For some unknown reason i thought that as the sim progressed so would the environments. I have gone from TSW1 to TSW6 and the lighting effects are still awful. Going through tunnels, you cant see anything, going out in the dark, missing signs because there is no light to guide you until your on top of the sign then you have most likely missed it. What is going on in this game, can the developers not spend time getting the small but important things right before releasing another version that fixes nothing but costs more. Update the current TSW's for heavens sake. This sim has great potential if the time is spent making sure that things work as they should and look how they should.
vodka#2734 You know exactly what user wiggum#5747 means! Because there really are some routes, or trains and locomotives, where you can't see anything because it's so dark. And I'm sure that many users would prefer to have headlights like the ones in your picture, even if they might not be entirely correct for the train or locomotive. We are now at TSW 6, and neither DTG nor third-party providers have ever responded to this problem that users have reported.
Please don’t pretend like you don’t know what OP is talking about. The lighting as it stands is woeful.
DTG have never really acknowledged the appalling night lighting in many routes. You can talk all you want about " night being dark " and headlights not meant to light your way, but it's the lack of moonlight, ambient lighting from surrounding structures and other sources that is often missing or inadequate. Thing is, driving at night should be just as much fun as during the day. Otherwise what's the point of playing. Make the nights brighter, even if you need to use a little artistic license.
Personally I would prefer them to be realistic and a reflection of what the driver would see from the train they are driving. It is the lighting from the world around you which I feel needs work. It's generally better than it was but still not great. Some cities appear to be in the middle of power cuts.
If the headlights are broken, like on the Class 802 on the Riviera line, that's one thing. Of course, this problem needs to be addressed. But But if a train/locomotive has mediocre lighting in real life, I see no reason to change anything. Yes, it's difficult to ride and not particularly comfortable. But there's no need to make it so different from real life.Let DTG adjust the ambient brightness so that those in the dark can add some brightness. Personally, I'm quite happy with the current setup, even though it's not perfect. After all, I suspect that in real life, train drivers drive at night primarily based on data from electronic systems such as EBULA. I even attached a screenshot. What could be improved in my screenshot without ruining even a drop of realism?
Yes, most European stock for example is to be seen and not to see. It's realistic for something that just had basically market lights or tiny headlights to not light much up. They are driving based largely on signals at night and there isn't really much to see...because it's night. That's why I tend to avoid night drives because htey're boring. But boring WOULD be realistic for a train sim where you can't see much at night. Just like flying an airliner at night is very boring, especially at 30,000 ft. It's just dark outside. But that's accurate.
Take a screenshot showing me how ridiculously washed out the interior of the 390 is, and the screens in said cab not casting light on anything around them. And then do it for ever other train in the game, it’s all horrendous.
No it's not, fly over areas with lots of cities and aircraft traffic there's a lot to see actually. (Night's actually nice in that regard since traffic's so much easier to spot) Frankly the places where it is going to be boring are areas even boring during the day time. The recent MSFS titles have their own flaws, particularly with autogen airports, but it's leagues above anything in TSW even at its worse because it does actually have great ambient lighting. Also frankly I wouldn't even say MSFS is that great of a title, if I wanted to really drag TSW down I'd compare it to ETS2/ATS, now those games are actual joys to play at night, I remember SnowRunner being similarly fun too.
Actually there's a lot to see at night. If you drive your car around a big city and it's suburbs/exurbs at night, you'd know that.. Even in the rural areas, there's usually lots of ambient light these days. But look at Manchester, Birmingham and London around Paddington in TSW. It's pitch black, nuclear winter!! That's not true in real life now, is it?
The night itself is fine but inconsistent across most routes, the issue as above really comes from environmental lighting. Passing through stations at night in game really highlights the issue. In reality, even on the most rural platforms there’s enough lighting to pollute the station & tracks, never mind when you’re talking about mainlines & urban lines. In game though it just looks like someone’s planted flashlights pointed upward, into the ground. Also the “train lights are to be seen not to see” that keeps getting thrown about is massively misrepresented - the fact that this is (was) a design philosophy doesn’t exclude the fact that train lights do allow you to see more than 3 feet from the cab, especially with modern trains. Anyway, feel free to check this cab ride out & compare it to in-game (you can actually take the same loco & same route to replicate) The difference is huge. (Caveat to all this is that I’m discussing purely from a UK perspective).
This has been discussed a lot in other threads, the simple answer is UE4 light engine sucks, pre-baked lighting isn't bad but real-time lighting is very limited, a simple google search on the limitations of the light engine tells you everything you need to know.
In many areas yes it is accurate. However, the point of the thread was the lighting from the train. Not what areas of the country are brighter at night than others.
In the screenshot I provided, the light is, in my opinion, sufficient. I'm driving on the expressway, and the LZB system gives me the permitted speed and will force me to slow down if there's a red light ahead. For most of the trip, I spent my time looking at the left screen, which showed the traction indicator for the two locomotives, which would very easily jump up and down if I overdid it with the traction on the slippery rails in winter. I periodically glanced at the road and the surrounding landscapes, but this was only sporadic. Only on rare descents from the mountain, when I had already applied the brakes, could I look somewhere. You also need to watch out for oncoming trains and switch from high beam to low beam in time. I almost never play English routes. However, if there are bright screens in the cockpit, I turn the brightness down to minimum.
In real life, if you focus your gaze on the darkest areas, your vision will adapt. You will be able to distinguish things. It doesn't work in TSW, it's pitch black around. And that's not even mentioning full moon days, when in some places you can see almost as clearly as in broad daylight. There absolutely needs to be a toggle so that everyone is satisfied. Some want to drive through the catacombs, fine. Personally, I could drive my car at night without headlights. I wish there was a setting in TSW that would allow me to do the same (though it's not a car) !
