First of all I'm very satisfied with the implementation of the "Harlem Line". Compared with LIRR there are more different buildings assets used or the existing ones have been revised. Of course, the detailed skyline, which can be seen up to "Yankee Stadium", also stands out. "Long Island" often felt a bit monotonous, because the scenery often looks the same and it only went straight ahead in some places. But not to be forgotten LIRR has more branches and it's another area. Harlem Line is shorter but offers a lot of variety, from the green wooded north to the urban south. When you approach the entrance to the tunnel on "Park Ave", you actually have the feeling of being immersed in the middle of the Manhattan skyline. So well done Devs! I haven't gotten around to making my famous collages lately, so here they are: If you doing the "Train 766 Croton Harmon to GCT" service with the M7, you will discover an AI freight train, pulled by three CSX GP-38s, driving directly under the Harlem River bridge. ...another Mastery highlight: animated rats near GCT! If you want to see the hungry rat, nibbling on the pizza, then you have to shine the flashlight on the dark back of the government car.
Wait! What? Animated rats? They had time for that? The team member that made the diorama deserves a raise. That eye for detail is praiseworthy. I'm disgruntled about this route because the streets look empty, the platforms look empty, the sky looks empty. But somewhere on this route there is a place teaming with life.
"Big potential" is the best way to describe it. I see again a lot of time constraints making it again a route that goes as passable. I like how the trains look, I like how they drive but it doesn't feel like NY to me. I remember seeing the first preview of this route expecting to come out of the tunnel and entering a vibrant and living big city. If I was able to put a German train on that route with an NMBS livery it could pass for Antwerp Central - Mechelen, not even making it to Brussels.
Hold up… where in Grand Central is this? This looks kinda similar to the historic wagon that was located on Track 63 (more info here).
...compared to LIRR it's a big step forward. Just played a bit LIRR today again and think that the sounds and the driving behavior of the M7 have definitly been revised. I think if you live in the area you can judge it best. At least from my European point of view the route is definitly NYC worthy. Maybe some yellow taxis or some police sirens as background noise would also fit in or some flying helicopters as seen in the promo picture.
the route just seems dead to me. hardly any passengers on stations hardly any traffic on the roads. Not enough A1. but its playable
Yes, that‘s indeed the group of tracks that housed the infamous Waldorf Astoria platform used by Roosevelt as well as the vintage wagon. Such a great choice by the devs to include such a realistic and legendary mastery reward, this made my day!
I'm not getting that "dead" feeling that some others are getting. Traffic on the roads are pretty frequent, not quite rush hour on a Tuesday levels, but they're acceptable for "off peak" in NYC... as is the pedestrian traffic at the stations. Comparatively, LIRR and Arosa Line are what I'd consider dead routes in this game. Anyway, think about how much FPS you want to drop for a few extra cars and pedestrians. I live and work in NYC and the city isn't shoulder to shoulder, bumper to bumper 24/7, especially nowadays.
Yup! The helicopters on the promotional artwork were just put on there by error. They were not added to the artwork to give a the vibe of a vibrant big city or give you the sense that it is NY at all. I don't live in NY, I live in a small city in Europe and my city looks busier than NY in the game. If my city was portrayed on artwork, no helicopters would be used. Only one helicopter flies over our city every week probably. It's the local police helicopter. We only have two It's not that there are not enough pedestrians. I noticed there are enough pedestrians, they just spawn too late and they could spawn at better places to make streets look busier.
You know, I gotta say, every promo for this route, every promo, has the word 'bustling' featured prominently. I hate to be so negative over a good product but... bustling? I figured they'd ramp it up from the usual trickle of passengers. Oh well, still planning on grabbing it at a sale.
...at first you'll see a flickerung light at the end of the east platforms of GCT. If you go on foot and come closely, the light no longer flickers and the rats animation automatically starts.
As a lifelong New Yorker, this route/train has a few issues but has been mostly done well. 10x more impressive than the LIRR route. As for the traffic and lack of a bustling environment, the Harlem line isn't nearly as busy as LIRR and the station traffic is actually pretty accurate.
Let's just hope the New Haven Line comes out at somepoint so we can have New Haven AI services on the Harlem Line. Probably why we don't see alot of traffic since those services aren't included. But it's most definitely an improvement from LIRR.
