Technical Question About Route Length Limitations

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by thearkerportian, Jun 8, 2019.

  1. thearkerportian

    thearkerportian Well-Known Member

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    Moin,

    TSW is a bit infamous for its routes all being somewhat short compared to other train simulators. The longest route that comes to my mind - Rapid Transit - measures some 70 kilometers end to end. This thread is not about complaining or demanding improvements though.

    So to avoid wasting time (mine as well as yours reading it), I just wanted to ask for some hints to tell whether a route you're planning to suggest for upcoming DLCs is in fact too long for TSW or isn't. What is the right number to pay attention to? (see map below)
    The distance between terminals as the crow flies? (red)
    The distance roughly following the track? (yellow)
    The actual, precise distance by rail (green)
    Which one of these is closest to the truth?

    Or is it a different factor altogether that one should watch out for?
    Is it exact distance you are able to travel? In other words, does it make a difference if it's 100 km straight forward as opposed to a 50km line with another 50 km line branching off somewhere in the middle?
    The amount of trackage placed in a map? Meaning, a route of 70 km double line track is fine, but a 70 kilometer route that's mostly 4 or more is tricky?

    I like to make a bit of an effort for these suggestion after all, drawing my own maps, plotting and measuring in Google Earth, researching suitable vehicles if I don't happen to know them anyway, etc. Searching good photos can take some time too.

    Greetings,
    Mike

    lengthlimit.PNG
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2019
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  2. Rail Master

    Rail Master Active Member

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    I thinks DTG wants a Route between 55 to 75 km, with at least 8 station (and max.12)
     
  3. thearkerportian

    thearkerportian Well-Known Member

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    Number of stations. Another good point! Not sure if that plays a role.
     
  4. raildan

    raildan Well-Known Member

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    It isn't a technical limitation at all, actually- it's all about development time. DTG makes routes of this length because they want the routes to be released quicker. So it really comes down to how much they have to model.
     
  5. thearkerportian

    thearkerportian Well-Known Member

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    Thanks. I really don't know, that's why I ask. I've read somewhere that UE4 starts causing trouble from certain lengths onwards, a bit like OOM errors. I'm going to keep my 100 kilometer limit nonetheless, it's fairly obvious from looking at the routes we got so far that they were quite some work to create, that an effort has been made.
     
  6. KMAN

    KMAN Well-Known Member

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    The limiting factor on DTG routes is Time and Money. I have heard Matt state this on a few streams. He was responding to those requesting longer routes. The Unreal engine is very capable of handling very long routes as it streams just the section you are traveling on, according to Matt. The main issue is it gets uneconomical to develop longer routes if you cannot sell them at a higher unit cost. Fewer people will pay for a 150-250Km route if it costs £40 - £60 compared to a 70km route for £20-25.
     
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  7. thearkerportian

    thearkerportian Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the explanation!
    Tell that to Virtual Railroads though. Or PMDG. Or even Bethesada, except you only get a pair of hiking boots for your character for 40€ there. :)

    Greetings, Mike.
     
  8. KMAN

    KMAN Well-Known Member

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    I have been looking at the UE4 Tutorials on creating procedural levels. I saw one where a guy created a grid of boxes and then arranged them in the level at run-time. Could be used to create a base of buildings which could then be built on further. I want to create a fictional route in TSW when the Editor comes out so I am not constrained by the real world. I hope to apply some form of Procedural approach as this will speed up development time. That's the plan anyway.
     
  9. thearkerportian

    thearkerportian Well-Known Member

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    404: Context nor found.
     
  10. KMAN

    KMAN Well-Known Member

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    I will simplify my message I am looking at generating automatic scenery items in the unreal editor.
     
  11. Sintbert

    Sintbert Well-Known Member

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    Technically there is no known limitation.

    The selection criteria are more likely:
    - Ability to licence the trains/brands/names
    - Logical endpoints for services
    - Replay ability (more than just one possible drive from end to end)
    - Interesting features on the route like bridges, stations, yards
    - Cost of actually creating the route, trains, buildings and all other stuff
    - Is that cost agreeable with the expected sales
     
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  12. thearkerportian

    thearkerportian Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the replies. I guess that's good and bad news at the same time then. The good news: Decent length routes are totally within the realm of possibilities.

    The bad news: We probably still won't get any, at least not until 3rd party developers are enabled to start working.
     
  13. ragn05

    ragn05 Well-Known Member

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    if i'm not wrong the longest route is the sandpatch grade, it's near 90km with main line and branches
     

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