Having seen the screenshots in the article posted earlier today, I thought the Boston Providence route was going to be a big disappointment. Having watched the stream, I think this will be a day one purchase. Don’t get me wrong. I still think a lot of the textures could be vastly improved, but on the whole, I found what I saw in the stream to be acceptable. I really loved the sound of the ACS-64 and I really liked the rail sounds. Although the rail sounds seemed to go on for quite a while after a train had left the station. The horn sounded amazing too as did the bell. You got a very good sense of the ‘Rush Hour’ experience. The number of passengers is a huge improvement, although they are still a little glitchy in the way they moved. The trains leaving and arriving at Boston South was also fun to watch. There are still some very obvious issues. Some trains with all lights glaring, others with none. The signalling system seemed to slow Matt down far too soon - though this was acknowledged as a known issue and likely already addressed in a more recent build. It was good to hear the catenary gantries are being reworked, but what a waste of time putting in the wrong ones in the first place - time that could have been spent more usefully elsewhere. Still not enough time to prep a train before departure. We need more time. Can the bell be operated via the PS5 controller with the new shift keys? Please consider improving the textures and adding weathering to buildings and station platforms etc. Everything looks far too clean and sterile. I appreciate Amtrak might not want you to sully their trains, but if permissible, please weather them. Looking forward to the next stream.
As predicted, “a day one purchase” from the bloke leading a purchasing protest. Will be a day one purchase for me and was always going to be. I think the Dresden route and Brighton route will have learned from mistakes on this route and be even better and more than likely busier also. A good route though but not as good as already existing routes, Koln-Aachen with layers as one example. Still a day one purchase for me though.
One thing I noticed is the lack of the ATC / ACSES "Braking Curve" that would appear on the old NEC route... Now it appears to just scream at you to brake without any prior warning, if this is the what DTG had to implement to make the systems work, I have no problem, but it requires clarification on whether the systems behaving this way is prototypical or not.
I never said Boston Providence wouldn’t be a day one purchase, it was Riesa Dresden I said I wouldn’t buy. However, as I really wanted Boston Providence AND Brighton Main Line, I acknowledge that I’ve since decided to buy the ‘multipack’ even if it includes Riesa Dresden. To not buy the ‘multipack’ at such a discounted rate would really only be cutting off my nose to spite my face. My protest still stands though. DTG mustn’t ever overpromise and underdeliver.
I noticed that too. On the old ACS-64, you had X amount of time to get down to the required speed, whereas the new ACS-64 didn’t seem to have this function. I don’t know which is right or wrong as I don’t know enough about ATC/ACSES.
This is prototypical, it was incorrect on the old NEC route. Time to Penalty only applies when approaching a Stop signal - is my understanding. Any other time, it just pings up the new MAS and you just need to drop the speed at "Supression" braking to achieve it, if anything it's much simpler. We're talking with an Amtrak maintenance engineer and also getting input from an ACS-64 engineer as well - so I'm expecting what we have now is significantly more accurate. Matt.
This was explained on the stream perfectly well, not sure where the confusion lies. Thanks Matt for explaining once again. Great job DTG.
Well i need to see more tbh...Textures on the mbta coach was just horrible, inside the Amtrak cab aswell...just look like plastic...rushed...the numbers of passengers was a good thing...i play on Ps4 and 100 is an amazing improvement...but again they should implement those to existing routes aswell...lets see...was a day one for me but not anymore...
"supression" means "to suppress the alarm". It's the level of braking required to achieve a pre-determined deceleration rate - they just called the "supression" which literally is the amount of braking that suppresses the alarm, hence the name. If they'd wanted more or less deceleration, they'd just have moved the suppression setting to a different point I guess It's easier than saying "move to 64%" - on the real train there is a specific set notch to move to so it's quick and easy to go straight to it.
Looking forward to this route. Love the new sounds of the ACS64. Biggest issues with what I saw on the stream: 1. wrong use of headlights on AI trains. Saw trains with no headlights on the front and taillights as well as headlight lit at the back. 2. Sam saying the other routes will be coming out in the next MONTHS. DTG said previously all 3 routes would come out in summer. Well, summer ends next month (on sept 20). So next MONTHS has me worried
I'm sure they said at the beginning of the stream it was a dev build release candidate, and certain issue's needed to be looked at. The thing that looked concerning to me was the screen tearing and the constant drop in framerate. But that could have been because it was a dev build etc etc. TrainSim-Matt "We're talking with an Amtrak maintenance engineer and also getting input from an ACS-64 engineer as well - so I'm expecting what we have now is significantly more accurate." But you must know the armchair engineers know more than the real engineers that work with the trains themselves. I need to finish watching the stream (I don't watch the streams live any more as my working hours have temporarily changed). Nice little touch with the SPG freight layer being added in. If that's the case then would SPG based livery creator wagons be substituted in? As for me day one purchase of the season ticket or pass what ever its called wasn't really an issue. Regards Hentis
Not a fan of foreign routes but I tuned in anyway. The hustle bustle of Boston was amazing to see. Lots of action going I and out which is how it should be. Lights need to be fixed though as it does muck up the whole immersion. Can't wait for BML after this stream has shown off some great things
I agree. It is patently obvious that Brighton Mainline won't release until early October at the earliest. I have no problem with this but just wish DTG would be upfront about it rather than stringing us along and being all mysterious.
NEC went above and beyond my expectations, after the cut to BDR I was ready expect the worse, but thankfully it wasn't. I'm sure I won't notice many of the cons just because I'm not too knowledgeable on US rail, so issues like the wrong centenary was non-existent for me. The only real shame is the lack of cruise control for the ACS-64, ATC and ACSES built from scratch is fantastic and didn't seem utterly broken like the old ones, and I hope the issue of enforcing the speed limit too early will be fixed. I agree with the decision of not adding freight due to the lack of In-cab signalling, it would have been like adding an ICE without LZB... The sounds are also very good (again, to someone inexperienced with US rolling stock), can't wait to see the F40PH and relative cab-car in future streams, fingers crossed it's a different experience from CalTrain. The safety systems and the added variety were the major things I was looking for for this route, and so far it seems to deliver
Just watched the first preview stream again, this time on my TV where I play TSW on my PS5. Here are some more of my observations (for what they are worth): When Matt is stood at the end of the platform watching the train movements, the first MBTA train to depart makes no engine sound. This is compared with the second MBTA train to depart, where you can hear the Diesel engine rev-up as it departs. Not sure why that would be the case. Can Matt confirm or deny whether the Bell can be operated using the PS5 controller? It used to be operable on the classic control scheme. The bell is obviously used when arriving at and departing stations. Also, is the bell linked to the horn? When watching videos on YouTube, when the horn is sounded at speed, I can’t seem to hear the bell. I don’t know if that’s because the bell isn’t sounding, or just because the bell isn’t audible in these videos. Matt confirms the headlight issue is under review as part of the candidate release build. Will these be fixed in time for release? We definitely definitely definitely need more time to set up the train at the start of service. Watching the service started by Matt, you are set up to be late departing Boston South. That seems unfair as in real life, the train would be set up well in advance of departure. The camera POV whilst in the ACS-64 cab seems a tad too far away from the desk/windscreen. It makes some of the displays difficult to see (unless zoomed in). Even when zoomed in, some of the text on the screens seemed too small. Matt said he would check if the high/low platform door functionality had been set to each door rather than each coach. Is this confirmed? The sounds on the route are impressive. The only niggle is that the clackety clack sound of the track seems to carry on for a while after a train has moved quite far away, whereas the Diesel engine sound seems to fade too quickly. The graphics seem much better than what was represented in the screenshots. However, the snow didn’t help with this as it masked a lot of the textures. A lot of the textures are far too flat in appearance making them seem cartoonish/cel-shaded. This is my biggest complaint so far. It totally ruins the realism in my humble opinion. Hopefully Matt can answer the questions about the bell, headlights and door operations.
Not necessarily. I'm thinking it will be at fortnightly intervals, that is on 8/19 (confirmed), 9/2 and 9/16. August and September count as plural "months."
This really needs to be right on the front burner and fixed before release. How in the world did this get through all the testing, QA and beta? The other glaring error for me was the lane markings on the highways en route. It's the same mistake made in Cane Creek, I suppose by Skyhook. It was pointed out then by Michael Newbury, but has now been repeated by DTG. I wonder sometimes if anyone is really listening.
One other thing that popped up during stream for me is the platform signage at various stations. They seem to have done a good job with South Station and Back Bay, but everything further on from there has what look like placeholder signage. From the preview article in the far left of the screenshot: However in reality the signs have a strip on white under the station name used to indicate which platform the sign is on and which directions trains would be expected to travel: This probably qualifies as one of those things locals will notice immediately but everyone else might not realize. I do hope DTG could consider rolling these out around the same time as the catenary fixes if they can't get them done before release.
ATTENTION BRITISH ROUTE BUILDERS: US highway markings only use yellow lines between traffic heading in opposite directions. Lane separators in one direction are always white, as are the shoulder lines. On a dual carriageway, the only yellow is a single stripe at the inner (left) edge of each side, along the median. That is all.
Especially when they already knew of such issues existing in the game from SFJ. I‘m quite curious as to why German push/pull trains seem to work perfectly as far as head-/taillights are concerned while American push/pull trains seem to not work at all in that regard.
I too will probably buy this route day one, I enjoyed NEC in TSW2020 and have severely missed it's absence, as it was (and still is up to this route) the only American route I cared about. The stream looked pretty good (although I would still like to what the route looks like in normal weather) and I can't wait to have fast runs at 125mph. I know there are inaccuracies in the route like the catenary etc, but as I'm unfamiliar with American railways as is it won't bother me. I totally understand the discontent though, trust me if they similarly botch the Brighton Mainline I'll kick up a storm.
