Now I've criticised DTG for a lot, but on this point I have to praise them. From watching streams, there are finally a variety of people standing around in the routes. This makes a massive difference to immersion, and should have been done ages ago. Places like Barstow Yard would have looked dead without the variety of workers standing around that are now there.
I was playing the Oakville Sub this afternoon and spotted an orange clad figure on a signal bridge as I passed it, signal maintainer at work. Also on the Cajon Pass route, there are concession carts placed along it.
It's a very nice touch. I spotted a truck unloading scene in Barstow and of course many have spotted the hotdog carts along the route. I'm glad we finally have NPCs in freight routes. Clinchfield and Sherman Hill felt very lifeless.
I really hope that this is the start of something in TSW3. We have played for several years in a mostly unpopulated world, even though there were people strolling around from the very beginning in SPG. It makes an enormous difference to immersion if you have NPC's in freight routes, even if they are just hostlers or ROW workers.
And not just freight-focused routes - it makes a big difference in passenger-focused routes as well to have workers in yards etc.
That's good news, the addition of animals would also be very welcome. For me driving the train in the real world mostly means gazing at cows. Never seen a cow in TSW.
but not like fields filled with them? They are like this gimmick if I remember correctly. I hope TSW4 get's a dynamic world. Because lifeless is a bit my gripe with TSW3 at the moment.
Interestingly enough on the very first TSW route, Sand Patch Grade, you could occasionally spot a single person wandering around the streets of Cumberland. So its not entirely new.
There are fields filled with them, although those cows or sheeps are llifeless - just standing like statue
What about maintenance workers on the side of the track randomly placed ,would be awesome if they were animated so they put a hand up to the driver as you passed
Well, they´re not "mooing", or moving and I suspect they´re not giving any milk. ALTHOUGH, I seem to remember to hear some sheeps baaing on one of the routes. Just can´t remember which one.
Well, most likely on these Rosamunde Pilcher routes like WCL, WSR or ECW. New mastery challenge: Fetch the baaing sheep.
Not that I'm a great Trainz fan, but as I've noted before Trainz routes often include farm animals, especially cows, that can be heard as well as seen -- in motion as well; in fact, even the birds sometimes cheep in that other train simulator. {Just for the record, the plural of "sheep" is "sheep". Old grammarians never give up!} While driving a freight train in TSW3 a couple of days ago, that fabulous dynamic new weather feature sent in the rain and as my train passed through a station area, I got to see the new umbrellas being hoisted by waiting passengers. Kudos galore to the DTG development team for enlivening our railroading experiences.
I’d like to extend my thanks for (and encouragement to) adding npcs. Id love more, so nice toneee people looking like they’re going about life randomnly