Improvements To Rapid Transit That Should Be Ported To Other Dlc

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by Inkar, Jun 20, 2021.

  1. Inkar

    Inkar Well-Known Member

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    There are a few things that I liked about the latest Preservation Crew update for Rapid Transit that I would like to see done in other DLCs (old and new):

    1. Added the expected duration of each service to the service selection screen.

    2. While playing the timetable mode, players are given a bit more time to reach each station. What I mean is that I do not need to drive the train like a maniac to arrive at the next station in time. I can start moving slowly, and do not need to wait until the last second to apply full brakes to be in time. This is good for the simulation.

    3. The light effects of the 1442 lights in the Leipzig tunnels feels right to me. I do not know if it is accurate or not, but at least when I turn on the light I can see the tunnel, and there is a difference between DIM and BRIGHT.

    PS: This is not the full list. For example, it was great that they added the new timetable, but I understand you can't do that for every DLC.
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2021
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  2. synthetic.angel

    synthetic.angel Well-Known Member

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    It makes such a difference to immersion when you take an action (change the lights), and the thing you expect to happen (different lighting level) then actually happens.

    It's also amazing how un-immersive and disappointing it feels when the response you get is absolutely nothing, like with Class 314 on Cathcart Circle.
     
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  3. bagotmatt

    bagotmatt New Member

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    I think this is an aspect where DTG can't make everyone happy and they have to weight their options. On one hand, there is people like you who would like a more relaxed drive with easier times to makes, but on the other hand there are people who will go nuts over the immersion being broken when DTG strays away from the timetable used IRL, even though they already don't go exactly off real world (I only know this for sure with SFJ, can't speak for other routes). Sometimes I like the struggle of falling behind since I know I have to improve in the way I drive the train, but yes some other times I can agree with you that it doesn't feel great having to go max throttle to max brake only to make the time.
     
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  4. Cael

    Cael Well-Known Member

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    What's worse, some sections are NOT POSSIBLE to complete on time.
    Just some examples off the top of my head:
    Bochum Hbf - Wattenscheid = 3 minutes, impossible to do with 100% throttle and emergency brake
    Gravesend - Strood = you are late by the time you're exiting the Strood tunnel at 15 mph in the curve leading up to the station

    While you can recover the time lost on HRR, it's impossible to do on SEHS as the total time is 6-7 minutes shorter than the real timetable.
     
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  5. bagotmatt

    bagotmatt New Member

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    I think anytime the actual time ends up being longer than the time allotted in the timetable for TSW2 is something that should be fixed. I don't think DTG should be making it any harder on us than the real life drivers have it. I get that they may have these shortened timetables so they can reuse a consist going the other direction, but on most if not all routes, I don't think there is a crazy amount of overlap that requires them to do this.
     
  6. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    The time for scenarios/services is a big one for me. I don’t always have ages to sit there so if I can weed out the 30 min ones that really improves the experience for me
     
  7. Lamplight

    Lamplight Well-Known Member

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    From what I recall, that‘s not the reason. Copying the real timetable 1-to-1 is a huge amount of work (was done on LIRR appareantly). Therefore, they copy the start time of the service from the real timetable, then let the AI drive the service and use its times for the TSW timetable. That‘s why the timetables can get challenging sometimes - the times are set by AI trains that pretty much ignore all laws of physics.
     
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  8. bagotmatt

    bagotmatt New Member

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    Oooooo that's interesting. To me this should actually wave some red flags right in DTG's face if they do this. If their AI physics defying trains can't even keep up with the real timetable, then to me that would point out some sort of problem with the train they have created (assuming there is no conflict with the limitations of the dispatcher). Their "true to real life" physics should allow the AI to keep up, right?
     
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  9. Lamplight

    Lamplight Well-Known Member

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    The „true to real life physics“ are only enabled for the player. It would kill any system to have full physics enabled on all AI trains. This does unfortunately mean that AI trains are faster than they should be. Their acceleration and braking is quicker than the player‘s and at least for German stuff, they don‘t deal with PZB and any restrictions that puts on us.

    All of these things are necessary compromises. You can argue about whether DTG should invest the time into real timetables, but the simplified AI physics are absolutely necessary.
     
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  10. Cael

    Cael Well-Known Member

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    The problem with letting the AI run the timetable is that it creates weird scenarios.
    When SEHS came out, I did some comparison between IRL and TSW schedule and you can see, up to Gravesend, it's 1:1. That part can also be managed without problems.
    Then for some reason, the arrival time to Strood is 3 minutes shorter than the real timetable, meaning you WILL arrive late unless you break the speed limit in Strood (which is what I started doing - very simulator, much realism). Is this the expected played behaviour in a simulator, that is supposed to be "The evolution of train simulation", "Authentically Replicated", "New Level Of Realism" as stated on the store?

    Real departures / In-game departures
    • 10:25 / 10:27 London St. Pancras
    • 10:32 / 10:34 Stratford International
    • 10:43 / 10:45 Ebbsfleet International
    • 10:48 / 10:50 Gravesend
    • 10:59 / 10:58 Strood
    • 11:02 / 11:02 Rochester
    • 11:06 / 11:05 Chatham
    • 11:10 / 11:09 Gillingham (Kent)
    • 11:15 / 11:13 Rainham (Kent)
    • 11:23 / 11:20 Sittingbourne
    • 11:31 / 11:30 Faversham
    I really hope this is going to improve going forward, but somehow I doubt it. I'm particularly worried about Dresden S-Bahn and London stopping services in Rush Hour.

    The expected service length in timetable mode would be very helpful as well, especially when people are new to the route and don't know the service patterns yet.
     
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  11. bagotmatt

    bagotmatt New Member

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    I would certainly agree that the expected service length would generally be helpful. Maybe at some point DTG will give us an insight as to why their timetables are set up the way they are, but that's just me being hopeful.
     
  12. acela2163

    acela2163 Well-Known Member

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    Probably a good thing to do is to have the AI test trains run at a certain% of their accurate speed to increase the time taken between stops (which is what I suspect DTG have done with this timetable.)
    I have heard that the NEC will have a full custom timetable, but I am certainly worried for the other two. I feel like custom timetables would be a good investment for a headline release like Rush Hour, especially since they've gotten their first license for a German regional operator (VVO) and they should want to make a good impression so other operators follow suit.
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2021
  13. Monder

    Monder Well-Known Member

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    But they've done something in this regard for RT probably. I doubt those times were all made manually (and if they were, big props to Adam's crew). A bit of a compromise would be to at least set on the physics for a train you're making the timetable with. Or have them use only 80-90 % of the allowed track speed which might compensate for their crazy acceleration and braking. Sure the times should be a challenge to an extent, it's professionals driving those trains IRL. But it should be doable. One thing that could also help, would be that the passengers get all loaded in a shorter time than what you're supposed to spend in the station. This way you could bring down your delay by making 30s stops in 15-20s because all passengers are on board already.
     
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  14. Lamplight

    Lamplight Well-Known Member

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    I like this. Something like a randomization system (loading can take anything between 15-45 seconds for example) might be nice. Switches things up a bit.
     
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