Tsw5 (slightly Sarcastic) Wishlist

It's my favorite time of year, TSW+1 speculation time!

I don't have time for all the negative "we don't need a new version" and "just make is a RH style pack" threads, there's enough of those already.

I also like to keep the new routes a supprise (damn you, leaker guy!!) so don't want to discuss those either.

For me, the main excitement is finding out if this is the year we'll finally get the <insert amazing new feature that probably should already be in the game here> we've been wating for.

So I ask, is this the year that fineally:

• We get the fast extetnal camera back on console (please don't keep it just a feature for the PC Elite)
• Passengers actually go and sit in their seats rather than disappearing as they get on the train (lets be honest, I'd be happy most of the time if passengers just got on the train at all!)
• We get AI that can actually change direction of trains so we don't need to split services in ridiculous ways in Timetables like in GLS. (Can't we just get ChatGPT to drive?)
• DTG finally remember that you don't have acknowledge PZB just to acknowledge SIFA (They fixed this in DRA, but here we are, over 2 years later and it's still an issue with the ÖBB 1116!
• We can finally say RIP to the enforced use of the Classic Control scheme (DTG really need to get Rivit to sort out the scenarios for the BR 204, anyone who started playing after TSW 2020 must be mighty confused when starting one!)
• We finally get rid of the "New" banners on routes. (I got GWE back in 2018, it is NOT new!).
• The UI can actually cope with displaying my Driver Level and AP total without overlapping them! ,(I know mose people don't care about AP, but this one is just embarrassing guys).
• We finally get the promised passenger timetable for OSD (I know the Preservation Crew are long gone and I've given up hope of the teased expansions to the Training Centre, but this one stings!)
• Matt finally releases the long promised USA Singnalling Tutorial Video (Okay, not strictly a game feature but come on, you've finally nailed Cab Signalling with LIRR attempt 2 and I need more PowerPoints god damn it!).

Tick off any of the above and TSW5 is a day one insta-purchase for me (you don't even need to add a fancy new feature to roll out 10+ months after release!). I've got my my fingers crossed, come on Dovetail Direct, please don't disapoint!

Feel free to add any features that you've been waiting for!

 

For me, the best new feature would be an actual dispatcher that doesn't prioritize slow, stopping trains over long-distance traffic.

 

Having passengers all get off the final service of the day so they dont spend the night in the storage yard..

There's being early for your commute, then theres TSW early...

Tbf this may be solved in TSW4 (but I bet its not..)

 

I’m assuming they will use the same contractor as usual to do the UI and it will be a one off job with no post-release follow up for fixes so that the errors can’t be fixed after players report them on the forum on day one of early access. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the UI is already signed off now and even beta tester feedback won’t result in any fixes. I have come to this conclusion based on how simple fixes for small quality of life stuff like this has never occurred after being spotted on day one by the players. The issues must also have been there for beta testing and I can’t imagine nobody there noticed the same things. Even having the NEW banners follow into TSW4 with a different colour shows that at no point did they consider removing that feature so I guess the UI contract is big and complex and not everything gets attention in the time allowed.

The overlapping scores, caused by the reduction in size of the score panel to make way for the new detailed debrief panel, which has an acre of empty space on the right (too much space is just as much bad design as too little), shows me that the physical design was done before they knew what info was going to be included in that new panel and nobody checked the old panel with a player level above 99 even at the design stage. It must have been a fixed contract very early in development with no follow up to allow such bad design to make it to release. The design layout is probably finalised before any implementation in the game is tried out to see if it actually works, and not enough foresight was employed. It will be interesting to see if either issue is fixed this time and what new schoolboy errors we can spot on our first play session on day one.

My wall of text above is both a complaint about the design and a possible explanation as to why things don’t get fixed. It’s all done very early in development by external contractors and can’t be easily changed once we see it.

The same thing probably applies to controller behaviour for consoles too. Issues persist throughout the life of the game and player feedback isn’t acted upon due to it being too late in the day. Having a year delay until any changes based on player feedback can happen is not great. There really should be an opportunity for players to give feedback and it be acted upon within a shorter time period.

 

The passengers are not good at all. They ruin the immersion somewhat with their unnatural movements, crowding around the bottom of stairs walking into one another like zombies, blocking the platform, never leaving the train, sitting on the same seat as the player, falling through the map, being in the walls before disappearing, being ejected out of trains into the sky although it's not as bad as it was, finding them between the train and the platform (obviously didn't mind the gap) and still finding them on the track. They are like a step up from what you get in TSC.

 

Having the ability to instantly transport to a vacant seat when entering a carriage would be super useful in real life

 

Allow bigger zoom and unzoom than now when incab cam (PS5). Adding possibility to map Dualshock buttons (including Square+arrows combinations). DTG allowing to use mouse in TSW on my PS5. Fast external camera on PS5.

do somethig with rail track and other textures reloads/changes 50m in front of train all the time…

Enhance train sounds that they sound more like real ones (wheels to rail scratching sounds and wheels bouncing to rails when train rolling to station through junctions, I adore that railway sounds and reminds me of childhood as I grew up near the railway station )

I dont even care for passenger movement aspect in game, I take it just like roleplay element, enough for me would be nicely crowded platforms when I come to station (I spend most of the time in incab cam, not spotting passengers how they move to train)

 

100% this-

"do somethig with rail track and other textures reloads/changes 50m in front of train all the time…"

The trouble is, DTG would probably fix it by further dumbing down the textures..

 

This is sort of resolved in an unknown patch before. Move your camera somewhere far enough (usually length of 3 carriages) and come back, and your passengers will magically vanish from your train.

 

Fix the stutters and jitters issue
More save slots, autosave feature
Better menu design
Passenger AI needs complete overhaul, others in this thread have already mentioned the crowding, weird spawning, people sat on out of service trains etc...

 

Ahh brilliant! Thanks

 

Instead of a message on the HUD, can we have buzzers, bells or whistles as appropriate to indicate that it's time to depart?

Plus two oldies but goodies:
If you're going to include music in the scenarios, please let users turn it off if they want.
Enable an optional smaller and more transparent HUD so it isn't so intrusive on larger screens. Oh, and let us pick the elements of the HUD we want to see.

 

+1 ^

"Instead of a message on the HUD, can we have buzzers, bells or whistles as appropriate to indicate that it's time to depart?"

This one feature would make me buy whatever iteration it appeared in..

 

Yeah in our country there is station guy, or “train guard” in present times mostly who watch over platform and whistles when everybody finished boarding/unboarding the train, letting traindriver know that everything is good and he can depart from station. I dont know how it’s going in another countries.

 

Rivet Games announce that they are going to fix the BR Class 150, class 385, and update their previously released routes.

Everybody who is not sitting down collapses with shock upon hearing the news, and a national holiday is declared worldwide.

The announcement day will forever be known as "The day Jasper clearly wasn't feeling very well".

 

Make that +2

The amount of immersion of the whistle from the guard on BPO and buzz on the 158 really is outstanding, considering the simplicity of what they are. I honestly think DTG need to get this implemented into their new routes and rolling stock now it has been used successfully by third parties.

 

Buzz, buzz. Right Away, driver! (MSTS )

 

working elevators...
only some Uk routes have them and i wish they become a standart feature in upcoming routes.

Better rain. I played Vorarlberg and the rain at the windows maybe looks good, but the normal one outside just looks like Tsw 2020 rain.

Station announcements that actually work. Some routes (i can only speak for german ones) have announcements that say things like "a train enters the station" but there is nothing coming for the next 30 mins.

 

Thought of one to add.

In the name of all that is good, please refrain from switching the coloured track markers back on whenever we do a training scenario. If I have them off by default in my options, bloomin’ well leave them off.

 

A profanity filter that allows the words Passenger and Blackpool amongst others.

 

Controls layout designed for consoles. You know this game is designed and tested with a keyboard and you can feel this in almost every aspect of the game. I can't imagine anyone at DTG plays this game solely with a controller. Otherwise they should have already come up with a better scheme for controllers.

The 101 Expert is a good example of not being tested on consoles. In screen view you can't even control the screens with a controller.

 

It is hard to get a seat on a train, so once you get a seat you don't want to give it up I guess? DTG Need to sort this, even if we can throw passengers off the train.

 

Loving the suggestions everyone, good effort.

A couple more to add:

• Please can we have the Autosave on 9th Gen, just like the PC Master race. Matt said he'd look init it at keaset twice now and now news yet! (I'm sick and tired of spadding at the end of long scenario and having to do it all over again. Manual saving ruins the immersion and I'm pretty sure the SSD's can cope with it).
• Mouse support for PS5 (Just because Xbox got it by accident doesn't mean you shouldn't put in a littler effort for PS5 DGT. While you're at it, you can add Keybaord Re-mapping if you like!).
• Are we anywhere close to launching the long discussed extetnal device API. (If you've forgotten about it and it's not quite ready, Pro Tip, just launch it in Beta and then announce as snazzy "new" feature for TSW7!)

 

The fixed internal camera views in the expert 101 have been carried over from the original 101 and I remember complaining about it back then. Other quality of life things that PC devs won’t see is like when they have the whole window as the hit box for opening and closing a window instead of just the area around the window handle. They (PC players and devs) can look out of the window without the tool tip words present but they appear there all the time for console players who may want to look out of a side window. There was a similar thing with the folding mirrors on the two latest versions of the SD40-2 resulting in the word “mirror” being omnipresent when looking straight ahead in head-out view. The mirror itself should have been the hit box not the whole area around it. The Vectron was developed with a new action required to set the AFB speed and that worked fine on PC but left console players having to look down and position the centre cursor on the tiny tip of the AFB lever to enable it whilst the train wobbles around with no shortcut available. Much easier with a mouse even if there was no shortcut on PC (not sure if there was).

Devs will no doubt sometimes get stuck in their PC bubble and beta testers are mainly all in a PC bubble anyway and it really should be down to DTG to ensure console players get the closest functionality possible to PC users and that could be done without any new functionality being added just by adding in a set of requirements such as no fixed internal cameras and better hit boxes etc. Any new functionality would also be appreciated. Console playability has to be considered by all devs, including third party devs, and DTG need to be those responsible for checking and correcting any devs who add things without due consideration to how all players can easily use their content.

 

Please have the art department make up some passenger garments that actually look decent, like perhaps a better mix and match. The current lack of haute couture is very pedestrian. Not everyone wears a beanie.








Erm..I'll get my coat, shall I...

 

This! They really should start coming out of the PC bubble. I do understand that it is difficult to switch that mindset when you work in a PC environment but they should really organise days were the use of keyboard is forbidden for some dev's or something that forces devs to work with controllers every time they want to test a result in the game. Don't know if it's feasible but controller culture should be nudged in some way

 

Another one popped in my head. Equalise the AP system. Ridiculous that you can get 20k+ points for a 40 minute run on Bakerloo, but a 90 minute US freight run gives you maybe 5K.

 

Not in the civilised world people don't, but DTG Towers is in Chatham, which is owt but civilised!

 

For me, I would really like the ability to adjust the internal camera position.
If you have 58 seconds, just watch this video to see how it's done in ETS2. Don't have to be fancy, with icons and preview: a window with 3 values should suffice: dx, dy, dz (integer numbers) corresponding to moving the camera on the respective axes.
Nota bene: this must work on consoles! No mods available there.

Thank you!

 

In Scenario Creation, assuming that there will still be the requirement to link AI services to station platforms, I would like the ability to spawn a service of any length and not be limited to the length of that particular station platform.

 

To keep with the slightly sarcastic theme - FSR 1.0

 

- Headlight beams from oncoming trains not suddenly appearing when they’re about ten metres in front of you
- Improved sense of the game world being alive; for example, the total absence of birds in the sky anywhere is noticeable as we see so much sky in cab view
- Be able to sit on any station bench to do some train-watching
- Passenger system overhaul; passengers not wandering idly to the platform as I arrive or at all - I’m looking at Haupstrecke Rhein Ruhr as a good example of this needing fixing (plus the passengers who are eternally stuck in the spawn point in the underpass at Mulheim Styrum like a horde of zombies, so that station is now always empty)
- Jump to train cab shortcut button on console

 

A SAVE GAME function that actually works correctly.

 

ypu can do this by pushing / clicking the right thumbstick to switch between cab and external view

 

Possibly means when walking around out of the driver’s chair. On PC there is an undocumented Ctrl-0 command that lets you do this. Quite useful if you’ve just walked to the far end of a yard to set some points and CBA to walk back again.

 

That’s exactly it. Long overdue.

 

Another QOL is the ability, similar to the 5 key in TSC, to quickly drop into a passenger view without having to give up control of the train. Some may scoff and say this is unrealistic, but no more than controlling your train from drone/helicopter and on some of the scenic routes with your train set up and stable (plus you still have control anyway) would provide some much needed chilling.

 

What are they doing to the 385?

 

Nothing. You need to switch on your irony detector!

 

Oops, I wasnt really reading properly to be honest.

 

No. How would that even work? Do you know what it is or how it functions?

I always saw it as "Tabletop view" of me leaning over, controlling my train set.

 

- Sounds are God awful, because Scotrail wouldn't give Rivet Games access to record a real Class 385, so they "created" their own sounds for it. You can hear an AI class 385s air brakes coming off when you are a mile away from it in a completely different train.

- BILs don't work half of the time

- No rain or snow on windscreen and entire left side of the train when it's moving... No idea how they screwed that up?!

 

I really love the training programs for new stock, Passenger=Drive around a circle
Freight= Drive forward

Anything else about safety systems or what everything does?= Ha, good luck

So I hope that carries on for TSW5

 

You can hear an AI class 385s air brakes coming off when you are a mile away from it in a completely different train.

I hate that sound issue, you can also hear an idle noise when moving at speed if another one is coming.

 

- Multiple Scenario Slots
- Creators Club to allow you to reupload without having to re-do the entire upload
- Creators club entries able to be edited on the web browser (Dovetail, do you have any idea how annoying it is to type a full description out on Xbox?)
- An outright ban on Rivet Games making TSW DLC
- An outright ban on Trainspotter from Tauranga making TSW Videos
- Dovetail to add full toilet functionality, end the community's suffering!
- Dovetail to give everyone a free DLC because it would be nice.

Can't think of anything that they could reasonable do other than that.

 

Couple more just thought of...

On German etc. routes, speed limits displayed at home signals should be applied at the signal, not the actual track junction further ahead.

Coaches off the platform, whether due to driver error or a short platform, should not have the doors open.

Oft reported, oft requested to put right - would be nice to see these finally come to be in TSW5.

 

Loading times!!!!! I know back in the days every game took ages to boot but TSW4 has become the exception. TSW5 should fire up like a bullet train.

 

I know how it works, it was more a flippant remark that DGT's AI is sorley lacking!

 

I still want to be able to use the 8 camera when on foot. It would be like flying a drone and great for trainspotting. Free Roam has enabled a semi-usable way I can force this in some locations. I spawn a loco on a siding, climb into the cab and sit in the driver’s seat and bingo, I can use the free cam for trainspotting. It would be so much easier if I could just use the free cam when on foot though, instead of having to find a train to sit in or abracadabra one into existence and sit in it. It would likely take about ten seconds for the devs to add this functionality so a quick win.

 

On my PS5, I'll load it up, pop kettle on, make a cup of tea. Watch Lord of the Rings extended trilogy and then it'll finally be ready to play.

Ok I exaggerate but yeah the loading time is woeful.