With the IOW Class 484 releasing with a third rail sparking feature, this is something I’d like to touch up on. Upon closer inspection, it seems this isn’t a ‘new’ feature as such, as it looks and behaves exactly the same as the sparks you get from wheelslip, upon departure. So there will be sparks, but no arcing, which typically involves a very bright white/blue flash. Whilst sparking looks passable on third rail, this technique would not work/look realistic on overhead wires/OLE, as sparks coming from the pantograph and hitting the roof of the train would indicate there is something very wrong. Is arcing something that is actively being worked on, to complement the sparks? The last thing I heard was that it required an artist to program the visuals. Pictures below show arcing in action on third rail and AC overhead wires:
It would be more realistic to see arcs on third rail. Although, you do get sparks quite often on third rail, especially in the wet or when the shoe makes contact with a new section of rail. I have not seen the effect in iow yet. I'm waiting for the release.
Isn't this something you could work on in the unofficial editor? Realistically you would only see 2 or 3 of those sparks come from third rail. And I would say they are more round in shape, a bit like what you would get when welding.
Games general avoid bright flashes because of the danger of inducing an epileptic fit in someone susceptible. Paul
I really hope this feature will reappear in all the new DLCs and is something that could be retrofitted to all of the older locos. And yes, the sparks from the panto do have a more white colour and look more like a a litte lighting than 3rd-rail-ish sparks. I hope, DTG works on the artwork of that feature. So we don't just have it, but we have a good version from the beginning. I think is looks good for 3rd rail, but as said above, the sparks do look a bit different when it comes to OHLE
Not sure what games you play but numerous games I play have bright flashes (along with warnings and ability to turn them off in the options)
There was quite an uproar among the community when a recent Guild Wars 2 balance patch updated the animation of a specific attack such that it failed the PEAT test. Took a couple of days for them to patch it out but a lot of players were unable to play while they sorted that.
Would it not be better to have a toggle, with a warning message upon enabling it, explaining the appropriate safety info, as opposed to not including it at all?
Sadly in many parts of life theres a tendency to for the lowest common denominator and a one size fits all solution and it does not just include software. A race to the bottom IMO
Most games I've played have a warning for players with epilepsy. As far as I'm aware more than just flashing lights can cause a fit. That's the whole idea of the warning.
Suggesting that DTG literally can't implement arcing because of epileptics is ridiculous. Outside of the obvious solution of allowing people to turn it on or off, alternatively you could have the effect toned down slightly for health reasons. I know this because TS Classic has arcing, and at least to me seems fine, one arc every few seconds like in TSC isn't gonna cause seizures based on what I've read.
While I wouldn't generalize that, i'd also say having the ability to turn it off or at least give a warning is a good solution. I wouldn't want it to be turned down, because that would cost the realism. My only concern is that they let the sparks and arcing the way it is and implement it for the OHLE verhicles. While it looks fine to me for 3rd rail, it wouldn't be perfect for OHLE. Still better than nothing, but some additional artwork would be very welcome is it was already described by londonmidland in his first post. The current rivet devblog shows in detail how the sparks work: So indeed, colour can be changed very easily and also the way the particles behave. It's even effected by weather (wetness, snow). So I am very much looking forward to new DLCs, using this awesome feature in a proper way
Whilst I understand that bright flashes are a potential epilepsy trigger I don't see this being a valid reason. Surely having a setting for such a thing would be a viable solution? But I then again this is TSW we're talking about here and these sort of features are more than likely never going to be implemented. Having the ability to fine tune the game to your needs is something I think any simulator should have from day one. I'm more for realism rather than just simplicity and compromise.
It seems TSW is a very toggle-shy simulator. Even the most basic functions you can still only change/adjust via ini commands. Whilst there is a cause of concern with sudden, bright flashes, there’s no other excuse not to include it.
If I recollect it's because their current menu is very fragile or words to that effect. Was bought up about steam Sliders pre-sos release.
How much of a change from dark to light on screen needs to happen for it to be a potential problem? (i know some epileptics cant watch a TV at all, as the flicker most of us can't see can trigger them... as moving pictures are really just loads of still frames displayed one after the other... 24 times a second for a movie, ~165 times a second or more on a half decent modern monitor) reason i'm wondering this, i've just done a run on DCZ, taking a dosto from Dresden to Tharandt on the S3 line, Just as i leave Dresden station i'm held at a red light whilst a train comes in the other direction across my path, and whilst waiting near the red signal the whole scene outside is flashing away light to dark... something's not right with the shadows or something, ok it's not bright flashes like a strobe lamp going off, but it is rapidly changing lighting intensity from a monitor.
gazz292 Talking of which, going through stations at speed at night causes a lot of sudden flashing effects (especially if there are a lot of lights placed close to each other) so I don’t buy the whole epileptic excuse. I think the real reason is that the artwork needs to be created for arcing, as well as a toggle to turn it on and off.
oh yeah, that reminds me of the shafts of intense bright light you sometimes drive through, used to be one in the middle of one of the stations on one of the German routes that was blinding if you weren't aware of it.
