Opinion: Tsw 3 Needs Route Selector

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by dreampage, Aug 11, 2022.

  1. dreampage

    dreampage Well-Known Member

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    In my opinion, TSW 3 not having a route selector is a huge design flaw.

    Firstly, the whole game is defined by routes. It contains three core routes and every DLC is a route. Players buy and organize content by this basis, and not trains. Despite this, TSW 3 only has a train selector. Now, Matt has reasoned that previously, some players didn't know which route to choose in order to drive the train they want. This problem is not solved with the new main menu - it's only flipped on its head.

    TSW3_10-08-22_UI_Watermarked_Screenshots_2.jpg

    Now, the players won't know which train to choose in order to play the route they want. Even worse, DLC are still categorized and defined by routes. When a player buys a new DLC, they buy it because they want to experience a new location, but won't know how to access it, because there's only a train selector. In the long run, that list is going to be long, and it will be very hard to know which American locomotive belongs to which American route, for example.

    I think the home screen should offer the choice of routes too, not just trains. Both directions of the same process, if you like. Choose the train first and then the route on which it can be driven, but also the other method: choose the route first, and decide which train, scenario or service to drive on it. I honestly find it baffling that this option has been removed. The whole game content is divided up by routes. They are essentially the modules of a player's collection. And now they can't be chosen first. This will lead to a lot of back and forth between menus, players searching which train leads to the location of their choice. I think it's a huge oversight and design flaw not to include the route selector tile on the home screen, below the train selector for example. All it would take is two tiles on the left side, one offering the choice of trains, the other the choice of routes.
     
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  2. Callum B.

    Callum B. Well-Known Member

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    In the announcement video there were both options.

    upload_2022-8-11_14-42-34.png

    Cheers
     
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  3. samuelbrookes1

    samuelbrookes1 Active Member

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    It would be nice if the quick play could be filtered by route, so you could drive a random service on a given route.
     
  4. dreampage

    dreampage Well-Known Member

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    How is it that both screenshots are of the "Home" tab? Now I'm curious to see it in a proper live stream.
     
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  5. Callum B.

    Callum B. Well-Known Member

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    One of them seems to be a submenu. They briefly clicked through the menus. I would hazard a guess that the screenshot you posted at the top is of the top level menu. From there you can select either to choose by train or by route.

    Cheers
     
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  6. CK95

    CK95 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah I think “to the trains” is misleading.

    As far as we know, you can either go via train selection, or the route.
     
  7. Birita

    Birita Well-Known Member

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    Yes...i like to play the game selecting where on the world i like to play...then picking up a train...
     
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  8. Yerolo

    Yerolo Well-Known Member

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    As others have said, you posted the top level menu. Route selection is on the 2nd screen

    To The Trains > Train Depot (Choose a Train) / Choose a Route
     
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  9. chessiet#4231

    chessiet#4231 Active Member

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    I think that it’s very likely that both screenshots are of possible menu layouts; look at the bottom left of each screen, it clearly says WORK IN PROGRESS on the first and gives a fuller explanation on the second screenshot, stating that ’some visual elements are subject to change in final release’.
    So perhaps DTG haven’t finalised the menu page layout yet!
     
  10. redrev1917

    redrev1917 Well-Known Member

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    Its 3 weeks from preorder realease. In reality it should be 95% there with just spit and polish to do and likely only to change slightly in the interim. Matt stated as such on the stream that what we see is what to expect.
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2022
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  11. TimTri

    TimTri Well-Known Member

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    I believe that is possible. I swear that was mentioned somewhere. No guarantees tough, I could be wrong!
     
  12. DTG Protagonist

    DTG Protagonist Has left the building Staff Member

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    You can choose to select via Trains or Routes. We've taken nothing away, just added more. The philosophy behind all the menu changes was straightforward - you should be able to find what you're looking for where you expect to find it. As far as "To The Trains" is concerned, that will take you into the menu page where you can operate a train. Whether you use Route > Activity > Train or Train > Route > Activity, you'll find it in that area. Any sense of "but where are my routes" will vanish after a single click.

    We tried "Ride Now" originally, but it was generally disliked (it sort of implied a passive experience).
     
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  13. DTG Protagonist

    DTG Protagonist Has left the building Staff Member

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    It can be. If you select a route first you'll get a quick play option for that route.
     
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  14. DTG Protagonist

    DTG Protagonist Has left the building Staff Member

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    Two pages within the same tab.
     
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  15. Callum B.

    Callum B. Well-Known Member

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    Is that absolutely certain? That seemed like a point of insecurity on today's stream.

    Cheers
     
  16. DTG Protagonist

    DTG Protagonist Has left the building Staff Member

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    Yes. 100% completely, entirely totally certain.

    They were showing you a screenshot slideshow of menu pages, not a video of the menu in action.
     
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  17. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    It's a classic allusion- most old-school stations had signs directing passengers "To the trains." I have no problem with it
     
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  18. chessiet#4231

    chessiet#4231 Active Member

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    Thank you for clarifying this!;)
    ChessieT
     
  19. dreampage

    dreampage Well-Known Member

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    Thank you for the clarification. Looking forward to seeing it in action!
     
  20. bartolomaeusz

    bartolomaeusz Well-Known Member

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    Quick Play = awesome! I have been wanting that for a long time, having enjoyed the Quick Drive feature in TS Classic.
     
  21. josh_the_tech

    josh_the_tech Active Member

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    If there is time and resource to do this before release or as a post release update, I'd advise from my experience of designing user experiences relating to IT Support at work, some way of denoting where you are within the sub menus (exactly the way people have shown in this thread "Home > To The Trains" etc.) to show you're still in the home tab but you're within a sub-menu and where you've been lead to. Effectively a breadcrumb, to reduce the likelihood of getting lost, plus can be a quick way (if you click on one of the breadcrumbs) of getting back to a higher level in the menu hierarchy. This could sit below the tabs in that space between the tabs and the menu selection elements.
     
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  22. DTG Protagonist

    DTG Protagonist Has left the building Staff Member

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    We're confident nobody will get lost.
     
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  23. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    With the imminent demise of the save game function, I might be using the quick play option more than I would ideally like to. I will have to see how it integrates into the whole game experience. On the surface, it sounds more like an arcade feature.
    Will we end up calling them " quickies "? :D
     
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  24. tsw2

    tsw2 Well-Known Member

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    DTG Protagonist

    Will the menu still overheat modern GPU's like the TSW2 menu for no reason even with FPS fixed at 60 or has this been finally fixed? (bug was reported many times by many people)
     
  25. DTG Protagonist

    DTG Protagonist Has left the building Staff Member

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    It shouldn't do, and nothing has shown up in testing. We wanted it to be as quick to get through as possible (the menu should never get in the way of the game.)
     

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