Bonus Authority: Riding the virtual rails
You're literally paying me to play video games at this point.
Welcome to the second bonus issue of Local Authority exclusive to paid subscribers! Last week we looked at big planning applications, and this week is just as important: I’ve been playing video games.
Stepping back slightly, each of these bonus missives will have entirely different themes because it’s my newsletter and I’ll do what I want with it. One of these threads will be looking at Medway’s portrayal in various media: films, books (absolutely no Dickens guaranteed), or in this case, a video game.
Specifically, I’ve been playing Train Sim World 2: Southeastern High Speed.
For those unfamiliar with the Train Sim World franchise, the game has become the dominant train simulator game on the market, letting you drive trains along a variety of routes all over the world. Developers Dovetail Games are local (based in Chatham) so it makes sense that they have picked a Medway related route to include in the game.
For this piece I’m focusing purely on the Medway section of the route, but the game features a fully realised version of the high speed line between St Pancras and Faversham (above). You can play in various weather conditions, times of day, and take control of different trains, including the high speed Javelin trains. I’m bad at these games so I’ve just been pottering around with the regular speed Southeastern trains.
We’ll begin our Medway tour at Rainham and head westward. Rainham is probably the Medway station I’ve used most over the years and this looks pretty spot on! Okay, so if you look at each individual background building it’s probably not quite right, but the basic structure is right with the station, level crossing, Rainham Rec and its car park. It’s a level of decent attention to detail that we’ll see throughout the game.
