Yes the night lighting in built up areas, or lack of it, it is quite an immersion breaker. It was quite a surprise seeing how down Birmingham was represented on the Cross City line, shrouded in darkness. Even the smaller towns can brighten the night sky.
Airport Branche is a No. Matt did say that in an another Thread. According to the roadmap, the BR187 should finally be fixed.
The other wacky thing with TSW2 lighting is it varies by route. Some are OK but others like you say are waaay too dark. Sand Patch Grade is a good example. High noon in July is dark like a winter morning.
This is the exact root of the problem. TSW1/2 came out with its lighting system, and lots of people played hours and hours into it, and got used to how it worked. TSW3 came out with a new lighting system, which is quite different, and lots of people didn’t like the change and say the old system is “better”. But why? What’s the entire point of a lighting system in a train simulator? It’s to recreate lighting conditions of the real world. And if you go outdoors at specific seasons and times of day in the real world, you are going to find it looks a lot more like it does in TSW3 than 2. TSW2 looks like a video game and TSW3 looks a lot more like real life. Objectively anyone should agree there. That said, the new system has some issues that need to be looked at more. Like the tunnel eye adaptation (it works great in some places but others ie Boston tunnels near Back Bay/Ruggles its like a flare went off in the cab). Also tail lights, signals etc are harder to see and don’t always look like the right colour after switching to the new system. I don’t think that’s a flaw with the new system but more that not enough care is taken transitioning routes made for the old system into the new one.
The only thing I hate about the new lighting is the excessive light in long tunnels and other areas with limited sunlight. Other than that I don't have any problems with it.
I drive my trains on TSW3 in summer. There is a thread in here about the Luzern Sursee route and how its so dark. It is. You need to have it in summer and between 10am to 2pm. I that is old TSW2 lighting. Are people referring to night lighting here or just lighting in general? I think the lighting in day time is perfect. At night time is not perfect but I won't complain. I just don't like those buildings on Harlem line as you enter the main station that have lighted windows in the middle of the day...... I think there are a couple of buildings on the DRS route that have it but it's not a big issues. I really enjoy this game and love the Kassel Wurzberg route. Yes we have the LGV and that's great too. I'm guessing that people that have only played TSC are griping? Have a good day all.
Reports and observations help make this better. To be honest I love the direction of TSW especially since TSW3, I'm now totally hooked. I first started with the original Sand Patch Grade but was totally disappointed with the physics. Now I couldn't be happier! Driesa Resden is one of the best routes.
In my opinion the problem is not the TOD4 lighting itself, I think it is the poor shadow drawing distance which makes it look so odd at some times of day. When I played TSW3 on SKW for the first time I thought that DTG had cut down the drawing distance compared to TSW2. But that isn't the case, the diffence between shadowed areas right in front of the train and all the other areas only stand out much more, because everything is so much brighter in TOD4. And I do think that this brightness is more realitic than TOD3, but the shadows spoil a lot. DTG should work on the shadows, so that there is something like a corridor at least in front of the train where the drawing distance is increased, especially for the rails and the near surroundings. Such would in my opinion help a lot. I played DRA the other day and for my taste it is too dark and flat of colors compared to Linke Rheinstrecke or BRO, especially in the woods. Driving the ICE3 at night it is nearly impossible for me because it is like driving in a black hole where only some signals appear from time to time. Which is also caused by the not appearing light cone of the ICE3, which is a problem on every TSW2 route (SKA is much more worse than DRA in teems of night lighting, cologne itself looks like they have currently a complete power breakdown) and the old sky model. So I'm really looking forward to see DRA with TOD4, I'm more concerned if the game will crash again on my Xbox Series S due to the assumed higher system ressource. Hope that DTG had this in mind when they've updated the route.
The lighting at night is awful... It was like this from Train Sim World: CSX Heavy Haul to TSW3. 3 things are very annoying: - Station lighting; - illumination of signs/signals; - work searchlight train. There is no need to write nonsense about the fact that the train does not need a searchlight / headlights. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the headlights are set incorrectly. I have 2 guesses why: 1. possibly caused by texture baking; 2. Adjust the beam of light as shown in the pictures below.
I agree I love the tunnel eye adaption too. However maybe it should be switchable to be on or off for those who might have a problem with it, if that is possible of course.
It's certainly not perfect, it has potential though and I'm glad it's there. It needs some tweaking for sure, it's overdone currently.
I think this is the point. There need to be far more customisable options for graphics (and sound) not just the particular scheme the dev with the biggest clout wants us to see (or hear).
Everything that can be should be adjustable. There is no such thing as one size fits all. Everyone is different and the more customisation you can apply, the better, so you have things set just the way you like. I noticed on the Austrian stream it took the inside of the cab a few moments to go dark when entering a tunnel. It should be pretty much instant.
If you have worked in the industry you will notice the light still enters near the entrance so that is why.
I’m not a train driver, but I’ve been in plenty of tunnels in cars, trains etc. Whenever I’ve gone into a tunnel, it goes dark straightaway. I’ve never noticed the light fading over a few seconds.
Unfortunately I’m pretty certain Matt P said it can’t just be switched off because it’s imbedded within the lighting system.
It can however be massively tweaked to be less uncomfortable. This has been done very successfully on PC with a simple, single line engine.ini alteration... Any such tweak can be given a menu slider option to control it.
Yes I remember that. But please notice all the latest routes are being longer - around 70 kms - , so then DRA with "only" 55 km long, it will be the shorter route. Even comparing with all the latest ones, and the TSW3 original ones. Considering on this route you have ICE and IC trains too, it deserves to have an extension of around 20 kms. But anyway, this will not finally happens
I would love to see Dresden to Riesa extended to Leipzig, it would make more sense for the ICE services I would imagine. I was quite excited with the speculation this might be so until it was confirmed it was not to be.
Berlin Leipzig would be epic. I wouldn't let that put you off. We have had some great German routes to date. I think the quality is there. I think there will be more to come. Not sure when. But there is.
