What Do You Think Tsw2 Does Well?

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by chieflongshin, Aug 3, 2022.

  1. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    With a “they don’t” to a “they do” ratio which has been In question lately I wanted to put a balance on things.

    My question is “what does tsw2 do well.”

    Discuss….

    I think in my (and this is an uneducated opinion)
    Deliver some good American freight. I particularly like the business of Horseshoe and I love the variety of stock you see on Dresden
     
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  2. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    Timetable mode (with the usual caveat about the save game).
    Ability to move around the world and interact with objects. For all I’m enjoying time in TSC, can’t help but tut when you turn round to open the cab door or window but it’s fixed static and non interactive.
     
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  3. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    Agreed, I love the exploration. It's nice to walk around a station and perceive it as a living world.
     
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  4. highland beastie

    highland beastie Well-Known Member

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    Have to agree aswell, being able to explore stations is brilliant, the timetable mode aswell is a lovely feature, and something I feel TSC is sorely missing.
     
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  5. phillip.good

    phillip.good Well-Known Member

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    I’d also give a vote to timetable as I really enjoy a single 2 or 3 hour game when I get the time without breaking immersion. Particularly when you can use an online user content timetable to schedule your services for your session.

    The other thing I would add is the subbing in of locos across routes. I know they aren’t always accurate but it’s good to arrive at Leeds and not know if your return to manchester is going to be a feisty 47 or a comfortably trundling 40
     
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  6. FD1003

    FD1003 Well-Known Member

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    The ability with the Traxx and DoStos to physically leave your seat, go to the window, use the shunter controls view to watch the doors before and after departure. That's my only use of being on foot, and it's incredibly cool.

    But then again, you can't look out of every window if you get close to on foot, and the passengers are often disappointing.

    The thing that TSW does better IMO is gameplay, it still doesn't do it well, but it does it better than Train Simulator and MSTS.

    Timetable mode is what sets TSW apart for me and the reason I played it much more than TS and MSTS, there is just something that makes driving services more rewarding knowing they are just part of a bigger timetable rather than knowing it's a scenario, it make the simulator feel more real and organic.

    Having said that there is still a lot of wasted potential, and problems related to this system.

    ZuSi also great realism, timetable mode, great systems, great customizability, but awful graphics, that will turn down a lot of people, even if it's better than TSW in every other area.
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2022
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  7. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    Zusi also lacks a save feature which, apart from the expensive price tag, is the main thing that puts me off.
     
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  8. FD1003

    FD1003 Well-Known Member

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    Not that I would ever use the one in TSW either
     
  9. Mr JMB

    Mr JMB Well-Known Member

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    TSW makes you feel like you are there, the models are often great and the interactability is usually very high. Also as said above the 24 hour timetable is really great.

    If TSC had that I think we could all be playing that and no need for TSW lol but there you are. So often in the videogame space there are a couple of games that you think, if only they could be combined...
     
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  10. IsambardKingdomBrunel

    IsambardKingdomBrunel Well-Known Member

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    Uuuuuuuuum, nothing. Better timetable mode in DRS, as it is user editable. Walking around stations, not for me. It's supposed to be a railway sim, not an open world walking game. DTG sort out the complete lack of realism, in regards the railway side of the game. Not add dumb features like collecting ice creams and telling me i get 100 points for driving under the speed limit. This is a game made by people working for a gaming developer. Not people that have any interest in their subject matter.
     
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  11. Calidore266

    Calidore266 Well-Known Member

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    I like the external cameras. When running a freight train through the wilderness in nice weather, I'll frequently park the camera on the locomotive roof and imagine I'm sitting in a comfy deck chair fastened to the roof, enjoying a refreshing drink and controlling the loco remotely via tablet. Even in 1972? Sure, why not?

    Also, while I haven't used it, the ability to just ride as a passenger on any route is pretty cool.
     
  12. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    I would also like to give Rivet credit for expanding the explorable ares. I think that’s really good
     
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  13. Railmaster

    Railmaster Well-Known Member

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    Actually, I can hardly say anything about it because I lack the comparison to other Trainsims. Except for the old MSTS. Since I don't have Windows, I don't know anything else. However, I think that MSTS is still good enough to serve as a benchmark.

    Here it is again criticized that TSW is ALSO a game than just a sim, it combines both worlds and that's why it's called Train Sim WORLD. Can you think about it?

    For me, that means more than just sitting in the driver's cab and operating a few controls. I would also like to experience and enjoy everything around it, to be able to contribute and interact with things. And all of that gives me a feeling of being a part of this whole rail system. And it is precisely in this gameplay that there is still a lot of potential that goes far beyond a pure sim. There are enough train sims, but the kind of gameplay around it is missing, the most realistic possible depiction of the railway world. Just Train-Sim-WORLD. And I think TSW is doing quite well, with a lot of room for improvement.

    So it's not about driving a train stubbornly, but about experiencing this job as holistically as possible. And I think that the pure Sim fans don't miss out here either, as many like to drive HUDless or use Ebula that they have designed themselves. There's certainly still a lot of potential here, but what's crucial for me is that it's an all-round affair.

    I see all of that in TSW and also a great future. So I can't find anything negative about this concept, because I already feel like a railroader and that's how it should be.
     
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  14. gazz292

    gazz292 Well-Known Member

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    People saying Zusi is expensive...?? :

    i don't get this 'expensive price tag' thing for zusi,

    With Zusi 3 hobby version, you buy it for ~£50.
    For that price you get:
    • All the routes (500+ km of them)
    • All the trains (200+, then all the passenger carriages and freight wagons)
    • The 'epoch' system, which changes signals and rules to suit time periods from 1950 onwards, so basically semaphore signals, then all the colour light signals upto the latest cab signaling systems
    • Many different protection systems... from Indusi to PZB to LZB to GNT to ETCS and so on
    • The different braking systems (something TSW2 does fairly well on the German freight stock that some people have no clue about)
    • Extra programs including ZusiDisplay to run EBuLa's and MFA's on 2nd, 3rd, 4th +++ monitors.. or even on a second computer
    • Full joystick support for practically any controller out there
    • All the editors for train and route creation
    • Smaller routes can be joined up to form longer ones and the timetable system works across them

    With TSW2, you buy the core game, usually with 3 routes... for about £25 (ignoring sales here)
    Then you keep adding on DLC at a cost of ~£12 to ~£30... i quickly added up the full prices for all the German DLC plus the base game, and came up with £334, add on the rest of the world stuff and you end up at over £700.
    Even buying all DLC you want in the sales, you can spend £200 with ease.

    now i'm crap at maths, but i think £50 is less than £200/£334/£700+ ?

    The difference between the 2 titles tho, Zusi is very much a simulator, and it can be pretty hard core,
    TSW2 is more a game (and an arcade type game at times with collectables, points, medals and trophies, and walking around doing track maintenance/station cleaner type jobs)

    Zusi does give you a 'score' at the end of drive, but it's more data from the train recorder that would be used in real life to assess your driving skills.




    Of course the biggest downside to Zusi... the crap graphics, cardboard style cutouts on the platforms to represent passengers etc,
    but Zusi 3 is used as part of real train driver training, so it concentrates on getting the actual driving experience correct and realistic rather than pretty visuals.
     
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  15. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    With TSW you buy the content over time and there are frequent sales.

    Zusi 3 the outlay is all at once - try getting £55 for a train game past the wife!

    However I am hoping it might see a discount at Christmas this year in which case I'll give it a shot.
     
  16. Calidore266

    Calidore266 Well-Known Member

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    Something else I think is important that the above comments have reminded me of is choice. You can drive trains or ride in them. You can go out in the rain to manually set switches or use the map. You can try to get a better score than last time or ignore the points entirely, you can pick up collectibles or ignore them. Offering a wide variety of possible playstyles to a wide variety of different players is always a good thing, and I very much like how DTG has done it here.
     
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  17. Railmaster

    Railmaster Well-Known Member

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    And oh, I'm not often in Journey mode, but I like it when I don't really know what's in store for me. Is it day or night? rain or sun. Snow? It brings in exactly what a train driver has every day.

    I also like to explore the railway world as a passenger and take on any service that is available at the time. I'm on site and can do it or leave it. It's very spontaneous.

    I can go back to free play after a duty, look around, get driven back or off the map...

    I can ride with or without safety systems. I can show or hide various elements of the HUD.

    I also like the shunting and interactions with the locomotives or wagons.

    And yes, all of this simulates the job of a railway worker and not just that of a driver! So that's part of the sim too, not just driving. A world that unites all of that. That's what I'm about. And as far as I know, there is nothing comparable here. TSW does that very well and I love it for that. To be able to be a railroad worker. :D
     
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  18. IsambardKingdomBrunel

    IsambardKingdomBrunel Well-Known Member

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    No ball and chain here Vern. The only spending contraints here are. Do i want to eat cereal for the rest of the week. Or have a bit of variety with a cheese or corned beef sarnie. :D :D ;)
     
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  19. redrev1917

    redrev1917 Well-Known Member

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    Amazing all those people who say TSW does nothing well yet keep on coming back for more.

    What I think TSW does well
    Accessibility, - it's very easy to pick up and drive in TSW.
    Longevity - The variety & number of services included with a route as standard compared to TSC and Trainz ,rather than have to hunt around for additional runs and then worry about do you own all the dependables after youve finished the handful of scenarios included. Yes I could learn the editor in both of those and create my own but I don't want to spend my time doing that, I want to drive trains and I can do that
    Graphics - definitely one of the best looking train Sims on the market. Even the poor routes are better looking then most TSC or Trainz routes.
    Aftercare - this may surprise some of you but compared to TSC where you're lucky to get one bug fix after release and many DTG routes on TSC have long standing never to be fixed bugs, atleast with TSW we do see improvements even if they do take longer then we'd like.
    Immersion - this is the big one for me, maybe it's the graphics, maybe it's the additional functionality or the ability to get out explore. I just find TSW more immersive then TSC or Trains.

    Yes it's not the best at everything, but for me it's the best all rounder
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2022
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  20. gazz292

    gazz292 Well-Known Member

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    there are discounts to be had for Zusi if you look... a 2 second google found this:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerosoft-AER-ZUSI-Zusi-PC-DVD/dp/B07S4QPS6X
     
  21. SJA

    SJA Active Member

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    Do you mean to say that you have not been sticking stickers on things and fixing broken monitors - all completely normal tasks for a train driver to do? :o
     
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  22. Kangaroo Conductor

    Kangaroo Conductor Well-Known Member

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    The atmosphere and feeling of being part of the action. Most simulators feel sterile, as if they are made by mathematicians, not game designers. TSW2 on the other hand not only tries to give you a realistic experience via the physics and rules, but also tries to present these machines as massive, heavy pieces of metal that you can take control over.

    When I play a simulator, I do not want the game to "just" be a representation of what it is physically, it also needs to "feel" real. And TSW2 definitiely nails that for me.
     
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  23. eldomtom2

    eldomtom2 Well-Known Member

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    I'd say the biggest downside to Zusi is the fact that it's limited to Germany...

    Though on that note, it would be nice if there were some other railway workers around. Just having a few static workers placed around yards looping an animation would do wonders to make the routes feel alive - they needn't have any gameplay affect.
     
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  24. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    I have quite recently rediscovered the pleasure of just giving up the train and riding as a passenger, changing my seat from time to time, switching trains if I feel like it etc.
    This is the kind of thing TSW does very well.
     
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  25. grdaniel48

    grdaniel48 Well-Known Member

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    Well... for me, what blew my mind, was when I saw the first pictures and videos of the original TSW!
    The level of details of everything, and the possibility you get it and get out the trains!

    After that, going to TSW2, it is good when you get new routes, and trains you have on other routes, can be used on the new ones. Of course not always, but on most cases.

    The update of the original routes from TSW to TSW2 standard, was also great.

    The Scenario Planner and Livery Designer tools, in order you can create your own ones.
    Of course both are still limited, but hope be more powerful soon!
    Related to that Creator's Club. So you can get more liveries and scenarios to enjoy the game more.

    The new improvements, as new routes being longer, the new real skies, upgrades to the objects and details.

    But I do not agree about the timetables.
    Due to the fact, most of them are just the same drive, but at different time, with no different things to do, or traffic situations..
     
  26. meridian#2659

    meridian#2659 Well-Known Member

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    It truely matches the balance between simulation and game. Tsw can create a unique ambiente in different eras and convince fans from hardcore simmers to casual gamers.

    While the train stations were mostly empty 4 years ago, the amount of rolling stock we have now together with a.i traffic and pis routes give a really quality experience.

    Especially german routes have a high variety now. The positive thing: it gets better and better.
    Sure steam routes in 2 years will have their own unique experience compared to liverpool crewe with 2 engines.

    What dtg does really well is to upgrade & enhance old content. Gwe is a entire refresh, same for bakerloo as soon the update is released.

    I think its worth to go with time and make massive upgrades with tsw3.
    My own guess is, dtg will make tsw2 content compatible. Simple because not having the variety even from now would mean one step back. Dtg went that path with tsw2020, but im almost sure not this time.
     
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  27. SJA

    SJA Active Member

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    I actually get a similar experience from a number of add-ons for TSC. Like the AP Class 37, with its torque roll, and the hypnotic motor sounds of the AP 86 and 87 at 100mph that will make you sleepy if you're not careful, plus changing the taps fairly frequently to adjust for gradients and so on.

    TSW, for me, did timetable mode very well on the BML (except for the absence of Thameslink services from East Croydon to Brighton which means a lack of yellows and too many early arrivals... it's Southern :D) but it still feels a bit other-worldly with strange lighting. And it does close-up graphics very well, apart from the lack of weathering on older stock. Feels like a "sex sells" approach sometimes.

    I do agree with you in how a simulator should feel (it should simulate). But for me, having tried TSW, it just lacks something compared to TSC. Obviously a lot of that is stock and routes, but it's also a shortage of siding and depot manoeuvres, TSRs, limited allowance for deviation from timetables because operational reasons, and not much in the way of diversions/off-paths.
     
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  28. Lamplight

    Lamplight Well-Known Member

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    OldVern, you might want to check cdkeys for Zusi as well. At least for a German code, they’re currently discounted to 27€.
     
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  29. eldomtom2

    eldomtom2 Well-Known Member

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    That would be solved if TSW had a robust scenario editor like TSC has.
     
  30. Rush hour at 60fps tsc is reduced to 20fps at London Victoria.

    Trains are well modelled.

    Moving around on foot, like being able to get down and switch junctions. Wcl ballast laying is a nice touch. We need more activities like this in tsw.

    The little things like interaction with Windows and stuff on trains. Signal phones can be used to contact the signaller.

    Cold starts. Although this could be improved. Some of the older engines are a headache to start from cold in rl.

    Sun rises and sunsets look nice.

    Timetable mode.

    There's a few other things that don't come to mind right now.
     
  31. eldomtom2

    eldomtom2 Well-Known Member

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    Cold starts are great, but the game doesn't make enough use of them.
     
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  32. gazz292

    gazz292 Well-Known Member

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    would be nice if it were a more realistic cold start tho... i know they can't simulate every air valve that needs moving and the drivers smart card stuff, nor the data recorder checks etc (to stop people going joyriding in trains)

    But there is a hell of a lot more to a real cold start than flipping about 6 switches, including brake tests, entering train data for the brakes / PZB mode on German trains and so on.
     
  33. Mr JMB

    Mr JMB Well-Known Member

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    What made the original CSX great was all the parts of the loco were accessible, so you could have had a lot more detail with things like cold starts. The newer locos have less accessibility and not all parts of the locos are modelled any more so its a real shame that those aspects have deteriorated over the life of the game.
     
  34. Purno

    Purno Well-Known Member

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    Personally I think TSW has found the right balance between accessability and realism. It can be hard to find the sweet spot. Quite a few games shoot too far on either side.
     
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  35. eldomtom2

    eldomtom2 Well-Known Member

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    I don't think it provides enough guidance on activating and using the more advanced realistic features like AWS though.
     
  36. Purno

    Purno Well-Known Member

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    It doesn't need to. AWS is optional, and if you're interested in it, there's the internet to help you find a guide.

    The only thing that does make me doubt is LZB, as you'd be pretty much running blind if you go high speed without in-cab signalling. I believe this was cleary demonstrated in a stream a while back with DTG Natster and one of the DTG colleagues from the fishing team, doing a SPAD on Köln-Aachen because without LZB there was no way to see that red light coming within braking distance.

    Which I think is an odd design choice, as in-cab signalling systems on LIRR, Boston Sprinter, SEHS and Marseille-Avignon are enabled by default. It looks inconsistent to me that LZB doesn't get the same treatment and is disabled by default. At least the visual part that gives you the necessary information about upcoming speed limits and signal restrictions would've been useful to have enabled by default. (And in such case, also explained, of course)
     
  37. eldomtom2

    eldomtom2 Well-Known Member

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    I think it should be a basic expectation of any game that all its features are explained either in the game or in the manual.
     
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  38. Aws in the UK isn't optional! If a train don't have aws it's not allowed on the mainline. Even the steam trains on railtours have aws fitted. Some of the older routes before aws yeah it don't need to be used. But being realistic on the modern routes it should be enabled.

    You can find user guides for a lot of rolling stock but these guides should be available in tsw.
     
  39. trainsimplayer

    trainsimplayer Well-Known Member

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    That's part of the railway though, it allows the player to act as a passenger. If you just want to relax and watch the scenery go by it's an excellent option.

    Railway Sim ≠ Just driving
     
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  40. Purno

    Purno Well-Known Member

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    With the risk of making things too complicated. While we're all quite experienced with TSC/TSW and these things look simple to us, it can be quite the information overload for a newbie. Considering there's enough information to find on the internet, I don't see the need of such things to be in tutorials or manuals.

    Too much focus on realism. While AWS isn't optional in real life, it's perfectly optional within the game. There's no need to bother new players with AWS. It's there if they want it, but by the time they know AWS even exist, they've already gained some experience within the game, which sounds like a pretty good learning curve to me.
     
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  41. There's a lot of stuff that isn't implemented on cold starts.
    But it's still nice to start a loco from cold early in the morning.
    Ap simulated it quite well with the class 205 in tsc.
    I don't know if dtg could implement something like refilling the air tanks on the class 08/09 before shutdown.
    A place a used to work had them and I'd you forgot to refill the air tank before shutdown you couldn't start the thing again until you manually filled the tank with a hand pump.

    I think some sd40's or gp9's were the same.

    Also things like a cold engine. Some of them take several minutes of cranking before firing into life. Would be nice to have these kind of features in tsw.
     
  42. Purno

    Purno Well-Known Member

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    Not looking forward to having to puzzle with cold starts everytime I want to drive, so I hope these things will be optional.

    TSW already required more steps to make trains operational than TSC did, and I personally think they found a pretty nice 'in-between'. Note that on TSC on pretty much all trains (except a number of prorange locos) all you had to do was releasing the brakes, set reverser and throttle up. TSW already added new steps like releasing parking brakes, using master keys, closing circuit breakers, and a few other things. And I think that's pretty cool. But it shouldn't be overdone. Not by default anyways. The game needs to remain accessible for the more casual players.
     
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  43. They could easily implement the realistic or legacy driving modes like tsc.
     
  44. trainsimplayer

    trainsimplayer Well-Known Member

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    For me, it's these.

    • Trains: The trains in TSW are generally high quality, the models are - the majority of the time - very well made and have lots of interactive features. Sounds and Physics have mostly been better recently as well.

    • Freedoms: The ability to walk around the station and ride as a passenger is a plus for me. Means you can take a nice break from driving and watch the world fly on past.

    • Routes: The routes are generally getting better. TSW2's German and British releases have been decent, can't comment on America. TSW2 has also been ambitious, with long routes like CRR and SMH, and routes as dense as BML and DRA from Rush Hour.

    • New Features: Creators Club, Livery Designer, Scenario Planner (despite not being brilliant), PIS, Tilting (DCZ) and such are also massive improvements from TSW(2020) and - in some cases - from TSC.
     
  45. eldomtom2

    eldomtom2 Well-Known Member

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    There would be no information overload if the explanations were placed in a separate "Advanced Features Tutorial".
     
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  46. meridian#2659

    meridian#2659 Well-Known Member

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    The engine rooms of the us locos (clinchfield sd40 & gp9) were probably the sloppiest cuts of features in tsw.
    Followed by train lenght counters & slow speed control gone on a sd70..

    Its the highly detailed and feature rich locos which brought me back into train simming.

    But i highly appreciate dtg invested time into an advance & physics implemented brake system of all countries stock.

    They cant implement every valve of a loco. The amount of details of the cl.08 shunter & cl20 - 45 locos are a good spot to match.
    Also the class 484 compared to the 150 is like day and night. But the 150 has just too many relevant things wrong/missing to create a good simulating experience in my opinion.

    You can also simulate procedures without having them implemented. Spawn on foot and take over your train 10mins prior to depart (if possible), nothing keeps you from performing brake tests. The problem today is, most players expect those stuff programmed in the sim with a message board tells them "do this & do that..., push this button" etc..

    For people with a little creativity & open mind, tsw2 offers alot.
     
  47. gazz292

    gazz292 Well-Known Member

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    so maybe TSW2/3 needs to have a couple of different driving modes, like TSC has with the different levels of the HUD for simple to advanced driving modes.

    People who just want to release the brakes and move forwards select to use the simple mode, where all the other controls are ignored or operated automatically for them.
    cold start ups could be handled like how VirtualRailroads do it with their expert line loco's... a key combo triggers an auto start up (CTRL + Z), you just sit back and watch the loco coming to life in stages as all the switches and levers are changed for you.

    Then you just have 2 keyboard keys / buttons on a controller for go / stop, and for passenger trains a door open/close key... or even make the doors automatic when stopped in a station?

    Maybe make the brakes 'car like' totally ignoring all the realism that's in TSW2 with brake pipe charge time, brake cylinder release times etc.

    and perhaps even an optional 'tonka toy' style lever to drag with the mouse on the HUD maybe (as i've seen people asking for this on TSW2 before)




    Then an intermediate mode, where a few more controls are active, some safety systems can be turned on, and you need to learn a little about driving a train to use this mode.



    And an advanced mode where you get as real an experience as possible...
    as there actually are some people who want to drive the trains as if they were driving the real thing, and are willing to put in the time to learn the safety systems, correct use of the controls, rules and regulations, braking points on the line and so on.

    Here every control is available, and they need to be used correctly or you get the same actions that happen in a real train, traction lockouts, emergency braking, maybe even damaging parts of the loco due to misuse...
    overheat the motors or dynamic brake resistors where fitted, fail to lower the panto when instructed to by the lineside signs... and you rip the panto off, penalties for running with power on through neutral sections etc.



    That's the only way to please everyone i think, by giving them options to suit what level of realism they want to drive to, rather than trying to find a middle ground that is too complex for some, and too easy for others.
     
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  48. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    I agree absolutely.
    Personally, I want as much realism as I can get in the loco and that begins with a cold, dark start.

    However, I wouldn't condemn every player to that kind of complicated procedure and I think, currently, TSW leans toward simplicitly, which is why some of us complain regularly about the lack of time allowed to set up the locos.
     
  49. J.T.

    J.T. Active Member

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    Definitely timetable mode with the option to continue service at the end station, drive the same train on the return journey, or take over a completely different train at the same station. I love playing as a virtual train driver recreating the working day of a real train drivers.

    The photorealistic graphics, sometimes hard to distinguish from reality, are a strong point of TSW2.

    Also the physics of the train movement (rocking and swaying) is very impressive.

    Something like this works well in flight simulators. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, you can control a jumbo jet as easily as a remote-controlled toy, or sit in the cockpit and delve into the actual procedures and checklists. Everyone is happy.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2022
  50. matinakbary

    matinakbary Well-Known Member

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    The 3D models of the trains are so well done!
     

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