It may be my system/settings but I'm finding it hard to pick up most signals from a distance. I think they used to have a brighter long range glow in TSW2? On the plus side, loving the approach control signalling for SEHS, nice one DTG!
I think you're right. Harder to see than in TSW2, but perhaps also more realistic. See screenshots below when approaching a signal. Although I guess clear weather with snow provides so much bright light (probably blinding you in real life), it's possibly the worst weather you can have for seeing light signals in the distance. But even on a 4K resolution I couldn't really see the signal aspect until close to the AWS-magnet. But with darker weather conditions, I expect them to be more visible.
You can really notice at night time. Some signals I'm right on top of them before i can see them. In rl you can see them from miles away, even the led ones.
Totally agree I found the signals around Dartford as I approach from Gravesend really hard to differentiate between Amber/Red. Dad rail mentioned this in one of his TSW3 streams and said that in real-life the sun can make it hard to see clearly a signal aspect. I have been driving very careful as I play without HUD. Not sure if this intended or just a bug. Will see what DTG make of this.
If you guys play on PC, then I’m creating a SEHS Enhancement Mod, which improves the visuals and intensity of the signals, as seen in the picture below. The picture shows a comparison between the default and my modded version.
Totally agree. The KWG signals are much easier to see from a distance so perhaps the SEH ones need some tweaking, both to the distant flare and the close up texture. I'm not at all colourblind, but close-up the yellow and reds on the SEH LED signals look the same. Also the red tail lights on the SEH classes 375 and 465 look too white.
Quick update....I've just done a couple of runs with todays date and current time (1830 ish) so just about to start turning to dusk.....the signal glows are there now (much better anyway), both distant and near. My other runs were middle of the day thereabouts with the lack of glow issue, so I'm wondering now if it's something to do with the new lighting and time of day? Unsure....
Would make sense. The more (sun)light there is, the less visible the signals would be. Time of day, time of year, and weather conditions would all impact the light values.
The problem is that RGB (so SDR monitors) doesn't describe "light values", it describes color. So the engine will do all the light calculations with the correct lumens...etc, but when it is time to render the scene in SDR mode, then it needs to interpret everything to a color within the sRGB color space. Our brain can be tricked by different colors having the illusion of being lit differently, but this can only get so far. So stuff like signals (lights on a bright day in general), have much worse visibility in games, than they have IRL. It is both the limitation of the color model, but also technology. As LCDs are backlit, so they really cannot make the signal light brighter, then the mid-day lit surrounding scenery. This is why they blend so easily, and why stuff like the artificial halo that is present in TSW 2 is required. This can only be done in HDR (because luminance is part of the color data), and only on OLED, becasue there each individual pixel is a light source and can have different intensity. But still, the difference will not be as pronounced, as it is irl.
I also noticed this an issue on Cajon, the signal aspects virtually invisible until you're on top of them. Can't be right and proof that the new lighting system needs an overhaul!