BVE Trainsim 5 Survival Guide (Windows & Mac) Wanna actually play a realistic train simulator FOR FREE? Try BVE 5! Includes Mac installation and recommended scenarios.

Aight, so hear me out: These train simulators on Steam really cost. Like $30+. Honestly, maybe they’re better in the 3D graphics, but BVE Trainsim 5 could score much better in performance than these costly alternatives.

Install

Windows

Read official instructions and downloads here.

Mac

Yes, you can run BVE 5 on a Mac. Referenced this blog post (Japanese).

Known issues: For certain scenarios (not among the ones introduced below), BVE fails to open some .wav files ( Could not open the file ). If you have a solution, please please please leave a comment below.

Get WineBottler. (2.0 is fine.) Load the disk image, drag both WineBottler and Wine to the Applications folder. (Non-Sudo people: Or any folder you like - I drag to the Downloads folder. But both apps should be in the same folder. I didn’t try otherwise.) Get BVE 5 WITHOUT INSTALLER. Unzip it. Launch WineBottler. Click Advanced. For Program Installation, select the BveTs.exe in the folder. For Installation mode, select “copy file (program) and all files in the folder to the App Bundle.” For System Version Info, select 7. (BVE 5 requires Vista or higher.) 64-bit doesn’t work because dotnet35 wouldn’t install. You MUST tick “Include Mono”. (Or you’ll be forced to exit with an error log, as you cannot get dotnet35 .) “Gecko” doesn’t matter. For Winetricks, find the following and tick them: dotnet35 (MS .NET 3.5), d3dx9_43 (MS d3dx9_43.dll), and fakejapanese_ipamona (“Creates aliases for Japanese fonts using IPAMona fonts”). If you’re using BVE under v5.7 (i.e. not newest), you also need mdx (Managed DirectX). Tick Silent Install. Press Install, set file name, and go. Takes like 2 minutes to install, then you get an .app bundle. Off you go!

No, I’m not giving you my pre-bundled app. Probably goes against some rules about sharing.

Basic control

http://bvets.net/en/drive/index.html

All number keys on that page are Numpad keys, which are useless on Mac (Use your mouse to drag instead). They do not conflict with ATS/ATC stuff below.

(WIP) Scenarios

Yes yes, I know many English scenarios are made in BVE 4 or OpenBVE. I know Converter exists, but isn’t it better to play scenarios that actually support 5, without the need to solve bugs?

Windows users: Place all Scenarios in C:\users\<name>\My Documents\BveTs\Scenarios .

. Mac users: Place all Scenarios in /Users/<name>/Documents/BveTs/Scenarios (which is equivalent to ~/Documents/BveTs/Scenarios ).

All scenarios should contain 1 folder and a bunch of TXT files (Which tells BVE what route to drive) outside the folder. If there’s only 1 folder with nothing else, either it’s a Vehicle file (I’ll indicate) or you forgot to look inside when you unzip. Due to popularity of Shift_JIS encoding in Japan, you should use The Unarchiver or any equivalent tools to unzip stuff instead of Archive Utility.

I have tested all the scenarios below. ATS/ATC instructions are included. If errors pop up, “ignore” should be enough. I do not include any scenarios that does not feature scenaries (i.e. no buildings, only grass, etc.).

List

In no particular order.

Legend

(P): Permission obtained for posting

(E): Has English version

(PE): Partially English (Usually station names)

(A): Has audio issues on Mac (see above)

Keisei Chihara Line

The official one. Download here, no additional stuff required. Here’s a walkthrough:

Tama Toshi Monorail

Download here. Both the page AND THE SCENARIO is in English!

To start the train from the terminus, you’ll need to press ATS 0 (S) - ATS 13 (J) - ATS 4 (B2), BEFORE releasing the emergency brake or touching the reverser. Your train WILL NOT MOVE if you don’t do so. On Windows, that is SPACE - 8 - END . You can also press Delete for a list of key assignments specific to that scenario. On Mac, or if your Windows computer does not have an END key, you’ll need to reassign keys. Right click => Preferences => Input device => Key assignments… => Switches => Find “ATS 4 (B2)” => Press the On/Off box below => Press the key you want to assign (Fn combos accepted, no other combos). If you want to show the in-game key assignment list (Just this game), you’ll need to reassign “ATS 2 (A2)” as well. Do note that the in-game key assignment list only shows default assignments.

Here’s a walkthrough:

Keihan Keishin Line

Detailed scenary means it’s Resource-Heavy! Requires good GPU!!!

Download here. Find “Mirror site(yahoo box)” and you’ll see two columns: The left with Installer, the right without. You’ll also see a OneDrive link and a Yahoo Box (Japanese) link.

Station names are in English. The manual is in Japanese, but the pictures are in English.

To start the train from the terminus, you’ll need to press 5 to enable ATS (Or you will not be able to drive - The line does not have ATO), and switch the reverser to the front. Then, remain on Emergency Brake until you’re told to depart by the screen message (Or ATS will stop you, reason unknown. If you forgot this: Get back on P0 AND Emergency Brake (By pressing / ), then release it again).

to enable ATS (Or you will not be able to drive - The line does not have ATO), and switch the reverser to the front. Then, until you’re told to depart by the screen message (Or ATS will stop you, reason unknown. If you forgot this: Get back on P0 AND Emergency Brake (By pressing ), then release it again). Seriously, abide speed limit. This is ATS, not ATC, and Deadman’s Switch gets activated extremely often, which will give you a big delay off your schedule. IF there’s a red light in the bottom-left corner, you’re screwed: You just triggered ATS. To release, Get back on P0 AND Emergency Brake (By pressing / ), then 6 (Disable ATS) + 5 (Enable ATS).

This is ATS, not ATC, and Deadman’s Switch gets activated extremely often, which will give you a big delay off your schedule. Here’s a walkthrough:

Tokyo Metro Tozai Line

Download here. Use the English version.

Vehicles for routes with “(c) vertah” can be downloaded here. (Scroll to bottom, click the link that says “2013/04/23（05/N05Ver1.1） 123MB”. After unzip, merge it with Scenarios folder.) Vehicles for routes with “(c) maihime” lacks interactive functions and is not recommended.

To start, press 8 ONCE when remaining in N (P0) EB .

when remaining in . Press 0 for speedometer lights, 9 for wiper (If train has it).

for speedometer lights, for wiper (If train has it). Here’s a walkthrough for B1373SR:

TRTA (then-Tokyo Metro) Hanzomon Line

Download here. Click the first link wrapped by >><< in the first heading. Everything’s in Japanese.

For this scenario, you’ll need to download vehicles.

Go here. You need 8000, 08, 8590, and 30000. (For TKK 2000, download here instead, but it’s an EXE file. Not tested.) Click the link at the bottom of each box. For 8000: The download link is in the purple box at the bottom of the page. For others: First text link in the second-last box at the bottom. Unzip them and place them in .../Scenarios/vertah .

To start E/B1056T (Red background, brown train) from the overground terminus, you’ll need to press 8 ONCE to enable ATS for Tobu when remaining in N EB . Then, after arriving at the first underground station, you’ll need to get back to N EB and press 8 ONCE again to enable ATC for Metro.

to enable ATS for Tobu when remaining in . Then, after arriving at the first underground station, you’ll need to get back to and press again to enable ATC for Metro. To start C/B1367S (Red background, purple train) from the overground terminus, you’ll need to press 8 TWICE to enable ATS for Tobu when remaining in N EB . Then, after arriving at the first underground station, you’ll need to get back to N EB and press 7 ONCE then 8 ONCE to enable ATC for Metro.

to enable ATS for Tobu when remaining in . Then, after arriving at the first underground station, you’ll need to get back to and press then to enable ATC for Metro. To start B952T (No background, brown train) from the underground terminus, you’ll need to press 8 TWICE to enable ATC for metro when remaining in N EB .

to enable ATC for metro when remaining in . To start all other trains from the underground terminus, you’ll need to press 8 ONCE to enable ATC for Metro when remaining in N EB .

to enable ATC for Metro when remaining in . B953S is a Not-in-Service train which passes all stations. All others stop at all stations.

Press 0 for speedometer lights, 9 for wiper (If train has it).

for speedometer lights, for wiper (If train has it). Here’s a walkthrough for E/B1056T:

TRTA (then-Tokyo Metro) Ginza Line

Download the route here. Click the first link wrapped by >><< in the first heading. Everything’s in Japanese. You need to download vehicles as well and place them in .../Scenarios/vertah .

To start the train, you’ll need to press 8 ONCE to enable ATC for Metro when remaining in N P0 EB .

to enable ATC for Metro when remaining in . Press 0 for speedometer lights, 9 for wiper.

for speedometer lights, for wiper. Here’s a walkthrough:

Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line

Under testing…

Tokyo Monorail

Download the route here. Click the first link wrapped by >><< in the first heading. Everything’s in Japanese. You need to download vehicles (Link next to download button) as well.

An extra vehicle as well as 6 extra scenarios are available here. Base route pack required.

ATC is enabled at all times.

Here’s a walkthrough:

Osaka Metro Yotsubashi Line

Download here. Click the button below “Route”.

For the vehicle, download here. (Vehicle documentation)

To start the train, you’ll need to press 7 ONCE to enable ATC for Metro when remaining in N P0 EB . DO NOT press 7 or 8 again as it’ll disable your train (And I don’t see a remedy currently without re-opening the scenario).

to enable ATC for Metro when remaining in . press or again as it’ll disable your train (And I don’t see a remedy currently without re-opening the scenario). Here’s a walkthrough:

Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line

Download here (link that says BVE5). For vehicle, download here. Here’s a walkthrough:

Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line

Not suitable for beginners

Download here. Vehicle included.

Before departure, and before switching directions (Neutral), press the SPACE key, and KEEP IT PRESSED!!! If you release it during your drive, emergency brake will be applied and then you’ll need to reset the ATS… (Windows: At neutral-P0-EB, HOME and END ; Mac: Consider reassigning keys)

If you release it during your drive, emergency brake will be applied and then you’ll need to reset the ATS… (Windows: At neutral-P0-EB, and ; Mac: Consider reassigning keys) Here’s a walkthrough:

Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line

Download here. Vehicles included.

The driver cab graphics for Train 149 is significantly better than Train 145.

Here’s a walkthrough:

Kurumadome (Buffer Stop = End of the Line)

For any issues, please contact me or comment below. I can respond in Mandarin or English. Japanese emails will be accepted (I can read Japanese, didn’t I tell you that?) but I’ll only reply in English.

Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Header made using Sigene.