It would be great if TSW6 included a setting to automatically turn on all relevant train safety systems (such as AWS, TPWS, DSD, AFB, SIFA, etc.) whenever starting a scenario, timetable service, or free roam session. How It Could Work: Add a toggle in the Gameplay Settings menu: Auto-Enable Safety Systems: ON / OFF When turned ON, the game would automatically activate all safety systems appropriate to the locomotive when starting a service. When OFF, the player would continue to activate systems manually (the current default behaviour). Why It Would Help: Saves time for players who always want a realistic experience with full safety systems. Avoids forgetting to activate safety systems after restarting or switching cabs. Makes free roam and scenario starts smoother and more consistent. Keeps flexibility — players who prefer manual setup can simply turn it off.
While in theory I think this is a decent idea, until they can stop train faults happening when set to OFF, I do not trust DTG to enable this correctly.
Good in principal, but while I tend to enable safety systems on UK and occasionally German stuff I don’t tend to bother with US as I find the ATC/ACSES quite hard to work with. There’s also routes/trains where it isn’t set up properly such as Luzern to Sursee or Rapid Transit.
Would definitely love this feature. It must be possible as there is the “expert” toggle in the settings for the Expert 101.
I'm not sure there's a need for this. The people in it for "full authenticity" tend to go from cold starts for the "full immersion" so will be setting up the safety systems anyway. It's actually kind of rare for a person to want full safety systems but also only warm starts. It's kind of an odd mix of "casual" and "advanced" that would require more background work and as people have said... DTG is having an issue with the "faults" system toggles working as it is. Adding another "toggle" to go wrong sounds like a bad idea.
They're on when they're not active? No, I get what you're trying to say and in some cases it might technically be true... but it doesn't change anything. It's still a game with mostly casual players and DTG still has issues with their toggle systems. It's still a bad idea.
Safety systems are operated by a key, and the switches are always set to the "on" position - the driver doesn't get to decide whether they're on or not, they have to use them. To counter your point, they included train faults which still activated when switched off. So the whole "mostly casual players" argument falls flat. I hardly think train faults are "casual". If they can implement train faults, which casual users would likely not use, they can implement a toggle to have safety switches on or not.
The point of that argument was that casual players were not given the choice, because even when set to "off" in the menu, train faults were still appearing. They seem (touch wood, I've only done a few runs since it) to have fixed it this patch, but the forums were absolutely flooded with confused players who had set faults to off, who had no idea why their trains kept stopping working, as there was no ingame indication what was wrong. So if these same players were suddenly getting penalty brakes with no warning or explanation, while they had "auto-enable safety systems" set to "off", it would be a mess that would drive more casual players away. Better to just rely on the cold start-loving players flipping the safety isolation switches.
I said this before in a different thread, but, people who want to run with safety systems on are far more likely to know how to turn them on than people who don't want them are to turn them off. I see the appeal of having a toggle in the menus, but knowing DTGs history of broken menu toggles, I think the current system works since most services have a wait time at the start in which you can easily flick a few switches
I tend to agree, it would be nice to have a menu toggle (default off) but not a pressing issue if not. Especially as I recall this being asked of Matt in a recent stream, and he said it isn't quite as simple as implementing an on/off toggle due to how the game recognises safety systems being on (or something like that).
It would probably require a lot of work to get it to function properly with all of the different ones, too.
For the ones who want full immersion. Especially UK passenger routes, the safety systems will always be enabled, unless taking the train out from the depot. Most scenarios are of you taking a train from another driver.
You're punishing the casual players though because they're the ones that won't even know or care about them and have to take the time to turn them off... turning THEM off from playing them. The "immersive" players will have a checklist and it will be part of the process to check (they do NOT always stay on when the batteries are off, that's how you kill a battery.) So, the smaller number of fully "immersive" people already get that experience and the majority of players who are casuals are frustrated.... for no substantial gain to the majority of players. As a casual (and some people I know also) actively avoid the trains/routes in game that the safety systems are "automatically on" or don't fully turn off and I for one won't buy DLC where I know you can't turn them off. Games are about enjoyment, not just your enjoyment, but the enjoyment of all. Why would you punish the majority of players to make a small minority happy? Flushing toilets are also on the "real" checklist and trains are "non-functional" if those don't work in real life. So is that something we NEED desperately in game? Shall we simulate the effect of toilets breaking too and NPCs.....responding? Then we can have "emergent realistic gameplay" where you get your plunger and mop out. "Janitorial Mode"
I get your point "casual vs non-casual player", and you're right, the game shouldn't be made so as to frustrate the player, whoever he is. But there's a limit. Following the "don't frustrate" logic, you do not punish SPAD, etc. So there must be a compromise, and it seems to me something equlibrate would be an option, as already mentionned, like "safety systems always on", for example, because it's incredibly annoying to turn these on every time you take over a service, especially if you have say 2mn to do so. This is meant to be a simulator after all, not something arcade where you do not care about the basics. But if this feature appear to cost much developpement time that could be spend elsewhere, bug fixing for example, so yes, definitely, it has to wait. As for the toilets, flushing them is extreme, but at least opening the door would be fine. Imagine one day we'll have a sleeper coach... Wouldn't it be nice to be able to lie down on the bunks, and turn on the different lights selectively ? Again, it's not a "must have", fix the bugs first for God sake, but then, it seems to me a good direction to tend to if we're talking about a simulation of more than just driving.
A casual player would be pretty annoyed by having wasted an hour and half by getting a SPAD. Hell, even I get annoyed with it, and I'm not one of those.
There's a Morristown service that's got me three times. First attempt, a red unexpectedly jumped me approaching Secaucus as another train switched in just before me, like that scene in the Snowpiercer Season 1 finale. Second time, I made it to Penn and rear ended a stopped train where the back end of it was straddling two tracks. Third time I took my time, slowed to 5mph to give that train time while the two blocking it got out of the station, crept slowly forward, and then hit a red on signals 5 yards apart where I was not able to brake in time.
I don't know why this wasn't an option from the start. Or why there's not a enable/disable all safety systems shortcut key. Is there a tutorial on the activation of safety systems for each train?
I can say that pretty much the opposite of everything you just said applies to casual players. So... there ya go. Two entirely different valid opinions. Except casuals generate more income and are easier to please. If you want a toggle in settings, fine but I just don't think TSW is doing well with those so expect it to be buggy. I just don't want it to bleed into people who don't want it on having it somehow turn on like other settings "accidentally."
