MaSzyna: Symulator Pojazdów Szynowych

MaSzyna: Simulator of Rail Vehicle is a PC simulator, focusing on vehicles used by Polish railsroads. The project was initiated in 2001 by Marcin Wozniak. Later, more people got involved in the production, including Maciej Czapkiewicz, responsible for the game physics. Since 2006, extensive expansion sets have appeared on the game's website, improving the title and adding new functionalities.

Mechanics

In the game we play the role of a driver of various rail vehicles on routes scattered all over the country. Developers have prepared a whole set of machines (electric locomotives, diesel locomotives, draisines and railcars) - in total MaSzyna: Simulator of Rail Vehicles offers over forty models of locomotives, as well as several hundred passenger and freight cars.

The game offers about seventy scripts and a dozen or so scenarios. The controls are reproduced very precisely, so it is not enough just to get into the locomotive's cabin and move the accelerator lever. For example, before starting to travel, we have to check the position of the directional adjuster, apply current by raising the pantograph, switch on the air compressor and perform several other operations. In addition, a number of factors have to be taken into account, e.g. the pressure level in the system. If everything is right, we set the brake valve to the "ride" position and start the journey using the adjuster. When moving, we need to check and correct the speed, remember about traffic lights and many other things. Of course, each locomotive drives differently, but in all cases, MaSzyna: Simulator of Rail Vehicle tries to reproduce the difficult task of the driver as faithfully as possible.

Technical aspects

MaSzyna: Simulator of Rail Vehicle is not a spectacular production, because that was not the goal of the developers. The game is supposed to faithfully represent the reality, not only in terms of gameplay, but also in terms of graphics. Although the environment is far from being photorealistic, the machines and their interiors have been accurately reproduced and fans of rail vehicles will not have any problems recognizing individual models.

Last updated on March 15, 2020