I know on a sunny day with the sun in your face the signals my be hard to see but the fact that they are a lot more visible in the pouring rain with fog doesn't make sense?
I think this is related to the new lighting. The signals are just not bright enough to show against the brightness of the surroundings and don’t really look like bright light sources like they used to in the old lighting. The colours are very muted too especially at a distance. When the surroundings are dimmer, like when it is getting darker in the evening or when the light dims due to the weather then they become more visible. I’m relying completely on the HUD indications for signals on Cajon Pass because I just can’t make out what they are showing until I’m right on top of them. I previously had the signal aspects turned off in the HUD but can’t do that now.
Thanks for raising this issue. I've been aware of this problem on Cajon Pass since its inception, just haven't posted. It really came home to me yesterday, while running a switching service in Barstow Yard in the rain and deteriorating light. As you said, I had to rely on the HUD and the 2d map to read the trackside signals, very important in switching operations, of course.
Yeah they are overly dim in this new lighting, especially on sehs. I don't know why dtg didn't adjust the brightness with tsw3. Even on a dull day they are hard to see, only time they stand out more is in rain or fog. They are more visible on cjp but there's still certain times of the day they are not really visible. Also I noticed when a signal is flashing you see the lense flare when the signal has gone out?
Signals that cannot be seen properly... Good start for a train simulator, lol. Looks like another reason to not get TSW3 until it gets sorted out.
That has been an issue since Peninsula Corridor with most US routes. Flashing yellows don't have their light flares in sync with the actual lights. Considering noone at DTG seems to be driving HUDless and actually watching the signals in-game, no wonder noone from the dev-team and testers notice these issues.
Now you mention it yeah I have noticed with other us routes the flare out of sync with the signal. As it stands at the moment I run with the next signal hud but without the aspect. So atleast if I pass a yellow I sort if know the distance to the next signal, incase I can't see it.
Thanks for bringing this up, I definitely concur that the signal aspects on CJP and SEHS are far too dim. As mentioned, this makes driving without the upcoming aspects in the HUD unpleasant, for sure. Now, it may be that this is the "accurate" lighting, as far as it goes. My suggestion would be to make the signals even brighter than in reality, if need be, in order to see them from distance. Generally speaking, you cannot decipher the signals as they are now until you are basically right on top of them. I might also mention, I have the same problem with the whistle boards on CJP; they can't be read from the cab at all, and even using the external camera you have to get right next to them to read the "W." You can contrast this with SPG, where the whistle markers can just be made out from the cab. Again, although this might reflect "realistic" lighting, I would suggest perhaps adjusting the way these look, so that you can observe them from the cab. Otherwise, really, what is even the point?
Yes that's another thing, trackside signage is very blurry and hard to read if you run at less than 200% screen.
