Made the grave error of finally purchasing Fife Circle at 70% off the other day. After 5 minutes of driving the 170, I noticed that there are no running sounds - the train is literally silent when coasting. Looking at older forum posts, this has been the case for at least a few months now (perhaps I should have read these before purchasing!), why are Rivet continuously contracted by DTG to make routes for them when they can’t even update obvious bugs in their own content? Some users may remember the elusive Class 385 recording session announced some two years ago…
Exactly why I didn't purchase it, not only this but also because I immediately regretted buying Edinburgh to Glasgow, which was also on sale at the time of purchase, because I realised how basic the features are and the sounds and overall simulation are extremely poor.
Yeah Fife Circle still feels incomplete to me despite the 'improvements'... The Class 170 had running sounds when released I believe, but once patches were released to 'improve' the Class 170 the running sounds seem to have disappeared alongside it. There's been consistent feedback about the issue, but as always with Rivet it falls on deaf ears. I'll be avoiding the upcoming Class 170 pack for BCC until I'm satisfied the timetable and sounds updates to the 170 have been made... Although it would rub salt in the wound if a running sound update was hidden behind a pay wall! Completely agree with the outsourcing situation too. I find it absolutely bizarre that the company with the worst feedback and reputation is outsourced to do major projects (well that's my speculation anyway).
It's also DTG showing they don't seem to care as they're the ones selling it. They seem happy to carry on selling a broken product (and we're not taking about a minor niggle, the train doesn't sound anything like a train) and happy with the fact that something we bought from them which once worked no longer does. I remember them recently saying how they thoroughly test every patch by a 3rd party. If that is the case, I'd love to.know how they passed the patch which broke the 170. Edit: and seeing how DTG and Rivet seemingly work together closely now and have some kind of partnership, you'd think they'd be able to say "hey, rivet, you know how the 170 sounded when it first released? Can you make it sound like that again?" We're not talking about a massive change here, just putting something back to how it was when it was working on release.
In case you're on PC, this mod does a great job at fixing the 170's sound issues, and just overall makes the route look better. Very much a must have, together with the modded timetable. https://www.trainsimcommunity.com/m...19-patches/i4403-fife-circle-enhancement-pack
That’s appreciated of course but we shouldn’t have to rely on mods to fix issue the original developers are too idle to put right at source.
I remember they had running sounds at launch and maybe one or two patches afterwards, but it seems they disappeared after the leven branch update. Surprisingly it’s one of my favourite UK routes, it’s a shame the 170 has been left in this state.
There are literally 100+ feedbacks which points out exactly that issue. A dev, who thinks about customers would make a little effort and fix bugs like that. Rivets passion reminds me a 14 year old child at school, bored by the subject.. I stopped buying Rivet content, not even in interested in them as second party. I dont care either...
Apart from the fact 25% off still isn’t enough discount for such a short route, it’s a reluctance to support anything touched by Rivet that has prevented me re buying Cardiff City. They have a swathe of unfixed content going back to WCL and beyond and they really don’t deserve a penny of royalties for their poor efforts. Quite why DTG continue to support publishing their stuff and not take the customers’ side insisting on fixes and improvements is beyond me.
I guess one advantage of DTG using Rivet as a second party dev is that ongoing responsibility for fixes and improvements sits with DTG. It was pretty clear that Euston - Milton Keynes was a Rivet product, which DTG devs have then had to fix. Sadly Fife Circle still relies on Rivet fixing things, our best hope being the new BCC 170 pack prompting a quick patch on Fife Circle.
Personally what worries me is that the BCC Pack class 170 and the Fife class 170 are two "different" trains and that even if all the bugs are fixed in the pack, Fife's remains as it is
What worries me is that rivet will release the BCC pack which sounds fine on release and they'll completely wreck it a few months later and have no intention of fixing by which time it's too late to refund it like they've done with Fife circle. Because of that I won't be touching the BCC pack or any other rivet products with a barge pole.
Why doesn’t DTG put their foot down with Rivet? If the quality isn’t good enough and your customers are un-happy, DTG should be giving Rivet an ultimatum, either shape up or we’re removing you from the third party program. The same principles would apply to anyone in the workplace, if you was underperforming you’d get told by your employer, keep underperforming and they’d let you go. Okay, Rivet are their own company/boss, but at the same time they represent DTG, DTG must do what’s in the best interest of the consumer. Rivets constant childish approach to treating their customers like dirt and ignoring 99.9% of all bugs, quality control and lack of awareness really shouldn’t sit well with DTG. Why DTG still have Rivet in their third party program is beyond me…
It most probably boils down to Rivet being the cheapest developer to outsource projects too. But if DTG want to ruin their reputation, on their head be it, they aren't naive and it's not as if they don't know the reputation that Rivet have... Yet continue to use them regardless of the backlash from the community. Even when DLC is marketed (WCMLS and CCN) as a DTG product with no mention of Rivet the community could see who made it and then DTG grudgingly admitted they had involvement, but they will never say specifically how much involvement because it's likely Rivet are responsible for the entire project with the exception of a small few assets and an item of rolling stock. (The 150 is clearly Rivet, the 153 I feel is DTG. The 350 is most definitely Rivet, but the 390 feels like a DTG product)
I don’t think rivet will be attributed with anything from now on thanks to some of their shall we say shoddy work, running sounds and a lack of trains coming in the opposite direction being two of them in my experience. I often ride as a passenger on Southern 171’s and believe me you can hear the running sounds from anywhere inside. if DTG continue to give them major projects I would warn them to duck when the feedback comes over the parapet.
DTG Matt Have you any comment about the problem people are reporting in this thread and have been reporting for many months and can you let us know when it is going to be fixed?
