Having bought the JT MML packs and thoroughly enjoying playing them I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on other JT route packs such as Edinburgh - Newcastle and Scottish ECML. I notice that in some of the loco packs there are scenarios mentioned for Newcastle -York modern but the link on the JT site doesn't lead anywhere so does that mean it's no longer available or was it made by someone else?
These are much older and not to the same standard, especially SECML. Not terrible... but noticeably not as good.
I think the Chiltern route is okay and the Cornish Mainline is very decent. Newcastle to York I found disappointing. I still use the original Bristol to Exeter which still stands up okay, I changed the track on it and added a very basic representation of Bristol Bath Road at Temple Meads so I can make it look a bit more 1980's!
I don' t think there is anything wrong with SECML or EDIN-NEWC, in fact I much prefer them to the latest plastic looking routes from JT. I guess it's a matter of personal opinion, but I love these routes and have driven many miles on them with plenty of enjoyment and fun. Don't be so quick to turn them down on the say of one person, take a look in the many screenshot sections of other forums like UKTrainsim and do a quick search of the old reviews from when they were released. I wouldn't be without them now and they are in my top favorite routes.
If you buy the older JT stuff, wait for a sale on their site. The ones on Steam won't give you as much content (Kyle Line, here's looking at you), and some of the JT items on Steam literally do not work, I've been told. Metropolitan Line, for instance, do NOT get on Steam. Bristol-Exeter is one I would normally say pass. But I keep running into item after item requiring it, and DTG in their infinite wisdom have added BOTH asset packs to the package, meaning it's on a permanent high sale price. I've never seen it on sale on the JT site. So if you can live without access to lots of scenarios and routes on third-party sites that require the original, the path is covered in other DLC like their own South Western Expressways and Western Mainlines. Speaking of, the former is getting an extension to Reading (a free one already exists presently, if you're interested), and the latter is older, but also one of the longest routes in the game when you include the South Devon, Cornish, Oxford-Bicester, and Paignton extensions. SCEML I believe is on sale right now. This is the time to grab it.
SECML is on sale as is Newcastle - Edinburgh which is why I asked about them. There's also Kyle line Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh and Marsdonshire. Are these good too? I know Marsdonshire is fictional but I don't mind about that.
And it is rubbish. Signalling is poor with too many in short distances The track layout is too tight in places and unrealistic there is a loop when you arrive at one of the stations It is like it was made by somebody who did Model Railways - or Trainz which also had off scene return loops
That's a no for Marsdonshire then based on those images. I was thinking of SECML, YRK-NWC and maybe Kyle line as they are currently on sale. Then later the full Western Mainlines pack (if the price ever drops which I doubt it will).
My bad. I meant Newcastle - Edinburgh. The Newcastle - York (modern) route isn't available for some reason.
The Kyle line is a route I have a love-hate relationship with. It's a long, generally slow, point to point route with three distinct scenery zones: lowland agricultural, highland and coastal. Out of the box it's ok, but a lot of the scenery development is very generic with repeated regimented trackside vegetation. If you spend time in the scenery editor you can transform it just using the assets provided, but it's a slow process. Some of the modelling is poor given the assets available. The Ness rail bridge is an example. You can get a much better representation with other assets in the pack. I think the route suffered from being too long for the time allocated to create it. Era wise it's a bit of a mess. The track work and scenery places it about 2010, but the stock provided puts it more in the late 1980s. Having said that, at times it can be beautiful, and being a twisting turning up down route you have to really drive your trains. It's also a route that hasn't changed much in the last 30 years, so you can drive quite a lot without it being too fanciful. I would recommend the Steam version. It comes as .ap files, so if you do edit the scenery it's very easy to spot the changed files you need to backup. One day I might put my 'improved' version in the workshop, but I think there's a bit more to be done.
The Newcastle York (Modern) is quite old - DPS are doing a newer version https://www.dpsimulation.org.uk/ecmlne.html
There are a lot of extras required though for North East England V2 including AP stuff and other routes. How will these link in to JT routes where the requirements are no longer available or other 3rd party items have been updated? I know I ask a lot of questions, it's just I'm a noob and it seems that a lot of 3rd party stuff requires lots of other expensive 3rd party stuff as well as standard routes.
You sure that's just not for the scenarios? I thought it needed the DTG ECML.... GEML, and UK Buildings Vol.1.
It mentions "East Coast Main Line: North East is no longer being developed and all track mileage from the route will be replicated on an all new route called North East England" but the East Coast Main Line: North East is still downloadable and I think it goes all the way to Newcastle It only needs the Original Newcastle - York plus GEML.
Ok, back to my original question, should I get SECML? As for ECML: North East (DP), I have GEML and could pick up Newcastle - York (DTG) for £6 so it should work right?
Almost certainly. It also requires UK Buildings Vol.1, but many routes have that... WCML Over Shap springs to mind. As for SECML... I'd only get it if it's required for something else you want. It's not a great route in its own right.
I asked about this once. Apparently the route was "showing its age" and is pulled from sale. Though, as I pointed out, it still has scenario packs that might cause people to think it's for the current "York Modern" (if they can't read that it goes to Peterborough) and can cause them to buy it, then there's no refund for buying it and they can't get the route to play the scenarios on. So don't buy that scenario pack, or the bundles of it with the Voyager. Personally, I'd rather we just have the ability to get the route as a "classic" and they can always allow a user to improve the route. But since DPS has already made his own version of the line free with North East England, don't count on it. If anything, converting the scenarios for that would be better. If anyone has the original route and wants to do that, go for it, nothing illegal about making your own versions. Also, regarding WML, it has gone on sale in all three forms, and more if you count just the extensions going on sale. The WML main line generally goes on sale, but I've seen the full collection go to something like 33% off, and I've also seen the Extensions Collection on discount with the main line at full price. Keep your eyes on it.
That's also an issue with some of these addon routes. Some of the requirements are no longer available from places (eg NWC).
You can still buy North Wales coast Crewe - Llandudno https://www.cdkeys.com/train-simulator-2018-pc-steam-cd-key It will set you back £6.69 though
No, CD Keys doesn't have NWC available. It's out of stock. Humble Bundle are still selling it at £25.
Is Train Simulator 2018 (where NWC is) not available there? I don't have an account but it shows on the page for me.
When looking where it says region, platform etc next to the product image it states out of stock when I view the page.
JT was notorious for cut and paste low density, low detail scenery. GWML for example, holy hell. Just spam ctl+c ctl+v the same tree sprite over and over and over. Really terrible. The MML has been a major departure for them as it's perhaps the most detailed and intricate route available by any developer.
I can confirm CDKeys is out of stock. But let's be honest. It's the best tree ever produced. ...and I'm being told it's not the best tree ever produced, but comes 427th. Drat.
It's available on HumbleBundle, but for £24.99: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/train-simulator-2018
I'll definitely keep my eye on WML as I'd love to drive it (I only own the DTG Riviera line). As for DPS, I can get the ECML one (the one before NEE) but idk how to install it as there's no instructions with it.
Cheers Pookey. I managed to get it working and am currently belting up the line from York - Newcastle in QD.
Anyone else who owns JT MML getting severe stuttering when running on the route? This last week I've been getting bad stuttering (1sec pauses) and fps down to as low as 12. It happens quite a lot on any of the MML routes using both stock TS locos and AP/JT ones. On other routes I'm getting barely any of this and very high fps (running SWML last night I was popping 125fps in most places).
Nope. Runs fine here. Where abouts on the route? If you give me an exact location I can check for you.
Yes, the same with me. I recently invested in the newly released steam version of MML Leicester - Derby - Nottingham and ran a JT 222 out from Leicester, and the frame rate was abysmal. I tried later with a central trains 156 at Nottingham, and much the same thing occurred. Unusual, when I have run other JT MML sections, such as Derby - Sheffield and everything ran perfectly. My computer isn’t the best, but generally I get good frame rates, around 25-30 on medium - highly detailed routes and much higher than that on others.
The versions from JT would have been better as you could have joined up both sections to have Sheffield - Leicester
I realise that, I just generally only buy things from steam myself. Danny’s workshop combined route links the two, although for some reason that has been taken down... hopefully it should be back up before long.
Just ran a AP156 from Nottingham to Derby and all was well here. I get the same frame rates as I do for almost all other routes (30 to 40fps) and apart from a very brief jitter shortly after leaving Nottingham, it was absolutely fine. I wonder if there's a difference between the Steam version and the JT version?
My 3rd purchase from JT was the Bristol to Exeter Route on 11/11/2010 and the SECML on 24/1/2013 I played this a lot of times despite constant AI derailments which mostly happened on the 3hr plus scenario which I cannot remember the name of. My first purchases from JT were the A4 packs.
Can't give exact locations but it happens on all of my MML routes (direct purchases from JT). It's not all the time on the route, it's just at certain points it really drops (even on medium or low graphics settings). As I said before, all other routes seem fine including 3rd party freeware ones.
Yes, there will always be parts of a route where FPS drops as assets are loaded, but not to the extent you describe. If you can reach 125fps then drop to 12, that's dramatic. I drop from around 35fps to around 25 when this happens to me. What are your PC specs? If you can hit 125fps I can only assume you've got recent, powerful hardware, which makes this all the more baffling. What resolution are you running at?