Enough Is Enough!!!

Funnily enough (is enough), despite my regular contributions to this thread I still find myself back playing TSW. I mean in the Festival of Rail bought two good routes for TSC, downloaded the Virtual District Line. Also bought a loco pack for Run 8 and determined to get Scandinavia to 100% in Snowrunner. But TSW keeps exerting a pull, like a magnetic force. Maybe it installs subliminal messages which percolate through anything else you happen to be playing…

 

I recognise the shortcomings of DTG and TSW, but this is for me the case where the great core thing still far outweighs the drawbacks... there are few things that can get me as relaxed as this game (with occasional curses lol)... like, for a bit I can drive steel behemoths at speed

 

What tends to happen in reality is that you tend to save a run across PC play sessions. So the natural instinct is to go back on next time and finish it. At that point CBA to come off and do something else so instead you find a Journey run or hop into Quick Play and away you go. Rinse and repeat…

 

Seeing that there's no "complete" sim (though SimRail is the top candidate), I found the best way to keep me happy is to spend time on all of them. When I'm bored of TSW, I play TSC. Bored of that, I play SimRail, Zusi and Run 8. Then another day in lovely Railroader. And check on Train Planet. Then it's time for TSW again until I'm discovering new "Enough Is Enough" triggers, like recently discovered new texture issues on NTP (similar to Reading station). We'll never run out of content for this thread

 

I almost exclusively do Timetable Mode - you learn the loco and just do nice runs... I do scenarios/journeys only sometimes to get that little bit of special gameplay... but otherwise for me the bread and butter is the timetable mode, with occasional Free roam goofiness and Livery designer

 

thinking of making the jump to ZUSI, but money and... yes, a bit of fear that I will suck *ss at it cos it is so hardcore ...

 

I look through the Awesome Services thread a lot of the time. Interesting as it highlights the hidden gems of the already great timetable mode.

 

It's a conspiracy !!!

 

You only pay once. There's no DLC. New route modules (it's a modular network) and timetables are delivered for free. Full operational realism - but 2D cabs. But - highly immersive and it works. If you get a Zwangsbremsung it's 100% your fault. 18,000 services to play. Easy to use Editors included. Random factor makes the same service play out differently every time, delays, alternate pathing and so on.

Not to mention fully implemented EBuLa, passenger announcements and many different displays correctly emulated.

 

I think I said often enough we need a merge game of TSW and ZUSI.

 

yep, I know about that Fahrplan/Ebula and such... I know about the content... waiting for a bigger discount (while shelling out money for TSW DLCs lol)

 

so kinda TSW with working Fahrplan/Ebula thing, working displays, maybe loading/entering data/logging in to train and such...

 

... and a route network where you select or build your timetable from, not single closed-off A-B routes.

The way I'm seeing it, SimRail is the only software that has the potential to be some kind of "best of TSW and Zusi" adding the dispatching mode on top of that. That's a player's perspective.

For developing content, TSW is the place where money is to be made. Those gameplay packs bring good revenue for relatively small amount of work.

 

Not until it has decent singleplayer.

 

Well we haven't had a decent multiplayer yet, which is much more interesting and flexible, so I'm fine with that. No stupid AI that won't move or is unable to unlock passenger doors (Dispolok 182)

 

Only downside of Zusi is no save game, so if you have to come off before finishing a run then next time you skip to that location. So you don't carry forward any delays etc. into the next session.

I too am waiting for a significant discount before taking the plunge.

 

How good is the documentation? I don't want to crawl the web for startup procedures...

 

I just saw on Steam that "Zusi 3 Aerosoft Edition" was "only" 70$. Is it the whole game or is there another bigger (and costier) one ?

 

That is the one and only one

 

not bad, could be more detailed but for me the star of the show in the manual is the explanations on how to read Fahrplan and act upon it, like how to determine approach speeds to platforms and other close to reality stuffz

 

At Page 100 it will

 

Ill not be purchasing TSW5 if they couldnt even bring us the features that were meant to come with TSW4. Has DTG provided an update regarding suspension and why it is still not here 6 months down the line.

 

Me neither. TSW 4 was the last straw. I'll be deleting myself off the forums if it is announced

 

More competition for DTG.

 

I’d prefer if DTG or whatever they are called now would dump US content completely and focus on UK & European routes instead….I know this aint gonna happen tho….just my opinion!

 

…bit drastic isnt it?

 

I don’t personally think that should happen but perhaps they need to widen their horizons. Start talking to operators who are prepared to work with them, offer access for sound recordings and technical research. Speak to some short lines or look up in Canada, down in Mexico perhaps. For transit again some of the smaller cities that have this or even look at doing a historic or abandoned system.

In other thoughts, had a go on Luzern to Sursee last night. Known issues with the train and ECTS aside, it’s not a bad route but couldn’t help but think what was the point. Just like Glossop, Cathcart and even BCC we have all the effort that went into making Luzern station, the complex station throat and depot area to service what, a 15 mile run with one train. This should have been the springboard or nexus to start a comprehensive Swiss network, expanding out in different directions. Bring in some new rolling stock, maybe even a vintage SBB or BLS Re4/4 and some older EW stock to please us old codgers. But no, another fire and forget one shot DLC that Rivet played straight down the middle of the DTG flywheel paradigm.

 

the train is nice and route ok, but ETCS was its selling point and since that one doesnt work properly, I aint playing it until it works - I mean, they could get ATC/ACSES working kind of right, so why not ETCS?

 

Even if this game is only based in mainland Europe id gladly switch over to it. Ive had enough of the TSW franchise and its flops.

DTG really need to put in the work it feels like everyday theres a new sim thats popping up. Stop being money hungry and listen to your community fgs

 

The trailer does make the game look pretty nice, but once you see the working beta footage you do kind of realise that it's not the answer to TSW. For a start, it's made in Unity and you can immediately see the unavoidable draw distance issues and overdone lighting that comes as standard with this game engine - and whilst overall performance (the other 'quirk' of Unity) seems ok, those framerates are going to be severely tested once missing features, AI traffic, passenger activity and various other train related stuff is factored in to the equation.

The other thing to consider is that content wise (ingame features, routes and rolling stock), TSW is probably top of the class when compared to other games in the genre, so introducing a new game that doesn't come anywhere near the benchmarks currently in place AND is only on a par with the not so good stuff we already have in TSW doesn't strike me as being a positive step forward. An temporary distraction, yes - but judging by Train Planet's somewhat mixed reception I can't really see it being much more than that.

 

You're comparing 2 different developers. Atc acses has been around for some time and dtg had some time to refine it. It was also buggy at first which was overhauled but it's still not perfect. Etcs was brand new territory for rivet and a first in tsw

 

I am aware, but then, since then they have done close to jacks... to make it really usable... I can stand getting penalty brake when I overlook a signal or sth, but not when 1 second it tells me to slow down and 1 sec after it applies brakes before I even know wtf is happening

 

Can you explain your reasons for this view? You may not like US content but why would you want to deprive Americans of their favorite routes and locos?

 

There's merit in that suggestion. The US has more than a few small RRs which are quasi-heritage lines that also do legit local commercial work, generally without the speed restrictions the UK places on HRRs. A lot of vintage diesels are continuing to work into their seventh or eighth decade on such lines.

 

Let's wait until it releases, shall we? This strikes me as TSW's first direct head to head challenger, doing pretty much the same thing as TSW (unlike Railsim or Derail Valley or Trainz or or or). In at least one point it seems already to have an edge- I'm pretty sure I saw an Ebula screen in there. The modeling looks very competently done, the lighting looks good, and this is all alpha or pre-alpha footage.

For me the big question is: how buggy will it be? Will the devs include promised features, in a reasonable time, and fix issues when they arise in a reasonable time? In short, will this avoid all the things we have come to dislike about DTG? I for one am about ready for a train sim from a developer which keeps its promises.

(Also- they have a 218!)

 

hmm, why not

 

I can but life is too short…

 

I really like US stuff as it lets me experience something quite removed from what I get out of the UK lines I can go and ride on IRL.

 

I like the electric US content, though I like that they are bringing some modern diesel passenger stuff (Metrolink and such, which are more prototypical as to how US passenger rail is in many places, like 80 mph and not much more)... I wish they brought new Siemens Chargers 44 or the BrightLine highspeed diesel MUs

 

80 mph is ~130 km/h, a decent clip.

 

yep, I kept it in mph since I figured most ppl play it that way, but I am a km/h guy (made a chart mph to kmh for myself so I know how fast do I go on UK/US routes)

130 km/h is... ok for a commuter service, I guess... REX from Bratislava to Vienna via Marchegg does 120 kmh max, but thats cos it has slow-.ss Slovak coaches that are only built for 120 (CityShuttle 160 and Hercules diesel loco has vmax 140)... once the short section between Devinska Nova Ves and Marchegg is electrified and the bridge over Morava repaired, depending on new consist with probably Taurus push/pulling it, it might go between 140 and 160 on the Austrian side

in Austria and Germany commuter trains oftentimes go way over 120-130 kmh, 140 or 160 kmh isnt uncommon

so back to the beginning, 130 kmh is ok but still kinda slower than it could be - F125 is capable of 160 km/h, Chargers by Siemens can do around 200-210 kmh

I wonder what exactly limits the speed on those corridors... if it is many curves, level crossings, coaches or... I dont know

 

In the first instance, Federal regulation. Way, way back in the 1950s, Unle Sam decreed that any train running at 80 mph or more would have to have the equivalent of PTC installed, and any line without it installed would have a maximum legal speed of 79 mph. Well, none of the railroads were about to install what at the time was science-fiction tech, so for decades no line in the US was certified for over 79, and new lines were built with 79-mph curves.

This has only begun to change very recently on isolated stretches, like parts of the NEC, now that PTC is universal.

 

This is a silly preference and I’m sure all of us US based users could say the same thing. Wishing they dumped UK and European content and solely focused on the US, especially considering the US DLC always has a lot of flaws and seems to take a backseat often to the UK and European stuff. Not tapping into the US market would be a horrible business decision on the part of DTG because there is a lot of potential there, not to mention the financial possibilities, which seem to be above all else for them nowadays.

 

No, that is just as shortsighted as the post you responded to. Any serious rail enthusiast should be open to railroads from all parts of the world, even while having a preference for those of their home country, as I do.
TSW should be showcasing many more areas than it does at present.

 

With recent news about steam, all those potential DTG UK routes from dropping US content would end up being modern era with a single one handed EMU train included. I'd rather keep US content coming in, thanks.

Not that I actually want DTG to drop US content in the first place. It adds to the variety of TSW, something that the UK content will start lacking in if they truly go modern era only.

 

You completely missed and misunderstood my point. I’m not saying that’s WHAT US based user should be saying. Quite the opposite. I’m saying that we could have that attitude and say the same thing about UK or European based stuff but we aren’t. It’s a silly stance to have, especially if you’re in support of all areas around the world being represented, which I am. I’m sure majority of TSW users have this stance, US users included. TSW shouldn’t be focused on just one area to appease a small portion of its users. The franchise as a whole does better when there is a variety on what is represented, putting all issues with the offered DLC aside.

 

Fair enough. Glad we agree.

 

Almost like your Train Sim is likely to sell better if it caters to the "World"....

 

This is completely wrong. All they mandated was that trains be equipped with a system that stopped them if they passed a red signal, and of course by that point several European countries had introduced such systems.

 

Uhm SimRail is Unity as well, so just wait? First SR Trailers also didn't look superb over TSW and the EA start also was "OK" but not groundreaking. Now (for me at least PLAYING it) SR is better then TSW or let it put more "realistic" from the overall graphics. While TSW is a lot of eye candy, at the same time a lot of the candy for your eyes is not realistic.

They (for now) announced 12 (german?) locos for the start. That is a lot of content for a new game. It is not released, it is a first glimpse, a demo. For SimRail EA was about a year in the future when you could first have your hands on the Simulator.

I'm not saying Train Planet will be the answer to TSW, but I say don't underestimate this or SimRail.