That was some unexpected good news! Really looking forward to have a go with it. And hopefully their will be mod support inside the main menu in the future (so consoles can have the same mods as pc)
I would not expect mod support to be on the same level on consoles as it is on PC, if it ever gets added. See Fallout 4.
Right, because it's very restricted on what is allowed on consoles.. But DTG can handpick the ones they want and release them in the game.
But they won't. Are you really expecting DTG to go the extra mile for console users? That's not even getting into licensing issues that might arise from DTG "endorsing" mods by putting them on their store. I think clearly the writing is on the wall: TSW is going to be primarily a PC game going forward- they've officiallly abandoned feature parity after having already chipped away at it with lighter gen-8 timetables. With the editor there will absolutely be PC-only routes, locos, timetables, etc. They just don't want to come out and say it because they want to keep that console $ coming as long as possible. I'd love to be wrong about this btw.
Absolutely chuffed about the editor finally being available. It'll be tricky keeping myself "on track" to actually do some work on it instead of just playing the game, but hey ho Absolutely chuffed to bits - top marks DTG
Great news, massively hyped about this. Just need to figure out what route to have a crack at first....something East Anglian I feel. Probably missed this, are we able to edit current routes, extend them?
As far as I understood, existing routes can only be used to create scenarios in them. But I hope someone can correct me there, I would love to be able to change some of the routes and date them back a few decates, without the struggles and limitations of the current TSW editor.
I'm hoping we get some guidance material on the editor in preparation for the release. Would be nice to get a head start on the building processes!
I'd read up on the generic UE4 editor tutorials for starters. Download and have a play: https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.2/en-US/installing-unreal-engine/ You can grab earlier versions (4.26 etc) as well as UE5.
The dynamic brake on the ES44AC in Horseshoe Curve is overpowered. The developers are clearly never going to fix it so I am wondering if this editor will allow users to change the physics of exisiting locos so we don't have to depend on developers to fix things like this.
You’re looking into it way too far. Consoles are the biggest market for this game by miles, they aren’t abandoning it. I can’t believe people were expecting the editor to be on console though.
I VERY much doubt you'll be able to edit (fix) existing content. Once you cook a build in the editor the output is final, and it strips out a load of information and is then not editable. These are the files contained in the DLC Pak files. You'd only be able to copy and edit un-cooked source files, which for obvious reasons are not distributed.
in the stream they showcased it with a clip opening peak forest and playing around with it. so maybe we might be able to do something?
You can use UAssetGUI to view how the blueprint, including all the nodes, how their connected, any variables and so forth. Using that, you can recreate a blueprint from scratch, as long as the C++ functions are available, which they should be as they would be required to build a route from scratch as well. For this, you'd need to learn how to read the bytecode and have some patience, but it is certainly doable.
So does this mean that someone with the right talent would be able to make all the unusable track in S.O.S. accessible?
I'm unsure as I'm not terribly familiar with how the tracks are structured in Unreal. I believe they use an object type called Ribbon Loft Descriptor which is a custom asset type, and is then incorporated into the Unreal Level/Map tile. I believe it would certainly be possible to add new tracks to an existing map by creating new tiles, much as how scenery is added to existing maps with the Unofficial Editor, but it remains to be seen whether you would be able to modify the properties of existing tracks. I'm sure there's a way, although it might be quite complicated, even for advanced users.
My hope is that there’s a dedicated poison-free area here on the forums for Editor users to share insights, ideas, and ask those “dumb” questions while we all get up to speed with this powerful bit of tech. Seems to me we’re all going to be on a hefty learning curve, even if we’ve had UE4 dev experience in the past.
I imagine the guys responsible for the Pro Mods Addons for ETS2 and ATS would be able do do some cool things with this if they were so inclined. Here's hoping that the release of this editor will encourage a similar group to form around TSW4!
Plus, since the official DTG content is made under license from the railroads, I doubt we users would be allowed anywhere near it.
Waking up today, I still can't believe that we finally have an editor coming. Good job i'm not a betting man, I would've put a lot down on the editor not coming, even for the next few years! I thought maybe an enhanced scenario planner but not a full editor. This really is the best news, better than any route announcement imo. The dawn of a new era for TSW. A bit dramatic, but I really feel it is. Just think about the forums in the next few months, awash with screenshots/videos of our creations. Fantastic. Just need to get up to speed with the editor (just playing around with it, looks pretty cool actually). I'm hoping DTG provide us with lofts for platforms etc, just like TSC as I've only dabbled a bit with blender a while back (trying to make foliage) and I've forgotten it all! I gather they have all the tools for DEM, overlays etc, that's a great start. Bring it on.
Working in 3D with Blender etc can be a little daunting at first but all I can say it is totally worth it, especially if you have an end goal in mind. The same goes with Unreal, once you get over the first hurdle it opens up so much.
At the moment it says the editor will be available via the epic games store. What will this mean for Steam users?
Doesn't change anything, it will work with TSW on Steam. DTG have confifmed. The editor is based on Unreal, and Unreal editors are always only availible through epic as it's their engine.
I still hope we will be able to edit original routes, because there are too many small - easily fixable problems, which DTG doesn't bother to fix (and it is shame). For example Rheinstrecke. It is wonderfull route but with missing OHLE on some sections, missing speed warning boards, etc. It is too shameful to abandon these routes in such status.
Having read about the route editor in other threads we probably need to temper expectations. It sounds like a right pain to use compared to the editor in other sims. We don’t know what, if any, documentation will be supplied to assist in the railway specific aspects of the UE based editor. My personal thoughts are to start off with something small and easy, like a scaled up model or miniature railway; tempting though it might be to jump in and do your favourite long distance or heritage route.
It will be difficult yeah, it's an edited version of the actual unreal engine editor. That devs used to make actual games. So it is complex, people do it as their whole job. But the good thing about Unreal Engine is that, it's so widely used you will be able to find hundreds, if not thousands of tutorials about.
The most important part will be access to their custom tools for track laying etc these are the things that are currently far far complex to achive in UE4 without a lot of scripting. It should be a good base to get started and I can imagine there will be a fair number of Community guides and assets to come in the future.
My own dream would be to create the entire Amtrak Southwest Chief line from Chicago to L.A., but I will try to keep my feet on the ground.
Spent quite a bit of time today trying out the editor - where have the past 3 hrs gone? Some good tutorials about, just following some from this chap, amongst many others (UE5, but similar to 4.26) Quite satisfying but there's been a lot of 'why didn't I realise that' moments. And a few more to come I'm sure. For example, it took me a while to figure out why I couldn't erase a specific type of grass - turns out I didn't have the specific check box ticked etc etc. Makes you feel a bit silly really... A very powerful and impressive editor, so much to learn...
