Dovetail Games Db Br 218 Diesel Loco Preview - Q&a Thread

I would be interested in mainly two things:

1) why HBK was left in TOD3 and DTG opted not to upgrade?! It’s difficult to anticipate the answer, but I would definitely not buy answers like “not enough time” or “not enough capacity because everybody is working in TSW5 release”…. Ahm… I mean “…working on the next big thing”. I do echo voices I read on other threads: you do it for other 3rd party loco dlc, this would have really deserved it!

2) I would be interested to see the set up of a dosto cab car to the 218. I would like to learn what had to be changed on the cab car and why only the HBK dosto will be able to couple to the 218.

I am sure more questions come to mind over time;-)

 

Will the 218 be incorporated into the timetable of future DEU route releases?

 

Ditto the question about why Hamburg to Lubeck has not had at least a perfunctory update ready for the new loco.

Why was Maintalbahn, probably the worst German route apart from RT chosen as the secondary route? Surely something could have been done on a more deserving route?

And yes I know the answer will be, "If it's not on the Roadmap", but are there plans to look at creating a German diesel operated main or secondary line (such as Obereruhrtalbahn) to give this loco a more dedicated route it will be at home on?

Have the traction sounds been peer reviewed?

Have the scenarios and any Journey Mode been thoroughly tested given two previous TSG releases (the G6 and Niddertalbahn) both have ones that cannot be completed or are at least very buggy?

Why no preorder discount?

And the usual caveat to our resident insufferable unofficial spokesman (you know who you are); these questions are for TSG/DTG and TSG/DTG alone, not some smart Alec thinking he is posting on their behalf...

 

I have bought Maintalbahn and what you have already gathered from the feedback thread is largely correct in my opinion. My big hope is that the 218 is out now in preparation for something upcoming. Anyway, off topic now.

I’d like to ask what are the plans for future use? But I’ll get the roadmap answer

 

Yes, give the route it a try please! I was reading a lot of negativity and asked myself, after finishing the journey, where this all came from?
I know I know, taste is different from person to person and due to me living close(-ish) to Aschaffenburg (and MSB was the first route I bought 5 years ago) there is a lot of recognition going on.

Sorry, didn't want to attack you personally if it came off like that, just me a little bit over-passionate about my Bavarian (actually Franconian) neighbours

 

No worries Hyperlord, I will grab it next week in the sale and approach with an open mind! The 218 should make it fun.

 

I'm really not a fan of the implementation of the TSW-Maintalbahn, but yesterday I drove a lap late in the evening (dusk to dark) from Miltenberg to Aschaffenburg and it was really okay this time. Well, it may be because you can't see the poor copy-paste design of the route and vegetation, but it still made me a little more reconciled with the DLC.

There are long, fast sections where you can drive the 218 well, which is an advantage over the (of course much better) Niddertalbahn, on which you creep rather than drive. Nevertheless, the 218 is an icon that simply needs its own proper use or its own route. Hopefully the next German route will also contain a decent layer for the 218.

My question would be:
Will there be a new route for the 218 in the future?

 

Hello, I would like to ask if there will be fuel level indicator (I guess it would be static - as refueling / fuel consumption of diesel loco isn’t simulated in the game) but I’m just curious if TSG crew were thinking about posibility of simulating fuel consumption/refueling, and where I could find the fuel level gauge in the cab of 218 (to roleplay monitoring fuel level while on duty on this locomotive

And if there are sun blinds rollers on side windows in the cab of 218.

And one more question: Will there be also a manual for this loco?

Thank you - TrainSimGermany for your work, undoubtedly The BR218 is one of the legends of German railroad that deserves quality work recreating ingame, and after DBG6 and Niddertalbahn Im sure this will be another great DLC from yours. 218 is day one purchase for me, and cant wait for new info and release of upcomming Expert BR1ou1 !

 

Back on topic…

As it’s come up in other threads, does the Class 218 have properly simulated fuel consumption? Where are the fuel level gauges found - on the tank or in the cab?

 

Is there any chance of putting the 218 in as an hourly AI run from Boppard to Emmelshausen to add a bit of life to Boppard Station?
The picture shows a 215 with a two car train, one of which is the Wittenberg Control Coach, but these were later replace by 218's.

 

It would need to be in Orient Red (or older) for that - if it was it could also appear at Koblenz, Bingen and Mainz.

 

Hi, I was wondering if locomotive 218 will be able to haul ICE trains. Will it be able to connect the automatic coupler of an ICE train?

 

When will we get back the fast moving external camera on consoles. Without that feature Railfanning is nearly impossible now.

 

More general but still related to the topic…

Note from the Announcements section that Maik won’t be live on the stream, just Matt and Harry. Surely that will create issues if more technical questions come up during the stream and it makes little sense not to have the author of the item on hand to deal with them.

Now that the 218 is out, can TSG say how the rest of their “in house” roadmap is looking? In other words, what’s next - the 420, 232 or maybe another item they haven’t announced yet.

 

Will the new N-Wagen CabCar also be able to control the BR 112 in the end of the Train?

 

No. It's for KWS36 fitted diesel locomotives. The 112 is an electric locomotive with ZWS.

 

- I'm very happy for brand-new loco DLC such as the 218 (as well as new 628 AI traffic at Lubeck) being used to bring older routes like Hamburg-Lubeck new gameplay and freshness, thus, in turn, a busier timetable too. Thus, are DTG considering adding more new DLC to older routes?
- Why isn't there consistency regarding the updating of routes to TOD 4? Basically, why wasn't Hamburg-Lubeck updated to TOD 4 when Cathcart and its brand-new loco DLC are?
- Could the 218 ever be added to any further routes?

 

Is it me or is there something off about the turbo scream or lack of it in the promo vid?

 

Possibly that's what was alluded to when I picked up on earlier comments about the sound seeming weak.
Hence my earlier question about whether the sounds were peer reviewed and of course why Maik will not be present on the stream to answer questions on the matter. I mean, don't misunderstand, it does sound nice but like so much of the sound reproduction in TSW it never quite hits the spot.

So further question following, if the view comes across from those in the know that the sounds are lacking a bit, will TSG be revisiting these for a little buff?

 

There was a video posted by a dev that showed it with better sound but it's been taken down by him so there's no way to know. Will have to wait until the release to hear it. The preview videos aren't accurate some of the time and then it's improved for release

 

Hope so, that scream is that loco's particular attraction for me.

 

Very nice. Almost has a Paxman Valenta ring to it. I really hope that has been properly captured and we don’t end up with yet another add on that has botched sound.

 

That was my first thought as well. Loved the scream of the Paxman Valenta pulling out of Newton Abbot every morning on my way to college it’s one of the things that got me really into ‘modern’ trains.

So I also hope this has been replicated properly in the 218. It’ll make the difference between a good loco and an excellent loco. No reason to think it won’t be, we haven’t heard the final release version yet. There’s a lot more reason to believe the sound will be good on a TSG release than on a DTG one.

 

I have one more question. Maik mentioned in a post that he wanted to try and compensate for the non (anymore) reflective signs in TSW with the 218:
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/train-sim-world-roadmap-may-2024.81318/page-2#post-839847

I would like to know if this was successful at all? It would actually enable us to drive without Hud at night again, after DTG abandoned the reflective signs after KWG.

 

Since DTG does not know about it and couldn't answer your question, i will do it here. It's not working well or at all. I added a additional headlight with a large range but quite low intensity. It's still in there, but hardly gains any effect. Here and there some signs might lit up a bit further, but the overall outcome of that test is zero.

 

Thanks for coming back to me on this! And also thanks for trying to incorporating this. I will give it a shot when I get it.

And even if DTG cant say anything to this specifically, at least they hear again that people want reflective signs

 

Future of the BR 218 and Diesel

1. Are you about to get more Diesel routes in the game, where the BR 218 could be used (for passenger and/or freight services)?

2. Will there ever be a modern/updated timetable for Niddertalbahn where the BR 218 could be used for services (without timetable mods done by the community)?

3. What is DTG's Point of View on the topic "Diesel", loco but also route-wise, in general?

The latter question is important because just looking on the DLC history, unelectrified diesel routes, clearly seem to be not in the focus of the development. At least for Germany, electrified routes such as Hamburg-Lübeck, where the player can choose between both, DMUs and EMUS, seem to be preferred.

4. Is this because of the costumers are more interested in electrified routes? To take the biscuit, Is Diesel about to go the same way Steam did, because it doesn't sell as equal?

5. Why was updating/remastering HBK (as main route for the BR 218) to at least TOD4 not possible for the launch of the DLC? Do you plan a remaster/extension of Hamburg-Lübeck in the future, where this gets done?

 

Why is no member of the developer team of TSG on the livestream? We could get a lot more info about the train if it were.

 

You wouldn't get much more information. And you need to accept that there are people out in the world that don't want to jump on the stage at all but still (or exactly because of that) are good in making the products.

 

Lukas is always very helpful and provides a lot of information in the livestreams about german routes and associated locos. And it makes sense since when one has developed something, they high probably have more knowledge about the product than someone just showcasing it.

Sharing some wisdom and background information about the development process, would surely be a nice cherry on top of the cake in the livestream.

To be honest, I can see Harriet already struggle to find answers for questions raised in chat tomorrow, she probably can't answer. Not quite fair to her since its her very first livestream.

And her just avoiding answering detailed questions then, wouldn't be a good thing either.

This is absolutely fine. Never said something against it. I'm just saying it would be better if someone would be there who could respond to some detailed questions about the BR 218, which Harriet and Matt simply can't have an answer to on their own.

As I said in other threads, at least at the presentation of the expert BR 101 someone of the developer team should IMHO be part of its respective preview stream.

 

Yes we don’t want a repeat of the flight sim convention a few years ago, when the PR lady sent out by DTG to showcase Flight Sim World was hopelessly out of her depth once the grizzled aviation veterans started asking highly technical questions.

 

Given that Maik has been extremely responsive here on the forums, I don’t see it as a big problem that he doesn’t want to be on the preview stream. Don’t blame him to be honest. The chat in any preview stream is quite hostile. Regardless of how good the DLC is. Preview streams seem to bring out the worst in some people.

I’m sure that anything that can’t be answered on stream can be answered here within a couple of days. If it’s make of break then waiting for an answer won’t hurt.

I’ve spent a lot of the day watching various English and German previews and I’m pretty happy with what I’ve seen and heard. My questions are more about future use and why they made no effort to bring Hamburg Lübeck up to TOD4 which only DTG can answer anyway (and as there’s nothing on the roadmap, they are probably not going to answer anyway).

edit : Preview has been delayed until Thursday anyway, but now Lukas is also joining (see the Streaming Schedule post for the update)

 

I agree but for a different reason. Here on the forum he can choose which questions to answer, whereas on the stream questions are filtered through the PR machine.
Plus he has time to give considered answers instead of being put on the spot.
I know which I would prefer if I were he.

 

That is a good thought. And although Maik speaks excellent English (far better than my German, limited to "Haben zie zimmer frei" and "wo gibt es Frühstück") not so easy to ad lib in your non native tongue as to write a considered response on the forum.

 

Looks like the stream has been pushed back to Thursday per item in Announcements. DTG Harry perhaps you could kindly amend your OP in this thread to reflect this.

While appreciating someone is off sick, it does kind of downgrade the point of the stream if it's not happening until two days after actual release. Most of us who want it will have bought it by then and probably posted our own thoughts on the content.

 

Thanks Harry. This is one add on which will probably sell itself, I’ll certainly be there 18:00:01 this evening with my Steam Wallet open (don’t tell my wife!).

 

Hey Maik I have a question about the 451(nwagen)
1. why was it not implemented that you can use these cars with dostos?

2. can you also use other locomotives for the 463?

3.is this name intended or is it just a mistake?

4.the 218 nwagen don’t work in the formation designer

 

Why is there no PZB and Sifa Button

 

It is, its valves that are located in cabinet in second führerstand.

 

There shouldn't be turbo scream at idle? Idle sounds fast too.

 

Train heating affects the sounds.

 

Does anyone have brake sounds on the loco? With this I mean the air hisses when applying the brakes and releasing the brakes, as well as the emergency brake.

 

Yes I do have the sounds when using the brakes.

 

Yes, actually, as long as train heating is on the engine has to run at full revs. If you don't like the noise you can let your passengers freeze (or in summer, turn it off because you don't need it- n-Wagen don't have a/c)

This is not unlike the OG F40PHs, which ran HEP directly off the main plant and so had to keep turning at 900 rpm even in stations. That's why the -C and -CAT versions were developed, to move HEP to an auxiliary motor.

 

Yes it is (just watch the gauge in, say, a Class 66). And loco weight is adjusted to reflect consumption. But over TSW's short distances it doesn't matter.

 

The 218 seems to have suspension physics enabled in the training centre but not on Hamburg Lubeck. Was this intentional? Thanks.

 

I have noticed that too. Suspension works in Training Centre and Maintalbahn but not in HBK. Suspension physics is not universal? Why it depends on the route and not on the loco itself?