If I had to guess, best case scenario they were copying a real formation but that more than likely used MK2 aircons with something like a BSO in the formation, but this was before those were added to TSW so they just used first and standard class MK2As as the closest they could get. That's the best case scenario mind you, the alternative being it was a genuine oversight considering this was a service added in the post release patch and not in that dreaded first iteration of the timetable.
They are using the blood and custard Mark Ones from SoS/PFR so there should be a brake vehicle in the selection - can’t recall offhand whether it’s a BSK or BSO but really no excuse for overlooking a basic railway operating principle!
Ah I stand corrected then, I haven't used that timetable for a good while now since I picked up the enhancement pack mods. So the blood and custard MK1s from those addons as well as the Cornwall railtour pack didnt' come with a BSO but they did still have a BG, there really should be one of those in there.
That does leave one wondering about TT-WoS, does that adhere to railway rules and regulations as per the original series or is it the kind of dross tomfoolery of the CGI series episodes? What would the good Reverend say?
Trams have plain grey textures/no textures. PS5. Playing the Class 40 railtours on the original timetable. A tram that looked like a ghost passed me.
If already reported apologies, but as this is the first time I’ve worked a Down train to Leven there appears to be a horrendous boo-boo with the signalling at Thornton Junction. You approach on a line speed of 80 MPH, the protecting signal shows green with no feather, onto a 30 MPH then 25 MPH set of points. This should definitely be approach controlled and there should be an appropriate feather displayed at the signal.
Oh indeed, but this is by far the worst instance I think. A typical Rivet effort, waved through QA by DTG QA too frightened to say boo to a goose…
That rather supposes that DTG QA have someone who knows how the real railway is signalled. Personally I doubt it.
Thats my gut feeling too, although with online resources and a bit of research they should not be getting these things wrong.
I do sometimes wonder how much testing the QA team are actually doing. The Class 90, for example, is something that really shouldn't have made it through QA in its released state. There have been countless other issues that really ought to have been picked up before release.
Too bothered about making the money as quick as possible. It’s the classic attitude of get it out the door as soon as possible we can fix it later down the road which is always a terrible idea to have. I’m very thankful we have great third parties that actually take their time and make high quality content and push TSW to its fullest potential. Thumbs up to Just Trains, Train Sim Germany, Firefly etc.
I remember looking forward to making some videos with this route when it was announced so very long ago. I've done one video only and it was supported by Train Simulator Classic. Departing from Waverley if you go through the Mound Tunnel on line Z you immediately encounter a signalling issue: no feather, and given that the lines are not normally reversible by Haymarket Tunnels, as a driver you would have to stop at that signal and contact the signaller, as without the route indicator you have to assume the the point work is faulty and that there is the possibility of going onto a route that the signaller is not prepared for you to take. On the Flying Scotsman rail tour in the Sprinter Express timetable I have had a SPAD where all the signals on the Forth Bridge were at green, then heading down the 1:75 decline slowing to 40 for the Jamestown Viaduct there was a red; that should not be possible! There is even a scenario that Rivet supplied where you are to take a loop at Kirkcaldy and it's greens all the way on a 65Mph section. Thornton South Junction again fails for every route that is not straight ahead on the Down Fife towards Markinch. Effectively a driver would have to stop after the green signal just before the decline to the junction as this is a wrong-side failure given that Thornton Junction South should have a red which can clear with a feather for either the Down South Curve towards the Up Cowdenbeath, or Thornton North Junction towards Leven. Given how long this route has not been working with development seemingly abandoned, it should be withdrawn from sale, and customers given vouchers for other DLC as a goodwill gesture. Given my experience with this route alone I am actually very hesitant to buy new DLC for Train Sim World. For me all it would take is to fix the signalling, and fix the suicidal customers at the platforms, and then I might resume my custom for Train Sim World as a whole which I actually do want to see succeed.
I’m still convinced most TSW QA testing is outsourced and probably to the likes of India or Singapore. Fine if the people doing the testing understand the product and finer points of the various rail systems. Not so fine if they are a Jack of all trades and one day testing a 3D shooter then the next day a quasi serious sim/game like TSW.
QA isn’t looking for anything other than what the devs ask them to test. Game testers do not need to know anything about trains in the same way they don’t need to know anything about things in other games, guns, spaceships, cars or martial arts. It’ll be mainly a proportion of beta testers that will be looking at train and railway things.
I think your right, how many testers would be train fans and know all the routes signalling etc to beta test everything accurately ,it's no doubt" it's working not crashing next one guys"!
Yes you are both right, that probably is the case BUT if it is, then things need to change as QA should be to check that things are correct, not just that they don't crash.
I think that currently they rely on the Beta Testers to check such areas as the signalling and traction realism. That errors in those areas make it to release may not be a reflection on the Beta Testers abilities of course, quite possible that they were found by the testers but release went ahead anyway as the slot had been booked.
I thought the 170 was getting updates just played a job. And there is no suspension or noise going over track joints. And sounds are horrible.
The update was delayed until July. I think it was said they were hoping to have it out the week starting on the 6th.
PC - I've noticed a significant drop in FPS in this area: I don't know if it's the stadium because when I looked at the stadium from the front: (even though the photo is slightly to the right of the stadium, but even from the front of stadium I had no problem) ,this way I had no problems of FPS drop. Strangely, when I took a picture the second image in my post, the problem was fixed and I only had a 5 fps drop. I don't know if it's due to the patch , if it's always been like that, but I've never noticed or it was just a texture loading issue.
Having installed the update I took 2K65 the 12:08 Edinburgh Waverley to Leven service for a drive in the Sprinter Express timetable. Unfortunately the signalling is still off for the diverge onto the Leven branch but with a different set of failures: Departing Kirkcaldy I passed two green signals ascending the gradient which is where things start to go wrong: Approaching signal EK 517 I see that it is flashing yellow; this signal should be showing a solid yellow aspect as there are no high speed diverging options around Thornton Junctions. Approaching EK 517 I get an AWS wrong side failure so am now heading down the gradient to Thornton South Junction with no in cab safety warning (AWS Sunflower is black). I approach ET 553 which has no colour aspect showing but the feather is illuminated for the Leven branch; again this is a scenario where a driver would have to stop and contact the signaller. The purpose of the signalling in this area along with routing is also speed management so the approach should be: AWS alert approaching EK 517 EK 517 showing solid yellow with ET 553 defaulting to red forcing the driver to reduce speed as if to stop. As the train speed comes down heading for ET 553 at red and TPWS speed sensors armed, the signal may change to green with the position 4 feather on approach; this is a safety mechanism to ensure that drivers slow the train down for the junctions and is referred to in signalling as approach control. I will try other services including the rail tours that take the curve to Glenrothes on the Up Cowdenbeath, and report back on any signalling issues. I wonder if another developer could help Rivet Games get this right. Here's a diagram of the area: https://www.opentraintimes.com/maps/signalling/fifecircle#T_THRNTSJ
So disappointed. Nothing I have continuously reported since day one was fixed. Including... the signal on the approach to Waverley The missing scenery at Linlithgow. And even the rogue off-map ECS service at Glasgow Queen Street is still in the timetable.
Well if nothing else the sounds on the 170 are at least good now, and it feels like a much better train to drive. The route itself though just still feels (and certainly looks) like a dogs' dinner. Airport runway lights (woo-hoo) aside, I can't see any visible improvements to the scenery - would it really have been too much to ask to make a huge structure like the Queensferry Crossing visible? Also noticed the Forth Road Bridge appearing - disappearing - appearing again depending on what side of a bush I was stood at, at North Queensferry station. Just very shoddy really. Raised it a few times too, and I'm not alone, but station destination boards still showing "Dunfermline, Dunfermline" instead of Dunfermline City, Dunfermline Queen Margaret. Resigned to thinking that this is probably as "good" as this route is going to get. Might do a few runs in the 170 (at night !) but that will probably be about it.
Time for a good old rant and whine.... Genuinely who does the testing for these routes it cannot be rail enthusiasts or people who work in the rail industry and know the specific workings and operational procedures involved. How in all the name of things holy can "testers" not see the absolute shambles that is the approach onto the Leven branch from the down line. This was highlighted elsewhere but with less anger. A flashing yellow indicates a turning off from one route onto another but with more than 10mph difference in speed from line a to line b... But this is approach control!!. So 80mph to 30mph should have a static single yellow preceding a red which changes to a proceed aspect when the speed is low enough for the junction. Also the signal shows a junction indicator but no colour rather a ding from the AWS system. It's crazy how glaringly obvious this is. Who signs this off and thinks yep that will do
Without being negative - I couldn’t really tell the difference and without knowing there was an update I would have assumed it was the same as before.
What on earth have they done to the tunnel interiors, at least the one between Kinghorn and Burntisland so far? The whole interior looks like it is in daylight, no light (or dark) baking not even the wretched adaptive eye effect. Christ, does anyone test this stuff and who signed off on it for release? Will see what has happened to the other tunnels as I progress. There also appears to be a spurious AWS signalling ramp on the Up after departing Dalgety Bay. No signal in the vicinity.
Oi! You leave that alone thank you very much. It's an excellent oddity Actually I'm glad you found it as I looked and assumed it had gone. #Adventures in Wonderland
Definitely not hearing any point or junction clatter from the 170. Tested it just now arriving at Inverkeithing, engines idling and with cab windows open and closed - nada, nothing.
PS5 - Service 2K61 Edinburgh Waverley to Leven. Sprinter timetable. Loco: ScotRail 158 Blurry textures , FPS drop and lower quality graphics approaching Haymarket. The blurriness continues after passing Haymarket. Train Announcements missing station names so there's silence where the station names should be. This has happened since the latest patch as I've not had blurry textures before on this route.
Another surplus AWS magnet on departure from Inverkeithing on the Up. No speed restriction or signal in the vicinity for it to apply to. Perhaps someone at Rivet thought they make nice track decorations...
That tunnel winds me up! not just the new lighting but that the two ends of the real tunnel misaligning actually make it famous, yet in TSW it's a well engineered smooth curve that maybe wouldn't warrant a 30Mph permanent speed restriction. It's not like you'd expect a game studio based in Scotland to know that
What the dickens is going on here? This is PS2 era lighting. Also, I am sick and tired of multiple timetables because something is always missing. I can pick Timetable one to drive the Voyager but not have 158s or HST, Or I can pick Timetable 2 but not have the Voyager. It's beyond a joke and is likely to have me choose not to play the route.
Just to add, I remember some floating trees near the Winchburgh junction, but I didn't remember there being any missing catenary near there on the mainline. Serious question, but how is it that each update makes the route worse? It's such a shame as this had the potential to be a great route. Now there's a one-a-day service that uses the Winchburgh line in each direction, we could have finally had a reason to use it from Linlithgow to Dalmeny. But all the missing scenery and no pathing option makes it not possible.
Did a Markinch to Waverley service in the Voyager on the 170 timetable and had no blurry textures at all. It’s a good run in the Voyager too, very engaging. Airport looks so much better too. Were all the static aeroplanes a new addition? Can’t recall seeing them previously but only saw the lighting mentioned in the patch notes.
I tried running 2K61 as well on PS5 Pro. Immediate blurry textures in or after the tunnel toward Haymarket. With all the talk of optimisation I‘m surprised that a patch can actually make things worse?
Correct Purno: that's a stop and contact the signaller job as that signal is very broken to have no colour aspect. Here's another irregularity straight out of Waverley involving signal E 499. In this example I do things correctly and stop to contact the signaller as line Z is not normally bi-directional; I'm expecting to take position 1 for line Y to Haymarket Tunnels, although position 2 for line W to Haymarket Platform 4 is a feasible route also returning to the Down North at Haymarket Junction West. What actually happens is that whilst signalled for line Z the points are set for routing to line Y: ...addition Thornton Junction South on the Down Fife to the Down South Curve to the Up Cowdenbeath is signalled incorrectly also, but a little differently: EK 517 shows green aspect and AWS remains clear, so indications are that we are being signalled off our diagram requiring emergency braking and a call to the signaller. This signal should be solid yellow for such a service with an AWS activation. ET 553 shows green aspect with the position 2 indicator lit for the Down South Curve: not much use if you followed the previous green and are traveling at 80Mph! ET 553 should stay red until the train is at a suitable approach speed, then it can go to green with the position 2 route indicator. I'll try and get a video of this to help devs with bug fixing.
Comming back today to see if the last update changed anything. Guess what? No - obviously. So the scenario is (sadly) still broken on Series X.
Thought I’d come back to TSW for the first time in a month. Xbox Series X. voyager service 1S49. Starts at Edinburgh Waverley. Blurry textures by the time of the tunnel just before Haymarket. Brilliant effort. Of all two minutes into a service. Never had blurry textures on this route until this latest update and not like a can ‘go back’ to playing the original timetable either.