What's Your Opinion On The Tvl Preservation Update?

Finally one of the best preserved routes in TSW has been updated.

There is a lot of problems though... Including broken PIS (only showing departures from 1 platform, no 3 car Class 101 and not much improvement in terms of freight.

That's my rant over lol, what are your opinions on the preservation updates?

 

So far......

1.No wet platforms
2. No additional paths for scenario creation
3. No increase in timetable services

Not that I expected 2 or 3 but I did expect no.1, after all, isn't the point of the preservation crew to bring old routes up to standards of latter routes, i.e. West Platforms.

I'm sure I'll have more to groan about....

 

Well, the very fact that we got it - the second Preserved Crew update in two weeks - is positive in and of itself.

 

I believe the WSR work was done so long ago that wet platforms weren't yet a thing

 

Little disappointed on other locos, like the Class 37 not being compatible with livery designer, as well as the wagons also (and I do mean the TVL version, not the other 37 from WCL).
[Also to note that the update also says there's supposed to be a Mastery included. But, I'm not seeing it from DTLive, both in-game and on the site]

 

For RD owners it's great news: Class 101 - you can actually change gears with auto brake lever, just like the real lever. That was a suggestion on the forum here and they listened and implemented it! Driving 101 is so much fun and immersive now, much better than "range" lever! DTG thank you for listening!

 

Grrrrr I was slowly working my way through the timetable and now ALL the services I'd already completed for the Class 37, Class 31 and Class 20 have gone. The list looks like I haven't done a single service

 

Not sure if it's just me but I think the track now looks worse. I don't mind the moire effect on the sleepers but the ballast on top appears to pop in - I'm sure it didn't do that before (probably did but it wasn't noticeable with the shorter draw distance of the sleepers). Shame.

Not had much chance to look at other things - kind of surprised the 101 is LD compatible but not the 37. Has it added substitution for the West Cornwall 37?

 

All my medals have disappeared from my timetable for the 37. Thats a pain

 

Is it just the locomotives?
(I don't care enough about them to pay attention so I've no idea if my medals have changed)

 

I checked mine, and sure enough the Class 37 and 31 services have lost their progress/medals (don't have Class 20). The progress of 08 and the 101 seemed to be intact, though.

Well, it wouldn't be a patch if it didn't break something new!

 

That's odd - it doesn't look like the loco services have been touched (based off the changelog). If medals were to be disappearing I'd have assumed it to be the 101 services.

 

Just on the Skybox topic alone, it's ofc a massive improvement. Well done.
After/before:

 

Shame about the wireless electricity poles though...

 

And the transition of roads, but that's another story ^^

 

Wouldn't be that difficult to release a steam addon pack for a slightly earlier period.

 

Where "slightly earlier" = 25+ years earlier.

 

Does anyone else have a messy timetable now? (timings exact to the second rather than rounded to the nearest minute).

 

Oh boy. That sounds like the update made things worse...

 

I've checked and yup, it's gone. I need to start ignoring gamifying bull*beep* such as medals as it obviously is pointless even beyond the original purpose of "feel good to have a medal" if updates are going to wipe them anyway.

 

Oh dear, you're right. Funny how Dovetail missed such an obvious thing, considering the godawfully long time this update took to release. What a circus.

 

The track looks awful now. On PS5 it is flickering in front of you the whole time, so not like a bit of late (but smooth) popping in but a much more distracting active failure to render properly in two distinct phases. Absolutely ruining another route with one badly done half-arsed excuse of a fix. What may have worked on other routes has failed with the way the track is laid on this route. Someone must have seen this and thought it was okay to release.

So I’d say this is a terrible update and one that instead of improving the route has so far for me made it worse.

Not surprising as nothing DTG do is getting tested by people with actual eyes in their head. Dreadful state of affairs. Systematically introducing new errors into routes is not appreciated.

 

I was going to fire this up and check out the updates but a bit wary now.

Skybox looks nice but for naught if my progress on the route and various other features have been trashed, And I bet the "Chopper and Change" scenario wasn't fixed.

 

I think it's more to do with the fact the sleepers are a contrasting colour to the ballast - they tend to be pretty similar on most other routes.

 

Well the good news is the 6M09 scenario which previously fell down in Journey mode now seems to work without the train getting stuck at an eternal red signal. Can’t really comment on the track texture as this one takes place in snow. I wonder of the Pres Crew remit included checking and fixing DLC timetables and scenarios, kind of loathe to waste a further 20 mins on Chopper And Change if it hasn’t been touched.

 

OldVern
It's fixed (at least on XSX). It will take a little time (like 15 seconds) for the last signal to change from stop to proceed at caution.

 

I'll give it a try...

No still broken on PC. Sat at the signal for over three minutes repeatedly tabbing the signaller, but would not clear with message about train in section ahead (which is empty and nothing else headed that way).

 

I watched BAs stream and it seemed to me all of the passengers now have a blond 'fro which looks really odd.

 

Mine as well, i already finish all class 31 service, now the medal got wiped
DTG want restored the medal

 

Doesn't change the fact someone should have noticed this in the testing process and should have come up with the idea that perhaps it wasn't looking as good as they wanted it.

So yeah, as stujoy said, "Not surprising as nothing DTG do is getting tested by people with actual eyes in their head. "

 

Or an understanding of what the game is about especially if, as rumoured, they are using Indian call centre drones to do the testing. Aside from the complication of signing a NDA there is an established player base they could recruit beta and play testers from. People who know and understand the game and maybe have a little bit of passion about seeing things are made right.

 

I’m not sure they would be willing to accept the sheer volume of feedback they would get, nor the honesty with which it would come, if they did that.
However it’s very clear that play testing is happening with people who couldn’t care less about this as a hobby.

Still, the one-size fits all policy to tech being retro fitted needs someone willing to ask if it needs tweaking or leaving out if it undermines the immersion of a route. I feel that hasn’t happened this time around.

 

The original track rendering for those that want to compare. The track bed colour contrast is totally different.

 

Everything DTG touches at the moment it dooms. What the heck is going on behind closed doors? Are they deliberately trying to piss us all off?

 

I totally agree with you. The last few months have been a real mess.
They seem to be totally lost, especially with the updates. I don't understand what is happening to them but unfortunately it doesn't bode well unless they change course.

 

I just had a look at the new track rendering. Oh, dear. First the SMH grass (thankfully fixed already) and now this. Sorry to say this but maybe it's a good thing so much of Adam's work hasn't been released yet. Something must be going terribly wrong behind closed doors if "improvements" like this are released.

 

They have rushed through it, added things that were successfully added to other routes without seeing if it’s actually suitable, ticked some check boxes, added the new sky, bish bash bosh, good enough, job done, route improved. Sat on it for months waiting for testing, rushed it through testing to make sure it doesn’t crash and released it. No diligence, no care taken, bad results. What is happening to our beautiful game?

 

I think they are just so fixated on Spirit Of Steam, everything else has gone to the dogs.
The enthusiasm and passion we see in the streams does not seem to reflect what’s happening in reality.
Maybe they are struggling to get the talent needed to get the best out of UE4 to optimise and improve the game but as an end user it does start to come across as no one really cares.

Take the scenario I mentioned above. I would have thought one of the Preservation Crew remits would be to check the technical report and bug submissions for any broken or stuck scenarios and make those an item to fix. In fact the first thing the “PC” should do is have a play through of all the scenarios on all platforms to check the integrity. Might be boring and tedious but you’re getting paid for doing it, as opposed to us who have paid for the privilege of something that doesn’t work!

 

In my country there is a popular phrase that says "Never put all your eggs in one basket".
If what you say is true, I don't think it is a good idea for DTG to focus most of its available resources on a single project because it is making its survival dependent on the success and acceptance of its customers.

From the comments I have read in the community, steam is not something that most members of the community are very enthusiastic about. And this in the community, which is perhaps where there is a higher rate of classic train lovers.

I hope they are working on more things that they haven't told us about besides steam, that they surprise and excite us with something because it's not clear to me that this alone is going to generate enough revenue for a company with more than 200 employees. Especially after getting fed up and rejected by many customers who have been supporting them, buying their products at full price.

 

Can someone demonstrate how the the track looks bad now?

 

That may perhaps be true, but you must remember that there is a vast steam loving comunity that only plays Train Simulator, and that don't play TSW because they find modern stock boring.
I think this add on isn't necessary aimed at the current community. I think it's about expanding it with all those that play TS for the steam.

 

I do remember steam coming out reasonably high out the surveys though.

And lets not forget that people who love steam trains, have no reason to be part of a community for a game that features no steam trains.

Personally, I think steam is one of the best new features TSW will get. I hope it's done right...

 

Your first point doesn’t really hold much water, the amount of people participating, and other options within the survey greatly manipulate the votes.

If people only interested in steam don’t play the game already, it’s quite unlikely they’re about to pay for both TSW and then the DLC, which in all likelihood will be more expensive than other DLC’s.

Personally I think steam is doing more damage to TSW than it’s worth, clearly too much time is being spent purely on that, and as a result the rest of TSW is being neglected.

Perhaps an incremental approach to steam would of been a better idea, as opposed to the current large scale project. With all the large scale issues in the game currently, introducing steam at this point could be described as playing with fire.

It seems DTG didn’t really learn much from the issues surrounding Rush Hour.

 

Me too, I hope it will be a resounding bestseller. I want TSW to have a good future thanks to DTG and the other developers because it's a game I love. But a year ago I was more optimistic about that future because of all the problems we are experiencing. And while I haven't lost faith in them yet, I've cooled down a lot and this makes me not spend as much money on their product as I used to.

 

That makes no sense. People whose only interest is steam of course aren't playing the game now.

 

Yes with hindsight they could have tested the water with a steam loco DLC for WSR. We probably would have whined and grizzled about 25 MPH etc. but would have been both a proof of concept and tested the commercial success or otherwise of steam traction. Instead they have got themselves into building a complex but relatively short and not particularly interesting route with all the custom period buildings and other features required to make it authentic. Then two full blown main line locomotives and the extra stock to go with them.

 

I slightly disagree re Steam and CK95 points - In fact they have wasted too much time not putting it in from day one and now are playing catch up - so yes in a way thats a huge short-sightedness on DTGs part but it does have to be rectified otherwise the game will continue to fail to attract a huge % of TS 20xx users to move across...

Now TBF there are a lot of other reasons why they shouldnt bother - such as the lack of stock and the pretty poor editor (if it can even be called that) - But it cant be denied once a Steam (engine) is set up in the game engine it does open up lots more potential to expand.

Like erg73 I havent bought anything full price for a long time now and I doubt I will - but Steam may be the first - but if they mess that up then I'll be back to hardly bothering to buy even in sales again

os if any Steam consist is not avail to use is WSR I'll rage - Seriousy

 

Yes, and like I said, they probably aren’t going to make a £50 investment to play one steam route.

 

At least for the present, PC and XBox owners only have to pay for the route, since the TSW2 base game is on Game Pass.

 

This is why I wondered whether SoS might be playable as a base game, so steam fans don't have to buy SKA, BKL and SPG if they aren't interested. Perhaps a new base version of TSW2 will be released in the summer and it will include the Liverpool-Crewe route.