of course, Caltrain's 1h 30m run is amazing, and route length is still major reason that i play TSC until now. but, 30 minutes run is amazing for... just "maintaining play". you know, there are some periods that you're really tired but still want to do something. under such circumstances, full run of passenger service of Ruhr-Sieg cause me PZB warning. current route choice is not...that satisfying for me. but i think existence of short routes itself is not to be blamed. i don't know exactly what i want to say... i was huge fundamentalist about route length. but i came up with this thought while running east coastway, which is on sale now. ...and it's really fun to play as "nah, whatever" mindset. so, when is 313's sale?
Yea. They aren't bad, but there should be variety for everyone. Some want longer routes, some want shorter ones. For me, the gameplay matters more
I like diversity steam diesel electric trains short medium long routes old and new routes or fictional routes a route should not go beyond 3 hours unless there is a real good game saving system I doubt in real life train drivers go beyond 2.5 hours of driving due to safety reasons
I think maybe what people see in a short route is sometimes more a detailed experience, though these routes (most or fair amount) aren’t short in real life, and going after a short route not a long routes is fundamentally just a shorter route, maybe more investment by the creators in adapting for construction for longer routes is needed more for that ? Maybe a question for another time. I’ve said before for me, a short route wouldn’t be worse if it was long, a long route would if it was made shorter. (Brighton to Hastings opens up Hastings, Kassel to Fulda removes Wurzburg) If you’re looking at a time perspective or concentration maybe use the save function more often and come back to it later may help. I think when it comes to making routes they should be going to their limits on all fronts, rather than stopping for the sake of having less.
It's all about the immersion for me. By that I mean if I can engage in the world, fulfil tasks, feel like it's doing something then that's great. In my play style I spawn in on foot some period before my chosen period, spend some time setting up then drive. At the other end I'll reposition on foot for another service or position as a passenger for another service. I'll do this until I want to finish. If that's quickly then I've been a standby driver brought in to cover sickness or something. In such a manner it becomes quite a fun world for me. Not for everyone I know and I'm not suggesting it should be, but this means route length isnt as important as the ability to exist in the world itself.
This is why IOW is one of my favourites. It is a short, 30 minute route, and there are no big empty stations (the steam line but I just pretend it's not in use). The problem with longer routes is they need logical start/end points, service variety etc to make them worthwhile.
Length is not everything. Neither is the total running time of the service. Variety matters much more. Core TSW3 routes are prime examples. Cajon is around 3 or 3,5 hours if you go from one end to another and yet there is not much to do. The uphill sections are mostly about sticking it into notch 8 and watching scenery for an hour, descents are much more interesting. Some shunting services break the pattern. Kassel is the longest route in TSW and it's just plain boring. You have IC/ICE trains and night freight services that tend to deadlock on a red light. On the other hand, SEHS is a network of shorter routes than Kassel or Cajon, but with staggering variety. You have short passenger services taking 10-20 minutes (Dartford to Gravesend and Rochester to Gillingham), freight services of variable length, high-speed services from London to Ashford, and long mixed services between London and Faversham that take around 80 minutes to complete. I would much prefer a network route, even with smaller scope than SEHS rather than another A to B route with low variety in service patterns. Also, my personal preference is for services that stop occasionally (IR trains, semi-fast) rather than IC trains stopping once in an hour.
Short routes are good - but the wrong routes are short in TSW. Routes like GWE and MML should at least be Medium length or long length
TVL too. Should have gone to Bishop Auckland and/or Boulby to round it out. And SEHS, in some ways rather than devote resources to adding the 15 minute fast section to Ashford, these would have been better spent building back the classic route through Dartford into Charing Cross or pushing forward from Faversham to Margate and Ramsgate. A short route can be good if there's a variety of services but the infamous Glossop line becomes boring and tedious as it's just an all stations one handle linear slog. Likewise BCC, the route is longer, but only one train and a virtually identical calling pattern for all the trains, after a few runs it's a borefest. In some ways they did it better with Germany and the Ruhr routes, though these desperately need joining up with extensions to Dortmund, Koln and Moechengladbach to provide a comprehensive network.
German routes are extremely good when it comes to this conundrum. They have a longer route that fits the ice and a shorter route for other types of traction
I agree with the SEHS part, I find going to/from Ashford boring. Can't complain though as it makes HS1 actually worth driving.
On the other hand this is the only thing which makes me come back to SEHS as although it's got the ETCS it is the closest I can get to a proper worthwhile Intercity drive in game. I cannot stand the bus service (thanks for that one Vern) from Gravesend to Faversham, especially the middle bit. That is a bore fest!
well, i have to agree on them. HST's go-stop-end is really... isn't it intercity service? but also i'm the person who give luzern-sursee 5 out of 5, which is amazing for light experience. left something unfinished behind sometimes really feels burdensome. already use it a lot, but it's not universal solution i think. plus, i don't really want more details for shorter routes actually... should it have to? island line is just enough. but i generally like longer routes, and i think they have to be major among DLCs. over 100km route is also necessary. SKW, LRS, NEC, SEHS still my best. and seriously, why no philadelphia.
Most likely time and complexity to make the signaling work that far. Remember dtg couldn't release a big fat timetable because the signaling was complicated. Another possible reason is that dtg probably didn't want to model all that scenery and track for it to be empty since no septa license. Amtrak isn't the busiest. Another could be that njt is the star since dtg had gotten the license, and they run up to trenton
last sentecne was only for representing my personal favor on long routes. you know, kind of "feel sorry"
