Are Gwe Mod 'tweaks' Possible To Aid 70's / Legends Pack Immersion ?

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by flamingoodmedia, Mar 11, 2021.

  1. flamingoodmedia

    flamingoodmedia Member

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    Hello all, can I just put this theory out there for our esteemed modders to check please ...

    To aid GWE immersion when using the 70's / Legends pack due for release soon, is it possible that modders could consider :

    Removal of all OLHE posts and lines either by deleting the shape file from the route PAK, or by manipulating the OHLE posts and lines to make them appear transparant in game ? (I believe mods are restricted to artwork and sound tweaks in the main ?)

    Artwork tweaks on the LED style signals to replace LED heads with more traditional lenses ?

    As per one of the GWE line upgrade mods that went through and changed posters, station signs & clutter etc, is it possible a modder could consider making a GWE in the 70's type mod pack that transforms at least the station areas for more of a BR feel ...

    I think someone has created a wooden sleeper mod already, and all of the above I think could be removed from our mod directory to re-enable full immersion for the modern day GWE ... Except maybe removal or hiding of OLHE & wires which adds nothing in my opinion to GWE in the modern day as we don't have electrified stock to make use of the juice ...

    DTG could of duplicated the route with the removal of OHLE or perhaps allowed it to be switched off via some toggle, I think that's peoples main immerison issue for the 70's / Legends pack.

    In all cases simple fixes would aid immersion, rather than a whole new route or long winded processes editing the existing route, more like simple wins ...

    Just ideas, I'd appreciate peoples thoughts :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2021
  2. davidh0501

    davidh0501 Well-Known Member

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    Remember it’s an early route and won’t have the flexibility of more recent releases.
     
  3. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    It’s definitely possible to do something, but it’s the availability of source material that might be the issue.

    Not sure about the OHLE. I suspect that has to remain sadly.
     
  4. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    I didn't find when I was watching the stream that I noticed the OHEL so much as I was enjoying the sight of the blue class 52. I suppose watching a stream is different from owning it. Airport Junction will stick out like a sore thumb too as the wasn't there in the 1970's and Reading station was much altered and rebuilt around ten years ago. I suppose the OHEL is the most obvious noticeable difference.
     
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  5. Scorpion71

    Scorpion71 Well-Known Member

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    There's some really clever modders out there, I really wouldn't be surprised to see a workaround 1970's version of the route at some point.
     
  6. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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  7. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    I saw someone already working on removing the overhead wires from the route on Facebook. So stay tuned for that I suppose?
     
  8. flamingoodmedia

    flamingoodmedia Member

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    BOTH the main immersion enhancing mods are out already !!!

    OLHE removal and BR era station clutter available via the usual channels, thanks to the modders for those :)

    So far, the pack, with these mods is working well for me, I'm enjoying the content ... it's different but I like it ...
     
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  9. fanta1682002

    fanta1682002 Well-Known Member

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    yes very good already working on removing
     
  10. Cramnor

    Cramnor Well-Known Member

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    And again, we are relying on modders fixing things... It is really great and I really appreciate the work and dedication put in by you guys, keep the good work up, but I also have to say that I don't like this trend of "out-sourcing" to free labour :(
     
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  11. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    A couple more little texture changes as I felt CCTV & No Smoking signs weren't 70's appropriate! I've also changed the platform numbers to match the station names, and the same for the lampposts (2 screens taken before I did that). A little update for the kuju transit van thrown in too, but best viewed from far away.

    The temptation to go through the route and recolour ALL the station textures is strong, but for a pack I'm not likely to buy at the minute (certainly not for £15) it might be a step too far.

    Just awaiting approval over at TSC.
    1.jpg 2.jpg 3.jpg 4.jpg
     
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  12. rostdor

    rostdor New Member

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  13. Tom Fresco

    Tom Fresco Well-Known Member

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    Well well, how the turns have tabled or so, they said it was not possible....
    Its great to see that the modding Community has come so far that there are plenty of Mods wich create more realism or realism at all, when the DLC released yesterday.
    This is stunning but sad at the same time, what an outside modder has done in a day should be an one or two hour Job for experienced DTG staff.
     
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  14. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    To be fair to DTG the issue is that the route is still GWE. Because of the way UE4 works, and the way routes are packaged the only option open to them would have been to edit the route and then release it as an entirely separate entity (likely as part of the pack). But then if they’d gone down that road they can’t just remove the OHLE, it would have meant a complete rebuild of the route. In which case the cost goes up, and the point of the pack goes out of the window.

    It’s very tricky for them, and difficult to square the circle. I think the idea of this pack isn’t terrible, but the price tag certainly is. As is the list (and cost) of the required DLC to get the most out of it. To have to own TV to then own the 31 to get it in this pack is straight up ridiculous. I don’t think it’s a money grab per se, it’s a function of not projecting far enough ahead and considering all ramifications when they initially designed the TSW structure. Whether or not they can now change that I don’t know. It seems like they could have just included the 31 with the pack (for those that owned it) and had it as a purchase option for those that don’t. To have it tied to Tees Valley is less than ideal.

    As I already own the locos etc, if this was for sale for £7.50 I would have bought it. At £15 I won’t, on principle. That doesn’t mean that changing some of the textures isn’t kinda fun though!
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2021
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  15. Mr JMB

    Mr JMB Well-Known Member

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    The OHLE and new signage is going to make a lot of difference, this might become a buy once it gets to a 40% sale or so. Hopefully over time modders will get even more involved and as here even more sophisticated in what they can mod.

    One thing that would be good to look at is how the new multiple-timetable system has been implemented - is it now possible for modders to add additional timetables that they made themselves? E.g. a +1 to the list of alternative timetables now the UI features multiple timetable support.
     
  16. Tom Fresco

    Tom Fresco Well-Known Member

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    Yes this is possible and already done by trainsimcz with RRO. You can choose a timetable Like with GWE.
    http://trainsim.cz/?mod=article&showid=2451&query=
     
  17. flamingoodmedia

    flamingoodmedia Member

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    I think someone hit the nail on the head with an earlier reply ... similar to ‘outsourcing of work to free labour’ as this is sometimes what kills off a modding community :(

    DTG could become complacent with people modding up & fixing their flaws meaning they’re less likely to do so themselves & more likely to wait for the free labour to come along and sort things for them !!! Rather like it almost seems like the TSW core team appear to leave a lot for Adam & his preserved crew to sort out & implement new & game changing features on the older routes, and sound of course ... Complacency can creep in ...

    I guess it’s procedural that when DTG fixes things it has to be done the right way, and across all platforms and this is a bigger job than a mod can aim to fix, but it’s totally ironic what the mod community can do in one night that DTG didn’t do in however long this pack took to create ... DTG should work in collaboration with modders so the entire talent pool can make the product the very best it can be ...

    Cynical views aside I like the Western Legends pack a lot, add in the station clutter, wooden sleepers, OLHE removal and 52 paint tweak mods that we now have and this add on is feeling good to use, I hope DTG see fit to do similar on their 3rd rail routes perhaps repainting the 33 into BR Blue and perhaps creating a slam door EMU as a new item they could use on the classic parts of SEHS & ECW ... That would warrant the £14.99 price tag IMHO ...
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2021
  18. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    The problem with these like all .pak mods is that they completely replace the default assets- meaning that GWE is now entirely wrong for the HST and Networker, unless you go back in and delete the mod.

    And they're of no use to console players.
     
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  19. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    Well yes, that’s the point. You can have one or the other, not both. That is why DTG didn’t do it themselves, because they would have had to re-make the whole route as a totally different ‘DLC’, and in a heartbeat the point of the Legends pack would have gone out of the window.

    I don’t particularly like it, but it is what it is. I totally get why DTG have done what they’ve done - whether that is good idea or not is another debate.

    flamingoodmedia,

    Have they done anything with the sound on the 52? It’s sounds pretty naff on the WSR version, just wondered if it had had any TLC at all?
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2021
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  20. Mr JMB

    Mr JMB Well-Known Member

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    Yes some device that fits into the main menu that selects a different pak file depending on which route/timetable would be a very good utility.
     
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  21. WaveyDavey

    WaveyDavey Well-Known Member

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    That’s why I have a folder in my DLC folder called “Not In Use” so I can just quickly move pak files into it when they aren’t required and move them back out when they are.
     
  22. davidh0501

    davidh0501 Well-Known Member

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    ‘outsourcing of work to free labour’
    This is a wilful distortion of the facts.
    Remember pc players who can use mods are in the minority.

    This was a flyer to assess the market for this type of addon.
    I’m as interested as they are on it’s reception.
     
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  23. zawal.belili

    zawal.belili Guest

    I just went to see and there are only 100 people who took this patch!
    Make as much "hay" for so few people .....
    So if we take a good look at the numbers, people aren't that interested in the "70's" mod.

    Or we are only 100 players on PC to play the game !!!

    Personally I wouldn't take it, what bothers me is that if I want to play with the original version of the line I have to remove the file from the game.
    In this case I have to quit the game that I search in the files, that I restart the game, etc etc.
    So much time wasted for 3 catenaries and 10 panels.
    It is also a serious cause of game crashes or messing up my game if by misfortune I remove the wrong file.

    I add that I will also have to take the 3 mods to have a semblance of a road in the 70s but if I look closely at the cars driving on the roads are still 2020s !!!

    The only mod that I installed is that of Nina who corrects the trees in winters and which does not touch anything else, I prefer not to add anything and not to modify anything in the "ini" file to continue to have a game "functional".
    In 3 years I have never had a crash.

    What made me quit TS was just that sort of thing, constantly tampering with files and reinstalling the game 100 times in 10 years !!

    On TSW everything works fine and I do not want to break the game in any way, the advantage of TSW, I turn on the game it works, I play and I do not plague.
    On TS it's the opposite, I spend my days fixing the bullshit I installed.

    I understand that some want more realism on the line; and it's good, I even said that it's very good to make it understand to DTG but the best would be an official patch or then to have a utility of mods to no longer have to do it "manually" and we avoid to mess with the files.
     
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  24. heardturkey

    heardturkey Active Member

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    I have the 3 mods installed: sleepers, stations and OHLE. None of them are causing any problems and make the route a lot more believable when running the Blue pack. All 3 when added to the DLC folder sit at the top of the list: above TS2Prototype-WindowsNoEditor-GreatWesternBlue.pak so are easy to remove and store in a 'holding folder' if you want to go back to GWE 'modern'.

    DTG can't do an official patch to make a few small alterations like this as it wouldn't be available for consoles and they're not going to basically re-build the route. Us on PC should be grateful that there are a few people willing to spend a bit of time to improve our TSW experience.
     
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  25. Scorpion71

    Scorpion71 Well-Known Member

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    The mods are certainly helping towards the bygone era however the the platform surfaces are still modern, now if these could be modded to how they were in the 70's.....

    Take a look at Paddington and Reading below for example.
    Paddington1970s.jpg


    Reading1970's.jpg
     
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  26. rostdor

    rostdor New Member

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    Use this app on mods : https://tsw-mod-manager.de/
     
  27. heardturkey

    heardturkey Active Member

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    A couple of Westerns at Ealing Broadway showing off the route modifications that a couple of clever people have made available for PC. WesternEalingBway.jpg
     
  28. atpyatt

    atpyatt Well-Known Member

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  29. heardturkey

    heardturkey Active Member

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    Thanks for the mods. Put them in and ran a couple of tests. No problems at all. This route is looking better and better with the 6 mods now available.
    Some grabs of the 'new' Paddington looking more like it should :).


    Paddmods (1).jpg Paddmods (2).jpg Paddmods (3).jpg Paddmods (4).jpg
     
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  30. meridian#2659

    meridian#2659 Well-Known Member

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    Can somebody post the 6 mods for gwe to make it like the 1970s (RushHour 4.26)? I only can see the further enhncement mod.

    I noticed the one from shiiba brings an error from the link.
     
  31. dhekelian

    dhekelian Well-Known Member

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    I don't think all the GWE mods have been updated and the removal of the overhead cables is proving tricky.
     
  32. roysto25

    roysto25 Well-Known Member

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