West Coast Main Line: Trent Valley From All Aboard Studios

The biggest immersion killer is Crewe, yes, it just has no static stock and it really makes the place feel empty. It is a shame as I spent 20+ minutes wandering around killing time before the next time trigger on my service and it was pretty decent seeing stuff coming and going, it did feel like Crewe in that regard but I may have just been lucky with the time of day. They do need to put in static stock for the yards though as it's ridiculous.

 

Am I the only one who's seen floating textures twice?

I'm driving with the 3 key and positioning myself in front of the locomotive. But every time I go through a tunnel, I switch back to the interior view. Could this be fixed?

 

Mentioning no names. On the feedback threads, how can someone say they have no intention of buying Trent Valley because of how poor B2C was… Reading further on into their comment you discover they don’t even own B2C or the 805.

No wonder the devs stay away from the forums.

 

As much as i appreciate the detail the put into stock and the stations, and to some degree the surrounding buildings, driving past empty sidings, and maintenance facilities is more immersion breaking than seeing the correctly modelled building that you maybe catch a glimpse of for a couple of seconds while leaving or arriving at a station, for me, it's the small little touches of lined up empties or passing freight trains sat in the loop waiting for right of way, i understand why they don't add them as they take up resources, but personally i would rather have empty stock in sidings and waiting trains in loops than a perfectly modelled high poly church sat on the hill, as long as it's the right shape and colour (if I'm familiar with the route in real life) that's good enough for me, as I'm looking at what's in front and nearby not the scenery so much.

 

As a entirely neutral party, if I had to try and make a argument for whoever you're talking about you can get a lot from previews. Especially the visual and audio side of things, really the only aspect you need to own the route to properly judge is physics, them not owning it isn't a red flag on its own.

Also just saying, lot of people would argue that if you already own it any criticism you have for it is moot anyways, you're giving the product you claim to hate money after all. (In their mind at least)

 

There are plenty of reviews which are positive. Maybe that person is ignoring those. If they have a low end console that might be the only reviews they are looking at.

Personally I couldn't say B2C is a bad route by any stretch of the imagination and I think there are still some who are going on the original release which was a bit problematic.

Some people just have an axe to grind.

 

In that case, Everos won’t hit anything beyond 110, as they’d need to be cleared for EPS to reach 125.

 

Well said. My only big criticism is lack of freight. Crewe seems really deserted, even the platforms feel a bit empty.
I’m a bit of a purist for realism, so I often spawn some LSL stock and pad-out Basford Hall before driving north!

 

Very interesting run on 1U29 Milton to Crewe (350/4).

Adjacent platform at Milton was an Avanti, for whatever reason it got the signal ahead of me and this put about 3 late start on 1U29. 1U29 then lost further time due to other Avanti stuff being put in front of it. Excellent. Very realistic.

of note were random 2 Yellows after Rugeley with nothing in front on map. Seem to remember a similar issue on Peterborough Doncaster.

also, station announcements are still a bit odd. First time of listing stations it lists all then it says calling at ‘xxxx only’

I can’t seem to see any 350/4 1Uxx journeys on WCML(S) which is annoying.

well done AABS this is a good route but there are tweaks to be made for sure.

 

The double yellows on ECML were due to the level crossing timers being set up incorrectly. Not sure if that would be the case here.

 

not true. 110 isn’t the maximum authorised speed for multiple units on the wcml, many sections go slightly faster. it was set at 110 because that was the maximum speed of the 350s so it never really needed to be any higher

 

Probably the signal delay feature

 

I remember when the press used to slate BR for being 2 to 10mins late, i cant remember the last time the in-laws or my mum came up to visit in the last 20yrs without being late, having to catch a bus because there's a line problem or a train was cancelled, i now understand what my grandad always used to say about don't knock it till its gone LOL when i was a kid.

 

To be fair it takes one look at the feedback threads or console streams to see that the textures are horrible. I'm sorry but I don't have to own B2C or the 805 to see that they aren't very well optimised and don't run well on console. It's especially annoying because besides that the routes and locos look amazing, it's just the poor optimisation that lets it down. I'm also not spending nearly £50 just to prove that the route and loco suffer from crashes and blurry textures when I think thats pretty obvious.

 

It's really more of an afterthought in most routes. That's why I'm saving the money for Preston-Crewe.

 

There are issues with the signalling on this route. It appears (away from flashing yellows) that they’ve missed how approach control works. Unless the WCML is somehow different it should not be 2 Yellows then 1 Yellow with route indicator. Should be 2 Yellows, 1 Yellow and approach released route indicator with a non red aspect.

 

To be honest I’m glad they’re going that direction - IF it actually works, for example MAC is on the smaller side & that can be temperamental.

Frankly as a console user the state of the game has been too poor for too long now, with the odd DLC carrying it. As far back as RushHour & the whole PS5 add on limit, probably even further back for Xbox and the myriad of shenanigans that platform has been through over the years. It’s clear that DTG pays little attention to the platforms they’re developing on & that’s not translated well at all to third parties.

The current state of content being released seems to be pushing the boundary of the majority of users’ hardware before it’s even released, by the time it’s actually out & people are wanting to do things as simple as use exterior camera & seeing their content drop to sub 480p resolution as a result, is just unacceptable. If DTG won’t fix it then yeah, good on the 3P’s for working to produce quality even if it’s less expansive. I’d rather have an enjoyable 30mile run that looks good, than a 60+ mile run that’s just a waste of £30.

Firefly have shown that you don’t need flashy mainlines with triple digit mileage to produce top of the range content.

The only thing that concerns with AAS is their rolling stock, the 350 is really problematic in terms of straining console performance, the 805 seems to be quite precarious too from what I’ve seen.

 

That describes what I posted and I didn’t put it in the feedback thread, I put it here in the discussion thread started by a community member. In order to have the full timetable on this route I would need to buy all of All Aboard’s content, none of which works well on PS5 based on feedback. I’m not giving feedback on the content myself, just saying I have no confidence in the quality of the content so don’t want to spend £100 on it until the situation on PS5 improves. I’m allowed to say that. I normally buy everything, have done since TSW2020, but based on my own experiences lately, feedback from others and the well documented issues on PS5 I am currently not buying. I don’t post things like this often and you won’t see me banging on about stuff like most but I think it’s important to comment on it here. Everyone else is having their say, some people over many many posts.

DTG are working to improve things and they will tell you themselves they are not quite there yet. I’m not spending my money on content that doesn’t work well. It’s a perfectly reasonable position to take.

 

Yep, this as well, I mentioned this a couple of days ago, at Rugby and Stafford I saw in the streams (110 to 40mph). Shame, as weirdly enough it's put me off buying the route at the moment (as I like to play hudless and the signalling doesn't slow you down enough). Maybe at other locations it's fine, not sure.

 

I think some forget that unlike steam, there’s no refund option on PSN, unless you go to extreme lengths to get your one refund per year.

 

It's strange because they have managed to implement at other junctions. From the preview and ambassador streams flashing yellows are implemented at Nuneaton, Tamworth and Stafford when approaching from the south, so why not in other places?

 

Since I’d been having unavoidable CTD’s at Crewe on Series X, went for the reduced timetable today for a southbound 807 run. Obviously much quieter (but not totally deserted in fairness), but extremely smooth and stable. Not ideal but will be sticking with this for now until if/when the crashes are fixed.

Crashes aside, the route is incredible. As others have said you have a real sense of actually going somewhere on your journey. I’d put it right there with Shap as not only one of my favourite long distance high speed routes, but favourites full stop.

 

I still find it odd that people are discussing content they don’t own or have any intention of buying. I avoid 99% of all German content on day one, as I have no interest in it.
Whether it’s broken or not, I don’t voice my concerns as I don’t feel I’m obliged to do so without testing the product for myself.
People’s opinions are just going off hearsay and what they read on forums.

For someone who has tested the products in question from AABS. B2C and Trent Valley are all running perfectly as intended for the platform I use (PS5 Pro). AABS have done a superb job improving the performance on B2C, before the patch the FPS was a bit choppy, not anymore though.

If people want the best version of the game, they should be investing in a PC already and not complaining about the limitations of a console. Theres only so much a third party dev can do to optimise for console.

 

This for PC users and a bit off-topic, but i recently installed the new mod timetable for ECML (https://www.trainsimcommunity.com/m...-east-coast-main-line-december-2019-timetable) previously i kinda dismissed this route as boring, but i have to admit with this new timetable, it feels alive, so far I've done about 800 miles on there since it launched (the mod timetable) so i have 3 routes instead of 2 for that nice high-speed running itch i get after running freight.

 

Im going to try it out see how it is on my series x

 

Yes, strange really. One thing's for sure, it's not an easy fix unfortunately. We're still waiting for the signals in MAC to be fixed as well, how long is that taking!

 

I play on series x on full timetable some layers disabled and have had no ctd had a little blurriness tho nothing to bad. The only that annoys me is the lack of freight. Even with every class in total only about 35 and more then half are just shunting and short runs.

 

Each to their own obviously, I never said my opinion was fact but I still think I should be allowed to discuss things like performance, especially when it impacts a route which I was thinking about purchasing. Are these discussion threads not made for discussion? I see plenty of people on this thread who are thinking of purchasing the route, why should we lock discussion threads to only people who own the content?

Also I think that if content is going to be sold on console it has to be up to a certain standard. To repeat my previous point why would I spend over £50 just to prove to the you or AABS that blurry textures are prominent on AABS content? It's also not like it's a one off report of blurry textures either, a large number of people report blurry textures on console (especially Xbox) all the time, and a lot of the time it is to do with AABS content.

 

The thing that needs mentioning is the fact blurry textures/performance issues are not just the 3rd party devs fault, the main fault lies within TSW itself regardless of route, so by extension blaming AABS for blurry textures and the like is a bit daft to say the least.

 

Well yes, but also no.

DTG 350 = not blurry.
AAS 350= blurry.

Firefly/JT/even latest DTG route = not blurry.
AAS route = blurry.

Obviously the crux of it is lying with DTG’s core, but AAS are also doing something others aren’t, or vice versa, because so far they’re 3 for 3 on dodgy console experiences.

 

Your spot on ive noticed that tbf

 

The problem is some of you keep repeating yourself, when you already know the issues regarding performance on your chosen platform.
8th gen/Series S owners will continue to be frowned because of the lack the memory for the consoles. The Series X is hit n miss, some players have a slightly better experience than others, PS5 seems to be in the middle and PC seems to be eating the premium slice of the pie. Lower spec rigs will obviously not fair so well. That’s on us though, we invest in a piece of hardware and we get what we pay for.

No matter how much nagging at the devs to improve the performance, the game will continue to function at its current state with minor tweaks to FPS. I noticed B2C has slightly downgraded its fidelity by a touch on PS5, but the fps seems more stable now.
I can’t comment on other platforms because I don’t own those versions, so all my posts would be looking at what other Xbox and pc users were saying and giving my 2 cents on that, which is unfair and I have no business engaging with.

 

For whatever it's worth, I'm really enjoying this route. For 108 miles worth of driving, it seems really decently optimized on the PC (potato 3070), with a good variety of things to do. I just wish the 350 had a wider windscreen or more driver windows to take in the really well done landscapes- I tend not to use helicopter-mode when I'm sim driving lol. Anyway, solid effort. Thank you AAA and DTG.

 

Nope! My TVL’s experience on the PS5 Pro is fantastic. 2 for 3.
Wait, Xbox, PlayStation… Who’s the third?

 

I never blamed AABS for blurry textures though? I simply made an observation that their products always feature blurry textures. I'm well aware that other routes have blurry textures and have mentioned it before. I'm not sure why people think I've got an axe to grind with AABS, I've said multiple times that I would like to buy their content and would do if it didn't constantly have blurry textures and performance issues.

 

Try the 323 instead. It’s fun driving on the up slow watching all the high speed trains passing you

 

Yep, could do with a moveable cab view really. Or you can just position a camera view outside the front window.

 

I used to do that (pop the camera in front of the train). Now I just zoom in, in the cab. I like a bigger picture, rather than having the camera panned back.

 

Hmmmm…

Hmmmm???

Crashes are not a fantastic experience. Now do you see why I won’t spend my money? Or should I ignore your feedback about the route crashing, even on a PS5 Pro?

 

To be fair, I know when crash toward the end of a service, I do exclaim “fantastic!”.

 

Clearly didn’t read my full comment.

Before the update/latest patch today it was fine.

Towards*

 

It is one of the scenarios, and was at 10am

 

The word might begin with "F" but it's certainly not "Fantastic".

"Oh for fantastic's sake, not this again."

 

Failure?

 

Fun and failure start the same way

 

Note to self:

Ignore the haters of AABS who haven’t bought the route/routes, but insist on commenting like they have done and telling others AABS are the worst studio to exist. “They’re not”.

 

But how we define them both is real question.

 

I can safely say this is one of the best routes yet in TSW. The route builders and artists at AABS have done a great job and, while I sympathise if they are a bit burned out, I would like to hope they won't be restricting themselves to shorter projects in future. Just cleared Stafford on my inaugural Class 390 run and blown away by the detail and, well, just the experience of slamming down the WCML in a Pendolino. It is a far more interesting route than ECML, both in the sim and IRL.

I must confess though to stopping at Kilsby Tunnel and using the 8 view to explore the south end around the portal. The road is there, where we used to cycle to from Northampton to do some train watching, though of course the area is more overgrown again both in sim and reality. Then I crawled through the tunnel at 30 MPH to value the structure and air vents. It is everything I hoped it would it would be, thanks Kezz and team.

 

You have no evidence it was the update that caused it. It’s more likely to be the route because other people have been reporting crashes happening (even on PS5 Pro using the reduced timetable) since the route launched, before the update. It’s just you had (presumably) a few runs without a crash before you had one. You can ignore that if you like.

I did read your full comment and I’ve read a lot of other comments too, which is why I haven’t bought the routes. I’ve been doing plenty of research because I would be buying both routes and the 805 together to get the full timetables and it’s a lot of money to shell out. I’ve read a lot and watched a few videos. The Birmingham route still has issues and this route has issues too. That’s why I made my initial post saying I wasn’t buying before you told me I should shut up. You reporting a crash after saying it was all fantastic was quite funny.

 

So the summary, unless I've skipped too many pages is; PC users no serious issues, it's a good route, green signal to buy it.