We desperately need more time to set up the cab on Bakerloo Line. I played it again for the first time in a while yesterday, and forgot just how little time you have to set the train up. Ideally we need enough time to: Activate the cab Set the destination (front & back) Turn on passenger/gauge lights Where a train has to be moved from the shed/depot a bit more time to move the train into the platform is needed too.
I found that, ( although real life this wouldnt happen) i would activate the train, then accelerate to shunt, then fiddle around with the passenger lights and desto board, i found it much easier, and departed on time aswell
This is the reason why I spawn on foot and take over a service that I want to play 10 minutes before the service leaves because they simply don't give us enough time to set the destination boards (front and back) and other parts of the train. Then we are late because we were setting up the train. You shouldn't have to fiddle around with switches and destination boards in the train when the train is moving to keep to the timetable because in real life, that would not happen. I guess they did not think about that
It's one of the points I put into the survey they did a few weeks back: timetable services need to start up with the time paused so you have ample time to set up the train correctly.
Before entering a service on Bakerloo, I go through in my head what needs to be done like an athlete preparing for a race, and once loaded try to do it all in time, which is more or less impossible. The sequence starts with presses of the left arrow on the keyboard to get to the master switch, set that up, right arrow presses to get back to the reverser to set up, some controller gymnastics to release the hiss, set direction and set off, meanwhile more pressing of the arrow keys to get better access to the destination handle and light switches as I move off. Then between stations, do the droplight cut-outs and open the windows. It’s quite the workout. If it's raining, there's the added inconvenience of starting the wipers and changing the rate switch to fit in. The rear of the train stays as it is, no chance of me ever being bothered to set that up. I’m out of breath just thinking about it. More time is definitely required.
I agree with what you've all said here. I often wondered why I was running late on BKL on every service. I've run entire services with Not in Service displayed on the train unless I've changed it whilst in a station (time permitting). It's almost the same on IoW too.
The reason why it's so difficult to keep on time is because of how the speed limits work. IRL they act like standard road speed limits and take effect when the front of the train goes past, regardless of whether the speed is increasing or decreasing
Same, as soon as I start, Doors, Master Key, Reverser, Throttle into 0, Press the air release button, Open the windows, Preform a Brake Test, set up the lights and destination board, Close Doors, take off. And there's only about 50 seconds to do all of that. I can make up some of that lost time along the drive though.
I think the timing has been set up for pc users, with the luxury of having a precise and accurate mouse. Console users have to use a pointer which moves way too fast for any precision. If there was a speed option in the preferences, there might be some chance to set up and start the timetable on time. I do not expect DTG to code their own handlers for mouse support.
Theres an option after you've selected the route to "Explore on Foot." Clicking on that will give you the usual weather settings, and afterwards you can choose what station you would like to spawn in and at what time. This way, if you know a service is due to start at 11:30 from Elephant and Castle...for example...you can choose the Explore on Foot option and spawn in at 11:25, giving you an extra 5 minutes more than you'd otherwise would have
Just to make this quite clear: When spawning on foot the only available services will be timetable services, no chance for scenarios or journey mode.
We need a lot more time I'm to set up the Bakerloo line if we're going to thunder service on time when he's about 3 minutes to set up the train
Just because something is not on the roadmap doesn't mean they can't address this issue. Not a good way to look at it
That doesn't mean it's not going to be on future roadmaps. There's only so much they can look into at once.
This is not a helpful comment. Consider for a moment where the suggestions about what gets added to the roadmap come from originally. More set-up time for timetabled services is a known request and it's perfectly reasonable.
With plenty of practice, the fastest time I've recorded myself setting up the bakerloo train is 8 seconds
Believe me, it's just as bad on PC. Nothing precise about mouse set to fast, and set to slow is near-useless.
I agree with you, its too quick, we need more time to set the train up. You can basically blink your eyes 3 times and its time too depart.
Then perhaps you can answer why, despite many people raising this issue, there is no actual response? It’s not on the Roadmap so what is happening? You are releasing an update shortly to include Wembley Stadium showing up on consoles which does not effect gameplay but the lack of set up time certainly does yet there has been no actual response about this. If it is actually being looked into wouldn’t it be on the Roadmap? For many months several people have complained about the start up screen on PlayStation where you have to press a button numerous times before the game reacts. Again doesn’t appear on the Roadmap and from what I can see no response either.
I guess they can't put every issue raised on the roadmap. Maybe they could put the Bakerloo startup timetable in the "Under Investigation" part though but it would probably sit there for a while since this doesn't seem like a high priority
Maybe they can’t but they should certainly be prioritising things that effect game play more than scenery issues. In addition nobody from the so called community staff appear to have responded to this issue.
This isn’t a BIG Gameplay issue. The Game isn’t broken. It simply just doesn’t allot enough time for a full Cab Setup. Yes, we want it fixed, but it’s not more important than scenery things like the Landmarks, the missing fence on SEHS, or the FULL CITY being missing on RRO.
I know not realistic but after starting stop, chuck it into parrell, rush all the way there breaking at last second. Then in the extra time do the set up.
It is definitely more important than any scenery item. It does effect people’s gameplay experience especially when they are attempting to keep to the timetable. I never said the game was broken but it is a BIG Gameplay issue and can’t be compared to any scenery issue which does not effect gameplay at all.
It isn't just Bakerloo; it's pretty much all passenger services. (The nice thing about freight is there's no timetable, so you can take as long as you like setting up). Naturally it's most obvious in short-hop commuter rail like the Underground, S-Bahn and LIRR. Maybe the most egregious is a 422 S-Bahn scenario in RRO where you are taking over from another driver, but miraculously when he vanishes from the driver's seat the train defaults to shutdown, and you have to board from the platform, set up and get going inside a standard 20-second station-stop! But the fix I'm afraid while individually simple, would in aggregate be very time consuming; I suspect that it's an element of scenario/timetable design, in that each run has set variables something like SessionStartTime and ServiceStartTime, and the former would have to be manually changed for each and every scenario/timetable service in existence! Or, I suppose, a new routine could be programmed, where you begin the scenario in a static time-bubble where the clock doesn't run, and you have a "ready" button in the UI which starts things going. That would be problematic for immersion as well; but how immersive is the current highly unrealistic situation? I'm sure there are some real-life drivers on the forum who can relate how long before a scheduled service they are expected to report aboard, and at a guess it isn't just a minute or two. There would be a whole checklist of tests and inspection items before a wheel moved.
Also, scenery and game mechanics are two very different things likely being worked on by two distinct teams with specific skill sets towards one or the other.
This right here ^ Bringing London Landmarks onto consoles shouldn't be too trivial. The assets are already there, so it likely just involves messing around with LODs and possibly doing some trickery with scaling to bring them into the game world. Adding time to the start of a service– while it's something we all want –it could absolutely wreck the timetable and throw it out of whack. Remember, whether a train is driven by the AI or player, we all get the same instruction sets. Allowing for extra time would eventually add up and severely start backing up other services (This would be much worse in a self-contained route like Penninsula Corridor or Bakerloo.) That would all have to basically be redone nearly from scratch. I get the impression that either this is something that's hard-coded into the game, or it's something that the timetable authors have to restructure the services around. Either isn't a straightforward solution.
We are certainly not ignoring the issue, and as Sam said earlier your request is perfectly reasonable and we will ensure it gets looked into. We have passed along your feedback and we will update you when there is more news to share. However as of today, there is still no new information and that could remain the case for some time.
Another useless reply from DTG. This issue was raised by many in the community within days of the release but still it doesn’t even get recorded on the Roadmap. It’s not even an issue we have to wait and see if they can replicate. As of today there is still no new information and that could remain the case for some time is not helpful given nothing has happened in months not even an acknowledgment this is an issue. They say the request is perfectly reasonable on a post created this month but this reasonable request was made within a few days of release. They say the feedback has been passed along so what happened to all the original feedback on the same subject given there was plenty of it.
Not so. If you spawn in (or take a train to) a station where a scenario begins, just walk into the blue marker and when the popup appears press the E key (or console equivalent). An open-book icon is a scenario start; a mortarboard hat icon is a tutorial.