PlayStation Tsw7 ? Dtg Can't Give It Away.

On PS5, downloaded free starter pack and two routes and a train from my collection namely Milton Keynes to Crewe, Crewe to Preston and the Cl. 390 Pendolino. My plan was to compare these DLCs with their TSW6 versions.

Starting up TSW7 the first thing I noticed was the awful background music that sounded like something you would hear at a funeral parlour. Not having access to any Prozac I went into the audio menu and turned it off. Whilst there I fiddled about with other settings to have everything as close to my TSW6 install. Whilst functional, the menu UI is just plain ugly and dull with the grey colour scheme off putting and depressing. The way options are grouped in the settings is also confusing and often illogical like having the FOV option in "Advanced settings".

First impressions were poor and I was wondering how much time and effort was wasted making TSW7 look and sound so much worse than it's predecessor. This is just cosmetic but first impressions do count.

Finally I got to the sim part and I was eager to see how the awful performance of the Crewe to Preston route in TSW6/PS5 had been addressed and hopefully improved. This was a massive disappointment. I had only two routes and one train downloaded and ran the 1S61 Cl. 86 service in the reduced timetable with all layers turned off. Even though I had layers turned off in the main settings menu they were ALL still enabled on the route and had to be disabled manually, an obvious bug.

Within six minutes of departing Crewe I had three frame freezes and numerous ugly stutters. The vegetation pop-up was as bad as ever and perhaps worse than in TSW6. I had a bus materialise on a bridge directly in front of me and the AWS bell caused a noticeable stutter. I tried the route again with a lower FOV setting at 70°. It made no difference and after another 8 minutes I gave up on this truly sub standard route.

Next I tried the Milton Keynes to Crewe route which runs really well in TSW6. Again I used the reduced timetable with all layers disabled. I was shocked to find this route had worsened in TSW7 with an increase in the immersion breaking stutters. not believing what I was seeing shutdown the console and rebooted it and ran the route again. It definitely ran worse than in TSW6 and I have had enough of this farce.

I completely deleted TSW7 and as there is no forthcoming DLCs that I am interested in (apart from the NTP remaster) I will stick with TSW6. Having spent £140 on DLC on TSW6, I intend to spend NOTHING more in the coming year.

TSW7 on PS5 is the worst version since TSW3 and even with a free starter pack I completely reject it. In its current state it is not worth the space on my SSD.

 

One thought: With the significant changes to the graphics in TSW7, including the baking in of much of Jetwash's improvements, is it possible that changing your settings "to have everything as close to my TSW6 install" might have made performance worse?

 

Not on PS5, no.

 

Whoops, missed the big blue flair there.

 

No idea why you think making it PC only would make things any better lol

 

I really feel for console players though. I was at least able to fix SOME parts of TSW7 before the awful control inputs defeated me.
But all of those fixes were from editing files you cannot access on console, like toggling my settings file to read only so it stops defaulting to the wrong values.

 

I cant even play it on xbox when i hover over the throttle and anything nothing happens cant even turn the headlights on and off or open and close the doors on the d pad its frustrating i agree it does seem worse than TSW 6 i wish they would of kept the controls from TSW 6 it was much better to use

 

Well this isn't promising.... I'm also on PS5 and installed the free starter pack and just Preston/Carlisle; Crewe/Preston; GWE Remaster and Midland Mainline. I love me some electrics and HST.

Haven't run TSW7 yet but Tuesday did 1V90 Glasgow to Cardiff service on TSW6. Firstly took the service from from Carlisle to Preston on WCMLoS and it ran as well as I expect. Then loaded the same service in for Preston to Crewe and that performance is noticeably worse. That is with the MGR layer turned off (which seems to defeat a major purpose of the route). I really want to love this route. It has everything going for it but the sub standard performance when side-by-side with WCMLoS just means it falls so short of the mark.

As I said I haven't tried TSW 7 yet but if nothing has changed then that is concerning. It has been out for 3 months already and it has just gone quiet.

 

Connecting a USB keyboard to my XBOX has been a decent workaround given how horrific it is to use a gamepad in TSW7. For those things which require me to use the pad, however, like changing points on the map or pressing buttons for which I don't remember the key bindings, it's absolute purgatory.

 

I use an Xbox controller to play on PC and as far as I can tell nothing has changed. Not sure why it would be different on an actual Xbox. Is it just bugged or have the control mappings changed? Anyone checked in the menu?

 

I don't think so as I only set up the appearance of the HUD, track markers and ensuring that AWS sounds are not routed to the speaker on PS5 controller.

DTG tinker around with the already bloated and messy spaghetti code to add new and often useless features. It was the same between TSW2 and TSW3 when performance worsened with the newer version. DTG always fail to address the basic core issues like optimisation and performance in favour of silly pointless gimmicks.

Like most long time customers, I have long stopped believing promises from DTG. Remember the claim that improving passenger behaviour was a top priority? LOL!

As expected NOTHING has been done beyond a tiny minor patch that makes no difference to the idiotic and often suicidal behaviour of the creepy robotic mannequins that pass of as people yet DTG are OK wasting time and resources equipping them with opening umbrellas, laptops and phones.

TSW is a mess and each new iteration ignores this and just adds more glitches and unwanted features that weighs down the way it runs. TSW7 is also concentrating on improving the experience for PC players especially those on high performance gaming systems.

The console market is now considered 2nd class customers but they still want our money and sadly many people are happy giving it to them. As long as DTG continue to line their wallets they have little need to make essential improvements but somewhere down the line discontent will reach a critical mass.

 

Everything is the same on my xbox as it was on TSW6 controller wise.

 

Or on the last walk to the gallows… Absolutely dire dirge. I’m not a fan of the bluegrass style we had in Railroad Tycoon or that irritating upbeat jingle in the Hay Day tablet game, but gods save us from this depressing music. Just grateful we can turn it off!

 

They changed analogue stick behaviour to have an absurd acceleration curve, more of a vertical line halfway up the graph, tbh. As well as seeming to forget to set this behaviour for diagonal inputs, so looking or walking around you keep abruptly stopping when you turn your head, all contributing to a motion sickness nightmare and making it really hard to select in-cab controls.

 

I cant click on some things like going to turn headlights on i cant when i hover over it nothing happens or when i use the d pad to open and close the doors it doesnt work and i havent changed anything in the settings it should already be done

 

I'm more referring to the posts talking about not being able to open doors and things of that nature. I suppose I should've just quoted those posts but meh.

The walking thing is a little annoying but I don't do too much of that anyway.

 

Yeah that's gotta be a console-specific bug, though I have no idea how- maybe if the frame rate is really chugging it misses some controller inputs? They really need to just do much better with the console versions.

I also play on PC with Xbox controller and it's been working fine. In fact, fast camera movement is a huge improvement imo. I kept the camera rotation on slow though, fwiw.

 

Tsw7 ? Dtg Can't Give It Away.

You didn't address the thread title OP.
Given the amount of review data from games platforms I would say TSW7 is selling.

 

As expected, very underwhelmed with Leeds. Empty platforms and deserted in terms of passengers. Something not right with the lighting either, especially under the station roof. I’m having more fun with the 331 on MAC and adding the 333 to the Doncaster bay platform for extra immersion.

 

I am giving my personal view about TSW7. They gave it away for free and I felt it was so poor I didn't want it. Reading through the posts on this forum, I am clearly not alone in feeling this way.

I have noted that there is enough people out there who are willing to hand over good money for this product but you should also be aware that that are increasing numbers of long term loyal customers who have become disillusioned and are saying things like "Enough is enough" and " That's it. I'm done".

 

Must be a bug on console cause i cant click like open the doors on the d pad it wont let me im not keen on the new controls thing should of left it like it was on TSW 6

 

Yeah that's not been my experience on PC at all. Hope they can fix it for ya'll soon.

 

Thank you lets hope so

 

Yeah, on PC the buttons still responded, as long as I could be bothered to spend five minutes fighting the g-forces lining up the damn cursor over them.

 

Remember the old Kuju start-up in MSTS that would give you a heart attack if you weren't paying attention? lol

 

What are you on? Like the music is 1000% better than like tsw 4 and 5

 

I wouldn't know, I have been importing my settings file with music turned off since TSW2

 

It's just underwhelming. The additional graphics options are nice but of limited use to console users or those of us still on low end PC's. High end PC owners will be drinking champagne in the mansion while the rest of us schmoes wander round the alleys in the rough end of the city.

Safety systems on is essentially just an option and with some locos may be causing an issue with getting going.

Live weather, nice but hardly essential in a game where many of the routes are in a historical setting or being run at a different time of year to what's outside. Unlike a long flight in MSFS crossing several time zones, RW weather unlikely to change that much on a 50 minute train journey.

The UI is ghastly as are the increased screen real estate and font size of the "minimal" HUD.

None of the long term issues addressed, yes my old hobbyhorse the Save game with no extra slots or fixes for the chained/continued runs bug. Passenger behaviour still poor. Three new routes of questionable interest (to me anyway) and seem to have been built with no real enthusiasm.

Yes I flip flopped on the Deluxe a couple of times and eventually settled for the free version so I suppose they did give it away, but as a new "version" I have no love for it and there is very little we couldn't have just had a few QOL updates to TSW6 for. Kind of reminds of the line from Tron Legacy when Alan Bradley questions the board about what improvements have been made to their operating system and gets the answer, "This year we put a '12' on the box."

 

Until one of the memory sticks in their gaming PC breaks and they need to sell their house to buy a new one.

 

Those new graphics/lighting aren't included in the console version yet.

 

Currently I am sitting comfortably on a nice armchair but thank you for asking.

That is your opinion which I fully respect and thank you for lightening up this thread by using that distinctively modern yoof speak version of English.

Like ya know what I mean, innit Bro...

 

Performance seems to be going a bit loopy. Taking a run on Preston to Crewe, one moment going along with a steady 30 FPS, the next it's juddering away at about 12 FPS, does that for a minute or two then suddenly back to smoothness. I was actually getting more out of the route in TSW6 with my old GTX 1650 let alone the new RTX 3050. The only difference to my graphics settings from TSW6 is dropping the resolution to 1440p but letting DLSS do the upscale and switching on the enhanced lighting. Now Preston to Crewe probably not the best benchmark as it released with quite a few issues, not all of which have been fixed. So, going to try it on an older route later but... nightmare!

 

Vern you don't have to drop the resolution in game as DLSS (other than DLAA mode) automatically lowers the resolution and upscales it back depending on what level you set it at,so if you set it to Quality it will drop to 1440 and upscale back to your game resolution of 2160p.
Found this chart on net but not sure how correct it is.

 

Warrington continues to be a problem for me, there's something there that is eating FPS quicker than the last tub of Pringles I had

 

Got it. Will adjust that once the game loads and I'll see how it rocks on my run into Preston then load up a run on a different route to test.

 

Using the pad feels very sluggish,hopefully a hotfix or update can sort this.Its a nightmare,especially moving around the platforms,this is with the controller wired or wireless.

 

What resolution is your monitor? I've never seen the point in running higher than native resolution myself, and especially not now with DLSS. I'm now running 1080p (native res), 100% screen, DLSS and DLAA, and it looks and runs great on my 4yo laptop. Much better than TSW6 imo- before I'd have to run 200% screen to be able to read all the tiny button labels and text on the MFDs, and that really hurt my frame rate.

There's also a "performance" setting for anti-aliasing if DLAA is hitting your frames too hard. I tried it and it gave a massive frame rate boost and the only thing bad i noticed were blocky shadows in the cab, which can be eliminated by bumping up the shadow quality slider.

Keep at it, very much worth experimenting to see how each setting interacts with the others imo.

Would be great if it could give you recommended settings based on your actual hardware profile.

 

It’s a 4K monitor and, as I said, 7 is running worse than 6 with the GTX 1650 let alone the RTX 3050 which purred along with it like a beast. There are a couple of things I might try - turning off the new lighting effects, but in that case I might just as well go back to 6. Also, how much is real weather hitting performance in terms of another layer of activity the core is having to process. Then there’s abandoning DLSS and going back to TAA but again, might just as well revert to 6 for the time being.

 

The menu music is absolutely terrible.

 

Try it with DX11 instead of 12, I noticed similar behaviour to you and for my rig (4k monitor, 6Gb 2060) switching to fullscreen windowed mode using DX11 was a major speed improvement with no noticeable drop in graphics quality. Something to do with how multithreading works between CPU and GPU in DX11 vs 12, I think - still reading up on it, but at the very least you should be able to get your old TSW 6 behaviour out of TSW 7 without any ill effects. Well, I could with my machine anyhow, YMMV.

 

Well if the music is one of the main things they have to complain about......

I think it's well written personally. Composing isn't easy I've tried and gave up.

 

Excellent suggestion, TSW6 was of course running on DX11 and I didn’t think to check that. So you’re definitely on to something there. Will try it when I go back on the game after tea this evening.

 

Left my PS5 in rest mode last night downloading all of my 100GB DLC. Certainly hope I don't experience the same problems as on this thread. I downloaded TSW7 starter after TSW6 has clearly been rigged to fail in order to up sales of TSW 7. NEVER experienced so many crashes on TSW 6, nearly every run I do ends in a crash even after reinstalling everything.

 

So DTG have deliberately done something to TSW6 to make users download TSW7 for extra sales, even though it's free?!

 

If the shoe fits. Funny how TSW 6 is practically unplayable in the weeks leading up to TSW 7 and despite my thread weeks ago, nothing has been done to fix it.

I can't be the only one seeing constant crashes on PS5. These have all been error reported, id be very surprised if dovetail are oblivious to this.

 

For balance I've played TSW6 for a couple of hours at a time most nights over the last 2 weeks and had one crash (on Preston/Crewe, where crashes have been common before TSW7 was announced) over multiple services. I doubt DTG have inflicted anything on the old game.

 

This really is tin foil hat territory although I can think of a couple of posters who will be lapping this up now.

If they have done this why haven't they done it on PC? Is it just PS5 players they want to dupe into getting the new free game?

 

They have....they've stopped supporting it!
Also, giving away a free TSW7 starter bundle isn't a gesture of good faith, it's a means to an end strategy that effectively gives Dovetail Games permission to carry issues forward into a new version of the game at no expense to the consumer. A decision that could well be the result of the backlash received each time they left a trail of destruction in their wake when moving forward into newer 'not free' versions of TSW

 

That isn't the same as sabotaging your own product to stop it working, which was the allegation being made.

 

I am a PS5 Pro player. I have logged 85 hours in TSW7 since early access began. I need help, but that’s another matter.

I’m as critical of DTG as anyone. I’ve railed on them for the unacceptable PS5 profile corruption issue for the past year. I’ve been railing on them for broken services/scenarios for years prior. I also agree that console seems to get the short end of the stick overall, and I encourage console players to keep complaining and advocating for change through the proper channels.

With all that said, I don’t think the state of the game on the PS5 is all doom and gloom. Xbox players seem to have it notably worse. The way you play the game and the routes you play make a big difference. I play journey mode almost exclusively, so I can’t comment on other parts of the game, but I’m 85 hours in and having a blast. The routes that ran great before still run great. The routes that were choppy or blurry are still choppy and blurry. I saw the “top priority” comment from DTG on the blurry texture issue months ago, and here we are with TSW7 but still waiting on per-route fixes for that. That is terribly disappointing, but the game still has loads of non-blurry content to enjoy. Around and around we go.

TLDR: Take the free upgrade to TSW7 at the very least. It’s no worse than TSW6. TSW7 has the same great content as TSW6 and the same drawbacks. TSW7 will also be patched and have new content released.