Class 158 Discussion Thread

I'm still a little ticked off that we have to wait for the Levenmouth branch to be released before we see the 158 on the Fife Circle. The 158 is right at home on the FCL and not seeing it on there or as static stock at Haymarket Depot at the very least is quite annoying.

 

It's great to finally have the 170s on EDN. Though I wonder I'd they'll do a Cathcart with the 156 operated services and use 158s to substitute for them

Also, do 158s not run Aberdeen services? I always thought they did

 

I agree with you.

No offense to Skyhook, who deservedly want to get paid for their hard work, but without the extra services for FCL, this DLC doesn't have a ton of value at the moment, IMO.

I put it back on DTG as publisher. Even though these are third-parties, they also do a lot of contract work for DTG and i think they could have done a better job of scheduling these releases to make more sense for the customer.

 

Skyhook continue to genuinely impress me with their effort. Not only are they releasing the 158, but have come up with a complete working timetable using other stock for Edinburgh to Glasgow... Without turning this into a Rivet bashing thread, Skyhook have really put egg on Rivets face by reworking their add on to how it should of been, and goes to show, how a little effort goes a long way and can really make a difference.

I mean this sincerely (and prior to release!), but well done Skyhook!

 

I hope this means more accurate 385 formations. (3 or 6 car alloa services/more consistent 8 car EDN-GQS services)

 

In fairness to Rivet - they didn't have much to work with when EDN released.

The only ScotRail DLC prior to it was Cathcart - with only the 314 - and the Azuma didn't exist either.

Could they have gone back and updated it? Perhaps.
But they could only work with what they had which was the 385 and the 385 only.

 

You acknowledged earlier that the GWR Class 43 was being added in this new update, that was there but they didn't do anything with that. And no Railtours either which has gotta be the most popular layer to have. Even that nothingburger DLC 'engineering express' should've just been a layer.

 

I don't want to take this off topic, away from the 158, so this will be my last comment...

With every add on DT brings out, they naturally layer it onto existing routes with no issues. Rivet make no attempt to do this when relevant add ons come out. And that's the point. Edinburgh to Glasgow was not updated along with Fife Circle etc...

So not only do I looks forward to the 158, but I look forward to the reworked timetable that'll really give Edinburgh to Glasgow the TLC it deserves.

 

The HST isn't a prototypical layer by any means. It's either GWR or EMT - so I wouldn't consider it to be "expected".

And the Engineering Express Add-on is there solely as a livery + scenario pack. But, I do agree there should be some alternate option with the existing 66's [though, I doubt that would be very well-recieved at Rivet towers.]

DTG don't always layer backwards - only if they leave a place in the timetable or, alternatively, make a new timetable (which almost always is for a loco DLC or a remaster - not a layer).

 

The 158 wont have any services on Fife Circle until the Leven branch is finished Fife circle does need a lot more work to it to bring it up to a better standard before I even consider buying it

 

It’s going to be a while then as from the last update we got... Rivet are barely just starting on Leven. .

 

Yeh I did read that I don't hold out much hope it will be good anyway tbh

 

Yeah they do run Aberdeen services occasionally

 

Yeah they do appear on the Aberdeen services quite often if the HSTs and 170s are unavailable due to maintenance etc.

 

Surprised that the article is so vague with details, but looking forward to increasing my ScotRail fleet

 

I hope they get the new door sounds.
Looking forward to this! Will be close enough to completing Glasgow central for me and it's good to see Edinburgh to Glasgow getting a new timetable. Shame no fife timetable til leven which will take a long time from what I've heard. :/
But aye. All looks very promising!

 

Totally pointless release at the moment.

 

DTG really needs to do something about this release. Because a lot of people are going to be very unhappy when they purchase the 158 and find that they can’t use it on the route it was intended for yet.

I know it’s made by two 3rd party devs. But it’s their platform.

 

They can't really do much. They can't cancel the launch or delay it until the branch releases because that could be months or never and that means skyhook is not earning anything to recoup their costs and fund other projects. Even if they could create the timetable, you're looking at a while before it's released.

 

It's happened before - I think the 101 was originally intended for Koeln - Aachen, but its base route became HRR. It's not necessarily a bad thing - rolling stock DLCs are now route-independent, which can potentially lead to them appearing on more routes.

 

To be honest, it's making a mountain out of a mole hill. You'll be able to use it on full Edinburgh to Glasgow runs in timetable mode which I'm personally happy with... And then later on it'll be added to Fife Circle... Just be patient, and appreciate the route it will be available on which gives you a good run.

 

People shouldn’t be appreciative for something they are paying for. Especially when it’s already a loco in the game. The whole selling point of the 158 was that it would run on Fife. It layers into EDN-GLA. But it was specifically designed for Fife. And now we have to wait until an undetermined date for it to be usable.

It’s absolutely crazy that DTG are letting Rivet hold up the addition of the 158 until they finish the Leven Branch. Especially when they’ve had 3 months to work on that since Fife released.

 

Simple solution is not to buy it until the Leven Branch comes out.

Since it should have been that way anyways you should have no problem waiting for it.

Wouldn't it have been unfair if Skyhook was actually forced to hold off on releasing a finished product to make some money because Rivet or DTG said you can't until the other part is done.

I'm pretty sure they knew this was going to happen and communicated with each other.

 

The line didn't open until May 29th so rhe have had less than 2 monrhs to work on it.

They would have to survey the track, lay the track, build custom scenery assets, make sure the lighting meshes with the rest of the route, make an updated timetable and then test that all to make sure there are little to no bugs.

And all of that can take months because its probably not all hands on deck. Most are probably working on Rivets nexr route already and a small team is finishing it up.

 

Unless of course the ace in the hole is a modern(ish) Scottish diesel route for TSW5, in which case the 158 suddenly makes sense. But it does seem kind of a waste of resources at present to develop this reskin/rework which has very little application in the game. As someone who hasn’t purchased either Fife Circle or Edinburgh to Glasgow due to ongoing concerns about Rivet quality, it’s certainly not worth buying for a bit of AI at Glasgow on Cathcart and then probably only if I buy the 380 to get the new timetable.

 

So the funny thing about the Leven branch is that it’s already in game. The track is fully laid, albeit single line only. Bridges etc have been placed and there are roads too. The terraforming has been done and looks to be almost done - you can clearly see where the river is supposed to be going. If you want to see it it’s as simple as going into free roam, start at Glenrothes with Thornton and spawning a diesel train (you’ll probably want just a loco so 47/7), setting your route to the end of the spur as it appears on the map and driving down it.

I did that and fully expected the track to just end but it doesn’t. It’s there for the full length. If you don’t fancy driving it, there’s a video on YouTube of someone driving down it.

 

I'm not paying £12 for it.

 

Yes Skyhook’s honesty and willingness to please, even if it means lots of extra work for them, has been like a beacon, alongside the faultless JT. I just hope this will be the sort of quality we see from devs in the future. Those not adhering to this new found renaissance belong in the dark ages. As do dev forum defenders who whine “it’s too much work and not cost effective”. Boo hoo.

 

I don't know about you but having rode on both, I see all the correct changes in there. Hats off to Skyhook, nice job.

 

I think it's supposed to be this interior (lighting is still a bit too dim though, may just be the time of day)

 

Still doesn't look awful. It's reasonably similar ig

 

Will this train have announcements on FCL ??. Would feel a bit odd the 170 having them but not the 158….

 

No, this is a Skyhook dlc

 

Yeah, the one simulated are the Inverness based 158s

 

Train interiors are too bright on every train, essentially no AO going on.

The ‘hospital corridor’ aesthetic as I like to call it.

 

What is the reason for not using AO? We’ve never really gotten an answer as far as I know

 

AO?

 

Ambient Occlusion. Very simply it reduces the amount of light certain objects/areas are exposed to.

They’ve never said, I’ll take a guess at either performance or time though.

 

It's good to see Skyhook delivering high quality additions to the game, the Cargo Line packs are fantastic along with the continued improvements to the MML and this great looking version of the Class 158.

I hope that they are working on a Class 156 next to fill the the gap in the second generation DMU market.

 

A 156 is a must at some point, maybe as a bundle with multiple versions included (EMT, scotrail, reigonal railways etc)

 

I'd love that!

 

Yes. ScotRail plz. And maybe a 153 too!
A bundle like that would be brilliant! ​

 

Oh, a Scotsman trying to get a West Highland pack I see...
I'd love it too

 

I mean yeah. You can't blame me. West Highland is beautiful. I'm sending this post from Oban (one of the WHL terminuses) right now!

I actually got to use a 153 guard panel yesterday which was quite cool.

 

Edinburgh glasgow timetable is slightly disappointing tbh, I was expecting queen street and Edinburgh to be close to accurate
They do add a nice extra to Cathcart though

 

What is the change in Edinburgh to Glasgow timetable?