In the Train Spotting Simulator, you play a train spotter, located somewhere in Britain (the traditional home of the sport, though additional territories could be provided as expansion sets). Armed with your notebook and a copy of the Book of British Engines (provided on the CD-ROM), you set out to spot every locomotive in Britain. You choose a location (be it at a railway station, by a tunnel, on a bridge or elsewhere), and wait; the computer renders a view from your vantage point, with things happening in the background (passengers walking about, cars passing, birds in the sky, &c.; it would have to be realistic). After a while (minutes or hours), without warning, the train passes (its approach audible in surround sound, with each having a distinctive whistle to satisfy the hardcore anoraks), and is rendered passing. Once it does, you call up your virtual notebook and note down its serial number. The game is complete when you've spotted every train.
For those not into the long haul, there could be briefer variants; such as how many trains can you spot within a given time.
The Train Spotting Simulator could also be run as a screen saver or desk accessory, for those who like to watch trains passing whilst at work.-- acb, Sep 29 2001 Microsoft Train Simulator http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsim/Not quite, nor does it feature Scotland's worst toilet. [mrkillboy, Sep 29 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] Trainz http://www.auran.co...trainz/overview.htmVirtual model railroading! [mrkillboy, Sep 29 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004] (?) Train Spotting Simulator http://motorrad.cx/tspotsim/sim.htmllink from roland's anno. [DrBob, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Train Spotting Simulator http://www.ratbike.org/tspotsim/sim.htmlAbove link - moved. [wagster, Apr 17 2008] ZZZZzzzzz-- bristolz, Sep 30 2001 I tried writing a Trainspotting simulator but my Ewan McGregors kept dying.-- sirrobin, Sep 30 2001 Boy, can't wait for the "terrorists take over the train but luckily Steven Seagal is on board" Total Conversion!-- mrkillboy, Sep 30 2001 If the CD was merely an extra, included with the Big Book of Trains, I reckon this could become the first really commercially viable idea on the 1/2bakery. I don't see train spotters as big on computer games, but if it was just included as an extra activity they could do when the weather was too poor even for them to go outside then I can see it as a big (well alright then, a small) seller. Note: DrBob is not a train spotter. Nor has he ever been a train spotter.-- DrBob, Sep 30 2001 baked: sensible software (known for sensible soccer et al) did, as a final program, a freeware game called Sensible Train Spotter, it had many different levels where you had a card with train numbers on it and you had to tick off the ones you had seen in a certain time, and if you ticked a wrong one or ran out of time to tick it off, then you'd lose a certain amount of time...... classic gaming-- dekoi, Sep 30 2001 Abroad: the Train Spotting Simulator could come in a thermos-shaped package, or even an actual thermos if it could accomodate a CD and booklet; it would be emblazoned with the "Train Spotting Simulator" logo. It would also have to come with a cloth badge suitable for attachment to one's anorak.-- acb, Oct 01 2001 Perhaps this idea could be fully baked if it were crossed with the improbably best-selling "Deer Hunter" series.
Trainspotting from tree-stands...the ability to call trains with either a whistle or clackety noise maker...maybe even the scent of coal for the old steam locomotives. And, oh yes, a high-powered rifle and a trophy room...-- Guncrazy, Oct 01 2001 and here it is: http://motorrad.cx/tspotsim/sim.html-- roland, May 08 2003 random, halfbakery