New Hud

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by Rudolf, Jul 17, 2020.

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  1. Rudolf

    Rudolf Well-Known Member

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    I like to comment on the new HUD. The core driving tools in the lower left part look OK to me. It's good to have numeric values for brake pressure especially. The problem is in the other information. It requires the user to divert attention to three corners of the screen. From an ergonomic point of view this is not a very good idea. You may or may not like the TS2020 HUD, (I could comment a lot on that one as well).
    I do not dare asking to change this before the release, I would like to ask the developers to consider moving all HUD information as much as possible to the lower right of the screen.

    For some time the opinion has been that you should play without a HUD. For me the HUD is important and compensates for the difference between driving in reality or in a sim. I think TrackIR can be very helpful here, but not for everyone and not always.
     
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  2. Mattty May

    Mattty May Guest

    Yep. The HUD is important to me too, so having as much information in a single area of the screen helps immensely. I don’t mind the next stop/objective being in the upper left (including the clock) but having the signals in the main hud would be beneficial for a quick glance. I have missed red signals a few times because I’ve not noticed them in the upper right.
     
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  3. fanta1682002

    fanta1682002 Well-Known Member

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    very good new tsw2 hud
     
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  4. davidh0501

    davidh0501 Well-Known Member

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    Agree.
    The advanced signal warning needs to be lowered to near the right hand corner.
    So when we glance to check the speed we can see the distance to the next speed change, signal and stop distance.
    Rather have our gaze swivel around the screen.
     
  5. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    I don’t mind the positions of where everything is on the screen. My dislike of the new HUD is that it appears to be less readable than the old one. It uses segmented number displays (why?) with the digits too close together. That may turn out to be less of a problem depending on if you actually need to see those numbers while driving. The most needed numbers for me are the current speed and gradient. What I dislike the most are the fonts used in the rest of the display and the menus, as seen in the demos on the stream last night. It may have been that Matt has the text set smaller to suit a giant screen but I found them completely unreadable. There probably isn’t a menu choice to change the size of text for me (I’m on PS4) so them getting the size right to start with is very important. We’ll see in the release what it’s actually like but if concerns are aired now then they might have a chance to look at it before then just to check. It may all look fine and dandy on a large 4k screen but it also needs to be legible on smaller screens with a lower resolution for the many players on all platforms that use those.
     
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  6. OnlyMe1909

    OnlyMe1909 Well-Known Member

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    I got the same feeling yesterday when I saw it first. This new HUD may contain much more info, but I got the feeling it's not real easy on the eye.
    I guess we'll have to wait and see how we get along with this thing.
     
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  7. Satiel

    Satiel New Member

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    Was i the only one who wanted a minimal HUD ?
    I usually drive with no hud as much as possible but it's difficult, maybe there will be possibility with the API, we will see
     
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  8. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    Well I believe they said you can keep the old HUD, which is good because currently I prefer it as well. Though I try to play without a HUD as often as I can.
     
  9. DTG Protagonist

    DTG Protagonist Has left the building Staff Member

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    That's my fault! I was under the impression you could toggle between the two. This is not accurate. The HUD is the only HUD.
     
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  10. fanta1682002

    fanta1682002 Well-Known Member

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    yes i see
     
  11. davidh0501

    davidh0501 Well-Known Member

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    What we need is a discussion on what should be included in the Hud and what could be combined.
    By combined I mean the gradient indicator could be combined with the current accelerometer by tilting the line, and removing the gradient dial. Again the AWS indicator, does it require it’s own dial? Perhaps a yellow AWS could flash over the accelerometer when active and disappear when not needed. Perhaps a blue PZB.
    What about the brake dials, could they be left to the dashboard dials? How frequently are they referred to.
    I for one would like to see the advance signal and speed change indicators to be included with the accelerometer section of the Hud rather than in another corner of the screen.
     
  12. davidh0501

    davidh0501 Well-Known Member

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    Oops hadn’t seen the other thread.
     
  13. zappatime

    zappatime Well-Known Member

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    A lot of simulation games let you locate parts of the HUD where you want it on screen (within certain limits) and allow you to have some parts of it enabled and other parts turned off. Personally I like hud info either all along the bottom or top of the screen so that the ‘view’ is not covered by anything.
     
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  14. fanta1682002

    fanta1682002 Well-Known Member

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    yes very good
     
  15. Thorgred

    Thorgred Active Member

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    i am sure once we have used it for a while it will be ok
    the old hud was not perfect either
     
  16. fanta1682002

    fanta1682002 Well-Known Member

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    yes
     
  17. maxipolo12

    maxipolo12 Well-Known Member

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    Did you find the possibility by editing some files to more reducing the size of the main HUD ?
    I also saw that we can hide the main HUD without hiding stations / speed / lights indications do you know how to do that ? When I clic on F1, that hides everything.

    A fully modable HUD would be the best !
    Thanks
     
  18. dark-rabbit

    dark-rabbit New Member

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    CTRL + 5
     
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  19. tbaac

    tbaac Well-Known Member

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    I quite like the new HUD, and much prefer it to the TS2020 one. It does get in the way occasionally (for example of the door buttons) so it would be handy if we could use a keyboard shortcut for the doors. I like how the elements are spread out rather than obscuring more of one part of the screen.
    And I agree, ideally I'd drive with no HUD. Maybe we could have Sam having a quiet work instead, "The speed limit is going down to 70 in a minute" or "Watch it, you're going a bit fast."
    "We need to stop in a mile and a half"
     
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  20. maxipolo12

    maxipolo12 Well-Known Member

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    unfortunately doesn´t work.
    I have no problem with ctrl 1,2,3,4 but with 5 no changes :/
     
  21. dark-rabbit

    dark-rabbit New Member

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    for ctrl + 5 (hud), ctrl +6 (score), ctrl+ 8 (reticle), the keys must be redefined in the parameters,
    because on some keyboard, when you type ctrl+5 it understands ctrl + (
     
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  22. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    For me, in trying to decide whether I’m on target to keep within current and upcoming speed limits, the accelerometer is an extremely important part of the HUD.
    In my opinion the older simple vertical line was vastly better than what we have now, which I find totally unreadable.
     
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  23. maxipolo12

    maxipolo12 Well-Known Member

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    You are certainly right because I´m using a TKL keyboard (small) but why it works from 1 to 4, good question :)

    edit: worked after in game reassignation ;)
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2020
  24. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    Did you mean horizontal?
     
  25. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    The zero and indicator lines were vertical and the indicator line moved horizontally in the old HUD. I don’t at all mind the direction of the indication either way, I just loved the clarity of having a well defined line that could be read at a glance.
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2020
  26. davidh0501

    davidh0501 Well-Known Member

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    I prefer the old speed indicator.
    Even suggested they folded it in with the inclinometer by tilting the end up or down.

    The Hud just looks clunky with unneeded icons and that chunky disc in the middle.
    Do we really need to know the reverser direction? Do they really think we are that stupid.....

    Hopefully they are reading all posts (they said they do) and will actually get rid of it.
     
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  27. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    What if you drive from external view? You would need to know if you are going to go forward.
     
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  28. Inkar

    Inkar Well-Known Member

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    ^ This. The reverser direction indicator might seem superfluous to people that do not play shunt operations frequently, but it is not.
     
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  29. Joker729

    Joker729 Member

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    I agree that the HUD elements for the speed limit and next signal indicator would be better positioned closer to the main HUD readouts. It appears there would be room for them just below it. Would make it much easier to keep track of both and less risk of missing something.
     
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  30. olsbyn

    olsbyn Active Member

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    I like the HUD as it is now, I usually play with it of completely, only using the upper right as learning new signals, when I have learned them I only use the HUD to see where I'm supposed to stop. I wouldn't want it condensed at the bottom of the screen forcing me to use elements of it I don't want to use, that would ruin the experience completely imo.
     
  31. davidh0501

    davidh0501 Well-Known Member

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    You need to set it correctly when you start.
    Easy to switch to cab, check reverser if you can’t remember and switch back to exterior view.
    Real engineers manage to shunt from inside the cab ok.
     
  32. Purno

    Purno Well-Known Member

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    I think in general the HUD in TSW2 is better than in TSW2020, but I still think it could use a lot of things from Train Simulator. The problems I have with the HUD;
    • - It's unnecessarily big, with no option to make it small (I mean, really small, keeping it to minimum size)
    • - It's too far off the edge of my screen (too much space between HUD and the edge of screen, which is space that could've been used reading gauges, viewing train interior, or just admiring the graphics of the game)
    • - It has no customization options (things like being able to scale, move or changing transparency for individual parts of the HUD)
    • - The upcoming speed limit is shown in another place than the current speed limit and current train speed
    • - The accelerator-meter cannot be accurately read (when the circle is in the middle of the line, the train is not doing 0m/s² like the HUD would indicate)
    • - LZB upcoming speed limit isn't shown on LZB HUD section, while it's a vital part of the LZB system (that's the speed limit shown on the gauges)
    • - There's no information about upcoming gradients and speed limits after the next (especially annoying when speed limits changes have very little distance between them, like at Lewes, East Coastway)
    • - HUD shows no information about the rear of the train, so you cannot see if it fits on the platform, if it has passed a speed limit, or if the rear part of the train is still going uphill when the front of the train has just reached the summit. (I dearly miss this info that the HUD in Train Simulator gave us)
    • - HUD speed limits don't match speed restrictions given by signals (mainly a thing on German routes).
    • - Signal aspect HUD only knows green/yellow/red, but no other signal aspects like speed restrictions, or double-yellow (which is why I've turned it off because it was causing me more confusion than helping me with anything).
     
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  33. MatsH

    MatsH Active Member

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    Hi all,

    I think a lot of it is just getting used to the new hud in TSW2, but a couple of things would really benefit from a change in my opinion.
    • The accelerometer - As mentioned above it was much easier to read in TSW 2020, just by a glance.
    • The numbers on the speedometer (km/h) - Whatever posessed anyone to number it 35 - 70 - 105 -140 -175?! I mainly drive the german routes, and those numbers make NO sense to me. 40 - 80 - 120 - 160 would have been a much more logical choise. Everyone knows that right between 40 and 80 is 60, but what lives in the middle of 35 and 70 ... 52 and a half(?)
    I really like TSW2, and as soon as the preserved german routes arrive I will play nothing else, but please change the numbers on the speedometer!
    HUD De.jpg
    (As you can see, the speedlimit-marker doesn't even line up with the 140-line)

    Regards from Sweden ... Mats
     
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  34. Trooper117

    Trooper117 Active Member

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    So far I'm getting on with it... I think the main problem for me was having to change to something else. (no body likes change when they are used to the old familiar)...
     
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  35. LucasLCC

    LucasLCC Well-Known Member

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    My main problem is still the accelerometer.

    It just makes no sense that it's a circle. Next they'll make the speedo a square...
     
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  36. davidh0501

    davidh0501 Well-Known Member

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    My biggest dislike of the current hud is the waste of screen space.
    You have three separate areas of information which involves three distinct visual actions.
    We end up scanning the screen like scanning dials in the cab.

    The whole point of a hud is to provide important information in an easy to absorb way with minimal distraction.
    Both the top left and top right displays need to be removed and incorporated with the lower left hud.
    (Or like action points be omitted entirely).
     
  37. Glazier

    Glazier Member

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    I agree with above posters, the accelerometer is terrible and totally unreadable and the numbering on the speed tape is just confusing.
     
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  38. Trevor604

    Trevor604 New Member

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    I like the new HUD and the fact you can change it's size.
    Clearly there are some improvements that can be made from the above suggestions.
    However, I am struggling with the new accelerometer. I like driving freight and on Sand Patch small adjustments in speed are more important and the accelerometer is almost useless. It feels less sensitive and difficult to read [and technically upside down - that I can live with].
     
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  39. Purno

    Purno Well-Known Member

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    Some of the CSX engines have a built in accelerometer in the cab. That one is much more accurate and easier to read.

    I don't think it's upside down. If the accelerometer is up, it indicates a positive acceleration. If it's down, it indicates a negative acceleration. My main problem is you can't accurately read it's neutral position (so, when the train is doing a steady 0m/s²)
     
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  40. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    I have no idea what the accelerometer is doing in Sand Patch, it certainly isn’t accurate and doesn’t seem to follow what’s happening in the loco.

    And of course the accelerometer is hard to read. It might be clearer on a large monitor in 4K but not on a normal PS4 on a normal TV. A clear short white line on one side of the vertical line that lines up with short white line on the other side when not accelerating or decelerating would be much easier to read, and would be more like the one in TSW2020 but vertical. It could even change colour for decelerating if they want it to be fancy.

    I do have the HUD on the small setting because on the large setting, although easier to read, it takes up far too much of the screen. The small setting takes up a fair amount as it is. I’m getting used to it but I still don’t like the segmented numbers everywhere, they aren’t easy to read and look awful.

    The things I really like about the new HUD are the brake input dials, they are extremely helpful, the door indicator, and the throttle setting going red when it’s locked out. The overall layout is okay but I would have the side panels the other way round - gradient and warnings on the left and the power and brake dials on the right, kind of like it how it was on the TSW2020 HUD, but with the new design still - but that might be because I never really look at the brake dials in the HUD, I always try to have the ones in the train visible and use them instead, where they are important (when using lapped brakes for instance) but I do keep a constant eye on the gradient, so would rather have that more central on the screen. At least you can see the gradient on this HUD, not like the tiny one in the old HUD, so that's an improvement.

    I may have mentioned a few times about the smallest text on the screen being the distance to objective and the largest being the AP points, which is a crazy situation, but I won’t go into that now. Oops, just did.
     
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  41. CaptHart

    CaptHart New Member

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    It is a circle because it is intended to resemble the symbol used to measure the acceleration/deceleration forces on a crash test dummy.
    [​IMG]
     
  42. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    Is that a picture of the person that decided to use the crash dummy symbol in the HUD?

    It’s a great symbol when used for its intended purpose, such as providing an exact centre point, even if it is partially obscured by flying debris, in a frame of slow motion footage of a crash test, but not a good symbol when badly implemented in a small accelerometer graphic. If it was an attempt to make it more readable than the TSW2020 accelerometer then that attempt has failed.
     
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