From hobbies to even T.V. shows, model trains can be a very soothing and exciting hobby. You can design them any way you like to be as simple or as crazy as you would want. It’s really up to you how you can create it shape that world. I have always been fascinated with some of the detail that can be put into them. From even the detail of Thomas The Tank Engine to even the world’s largest model train set, it is truly amazing to see the dedication, love, and heart that are put into the world of model trains.
But there is something that the normal person more than likely will run into when getting into this passion of a hobby and that is space. If you have a family, chances are your wife or husband may not share the same enthusiasm as you do. When you add children, soon they might start to take over and playing when you told them not only to then create their own world where they make up a name about you and start calling you Lord Business with the almighty Kragle and then learn a valuable lesson.
But what if there was not a need for space as you know it to bring your hobby to life? What if I said there was a place to be as creative as you would like? Maybe there is and you just need to let it out. So does Developer Sumalab allow the door to be opened to this creativity so you can shut it behind you and lay the tracks of your own model train set? Let’s find out with TrainerVR for the PlayStation VR.
What I love and appreciate about TrainerVR is right from the beginning, you have this flat land, the sky, and basically everything you need to create. This virtual space is yours to create whatever your model train set dream wants it to be. You can play with the DualShock 4 controller or with both Move controllers. For me, I went with the Move controllers as it gives more of the freedom to create. Using the Move Controllers, The Move button pulls up the menu so you can select objects, load and save games and adjust settings such as height and sound. The Trigger button allows you to pick up objects. The Square and Triangle allow you to rotate, the Circle is for teleportation, and the X allows you to pick perform an action. So any object that has a yellow lightning bolt can perform and action. Lights will make it day or night, people and animals can be changed, and trains can go while crossing lights can either make your train stop or continue on.
You have a great selection of tracks from medium to long sections to curves. Want to add a ramp curve, go for it. Want to add some tunnels, go for it. Want to add some people and animals, go for it. This is your world, so you create it however you want it to be and I will say it works very well. Off in the distance, you will see this Wild West section that once you enter it, there is a model train set that has already been created. The great thing is you can have fun the way it is or change it up to make it yours. So I decided to see what would happen if I put a person and an animal on the track and have the train start moving…
As you can see, your mind can really let loose and bring back those feelings of growing up where you had to use your imagination and make up your own adventures. So thank you Sumalab for allowing these memories to come back and be relived along with new imagined ones all in glorious Virtual Reality.
Yes, you can add TNT and blow things up and yes you can add animals to the top of buildings. In fact, if you wanted to have a whole land of animals, one tree, with just one path of a track you can. I decided to be a little creative and recreate the Lion King scene, except I didn’t have a lion or a monkey, so Rafiki became a bear and Simba became a human and below off of Pride Rock was the animals giving a human intervention.
And as we travel across the land, I decided to make my own Polar Express just going in a circle with one tree and next to it, recreate The Walking Dead scene with Negan and instead of a bat, I am using TNT and for some reason, the A-Team van joined.
Sound-wise the music is calm and the trains make the train sounds. When it’s night time, you can hear the crickets, birds, and owls to give it that more realistic outdoors feel. There doesn’t really need to be too much going on to break the concentration or creativity. Graphics-wise tracks are simple and that is a good thing. It reminded me of the type of toy that families could build together and that shows something. When you start adding the buildings and other elements, you really get a sense of the scale that is here.
If anything I would love to see more added. I would love to see different seasons such as a fall festival or Christmas for example or different parts of the world that could be traveled. I would love to see objects such as different types of trains, weather, maybe even have it where you could have bank robbers trying to take over the train like in the Wild West. Anything is possible that could be added and that is a good thing.
TrainerVR shows us that we can be creative while allowing ourselves to have fun while doing it. And what I had was fun while being creative with more than enough space to have my own adventure in. And couldn’t we all use more innocent fun in life to enjoy?
TrainerVR is out now on PlayStation VR and is also available on the Oculus Store, Steam, and Viveport. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Sumalab, please visit their site and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going back in to create and enjoy.
Mr. PSVR, Febuary 5, 2019, theplaystationbrahs.com
