It would be really cool if we got dx12 in the update and it would be amazing if RTX came too. I can imagine dx12 is realistic but RTX probably not given its a totally different way of lighting scenes and the lower end gear wouldn't be able to do it. Paul
DX12 would be nice since I read often here that the performance increases to a certain degree. RTX (for shadows and reflections?) would be a nice to have thing, I actually only tested RTX once with Tomb Raider but my 2060 Super might be just the lower end hahaha I would really really like to see DLSS because the whole Anti-Aliasing (I actually have to scale to 140% to get rid of flickering) thing is the part of the game I spent the most time adjustig-crying-repeat. When I could get rid of flickering and aliasing without scaling my WQHD to 140% I automaticly would gain +30% FPS (or so). I don't know if it would even be possible to let the GPU do more of the caluclations. For example: When I apply brakes (any loco) from 0 to say notch 3-4 the game hangs for a second like "calculating physics please wait ...". This lead to me driving a lot more with foresight ;-)
I don't think we will get RTX this year. In fact, it makes sense that they add the UE 5 version of it instead (Lumen) when the time comes. We are looking at least 1 year away.
My personal expectation would be DX12 as a given hyperlord I would be a bit sad if we didn't get it. There shouldn't be that much to do because you can force it on now and it works fairly well. I would be surprised too if we got RTX Inkar mainly because they'd have to model proper water then . Paul
I don't think it needs any core upgrades to have decent water textures. They are already present occasionally, SEHS being one of the few examples. You can even see them in TS20XX on many routes. The "water problem" is " a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma " to quote Winston Churchill.
Given the existing performance issues, I think RTX would simply murder framerates; when it comes it will have to be as part of a complete groundup overhaul of the lighting system anyway. But DX12 would be welcome, since it does in most cases both increase framerates and improve draw distances. Unfortunately, right now in its 'not supported' state it's incompatible with Livery Designer.
You can already use DX12 with various results by using the -dx12 startup command. You get an instant 20-30% fps boost on all routes (at leas on AMD but i suspect Nvidia users also have the same boost) but it makes the stutter even more horrible on some routes. I think its related on how the shade cache is handled since memory tweaks in the unreal engine don't do anything. But yeah it would be a major performance boost DTG manage to get rid of stutters and implement DX12 officially for the game. I would settle with stronger SSR (Screen space reflection) during rain, in order to make the ground cast reflections of the entire environment and make it look really wet since this features doesn't cost to much FPS, or at least it doesn't when you force it via Reshade.
The reflection is not based on engine.ini tweaks (even tough the game uses a very limited SSR on the reflection seen on trains). The reflection on the ground is achieved by enabling the SSR filter inside a program called Reshade. https://reshade.me/
dbrunner#4864 I have used DX12 and yes you do get (mostly) a performance boost, but it also causes problems. Like crashing Livery Designer and crashing some scenarios. I had it turned on but have it off now. Initially it worked in LD for me but stopped working after I rebuilt my computer and reinstalled everything. solicitr RTX should actually improve frame rates as lighting, reflections and to some extent shadows are done entirely in hardware - this with RTX cards should see a significant improvement in both processing time and quality - especially quality of reflections - these are amazing in games with RTX enabled. Crosstie yeah I certainly "see that point" lol. It is kind of sad really, TSW2 is supposed to be the flag ship but the game with a 20 year old engine (TS) does water quite nicely when people try hard enough. Even reflections in water can be amazing. This is a screen grab from Mallard in Sacramento Northern (a seriously old TS route). The reflection in the moving water is excellent. Oh I wish it was like this in TSW2. The Unreal Engine is certainly capable of excellent water effects with ripples, transparency and reflections.
No problem. My point was that all unreal games have a strong SSR implementation and simulating wet surfaces on the ground during rain should be achievable without any issues in TSW engine itself.