West Coast Main Line: Trent Valley From All Aboard Studios

So what route is the 90 actually being made for.

 

WCML South & Manchester Airport Commuter

 

Can't wait for yet another timetable on WCML south then... NOT

 

Question for you, why buy the route when you could just get the loco?,

like the studio doesn’t exactly have a good rep with blurry textures, at least I can actually drive Manchester Airport commuter without 80% of the problems compared to Crewe to Birmingham

 

Blurry textures happens on every route, its not as bad on birmingham crewe now, id say its in line with any other route regarding blurry textures. I find manchester airport commuter to be a good route for some short runs but its plagued with issues as well.

Also why would I buy a loco thats just going to be another copy timetable on wcml south, cargoline packs have this problem too and its very annoying to have to essentially keep restarting progress. So out of principle im not going to purchase packs that are just going to keep copying the same timetable, duplicating it and adding nothing actually new. The 805 at least has a much busier timetable now on wcml south and would love to see content merge into that timetable instead but yeah these constant "same" timetables are just annoying and dare I say it, a bit lazy to be honest.

Not saying All Aboard is perfect as clearly they still can do with improving things but their 805 release has gone a lot smoother than the route did when that first launched, also they seem to interact with the community and listen a fair bit too. Trent Valley will tell th story though if they have learnt from their past mistakes

 

All pre tsw 3 routes (non updated ones, new timetables etc) don’t have blurry textures and there’s quite a few others without them

also for the record I don’t think it’s been confirmed to be copy, might be base or new (can’t remember anyways)

may least the class 90 is new and not just a reskinned class 801 with minor changes

 

I hope Dovetail can work on being able to swap out traction for each service in a timetable. That would be genuinely something useful that I would use as well as an official live weather option.

 

Geniunely would love to know what you consider to be only "minor changes" because I think the 805 is far from that tbh

Its all well and good the 90 being new but if theres feck all to do with it besides some runs on wcml south then seems a bit rubbish however guess we will see what gets announced fully gameplay wise, maybe ill be shocked, also depends what it gets priced at too

 

Have there been any updates on Trent Valley?
Not wanting to seem impatiently, we all know how bad the rushed out products can be!

One thing that does seem to be the case with all DTG & 3P releases is a real lack of progress reports. Amazing how on the run up to Christmas there was plenty!

 

Don't think we'll hear anything until February's roadmap

 

This is what keeps me here buddy I rather have longer routes so I stay on the sim longer I stay longer on TSC Than TSW and also hope DTG brings the graphic up to high standard because all theses years since TSW came out base game looks so washed out and watered down that's also a big issue for me and dtg thinks it's okay to put it to the back like non of us can't see it :/.

 

I've been following progress on this route on and off for a while now and there's a thought I can't quite shake (unless I've missed something). The route is supposed to be Rugby to Stafford, yet the official route map not only shows Crewe, but actually lists it as a station.

I can't think of any other route DLC where a major station that's not on the route has been included on the route map. Could we be getting the first instance of one DLC route that merges with another if you own both? Is it just wishful thinking on my part? What are our thoughts on the feasibility of it? Memory usage would of course be the major sticking point, but maybe on PC at least?

JB

 

Pretty sure this new DLC in effect duplicates Stafford to Crewe so you get that section with this route DLC and Birmingham to Crewe (B2C). I think the timetable updates on B2C too, so you get the 807 and 350/4 layering back in to that route DLC.

Seems this is the way of DLC at the moment, to amalgamate rather than diversify.

 

I still cant understand why the 24mile Northampton loop cannot be included in this DLC! Its great that the WCML DLCs will be connected via route hopping using the same TT time period but TSW can be one of the most frustrating games at times when you see omissions like this one!

Im just thankful I have TSC to fall back on which will be even better once some of the Aventra classes comes to the game

 

Agreed! I hope that maybe there will be a Milton Keynes to Birmingham section developed with this included, but not sure how viable that is given the length and existing amount of WCML already in the game.

 

Would have to include the Northampton Loop, IMHO. Inevitably there would be some duplication but Birmingham to Rugby would be new, as would Rugby to Roade via Northampton.

 

With the announcement of the GWR 387, is a layer planned for these as they did shakedown runs from Wembley - Crewe via Northampton in 2016 and would give the unit a good chance to run at high speed.

 

The screenshots from the latest roadmap have re-sparked my excitement for this route. They look really good so far.

Hoping we also get the ai XC 170/220’s at Tamworth

 

Well if the reason for 90 being omitted is true, then no.

If any effort is made to introduce more layers at this point, it had better be for a loco that works the route every day, rather than another EMU.

 

Unless it’s a vintage Class 304 or 310 for a “classic” layer…

 

The TV is set as a 2025 TT so doubt it

 

Will this be more detailed and higher quality in terms of realism than the WCML Trent Valley by Thomson Interactive for Train sim classic ?

 

day one purchase for me, length, stock, stations, looks soo good ... really liking Birmingham - Crewe, plus this one has another of 80x trains, so hell yeah, bring it on

 

Will the Flying Scotsman be available for this route?

 

Possibly be on a Railtour, could always spawn it though if it's not.

 

I think the LMS Jubilee from Peak Forest/Spirit of Steam might be Suitable for the route. As most of them worked expresses during their time.

 

Got to say it rather irks me to see "Flying Scotsman" and the WCML mentioned in the same sentence. An ECML institution but with very little ECML to run it on. A4s, Deltics and Class 91s also ran the Flying Scotsman, but they're not in the game.

I'm thinking of starting an Eastern Region TSW Support Group. Maybe look at a fundraising event so we can fund the development of the ECML and GEML and its classic traction types.

 

Don't you mean Nuneaton for 170s (Birmingham - Leiester / Peterbrough / Stansted Airport)

Tamworth - (Derby / Newcastle / Scotland) 220s / 221s

 

I'm also confused with this route now, following new roadmap 1st paragraph.

"We have a further update from All Aboard Studios on the progress on their Lichfield Trent Valley route. This more comprehensive update covers route hopping, gameplay experience and timetable details."

https://live.dovetailgames.com/live...ng, gameplay experience and timetable details.

So is it also a new Lichfield Trent Valley Route in the making with Trent valley?

As we already have this under Birmingham Cross City.

Besides it why mention Lichfield & not Rugeley Trent Valley both have it in name.

 

No, it means this route. Lichfield TRENT VALLEY

Lichfield Trent Valley lower level is an intermediate stop on the Trent Valley line. Upper level is the northern terminus station on the Cross City line

 

So have we been calling this route the wrong name all this time. WCML Trent Valley route when we should be calling it Lichfield Trent Valley.

Don't forget Ruegley Trent Valley is on this line too, albeit flatter it seems. Also subject to a line name for Ruegley Trent Valley to Birmingham International.

 

WCML Trent Valley is the correct name for this route.

"Lichfield Trent Valley" and "Rugeley Trent Valley" are just stations along that route.

 

Love is a name, sex is a game.

Forget the name and play the game.

 

In much the same way as Tamworth is called Tamworth, but known in the trade as Tamworth Low Level, Trent Valley platforms, and Tamworth High Level on the Birmingham to Derby line.

 

Correction -

Tamworth has both sets Class 170s (Nottingham) 220 / 221s (rest of network served at Tamworth).

 

The line splits at roade cutting and Northampton is on the slow lines I'm just guessing they had to choose one route and went for the fast lines maybe to much extra delevopment time .
lm interested myself to see how they implement services beyond Milton Keynes on the slow lines ,I'm guessing again and saying it's just AI traffic from that point on and you pick it up and it becomes driveable at rugby

 

It will just add more playability as you will be able to drive the Euston to Birmingham services from
Milton Keynes to Rugby via Northampton rather than 1 stop yo Wolverton.

 

Maybe those services will appear twice, first Milton Keynes to Wolverton only, and then from Rugby onwards ?

 

Most services on the Northampton loop go to Birmingham, so it would just be driving those services for the one stop. Honestly, I think it would be best to include the Northampton loop on a Birmingham to Milton Keynes route, if it ever happens.

 

Yes, it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case. We already have a lot of very short services in TSW.

 

Am I right in thinking there was no mention of Trent Valley in last week’s roadmap? Notice it’s moved to the 0-3 month category, but no screenshots or updates.

 

Unofficially delayed to TSW7 is my suspicion.

 

Odd that it’s been moved to an imminent release though. Having said that, if it was delayed to address the bugs with B’ham-Crewe, I wouldn’t mind.

 

They have made the timetable which suggests it's far advanced. Presumably if it was to be a TSW7 route they wouldn't move it into the 0-3 months category.

 

I do recall this happen with at least one other route, that was ready to release but was held back for TSW6.

 

Well I guess we'll find out, seems very odd to move it to a different category now if it's a TSW7 release!

 

Given the B2C issues I’m still a bit wary that AABS may have bitten off more than they can chew with this huge route, even with 20 or so miles pasted in from their earlier work. So regardless of whether it releases next month or in October think I’ll be waiting for the unofficial/non ambassador streams and feedback before buying. Unless of course they surprise us by going retro and throwing in a class 304 or 310!

 

Guess you'll be waiting then!

For myself Im looking forward to the new DLC and hope it is released in the next month..

Be nice to run from London to Crewe with the addition of another variant of the 350 and 807 to fill in more of their 2025 WCMLsth and B2C TTs.. from there bring on their 70! (be nice if something can be done for the 90 to be integrated such a waste its not)

Personally Im holding out hope that modders will modernize the new JT Preston to Crewe similar to what we have now for the excellent scenery of Preston - Carlisle so we can go a little further with the pendo's (just wishing they would create a 2025 TT to mirror the AABs TTs, even though the 2019 does fill the void for now)

 

A 304 would certainly be interesting. I think a BR era Liverpool - Manchester route by JT would be the perfect opportunity for that.

Personally, I'm looking forward to this one. Really enjoyed the AABS 805, so having the 807 and a long run for them both should be fun! Hoping Kezz also managed to get the speed limiter functionality added too

After this and JT's upcoming Preston - Crewe, I'm hoping we move away from the WCML for a year or two and get something different.

A BR era ECML with proper traction in the Deltic & Valenta HSTs is very much needed!

 

I would too love to see a suitable BR route for a 304. Possibly id prefer Coventry to Wolverhampton but a BR Crewe to Liverpool would be nice too. But as you say somewhere different would be nice.

The AAB Birmingham to Crewe route is one of my most played and I feel one of the best in the sim so far, after a less than smooth start, I know part of it very well. I'm certainly looking forward to their latest.