I don't know why we have all this technology and resources at our disposal and are using these underwhelming sounds on the locos. The GE P42DC and Caltrain F40PH-2 are a couple prime examples. The prime mover, horn and bell are just a few glaring examples of the sound deficiencies present.
Nevermind the sounds, as pointed out by Cat, RWA is a thing, and I would highly recommend it, but a lot of the older DLC that's available could use a visual upgrade as well. While locomotives like the NKP S-2, or the SP GS4 are good for something that came out 5 or 6 years ago, they are still pretty painful to look at when compared to some of the newer locomotives that have been released in recent years. If anything looks should be priority 1 when it comes to upgrading DLC.
Why weren't these sounds added in the first place? Why so cheap? At Trainz we have third party partners who put more effort into getting the most realistic sounds and even provide some of the built-in content and dependencies. I'm not here to rant but it's kinda ridiculous
Indeed, AP produce some excellent add-on sound packs, which I'm using. Hopefully, they'll continue to produce more sound packs of this high quality. However, they're for UK stock only.
More to counter the "well trainz does it" argument rather then say that it's blanket. If no american companies are doing this then that's up to them.
Let's take the P42 from the standalone pack (comes with Marias Pass scenarios) and let's switch out the horn. First, let's find a decent recording - my personal favorite is http://railworksamerica.com/index.p...p42-horn-and-bell-replacement&catid=25:sounds as it has a good, clean sound. Next, you'll need to install a program called "RW_Tools" - you can get it here - http://www.agenetools.com/downloads.html Now that the groundwork is done, let's install the horn. Navigate to your Steam installation (usually the C: drive) and drill down to ProgramFiles(x86)\Steam\Steamapps\common\RailWorks\Assets\RSC\P42Pack01 Inside, there will be two files - "blueprints.pak" and "P42Pack01Assets.ap". Open the .ap file with 7Zip or similar program and navigate to Audio\RailVehicles\Diesel\P42DC\Cab Here is where things start to get complicated - open the file downloaded from Railworks America and inside you will see files named K5LA_Start, Loop, and End, plus some suffixed with "cab". Copy and paste all of the sound files into the .ap folder that you (should) still have open. Go find in the Cab folder "P42DCHorn.proxyxml" and open it. Press CTRL+F and search for "HornLoop". Replace the file reference to point towards "K5LA_Loop.wav" and repeat the process based on what the files are called - the "Cab" versions of the files are replacing the "int" versions in the default. For a more 'visual' representation of this, watch this -
RW_Tools should be safe - it's not necessary for editing the proxyxml, as you can use Notepad, but it's not quite as easy. The process should be the same, though.
I presume you have not looked at Railworks America? There are 298 add-ons for different loco & wagon sounds http://railworksamerica.com/index.php/download-library/sounds-enhancements Installation information is given with each download Peter