I've been wondering what the state of newer routes will entail after Rush Hour has been released. Obviously, Rush Hour is expected to bring with it an upgrade to UE 4.26, more passengers and variety plus, importantly, more AI traffic. In the RH FAQ it says other routes will benefit from the 'newer passenger system', but what about AI traffic in general, not on a Rush Hour scale of course but just to make a route less empty. Many past routes have had missed services which really should of been there i.e. no Victoria-Eastbourne services on ECW etc. While I love TSW 2, one of its flaws over the years has been the lack of AI traffic - the most recent Cathcart Circle is a great route, but still feels empty - although yes it's still on the older engine but just an example. But will newer routes revert back to less AI traffic like older routes? Though, hopefully increased optimisation will naturally be a factor going forward. Of course, not every route is Rush Hour busy in real life i.e. freight etc and that's fine, plus Rush Hour is purely a DLC add-on. But, I imagine the bar of expectations for busy routes in the future will be raised. This is purely speculation, but would like to know people's thoughts on this.
In Cathcart's case it's a matter of rolling stock, not game engine. The real-life 314/Cathcart schedule is implemented; what's missing is all the non-Cathcart traffic in Glasgow Central- but that is all trains that don't exist in TSW (yet) like the 380.
I generally agree with your opinion but: 1. Sometimes there's just not much traffic in real life. Like in Arosa Line you cannot expect trains coming every ten minutes like commuter railways. 2. Even if there is a lot of traffic in real life, a lot of them cannot be reproduced in the game because the exact trains are not in the game. We've already got so many wrong trains and I believe many people won't be happy to see a, say Southeastern Class 395, in Glasgow as there's no 390 in the game. 3. And there's the technical limitations. For example we only have S3 and S4 in München because the game cannot support more trains.
Perhaps there could be more passengers to give a rush hour feel for older routes as a comprise for not adding extra services. Stations like St Pancras are effectively a ghost town during peak times. I am certain that the southeastern platforms at St Pancras aren't a ghost town at 5:00PM. I hope that the rush hour passenger system are implemented to older routes which probably will be the case
I really hope that Rush Hour gets implemented into older routes too, but I also have my reservations about DTG doing that as it seems like it would be require quite a bit of resources. It is always a bit of a let down driving on LIRR or SFJ during peak times (I.E. 1700) and having there be three passengers at the busiest stations on the route. As long as Rush Hour levels of passengers continue to be implemented into future passenger routes where it would apply, I think that is something I can live with at the end of the day.
Valid point, though I think the decision to make a route which includes a large terminus station needs better consideration from DTG to make it realistic, like you say, more DLC, but I doubt DTG will create a whole load of new AI traffic that disappears into a portal from a new train add-on for Cathcart. 1. Of course, not expecting Cane Creek to be like Brighton Mainline. During the thread, I'm more referring to passenger routes on busy lines as opposed to freight or narrow-gauge railways. 2. Agreed, but is this on Dovetail's part to create future routes that don't have a wide variety of rolling stock which they will never make and, in turn, leave routes empty? I mean, Cathcart has one train, but Glasgow Central in real life has a plethora of different types (most probably won't be made). What I like about the German routes, is while people complain about the reuse of trains, it does allow more traffic opportunities as the trains are already there to be implemented. Also, it's why I'm looking forward to Brighton-Mainline, as a majority of traffic (excluding Thameslink) is Southern 377s, so there should not be any part of the route which is basically empty from missing rolling stock (well hopefully a Class 455 DLC will be released later). 3. Of course, when I started this thread, I am realistic to what DTG can do, but sometimes I feel a lot of routes do seem to have a lot of missed opportunities for extra/more variety of services, doesn't have to be much, but something to keep the game fresh.
Agreed. I think another way that could possibly be done without having extra AI services, could be opening up all the platforms on scenario planner. While true that I believe most extra Eurostar track/platforms, say at St Pancras for example, is purely scenery, it would be nice if future routes had such an option to add traffic in scenario planner. Obviously, highly unlikely, but an idea. Yeah agreed, though as you say it may take them time to get all relevant routes up to standard.
DTG have said that AI improvements are minimal, the routes are just better suited for the TSW dispatcher. So something like Bakerloo or LIRR will see little to no traffic increases, that's just not what this update is. Outside of passengers the main improvement is the upgrade to Unreal 4.26, which from what I understand has large benefits for route building on DTG's end. Doesn't bring a whole lot to the table on the average user's end, except minor performance enhancements.
But we would benefit from that indirectly: With less time needed to develop let's say 1 km of track, they now could invest this free time to develop 1,3 km in the same time as before. Or stay at the same route length but have the route finished and released earlier. Or they use the time to develop more rolling stock. Or or or. I think at the end, everybody benefits from that.
Ok I'm going to chip in to this. This is where Scotland becomes a pain. Scotland's rolling stock is so diverse - thanks in part to - diverse terrain and a diverse network. Scotrail alone operates; Class 43 (I7C) Class 156 Class 158 Class 170 Class 318 Class 320 Class 334 Class 380 Class 385 Now a few of these don't go to Central, but if you add the other stock; Class 390 (AWC) The Voyagers (XC) Class 397 (TPE) Etc. The best way to sort this out? Build more routes and use layers. The 380 could come with Ayrshire or Inverclyde with the 314 added with it. Then after that you could get the 385 on E-G. And so on. So until then I think we'll just have to live with it.
I’d like to hope they finally put some resource into the sky and a decent map like an unnamed 10 yr old game they already made. We need evo’, not devolution
No, but I could see them releasing the 380 as DLC, which would not only sub for the 314 on CC services, but would also supply AI background traffic at GC since the 380s do so IRL.
They would have to redo the atc system on the m3 and m7 to see an increase in services as it doesn't function realistically
