Northeast Corridor Feedback Thread

This will be a list of feedback for the Boston Northeast Corridor: Boston to Providence route.
The first issue that I noticed is the incorrect catenary. This section of the NEC does not use the PRR nor New Haven catenary.

The ballast is too dark. It should be more of a sandy brown color, also, the concrete ties should be like the ones on LIRR.

Feel free to add your observations.

 

Im only going off what I've read here and the TSC discord, but so far the following issues have been pointed out....

-Incorrect Overhead Catenary
-Incorrect PIS screens
-Incorrect platform markers

There is also some gripes about the single level MBTA cars, ranging from small visual details, to the choice of the MBB cars vs the Bombardier cars or the Kawasaki/Hyundai Rotam Bi Levels.

But I'm not an expert on east coast stuff, so I personally can't comment on the accuracy of anything with this route.

 

I like how it seems we finally have leafless trees (assuming this ss was taken in a service, I believe one of the 465 scenarios has leafless trees) that are coloured properly in winter. In fact I think winter looks better in general here, probably due to the trees being brown, not white. Hope this translates to the other routes and future releases as well as preserved collection (assuming this isn't a core game change and these are completely new trees).

 

There's also really bad artifacting in the air in this screenshot. This will hopefully be fixed before release, but still worth noting. This route could really do with a few changes in certain areas, that's for sure. Doubt the catenary will be corrected as that'd involve modelling the new ones and then replacing it, which is likely over a months work with a reasonable sized team.

 

Catenary is by far my biggest gripe.

 

Yeah I can understand that. I'm not that familiar with the route, but here in the Netherlands we have some types of really recognisable catenary, due to the design being experimented with and then gradually improved during the period of electrification in the fifties. This really gives certain lines their feeling, and I can understand that outside the Netherlands catenary places just as much of a role.

Although I don't expect it, I truly hope catenary gets fixed for those familiar with and hyped for the route .

 

Title Town residence here, what I noticed is that the single level cars are the older ones compared to the newer ones they use. As you can see the windows are more narrower. Secondly from what I've seen, it's usually the cab cars represented in TSW 2 that hav e the wider window type. Lastly, how come there is not the bi-level coaches? On the southern part of the region, many of the routes use the bi level coaches.
I hope we get the bi level cars and thew newer engine in the future! I've been playing train simulators since MSTS and there's been hardly any mbta rolling stock. Nonetheless Im happy we finally got the T! Would be cool if we can get the Orange Line.

 

I thought it was diesel trains not electric

 

The ACS-64 is electric powered by overhead wires.

 

You might want to change the title of the thread to include the word Boston, as North East Corridor alone signifies a different route in TSW land. Boston Sprinter is the official DLC title, so maybe go with that. I thought this was a really old thread when I saw the title in the list of threads.

 

too bad I was expecting real USA train

 

The MBTA F40PH-3C is diesel however.....

 

What about the flat nose locomotive is it diesel or electric

 

If you are talking about this....


Its a cab car, it has no power, it controls the F40 in Push Pull Configuration for MBTA Trains, Amtrak doesn't use Cab Cars here.

 

Maybe they had this mod loaded when they took the photos? https://mods.trainsimcommunity.com/mods/c3-train-sim-world-2/c19-patches/i764-winter-spring-leaf-fix

Paul

 

i think, it has more to do with the fact you now pick “month” rather than “season” as shown in thursdays stream.

if I remember the original issue was the date that was picked for “winter” in unreal, so by picking month this can be resolved.

 

That actually reminds me, picking month is going to be confusing to people in southern hemisphere - I'm going to have to remember that July is summer instead of the depths of winter unless it adjusts to local seasons? I don't mind if we use the months where the train is set to set the seasons - I and everyone else would likely get used to it.

Paul

 

no

 

No. Because even with that mod, distant trees are still white, which is my main issue.

(screenshot from Cathcart)

Anyway, why would they use a 3rd party, unsupported modification to their game?

 

The only things that stood out to me (and I'm not really able to say I have a clue about US Rail) was the floating catenary, and the German-looking platform signs.

 

I doubt they ever would intentionally on stream, but in private I would bet they play with the mods just like we do. They're players after all not just workers. They've even talked about them on stream sometimes - they never mention specific mods but they do talk favourably about the modding community.

Paul

 

I would think the logical thing would be to make the seasons associated with the month respective to the route's hemisphere

 

IDK if it is just the nose being in the shade, but the purple looks to be too dark and purply.

And I had no idea the MBTA had those cars, no wonder they looked off to me, lol

 

They do

In one of his videos on Hamburg Lübeck, Sam aka CNL Failure had the service number (RE 8, RB 81 etc) displayed on the PIS of the 112, which isnt in the game, but theres a mod for it.

 

I enjoy his streams - he's a funny one, him and his eight other personalities that talk back .

 

Same. I also enjoy his Transport Fever 2 streams as well. And I had no idea Colonel Failure is Sam until the other day when some people pointed it out to me in this forum.

 

He is jokester, but I always thought he had more personalities than that.

 

That is certainly possible Michael Newbury I've never tried to count them.

Ravi he's much more controlled here but glimpses of the real Sam appear in the DTG streams occasionally. Like this morning when he told himself to shut up .

 

I agree with everything you said, but adding one thing. DOVETAIL NEEDS TO MAKE NEW AMFLEETS! They have old interiors and not the new ones that amtrak has operated for 2 years with modern seating. Its a huge pet peeve me and many other NER fans face.

 

I’m about half way way through the feed now. From someone who doesn’t know American set ups I thought it looked really good.


Good points

• The sounds seem good to me and visually it looks a lot better.
• Passenger footfall looks good with nice variety.
• I like that you couldn’t see track shadows popping in
• I do like the diorama idea as long as they don’t over duplicate (think two did in stream)
• Nice to see more locos in a pack
• Great to see a lot more moving traffic on the map etc and the AI additional trains

Feedback

• Please sort those horrible clouds soon, there was one exterior shot in stream whereby the lower half of the screen was totally ruined by this clouds.
• Providence station, when entering the blue buildings on left looked too clinical , not much texture variation
• As per Sams comment - the colours chosen for the maps are a bit off and not easy to read. I'm not a massive fan of the Orange user interface at all to be honest but that's just me

Questions

• In previous routes around industrial areas there are lots of static diggers and trucks. Will these move as they do in ts2021 to give these areas less of a dead feel?
• Will we see dynamic weather?
• Will we see dynamic scenarios? If you do x one thing happens, if you do y the scenario plays differently?
• Can we see night lighting at stations?
• Can we see night lighting on trees, do they pop in and change colour like CRR?
• Will there be more functionality in the cab computer screens?
• Are the diorama people all in orange in America? Not sure on their uniforms but look like UK workers?.
• Will there be more posters at stations or more licenses so we have real posters instead of generic?
• Will there be proper maps as collectibles? The mod ones are so much better.

 

Typo in the route intro: Currently reads "Amrak" instead of "Amtrak" (see attached image).

Positives:
1. Appears to be a substantial increase in AI services, making the route feel far more alive. Please extend this feature to existing routes, as many feel dead (LIRR for example).

2. There appear to be subtle, yet noticeable improvements to lighting (how light is cast onto the ground by head and ditch lights for example). This is presumably a benefit of the newer version of Epic.

3. The passenger updates (volume & variation) are a step in the right direction. Still a long way to go, but a marked improvement.

Negatives:

There are better informed critiques of the route & rolling stock elsewhere in this thread, so I will instead focus on the stream itself, which I found frustrating to watch, was left completely underwhelmed and switched off after 30 minutes.

1. For future route streams, please come prepared with a checklist of the key features of the route to hand. When the lead Producer replies "I can't remember" to the question, "how long is the route", that looks amateurish and unprofessional. Unfortunately, this is a recurring feature of the DTG route streams. A prep meeting, pen and paper would eliminate this issue immediately and permanently.

2. Suggestion: Sam and Matt discuss the route whilst Jamie (or other) operates the loco.

Sam and Matt can focus on the detail, with Jamie (or other) focusing on the journey. Matt is constantly being distracted by operating a loco (with every safety feature enabled) and delivering camera shots etc.

I invite you to reflect on the following questions: What is the purpose of the stream? Is the current format the optimal way to deliver on that purpose?

 

How many of you actually watched and listened to the stream? Relying on the TSC discord for information is sketchy since a lot of people there have their own agendas and are more interested in the sound of their own voices than reality.

The catenary was discussed and Matt stated the original developer was sorting it out by relaying the catenary.

Likewise the PIS - you may not have noticed but there are 3 threads (2 locked as duplicated) where people have been asked to put Youtube footage they have shot of the PIS at their local stations regardless of the route. It is hard to get reference material since many people just don't record it for any length of time showing how the screens change and other details needed.

 

Actually a really fair point. I know Matt likes to showcase the routes but actually thinking about it, one person playing taking instructions from Matt if needed as him and Sam talk through would probably be far better. I did feel a little like it was a "play with Matt" session rather than showcasing what is probably a hugely important release to them after the HLL release sagas.

 

I think it looks great but disappointed to hear that the cruise control is not functional (locked behind a non-functional cab computer)

 

I might be oversimplifying but why can it be implemented in the ICE3 but not in this. I've noticed this a few times, they release an improvement feature then leave it out another route.

 

I'm going to guess on this one that it may be Amtrak, who (Matt said in stream and has said previously), are very particular on how their trains are represented as they seem to be worried someone could use TSW to steal one of their trains, so mandating certain things be removed can hinder that possibility.

 

It's possible, yes, but I doubt it. Knowing how to operate a cruise control is hardly what you need if you were serious about trying to illegally operate one of their locos. Personally, I think this was just left out on behalf of a cost-benefit analysis. DTG rarely model onboard computer systems in any sort of detail, the only exceptions possibly being the ICE3 and AC4400CW. The AC44 was done all the way back in the CSX:HH days, so it makes sense that it got a little more attention. Leaving the AFB out of the ICE3 would have been a very bad call because

1. AFB interlocks very nicely with LZB, one of the brand new features when the ICE3 was introduced.
2. Every other German loco (which has it in real life) has AFB in the sim.

I think it being buried in menus is ultimately what killed it. I'm not defending that choice or saying it's a good call to leave it out, but that's my take on why it was left out.

 

Indeed, it could simply be that they had no means of researching or accessing those menus in the real one - I imagine a lot of the cab stuff was researched when they did it for the original NEC and weren't allowed in those menus.

 

For completeness jolojonasgames Matt did also say it would go live with this catenary and there would be a later update to fix it.

 

To avoid duplication since most things have been said already, I will just add what I think wasn't mentioned yet (I apologize if it was).
The snow seems glued to the ground. A train moving at 125 mph should lift it and leave a visible trail, but there is none of that here.
Even without snow, in other seasons, there should be some dust visible at these speeds behind the trains.

 

What's with the extreme and constant screen tearing in the stream? This was the first thing that came to my mind. Is it because of the PC the dev build was running on? It looked a big step back to the current graphics in my opinion.

 

Noticed that too, but I think he just has V-Sync disabled (or FreeSync in case he's using an AMD GPU). Don't think it's because of the Dev build, as you can toggle V-Sync in your normal game too.

 

My comment was made BEFORE the dang stream, if you actually checked the date of my comment.

 

Yes, that was a pleasant surprise. Glad they acknowledged that they where wrong by using the catenery assets they did, and even more glad they are having it fixed.

 

Gee, any chance of seeing one of the streams on this route using the Rail Driver?

 

^This. I can't understand how it is possible that a game that is about driving trains does not include standard things that any real driver would use like cruise control.
If you can't get the computer screen done, at least make the functionality available with CTRL+R !

 

The last US route I bought was LIRR, which at the time I really, really enjoyed, but got boring very quickly (sadly).

US routes + freight are definitely not for me, despite how good Cane Creek looks.

Having watched the stream last night, I was suitably impressed, nice to see a US route that is nice and busy and taking full advantage of “Rush Hour” so bearing in mind, I haven’t bought any US content since LIRR, this route has impressed me enough to purchase it, when it comes out!

Nice job, DTG.

 

Thank you. Is there any way for you to actually stream in 60 fps? It would be amazing to see the game in its full glory (in general, not just in the case of Rush Hour), seeing how smooth it is and not just by looking at the frame counter. Or is it something that is too much for your bandwidth and/or streaming equipment?

 

Definitely support the suggestion of Matt & Sam giving the commentary while someone else drives the train.

Those MBTA trains sure have an ugly colour scheme.