Train Sim World 4 - Antelope Valley Line Q&a (september 7th)

Hopefully it’s free for people who already own the CalTrain variant. They honestly should’ve done that for the SD70Ace for CJP. Although I highly doubt it cause, well it’s Dovetail.

 

Unfortunately, I highly doubt it'll be free. If it's a completely new, redesign of the existing Baby Bullet equipment with proper Metrolink reskin, updated/corrected sounds, working cabcar included for those who want to run those, then I'm more willing to pay for it. But if it's just going to be a simple copy and paste of CalTrain with a Metrolink reskin and nothing new, then I would be more hard pressed to actually get it. It's a nearly 2 1/2 - 3 year old DLC that you're essentially paying for a second time. And that's just taking advantage of your loyal customers for a quick buck. It should be free and if not, be a complete rework of the existing stuff.

 

Will the locomotive bell be able to be turned on and off using the controller?

Since there is a lot of single-track, will dispatching/routing work better than Clinchfield, where northbound trains were routed though every siding instead of staying on the main?

 

Will Saugus Swap Meet be the mastery reward?

 

Just to reiterate the point made earlier, why are we seeing BNSF trains at all on this former Southern Pacific (now UP) route. BNSF traffic for the LA area goes from Barstow down to San Bernadino via Cajon. Any BNSF freight at Mojave from Bakersfield will be eastbound via Sanborn and Jim Grey.

 

To give some freight components to those who don't own the layering routes, Sherman Hill and Cane Creek. There are no new freight locos, so you need Sherman Hill to sub the UP locos and, I believe, Cane Creek to completely eliminate BNSF.
You also need the ATSF F7 if you want that loco in the route. It came with a loco pack earlier this year.

 

Or they could have just bundled the UP stuff in with the route, especially as it's not exactly new any more.

 

Agree. Especially since they do it for the 66 on the UK routes

 

When are we going to get streams using xbox again or playstation. Why did you stop? Just curious.

 

Of course, but then no one would be encouraged to buy Sherman Hill and/ or Cane Creek, which I suspect might be part of a sale bundle at some point.

Anyway, the whole layering/ substituting regime is confusing. I asked for clarification in the other thread, but I'm sure someone will ask during the stream.

 

Maybe but it just seems totally daft to decide on a UP route and not include at least one loco to represent the freight traffic. Thety did it on Peninsula Corridor (AFAIK) and as noted above the 66 gets bundled with just about every modern UK route. The policy as I understand it is that new DLC does not come with more than one new traction type. That doesn't preclude including something that already exists. And Sherman Hill/Cane Creek will sell on the merits of the route which at this point, most people who want them will have bought anyway.

 

Not watching live (playing Cajon then watching a movie) but what have we learned so far and initial impressions?

 

Im at work so I can't watch live.

 

Was mainly wondering if we have got an answer on the split timetable, use of BNSF power and LA night lighting.

 

Stream doesn't start for another 5 mins.
Mike.

 

There are both split options, doing half the route each, as well as complete 2 hour and 10 minute runs.
If you only own Cajon pass, BNSF will layer onto the route.
If you own the UP routes, UP will layer onto the route instead, they both use the same timetable.

 

As I understand it, you need CajonPass to activate the Frieght Layer in the first place. Only then can the UP Locos Substitute for BSNF.

 

That's not how I understood it.

 

Sounds are pretty good and sound like the real thing. Some very unique scenarios. Nothing gamebreaking so far

 

Well then let's hope I'm wrong.

 

That is true. You need cajon to activate the layer. Sherman Hill if you want the up services instead the bnsf ones

 

Makes no sense, because Cajon Pass is not a TSW4 base route- that was TSW3.

 

And for those people who don't own any of the freight routes, we get no freight services on AV Line? Phenomenal...

I never bothered getting TSW3 because of how disappointed I was with TSW2 and all the bugs it introduced. I'm only getting TSW4 for Metrolink. And now I have to buy a UP route to get proper UP freights layered in? This couldn't have just been included? Not everyone owns everything. Really just, yeah...

 

Just Dovetails way of squeezing more money out of your wallet

 

Actually a bnsf route and then a up route to actually use up content. There are more players who have cajon pass since it's part of tsw3

 

Yeah, not happy with how DTG chose to do things for this route, it could of been done better.. .

 

Given Peak Forest included two existing locos (no need to pre-own SoS) and the 4F, I really can't see why one of their flagship releases for the new version couldn't have included one or two UP locos in the pack.

 

Yeah, I have some ideas I'll throw into a thread later tonight on how it should of been handled, even though it's moot at this point as nothing will probably change...

 

As a Santa Clarita resident, I have to say they captured the mood/aesthetic of the region extremely well. The terrain and art direction is more accurate than I was expecting.

 

Only problem I have is that California, L.A is nice and all but, this route just seems so boring. It’s the middle of desert! The scenery looks very bland and boring to look at. I’d rather be driving along 60-70 miles an hour thru a high density suburbs and cities in areas like Florida, Chicago, maybe Washington. But for me this route just isn’t it. It’s basically Cajon Pass 1.5

 

It does seem a bit shady to require Cajon Pass to get the freight layer. Surely they could have built the route differently so freight was built in as standard.

 

DTG Matt Is there any way to turn the objective marker/stopping point icon (that shows ahead of you on the screen) off whilst maintaining the actual objective marker at the location? It’s frustrating having that displayed through the windscreen etc.

 

Like I said, anyone remotely interested in US freight probably owns Sherman Hill so it would have cost them next to nothing to actually include the UP freight locos with the route.

 

Yes, the more I'm learning about this freight conundrum, the more questionable it becomes.
I'll have to watch the full stream to get DTG's explanation, if they've offered one.

And I'd like to see the night lighting and listen to the loco sounds too. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait a day or two.

 

In response to what Matt said in the preview regarding the freight layer and how it works for Antelope Valley, regarding wanting to hear feedback on this, I'd say this was probably a good choice so that more people can get more traffic on an already quieter route. For instance, I've been slowly gaining interest in US freight routes and have got Cane Creek and Sherman Hill both recently, yet I don't have Cajon Pass - so it will still be nice to hear that I will be getting freight for AVL nonetheless.

Right at the beginning of the preview when discussing the different services in the menu, Matt provides another explanation regarding freight that is probably quickly worth watching now if you have time.

 

Haha, let LIDAR do all the work. Have you seen what it looks like with just LIDAR data imported? Guess not.

 

While I do have my nitpicks with from what I've been reading thru on the TSC discord (LATC, Saugus Historic Depot, some scenery choices, freight) I wouldn't call the route lazy, seems like DTG did put care into Metrolinks stock and the stations.

Think someone has set their expectations too high.

 

Oh gosh, okay. Sorry for saying it was lazy. Wrong word choice. I'm not interested in everyone replying the same exact thing. I get it. I shouldn't have worded it that way.

 

You need Cajon Pass for the freight layer to appear.

 

Horses for courses. Personally I dislike urban routes.

 

I mean, isn't this route technically both? Urban from LA to Newhall Pass, then mostly rural from the tunnel to Antelope Valley...

 

Unfortunately they did not show night lighting.

 

No idea what happend with the lighting and I hate to be that guy again, but this looks pretty bad. The cab is much too bright also.
And such Iconic building right next to the track could have been more detailed. My Trainz 2009 3D models looks better then this. Pretty sad tbh.

Edit: Infact, i'm so frustrated how poor this is, that I wont buy TSW 4 in the near future. It feels like you guys just taking your customers for fools or something.

 

The only thing I enjoyed about the route are the sounds which are very relaxing. A full length run is too long for me lol. Even an hour is a stretch considering how the route is. Like scenery is alright, but you're kinda just driving with not much going on. Probably would do ventura services at the minimum.

I did notice in one of the short tunnels, the eye adaption freaked out inside the cab making it very washed out because there wasn't enough time to darken since the tunnel was soo short.

Other issues. I haven't noticed. Nothing gamebreaking so far. If there are bugs, probably something immersion breaking.

 

Yeah, it is. Newhall Pass is kind of the transition point. There's still a little bit of city running as you go through Santa Clarita but it's kind of like desert city running if that makes sense. Once you leave Vista Canyon though, that's really where all the mountain and desert running starts. The route offers a nice combination of both! And the top speed, primarily from LA-Sylmar is 79mph in a lot of places. Slows down a bit after that and then picks up again once you get closer to Lancaster.

 

Hmm actually I think you might be right - it's all a bit confusing. They should just give the freight to those who have either Cajon or Sherman Hill/Cane Creek.

 

I particularly liked how far the long distance scenery had come with this route & Austria currently showed. Definitely a massive improvement compared to what other routes have got flat/invisible distant mountains/hills.

sounds sounded quite well done (I haven’t heard the real ones but they sounded like they will be high quality)

looking forward to getting into this route around launch (I’ll probably try this route or Austria second)

 

Don’t have time to do Ebula, still lacking GSM-R, steam physics are terrible beyond belief, game is plagued with bugs and frame rate/stuttering issues.

But who cares about that!? Check out this ridiculous scenario where you run along side a terrible looking car and watch explosions with some of the worst pilots in the country.

I honestly feel a bit offended. All of the time and money I’ve thrown at this game and this is what I’m given. I’m not against having some fun but this is just taking the mickey.

 

This is quite literally the worst I've seen TOD4 lighting. Still struggling to see how it in any way makes the game world look "more realistic".
I'm not even gonna comment on that low res texturing of the building.

I haven't watched the stream yet, but I really hope that its not this bad and its just compression or something as otherwise this is a step backwards in quality.

 

doesn’t seem in any way a fair comparison to compare yet to be implemented (quite extensive) features to appearances of one scenario, it seems the equivalent of complaining that their isn’t now 20 different countries but some trains have heating controls and suitcases can get dragged on platforms…

improvements to existing features and different features can come before other features.

Unless DTG could and would have implemented those features you have stated in the same effort to implement that scenario then it’s not proportional and therefore not a comparison. They shouldn’t have to make scenarios less interesting or exactly like a normal timetable just for sake of not getting done more on steam physics.