I’m so glad that the immersion controls have been expanded on with the inclusion of a ‘shift’ button. AFB/PZB controls absolutely had to be on the controller and more camera angles etc will be much more interesting for taking pictures. I’m not sure having the horn split between shift and none shift is the best way to do it. I still think left control stick up/down (instead of zooming in and out, which is now part of the camera shift functions) would have been better for low and high horn. What has been proposed is definitely better than nothing though and I’m pleased DTG have taken controller feedback onboard.
I for one am also glad that the control scheme is being expanded. AFB will be a welcome addition, as is the external zoom for me. I'm somewhat disappointed that SIFA and PZB Acknowledge remain on the same key, but Matt's explanation of not changing things makes sense here. I agree. Using a shift function to change between low/high horn sounds awkward. I'm a steadfast advocate of using an external keyboard to complement the controller - I'm curious whether this expansion will make a keyboard less needed or whether it'll all end up being a bit cluttered and awkward with two shift keys. Be that as it may, I'll have to stick with my keyboard anyway (at least for German content) because of SIFA/PZB.
I am still using classic controls, but this new and improved immersion scheme might win me over. I only hope they 'detached' the gear control from the reserver control. If I'm not mistaken, in the current immersion scheme both use the same 'button' (left analog stick).
We originally planned to have up-down control the horn - however for "insert annoying technical reasons here" reasons, due to the implementation side of things, that turned out to not be realistically possible to get to - so this was our fallback plan. It works nicely though and I make full use of it all the time like some kid with new toys Gear control is in the same place - what are your concerns / issues with this placement? We find it works really well? Whether you get on with the shifted functions is going to be a personal thing, and one of the reasons we originally steered away from using them in the first pass of the Immersion controls - but the overwhelming feedback has been to go down this route so this is what we've done. It does take a bit to get used to, but i'm releasing PZB, using different cameras, controlling AFB etc all really easily now that i'm used to it. You have more keys to play with on a keyboard though, so nothing we can do will be easier than pressing 8 on a keyboard to get to that specific camera view - but if you dont have a keyboard you can at least now get to that view where you couldn't at all before.
True. Nothing will replace the ease an external keyboard provides on console. Still, any additional controller functionality is a great step forwards. I'd broaden that statement a bit. The external zoom function is one of the (if not the - not sure) last function you couldn't access on consoles at all. It's great to have access to that in the future.
So what happens if you like the immersion controls as they already are? What happens if you don’t like / get on with the new layout?
It was mentioned on stream that the new pass on immersion controls adds to what is already there. So what is there will remain in the same places. Use the extensions or leave them alone as freely as you need.
Well, Matt. I hate to admit it, but it seems I have to eat my words. Since gear control and reverser control are the same buttons, I feared that the reverser would move every time I changed gears in the 101, but I tried it yesterday evening and it wasn't a problem at all. Hate it when you are right :-p I do have two question for you regarding the new and improved immersion scheme though: 1. Most important: can you make the cursor dissapear (or move it out of the way). I'll go mad if I have to stare at the dot constantly 2. Will there be an easy way (one button push) to access the free camera (the 'drive by' camera). Could you clarify these 2 points? Overall, with the added functionalities, I am looking forward to this new immersion doodad
Cursor disappearing - done. One button for 8 camera - Unfortunately not one, but probably a couple of clicks on one of the dpad's to cycle to it. The way it's set up is dpad left cycles the internal cameras and dpad right cycles the externals. I'm sure once you get used to it you'll be rapidly getting to that one without any problem though it's pretty quick.
So is it basically as Sam mentioned a long time ago on a stream? "If it doesn't move for a while, it disappears and appears again when the camera moves." Or is it a turn on/off thing?
Awesome. That cursor is annoying as heck. Glad to see the back of it. All these little changes are adding up nicely.
Will the new control scheme allow us to turn AFB on/off? This would be useful on the ICE, which needs you to navigate screens rather than flick a switch.
From what I understand, the immersion controls will basically mimic the keyboard. If I'm on something like the BR185.2, I can press Ctrl+R on the keyboard to switch on AFB and then control the speed with R and F. Switching AFB on and off on the ICE doesn't seem to work via Ctrl+R (although speed up/slow down via R and F does). This leads me to think we'll still need to use the screens to turn on AFB.
I agree, sadly the SIFA/PZB issue will still force me to use a keyboard, they can still leave B/Circle to acknowledge both and on top of that add a separate SIFA Reset, but being two clicks away is not ideal anyway. Still, like the added functions, hopefully we will get customizations in the future. I think if you have a keyboard it's always going to be more convenient and intuitive, but at least it's not required if you want to use AFB or PZB now.
Other than the additional annoying beep that comes up when you ack sifa because of pzb also acking - which doesnt cause any problem as far as i can tell (never has for me anyway) is there another concern about these two functions being on the same key?
It's definitely not game breaking, but the beeping (especially on some locos) can be really annoying, it's also (obviously) not realistic and hearing the PZB thing going off every 30 seconds breaks the immersion quite a lot.
That is correct. Acknowledging PZB when there is no reason for it cannot have any negative effect in the real world. I can only speak for myself, of course. For me, it‘s about simulating real life as best as possible. If I was in a real cab, I wouldn‘t constantly acknowledge PZB for no reason and thus don‘t want to do it in the sim either. The additional beep or „Zugbeeinflussung“ is not actually my main concern. It‘s about immersion.
wahoo, I’d forgotten about the dot! Thanks for the additional info on the immersion control updates, especially camera… will the new camera options enable easier vertical movement and positioning? cheers
