveyed to me in their e-mails as being appealing.

Numerous concepts of how best to sell Canton passed through my mind even before much of the route was completed. Finally I decided the best way to go was to create and distribute a payware route along the traditional lines laid out by other vendors.

Late afternoon on Rich Garber's Canton route.

Even with my already-released building packs making up a semblance of a library of objects, the realization of what had yet to be done was staggering. At every junction in the process there was something new to learn. Many things learned along the way were forgotten and many had to be relearned.

I felt great discouragement at times while building Canton. Finding ways to alleviate this frustration and stay the course became important. Finally, as with any other route being developed, I came to a sudden realization that the route was almost done. This was a powerful moment, when renewed energies suddenly blossomed. I charged ahead to get it done.

Local freight on Rich Garber's Canton route.

A lot is at stake when you are developing a project that takes as much time as a route does to complete. From birth to completion, Canton is probably one of the fastest routes ever developed. In three months time I began and completed the version of Canton now available. But even in that small amount of time, major upheavals took place that changed the dynamics of the release schedule. One upheaval was the announcement of MSTS2, expected to be out in the fall of that year. The announcement forced me to continue at breakneck speed, to learn and develop a means for which the route could be purchased, as I neared completion of the route. It was important to complete Canton before MSTS2 came out because no one knew what would be changed from the previous version or how much rework would be required. I had many discussions with friends who gave valuable input as to how and what I needed to do to make the commercial aspects of selling the route easy. Eventually the talk led to decisions; and with the completion of those decisions: show time!

Having been a musician who’s performed numerous times in front of small and up to very large audiences, releasing a payware route was a very similar experience. Your mind races as the “curtains open” and suddenly your work is available for purchase. Before, with my freeware routes, I had the time and good fortune to be able to promote my route with any number of colorful ads. The extra learning involved with payware left me little time to do this, so it became imperative to ask web site hosts if they would help me advertise Canton. Most of them graciously agreed.

Heavy freight on Rich Garber's Canton route.

Fortunately, Canton from the earliest days was and still is trouble free. The amount of support I’ve needed to give after the sale has been very little. Usually the most support I have to give for the route is to help someone retrieve his or her lost codes. The hardest thing to overcome still is communicating with those who have anti-spam filtering that blocks the receipts and instructions on how to retrieve Canton. It is like having a one-way phone conversation where you can hear them, but they can’t hear you.

As with a freeware route, I was fortunate to have some strong friendships along the way. Tim Court, the route builder for Blue Arrow’s Severn Valley, who I believe to be the guru of route builders, and I talked at length, sharing valuable information back and forth. Tim even graciously created the track textures for Canton, which I think are the best track textures I’ve seen. Don Hughes survived my many track changes to provide schematics to go along with Canton. Longtime friend and developer from our Ohio Rail days, Dick Cowen, created the Canton engines and rolling stock that are freely available at train-sim.com and avsim.com.

To summarize, many who have created their own routes and distributed them will read this and say it isn’t much different from freeware route development and distribution. Most route distribution is hard, whether it’s freeware or payware. Route building is a very involved process. The additional burden on payware developers is mostly a compounding of what’s already there. The commercial part, while something new to learn, is attainable without a whole lot of tremendous effort. After-sales support can be dicey at times. In some instances customers want to place a mantle on you that at times will leave you speechless. But by and large payware customers are very appreciative and great to hear from. So the development of a payware route is very tough for both the freeware and payware developer. It’s not as easy as it looks, but then, nothing about route building and distribution for MSTS is.

Rich G

You can find Rich's works at http://www.edmfamily.com/msts/index.htm. -- Ed.

Article ©2004 Rich Garber. Screen shots by Alfred Barten. All rights reserved.