As well as the TSRs (the subject of another thread) it's great to see this feature added to TSW, and good that the DTG team are responding so directly to feedback from the survey (and no doubt discussion on forums etc contributed to what they chose to include in the survey in the first place). From the driving perspective, it will be really good that the signals at stations etc don't 'come off' at precisely the same moment every time, which has always affected the immersion a bit for me. I'm a touch disappointed that Matt described a variation of only '5-10 seconds' as I'm a bit doubtful that this alone will really affect the train's ability to maintain it's path, but perhaps I'll be proved wrong. I hope so. Combined with TSRs it would certainly be sufficient, and once the path is lost, that will really throw up a new world of signal checks and delays - just like on the real thing. I suspect DTG are going quite conservative based on nervousness about the ability of the 'dispatcher' to deal with trains running significantly out of sync. Perhaps as they gain confidence they'll increase the randomisation in future versions - or even include a slider to allow players to adjust the level of potential delay. Either way, it's a really good addition to the game, and one which I think will improve the re-playability significantly. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, of course, but the fact they're giving it a go is great news and very welcome.
I seen in one of the clips that a signal was setback from green to red…. 3:46:16 in the live stream, If this is something that is actually going to happen in game, it’s going to create some interesting scenarios
I did see that too, although in fairness I don't think there was a train visible approaching it, so it could just have been a signal reverting back to red after a train passed it in the normal way.
Aye. It could’ve been, but it’s weird that they focused on a signal with no train passing it whilst highlighting the feature. If it does come to fruition, as long as it doesn’t happen too often, it should really make TSW playable again. But I do hope the 5-10 seconds was just an example. I wouldn’t mind sitting at a signal for 1, 2 or 3 minutes, if the signaller responded to the SG button.
Is the signal delay just for the player train or all ai in the timetable? Hopefully ai will be affected. Great feature anyway, a step in the right direction for a massive amount of playability
Likely only for your train but will have a knock on effect if you hang around in free roam to do another service ...If they fix the itinerary for chained services
Matt mentioned possibility of getting stuck behind another train, or indeed getting in front of one, but I would assume that would be because you had nice greens and short station stops perhaps Or ignoring the wait times and speeding off as soon as the doors are shut
I'd say give them a chance with '5 to 10 second' timings, with post release feedback this could potentially be improved more. My concern is, will this have the same tendency the dynamic weather had of going a very predictable way? Hopefully the percentage going in favour of a smooth-ish running service are higher then that of a disrupted running service pattern, otherwise it will be equally unrealistic. All sounds very good in theory, but I'd like to see how it works in the in game 'reality'.
I am interested to see if this will be accompanied by an overhaul to scoring such that AI-perfect superhuman responses are not required for some routes, now we can expect delays.
As a guard, I really liked the idea of guard mode. It’s just poorly executed, and despite feedback about drivers taking off as soon as you give one on the buzzer, or not replying with a buzzer, it’s still not fixed. The fact that you can’t fail a service for giving two against a red is also disappointing. There’s zero challenge to it, and it gets boring… quick. Route hopping is a good idea, but again, I don’t think that should’ve been a headline feature.
So did we find out if the signal delay and TSR's affect player only or AI as well? I would prefer it to affect AI as well to give a more variable experience.
TT mode needed something to liven it up in all honesty. The only variation until this comes was the weather and time. Easy peasy otherwise.
I agree. With signal delays and TSRs in place the only big one which is missing, in my opinion, is station dwell times. It shouldn’t always take exactly the same amount of time for the passengers to get on and off and for you to be allowed to close the doors and depart. Maybe that’s one for TSW7…
Lukas did an interview with German Gamescom and he actually mentioned delays of up to 30 seconds. Now that seems a whole lot more likely to change things up with the timetable.
10 seconds don't sound like a lot but throw 3 or 4 of those at your service and you could have a lot of variation. Especially on a busy network with trains in the block behind. I often spawn a train in timetable mode and see if I can confuse the dispatcher and I've not had no luck. I have held my train at signals with passing loops and sometimes you will get pathed straight onto the mainline and other times you will have to sit and wait for several services to pass. If dtg have done it right it should make the drive more interesting, especially if your fast service gets routed behind a stopper, then pathed back Infront of it once you catch up. Or if you are unfamiliar with a train route and start to fall behind and suddenly you find services behind getting priority over you.
It is most likely an autoblock signal where the block the signal is procecting gets occupied. Default state of autoblock signal is green, and if something gets into it's block it turns to red. It is automatic, with no input from the dispatcher (that's the reason why some autoblock signals, in some countries, can be passed on red). The purpose of autoblock is to keep proper separation of trains going the same direction. This is different from signals that protect junctions, stations entry and exit points etc. These are red by default, and a dispatcher needs to 'build' and confirm a rail way for the train before they can turn green. And they are turn green specifically for the passing train. This is where the delay DTG is trying to emulate happens. When a train passes a junction a dispatcher needs to build and confirm the route for the next train. And as he/she is human, there is a random delay... sometime larger (he might be on radio with another driver, or just sipping coffee This distinction exists in TSW, and you can actually spot autoblocks turning from green to red for the track running in opposite direction... The thing is, it should never happen to your signals. If an autoblock suddenly turns red for your direction, then that's an immediate emergency brake application, and contact dispatcher situation. Becasue there are three main things that could have caused it - error in the signal (no biggie in the end), signal circuit is broken so possible the track is damaged (so stopping ASAP is essential), or something got horribly wrong, and there is a train approaching in the opposite direction (sholdn't really be possible, as there are interlocks in place that should prevent this). As for the manual signals, the signal is green specificaly for your train. A dispatcher build a route specificaly for your train. And dispatcher cannot just turn it back to red, without something really exceptionally to happen and without contacting you via the radio. It's 'something happened, I need to stop you asap' moment. Not something that is part of normal rail operation, the same way train failures are.
I can't be the only one a little wary about how this is gonna play out with the current state of the dispatcher... I was running a service on New York–Trenton this morning and got into Penn about 10 minutes late. Because of that I missed my slot, ended up stuck just before exiting the Hudson tunnel, and another train got slotted ahead of me. The problem was that train hit a red signal that never cleared, and when I checked the 2D map, a bunch of services were showing “stop off path.” On paper these new features sound great, and I’m definitely excited for them, but I can’t help but worry they might make the dispatcher and routing issues that currently exist, even worse. I’m staying cautiously optimistic, though. Stuff like this seems to pop up most often if you finish a service, hop into free roam, and then play additional services - especially in areas with heavy signaling and complex track layouts. :/
Yes, I share that concern. Potentially, this feature cold be arguably the most radical improvement in gameplay.we've seen in the game. But you have to wonder whether the signaling is ready for it. I still get caught in unchangeable red signals, especially on UK routes like WCML. And if something still goes pear shaped, is the save feature going to be reliable enough. I also have fears that, like the suspension feature, it might not be ready at TSW6 launch. Nonetheless, it's definitely something to look forward to, perhaps more than anything else in TSW6.
I am very sceptical about this feature. When the community asked for more unexpected stuff happening this is the absolute minimum that DTG could possibly have implemented. I would not be surprised if this will lead to many dead locks on the routes as the dispatcher can often not even handle the time table on its own, let alone with a certain degree of randomness… I would be really happy if my scepticism is proven wrong, however, I have a feeling that without more intelligence on the AI dispatcher side this will not be such a game changer as it may sound. Much more looking forward to the random speed restrictions…
I just do not see how this will make a rigid timetable more flexible unless they have seriously overhauled the dispatcher.
I have the same fears. Imagine a couple of hours into playing a route and there are delays everywhere, how is it going to handle loco changes? If a train is say, 15mins late, will the loco awaiting to take over that train already have departed and tried to attach to a train that isn't there or will that also be delayed? Platform alterations? Doubt it so yeah, can deffo see some mexican standoffs and having to delete services via the map. Let's face it, DTG don't have a good record of bug free new features
I really do hope that DTG get this right (agree that slightly sceptical) - would be great to see genuine delays, I think it will only work properly if we get proper AI train delays where you get another service (AI) that is running 15 minutes+ delayed, might be a bit too much for TSW6, but hopefully will be gradually integrated as time goes on.
First of all, I would like to know whether this will apply to AI trains or not. I asked this question about five times during the roadmap live, but I didn't get an answer, so I think it will only apply to player trains, which will be very bad.
The good thing about the 10 second timeframe is that it'll only take about 10 seconds to decide if you need to start deleting trains.
Rather than having signals clear on a delay, I'd rather they weren't connected to the timetable. Nothing more immersion-breaking than closing the doors at departure time not knowing if the signal is going to clear or not.
Technically per the rule book, you shouldn’t even get the right away against a red signal. It’s a relieved of duty and pee in the pot time for the person responsible.
The worst signalling aspect (pun intended) in TSW is the one where as you drive into the station the signal is red at the end of the platform. You just know it’s tied into picking up the passengers and when you close the doors it’s going to instantly turn green. So predictable. Would be nice to see that ended.
And unless at stations where the “TRTS” is required from platform staff to signaller, a train continuing on would generally not be running in against a red signal.
Exactly, it’s purely a gaming signal to try and add spice because the line ahead is clear. It’s like the closing of the doors is the trigger for the signal. That doesn’t belong in a simulation.
And some routes you can see the signal going from caution to clear as you enter each block despite the fact there's no train ahead of you. It's things like this that irk me. Get everything working properly before adding new features. Like conductor mode, I wouldn't have as much of an issue with it if trains that have conductor mode didn't also expect the player to close the doors when driving!
