Medway Valley Line Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by Mikey_9835, Dec 8, 2025.

  1. Double Yellow

    Double Yellow Well-Known Member

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    I think sladkart explains it perfectly. The in-cab announcements aren’t the same volume as if I was hearing them in the passenger area, slightly quieter and not as clear. I feel like I need to turn my surround sound up every time they play.
    I understand that was a development choice though, to make it authentic as possible and true to real life, so I can’t criticise you for that as other players will appreciate that added realism.
     
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  2. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    They are definitely quieter compared to the same level on (say) the AABS Class 350. Though not a bad thing as the constant repetition after each stop on B2C did start to get a bit tedious, particularly all the safety etc. spiels. I also tend to drive with the cab windows down so that does mean the louder traction and wind noise will drown out the announcements.
     
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  3. ildario77

    ildario77 Well-Known Member

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    Just for the record: overexposure and mistiness aside, I adore this route... yesterday evening's screenshot. The lighting is perfectly balanced! ;)

    73e8d103-acf3-4e2a-af3c-85e3f9c7e755.png
     
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  4. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    Well, I finished the last of the scenarios last night. All ran perfectly, including the in-cab announcements, which were more than sufficient in terms of volume and clarity. Timetable is next. (PC) Gratifyingly, all my Raildriver controls also worked perfectly.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2026 at 2:25 PM
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  5. class68enjoyer

    class68enjoyer Member

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    I have to say I have fallen in love with this DLC, such an amazing achievement for a first DLC! From lovely scenery and lighting to some really impressive technology. Well done firefly!
     
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  6. Shaun123

    Shaun123 Well-Known Member

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    What’s better than driving a 375 along the Medway Valley?! Driving a 395 ;) the view is even better with the unobstructed windscreen! 395005 works 1T90 to Maidstone West.

    I genuinely could not be happier with this route, thank you once again Firefly :)

    upload_2026-3-31_20-3-53.jpeg
    upload_2026-3-31_20-6-24.jpeg
    upload_2026-3-31_20-4-57.jpeg
    upload_2026-3-31_20-9-36.jpeg
     
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  7. dudders

    dudders Well-Known Member

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    This route just keeps on giving. I'm on ps5 pro and decided to take a drive at night. I don't normally bother as you can't see much but I gave it a go and wow the lighting is stunning at stations and passing buildings I always remember it being naff at night on other routes I have. I then decided to play the route in heavey rain and wind. I've never been able to do this before because the ps5 just stutters where its not optimized so gave up. But again performance was perfect nice and smooth. I love this route so much. Best 30 pounds I've spent all year. Can't wait for there next route.
     
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  8. Mikey_9835

    Mikey_9835 Well-Known Member

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    for those tired of the cab view from the 375, the 700, 395 and 465's are really nice to drive on the route. The freight runs with Cargo line 1 and 2 are a nice change of pace too
     
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  9. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    Yes, the 700 is a nice drive, but too darn quiet. Needs a sound patch. Don't use mods, so that's not an option.
     
  10. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    I don’t disagree but that’s a bit of a minefield that we’re not getting involved in.

    I know you say you don’t use mods but Luc (who made the 375 audio) has a number of sounds mods on TSC that are very good indeed, including the 700.
     
  11. iamachuchu#8180

    iamachuchu#8180 Well-Known Member

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    After spending some time on the route, and rebuilding my ini. engine I must say this is probably my fav of all the routes so far for what you get.

    There is some over exposure, but its very liveable and not something to lose sleep over.

    However, the ballast is really bad and a step backwards compared to even earlier routes.

    You can see where it suddenly pops in and it becomes emersion breaking to a point I'm struggling to enjoy it.

    I've uploaded a picture where you can see the magnificent rural countryside. There really isnt a comparable route and 10/10 for that.

    But you can see the exact point the ballast pops in and it really ruins it.

    Will there be a patch to modify this, or hopefully a ballast mod?

    Huge thanks
    x 20260327210516_1.jpg
     
  12. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    I have explained this already and can confirm we are looking at it but I can’t guarantee anything can be done about it. This is an unfortunate by-product of having had to build off the original SEHS route and the track by its nature has had to be the same. It isn’t the track popping in, it is the ballast mesh that is poking above the sleepers, presumably to simulate stones scattered and visible. Unfortunately the way the track is designed means it doesn’t draw very far ahead of the player.

    To fix it may involve having to regenerate the track across the whole route and I’m afraid that isn’t feasible as it could break all kinds of things. If we can improve matters without doing that we will, but again, no promises.

    It’s probably no consolation at all but none of us at FF, no beta tester and no-one in QA has mentioned this at all. If it had been brought up before we would have looked at it but personally I don’t even notice it. That doesn’t mean we won’t try to improve things though.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2026 at 9:31 AM
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  13. vodka#2734

    vodka#2734 Well-Known Member

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    We already found a workaround for this problem in another thread. It's literally just two commands in the route's ini file.
     
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  14. niklas#6031

    niklas#6031 New Member

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    When is the PS5 version going to be updated? We need the beautiful sound of the 375. :)
     
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  15. iamachuchu#8180

    iamachuchu#8180 Well-Known Member

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    oooh, I need to find!
     
  16. vodka#2734

    vodka#2734 Well-Known Member

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    This is in the thread about the lighting and graphics mod from Jetwash.
    ts2.dbg.Track.SleeperViewDistanceScale=0
    ts2.dbg.Track.SleeperViewDistanceScaleMax=0
    Add these commands to the route's ini file. The problem will disappear. Everything started working perfectly for me. The same can be done on the SEHS (it uses the same ballast).
     
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  17. iamachuchu#8180

    iamachuchu#8180 Well-Known Member

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    Fantastic! thanks for your help.



    ts2.dbg.Track.RailShadows.Enabled=1
    ts2.dbg.Track.RailShadows.StartDistance=0.0
    ts2.dbg.Track.SleeperViewDistanceScale=2.5
    ts2.dbg.Track.SleeperViewDistanceScaleMax=2000
    this is my current set up, but i will try with your suggestion.

    Im back after a weekend away visiting some heritage lines, so catching up on all the forum chatter has been hard.

    Thank you


    *EDIT: It worked!! Its looks amazing now
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2026 at 12:37 PM
  18. Trainiac

    Trainiac Well-Known Member

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    No one knows, and DTG won't say anything; besides a few announcements they haven't been been very active over the past week
     
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  19. vodka#2734

    vodka#2734 Well-Known Member

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    I experimented with these commands and it seemed to me that they only have two options: 0 and 1. A value greater than 1 does not change anything at all (tested on a bridge where there is no ballast).
     
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  20. Disintegration7

    Disintegration7 Well-Known Member

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    They got their money in the bank for the 3rd qtr- we'll hear from them again at the annual end of June dump of whatever DLC isn't getting held back for TSW7.
     
  21. Andy L

    Andy L Well-Known Member

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    Where is the route's ini file stored please?
     
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  22. Jeannot41

    Jeannot41 Well-Known Member

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    The god mod doesn't work on this line? Perhaps that's normal?
     
  23. MadduckUK

    MadduckUK Member

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  24. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    That isn’t a fix, it’s a fudge. It doesn’t solve the fundamental problem.

    The good news is we may have made some progress with it
     
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  25. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    An official announcement has just been made. There’s nothing more we can add at the minute except to say people were up past midnight last night working on it, and started again at had 6 this morning. That has been the case since the issue was identified.

    The fundamental problem is everything is ok on PC and Xbox and the audio is there on PS5, it is just parts of it are virtually inaudible. This shouldn’t happen on a multi-platform engine like UE4 and frankly, right now, we’re stumped. We are, however, working through in-depth debugging to try and find out why the PS5 is different to the other platforms. Once we know what the issue is we can fix it, hopefully quickly.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2026 at 3:25 PM
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  26. Strat-tastic

    Strat-tastic Well-Known Member

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    May I suggest being kind to yourself and getting a good night's sleep may help here? :)
     
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  27. Jeannot41

    Jeannot41 Well-Known Member

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  28. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    Thanks. It’s not the same people, were tag-teaming it. DTG (particularly Matt) are going beyond the call here too, all of whom were working on this late last night.

    It makes it all the more galling frankly reading people saying that we’ve just left it for a week, but that is what it is.
     
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  29. dal#7945

    dal#7945 Well-Known Member

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    Hi jetwash not being rude are you part of the development team for this route?
     
  30. vodka#2734

    vodka#2734 Well-Known Member

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    In the upper right corner, there is an icon with the inscription INI.

    That's what I meant. English isn't my native language, and Google Translate doesn't always translate context correctly.
     
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  31. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    I can certainly recommend this one. Like you I’m not a fan of filling the game up with mods particularly as, unlike other games, DTG don’t offer any form of mod manager. But unlike the very first Class 700 mod, this one is really, really good. Makes me sad that the 700 is chronically under used in TSW (a close second to the VP185 HST).
     
  32. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    Some people are just quick to put the boot in. I've noticed it on the class 90 thread too, plus many others.

    The majority of people are sensible and realise not everything goes smoothly and are able to be patient, the others, the minority have probably never made anything in their life and haven't grown up yet.
     
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  33. Fawx

    Fawx Well-Known Member

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    I'll be honest, until this bug is fixed, I won't be able to have a good nights sleep, too stressed.
     
  34. dal#7945

    dal#7945 Well-Known Member

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    If it makes you feel any better im on xbox series x and its a top notch bought soon as it came out. I've had no problems runs smooth as silk no crashes and no blurry. Puts other routes to shame.
     
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  35. joffonon

    joffonon Well-Known Member

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    You're fine, you described it as a 'workaround' which accurately describes something that masks the problem without fixing it.
     
  36. SierraOscar95

    SierraOscar95 Well-Known Member

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    Not that it makes it any easier, but always bare in mind the vocal minority are not always representative of the majority. But that minority sometimes make the most noise and don't offer any constructive feedback.

    I'd like to think from my own observations atleast this seems to be one of the most successful ever releases, I don't think I've ever seen such an outpouring of admiration from forum users, reviews, and ambassadors. So you've got something right that I've never seen any other developer receive from a wide audience of people.

    You're doing alright believe me. At the moment as I've already mentioned I'm using the Class 465 as a substitute that this route has given a completely new route to appreciate and drive on end to end services! My own imagination is "there is a fault with the 375 fleet and the 465 is drafted in to cover some of their services". Enjoying it none the less on PS5 and the update will come when it's ready.
     
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  37. Andy L

    Andy L Well-Known Member

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    Upper right corner of which screen?
     
  38. MarkCovz4761

    MarkCovz4761 Well-Known Member

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    Same no issues at all for me either on xbox its nice to play a route with no blurry textures and stuttering
     
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  39. dal#7945

    dal#7945 Well-Known Member

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    Most definitely
     
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  40. bescot

    bescot Well-Known Member

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    Bless you. You don't know how much that means to us right now
     
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  41. Strat-tastic

    Strat-tastic Well-Known Member

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    I love the 465 runs on this. It gives them a whole new lease of life.
     
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  42. joffonon

    joffonon Well-Known Member

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    You guys are doing more than alright, you've played an absolute blinder with your first route. I always knew from all your mods that your first route would be good, but it surpassed even that. Hence my hope that one day you'll weave your Electrostar magic on the 357 and the LTS route.:)

    No route is ever perfect, but my word you came so very close with your first attempt. From my perspective on PC, the only issues are the ballast (about to test the workaround) and the in-cab audio level - and I can live with the latter as a design choice, even if personally I'd make 50% as real life and 100% for those that want louder.
     
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  43. iamachuchu#8180

    iamachuchu#8180 Well-Known Member

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    Its an incredible and an utter blinder of a route. You guys are going above and beyond.
    Everyone knows you have set the standard for the next few years.

    20260331214918_1.jpg

    Has any route looked like this..?
     
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  44. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    We believe the ballast is fixed. bescot has been working on and off over the last couple of days on it and it’s looking much better. Even better for me, he’s managed to do it without breaking anything else, including all the light baking :)

    SierraOscar95 I’ll echo what Steve says, thankyou. This is gutting for us, more so because there is no obvious cause or remedy. If it was all platforms, or the sound was missing entirely it would be much easier to clobber. I’ve just submitted another fix attempt to DTG for testing and it is being built as we speak. We wait with everything crossed.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2026 at 4:28 PM
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  45. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    Yes the first thing I drove was the 465. Love the new suspension on it.
     
  46. toahac

    toahac Member

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    I totally get PS5 users being angry about something not working in the product they bought, furthermore as this feature is described as "outstanding" by all the users, who are able to enjoy it on PC. ;)

    But all that anger put aside, the Firefly team did an awesome job developping MVL and setting new standards with it. AND, I cannot stretch this enough, they are still doing an outstanding job in the feedback section. You guys seem to read every thread that has been opened to MVL, responding to every user problem - even my technical incompetence considering the JetWash mod - and behind the scenes working your a... off to solve this PS5 matter.

    So, I think a huge THANK YOU is in order to contrast all that critisism :cool:;)
     
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