I like to play the German routes with PZB and Sifa on. The problem is, however, that the acknowlegde button is the same for both (o). This means that every time I have to reset Sifa on the ICE or a modern loco, a voice says "Zugbeeinflussung". Even on the older DR locos, there is a loud beep. Because Sifa has to be reset quite often, there is quite a lot of talking... The issue can be seen (or heard) on Matt's braking tutorial video on MSB (from about 2 hours 20 minutes onwards). Would it maybe be a good idea to make the acknowledge button (o) a bit "smarter", meaning that it only says "Zugbeeinflussung" or beeps loudly when there actually was a signal or PZB magnet to acknowledge and, otherwise, when it only resets Sifa, it does not make a sound?
Yep, that's definitely annoying and one reason why I only drive with PZB and not with Sifa at the same time. I would recommend as follow: Short O push = Sifa Longer O push (maybe 1-2 seconds) = PZB
They’re talking of a new controller scheme for the Rush Hour update. Hopefully this should enable more functionality, but I’ve a feeling that they will retain the combined PZB/Sifa button.
Would be great if DTG could think about this. Maybe another solution would be to reset Sifa by tapping (!) the large rectangular button (which, when pressed, opens the map). I think all other buttons are already allocated.
What about a setting to swap d-pad up/down controls (immersion only - this setting would be locked to default for tutorials)? Immersion 1 - Reverser: D-pad up/down set to reverser control. All controls as they are now - the default option. Ideal for freight services where the reverser is frequently used for yard work. Locked in for tutorials and the Class 101 (uses d-pad for gear changes). Immersion 2 - Horn: D-pad up/down set to high/low horn. Up is high, down is low. Reverser only available on interactive control. Left stick click assigned to whistle, bell, or buzzer. Ideal for UK passenger services where the reverser is occasionally used and there are whistle boards (two tone). It would also allow immersion to have bell control on North American locos (classic only). Immersion 3 - Safety: D-pad up/down set to Sifa/PZB Acknowledge. Circle/B assigned to LZB/PZB Release (currently only interactive/keyboard). Reverser only available on interactive control. Similar to PageDown, it would be PZB Acknowledge on down and Sifa would on up. Sifa could be more appropriate on down as it is often a pedal down on the floor, though. For UK trains this would be AWS and driver's vigilance (currently combined on Circle/B). Ideal for those that use safety systems and want individual control of them. To go further and to our own preferences, I think they should just allow total user remapping of most of the controller buttons. Give all the options available on keyboard to be selected and assigned to the player's liking. There's also discussion of using a button as a shift key to allow more controls on controller without resorting to keyboard/interactive.
And is what the ZB stands for in PZB (Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung, intermittent train control) and LZB (Linienzugbeeinflussung, linear/continuous train control)