Train Sim World 7 - Discussion

Exactly, another example of cutting corners.

 

Just curious, any mention of save game improvements or fixes on the stream, more slots, chaining reliability etc?

 

Nope, nothing on saving the game.

 

Also, why is there a massive button to play/buy Thomas the tank engine on the main menu?

I don't care about it, have no interest in it and won't be buying that either.

 

Matt did mention they would like to add more save slots but of course no promises as always

 

That button only appears if you have the Thomas add on for West Somerset installed.

 

He promised to "pass that to engineering" about three years ago.

 

Wait, will Steam Clouds only be available on Steam Deck or on PC too?

 

Regarding the live weather, I don't think it was too bad. Most of the transitions seemed OK to me. The only one that seemed really sudden was when it started to rain. When I checked the actual weather over Miami isolated heavy showers seemed to be forecast, so I'm willing to give it another chance and see how it performs on the other routes. Here are screenshots from a weather app showing the weather radar and satellite images for the area around the time the stream took place:

 

What a shame. I thought that the features that they had lined up for this release seemed quite nice, such as live weather. Improved dynamic weather transitions were also something I appreciated. But for goodness sake, once again, they didn't even try. This reminds me of last year's stream where the engine faults for the 150 were going off every 10 minutes, or WCML South the year before. TSW has the potential to be one of the most immersive experiences ever, and I still enjoy playing it. But unfortunately Dovetail are at the wheel, and it seems they are spearheading the game into the ground.

 

The weather suddenly changed like 3 times. Was not just once.
Maybe it is a dumb error and it gets fixed for tomorrow's stream, but if it is not I will be worried.

 

If you honestly expect this to work properly at launch you’re mad. It’ll be three patches in before it does what it’s supposed to, or it’ll be “we’re not able to give a fix date yet” and let it rumble into TSW8 and pay for the privilege of some extra enhancement on top

rinse and repeat

and as for console, forget it. They may aswell drop consoles at this rate

 

They never fully stress test their new features. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. It’s just luck. If they had bothered to look into fixing the snap changes in the dynamic weather the first time, they wouldn’t be having the snap changes in the live weather now but they just left the bug in there and here it is again in the new feature. It’s classic DTG stuff.

 

They never ever got dynamic weather working from whenever that was introduced. Live weather has no chance.

This is basically the problem I have with these ‘new games’. DTG wants the benefits of a new game, but they don’t want to deal with the part of that which is fixing the mountain of issues from the old game that’s being dragged over. They expect us to just settle for it, because they know we know it’s not actually new.

This adding of new features which aren’t even working from the get go, is just adding to a pile of issues that exist. Whoever is coming up with these things & then not allowing devs to have the time to actually do it, needs to be let go from DTG. It’s beyond stupid & it’s just annoying to see something put into the game when the time could be used to fix something else, rather than adding another problem to fix (or in DTGs case, ignore).

Surely Matt has to feel some sort of embarrassment or shame when everything that’s new is “being looked into by the team” & “will be patched after release”. Never mind in 3 months time when he’s streaming a new route & turning all these new features off because they detract from the gameplay.

 

I would personally love to do a poll to see where the overall level of customer satisfaction is

 

Didn't watch the stream because I'm not particularly interested in the route. This has been an interesting read however. I guess the stream went about as expected. The shiny new features are not implemented very well? No surprises there, its the same as every year.
I did have a quick look at the stream, and I got about as far as the main menu and decided I had enough, even just that looks horrendous. Forced into light mode, pure lazy couldn't change the pictures from TSW4/5 ones, and whatever this menu is, it looks like a mobile game to me.
I wish we could stop with this every year new game thing, it's never going to work well. It always feels as if they are trying to do too much in too little time, rushing it and it all just ends up coming out bad.

Ah well, happy that I know better than to buy into whatever this is, for some reason people seem to keep on doing so.

 

I think people continue to invest in it because they have hope and they’re genuinely coming from a point of giving the benefit of the doubt, trouble is you only have to read almost every thread to see that it’s wearing increasingly thin.

I’d love this game to succeed, but increasingly of the view that there’s little to no ambition.

 

I usually don't respond to these sorts of messages, but my character is being questioned here, and it does read more on the aggressive side - which is a bit hurtful to be honest. To start, you're entitled to feel how you feel, as is everybody, but I wanna just give a little more transparency into my side of this.

Clickbait is a title that promises something the video doesn't give you. That's what I'd say is the most widely known "definition", and I don't think any of my titles do that. When one of my reviews says "brutally honest," that's the review. If the title is a question, the video either answers it or leaves it open-ended, as it's part of the wider discussion the video is based around, and if it's an opinion, it's my opinion - and again, it's most likely the thing the video is built around or leads towards. I'm happy to be held to that, and if anyone can point me to a review where the title said something the video didn't deliver, I genuinely want to know which one so I can make that adjustment.

Every video I put out runs a few titles against each other, and the one that is usually chosen by YouTube itself is the one folks spend the most time watching that video for. A misleading title usually gets the click and then the viewer leaves almost instantly, so it would lose that test every single time. The titles that work best and help new people find the channel are the ones where people stay and come back for the next one.

So yeah, I think about packaging, and I apply what I know to how I present what I make. I've been making content in one form or another for close to half my life, and I studied business and marketing. I know some people in this hobby see that as a bit grubby, and I can absolutely understand why. On the forums, your opinion sits under your name in a thread full of people who already know you. On YouTube it sits in front of one of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people who have never heard of me and might never have heard of Train Sim World, or any sim game for that matter. "Brutally Honest Review" tells that person in three words what they're about to get: a review, from someone who isn't going to soften it. I'm fine owning that, and it's also just become my signature at this point, where it's tied specifically to me and helps with familiarity.

I've put more than 6k hours into this franchise and I love it with every fibre of my being. That's why I do what I do in the ways that I do it when to comes to covering content for it, and for how I produce and package what I create. I want more people to find it, and I want the feedback I give (which I try very hard to make constructive) to land somewhere that helps and contributes in a positive way. Getting more eyes on a route review or a patch breakdown is good for the game and good for the people who play it, some of whom may feel like what they have to say won't be seen by the people it matters to. I understand I don't speak for everyone - I never will - but I think I can say I at least help someone out there feel heard with their frustrations. Playing this sim and creating content for it, and also other games elsewhere, is my hobby and it's also how I earn a living - I'm very lucky and privileged that it gets to be both. None of that has changed a single thing I say in a piece of content or why I say it.

I understand "brutally honest" packaging is not to everyone's taste, I get that - and again - everyone is entitled to their opinion. I also know that I'm not always right, and I've been wrong on things or gone about them in a way that could've been better, but I'd rather be judged on what's in the videos and what people get out of the content and critical discussions that are being made than on the title of the book.

And for what it's worth, if I ever upload a shocked face on a bright background with a big arrow pointing at a train, you have my full permission to come and find me. I might've already done this actually, with the TSW6 DTG Direct reaction, but that was in good fun because I was excited for that. It was also the 2nd time I've shown my face on the channel, so it was a big moment.

To keep this post on topic: today's stream had some very high highs and some lows in the depths of hell. Excited to share how I feel about it soon.

 

Personally I’ve always liked your videos. Always balanced and I know I’m not being spun some PR bullshine. I also like BritishAce as again you get a fair objective review on things.

 

don’t bother listening to people who try and drag down the powerful voices who actually have a platform to be honest and unbiased. your reviews are the only credible ones i ever listen to, you’re not too nitpicky and negative but also don’t glaze things like some of the ambassadors do

 

I enjoy British Ace as well! I usually have his gameplay on at night when it's relax time.

 

I quite like his streams as well, but I think he pauses the game to take screenshots a bit too frequently.

 

Totally it should be polish what we already have before you start adding more new features

It feels very ADHD they add a new feature then don't perfect it but become bored and move onto the next.

Maybe slow down and let make what we already have run the best it can.

 

I do think DTG needs to remember to put "WORK IN PROGRESS" in giant letters on the screen of every preview stream, because people keep forgetting that part. This build was two weeks from release plus however many days before stream it was built, and work will be continuing until the last moment. Consider this a beta giving an opportunity for public feedback.

Not saying DTG has earned no skepticism, they have, but people ranting about the failings of something that doesn't actually exist yet doesn't give them any more credibility.

 

Why people should? When two weeks before the release, they show features that don't work properly, a half of the original route(which was still impossible to see due to the fact that the weather in the game casts fog when it's cloudy, even if the fog slider is set to 0), and the same old bugs. And then suddenly it turns out that one of the announced updates(passengers) is just a minor fix. And all this while raising prices.
For that price, this route should go at least to Mangonia Park, if not to Orlando. Or include all rolling stock.
Because for the price of one cropped route, you can buy one or even two good games, which took much more time, money, and, most importantly, a desire to produce high quality product.

 

The weather is of no interest to me,"The Sun always shines in my rainbow Valley"

 

That wouldn't be entirely fair to the author. It's good that the utility will live on in Part 7.

 

It should be available everywhere. Otherwise, what's the point of claiming you can continue playing on Steam Deck after playing on PC?

 

Another thing, I absolutely agree that the UI is yet another redesign for the sake of it, again no thought actually put into its practicality.

The main issue with the menus I have though is the settings menu. It’s such a mess with things all over the place, it desperately needs rebuilding & related settings actually grouping with each other.

 

What is shown on these streams is always what is shipped to customers.

 

glad they started with the route i'm least interested in. hopefully the next two will be better (and they need to be, as this is the first TSW in years i've currently not pre ordered and i still need some convincing)

 

agreed, the tsw6 core features all just being in general make it seem like dtg couldn’t be bothered. it’s like at school, when you just shove every piece of paper into the back of your book without organising it and later regret it when you need to find something

 

This. And if the figures just quoted in the Enough Is Enough thread are accurate, this is a business with a multi £$€million annual turnover, not a couple of guys doing it in spare time in their hobby room. They should be more than adequately funding decent programmers, route builders and artists - particularly at the prices they are charging. I know I’ve been criticised for questioning the number of marketing staff, but I would have rather have none of the glitz and fanfares if it meant in return we got a decent product. The new UI looks like it was given to the intern to design and should be optional, let us keep the old one if so desired.

As said, I was almost on the verge of parting with £40 for the Standard edition, but unless they blow me away with the remaining two routes (and given the UK route is 99% certain to be from Rivet) then I will make do with the free version and wait for the (hopefully) better quality third party stuff to arrive.

 

I don't know what's worse... That the main features are, obviously, not ready for showcase some 10 days before release, or that the Executive Producer is not even aware of this.

I'm sorry, 'something for the team to check' is not an acceptable response for other than cosmetic issues, or some weird missbehaving in specific situations. Even 'it's logged, and it's being worked on', despite atleast demostrating that you're aware of the state, wouldn't be much better with such little time to release.

If only the post-release bugfix was good, but it took DTG a year to improve the unusable temporary speed restrictions (how much improvements we have yet to see).

I feel especially bad for console owners. On PC we atleast get lighting improvements (and as JetWash is involved, I feel this will be solid), and we can, thanks to all the dedicated modders, patch things up and improve with mods... But console players, what they get is what they have to stuck with... and considering they are some 50% paying customers, they trully deserve better.

 

I know we have to be careful not to get personal and I know Matt is a great guy, but surely to god the EP is at the heart of everything? He is essentially the caporegime of the whole organisation. Nothing gets released or in the public eye without it gets his nod first. And if he is not signing off on some of this, who is?

Hate to say it, but I do begin to ponder whether they need to do a Tadami on TSW7, pull the thing and put the whole caboodle - core and routes - back in the oven for another month. It doesn’t really seem… ready.

 

The worst of all worlds are the apologists who will jump on this forum and tell you you’re wrong to question or have a grumble. How on Earth do we expect to get a half decent unbroken product one day without giving DTG a good going over on here and other places. It’s needed, and very much deserved. It’s been a farce on the whole for years, and only through the sheer misfortune of them being a monopoly and folk loving train simulation - they’ve managed to extract more money and kept their shareholders happy at least. Somebody’s got to be after all, the customer base on the whole isn’t.

 

I just don't understand the need to modify the UI. It was fine the way it was.

Now it just looks like something I would've made on ROBLOX a few years ago with how inconsistent it is in some areas. Just not visually pleasing at all.

 

It's a minor "issue", but personally I would have liked them to change the train images in the menu, as we've had the same ones since TSW 5.

 

Yeah for me the colours are not very pleasant to watch. It looks not good. TSW6 menu is way better.

 

Yeah, Matt is imho a great railfan, railsim and everything rail ambasador. He is just oozing passion for anything rail . He also understand the value of community, and is supportive of the community (I cannot think of any other UE game that has a customized UE Editor available for general public...)

He is also great on streams (him + Harry is my favourite combo ) He also seem like a very likeable and friendly guy...
But, that doesn't make one a great manager... and we can only judge that ability by the quality of the end product he's responsible for.

On another topic, I just watched the Freight Hauler segment, and oh boy.... I would be very suprised if the typical user would play that mode. It looks like another great idea butchered during implementation. Just random spawn freight with randomly assigned destination all over the map...it looks insanely tedious and not fun.
Why not add some customization options? So I can set on how many places I want the freight to spawn, and to how many places I want to distribute it. Maybe allow me to spawn one freight train, that I will then distribute amongs siddings along the map...
Something more toned down, than a 8hours puzzle train game shift...

 

As I said in the specific FH thread that's been started, it's a halfway token gesture to emulate Run 8.

 

Which route are they going to preview on XBox?

 

So you're saying that work stopped as of the preview build and the dev staff are being given these 2+ weeks until release off with a high five and "job well done"? I don't think so.

 

Yeah, they’re definitely pushing for a day‑one patch for TSW7 on the official release day. That will come together with a bunch of other DLCs that will also receive updates.

 

Yeah. They'll be working on getting the game into some state better than this, or they'll have started work on the huge December core update.

 

In the now deleted feature suggestion thread just before Dovetail Direct Matt asked me to provide him a list of the outstanding bugs in the game so he could look into them. Embarrassment or shame? Nah.

 

Of course not, but the pre-release version is probably sent for console certification already. Devs keep working, but you will not see the results the 10th of September.

 

Wasn't somebody keeping a spreadsheet of all the bugs etc and deleting them when they were fixed?

 

The addition of cloud saves on Steam is great, thank you DTG. Now it makes a little more sense to have the game installed on Steam Deck as well. Wondering if TSW7 will truly be Deck Verified, as Matt hinted at, and how he gets those "30-40 FPS" on his Deck

 

Yes, that would be me, though it's very incomplete.