Train Sim World 2 - First Look Metro Norths Harlem Line

Discussion in 'Dovetail Live Article Discussion' started by DTG Natster, Mar 2, 2022.

  1. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    It was rather gloomy. I always find Matt’s streams to be darker than how it appears elsewhere though so maybe it won’t appear as dark on our systems. The track area was just a black void on screen and the sides of the trains didn’t appear to be lit up much from the platform lights.
     
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  2. rare_common_sense

    rare_common_sense Well-Known Member

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    If it’s one thing I’ll say, the route does look okay. Still very much on the fence about picking it up so soon. As I fear it will just be a route I’ll play for a few runs and forget about it like I do with the game as a whole.

    I was concerned that they have not implemented gradient changes along the Park Ave stretch that was largely absent in the TS version of that section.
    I do like that the viaduct looks better and is better represented than TS. The tunnels, look way better than the TS version does.

    Which brings me to hope that if there’s ever a possibility if this route were to ever make its way into TS.. those assets and features would be updated/used in that rendition somehow. Because I’ve been bothered with the way that section of the route was represented. In both the New Haven and Hudson routes. GCT I will say still looks far better. Lighting is better though still not as good as it can be. I love the partitions in the junction area leading in and out of the station. As that was mostly absent in the TS rendition as well.

    Overall, the route, what little of it we are being given is nice. Better looking in many aspects. The supplied locos look and sound great. Hopefully those will be translated better into the TS version at some point.

    Yes I know I’m going on about TS. Sorry not sorry.
    But knowing that some content being done in TSW does get ported into it, does give hope that possible content for it can look and translate better.

    Hope the route doesn’t disappoint those heavily anticipating it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2022
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  3. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    Well, everything that can be said about this route, both positive and negative, has been expressed in the two major threads. We've seen just one rather unimpressive stream and a few screenshots. Now it's up to those of us with late gen consoles and decent PC's to see how it plays in the real world.

    Nothing DTG can do in the next 6 days can make up for the lack of passengers, AI, the missing structures and general big city ambience. But the sounds and lighting might be better on our own hardware.

    One of the annoying things about the stream was the nonchalance with which the shortcomings were dismissed. Absent the chat, would the moderators have ever drawn attention to the passenger and GCT issues? And then the passenger deficiency was waved off with a " we'll have to look into that". This would have been just about the first thing anyone noticed. It was a glaring omission in the screenshots even before the stream.
    With a New York commuter route, " Rush Hour " is such an essential component. It's MIA, unfortunately. Will we wait another year for the PC team to fix it?

    Well, enough. I can make no further comment until I see it on my own machine.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2022
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  4. meridian#2659

    meridian#2659 Well-Known Member

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    Thats a problem also present in london to brighton. In the cl.465 is done really well, the 377 & 387 has missing flange sounds.
     
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  5. schorni

    schorni Well-Known Member

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    Based on the information and preview yesterday, this track is apparently still unfinished (again) and the short track length also makes it uninteresting. I'm not convinced by the explanation that they'd rather spend time designing the city than the track length. It looks more like they just wanted to save time.
    Anyway. For me, the normal full price is not justified for this and accordingly I'll pass.
     
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  6. rare_common_sense

    rare_common_sense Well-Known Member

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    I definitely wasn't buying that explanation either.
     
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  7. tallboy7648

    tallboy7648 Well-Known Member

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    No. The platforms are much brighter in reality
     
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  8. tallboy7648

    tallboy7648 Well-Known Member

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    Neither was I to be honest and the ridiculous shortcomings seems to reflect that was just a cheap excuse. American passenger routes seem to get the short end of the stick compared to the European counterparts
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2022
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  9. SHINO BAZ

    SHINO BAZ Well-Known Member

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    Did anyone notice near the end of the stream matt suggested if people would like the M8 as a possible future add on to suggest it,in the suggestions section.What?This would have been a great add on for the lirr route after they added the M3 yet they never added it then.Yet they do another route in new york and use 2 semi recycled trains,They could have added the M8 instead of the M3A for example at least that would have been something new and gave this short route something to look forward to.DTG normally adds at least one new train per route and this route would have benefited from something new to help with it's less then lackluster length and consist options.
     
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  10. meridian#2659

    meridian#2659 Well-Known Member

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    My thoughts on the rush hour season pass was, that it was sold way to cheap for what we got. So i bought each route for its full pice individually. This was my personal choice and despite the bugs i still think all 3 routes are worth their full price.

    But with the "Little Harlem Line" here, im just not convinced to get the experience im searching for. Dont get me wrong if a southaast extension dlc is planned and a loco dlc parallel to it, dtg you will get my money (30+30+20 euros).

    But with the current history, this will be abadoned after release and teams move to other projects.

    I really dont get, on which customerbase this dlc focuses. Sim freaks might spend more with an extension which wont happen ever, and for the casual player the route charges too much money for the mileage its deliver.

    Dtg you have to do better, not even a 12 year old child is buying those excuses.
     
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  11. CK95

    CK95 Well-Known Member

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    This is the biggest shame IMO, UK routes will always be my number 1 choice, but that doesn’t mean I HATE U.S routes, in fact I quite enjoy the idea of them, it’s just more often than not, there seems to be very little effort put into them, and in turn I’m sure that makes them the least popular routes in terms of sales.

    DTG really need to step up their game when it comes to U.S passenger content.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2022
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  12. rare_common_sense

    rare_common_sense Well-Known Member

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    Thank you. These are pretty much my sentiments as well. I've gravitated more towards UK commuter/passenger stuff for this reason. It's almost criminal the way US Commuter stuff is done.
     
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  13. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    If GCT wasn't dark, there wouldn't be anywhere for the muggers to lurk.
     
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  14. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    I think this is the best US passenger route so far.
     
  15. rare_common_sense

    rare_common_sense Well-Known Member

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    You say that with just about everything TSW.
     
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  16. box215

    box215 Active Member

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    Muggers in GCT?
    You have no idea what youre talking about and it adds nothing to the discussion.
    Just stop
     
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  17. Disintegration7

    Disintegration7 Well-Known Member

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    This boggles my mind.

    Why isn't RH passengers the standard on every route since it was introduced? Like, why did they spend the dev time/resources on it if they're not gonna use it?

    And then they reply like, "oh, we never thought of that, we'll look into it"- seriously what is their project management process that this could even happen?
     
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  18. CK95

    CK95 Well-Known Member

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    And I’d argue that, that’s not a good thing.
     
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  19. tallboy7648

    tallboy7648 Well-Known Member

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    The bar unfortunately is set very low for American passenger content then if Harlem is the best :(
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2022
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  20. PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix

    PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix Well-Known Member

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    Well, we still don't have the other line such as Hudson and the New Haven Line, which TS, on the other hand, does so hopefully we will see these lines and train on TSW2 soon this year. I especially want to see the M8, Shoreliner Cab and Car and the P32 Geneseis
     
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  21. PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix

    PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix Well-Known Member

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    Maybe its with the help of the modder hopefully someone would be able to create a mod for the M7A and M3A Track sound. I believe the mod was Londonmidland which is really good, it just brings a whole new experience to almost reality. :D
     
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  22. PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix

    PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix Well-Known Member

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    Why is DTG setting a very low standard for almost all American Route, while in their country Britain, there are just so much love and content? This really need to change DTG? Why can't all content be make with love and be equal with the others route?
     
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  23. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    Yes, please stop this silliness.
     
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  24. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    Without being disrespectful to anyone here or at DTG the question I ask myself is….”if rush hour passengers are still not released for a September 21 route why should I pay for this which already looks similar”.

    I’m a bit jaded about pushing more money out when I dare say there’s already gremlins there whereby patches will not get through QA for months and months. That’s the impact the constant delays have, makes me delay buying new product
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2022
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  25. proluigigamer01

    proluigigamer01 Active Member

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    With all of the nice upgrades we seen in the stream, will the LIRR be recieving any of the upgrades like the PIS screens on the m7 and the fixed audio? I dont plan on buying the metro north railroad, however I would kill to have an actually functioning m7 that actually sounds like an m7 and wont break audio wise
     
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  26. skyMutt

    skyMutt Well-Known Member

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    I personally really enjoyed the preview stream. As a New Yorker who has been on this route in real life several times, I was delighted to recognize soo many things, and pretty much felt right at home. The M7A and M3A models are spot on, the horns were nice and loud, and the sounds...well, while I can still tell they're synthesized, they're miles better and more accurate than what was there for their LIRR counterparts.
    I really appreciated the details such as the wooden platform bridges, and those statues at Hartsdale. And did anyone notice that trains were using 3 tracks for one direction during rush hour? That's something that does indeed happen in real life, and I thought that was cool. :)

    Onto the things that do bug me just a bit, one of which is the use of the platform PIS, which isn't only inaccurate, but it's closest real-life counterpart has already been replaced years ago. It's functional, sure, but it does take away some of the character from this route.
    Also, I'm not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet, but I've also noticed that the station canopies and roofs feel awkwardly tall, whereas they should be a maybe a foot or two shorter to be more accurate to real life.

    Grand Central, from what I can remember, is a rather dingy and dark feeling place in real life, somewhat like Penn Station is. In-game, the station lighting felt as though it had a spotlight effect that was too noticeable, almost as though it's a sea of light cones. I think they're too much of a cool-white color temperature, and should really be a bit more warmer. Beyond GCT and into the caverns and tunnels felt just about right however, it does get that dark.

    I'm looking forward to next week's stream however. I would really like to see the night lighting especially around Harlem 125th, perhaps facing southbound towards the city. A quick view of the Yankees 153rd St station would also be great.
    By the way, for next week's stream, can we get a closer look at the displays on the M7A? It seems to be often forgotten, but in real life these are actually touch screen displays, which you can use to toggle certain things on or off. I would like to see if any of this was implemented (like with the LIRR M7), or if there were any changes made.

    P.S. For Matt and J.D., the Hudson River is to the west of Manhattan. You guys were thinking of the Harlem River, which the route does cross ;)
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2022
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  27. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    Since it hasn't been released yet, based on what, exactly? Please be specific.
     
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  28. NateDogg7a

    NateDogg7a Well-Known Member

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    No, I was actually kind of thinking the same thing myself. I "held off" playing LBN initially, even though I had bought the Rush Hour package, because I wanted the feel of that passenger volume. Eventually I gave in and started playing anyways. So, if Harlem doesn't have the rush hour passenger volume, do I really want to be playing it right now? Like LBN, this line is supposed to be busy, unlike say maybe IOW, or others. So, I think it's a good point. I am holding out hope for the possibility that rush hour passengers just weren't in that particular build for some reason.
     
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  29. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    I say wait for the release and see if they fixed the passengers by then. I think I'll also wait for the release day stream and see how it looks on PC. A 10% discount doesn't worth it if the final product is not fun. I'd rather wait to see the release and get it full price if it's worth it.

    Just like the New Journeys expansion. They've said they are going to fix the numbering on the CSX SD40, but it still have not been done. I might get that pack in the future, but certainly not until they have fixed it.
     
  30. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    The whole promise a fix vs fix delivery is the glaringly obvious Achilles heel at the moment unfortunately
     
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  31. rare_common_sense

    rare_common_sense Well-Known Member

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    He loves to be on the defense about this game, and hardly ever gives any real context behind anything he says, hardly other than his beliefs being based on "because Matt said...."
     
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  32. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Well, you have to admit the competition isn't too fierce. The only one so far which isn't a complete goat-rope is the underwhelming Peninsula Corridor.
     
  33. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Code:
    SYSTEMS CHECK ALERT -- HUMOR SENSOR MALFUNCTION DETECTED -- SUBMIT REPAIR TICKET
     
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  34. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    Boston Sprinter is pretty good, to be honest. Busy timetable, 2 locomotives and a cab car, one main line and a branch line. Sometimes a bit wonky scenery, but overall it's pretty good. It gets a lot of complains for the ATC, but honestly arriving towards Providence is the only part where the ATC is acting up. Everywhere else it's fine.
     
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  35. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    In my experience, ATC/ACSES on Boston is FUBAR on every service.
     
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  36. CK95

    CK95 Well-Known Member

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    I’d have to say that Boston Sprinter is my favourite too, overall it ticks more boxes than any other US passenger route.

    I do really like Peninsula Corridor too, or at least I did in TSW2020, however the MP36 just sounds too quiet in TSW2, I do look forward to the PC enhancements though.
     
  37. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    Why? It works alright for me. Though I mostly drive MBTA Stoughton branch services, sometimes MBTA to providence, barely any Amtrak ones.
     
  38. PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix

    PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix Well-Known Member

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    Did you recall that Boston also has track noise as well, but for some reason the Harlem Line there wasn't any track noise and even if it did, its so faint, I really do hope that they will add the track noise before it is release and streams next week?
     
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  39. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    It was pretty hard to tell by the stream. There definitely was some track noise, as I could hear the train going over some junctions. Hopefully it's better when it's actually us playing, after all, the in-game volume was toned down for the video so they can be heard talking.
     
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  40. dhekelian

    dhekelian Well-Known Member

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    Wow, snowflake alert. It was a joke.

    I did try to stay awake for the stream but failed. What I did see was not that impressive imo.
     
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  41. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    Well, I think this has the most custom made assets than any other route.

    Some of the best scenery that I have ever seen.

    Train audio is excellent.

    Lots of fine detail. Example: metal track at Harlem 125th Street, and deck track on the Harlem lift bridge.
    Statues at Hartwood.
    Wooden platforms between tracks.
    Park Ave tunnel is one of the best looking tunnels in TSW. The tunnels in Boston didn't get any lights...
     
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  42. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately, neither of your recent " jokes " are very funny. Maybe even a bit offensive to New Yorkers.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2022
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  43. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    Fair enough, but I still think it's premature to make such a sweeping endorsement, before the route has been released and you've had some playing time.
     
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  44. PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix

    PegasusLeosRailwayFanatix Well-Known Member

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    ???
     
  45. tallboy7648

    tallboy7648 Well-Known Member

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    Im a new yorker and i certainly didn't find those jokes funny. I didn't find it offensive though. Muggings aren't very common in new york compared to the 80s. In stations, muggings are rare.

    Perhaps the repair ticket will fix his extremely dry sense of humor.
     
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  46. SHINO BAZ

    SHINO BAZ Well-Known Member

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    Muggings it tsw2 are not needed it's already bad enough that we have brain dead train passengers standing on the tracks from time to time.

    Passengers should be on platforms or on trains not on tracks...One of dtg games warnings is to not trespass on railroad property,yet they have passengers standing on the tracks,because they don't fully test passenger ai to see how they behave at stations.
     
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  47. The_Drunken_Engineer

    The_Drunken_Engineer Well-Known Member

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    I never knew New Yorkers are included in the victim groups one can't joke or talk about. Most I know always talk about how tough they are so I'm not sure if they need your online protection over a joke.
     
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  48. rare_common_sense

    rare_common_sense Well-Known Member

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    It must be snowing in hell right now... Actual points are being made.
     
  49. bartolomaeusz

    bartolomaeusz Well-Known Member

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    Definitely would support the M8 as a DLC for N. Harlem!
     
  50. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    One thing I don’t get is how and why DTG always leaves the station lighting the exact same default white colour temperature and intensity.

    Surely when setting up the lighting, there are several options are available to alter? I can’t imagine this being too long of a job to correct. Especially if you can select a saved present/pre-set setting from previous creations?

    Leaving it the default ‘fridge light’ looking white is just a bit lazy in my opinion.
     
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