Enough Is Enough!!! The Ongoing Saga!!! It's Almost The 3 Year Anniversary

Here you go, DR ET 165 "Stadtbahner"!

 

Well, is he really going to say: 'No, it doesn't work at all on consoles and you shouldn't buy it'? The value of that statement is probably next to nothing. After all, he's the publisher and wants to make money from it as well. I don't take such statements seriously at all, even if they might be true. I certainly wouldn't base a purchase decision or a guarantee on them. With answers like that, I think you always have to ask yourself: what's the real message behind it?

I should say:
Trust, but verify.....

 

They should do console previews for everything if they're releasing it on console. I'm not going to buy something on XBox based on what it looks like on a high end PC using features that are, let's be honest, highly unlikely to be included on the console versions. If some layers are disabled on acual routes to aid console performance there's no way something as demanding as those lighting effects are making it across. Heck they've been "looking into" passenger behaviour for close to ten years and can't even implement a darker menu screen when their own staff are saying it's unplayable to them as it is.

 

This point was raised in the last roadmap stream and the official response was "watch the ambassador streams", which came across as being a little dismissive because they tend to forget that for various reasons ambassadors can't show console content until after it's released...and in the case of Tadami it was a very consumer unfriendly 24 hours before Series X content was made available!
Also, if none of the ambassadors have a Series S then how on earth are owners of that console supposed to find out the quality of their potential purchases?

During the last roadmap stream Alex openly admitted that PC and console versions of TSW are now heading in two entirely different directions so it's only fair they now treat each platform with equal levels of consideration when streaming content at their end.

 

Personally, I'm fine with watching the Ambassador streams. It just requires a little patience. I generally wait at least a week before buying a console DLC to get the general feedback. It's just not worth buying console versions on Day 1, it's risky enough on PC.

Even if DTG did do a console stream, I'm not sure it would be a realistic representation. They could pick a timetable or scenario with little AI traffic to minimise the risk of Blurring.

A couple of the Ambassadors are getting as frustrated as everyone else with this situation and are not hiding it.

 

But you're still getting scenarios where ambassadors occasionally come across as (for want of a better description) being a little too rose-tinted when it comes to evaluating content. Take Tadami for example: Despite all those well documented issues as well as Dovetail Games subsequently invoking 'emergency surgery' protocol, I watched some ambassador created X|S footage of the route and the overriding message I got wasn't how bad it was but how we should all give a little "leeway" to Union Workshop because it's their first venture into TSW and they've had to contend with developing the route thru various versions of the game. Not only that but it was further mentioned that those framerate drops were [to paraphrase] "ok, but not ideal" and we should just be thankful that it doesn't have blurries.
Sure, some of the dubious scenery and a few other things were brought up...but let's not escape the fact that their overall impression of Tadami differed wildly from the general opinion of the route.

Generally speaking though, (with the exception of one or two that are beyond saving) you are quite correct in saying that there's a growing level of frustration amongst ambassadors.