Route Wcml: Crewe - Preston - Feedback Thread

This is something carried over from Shap, but please can the speedo on the 86 be properly aligned? In the default cab viewpoint the needle is barely past 5mph when your speed is actually 8mph, and this carries on around the speedo.

 

So playing scenario locomotive on test. Once you past the 1st neutral zone out of crewe train looses power and nothing you do will bring back on. So done a physics reset that work I was able to move. But checked my train 10 mins after pulling away only to relise I only had one carriage attached to me the rest detached themselves somewhere. Then it just ctd. This on xbox series x. Happened to anyone else. JT Benedict

 

With regard to the reverb, wonder if this is loco specific. Having reinvested in the route yesterday evening and eventually setting off with the second part of 7T75 (Class 20’s) there was mucho reverb at all the structures I passed under eventually heading out on to the main line. Is it something affecting the electrics only?

 

Which 20's were they Vern, TSV railfreights?

 

It seems to vary, Vern, I took a pair of 20s L/E from Crewe back to SP and found that some bridges (like those just south of Hartford) had reverb but others (including the ones just north of it) do not, nor does the mini-tunnel up near Weaver Jn so I don't think it's down to the locos but given how it's some bridges and not others raises questions, I'm thinking perhaps a checkbox or something was missed for those particular assets?

 

BR Blue version I think.

 

I had power issues from Arpley - Bickershaw with the empties, could not get much over 20 mph, then I realised over the sound of the 1st loco on full power I could hear an idle 20 sound, the rear loco was doing nothing, I stopped & checked number 2 loco & the master key was in & reverser in forward, I moved reverser to off & removed master key & set off this time both locos were giving power.

 

That could be something JT need to look at for when taking over trains in service, worked by locos in multiple. In fact, they are not making great progress on the second section of 7T75 up to Warrington so I may stop the train and check that out, when I go back on later. Certainly so far as coming out of Bickershaw, that would mean 1000hp trying to shift 2100 tonnes…

 

Great route when it works (really enjoy the JT series) but lots of blurring and impossible to do anything involving Crewe (including spawning on foot for a walk around) without a CTD. Can see the game struggling even to load UK only DLCs after the last update so rapidly losing confidence I can complete anything on any route. Xbox series X with all DLCs uninstalled except for UK routes/stock, only TSW6 installed and a fresh load each time.

 

Unfortunately this route isn't playable for me (PC).

Attempted to play 5 services, 4 of them CTD, one short Class 101 service worked.
Played MML - no issues, Played CNN - no issues, came back to this route 1 service works, then the following 2 both CTD.

Either the recent DTG "updates" have caused core instability, or the DLC is excessively heavy on assets.

Of concern was hearing that a well known Youtuber "changed their settings to 2K" to record a video...... that for me makes me think this DLC has tipped the edge of how much the game can handle.

 

You are correct that it is very hard to get into Crewe on XSX without CTD, no matter if spawning on foot or loading in a service. I have found that there are a few more reliable ways to do it:

1. Spawn into Crewe at a time when there isn't a lot of activity. When I was looking for some collectibles I found that 0700 or earlier seemed to work okay.
2. At other times, try spawning into Crewe E.M.D. first, and then fast travel to Crewe, or even just walk. There seems to be less of a chance of CTD when doing this.
3. Both of these have worked for me in 4K. However, they didn't help when I tried to spawn into Journey service 1P16, starting at Crewe. I got a crash every single time. I was able to load the service by switching to HD first, as suggested by candacedtg. You can always switch back to 4K once your drive away from Crewe.

This with all layers installed except PFT and CL5. Using workarounds I haven't encountered anything on XSX that is truly impossible. Hopefully this will be helpful until a fix arrives. Good luck!

 

Thanks! That’s really useful and I’ll try those. Really demoralising position especially for those of us who’ve enjoyed this game since the days of TSW 2020!

 

CTD on anything Crewe related. Seriously considering a refund and going for Trent Valley. Xbox series X

 

Trent valley is just as bad in the crewe area

 

AWS for signal PN89, first one south of Preston on the Up Main, seems to be dead. Approached the signal showing Green and got no response from the AWS at all.

 

Could this be Tom's (as in the JT route builder) YT demo clip earlier and even he admitted having to drop from 4K to 2K to get his route to run reasonably smoothly and even then he was still getting jitters and sound squelchies.

 

I made a test scenario with the JT 142 the older version with the auto box as I know the cab occlusion is good with reverb. I made a run from Crewe to preston and I'm sorry to say that most of the bridges have little to no reverb on them and some it seems have their A.D.S.R (Attack Sustain Decay Release) borked as the sounds just start to play but can't attain correct levels because attack is set too high and needs to be adjusted much lower for the sound to activate almost instantly the train passes the bridge or tunnel.
The long walled section coming out of Warrington north with bridges has virtually nothing as you pass through it very immersion breaking.
Compared to the last two releases this is very disappointing, I'm not sure if something has nerfed the sounds prior to or after release but it would be great if it could be remedied?

 

A few updates on previously reported issues...

I stopped 7T75 (Part 2) and went back to check the cab controls in the second loco, all correct with desks switched out and both reversers in the off position.

Once again concur about reverb, only a few structures on the main line run had any evidence of reverb and, as Mart mentions above, the cueing is off on those that do have it.

Think someone mentioned the Class 20 and HAA braking performance. Again can concur, it seems off. Needing to check my speed a little on the 1 in 105 down section, I had to put the brake handle to about 60% (about 75 PSI on the train pipe and 20 PSI on the loco bogies) to get the slightest retardation. If i was driving that train for real I would be red carding the whole consist for poor brakes. Not saying we need Class 380 through the windscreen braking here, but they need a bit more bite once you get past Initial Application.

 

1P19 is a SPAD on spawn

 

Massive shame. Although I’m from the North East I visited Crewe Heritage Centre a couple of years ago and have great memories of the area.

 

As a test as I know JT Preston - Carlisle used to work flawlessly, I took an 87 passenger service north from Preston & I did not have to wait long before it went all 8bit & low res on the loco & cartridges.

Check this out...

 

Regarding the reverb, not only is it borked but also the volume levels seem completely off, which eliminates any immersion the reverb could add. For example if you're standing on platform 6 at Crewe with a 47 idling 100ft away, just about audible, at the southern end of platform 5, you can move further away from the 47 to place yoursef under the road bridge and suddenly the reverb activates and the volume of the 47 doubles, which is not how reverb works. Also if you stand still and turn around the reverb sometimes activates just from looking at the bridge you're not even standing under. I think it's at Paddington on GWE:R that it's the worst, when a tube train arrives is sounds like there's a jet engine under the canopy; even when you're standing on platform 1. Possibly Piccadilly too, on Manchester Airport Commuter.

To be honest DTG would be better off disabling it until it's fixed.

 

I found some more signalling issues:

• WN221 displays single yellow while the route is set into Warrinton MSC siding 3 containing coal hoppers. WN221 is the last signal before the siding, so I think it should display a shunt signal
• NH5 displays a green signal, but the AWS ramp in front of it doesn't trigger anything.
• SG36 displays single yellow, the associated AWS ramp triggers the bell instead of the horn
• WN233 is not set up with approach control for the diverging route even though the track speed drops from 45 to 20 mph for the diverging route. The signal preceding WN233 just displays green while WN233 itself displays green with feather

Besides these problems, I found some more issues with diverging routes protected with flashing yellow signals. I think the progression should be double flashing yellow -> single flashing yellow -> single yellow with feather that steps up to green with feather when approaching the signal and the route beyond is clear. Signals PN7, WN155, WN149 and HJ156 are the signals in this progression at the junction displaying the single yellow + feather, but they don't step up when you approach them even though the route beyond these signals is clear.

I get the impression that this stepping up in a flashing yellow progression is just not set up at all on this route. I find this particularly strange since the stepping up with approach release from red is set up correctly. There is even a signal (WD49) that does approach release from yellow. I didn't even know that was possible in TSW. At least I don't remember having seen approach release from yellow on any other route. So it seems to me a lot of effort has gone into the signalling, which is why I find it strange the flashing yellow progression isn't working properly.

Currently, the somewhat pants signalling is completely overshadowing all the other excellent qualities of this route, so I hope the signalling can be improved in an update.

 

I had this and when I looked in the cab of the 2nd 20 of the pair it was showing zero on the ammeter, tried numerous things but wouldn't move off zero.

 

As others have noted...this route needs some optimisation asap. Playing on PS5 I counted 12 lag spikes between Preston and Crewe which is not only immersion breaking but seriously disappointing. That is with only 4 layers installed and motion blur tuned off. I hope Just Trains are taking a look because it should not be the case that BML from TSW2 runs smoother than this. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of detail around Warrington and Crewe but this is not acceptable or enjoyable

 

All scenarios involving the 47 get stuck on "Set Drivers Brake to Initial Application" which you can eventually get past but it takes a lot of fiddling with the brakes on and off until it seems happy with them released to let you continue

 

When an AI train is double-headed, will the horns of both locos sound?
I was pulling into Preston on a 101 and just as we arrived they was a bizarre horn noise and the only train leaving was a double-headed 87 on a freight.

 

Worth noting that Trent Valley has a decent reduced timetable that works flawlessly on XSX. Less AI and no freight around but still plenty of other Avanti and 350s to come across. Unless I’m doing freight I just always use this timetable now as it’s smooth and runs without crashes and blurry textures.

 

This is the first major issue I’ve had with a route released recently. I held off Birmingham to Crewe after reading feedback. Still not bought it. I had a lot of faith in this one being a JT route, especially after Blackpool and Carlisle. I’m struggling to accept this is down to JT alone.

 

Just submitted a ticket for this. Wish there was an option to not have the Preston-Crewe locos/stock appear on Blackpool branches or Preston-Carlisle. I suspect the 86/4 or 47/3 being added to these timetables as causing the blurred textures

 

Just to follow up on a previously reported problem, after completing all three tiers for mastery, although I got the mastery tile as expected, I still haven't gotten any poster. I can't recall ever getting the tile and still not having the poster, so I would think that the poster achievement is probably broken at this point.

But that Crewe Speedway tile is pretty sick though. Puts the speedway tile on SBD to shame.

 

I’ve not got Preston-Crewe installed and Preston-Carlisle is running as normal with zero blurry textures on XSX, so must be the new stock causing this to happen.

 

Thanks for that, must be that the 86/4 (that's the only stock that should sub in at the moment on that route) pushing things just over the limit.

 

Well, that's not good then... Do you think this can be solved with optimisations to Crewe - Preston and the stock that comes with it or is Shap possibly at the limit of stock that can run on the route without going blurry?

 

Optimisations of stock texture sizes and stuff should hopefully help with that.

 

Thank you for the answer. I suppose I'll also uninstall Crewe - Preston and wait for an update while enjoying Shap then.

 

Thanks for the info, don't have the route yet but I'm the same, need accurate signalling otherwise spoils the driving for me. Same thing happened with Trent Valley (as well as other routes), a couple of the approach controlled setups are wrong. Unfortunately will take ages to fix or maybe never as it needs a ton work to sort (I think), not like TSC where a couple of clicks will work. I think most people won't be fussed though, I think we're in the minority for ultra accurate signalling.

Otherwise, the route and timetable look amazing, so much work has gone into this, will buy soon I'm sure.

 

Thanks for passing on these, will get the person who does signalling for us to have a look.

 

XBox Series S - no layers active

Merry Go Round Scenario

Significant blurring on passing AI trains and the two train locos (as seen with the external camera) intermittent during the run. Worst on the approach, during and after the Parkside wagon coupling process including blurring on all the stationary MGR wagons.

I have the output set to HD and always Quit the game before restarting a new session. Apart from very minor and rare blurring issues on other routes this workaround seemed to have solved things. However, sadly not for this route, which is a real shame after spending many happy hours in the mid 1980s at Warrington Bank Quay watching it in real life.

 

Starting to think similar - Yesterday ran service 4S59 Southampton MCT - Coatbridge FLT with Class 86/4, CTD occurred with no warning, error message etc. while passing through Warrington Bank Quay. Based on above feedback, ran it again today with Class 87, completed without issue though blurry most of the way. Perhaps need to try the Class 86/4 again just to confirm?

Edit - Repeated with (same) Class 86/4, completed ok this time...

Xbox Series X, 57 / 60 layers

 

The route is brilliant on my PS5 Pro, a bit choppy at Wigan and Warrington but that's to be expected, I did experience class 47578 in big BR blue logo and the number being blurry for a while, which is a bit odd, but then I have had this on the Birmingham to Crewe route too with the class 350, so something tells me this is a DTG thing, but apart from that the Preston-Crewe route is top notch, just as good as Blackpool Branches and Preston-Carlilse

 

Actually found some services that have an arrival time on them.
They are 101 services between Preston and Leyland.

 

fully blurry on Xbox series X playing on out with a bang and it's the same for the other scenarios and all timetable mode every locomotive and rolling stock and most places of the route are blurry and inside the cabs and through out with every thing enabled

 

What I don't get with this blurry bug is the sim can be running smooth as with high FPS yet everything is blurry, yet at low FPS when you think the textures might go blurry everything is normal.

 

The crash at Warrington Bank Quay is caused by the destination boards which I'm still confused about but the crash message points directly at them so we'll be temporarily removing them with the hope of getting some brand new ones in later down the line.

 

1S87, signalling issue outside Preston. Everything jamed up. Deleted a few things but still stuck. Platforms and junctions all clear so very odd.
I have a high end PC and for the first time ever with TSW on Ultra I had FPS issues passing through Warrington.
Otherwise a fab route.
(Xbox PC)

 

Texture blurriness and performance aren't related. There is only a certain size of texture pool available, I think 2000mb or 2500mb (can be less depending on console). All textures in use must fit inside this limit. The game engine automatically adjusts texture size by reducing their resolution until the total texture memory is back under the limit. In the ideal world the game engine will reduce the texture resolution of small and less visible objects, however as demonstrated even the more important textures like locos can be affected in extreme cases. Performance plays no role in this since the texture pool is a fixed memory size.

Performance is dictated by many many factors, triangle count of assets being rendered, shader complexity, lights, simulation, game tasks and thousands of other reasons. You could in theory bust the texture memory by having a single cube asset with 24 8k texture sheets that don't mip (reduce in resolution) on a cube in a blank world. Performance would be great given there’s literally nothing happening except rendering a cube but the texture pool would be exceeded. In a game world there are thousands of texture sheets in use of varying sizes all vying to be rendered.

 

Thanks for the response.
Being from the area I'm enjoying the route, with a little more stability (on Xbox at least) it would be really impressive imho.

 

AWS for Signal NH3, Crewe Dn Slow Independent, apparently not working. Signal Green as I approached but no AWS indication or sound in the cab.

 

The Train Heat light on the 86/4 is permanently lit whilst the line is live whilst coupled to a freightliner set. Pressing 'Off' has no effect. ISTR something similar with the 87 when it was first released.