I’ve decided to write a short review of the class 805, just for the purposes of helping some people who aren’t sure whether to buy it, and also to see what other people think. HIGHLIGHTS Sounds- The method of binaural audio recording makes such a huge difference to the experience, from the perspective of driving, a passenger and even trainspotting. This has to be the standard going forward Lighting- The lighting within the cab is some of the best in tsw. The reflections from the buttons, especially the DRA is so realistic and is another small change that makes a big difference to the immersion and driving experience Replay Value- there is a surprising amount of replay value with the 805 pack, the two timetables don’t just provide a few new IET services, they transform operations especially on B2C; it’s so nice to see the back of the 15 minute wait at wolverhampton Physics- the physics feel absolutely spot on for a 2024 train, there is also a noticeable difference between electric and diesel power modes WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED Cruise Control- for me this is the main one. Not having cruise control does significantly change the driving experience, especially when i’m used to sitting back and relaxing in the 390 without having to make small adjustments every minute. Whilst i do enjoy the challenge with it, i do also enjoy the calm nature of the 390 with speed set enabled. I’m hoping AABS are able to get this working eventually, and i think it’s reasonable enough to expect this to be in the 807 on day one Timetables- it might just be me, but the WCMLS doesn’t feel any busier than in the old timetable- maybe even quieter. B2C is noticeably different in terms of gameplay and service patterns but WCMLS doesn’t feel like one of the busiest tsw routes. Texture Blurring- thought i’d mention it just in case anyone didn’t realise but blurred textures affect the 805 as well. But i’m fully aware that this is mostly out of the control of AABS and they’ve already tried a lot to reduce the blurring FINAL THOUGHTS Overall, i’d give the 805 pack a 7/10. The sounds, physics and general immersion when driving are some of the best in tsw, and this will contribute hugely towards the experience on Trent Valley. The timetable for B2C is excellent and is certainly an improvement from the 2019 timetable in terms of satisfaction, but the idea of the WCMLS timetable being one of the busiest in tsw is lost on me at the moment. There are obviously small improvements that could be made but nothing game breaking and i’m confident that these things will be resolved in good time. You can debate whether it’s worth £15, owning both routes is significantly beneficial to the value you get out of the 805 but of course isn’t absolutely necessary. Many people will get it on a sale at some point which i understand, not everyone sees the value of £15 for a loco they already own two similar versions of, but for me this pack is completely worth the asking price.
Thanks for the write up. I am pretty interested in this one but seeing multiple reports of the blurry texture issue. I’m on PS5 and will no longer be buying any DLC until that is dealt with (or I guess until the PS6 comes).
I purchased this yesterday. It has more bugs than a $15 motel room. Doors that won't close, stop at a station and won't restart, some kind of announcement that keeps playing over and over again. Don't they test these DLC before putting them on sale. Total waste of money.
It’s a blatant reskin and has all the stupid All Aboard ‘features’ from Crewe - Birmingham. Yeah it’s nice to have the variety on the WCML but £15 isn’t a great price.
Absolutely agree with this. It's really annoying to have to constantly make adjustments, and the longer the non-stop journeys, the more noticeable it becomes.
I like the IET. Don't mind that there is no cruise control. Keeps it entertaining while driving. But I have a question though for all the people knowing this train in real life. Compared to the sound mod from ItsYa165 for the 801. How does the sound compare? I really like that sound mod and I have an absolute blast with it. But are the sounds from the 805 more realistic compared to this soundmod? The 801 with mod seems to make more high speed sound compared to the 805. But I've never been close to a 801 or 805 so please let me know!
It sounds great. SamT is kinda like the ItsYa165 of Train Sim Classic so it's not a surprise it sounds really good.
The best that can be said for the audio is that it does sound like travelling in the front (unpowered) cars of an IET. That is to say little or no traction sound and just the rail and wheel resonance once you get a bit of speed. Sadly, boring IRL translates to boring in the sim. However it is better than the 1442 on Rapid Transit or the wretched 766 Dosto cab cars on the German routes.
The sounds are great and Sam, as someone has already pointed out is already a legend from Train Sim Classic. I think Kieran from AABS in the 805 preview did say that did work on getting cruise control in, but ran out of time. Maybe when the 807 comes out with Trent Valley, perhaps it will come in for both? (would be a fantastic additional feature, just from a realism point of view).
No offence but this does seem like a load of misinformed nonsense... It is not a 'blatant reskin' as you suggest. If this was simply just a reskin, then why is the interior, sound, physics, and to some extent the cab completely remodelled and reworked compared to other IETs? If this was a reskin it'd still have the LNER interior, cab, physics and sound... But it doesn't, it has a completely new one of each and every one of these. It does get tiresome reading such silly comments that are completely unfounded. All IETs will physically look the same by sharing the same body shell, much like any other trains and their various subclasses in the past (Electrostars, Desiros, Aventras, Junipers, and even to some extent the HST), but rest assured those aren't all simply 'reskins'. They all have complete differences, as do the IET subclasses. It's like whatever developer whether that's AABS, DTG, Rivet, etc... Make there will always be a vocal minority that will attempt to ruin things for the majority who appreciate it by trying to put developers off by just branding them as 'reskins'. The same thing happened with Skyhooks Class 158, the ScotRail one felt like a complete new unit compared to the EMT variation, but there was always people moaning that was also a reskin which clearly wasn't the case. In actual fact if I were a developer I'd feel like players were trying to belittle my work. I think if people genuinely just believe it's a reskin, they are welcome to have such an opinion, but rather then being a hypocrite and going out and buying the add on just to moan about it, stick strictly to Creators Club liveries for a literal reskin of an existing train and stand by your convictions if you believe a paid add on with clear differences is simply just a 'reskin'. That way you can have a real simple unpaid 'reskin' for free. Surely if you believe in what you say, you wouldn't notice the difference? As time goes on, (and even since the HSTs were introduced as a matter of fact), standardisation of rolling stock will occur more and more in real life. The South of England is dominated by Electrostars/Desiros, InterCity routes have gone for IETs, the North by Sprinters etc... But we can all acknowledge aTPE IET will be different than a Avanti IET, or a GWR one, or a LNER one, so on and so forth. The body shell is the same, but the interiors and certain specifications will be vastly different. Each to there own and welcome to your own opinions, but I'm sure the majority of hardcore railway enthusiasts would feel the same as me and would like the encourage variety and realism in the game and not curb it.
And it's easier for a developper to do a variant of something already existing in the game rather than building an entirely different thing from scratch. As for routes, it's a matter of time before we've got more diversity... much time... Unfortunately, the most specific and least common types will arrive last... we've already seen that with TSC, it took a very, very long time to get a 73/9 or a decent generator van (17105) for example...
That's really a feeble excuse for not including a very important feature in this kind of vehicle. Heck, even the train on Berninalinie has cruise control as do many others. If a product is incomplete, don't release it until it is, for goodness sake. ( Or patch it immediately. ) I'm really in two minds about this dlc. Opinions are all over the place. Does it really improve gameplay on the two WCML routes? Is it essentially just a reskin? ( I couldn't care less about the interior/exterior decorations )? Is it really quiet? I'd really like to find a reason to buy it. Haven't spent a dime on TSW since TSW6 launched.
The timetables dont feel busier to me just my opinion. But freight jobs are very few 8 on each timetable thats for xbox not sure if its different anywhere else. The 805 doesn't feel any different from the other 800s. Most of the jobs on Birmingham/Crewe are 20 mins between crewe and Staford. And Euston/Milton Keynes are cant open the jobs cause it crashes every time.
Well, you know what to do (or not to do) when it comes out then! The 807 is a feature of the route IRL, so why would it not feature when Trent Valley is released. Should be able to do full length runs in them on the Liverpool services that stop at both Crewe and Milton Keynes.
Seems like a lot of the complaints about the 805 are just people who don't like that class of trains. Like missing cruise control is a legitimate complaint, but idk a lot of the others seem kinda petty. I think the sounds are really good both inside and out- a lot of trainsets in TSW seem to flub one or the other. I play with headphones, so maybe that makes a difference on noticing the little audio details.
Oh I'll still be buying it as it's a good length route. Maybe not Day One though, given the teething issues B2C had. We have to tolerate IET's when travelling around so guess the same maxim applies to the game. It would have been nice though to see the route done in a different era to get a more varied train selection.
That's the only thing I would criticize it for, personally. It was either that or 1986, to match the JT routes. Any other period would have made it an isolated stretch, with no connection to the adjacent routes except through sheer geography...
I should clarify when I said ran out of time, I meant me personally, it wasnt a part of the scope originally due to the complexity of the nature of implementing such a feature on the train and me always learning new tricks etc, we cant just rip it from another train as it doesnt work like that. IET's cruise control is all done by its TMS but I also would need to make sure we have accessibility stuff included for people who either can't use the TMS or don't want to go through the steps of setting it up via the TMS. The product is very much complete, cruise control would be more of a bonus if anything
It's a train designed for express services, so long distances... precisely where this feature provides incredible driving comfort. Even though irl cruise control is meant primarily to allow the driver to focus on observing the signals. I hope this feature will be included in the future !
Correct what would you like to see?! This is the UK high speed train so not really strange to see them on one of the main high speed lines addons right?!
Well, on reflection, we probably shouldn't pick on AABS. It apparently isn't modeled on the other 80X series trains and we don't yet know if it will appear on the 807. It should be modeled on all these IET's of course and its absence certainly detracts from their value and authenticity.
I dont get the missing cruise control function in TSW across all 80x variants.. I mean TSC was able to implement it on the 80x which is a nice feature and should be in the game I agree on the TT, While I like having it in 2025 spec and it has 997 playable services so far, it doesn't feel any busier for one of Europe's busiest rail corridors especially when I compare it to the Fawx 2024 + ots 2019 TT which have a good number over 1000 playable services not including AI which are plentiful making the WCML STH just feel more alive with what seems like a constant stream of trains giving that immersive feel as one of the busiest routes. Understand they cant add certain train operators that the modders can but only 10 freight services c'mon, especially for a line that's the busiest rail Freight routes in the UK.. Hopefully with the 807 or on their next update they might revisit and add a few more Freight services and AI trains. Would also be nice to get some of the special livery 390s and Evero in the TT. Being a core feature I wish that DTG would focus on getting the most out of TTs especially with all the rolling stock in game, even if some are unbranded, like adding in network rail coloured HST, 153 or Colas rail with ballast wagons or at least make the process into creating TTs a little more simplified so everyone could do their own (It seems rather tedious in PC editor but maybe thats a me issue!)
I held off buying it on release because you knew it would release with issues which isnt good enough especially for the price i will wait for a sale to get it
Speaking of TT releases with the 805, Same with the New Birmingham to Crewe modern TT, freight playable services go from 35 with the 2019 version to 9..why?
I noticed that if you own the blue 66 you get 10 jobs with that and with db red 66 you get 9 total 19 jobs
Ok I see it now when you click on the other 66s available... wish they could make the front screen show the totals across all variants of the one class rather then have to dive a little deeper
