Cajon Pass: Es44c4

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by wxtr7, Aug 12, 2022.

  1. wxtr7

    wxtr7 Well-Known Member

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    A couple of things stand out to me with the quality of the ES44C4 coming with Cajon pass. First the audio:
    Prime Mover GEVO-12 audio: I hope you're still fine tuning that. I will give you that the audio you have in your collection that you used is far better than what Skyhook put in their ES44 for HSC, however, it still felt like it was lacking the depth that the GEVO engines have. Maybe it was the stream quality, maybe it was just the short clips, but it didn't feel like you've gotten it to the point where it should be. Definitely should be louder - I can say that much.

    The horn: While I'm not a horn snob like most rail-fans, it once again lacked. It feels like the processing the audio team does on the horn completely stripped it down to a 1D sound that like the engine needs to be much louder. Also, shouldn't the horn be a K5HL not a K5HLL. Most GEVOs I thought have the K5HL which feels iconic to it (it kind of has a spooky sound to it in the distance). I realize horns change and not all trains end up with their original horn, but the current horn doesn't scream GEVO to me.

    The in-cab MFD screens and this is big one IMO:
    I took this image from another thread, but what immediately caught my attention is: the MFD screen is a weird EMD-GE hybrid. I was hoping, considering this was something caught in HSC, there'd be a little more attention to detail here.
    [​IMG]

    Examples of a GE MFD: upload_2022-8-12_15-2-39.png
    upload_2022-8-12_15-9-38.png

    The top third with the speedometer and brake gauges look alright. I do wonder if the speedometer text will feature hundredths when at low speeds like in the real screen. The two rows of icons right below this section though is from the EMD screen and is completely wrong (the rows where EOT move and the headlight/bell/horn icons are). There are icons there for the GE version, but they're not visibly lit with the two horizontal cyan lines at all time like in the EMD version.
    The section below that looks alright (except for the fuel gauge area), but considering that content varies by what "page" you're on and we only have the one shot I can't comment much more. But then the buttons at the bottom are wrong, and still follow the AC4400 coloring. In the screenshot, there are two rows of buttons, the top is a light/pale orange-peachy color, and the bottom is a pale blue color, both with black text.

    The right-hand screen is also blank following what you did in the SD70ACe, in-fact it looks exactly the same except you took the buttons at the bottom and used the same EMD-GE hybrid color scheme from the other screen. Why can't this screen also be functional - at least so things look "normal"?

    All of this does kind of break the immersion - especially considering those screens will almost always be in view while in the cab.

    I also see that we only have 4 function buttons available on the operational screen, so we still are getting bare-minimum functionality on US trains which is fantastic (/s). In your reference material, do you not seek out the locomotive manuals that surely explain the functions on these screens so that you can at least try to replicate them? What about reaching out to GE specifically?

    One of the things I really hope TSW3 attempts to do in the future is increase the realism in the sim - allowing us to do more prototypical things while driving. That includes things like DPU fencing, using the MFDs beyond just cutting in the brakes, air hoses and valves on cars, etc. I'm really teetering on the fence about getting Run8 just to have this but its price point and low-res graphics are holding me back. Since we don't have dynamic events and most runs are typically green-light fests, these types of realisms could really help take TSW to the next level. But it also starts with putting the same effort into US locomotives that you put into the German stock.
     
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  2. robski

    robski Member

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    I found while messing with some audio files of the original CSX ac44 that if you pump up the bass it makes a huge difference.
    Sounds that you couldn't hear before like the the whooshing of the exhaust just come to life with just a little bass added.
    The stock audio doesn't sound that bad it just needs a little kick in the n*ts lol.
     
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  3. redrev1917

    redrev1917 Well-Known Member

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    From the limited options on that screen, Im guessing we arent getting working distance counters, which translates to me not getting the route.
     
  4. dramos#3074

    dramos#3074 Member

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    I agree unfortunately dovetail doesn't care. It should be called uk train sim or European train sim definitely not train sim world with how much USA gets shafted
     
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  5. max#2873

    max#2873 Well-Known Member

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    The german routes shine mainly thanks to strong german communiity involved in route creating and developing (same uk routes), US routes seem unfortunately without such support (with some minor exceptions - NECBP signalling improvement by community guy, not DTG ;)) Any region without sych support will be kept on track side by DTG :/ Im fed up of uk emus (check the ratio of the last releases) but that how it works in there...
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2023
  6. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    I suspect that DTG's sound engineers do their mixing in headphones, because the stock sounds (especially the bass rumble) generally sounds very good in high-quality phones, or a full-size hi-fi rig. But through computer or TV speakers it's lacking. (Many games deliberately mix their audio for lo-fi reproduction).
     

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