Riviera Route & Xc Class 220 Voyager Announced

I assume it's to show how it can be used on free roam, as Crosscountry ran services to Brighton until 2008. Though back in those days the Gatwick Express was a 460 and not a 387.

 

People are reading too much into it.

Beta testers often get many of the screenshots we see for new content, this is just one of them who put the 220 in Brighton.

 

Unrelated to the route itself but Crosscountry used to have quite the network

 

The CrossCountry service to Brighton ended in 2008 I believe, around the same time that South West Trains stopped serving Brighton too. The GWR Brighton to Bristol service ended a few years ago; that was the last crosscountry service to go from Brighton.

 

When I worked for Wales & West etc., the South Wales to Brighton services were top of the not to be cancelled list. You would lose a Birmingham or Manchester even a Pompey service out of Cardiff before cancelling the Brighton. How times changed. They were often fully reserved (2 car 158), too.

 

I don't know how many trains a day there were but I'm fairly certain one of the Brighton services started at Great Malvern.

 

Yes when it was split off into Wales and Borders and Wessex Trains (later absorbed into FGW), the midday train across to Brighton ran from Great Malvern.

 

I meant for other routes in the future for the Class 221 not the Riviera line. Plus I am sure it's so the whole CrossCountry stock is made publicly on Train Sim. Besides unsure but is their the Class 221 on Train Sim Classic, could that be why their on about it. After all most routes have been created for that franchise of the gaming industry.

 

Looks great just don't get to carried away with the day one timetable,(here's looking at you rivet )

 

Will the next station tms screen be working in the voyager cab

 

Just Trains did make a voyager and voyager advanced for TS Classic (I own both). As far as I can remember, the 220 and 221 Voyagers were there along with the 222 Meridians for the MML routes.
DTG did have a voyager but it was a bit pants and I can't remember which routes had them. North Wales Coastal was one and the original version had Virgin branding, the later one which was extended had an Avanti one.

 

Looks like it

 

Neither the JT or DTG Voyagers were particularly good, so thank god ATS is making a new one. The JT 220/221 first came out for Rail Simulator and was later replaced with the Voyager Advanced, and that was again updated in 2019. It had most of the liveries the Voyagers had one at the time plus some fictional ones. However, the textures were relatively low-res, and the model is very dated. The 221 tilts at any speed, and the sounds aren't good. On the other hand, it is more advanced than the DTG version. DTG's one had a much nicer model but with even worse sounds and less features. They first released it in the XC livery, as a 220 that could tilt (seemingly an error they've repeated for the TSW one). Then they made a 221 in Virgin livery with North Wales Coastal, later replaced by an Avanti one in the rereleased North Wales Coastal and a slightly different version in WCML-S. However, both Avanti versions are semi-fictional as when they were made no 221s actually had the 'full' Avanti livery.

 

That's brilliant!

 

Find myself interested in this route - as someone who isn't much interested in non-UK routes (just my preference), I'll be taking the free TSW6 update and waiting to see the reaction on here, wary of how the WCML Euston-MK route panned out at first. I waited till sale for that one, but I'll be happy to pay for a good, fun route that works, esp as I have nice memories of a trip down to Torquay a few years ago that we took by train. Apologies if it's been mentioned, but would be nice for the XC 220 layers onto a few other routes too, such as Manchester Commuter.

 

FINALLY, SOME PROPER 150 SOUNDS!

 

How did you find this video? It doesn't show up on the channel.

Is there anything else you can share?

 

Ah man, it got the 153 treatment with actual rumble & good audio occlusion. Even forgetting accurate sounds, many trains just have no sense of size or player position & sound (for lack of a better word) empty & light.

The announcements sound quite good aswell.

 

Looking and sounding very good.

 

Surely I am not the only one who notices this, when the 150 revs up (at 2:00 in the video) you can hear the audio clipping just the same as the 153 does. I really hope it isn't this way on release, I know its WIP but I don't have hope for these things.

Other than that the sounds seem good, it actually seems to rev properly in notch 3 now, and cut off power at the correct speed instead of very slowly like the 150s currently in the game, which were my main concerns.
Also the announcements sound surprisingly good, they are obviously not 1:1 with real life but they are not completely inaccurate either, which to be honest is what I was expecting. But I will give them credit where credit's due, they actually kind of cooked.

Not sure about those 802 sounds, but it was only a 5 second clip so I cant really make a decision from that alone.

 

It's a little choppy but daum sounds a lot better. Announcements were better than expected. Can't find this on the official yt channel though. Where have you pulled this from?

The track joints sounds amazing though. What an improvement!!

 

The 802 sounds certainly need tweaking.

I know they are sourced from a reliable person, but the implementation needs altering slightly.

A real life example:

 

A bit of Western action, anyone?

 

Now you mention, did sound a bit too high pitched compared to standing next to the real thing. Well it will be interesting to note if DTG see it that way or, as happened with the Class 700 we get told that's the best they can do, like it or lump it. Also I'm fully expecting the cab experience to be cocooned in cotton wool so it will be like driving a Dosto over the Devon Banks.

 

Disappointing to hear AI generated announcements.

 

It's certainly not a bad sounding unit, and it has been sourced from a very good person who does AAS stuff, it just needs some fine tuning in areas. a constructive criticism for me, would be that it seemthat the slight scream from the engine sounds is missing compared to the real 802 (turbo?). Outside of that the WIP looks really good stuff, and the scenary from what I can see is actually very good.

The announcements and passenger ambient sounds really give it a new edge too. Positive stuff so far.

 

Am I the only person who can barely hear the platform announcements?

 

No I agree. One of the clips was extremely quiet. I'm assuming they've got it as a distance from speaker thing. If so that'll be really cool and immersive

 

Indeed, surely it can't be that difficult to get a member of the DTG team to do the announcements or even ask GWR (and respective other operators) if they could use their database of announcements.

 

Where have you seen the TSW 220 tilting?

 

Pretty sure it does not work that way.

 

Announcements are property of the voice over artist and their respective company, so licensing these announcements is not always possible. Plus, use of real world announcements in game can quickly get very expensive.

That's not to say someone will not make a mod to provide alternative voice(s) as part of an unofficial download.

 

In its trailer. It could be superelevation on the track, but it looks too steep. We'll have to wait and see obviously, but you can't blame me for wondering if they've done it again.

 

To me it looks like it's leaning into the banked track, as the bogie is at the same angle to the rest of the train.

 

I would agree that considering the track we see it on, the lean is very exaggerated.

I must admit even I don’t think DTG would really make that mistake again. I haven’t voiced my concerns about the 220 yet, but the state of their TSC versions does have me worried about it.

 

The announcements are great, only played a couple of services up to now but they’re very immersive imo.

 

To my ear, having listened to both videos, they should probably rebalance the rattle/rumble of the diesel generators with the electric motors, i.e. more of the former and less of the latter. It's all there though.

 

Looking great so far. Now we just need a scenario set in horrible storms in a Voyager with the challenge of making it past Dawlish without the software going berserk...

(Yes, I realise this is isn't an issue anymore folks, in all seriousness I hope Dawlish actually looks like a seaside town, guard mode with surfboards blocking the aisle anyone?)

 

How can you play this?! Its not out jet.. Or you are beta tester?

 

I just think the 802 sounds need to be tweaked slightly. When the 802 leaves in real life, the traction motor sounds are the most prominent by far. Here, the traction sounds are hidden away behind the really loud diesel engine.

 

Like others have mentioned the 802 sounds could use some tweaks. Comparing the videos it sounds like the engine sound is too loud and high pitched in the game. For example, it seems way harder to hear the turbo whine in the game compared to the real video as the engine drowns it out. The rest didn't sound too bad and I liked the brake sqealing when departing. Speaking of brakes, the 150's sounded too aggressive when stopping.

Overall, the audio in the video sounded a bit weird to me compared to how it normally is in the game, even though the announcements themselves actually sounded great.

 

With all the discussion around the 150 and the 802, have we got any clarification or mention for that matter where the Class 220 sounds were sourced from? I find it odd, that it's not been mentioned just yet.

 

I do hope this route will not be like ECML where as its so quite i end up nodding off. And its a bit boring.

 

Well compared to the flat land ECML goes through there's a bit more variation in gradients.

 

It’ll be much more interesting to actually drive. The speed limits dip & rise for the most part, along with navigating gradient changes between Newton Abbott & Plymouth.

The timetable isn’t as busy though, but there is a wider variety of trains.

You’ve also got the scenery which is far more interesting than TSW’s ECML. I think it being 2 tracked will make it better too, it tends to feel less empty than the 4 track routes.

You also really can’t deny the experience of being on a train right on the waters edge.

 

Thank you im looking forward to driving it.

 

Well I wouldn’t be too excited about driving the Cucumber over the Devon Banks. Just come back from a trip over to Gloucester from Swindon to sort out some family business on the wife’s side (plus a very nice pub lunch in Wetherspoons by the docks afterwards). Anyhow I digress, but out and back on a Class 800 I persuaded the wife to sit in Coach B which has a diesel power unit underneath. Even under full power coming up Sapperton Bank on the way home the noise level wasn’t that high, much quieter than a Sprinter or even a Voyager. As on our previous journey from Stroud a couple of weeks ago, the driver was constantly throttling back to keep within the speed limit on the mainly 1 in 60 climb. So I don’t think we will get that much of a challenge or thrash on the Devon Banks, especially as the end cars are unpowered.

 

I agree in that it won’t be a challenge, but you will need to be on the (regretfully) one power/break handle. It’s going to need more attention than just climbing up to 125 & watching out for the odd 100/110 limit.

Of course there’s also the sprinter & networker runs - something ECML lacks.

 

Is this route a busy timetable.

 

That you make a very good point. You always have to be on your Toes and always concentrate. Very excited for this route. 2 weeks till Early Accessors can play it. Which I assume will be the majority