Medway Valley Line Discussion Thread

I do have to say I'm very intrigued to hear this special sound set. ECW was my closest home route so I've been on electrostars more than anything else. The current sounds are okay to my ear (despite the horrible horn cut off when you're moving) but I'm interested to hear what I've been missing so to speak (especially if it's won over JW ).

I'm happy they've gone for a smaller route and just focused on getting something good for their first release as well. Definitely not biting off more than you can chew. Even if modern isn't strictly my era I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one!

 

Fair point, but I'm local to part of that section so it feels a bit less boring to me that it might others

 

Game issue yes, but it's game issue that issue that potentially affects your product. You all may be saying that you believe it runs fine on console, including series s because it runs fine on a similarly specced PC, but that still doesn't mean it will. I hate to compare third parties, but all aboard said that Birmingham Crewe had no issues on console... and look how that turned out...

 

I also wasn’t participating in the whole ‘you shouldn’t say X’ bla bla above but I absolutely refute the logic that you developing & selling content has nothing to do with issues within that content relating to a particularly wide reaching & catastrophic problem.

Regardless of who’s primarily responsible for that particular problem, you don’t get to just knowingly sell products that share the issue & redeem yourself of any culpability regarding it.

 

I'm very excited about the route announcement! For me personally, it's a wonderful choice! I'm eagerly awaiting its release. I'm incredibly excited about the new, improved versions of the Electrostars. I have a special fondness for this family of trains.
The route itself is very much in demand. I hope that the Chatham and North Kent line will open very soon, which together will create the Southeastern Network route, where the 465, 375, and 700 class trains will be fully operational.

 

They are perfectly right to expect it'll run the way they expect it to, based on the testing they've done so far. I don't see anything wrong with that, they've done the best they can with what they've got.

Never got the chance to use their mods due to not being on PC, but if those are as good as they're made out to be, the I have full confidence that what they've said is true.

 

Fired up the Medway Crompton DVD this morning on the exercise bike and just a slight regret the route wasn’t set back when the line had semaphore signals and 4CEP’s plus a bit more of the rail served industry. Still it is a nice scenic meander, not much straight track and has the potential to be the UK Niddertalbahn in TSW.

 

Which was just updated and looking suburb I might add

 

Isn’t asking questions about how it runs on certain hardware relevant to this thread?
I play on PC so Im not affected by the performance on consoles but I fully understand the communities concerns.
Although Firefly have been open thus far I think its not to make claims about performance when its not been rested on said hardware. As I mentioned previously….your team has simulated running it on equivalent PC hardware. A lot can change.
ATB.

 

Sorry but this comment from one of the developers on the same team as you says otherwise. This is interpreted as it will run fine in series S which no one knows if it will or not.

 

Are you ever happy lol

 

No he isn't

 

Perhaps they should find a new sin to play lol

 

I'm gonna second this statement.
I fired it up yesterday. DTGs latest update and your latest graphics mod have worked wonders. I did a few runs and was very very pleased with the experience. Smooth motion, great lighting, just a lovely time in the sim. (465 on SEHS / 390 and 323 on Birmingham-Crewe).
Many thanks to all who are at work behind the scenes!

3840x1600 / Ryzen 5 5600x / 3080Ti 12 GB VRAM / 32 GB RAM ... in case anyone is curious.

 

I dont interpret it that way at all? He said they can't do console testing yet. And says that the route runs well on a PC of similar specs to the series S? That's not saying it'll run fine on the series S it's saying they know it runs well on a pc with similar specs. Basically they've made an observation based on the resources and evidence they have. They've literally done all they can with this and communicated where they are at with it which is more than we've heard from any other developers on this matter before a route release?

 

That is in reply to questions asked about console so it can be interpreted to people asking about consoles.

 

No it quite clearly says we can't test on console yet. No definitive statement has been made on how it runs on consoles. You're misinterpreting it. I've said it runs well on similar PC hardware, which is an indication, not a certainty.

 

This is the last I’m going to comment on this. How you interpret what is written is up to you, but what he has written is not how you’ve chosen to take it.

Neither me, Fawx or anyone else have made any claim AT ALL about how this runs on the Series S. We have simply said that with the testing tools we have available to us, we are within the set streaming pool limit for consoles (including the S) and we take that to be positive. Take that as you will, but it is a stated fact. We have also tested the route on a PC with similar specs to the S and it runs just fine.

I’d politely ask you again to please stop deliberately twisting our words, and to stop putting your words in our mouths.

 

This is probably one of the reasons why devs don't really interact with people on this forum anymore.

Sod it I'm off to the other one, what's it called?

That's it, discord.

 

We're on both of the community discords as well, as are many of the devs.

 

Amen. Close the book.

We’re happy to be here to talk about the route, discuss features and take ideas etc. We’re not here to go round in circles on hypotheticals, have words twisted and generally waste time and energy on something that hasn’t, and hopefully won’t, happen.

 

Crazy to me that 3Ps are out here having to defend DTG's ridiculous testing paradigm (i.e. no console testing prior to certification) while we've heard absolutely nothing from DTG on why they think it's perfectly fine for PS and Xbox players to pay full freight to be glorified beta testers.

They should be ashamed of themselves imo

 

There are people that will always seeks conflict on the forums, and will try and look under any crevice to find something to moan about. Unfortunately, as a forum member all I can say is, the best way to treat them as a developer is just ignore them as it seems like you are talking to a brick wall and won't get anywhere.

And unfortunately it's always a vocal minority that sometimes ruin things for the majority of people who are supportive and hold sincere excitement about DLCs like this. All I can say is, to Fawx and JetWash, is I sincerely appreciate the time and effort you have taken to explain the situation around consoles and it has made complete sense to me and I have complete and utter confidence in your skills as seasoned developers. This is a really exciting little route and a really good choice as I've already mentioned. I am a third rail enthusiast so this really ticks all the boxes as a nice end to end route, and the extra variety and expert level type 375 really ticks all the boxes for me. As I've already mentioned I've been craving a early 1st Gen Electrostar for some time!

Must of us are rooting for you, and most of us appreciate the communication and interaction you have with us and it goes along way with me at least. Don't think a small minority, represents the majority.

I'm not trying to invalidate anyones opinions, and people are free to make arguments they feel are valid. But some of the comments I've witnessed on this threead are repetitive, tiresome, and aren't constructive. Give Firefly a chance. Core issues are a DTG issue and there are threads for those issues already if you wish to vent them there.

 

I will await to see the release version and how it performs in a console then. I hope you have a smooth release compared to the previous 3rd party. Perhaps best to just not answer anything console related in the future even comparing it to a PC soec which even if it matches the console still isn’t a fair comparassion. I wish you well in the release and will be interesting to see if the texture issues appear or not as like somene above said DTG have said they don’t know the issue so be interesting to see if you have found the fix which can help others.

 

I find it amazing DTG can’t apparently beta test on consoles yet other developers who make console only games are able to. I am even beta testing a game on consoles they sent me a key to enter a development version so if they can do that why can’t DTG.

 

I'll be honest, I think those developer comments were poorly worded, I thought they had done more than just run on a similarly spec'd PC myself on first reading yesterday. And I like to think I have decent reading comprehension, so I think that the criticism is valid to some degree. Though I will agree some are taking the comments too far, i get what they meant upon rereading it.

I think all that should've been said is "We're developing on similarly spec'd PC's, but we can't make any promises", that's it. Don't mention "Series S" at all, don't talk about a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo that's only a few understand, and don't make any statements about how it "should be fine". Lot of people have poor attention spans, every word you add in is just gonna make it more likely for people to misinterpret things.

(Which I realize is a tad ironic coming from someone like me, trust me, i'd use less words myself if I knew how to!)

 

So they say stuff like this;

Then say they mentioned nothing about Series S, then they wonder why people are confused...

Then they get all dismissive and act with a general disdain towards people who are understandably concerned about textures and performance...

It seems that whilst developing stuff may be a strong point for this team, apparently PR isn't...

I think I'm out for this one, unfortunately...

 

Thank you both for saying how I read it is the same as yours. Glad I wasn’t the only one to read it and get confused.

 

From the first moment the developers explained the testing situation, I understood perfectly that the PC specifications were equivalent to the Xbox Series S.

Fawx and JetWash have already done so much for the PC community with their fantastic mods to improve game performance, that they are now doing everything possible to make this route perform better on consoles. However, due to restrictions that DTG itself has repeatedly stated, it is not possible to perform these tests on consoles before launch.

I'm sorry for what the 9th generation console users are going through, but you should complain to DTG and not to the third-party developers, who can't do anything if the company that owns everything can't offer the minimum to prevent this from happening.

The time will come when third-party developers will get fed up and stop producing content, then we'll be at the mercy of DTG to request new routes and trains...

 

Million dollar question that DTG refuses to answer. I don't know about Playstation but Xbox has a dedicated platform for betas (Game Preview Program)

 

Exactly this and giving the problems are on Xbox I find it hard to believe they can’t beta test when it has a dedicated platform for BETA TESTING

 

I believed it was mentioned before but testing on Xbox doesn't happen until it passes certification which usually is very late in dev.

 

It should be clarified that this isn’t normal dev practice with other games, I suspect it’s done this way since DTG don’t want to waste time going through multiple QA cycles, instead it’s just get the certification out the way, sell the product & fix (or in many cases don’t fix) later.

It’s really poor behaviour, to be frank.

 

Also not wanting to drift of course but keyboard support ps5 last time I used ps5 console support was not a thing yet was in Xbox. Another thing added to the log list of things that get ignored. (I stand to be corrected in if you can use a keyboard in console now) yet other games add it as standard now.

 

Yes, this is the entire problem!

It's insane to develop software this way, and the fact that DTG treats it as common practice, when it's absolutely not drives me insane. In fact, most multiplatform games are developed on console and then ported to PC (usually with more advanced graphics, etc)

 

What drives me mad is you have 3rd party developers who work hard put everything they can into a route and it gets released the way the last 3rd party route was release and all this does is damage said 3rd party’s developers reputation. You would think DTG would be trying to draw more 3rd party developers into the sim to grow it instead they must be driving them away. If I was a 3rd party developer and saw the last few months I would be steering clear

 

I'm very excited to try this out, having collaborated with bescot , JetWash , Fawx , Charlie and SprattyHeath in the past, you guys are in for a treat.

As for the negative comments on this page, this is their first route. If you don't like it, then simply just don't purchase it. Posting negative comments about something that 'Doesn't fit your era' or 'It's a bus stop route' do not help in the slightest. Have a bit of respect.

Keep up the good work chaps <3

 

They said at least 3/4 times they are below the texture threshold. This isn't their problem, it's a core game issue and they can't fix it.

 

Which again has yet to be tested on a console didn’t AABS have confidence they wouldn’t have problems in console and look what happened.

 

Why do some people on these forums have the need to divide everything? Just let the devs do their jobs. No need to put them down with such harsh statements.


If they want to make third rail routes they are more than entitled to, and besides, there was a lack of them for a long time, someone had to break it.

Just let them do what they need to do, some people here need to give it a rest with the BR stuff, don't get me wrong, I love BR content, but JT rightly takes that spot.

 

I am not a fan of the 3rd rail myself yes I play it and enjoy it but I like variety and this is something the sim offers and caters to everyone.

am I excited for the route no I am not jumping through hoops however my instinct to buy will succeed and I will buy it to support the developers giving its a first release it helps them with future content we will get and its what keeps the sim alive at the end of the day

 

Nobody from Firefly ever said that their route would work without issues on consoles. The only thing they said is that they are below the limit that they believe causes blurry textures, and that they tested the route on a PC with similar performance to the Series S console.

Can you please stop spreading misinformation? If you can't interpret their words properly, that's your problem, not the developers'.

 

Jesus Christ.

If you want that discussion to end then stop replying to it. People wanting the last word is what drags it out.

 

Can we get back on topic fellas? This is not the place to talk about blurry textures and he said she said, this is about the route itself.
I'm looking forward to see what freight oppurtunities this route will bring.

 

Highly likely a day 1 purchase, route looks from the screenshots well made (I'm on a better PC so no issue) and is nice to see third parties going the extra step to add more.

 

Wish we could show you more right now but all good things etc

Hopefully there’ll be more info early in the new year

 

Does freight run down the full length of the route? Don’t know much about this one in real life.

 

There are some Aggregates that go half way up and down, and Petroleum runs that run the full length in the timetable yeah. There are also aggregates unloading at Allington sidings which is about half way down.

 

More things for the cargo line stuff to do is great

 

Yes exaclty, but I'm not saying non-bus stop routes are bad. It's a preference. Some of the people saying bus-stop routes are saying it as if all of them are just universally bad