One thing I have brought up before is the lack of people other than on stations. As the scenic artists get better the absence of people becomes more obvious. I’m not asking for highly detailed or even moving characters. Simple static figures watching a train go by. Two standing chatting by a car or on a pavement close by. Outside a warehouse or office, or yard shed. If the countryside can be littered with trees, pylons and telegraph poles, why not someone standing with a phone? I’m not asking for hundreds, just a few carefully scattered would add immensely to the immersion bringing the world more alive. This was done so well on the old Portland Terminal on TS with little impact on the gameplay.
It was done on SPG and never seen since. It’s cool to pass through a small town and see people walking on the pavements.
Absolutely. Little touches like that make a massive difference and SPG is full of them. I finished a scenario the other day and at the top of the climb there were two high-vis clad guys stood under a tunnel arch discussing something on the roof. It really adds immersion and makes the place feel alive.
Maybe even people with those bright orange vests standing near tracks, probably for maintenance and so on . Could add a lot of immersion! Also animals near the track, could give us a reason to honk!
It is especially noticeable on quiet routes. On WSR Blue Anchor Beach should be full of people not empty, you would have enthusiasts with cameras in fields. If we ever get a Riviera line, driving along the sea wall next to a deserted beach will be very immersion breaking.
Remember all those deer on the tracks in MSTS about 20 years ago? But yes I agree, we need people and animals. We seem to have gotten used to "ghost worlds" in TSWx. It's almost surreal, driving around in the deserted countryside.
I'd completely forgotten about the deer! Well, it was a long time ago. I often think it would be nice to see the odd rabbit or bird darting for cover as the train approaches. Occasionally something bigger. Stuff like that would be transformational.
I think there does need to be more life in the surrounding areas of routes because they feel like a ghosttown
Not forgetting the customary dog running alongside in the field/beach near a line, thinking they can outrun the train and then just give up when they know it's a lost cause and pretend they were just chasing something else instead
Agreed fully with OP. I would love to see animated characters though, would it make for such a performance hit ? I have a lot of routes now for TS and those that have animated characters just standing in one spot moving is so refreshing. Pedestrians, birds and other animals would make me seriously consider playing TSW again. This is in the wrong forum, but if you want a route with atmosphere I can recommend the Lakeside route made by Railworks America, that is if you own TS as well.
Chavs playing chicken! Ohhh Cathcart Circle Spice addict has fallen on the tracks or taken ill on your train! 21st century UK at its best :P 1000 points for not running them over or 1000 points for waiting for the ambulance to attend the medical emergency.
I once got an near-heart-attck in TS1 when driving a long right-turn, couldn't see much ahead and suddenly a railfan-sprite (guy with camera and orange vest) appeared out of the woods It was so cool I still remember it, so yeah, good thread
It was things like that that I had to give WSR a "don't recommend" review on Steam when it first came out. I wanted to love the route, I live by it, but it just wasn't the WSR that I know, it was a ghost railway, more like it was shortly after it closed in the early 70's (or in 2020 I guess)
The key question how do we bring this to the Dev team. Perhaps a logo attached to each post. We want A Living World!
It just occurred to me, reading your post: are there any routes in TSWx where you see airplanes overhead? You would expect them just about anywhere in the world. I know they exist in TS.
It would also be nice if passengers showed up all over major stations, not just standing on the platforms. The concourses shouldn't be ghost towns
We need maintenance staff, track workers, cleaners, walkers/bikers, police/ambulances, wildlife and the most important one: the station master in the rural stations! Cheers
Yes, there are. I know Peninsula Corridor has them, and maybe even LIRR? But I'm not sure about the latter.
Yes, and they're quite cool, but the aircraft model used is truly awful. I don't expect a fully detailed model (it's trainsim, not flightsim), but it's a twin-jet with the engines out near the wingtips* - it looks like an A340 that has lost the two inboard pods. Nobody would ever build an aircraft like that - twin-jets have their engines as close as practicable to the fuselage for very obvious engineering reasons, and the model used in the game just looks completely wrong. I reported this on Kayako when SKA came out, but the response was (very politely) along the lines of: "No, we're not going to change them". I guess if I search hard enough, somebody's probably done a mod to fix it . * ISTR that one of the TS routes (Florida?) goes past an airport with very similar (wrong) looking aircraft models.
Seeing people on the streets would add to the realism. Bus Simulator 18 and The Bus, which both use the unreal engine, have people walking on city streets. Without walking traffic everything seems a bit sterile.
The ambient sounds in ECW especially on the Seaford branch were much more prominent in TSW2020 (eg Seagulls, dogs barking etc). Not sure what happened in its transition to TSW2...possibly just an audio mixing issue.