I'm new to train sims, so please excuse any stupid questions. I bought Train Simulator: Springfield Line: Springfield – New Haven Route Add-On. When I try to run the scenario called "[EMD GP9] Last Train Home (Career)," it is so dark that I can't do anything. I've tried using the keys H, L, and I, but none of them turn on that engine's lights. How can I turn on the locomotive's headlight? Are there any other suggestions for dealing with dark nighttime settings? I tried changing the settings in Settings / Graphics, but they didn't make much difference. Thanks for any help.
Reading the reviews on Steam store I found out that the headlights on the GP9 doesn't work with cab control or keyboard. Open the F4 HUD and turn on the headlight there.
I just played Springfield and it definitely works. Sometimes it takes a wee while to turn them on, lots of trains require, say, 0.3 seconds to activate the lights. On the other hand, H doesn't cycle the options, so with a prolonged press you end up with rear headlights on. Use Shift-H to go back. Mayhaps the headlights require dynamic lights or some similar option. That said, headlight strength is much below reality or certain other DLC such as the Donner Pass GP9, see attached image. There was a time where things went aggressive, but it was too much. Night driving is generally not great in TSC. You can fiddle with ambient lights during a scenario (in the Escape menu), but even with that I'd argue that night scenarios can only be played in a dark room. TSC was designed 20 years ago when cameras used similar settings, based on YouTube videos and of course memory. At that point we used LCD screens which were quite gray at their darkest, this may be a partial cause. My monitor uses YCbCr instead of RGB and it is miles brighter as well. In any event, you could try a massive gamma adjustment. When fixing some photos, I went as far as 2.0. These days I'm comparing TSC screenshots to actual photographers. That said, night shots are usually backlit.
Thank you for the responses and suggestions. I wish I could see the nighttime scenario as it is in the screenprints. I can't get the lights to turn on, whether I press H briefly, repeatedly, or held down for several seconds. They also won't turn on when I cycle through the stages of the HUD button. (The HUD button also doesn't work with some other engines. In those cases, I've been able to turn the lights on with the controls inside the cab, but in the "Last Train Home" scenario I can't even see anything in the cab.)
