PlayStation Another Dovetail Direct, Another Absence Of Details For Console Issues

If you have any questions you are expected to contact customer support, or as an alternative ask in Discord or the forums.

CMs have a lot of tasks to do and can't answer every single question that is sent to them thru private message.

 

I don't think their build is quite the same as my build where I've had to delete about two thirds of the DLC I own in order to be able to install other games.

 

Either way I find it difficult to imagine DTG would want people going round swearing constantly on the official forum

 

How can that work?
After all, you at DTG wrote in a post yourselves that, for the versions which are subsequently released for sale, DTG has to submit these versions to the various platforms up to two or three weeks in advance.
So how can DTG, for example, send an updated version to the platforms on Monday 5 September, so that buyers receive the updated versions?

 

Does Series S get any reduced timetables for the core routes?

 

Only just tuned into the latest stream but picked a good time for Matt to compare the difference between epic settings with graphic enhancements compared to the graphics us console players are stuck with because they can't optimise the game.

And we're expected to pay the same amount PC players are yet get less?

Glad I've cancelled the pre-order tbh.

 

So not allowed to contact the senior community manager about a question a member of the community has - ok! Or, and here's the real kicker, Alex could be courteous / professional enough and reply saying everything you just did - thanks for your enquiry, but please redirect to XYZ. You think it's ok for a 'senior' community manager to just ignore a dm from a member of said community? You said "CMs have a lot of tasks to do" - does any of it actually involve what the 'C' stands for? Community? Also no-one in their right mind would expect to have to ask in Discord when DTG has created a forum which pre-dates it - it's the very essence of what the forum was created for, and a community manager for that matter (?).

 

Who was swearing? 3 letters and an asterisk? God forbid someone over the age of 18 might know what it all meant and be shocked. I would also have thought DTG would be more interested in dealing with their community on the 'official forum' as you put it, than anything else. I take it you have read the forum / posts and have an understanding why 'some' might be ever so slightly frustrated with the lack of community feedback on certain / asked about subjects?

 

Yes.

In fact, a PC player with a GTX 1060 card does not get the same experience as a player with a RTX 5090 card. Both players pay the same for the game and I can tell you they do not get the same graphics. In fact, the player with a 1060 gets worse performance than you with the console.

 

Speaks volumes mate, speaks volumes.
That's why I'm also going down the route of no more money to DTG from me - period!

 

The difference here is that you expect the 5090 to give you better performance (it's why you paid so much more for it) - however, a PS5 Pro is so much more powerful than the vast majority of graphics cards (not all, obvs), so you would expect better performance from this than a lower PC build - and yet that's not what is happening (I assume - as I don't watch the streams anymore).

 

I think its time to get off at this station and take a break.

I'll wait until December and see what "Big" update they roll out.

By that time it should be 50% off for the bundles on Xbox at Christmas as usual.

But we will see how the game is then.

 

They have the option to play with the new graphics settings though can't they? They can choose to play in epic setting or not though too.

We're being forced to pay more and get less and like it because dovetail can't optimise the game and historic routes which used massive textures. Unless I'm mistaken, the new graphics settings (Not the epic stuff) was part of the Medway valley line which us console players got and it worked fine yet we're not getting them for new routes unlike pc versions?

 

The problem is that the PS5 PRO has a slightly better CPU, a much better GPU (its all integrated in a SoC, but lets leave that aside) and faster memory BUT it still has 16 GB of memory. Exactly the same as the normal PS5.

It doesn't matter if the GPU in the PS5 Pro is much faster and could potentially draw more trains or more textures if it does not have the memory space to load more things.

 

1.- A console is not a PC. You don't get to pick and choose the performance options you want.
That has advantages and disadvantages, but it is that way and everyone knows it.

2.- No, a player with a 1060 cant use DLSS or frame generation at all. Anyone that knows a minimum about PCs knows that trying to play with epic settings with that is a joke, even if it was possible to get the route to load that most probably wont.

 

At the end of the day, I'm not concerned about graphics cards, DLSS, DX11/DX12 or whatever.

I just want to know why us console players are being expected to pay the same amount as PC players when we get less of the product?

Also, it's a bit galling to hear on the stream previews about how amazing the new graphics settings are compared to what we're going to get yet we're expected to pay the same price.

 

Believe it or not, console players usually pay more because Sony and MS take a bigger cut.
I'm surprised that you don't know this, because it happens frequently.

Latest example:

Pricing overview for all Transport Fever 3 editions:

• Standard Edition: $49.99 / €49.99 SRP for PC and $59.99 / €59.99 for consoles

• Deluxe Edition: $64.99 / €64.99 SRP for PC and $74.99 / €74.99 for consoles

• Collector’s Edition: $119.99 / €119.99 SRP

 

Not to mention Steam's TOS about people not being allowed to undercut themselves on any alternative storefront. That's an interesting read for sure, but the bottom line is that Steam will most often be the cheapest place to find any game on an official storefront because that is their own rules.

Also I hate to say it and I mean no offence or nastiness to anyone when I do, but you don't (and never have since the dawn of multi platform gaming) get to pay less because of your own hardware lacking behind someone else's. Consoles in this case are unfortunately no different to someone with a 1060 GPU spending the same as someone with a 5090 only to have a less visually pleasing experience. And believe me as someone who in the year of our lord 2021 was forced to resort to a build containing a 1050Ti, I've been there. I've upgraded since then but I don't pay any less or more for content for it, and thats just how it is.

 

the PS5 pro actually has 16GB (split between RAM and VRAM) unlike the base model, which effectively has 14GB because the operating system allocates 2GB for itself
since the PS5 pro has a separate 2GB only for the operating system, there is also a bit more "breathing room" regarding memory when comparing the pro to the base model

 

Just checked and that is correct. I bet the game is already using that memory to load textures, reducing the number of blurry textures.

 

Oh dear, you've got that wrong - the PS5 Pro actually has more RAM than the standard PS5 - 2GB more, of which devs have around 1.2GB extra addressable memory. Get your facts right at least.

Edit: Ahhhh, I see someone already pointed that out to you.

 

The awesome google AI gave me that data and I made the mistake of trusting it.
Still, you need that memory to prevent (or at least mitigate) blurry textures.

 

The fact that this extra RAM exists, however big it may be, and makes seemingly no difference to blurry textures shows just how bad this issue is. Forgive me for saying or thinking this but it's easy to come to the conclusion that DTG may just be out of their depth with this one, especially if the problem as they have said in the past exists within the core part of how the game was built from the beginning

 

I know where you are coming from, but it's not exactly apple to apples comparison. You pay the same for the PC game irrespective of the machine spec - however, the game is designed to take advantage of a more powerful system, and if you upgrade you will benefit - fair enough. Consoles are a known fixed spec - so when someone buys a game it will run as is - no variations. However, this is different regarding the PS5 / Pro - basically the same scenario as the PC setup - a more powerful machine in the same eco system, and yet I'm not aware of any specific updates the Pro gets (I might be wrong) - so would be akin to the game being written for the 1060 GPU (or standard PS5 in the console example), and it running with no extra bells & whistles on the 5090 (the PS5 Pro in the console example) - which is just not the case - the game takes advantage of the extra horsepower (on PC).

 

In all honesty I think this has always been the crux of most of the issues with TSW. It's mainly down to the devs (DTG).

 

For Real Bro, Back in 2023, I never used to miss a Live-Stream and always engage with the discord community, But now... Things just went south.... Bro I miss the old times...

 

I know - it's crazy. Streams also used to be brilliant when Sam was around - as he knew what was what and pushed DTG hard on a lot of things. It was refreshing to hear him telling things like they were, he made it feel like we were actually a community.

 

I'll give you that, the game is written for PC first and then ported to console afterwards so naturally isn't made with consoles fixed specs in mind from the outset. This is different to a leading franchise such as GTA which so many people like to use as comparison, which is developed for consoles first and ported to PCs much later.

Yet GTA's PC ports also have extra graphical options, and in fact only with GTA 5's third release on 9th gen did it finally reach the same graphical fidelity that PCs had access to almost a decade beforehand at the exact same price. Make of that what you will.

Another way of looking at it then is that the same development time and cost still exists, and in fact consoles take more development time due to the porting process, thereby justifying the equal cost. If someone agreed with that position and yet still proclaims that the game isn't worth that cost in its current state, then you must naturally conclude that the game on consoles is financially unsustainable.

I say this because, surprising though it may be to some, I personally believe this. I will actively promote the idea that console players should only take the free upgrade and not give money to DTG with this launch, because the game in its current state is not worth the asking price, nor is it remotely sustainable for it to continue in its current form. That is different to making that conclusion based on core features though.

 

A big part of the problem is that when the game was made it only had a handful of different trains in each route at most. For quite a number of years they didn't have to stop to think what would happen when there were 40 layers (among other things).

If things were going as usual, we would be getting the next generation of consoles probably next year with 2x the current amount of RAM and PCs would be coming down in price too. But those times do not seem to be coming back soon.

 

The move to 9th gen has been dragged out enough as it is because of hardware shortages, I wouldn't be surprised if 10th gen transitions are twice as bad and as a result it becomes the only new console gen we see for the better part of the next decade. We might not see 11th gen until the mid to even late 2030s unless something major changes.

 

Click play and listen carefully:

 

In retrospect it's pretty clear DTG really didn't do much forward planning for TSW. they developed what they needed for the first few early routes and called it day. Then once the game started needing to push harder for certain things they have to go back in and redevelop those "good enough" spaghetti code solutions. Most obviously the need for multiple dispatcher rebuilds due to the need for more traffic, and despite that it's still not anything close to optimal. Likewise Simugraph being designed for diesel and electrics, with steam engines getting screwed because that evidentially was just not on DTG's mind that week. Not to mention all the routes that are basically stuck at where they are because they're so temperamental, like London-Brighton.

It's a real pity the game was not made in a more forward thinking way out the gate, a lot of problems they have now could probably have been avoided with better planning on their part.

 

Not that a good bunch of us didn't warn them at the time, but here we are.

 

I love his work, be it community/serious software based stuff like this, or the hilarity that often ensues on his Colonel Failure Youtube channel. Plenty of times he'd be just as willing to call out DTG as well as unreasonable comments etc. An asset wherever he plies his trade.

 

Sam was/is brilliant.