Medway Valley Appreciation Thread

Watching he stream and am blown away with the class 375 and the route, the detail on it is absurd both the route and the train. First day purchase for me forget one handle Vern it’s one handle Davod so impressed and WORKING TOILETS ON THE CLASS 375 !!!.

 

Im impressed by what these guys have done and indeed what CAN be done. Puts DTG’s in house stuff to shame and in my opinion shows how lazy they are in terms of pushing the TSW envelope!

Up your game in future DTG!

 

Yes, the route is visually stunning. Sound is great for the 375 but a little quiet on the other trains, especially the 700 which is virtually silent. Needs to be tweaked.

But we're seeing small details and functions both inside and outside the trains which we've not seen to this point in TSW. Very impressive.

Night lighting looks OK but I'll reserve judgement until I see it on my machine.

We were expecting something special and Firefly delivered.

 

I am just blown away completely, while Riviera Line has a sentimental place as my top UK route, I’ve got a feeling this will top it!

The 375 sounds are incredible, as well as the in cab sounds such as the PBC notching.

The scenery is outstanding, I’d say the whole route is of course, but particularly East Farleigh and Wateringbury are just something else! Lots of custom assets, trackside clutter.

There’s an awful lot of bespoke additions and I’m hoping that these could become part of core eventually.

It does raise an interesting thought about third parties, we’ve seen the likes of quality from All Aboard Simulations for example, and now we have Firefly who have set the bar incredibly high. So it brings me onto the question should DTG be left to just simply focus on the “core” elements of TSW such as performance/new features/scenario planner etc and let the third parties run away with what is physically possible in terms of route and loco building within the capabilities of the game engine? We’ve seen tonight just what can be achieved. That’s not a go at DTG at all, Riviera Line / Goblin (Suffragette) Line, also are of very very high quality, I should add. But routes such as Birmingham to Crewe and Medway Valley Line, we’ve seen just what can be done in terms of route building and how it does look different to core routes we’ve had in the past.

 

I did post that as a late question in the Q&A but don't know if it got answered. The sounds per se are okay, it's the levels which are far too low. And if you turn the speakers up to compensate, then you get your ears blasted passing any other train than another 700.

I do begin to wonder if that is the long term plan.

In any event the short bits of the stream I watched were superb and really looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow evening.

 

Will this be one handle Vern falling in love finally with one handle trains ?

 

Very impressed with the route and the 375.

I love the level of detail, this will definitely be one of my favourite routes.

Look forward to driving it tomorrow.

 

I completely agree. There’s no more excuses for DTG going forward, this is the standard we should come to expect now.

Really impressive work from Firefly and the most immersive TSW route we’ve seen so far IMO. East Farleigh station and the surrounding area is stunning, genuinely blown away by that.

 

so much detail and love has been put into this route and yet again a benchmark has been set. nothing to complain about except for one thing, which is that routes like this highlight the inconsistency of tsw. there’s no perfect dlc but some are head and shoulders above the rest and i’d sacrifice 10% of the quality of a medway or shap if it meant an extra 10% of quality on current bang average routes. thats not to take anything away from firefly, their work is so good that it raises the point again of the state of many other routes.

 

I will say that judging sound levels from the stream is not ideal, with at least 4 people talking almost continuously, so will reserve final judgement until I get the route.

However I do use high quality Bose headphones at high volume with complete noise cancelling and didn't pick up much from the 700 compared to the 375 which was consistently satisfying.

 

One point I think was missed, is that the 375 cab droplight windows are completely adjustable. Not just 0 or 100%. You can crack one open to say, 20% and get much louder motor sounds if you so desire.

 

Yes, first thing I do when in cab of any train is to open both windows if possible, to maximise traction and railhead sounds and those of passing AI trains. I don't think MP does that.

 

The sounds are absolutely outstanding, they can be better heard on British Ace's video

 

I used to do this, but since TSW 2 (specifically rush hour) the wind noises became overbearing. I wonder if Matt avoids it for the same reason.

 

Really cannot wait to see what you do for TSW in the future team firefly !!. This is absolutely incredible. In total awe with this route and the lighting is Bloomin amazing. It’s really exciting to think what we will see from you going forwards later down the road.

 

Toilets <3

 

Haven't watched the preview stream (yet). But it all sounds very positive. But what about blurry textures? This apparently stunning route could also be let down by this persistent problem that plague other DLCs. I understand that Firefly are helping DTG with this issue so Iets hope all is good.

 

I think you're absolutely right. DTG need to realise that people with the right tools can produce exceptional content and now is the right time for DTG to go hell for leather in bringing the core engine up to spec to match what the 3rd party developers are now able to produce.

I've been saying for a while that with TSW now maturing as a product and that DTG have finally opened up the editor to be more accessible for 3P's that the core should be their primary focus, with the removal of yearly version updates and now go to a TSC style model where the yearly updates are just that, updates and not whole new version numbers.

 

Thanks for everything all!

Just a reminder that a manual will be accompanying the route release explaining the operation of everything.

In terms of layers this is what you should be seeing if you have all the layers installed (the RHTT sits inside the 66 obviously)



Also worth mentioning that if you’re on PC any mods that modify the Southeastern Highspeed trains in anyway (that includes the route EPs) are very highly likely incompatible and will break the updates, perhaps even causing them not to show at all. These will need removing until their respective authors update them.

 

I only saw a small amount last night but was very impressed. Especially when at Tonbridge and looking at the depot, going to walk up a bridge to see the depot and it was locked off.

Instead of the usual excuse for it being locked off, we got "That shouldn't be like that, we'll get it sorted" straight away. Loved that.

This is a route that get many hours of play time from me.

 

I'm honestly so impressed by what Firefly Simulations have done with route. I'm just waiting for it to be released on Steam and I'm buying it.
Great job!

EDIT: Just bought it.

 

I was basing my status of the 700 on a quick run along SEHS yesterday evening, but guessing the same issue came over in the stream. How on earth could Matt not see this is something long overdue a fix, if he was actually driving the thing? Not sure what’s involved in Simugraph but surely not too onerous or time consuming to simply buff the master volume by 70 or 80% then a quick test run to ensure that hasn’t corrupted or exposed any looping issues.

 

It’s already been sorted and will be in the first patch all being well.

 

Does this release include the updated SEHS or will that be a separate release? I just can’t keep up with all this DLC. They really have cleared out quite a bit of their roadmap this month!

 

That's incredible. I should clarify I was always going to buy the route and not a deal breaker in anyway shape or form for me, it was however refreshing for us to be told it was being sorted. Makes a nice change lol

 

Yeah I honestly thought you could walk along that bridge, it was certainly the intention when it was made. Eddie our modeller that sorted right after the stream last night. You can go up the yard side and walk along about 95% of the length. The other staircase is outside of the playable area, but it's a great trainwatching spot.

 

Just watched a good portion of the stream while on the exercise bike (fast forward the section where Matt couldn’t get Discord working - ha, the irony) and what can I say - blown away by everything seen and heard so far. In for a real treat later on. The Electrostar sounds so much better, like a new train really. The GSM-R, custom signaller messages oh and the working toilet what an achievement. Bar is raised, dare I say, even higher than JT and TSG with this one - well subject to any surprises, though doubt there will be anything untoward.

Wry smile at either Adam or Charlie, not sure who, chiding Matt about his speeding and less than cautious approach to stations and red signals.

Would be nice if the new Electrostar sounds could be licenced and back ported to the rest of the fleet.

Only fly in the ointment remains the 700 sounds, maybe Firefly can give Matt a gentle nudge in that direction, get the levels buffed up to equal the output of other trains in the game.

But yes, roll on after teatime so I can start my one handle career on the MV!

 

Playing it now it looks incredible great job by everyone thats the standard we want to see

 

Looked amazing, very impressed with the love that has clearly gone into it. Will be buying as soon as it hits the Steam store tonight and trying out some dusk and night driving, which going off the stream looked very impressive. Already can't wait for the next route from the team whatever that may be (but would love something 465 or 700 centred).

 

Just watched the first part of the stream. Insane level of detail. I hope this can be the new standard. It's not often I think about buying a route when first released, but as a Xbox player I'll wait for others for feedback on the dreaded blurry textures first. But well done Firefly, very impressed.

 

Dunno, but one member of the team is JetWash, the .ini tuning guru, who knows how to squeeze out every last ounce of performance.

 

We can honestly say that with this route TSW has reached its zenith. I can imagine DTG and rivet games saying “how the hell do we follow this on UK routes?” The answer would be try harder because it can be done. For the price we pay I expect this sort of quality and attention to detail.

 

I for one welcome our new friend ElectroldVern

 

Now that makes me think of "Shaun Of The Dead" when Shaun and his stoner mate were playing trance/house music at 4am much to the annoyance of the other resident in the house!

Anyhow, purchased just got to wait for the core update and DLC to download and install.

 

Well, this has been a banner month in Train Sim World, starting with the best Roadmap in ages, and closing with three absolute banger routes in a row. And one of those routes is both US and DTG, which augurs well.

 

What a fantastic DLC MVL by Firefly is, Im already looking forward to what they have planned next!

Im thankful you did some of the SEHS sections such big improvements like the level crossing at Gillingham

Current SEHS


MVL version of SEHS

 

If you’re going to duplicate post I will too;

The buggiest route ever? Junk? An absolute disgrace? Interesting.

Care to share exactly what it is you’re talking about, because I don’t recognise anything you’re saying in Medway Valley.

 

I think they must be playing a different route to the rest of us…

The only issue I had, which resolved after chatting to Adam/Fawx off line, was the GSM-R, which turned out was because I hadn’t enabled Expert in options - user error. Otherwise rock solid and pleasantly surprised at the performance on my old GTX 1650 card even on the initial run with shader caching in the background. A couple of stutters at Maidstone and Paddock Wood but aside from that 25 to 30 FPS at 4K and most importantly, no sound squelching.

 

The comparison is insane, the first time I came into Strood from Gravesend I had to do a double take, as it was unrecognisable compared to SEHS.

 

Just like to say well done and congratulations to all at Firefly for an excellent DLC, I rarely buy at release nowadays but made an exception for this but glad I did.

 

I must say, when this DLC was announced I thought “that’ll be one for a sale down the road” purely due to financial constraints and nothing else (more DLC than ever is coming out and my income remains the same so I can still only purchase the same number of DLC annually).

I picked it up anyway because I was blown away by the dev notes and the screenshots. I didn’t even watch the preview stream, just had a strong feeling that this was one not to be missed. It’s blown me away. It’s on another level visually. I’m having the CTD issue on PC but that will be resolved soon enough.



I suppose what I’m trying to say is that it is a great example of how a dev can stand out in a DLC market that has become increasingly saturated in recent years (FWIW, I think that’s a good thing). We don’t have to buy them all, and more devs/more choice is a good thing if you look at it through that lens. Now, when you’ve got devs like Just Trains, Firefly and to an extent AAS coming in with outstanding content like this, it raises the bar for everybody. I think we all felt like that when Blackpool was released, and again when Shap came out. I’d put that in this category visually and aurally.

 

Absolutely fantastic route, a big well done and thank you to the team. I knew this would be good as I've used these guy's mods for years without fail. I hope we see more from them!

 

We’re a bit baffled as to why, but it would appear that not all the layers are showing up for people even though they have them installed.

We believe that somehow a non-UK DLC is causing a conflict, particularly with the Scotsman. I have all my DLC installed and everything shows for me, but I don’t have all the latest German and US content. I believe therefore it must be a route published since TSW6 launched.

If you have all the requisite content for the layers installed and they are not showing up for you like this;



Could you please let us know which post TSW6 DLC you have installed? What on earth is causing this we don't know, but we think this is the cause and would like to rectify it as soon as is possible.

Thanks

 

The route actually feels unique. It feels like the Medway. I find a lot of UK routes, regardless of where they are, all have the same feel - probably because of overused assets. This is really different though and I love it,

 

Hi, I have windshield frozen for Class395. I searched SEHS or 395 under windows and I have deleted the new South Eastern High Speed Enhancement Pack and !!Class395SoundMod28.pak but the problem remains: any idea ?

 

PIS mods are the next place to look I’d say

 

Thank you Jetwash, it's !!Laika-OrangeUKPIS.pak the faulty for me

 

Damn that’s night and day difference that. So much more detail in the Medway version. Puts DTG’s work to shame. And I feel cruel saying that but you can really see the difference here.

 

Don't know if it helps but I had a problem initially yesterday with the Scotsman and 47 not appearing. I did have the wsr 47 installed but didn't have the scotsman installed.

When I installed the Scotsman and restarted the 47 also appeared as a layer. I don't know if just restarting it after installing the Scotsman caused the 47 to appear by coincidence or whether there is a dependency on both?

Edit: just tested by uninstalling the Scotsman only and both the Scotsman and class 47 no longer appear as layers. I'll try adding Scotsman back in again.

Edit edit: just installed The Scotsman again and both that and The 47 are back as layers now.
The only recent uk content I currently have installed is niddertalbahn and the recent Czech one I can't spell!