It would be nice if there was more advance notice of upcoming speeds in the HUD not just the next speed board only, I was driving a service on the Northern Trans-Pennine I had a 45mph speed board coming up so I had set myself up nicely for it and as soon as I hit that board I get a 20mph speed board in about 100 yards, how are you supposed to slow down for that it was a bit rough going through the set of points...LOL.
If you want to be professional sim driver you should learn the route as much as you can and you would know that after 45 mph speed restriction is 20 mph. Practice makes perfect.
I can see merit in both propositions. I would've gone down the route/train of thought (sorry no pun intended) that it comes with Route Learning. It can be a kick in the teeth when you first start playing a new route. But if your initial journey was faultless - it would remove an incentive to improve and play over again. However, I have just been playing the "Rail Freight" scenario on the Class 20 DLC. One of the things that struck me (other than WHY haven't I been able to drive a freight train on the Saltburn end of the route before?!) was that the signal aspect ahead indicator was showing for Red signals which were not the next immediate signal. I don't think this usually occurs and I assume it was part of giving a feeling within the scenario that you were driving a freight train that had to intermingle with passenger services?
IMHO, the whole point of the HUD is to make life easier for casual gaming (as opposed to hardcore simming), so I wholeheartedly agree that it should show all the relevant info (i. e. the next speed limit, at least if it is nearer than a couple hundred yards) to make game play enjoyable. One can always turn it off...
When it's straight after a speed limit change is what the OP is saying. Like going from 40mph to 20mph when approaching Lewes if you have the ECW route. As I've done it a few times I know now the limit changes almost instantly after
I personally don't see the need of this feature. Ever heard of memory? Well unless you are lazy or don't have enough time memorising the route properly but other than that it's useless. DTG should be working on more important stuff...
If you pay close attention on some routes the second speed limit ahead pops up briefly before reverting to the next ahead speed limit, thus giving the advanced warning needed. It doesn’t do that on all routes and I’ve never been able to work out if it was an intentional feature being trialled or a bug/quirk of the way the track was laid. A lot of instances where a much lower speed limit is sprung upon the unsuspecting driver is where there is a speed limit change just before another lower limit on a crossover the route takes you over. If that crossover is used on every service then you can learn that and remember there is a lower limit coming. In instances where turning out on a crossover is out of the ordinary then you would not be expecting it. This is where advance warning of that change would be appreciated if it’s not the next speed limit change.
This is quite a big issue on NEC. Constant speed limit switches make the ACS64 a tougher drive than it really needs to be.
Given that TSW has been directed at the casual market, I'd say that this is needed. In the case where a second speed limit is a short distance after the first, it should be shown in the top right corner.