A Slice Of Humble Pie And Some Feedback...

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by hightower, Aug 28, 2020.

  1. hightower

    hightower Guest

    In in the run up to it’s release I was very vocally sceptical of TSW2 and had vowed not to buy it. However, given the amount I’d already invested in the game up to this point coupled with DTG changing their policy towards the preserved collection it was enough to make me change my mind and I’m glad I did. It's time for a bit of humble pie on my part for what it's worth.

    I think most contributors to these forums try to keep their comments constructive (I certainly try!) and maybe I’d taken my eye off that a bit through plain frustration at a game that so often gets it very right, then inexplicably drops the ball in very obvious ways.

    TSW2 is unquestionably a step forward from everything that came before it. The new skies (the biggest slice of pie I’ve got to eat) and the new distant scenery (absolutely transforming SPG), in particular, are a big step forward. I also really like the Koln - Aachen route, LZB and the ICE 3.

    Having played the game for a week, and in a bid to provide some proper constructive feedback once again here is a list of things that I feel need attention. Sadly some of these problems have existed since the day this game was first released. Part of my scepticism about TSW2 was that I’d hoped to see many of these issues addressed by now and sadly that’s not the case. Some of these have been acknowledged as ‘known about’ but I will mention them anyway. To be clear, the starting point is that the game is good, better than I was expecting in fact. With that, I offer these without further comment in the hope that they are least on the list to be worked on...

    General Game
    • The game plays the introduction on each route as you load it for the first time, including telling you how to look up, down, left and right. Why? A single, one time generic introduction for brand new players is more than enough.
    • It doesn’t matter if you turn them off, the objective and stop markers still come on every time it runs a tutorial, and remain on until you turn them off again. Still.
    • No occlusion in some tunnels (particularly on the Bakerloo). Sunlight still shines through the back of the cab, like the structure of the vehicle doesn’t exist
    • The sound volume(s) are all over the place. Some sounds are far too quiet, some far too loud and many missing altogether
    • Much of the cab structure texturing is still very low resolution/poor quality (whatever you wish to call it), particularly on the Locos. It really stands out against the high res instrumentation
    • The AA still flickers and is generally poor at standstill or low speed. The flickering when stationary is back with vengeance - this had been all but eliminated in latter TSW2020 DLC.
    • There is weird motion blur at high speed like a force field around the train vehicle, not related to the wheels.
    • Tutorials are still a bit of pointless mess. They don’t teach you anything about the actual train, they are simply cut and paste of ‘this is how you go, this is how you stop’. “You’ll spend a lot of time in the drivers seat” - No S*** Sherlock. They don’t mention, for example, switching on lights, destination blinds, saloon lighting, safety systems etc. These are far more important than simply being told how to go and how to stop. Why bother with simugraph and the modelling of all of these features if you don't actually tell people how or why they are used?
    • Texture streaming on PC is still not working entirely consistently so low resolution textures are not changing to higher res as you get close to them. Particularly noticeable on Bakerloo
    • MicroStutters that were around when GWE was first released and subsequently eliminated are back across all routes.
    • Bloom is far too intense, particularly on the Bakerloo Line. We need the option to adjust its intensity
    • Critical one - There. Are. Still. No. Night-time. Textures. WHY? Many buildings have weird silver windows that DTG seem to think covers them for both night and day. Driving at night in TSW is very poor compared to Train Simulator. Very few street lamps, pitch dark buildings everywhere (London @ 10pm is not a dark ghost town) and just generally poor night lighting. It really needs work.
    • Lighting in general is still problematic. Again this seems to be more of an issue on the U.K. routes. Why is that?
    • The manuals are literally pointless and tell us nothing. My job means I spend many hours on layovers in hotels. Pay me a token amount for my time and I will gladly put my money where my mouth is, sign an NDA and write you some proper manuals. I’ll also make sure they’re ready to be released at the same time as their respective DLC. I’m totally serious!
    • Passengers are staying on the trains when they’re not in service. Still
    • Passengers in general
    • Without .ini tweaks there is lots of scenery coming into focus too close in front of train. Aware this is a performance thing with LODDs but again, there need to be scalable options for this. We shouldn’t have to be changing the engine.ini file to rectify this stuff on higher end machines
    • Scenarios and many services are just weirdly set up. There is not enough time at the scenario start to set the train up properly - it is Train Sim World after all. The scenario walks you through the steps (unnecessarily and often in the wrong order) but then often misses major things out, like lights, destination blinds, cabin lighting etc.
    • The Motion Blur option in the menu doesn’t work. You turn it off but when you restart the game even though it says ‘Off’, it’s actually ‘On’
    • Save Game function STILL not working reliably. Various threads on this forum highlighting this problem. Given the volume of DLC for this game, one save slot is NOT SUFFICIENT
    • Still getting repeated sign in requests for Dovetail Live.
    • The red signal thing ruins the game. If you can pass a red on TS2020 there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to do it in TSW. For me this occurs normally as I creep past a ground signal, or pass a main signal that for whatever reason I’ve missed with the emergency brake on. To end the scenario on that basis (some of which can be pushing 2hrs) is lunacy, particularly when you can’t save the game!
    • The new HUD takes up far too much of the screen and feedback from others suggest they're not happy with some of the changes.
    • I see Mastery is on the wish list to come back. It goes without saying that you should not be expecting everyone to start the game from scratch yet again for this feature
    • I’m very disappointed that the new sky hasn’t been brought into the preserved collection. It’s hard work to go back to the old having experienced the new
    • Why don’t the preserved collection routes in the menu have their national flags? There’s a mod out there for that but still, that can't have taken more than a couple of minutes to do and they just look weird by their absence.
    • Winter still looks very strange, particularly the trees which really suffer from the lack of shadow draw distance, so are absolutely white (trunk and all) in the middle to far distance but get bare as you get close. In addition, some of the ground texturing is very clearly laid in a repetitive way, so it all looks an identical pattern.
    • 2D Map
    • New Adhesion physics are very questionable. A Talent 2 scenario in the rain (Journey Chapter 1), in the summer and the thing is slipping and sliding all over the place. Talent 2 service in Autumn at night in heavy rain (Journey, Chapter 4 first service) and I slammed the throttle open from a standing start and there was no wheelslip at all. Same under braking - it would stop on a sixpence with no slipping. I’m not convinced these are proper adhesion physics again but just another fudge. Whatever they are, it’s clearly not working as it should.

    TSW2 DLC specific


    Bakerloo Line
    • The stopping points on the Bakerloo Line are wrong and completely inconsistent
    • Sound regularly drops out when outside of the tunnels
    • Horn/whistle
    • Lots of issues with the sound in general - mentioned at length elsewhere
    • This route suffers the most in terms of its lighting. The UK routes have always looked different to Germany (as an example). Why is that?
    • An awful lot of objects clip through the train
    • Speed limits are incorrectly implemented
    • Signalling is of the wrong type

    Koln - Aachen
    • Weird flickering Motion Blur on the ICE3 windshield
    • You can hear the run sounds looping on the Talent 2
    • Talent 2 wiper stopped working mid-scenario for no reason and nothing I did would make it work again
    • Talent 2 will often derail in the rain when the PZB initiates an emergency stop
    • Weird rogue shadow blanket (just like the one leaving Reading on GWE) when leaving Koln station
    • Every time you change external view on the Talent 2 the coupler moves with associated sound
    • Every time you change external view in the Talent 2 the rain water on the vehicle exterior and windows disappears. This is a game wide issue to be fair
    • Stationary ICE 3’s sometimes blur (as if they’re actually in motion) as you pass them
    • Given the new PIS feature on the Bakerloo Line, I'm surprised and disappointed to see that it hasn't been applied to this route. Inconsistency again.
    • The Horns - As with so many horns, they’ve got more synth in them than the Pet Shop Boys used from 86-89. Additionally, the sound issues are back with the ICE 3 where you can’t go from a low to high tone or visa versa in quick succession. The engine will only play one of the sounds.

    Sand Patch Grade
    • Overall a vast improvement in every respect except it's still massively let down by the sounds.
    • Huge and heavy locomotives sound like high revving Transit vans
    • Horns are far too quiet
    • GP38-2 bell can be heard looping and the loop is clipped.
    • Wipers are again FAR too loud - louder than the horn!

    There will inevitably be other things that I find. If there's anything obvious I've missed let me know and I'll add it to the list. Maybe someone somewhere make take heed at it in the new spirit of open communication and listening to feedback!

    Cheers.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 1, 2020
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  2. FeralKitty

    FeralKitty Well-Known Member

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    I’m glad you bought it. There’s still a lot to enjoy about it, even though it’s not perfect.

    Cheers!
     
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  3. LucasLCC

    LucasLCC Well-Known Member

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    I think that's a very good list. A few things to add:

    > Bakerloo has an awful lot of objects that clip through the train. How these weren't fixed is beyond me.

    > Why on earth is the accelerometer a circle? I can't for the life of me thing why this would ever be done...

    > Immersion controls should be consistent. There should be no case where it forces you to use classic controls. And vice versa.

    > SIFA icon should be consistent across the fleet. 75% of stock has this on the HUD, the 425 does not.

    I just generally wish DTG had a bit more pride in what's produced. A bit more attention to detail would make this a great game.
     
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  4. Scorpion71

    Scorpion71 Well-Known Member

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    Don't know if it's mentioned elsewhere but here's a good as place as any. The passenger windows on the inside of the ICE3, man they are dark, waaaay too dark, on a hot Summer's day it's like I'm travelling during a late Autumn evening!

    At first I though it was just the compartments in 1st class, I thought "oh nice touch, darken the windows because of laptops etc." then I strolled down to cattle class and wow, still too dark! I've only ever travelled twice on an ICE3 way back in 2010 and the windows were never that dark tinted.

    Please DTG, let there be light!
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2020
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  5. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    I’m glad you bought it. I remember posting about the poll prior to release where the options were, buy it on day 1, possibly buy it eventually, and not buying it... where I remarked that everyone who put ‘possibly‘ would definitely buy it and those who said they wouldn’t buy it would also buy it ;)

    There’s nothing out of place in your feedback and your section on general issues shows most of what could be improved on, some of which really should have been addressed by now. Your observations on issues in the new routes are all spot on. If I was to write a list of things about the things that I’ve seen that are wrong, need improving or are obvious bugs in TSW and TSW2 it would be a very long list. If I was to write a list of all the things that are right about it that list would be just as long.

    I haven’t done so though and I find it easier to just agree or disagree with things others write for the moment. Yours is a very honest post and your humble pie at the start shows that. DTG have said they want good feedback and that’s what you’ve provided. Good post.
     
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  6. Alexandra

    Alexandra Active Member

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    Please give his offer some serious consideration! Proper manuals and tutorials would very much expand the hobby by making it accessible to a lot of people who are simply baffled by the complexity of much beyond, "make the train go, make the train stop."
     
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  7. LastTrainToClarksville

    LastTrainToClarksville Well-Known Member

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    A case of praising with faint damns?

    {The infamous censor will probably alter or even eliminate the last word of the previous sentence, which rhymes with mams.}
     
  8. TheShotte

    TheShotte Well-Known Member

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    What hardware and GPU drivers are you running?
     
  9. hightower

    hightower Guest

    AMD Ryzen 3900x
    Asus ROG Strix RTX 2080 ti OC - latest drivers
    32GB DDR4 3200mhz RAM
    2TB NvMe SSD
     
  10. TheShotte

    TheShotte Well-Known Member

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    Specifically, what driver version? "Latest Drivers" is not an answer.
     
  11. hightower

    hightower Guest

    Oh good. You again.
     
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  12. TheShotte

    TheShotte Well-Known Member

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    Why you making it personal? It's a simple question, and the first question Tech Support would ask you.
     
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  13. malikrthr

    malikrthr Well-Known Member

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    At first, I wasn't sure if TSW2 was going to be a good simulator knowing the types of issues and bugs that existed in TSW2020. Yesterday, I purchased TSW2 and tried it out for about an hour. The included routes are not really in my interest area as I do enjoy playing american passenger routes mostly but so far, from my few minutes of trying out the Bakerloo line, I am impressed at how well it appears to be running. I was getting 50-60 fps with the occasional stutter but enjoyed the game play overall. TSW2 is definitely a step in the right direction and it seems to run a bit smoother than TSW2020. I wonder if medals or save progress from TSW2020 will automatically transition over to TSW2 as the preserved routes become available? Below are my system specs. I left the graphics settings at default but chose to turn off the motion blur. My gaming PC has a few older components that go back to 2010 but none the less, I am happy with how it is running on my system so far. I would say it is somewhat comparable to a PS4 or PS4 pro console

    CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE @ 3.4 Ghz
    GPU: EVGA GTX 1060 SSC 6GB GDDR5
    RAM: 16GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance @ 1600Mhz dual channel
    Storage: 500 GB Samsung 850 Evo
    Backup storage: 1TB Seagate Barracuda @ 7200rpm | 2TB Seagate Barracuda @ 7200rpm
    PSU: EVGA Supernova 1000G2 80+ Gold 1000w
    Mobo: AMD UD3 GA-970A
    Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D
     
  14. jazznsf

    jazznsf Member

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    So similar to one of my all-time favorite builds... glad to hear you've still got a 965 Phenom II in service! My mobo was a DFI LanParty board, with bright yellow sata cables and accent bits. Just an excellent system that lasted longer than any I'd ever built.

    TSW2 has stutter problems, worse on my build than was TSW2020. It may have something to do with the graphics driver.

    CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
    GPU: Gigabyte Aorus 5700XT
    RAM: Corsair Vengeance 3200 - 2 x 16GB
    Storage: WD Black 1TB NVMe SSD
    Backup storage: 2TB Seagate Barracuda @ 7200rpm
    PSU: Corsair RM850x PSU
    Mobo: Gigabyte Aorus X570 Elite WiFi
    Noctua 140 mm fans in a Thermaltake V250 Case, with a Noctua CPU cooler

    Temps stay in the low 50’s

    The GPU driver is the 8/17/20 release - 20.8.2 - this seems to be pretty critical.

    All that and it still stutters... hopefully will get sorted soon. Still quite playable. :)
     
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  15. TheShotte

    TheShotte Well-Known Member

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    DTG Tech Support would tell you to use the latest WHQL Driver (20.4.2), that's what they did to me. Whether you choose to listen or not is entirely up to you :)
     
  16. malikrthr

    malikrthr Well-Known Member

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    That is good to hear it is similar to one of your all time favorite builds. Nice gaming rig and specs you have there. I am trying to keep my system running for as long as I can. The Phenom II X4 965 was great when it came out 10 years ago and still does decent but can bottleneck for alot of CPU intensive applications. If TSW2 gets upgraded to DX12, we may see better performance if TSW2 utilizes the GPU more than the CPU. On my system, TSW2 has a few less stutters than TSW2020. I do notice a bit of a fps boost on the preserved Peninsula Corridor route but the stutters are still noticeable. I turned on Vsync to eliminate the screen tearing.
     
  17. hyperlord

    hyperlord Well-Known Member

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    What a great post hightower - I can assent with every single point you listed and I think you just got the tone right :)
    Thanks for compiling, I think DTG Protagonist can copy&paste it into his list and share it with developement.
     
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