Medway Valley Line Discussion Thread

Oh wow... a road texture that makes the road look like an actual road.

 

We’ve been having a good old chuckle at the Wherry Lines conspiracy for a while. That and the ‘Official EP’ theory

 

Definitely a day one purchase. Semaphores and Cravens units what's not to like

 

The 31 would also be very much at home on that route

 

Really hope the GSMR on the 375 has lit up buttons like the real thing as that would be amazing.
(Shown best on the class 390 from WCML)
Must say though it looks amazing

 

Like the look of this one, await how it runs on Gen9 before buying but hopeful.

Is the end to end run Strood to Paddock Wood?

 

Strood to Tonbridge is the full fun for the 375. There are freight services and some 395 railtours that go from Gravesend all the way through to Tonbridge as well.

Strood to Paddock Wood comes in at around the 50 minute mark, Strood to Tonbridge is just over the hour IIRC

 

There’s enough distance and variation of scenery between most of the stations to not feel like a bus stop line.

 

Yeah, it’s certainly not a bus stop route

 

Looks fantastic!

Are the 465's getting modern suspension upgades, etc?

I saw train announcements mentioned assume station announcements are in as well?

 

Whats the "official EP theory"?

 

Not sure, but this is what JW had to say about it though

 

I was going to ask, what do players define as a bus stop route? since I didn't think this would be that

 

Cathcart Circle if you’ve played it. That’s a bus stop type of route. A route where you are stopping frequently. A route where train stations are really close to each other.

 

Any route with a high frequency of stops, particularly only a couple of miles or so apart, Gospel Oak to Barking is an example, as is the Glossop Line. the Medway Town section of SEHS is also a bus stop crawl.

 

Omg, no way… they did it, they finally did it. More Thameslink Class 700 to venture on.
The cherry on top, I use this route quite frequently, although I get off at Orpington.
Day one purchase from me

 

The 377/3 should layer in as AI at Tonbridge.

The 375/9 will sub into our route, I can't comment on whether ours will sub into SEHS, depends how it's setup.

 

Basically if a train stops within a short distance of each station. Might as well call all the major train companies and routes “bus stop routes” at this point then

The Riviera line is great bus stop route, although I feel like I’m driving a bus, I’m pretty certain I’m driving a train on a railway line… could be mistaken though.

 

How much of what is mentioned will be released in release with the route. Seems to be a pattern on recent releases with things said to be coming and then the release is missing things “to be added in a later patch”

 

Ngl, slightly underwhelmed by the choice of route sadly.

 

Everything mentioned in the article is already in and working, and has been for a few months now.

 

Not sure your Xbox would cope…..

 

Currently, not a chance. But maybe once DTG has fixed all these optimisation issues then maybe. Brighton Main Line was fine, and that was before things went pear-shaped.

 

Hopefully it releases that way then and breaks the chain

 

There is a MASSIVE jump in quality of scenery and assets between BML and modern day TSW routes. Even the jump between SEHS and what we are doing with MVL is rather large. Optimisation of core stuff can help, but the fact is modern routes are just using higher quality assets in both texture detail and poly count of models, combined with using more individual assets.

 

Looks amazing i hope they deliver on this one looking forward to playing this route

 

True, and I'd be interested to know if/when these problems are sorted how newer routes perform. If there's really nothing that can be done to solve console optimisation, then I personally would prefer to sacrifice scenery quality rather than services. I'd much rather drive a route with a full timetable and scenery of the same standard as East Coastway, than a route with fancy high-poly models but with only a fraction of the traffic due to layers having to be turned off.

 

If you get rid of the high fidelity models & chop the timetable then people will just complain that it doesn't look good and isn't realistic.

You have to strike a balance where the route can look good but also perform acceptably on consoles.

 

Is his an extension of the Southeastern Highspeed route

 

No. Its separate.

 

I've got to say this was a very pleasant surprise, and a very good choice for a route!

I've been waiting for a route to return to third rail land. Genuinely caught me off guard, but I am really excited for this. A interesting route, with end to end running and updated 375, and also more room for the 465 to stretch it's legs! Cor, I couldn't ask for more in a route.

This will be one of those routes I get genuine satisfaction from, being able to drive end to end full services, on a sensible choice for a route, and a borderline expert mode 375! This looks seriously tasty!

 

11 stops in 20 miles definitely qualifies. Not that I mind though. Really looking forward to this route!

 

Yes that would be the next logical step for another southeastern route, they definitely need to head into the heart of London’s biggest stations. The problem is I don’t think 9th gen would be able to handle a route of that calibre (Charing X to Hastings). Only possible when 10th Gen consoles release.
The scenery in central London would be very taxing on console memory. You only got to look at Frankfurt as proof of that.

 

I guess if you take the freight only route out then probably about 90% of all the routes fall under that category
If that’s the case give me that over snooze route with only a couple of stops. But anyway this is about MVL which is going to be a fantastic route

 

This route looks brilliant and can't wait for it! Please don't have blurry textures (or not too many at least)

 

LOL

 

I'd better start saving up for a PC then.

I don't think the 465 really runs on this route outside the section we've already had on SEHS, I think its all 375s with a few peak-hour 395s from St. Pancras.

 

I hope whoever decides to undertake that project throws in the 465/0 and /1, maybe as the main train? It would require a new model as it is very different to the MetCams alongside new audio so would be a great opportunity to.

 

Day 1 purchase for me, looking forward to it from the pedigree of these devs as modders.

 

All the developers have stopped building after reading this. Route is cancelled.

 

Route looks really promising but no doubt the developers and us will be let down by the state of the core game.

 

Wow this looks amazing, can’t wait for this to come out! Driving the 375/3 would be such a joy.

 

You can tell a lot of work has gone into the scenery. Rivet could definitely learn a thing or two from this. And I’m still amazed at the CCTV actually working. .

 

The pictures do look excellent and we already know from their previously released mods that this is a talented group of people, slightly disappointed by the choice of line, it does offer end to end runs, but the start and end points not massively exciting (to me anyway), hopefully though this is the first of many routes from this team and perhaps in the future they will broaden out (like maybe others have suggested, Charing Cross would be a magnificent terminus to have in the game).....I just hope this isn't the only new UK Route to be announced this side of Christmas (next week will confirm that).

 

Out of curiosity, with your own personal experience on the developing side of the game, do you think it's possible to stabilise the game more than the state it is in at the moment? And with higher detail assets do you think it is possible to run them in a reasonably smooth way without the types of issues we are currently experiencing?

 

This is exciting for us Southeasterners, can’t wait. I’d also like to see London Bridge done sometime as virtually all the rolling stock is already in the game and it has great variety. Also looks cool right under the Shard.
Regarding bus stop routes I’d say London Overground fits into this category as the stations are very close together, but those routes often take more skill to drive than the fast lines in actual fact.

 

Can we please have the 375's modelled so that the train doesn't lose power when a single shoe comes off the juice?

 

I have to say, for me, Frankfurt has NEVER been an issue for me, even in Frankfurt - Fulda. I even have most of the layers on. Funnily enough, the place I most often run into issues is Fulda . I think Gen 9 could handle it, a lot of PS5 crashing issues are down to the PS5 itself. Can't speak for Xbox. Serious core fixes would be needed though. I would love to see central London in the game. (True central london)

 

So are you telling us console users not to bother buying this? I think the route looks great and appreciate the effort to go above and beyond, but can't see how this comment will put console users at ease.

 

Looking forward to this. It’s my local route and a full run is a decent amount of time in the cab. It’s a line of two halves with a lot of industrial buildings between Maidstone West and Strood, and rural countryside between Maidstone West and Paddock Wood. There’s plenty of freight and level crossings too.

There’s some variety in the timetable. Some services terminate at Paddock Wood, others run through to Tonbridge. Hopefully we’ll also get the Highspeed services between Maidstone West and Strood and the Networker ECS which reverses at Maidstone West after terminating at Strood.