I saw this earlier today. I knew it! The Brighton Mainline and Bahnstrecke Riesa-Dresden were coming to Rush Hour. Yes! I was right, I knew they were coming!
There's already a large thread on the subject. https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-2-upcoming-rush-hour-feature.38727/
It's a good idea how they included nec within the bundle so on there end its justified for putting the time in for redoing the route and receive less backlash if they released it as a standalone.
If this is true I'm super happy. All 3 routes sound fantastic. But I know there will be alot of backlash over the amount of recycled trains if so. But I buy more for the routes than the trains. I'm sure it will be clearer if this is for real on the 4th.
Think it is a bit of a strange move to include Reisa - Dresden when it's only just come out for TS Classic. They must have been working on both versions simultaneously. That or they are just planning to port over the TS Classic version. It's not a complaint, just thought there were lots of other great choices they could have picked that have been out on TS Classic for a while.
I can't tell you how underwhelming it is to get the same countries again. Germany, UK, US, seriously? Will there never be more variety to Train Sim World?
Given the price, recycled stock isn't the end of the world. It's certainly better value compared to Hamburg - Lubeck, which is the same price and contains just one route and some recycled stock. DTG have stated numerous times that the effort it takes to do a new country is much more significant than a country previously done. Whilst I'd love to see new countries, I certainly wouldn't expect to see them as part of a value bundle, I'd instead expect them to be full price like LGV was.
In the article they also mention a new core update and release for next gen consoles. Im confused by this. Im already playing TSW2 on xbox series x with 4K and 60fps. Can we expect more graphically improvements then?
Wonder if Brighton ML will work in tandem with South Coastway then to enable the two to operate together?
Yes, further optimization will hopefully mean better graphics settings without sacrificing framerate (and with even more stable 60 fps, hopefully). What could end up confusing is if they duplicate all content in the Microsoft Store, and everything will have an Xbox One and Series X|S version (the Italian studio Milestone does this with their games and it's confusing as heck). I hope there won't be any duplicates, only an X|S badge on existing content.
Well what I find confusing is that usually when a game is optimized for nextgen the game gets 4K and 60fps. But TSW2 on xbox series x already has this and it loads very fast. So I wonder what will be this new (core) update then...
Sam mentioned it once. DTG is not allowed to bring game content to a certain generation of consoles only. For example: DTG is not allowed to activate layers only for XboxOneX and Series X / S players. It has to be available to everyone. TSW2 XOne and TSW2 Series are technically two different games. So HMA on Xbox One will probably never have Layers, on SeriesX/S no problem
So if I understand it correctly, we are currently playing the xbox one version on the series x. It has 4k and 60 fps but DTG will release an update to this version that further optimises the nextgen console right? It sounds exciting if we can expect more graphically improvements.
TSW 2 runs great on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but it was not built with these consoles in mind. Any improvements is simply from the more advanced hardware. The specific next generation versions of TSW 2 for PS5 and Xbox Series X will be optimised. So we’ll probably get increased draw distances, better textures, etc whilst still delivering excellent frame rate. It will hopefully look closer to TSW 2 on a high end PC.
It does indeed have 4K (because of prior Xbox One X enhancement) and 60 fps (because the Series X can brute-force it up to the max), but "optimization" for S|X probably means more detail and better graphics settings. Because no matter how well it runs, it still uses the old Xbox One graphics. So in this case, optimization will mean keeping 4K and 60 fps but all that while displaying better LODs, shadows, whatever. Also, when a game is a native Series X|S title it can more efficiently use the power of the console, compared to when it runs in backward compability mode. Not only the Series X|S are more powerful but they use a different architecture and with this update TSW 2 will finally make use of the extra options they offer. So I'm hoping for overall better graphics and more stable 60 fps (currently it's variable to an extent).
I think it's all a little ambiguous. I'm on PC myself, so I'm not an expert on consoles. My question is: Are you guys expecting a new version of the game specifically aimed at next generation consoles or simply core enhancements that will improve the performance of the newer machines. I ask this because DTG have repeatedly said that they are not talking about new versions.
I think people are expecting a whole new version of TSW2 for series X and PS5 as the leaked article from DTG did mention upgrading from the XB1/PS4 version of the game to the new versions (see image at the top under the FAQ section).
Makes sense if you ask me, the teams are separate but if all the resources are there at the ready it probably saves some research & dev time, with all the DLC we’ve had this year, and more still in the making, pushing 3 large routes out together is a substantial task. I also don’t see why TSW shouldn’t get a route before TS does.
There is also a legal and licensing issue here. From time to time people have asked on this forum "Well, why can't things like layers in HMA be unlocked just for those of us with next-gen consoles?" And the answer has always had to be "We can't do that." Because if a game is advertised and sold as being "for" PS4 or XBox One, then every gameplay element* included has to be compatible with the systems it is sold for. This is both a matter of false-advertising law in most countries, and also (I am certain) a requirement of the Microsoft and Sony licenses. But if you market and sell separate versions for last-gen and next-gen, then the next-gen versions can perfectly legally include HMA layers and all sorts of other things that the last-gen versions don't, because they are not advertised as being "for" PS4 or XBox One. *Higher-quality graphics or higher framerates are OK, though
Who's to say that they haven't fixed the core issues that were preventing the layers on console. They have been very tight lipped onto what exactly the improvements are and the fact they are adding more passengers, even for console that they have figured a few things out. Or the updated UE fixed a bunch of issues for them.
PS4 player here, not yet making the jump to PS5. From the wording in the leaked article, I’d say this is the first step towards a better version of the game, one closer to what’s available on PC, with graphics settings and possibly more available layers as standard (if TSW2 goes in that direction). As they are still probably a long time off from specifically developing for the new generation consoles, I think the initial releases will be identical to the old generation versions with possibly the layers available on HMA. They’ll get the benefits listed, which are better load times and smoother performance, based on the versions being optimised for the machines, but nothing else to start with. Now that there are dedicated versions for the new consoles, the ability is there to upgrade those versions to the higher resolution textures that PC uses but I don’t know if they will do that due to the bigger storage and download sizes. That would be one desire I would have for when I upgrade though.
I think the going assumption is that they have made significant progress, or have simply found a smarter way to increase passenger & traffic count. It may be a case of they can make routes more economical going forward, but HMA services can’t be a resolved as of yet.
Solicitir mentioned this further up, but since all the improvements mentioned in the article for next gen versions, are basically already present, this is possibly just the gateway for DTG to officially say that they can do certain things for PS5/XS and not for PS4/X1, because as it stands DTG cannot give the PS5 & XS the extra layers because there isn’t a separate build. I do wonder what all this means for PS4 & X1, regarding their lifespan for development, although this subject probably won’t be touched on until year 3 is upon us, at least any conversation further than “no plans to drop support”.
A layer are services that are additional to the base route and locos, providing you have other routes/locos. HMA already has a low frame rate and high memory, so layers currently are not available on console, on PC only.
In the PC version of HMA, in addition to the BR 403 and 423 included with that route, owners of other German content have additional "layers" of timetable services for many other trains: the BR 146, 185, 143, 155, 425 etc. This has become standard with German routes, since they're all Deutsche Bahn. But HMA places such demands on consoles' processing power that DTG decided not to include the timetable layers in the console versions of the route.
On PC you have access to RE/RB & freight services on the Munchen - Augsburg DLC, but due to performance issues on PS4 & Xbox One, those layers aren’t there for any console. The next gen versions for PS5 and the Xbox Series S/X have people wondering if we will see those layers arrive on those consoles. There is also the ongoing discussion on what improvements have been made in order for PS4&X1 to handle Rush Hour, since it promises more traffic & passengers.
Thanks for clarifying, I didn’t know this. Then I’m for sure very excited for this new update, hope we get more info soon..
The hardware enhancements introduced with the newer consoles makes them comparable in horsepower to a decent gaming PC. So they should be able to cope with most, if not all, the features available on PC, including missing layers. So, all that's really needed is to unlock those layers and find a way to give consoles the graphical and gameplay controls that enable PC players to customize the game for their particular setup. You could give these improvements to older generation consoles retroactively. You don't really need a new version or build, yes/no?
Agree completely, makes me wonder if the routes are a red herring for a big reveal tomorrow. Looking forward to it either way!
I’m not sure it’s worth worrying too much yet until we see any direct disadvantages to sticking with the older gen. I think development will continue for a long time yet but there may be things in the future that won’t work as well on the old gen, as the proportion of players falls, as there may be a growing desire for functionality to increase beyond what can be done on older machines. It’s too soon to tell.
I don't think for one minute that DTG are going to "abandon" the large player base that uses PS4 and whatever MS calls its older consoles. As I've mentioned here before, the ratio of PS4 to PS5 in the world is about 120 million to 4.5 million. Of course, they're not all playing TSW2, but the ratio probably holds. It'll be interesting to see if anything is said about this tomorrow. But I don't think the writing is on the wall just yet.
It is all true, no lies. The Brighton Mainline: London Victoria to Brighton, Bahnstrecke Riesa-Dresden and Northeast Corridor: Boston-Providence are coming to Rush Hour.