Rear cab guarding There isn't much to say about this one but being able to guard a train from tha back cab would be a great addition, I know on some like the 350 you can open and close the doors from the back cab but you can only signal at a guard panel in the passenger area. All the features to do this are already in the cab such as the signal button. Passenger enquiries Answering passenger questions at larger stations E.g, does this train go to...? Etc This will make standing at large stations less boring. This would use a similar user interface to the ticket checks. Stand behind the yellow line! Unfortunately not everyone arrives on time to get on the train... but they do arrive on time to wave goodbye as it leaves the platform, there could be an ability for the guard to lean out the rear cab window and tell people to stand back as the train is departing. This can also be done before the doors are closed, if a person hasn't boarded but is standing in a dangerous location for the train to move of they could be asked to stand behind the yellow line. Before service safety check Check the interior of the train for safety before service check for cleanliness (throw away left behind rubish) and help load the train with food and beverages (if necessary for the service). Uses a simalar method to the moving bags out the way but instead putting rubish in the bin and searching for any danger. (Posible scenario where a train is faulty and it needs evacuating and a new one called in to replace it). Manual announcements This can be done by interacting with the phone in the rear cab a menu will pop up with several choices (apologise for delay, nearing large station, approaching terminus station) theese announcements are usually done by a guard so anyone could do a voice over for it like seen in Blackpool branches. Problematic passengers A common job of a guard is dealing with thoose misbehaving passengers... particularly on night shifts.. more likely to take the form of a scenario rather than in service mode. How to encorporate onto tsw5 Some of theese features can be implemented straight into guard mode however some may be too complex therefore could be encorporated via guard scenarios. To conclude Guard mode has so much more potential than is currently being used in TSW, it is understandable that its a new feature and may be dificult to add some of theese features into the game however over time this may change and some of theese features could be implemented to make this feature more fun and interactive to use. Thank you for reading, any additional comments and feedback will be appreciated.
Lots of these are good suggestions. To help with determining when delay announcements are suitable, as well simply knowing how long left to check tickets, I would also like to see A) Scheduled arrival times showing against stations in the list, B) Realtime predicted arrival times showing against stations in the list.
Would also be nice to have specific decline or accept tones - like a ticket scanning machine. Like the beeps, rather than the normal objective sound.
A double buzz back from the driver, First Class tickets, tickets acceptable to destinations the train doesn't call at I.e. a ticket from Blackpool North to Liverpool Lime Street being accepted on a Blackpool North to Preston service.
Like when the guard scans my QR code, their device beeps to say ticket accepted. Guards and drivers usually press the signal button twice right? I'd like that to be in the game.
Yes from me! I would also like to support the idea of an itinerary. The itinerary could help with the idea of off-map ticket destinations, since players unfamiliar with the route could check the itinerary and see if the person should be on the train.
Guard mode enhanced expanded Due to the positive feedback this thread has received i have decided to go into more detail regarding the guard mode enhancement and how it can be implemented in TSW, following up after it has been a topic on the DTG player survey, thank you for the feedback. guard mode currently Guard mode has been a very good addition to the TSW series however remains quite complacent when considering the tasks that a guard undergoes, Now that this feature has been out for a while and the team have gotten more experience in implementing it into the routes i believe it is now time for an overhaul of functionality, as there is a lot of waiting around involved (particularly on the longer routes) which can be made far more immersive by implementing more activities and features. Rear cab guarding This one should be an easy one for the team to implement as it is just a matter of putting another interaction button/icon on the already functional guard control, most trains for example the class 350 and 170 already have the guard controls in the rear cab as shown in the screenshots below, in fact the 350 even has a guard key, so this should be easy implementation and is questionable why this wasn't a feature from the start. Passenger enquiries Regular questions from passengers when standing at stations would add to the immersion of the game, an interaction mark could come above their head on the platform similar to the check ticket one on board which you have to spot then deal with the enquiry, this can use a the same interface as the ticket check menu with a basic yes/no answer. questions may include... does this train go to? is my ticket valid on this train? what time will this train arrive at? To find the answer to these enquires the guard can check the guard phone which is a new feature mentioned below which gives the player all the relevant information for the service Health and safety H&S is a must when it comes to the railway and as a guard you will carry some responsibility to ensure your passengers are behaving in a safe and respectful manor, random events will involve asking individuals not boarding to stand behind the yellow line at stations, as well as asking noisy passengers to lower their voices politely. these are random events so will be given a probability of appearing in service. Before and mid service safety checks continuing with safety the guard will need to check the train for safety and cleanliness before and during service tasks such as throwing away rubbish and loading food/beverages (if the train has a buffet car/ kitchen) this will use a similar method to the clearing of bags as this consists of moving objects round the platform and train. once the safety check is done select it has been complete on the guard phone (suggested below) to initiate the service.. Manual announcements (as seen in just trains content) This will take a similar format to just trains announcement system where the conductor makes manual announcements. In modern routes this will only take place when approaching a large station/terminus point or apologising for a delayed service this can either be done from the guard phone if you're somewhere in the train, or in the respective location at the rear cab. Anyone could do the voice over for this as the announcements are manual. The Guard phone The guard phone will have its own shortcut and will be a device used to access information about the service, start and end service, skip longer station-to-station commutes and make announcements if you are mid train when you are nearing a station. This is a more unrealistic feature but will assist in incorporating the additional features into TSW as well as providing some quality of life updates for this mode. This will be the players means of managing everything that is going on in service in addition to being a ticket scanner when checking tickets which will produce the well known beep sound when the ticket is checked. This will also allow tickets to come in a variety of forms for example QR codes as seen in modern days. Adding into TSW The guard phone will help a lot when adding this into TSW as this is a management system, however there is a lot to incorporate here so some may take the form of scenarios where as others could be random events, Adding some of these features into guard mode would make it much more fun to play (Particularly for me as an impatient player I would much appreciate the ability to skip the travel between further apart stations) and would also add more realism in terms of what guards do. Thank you for reading and for the feedback and additions. Further feedback and additions would be much appreciated particularly your opinions on the guard phone.
The guard phone is an interesting one. Having a handheld device like on those supermarket simulator-style games is quite a nice way to incorporate slightly less realistic processes (I believe MS Flight Simulator uses a tablet mounted next to the pilot's seat to do this). The more I think about it, the more I can come to terms with it, but the TSW player has never had hands, so it will take some getting used to.
