Train Simulator: Interactive Ideas/improvements

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by SilverFox, Jun 1, 2020.

  1. SilverFox

    SilverFox New Member

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    Railway enthusiasts/TS users, feel free to discuss your ideas and opinions on what would make Train Simulator (PC/PS4-PS5/XBOX) more immersive, enjoyable and less repetitive in terms of more immersive scenarios (career, standard etc), e.g if an entirely new simulator were created from scratch by Dovetail Games.

    I'd like to see more accurate steam period routes and scenarios that recreate significant events in railway history set during the glory days of steam such as Mallard's 126 mph speed record, Flying Scotsman (100 mph), Silver Link (112 mph) and 6220 Coronation (114 mph), military trains delivering ammunition, weapons and armoured vehicles to shipping ports for transport to Europe during WWII, followed by the introduction of diesels and preservation movement up to 2020.

    Drive prestigious long distance passenger trains on accurate timetables, the Coronation, Flying Scotsman, Elizabethan Golden Arrow, Cheltenham Flyer, Bristolian, Coronation Scot, Thames - Clyde, Palatine, Irish Mail, Cornish Riviera Express and the Royal Train.

    A cinematic camera can alternate between a wider selection of track-side views or Hollywood style shots for trains running at high speed. Arrival windows will have more time, at least five minutes before departure from stations or more if disruptions occur.

    Players can customise/control an avatar/character, choosing any year to start a career as an engine cleaner for older railways before the formation of the GWR, LNER, SR or LMS to build up skills and experience and rise up through the ranks of passed engine cleaner -> fireman -> passed fireman -> driver or train guard/ticket inspector with the option to switch between third and first person cameras.

    Additional professions include chief mechanical engineers and fitters working on every aspect of construction from drafting design blueprints to cutting metal plates and crafting whistles, pistons, brass gauges, domes, fireboxes. tenders and maintenance and repairs for various locomotives classes at Swindon, Crewe, Doncaster, Eastleigh, Ashford. Brighton, Wolverhampton, Gorton, Stratford Works etc.​

    Tasks include operating steam powered cranes to lift heavy machinery, pouring molten metal into casting moulds to make wheel sets and using lathes to turn them prior to installation and running in trials, daily work done by UK preservationists and staff at Meiningen Works in Germany. Carpenters/upholsterers/painters help create carriages, goods wagons and liveries.

    Players deal with unexpected delays to services on the network, track repairs, generating and sustaining income and cleaning up derailments (Ais Gill Disaster, Harrow & Wealdstone) to break the monotony of continuous driving for miles. Landslides, snowdrifts and rockfalls will have to cleared in extreme weather on the Settle & Carlisle, West Highland Line.

    CMEs Gresley, Collett, Churchward, Stanier, Bulleid and Peppercorn make occasional appearances to comment and evaluate your overall progression depending on what railway has employed you.

    Experience points unlock more challenging scenarios, railway works, locomotives, standard or narrow gauge routes/regions and could be applied to discounts for additional expansion packs (Dovetail Games, Just Trains).

    All of the above would apply to railway operations and career progression in Continental Europe, Ireland, America, Australia, Japan and other hidden gems located around the world.​
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
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  2. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    I think the passengers should have more, especially the commuter train.
     
  3. SilverFox

    SilverFox New Member

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    Passengers should have more of what exactly?, I take it you would like to see more intercity/commuter train services from cities to towns and villages near rural branch lines in the countryside?.
     
  4. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    I mean more passenger get on and get off the trains.
     
  5. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    Be careful when asking for "improvements". You might be asking for the game to be broken further. It's hard to make improvements to a game that is 11 years old without risking breaking something.
     
  6. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    I believe laying straight track on an overlay is the most frustrating process of all. 100 meters and it's off course. Would it be possible for Train Sim. to program a marker, let's say, a mile or so beyond the last rail layed, which would then lock the additional track added, to be directed to the marker? The TS programmers have done a lot amassing programming. I'm sure they could figure this out.
     
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  7. Plastic Pal

    Plastic Pal Well-Known Member

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    A functioning Works site, with cranes and parallel trolleys.... and internal access to depot buildings, jack lines, etc.

    Something like this:

    TS Doncaster Works.jpg

    And for £1.19 would be great (in a sale.... of course..... ;-) ).
     
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  8. SilverFox

    SilverFox New Member

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    A valid point you've made, I always found Train Simulator's layout builder awkward and frustrating for laying down tracks, sidings and crossovers when building routes. Programming markers to lock and extend track would speed up the process.

    N3V's Trainz 2019 surveyor mode has the advantage of simplicity when building tracks and adding stations, railway infrastructure, locomotives and scenery. All of these have individual tabs and can be found with the search bar. Track gradients are easier to measure and place as is changing the topography of the landscape to mountains, rivers, lakes and estuaries etc.
     
  9. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    But is it availble in TS2020?
     
  10. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    But is it availble in TS2020?
     
  11. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    Can you give me a link?
     
  12. RGoo

    RGoo Member

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  13. SilverFox

    SilverFox New Member

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  14. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    I am assuming you prefer trainz over the TS program.
     
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  15. SilverFox

    SilverFox New Member

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    I enjoy TS2020 for excellently recreated locomotives, realistic driving and rail operations. Trainz for it's route building simplicity, smoke/steam effects have improved as N3V's locomotive DLCs are now more detailed due to better texturing methods and game engine
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2020
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  16. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    I have checked out Trainz and I am impressed with their building and rail placing capabilities. However, I feel like the visuals are rather cartoonish. Do you foresee an improvement in their graphics in the near future, or in 3rd party equipment? Finaly, would a Trainz program automatically go to the steam program?
     
  17. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    In your opinion, how do the physics in TS2020 and trainz 2019 compare?
     
  18. RGoo

    RGoo Member

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    TS2020 has far better physics than most Trainz engines, but some of the newer Trainz first party locos are quite similar in physics to TS
     
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  19. SilverFox

    SilverFox New Member

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    Trainz 2019 and 119 DLC addons are available on Steam, though there is the option of setting up a new account with N3V's Trainz Store to purchase DLC and various First Class Tickets subscriptions which allows faster download speeds and other perks.

    The graphics are a big step up from previous simulators (Trainz 2009 & 2006 etc), there probably will be improvements in the future. Check N3V's official website or join Trainz Forums to learn about further developments.
     
  20. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    Thank you.
     
  21. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    That's one thing I don't understand. They are trying to profit off of download speeds. Someone with a 1 GB connection has to pay to get faster downloads when he would otherwise have it done and be off the system in 20 seconds. Meanwhile, if you only have 5 MB, don't bother upgrading because you will gain nothing from it. That's one of the reasons I am thinking of shying away from Trainz, besides the fact that I have over 100 DLC to try out for TS2020 first.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2020
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  22. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    That's good to know.
     
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  23. malikrthr

    malikrthr Well-Known Member

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    Before joining the Train Simulator community, I played Trainz for 9 years. From my experience, the building of routes can vary in difficulty but I will definitely say it is much easier to use than the Train Simulator editor. I have been using Train Simulator for 3 years and still can not figure out how to create a route. In my opinion, creating a route for Train Simulator is complex. I mainly play Train Simulator to complete career and workshop scenarios as well as to learn of the train and signal operations for the scenarios that I am operating on. Trainz can be quite addicting actually. I have Trainz 2006, Trainz 2006 SP1, Trainz Classics 1 & 2, Trainz 2009, Trainz 2010 and Trainz A New Era. I do see what you are saying about the visuals being cartoonish but really, it all comes down to the assets that you use to construct your route, route tools used for development. There is a huge library of 3rd party equipment for Trainz. Once, I created a Metro North M8 for Trainz by using Google Sketchup. It was a very basic model though but the development of routes, scenarios, assets, and community in Trainz is huge. In the beginning, I created mini routes from scratch on flat baseboards. As I learned about topography tools for the route surveyor in Trainz, I then went from trying to create routes on a 1 arc sec DEM. After finding out that I can create routes to more represent their accurate distances, I went to using TransDEM to generate 1/3 arc sec DEMs in conjunction with basemap overalys.

    In my opinion, you will enjoy Trainz. I think Train Simulator has better physics and sounds than Trainz. Before playing Train Simulator, I would spend alot of time trying to create and edit routes in the Trainz Surveyor. There are 3rd party developers that also create high quality content that are freeware and payware. Trainz a New Era had a slight graphics improvement in my opinion compared to the previous releases. I have not owned Trainz 2019 but from what I have seen, it looks even better than Trainz A New Era in terms of graphics.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2020
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  24. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    Thank you for a very thorough and informative post. I am now considering the purchase of Trainz so that I can personally experience both on the same computer,
    Will the DEM files work for both progrms.
     
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  25. malikrthr

    malikrthr Well-Known Member

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    Your welcome Sabe20189. That is great. I am not sure if DEM files work in Train Simulator but they definitely work in Trainz. There are slightly less accurate DEM's on the DLS that have tiger and vector data to give an idea of where rivers, track and roads should be placed. These are still good none the less. You may purchase TransDEM if you wish to create DEM's as well, which can then be imported into Trainz. I would usually generate DEM's into TransDEM through the USGS seamless server and then import them into Trainz.
     
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  26. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    I know if I get Trainz, I'm waiting for the sale. Nonetheless, a lot of stuff needs to leave my computer as I have other games to install and someday stream. Planet Coaster came from Humble Choice, I have another expensive car racing game to try and quickly uninstall after getting my fill of it, and more. Having less than 50 GB on a 1 TB drive is challenging.
     
  27. Sabe20189

    Sabe20189 Member

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    I just loaded Trainz 2019 to start a comparison. $25.00 for 3 packs total. Not running very fast but it could be my settings.
     
  28. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    Heck, they have a $100 CDN or so DLC pack with 17 items in it. Doesn't beat the one for this game from Humble for $12 in February, but it's something.
     
  29. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    This is a masterpiece that dozens of people get off the train, though it was midnight, but maybe there was a concert or football game finished and the audiences returned home. The commuter trains should have more passengers, and the intercity trains should have passengers with travel cases.
     

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  30. ColonelKlink

    ColonelKlink Member

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    I wholly agree on more content regarding Steam Locomotives. More career scenarios and routes especially. I'd also like to see more US Steamies, as I feel the number of locomotives there are rather lacking compared to the number available for British Steamies.

    Other than that, what I'd really love to see would be more and longer tutorials (especially for how to work steep grades using Steamies), the tutorials seem too short to really teach you anything useful, and going through 50 5-minute tutorials doesn't help either; and also if the game could be a lot easier on you in scenarios for messing up the slightest thing (i.e. arriving at your destination, but accidentally inching backwards when you're supposed to be stopped, which somehow warrants that you've failed the entire scenario despite doing everything else right). It gets really frustrating and tiring when you have to do countless scenarios over again because you fudged up the tiniest thing. Maybe punishments like that are not uncommon in reality, but for the game's sake, that ruins my immersion.
     
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  31. NEC Railfan

    NEC Railfan Well-Known Member

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    I completely agree in that aspect, I often love to drive my locomotives without the HUD as it feels more realistic, however, the game will penalize me over a simple .1 miles per hour over a switch whilst I'm braking. In real life, things like that are unnoticed.
     
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  32. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    The passenger comfort level should be added, maybe more detail, like in BVE2. The score may deduct if you make passenger discomfort.
     
  33. 749006

    749006 Well-Known Member

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    I see you are just here for the points - like some arcade game
     
  34. Plastic Pal

    Plastic Pal Well-Known Member

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    I find the points system useful, when it objectively measures driving skill. They've been using a points system for road driving tests for years, and learning to drive safely is not a game.

    I know most people have a problem with it, but I actually think the points system in TS1 is really quite useful. The system used in TSW, however, is.... well....a bit pointless. ;-)
     
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  35. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    In the rail sim game from some country, the riding rate is important, if the train is crowding, it should drive with more care.
     
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  36. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    So you're saying Drew Carey lied to us all this time saying the points don't matter?

    (Had to make that reference.)
     
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  37. ColonelKlink

    ColonelKlink Member

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    That's an automatic like from me for that one, sir.
     
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  38. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    The passengers volume in the existing TS seems more in daytime and less in midnight except some "special" train. But the long distance trains I think no need to follow this rule. And I think in some stations should have an option that to unload all passengers, as I see some trains still have passengers when at the last station, maybe that is the station that to change driver, but if that is the terminus, the passengers should leave.
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
  39. mike370

    mike370 Active Member

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    Going back 7 or so years, it actually was a legacy feature built in the game - which some scenarios and add-on packs utilised. A little tracker ball built into the HUD noting particularly abrupt (harsh) changes on corners or overly fast/acceleration & braking. And scenario scoring points were deducted if driver went over set threshold. Mind it was quite a crude measure, and came unstuck with some of the earlier routes that lacked super-elevation. The prime example was the old WCML-North, overall a super classic route but the track laying not great. The poor player driving the old Class 390 add-on at speed would then get an absolute hammering on their points no matter how carefully they were trying to drive! lol

    But as a feature it was certainly a nice idea that added interest to the driving experience. If it could be somehow (tweaked) upgraded to be a little bit more realistic, perhaps chiefly used on the modern built route DLC with correct superelevation - then your suggestion is a very good one. It would definitely be nice to see this properly implemented into TS2021. :)
     
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  40. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    Also the passenger should open an umbralla when in rain. In the existing TS, all the passengers are expose in rain, it is so unrealistic.
     
  41. NEC Railfan

    NEC Railfan Well-Known Member

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    More like a feature for the developers to implement if they wish, not necessarily a core change.
     
  42. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    But the accelerate and decelerate distance seems same whether rainy or sunny day. I think this should change, this is the law of physics.
    Is that the objects in game like some fellas say is just the eye candy? Maybe more realistic should added.
     
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  43. samsonbo

    samsonbo Member

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    Hilarious......Yea THIS is the issue DTG should be fixing, never mind about OOM issues, updating the core, updating DX etc..... The "issues" you raise are picayune nonsense..
     
  44. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    Look, if I want to walk around staring at my phone with a tornado raging down on the platform, let me do my thing, mmkay? :)
     
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  45. NEC Railfan

    NEC Railfan Well-Known Member

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    No need to be rude.
     
  46. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Okay, here's one that WOULDN'T require massive reprogramming and possibly breaking other stuff:

    Give us an emergency-brake detent!

    It is no end of frustrating, in those locos where the EB is just the max setting of the standard brake control, to inadvertently hit the stops and see tons of points vanish from your score. Fer the luvva Pete, put a 'detent' (i.e. a key-hold interrupt), as in TSW's stepped throttles!
     
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  47. benhhng

    benhhng Member

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    Competition makes improvement.
     

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