PC Birmingham Cross City Line First Thoughts

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by londonmidland, Nov 15, 2022.

  1. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    I would like to see these added too, although I think class 350's largely work these services, certainly from what I have seen when waiting for trains on Smethiwck Galton Bridge.
     
  2. mattwild55

    mattwild55 Well-Known Member

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    I think they do *now* but back in 2019 (or perhaps slightly earlier) I think they were at least sometimes worked by 323s.

    I'd be more than happy to see a slight fudge in this area in any case to increase the service frequency on the busiest part of the route.
     
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  3. bescot

    bescot Well-Known Member

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    323s largely disappeared from Wolves-Walsall and the international shuttles prior to May 2019, so before the timetable they're simulating. When the Chase line electrification opened they (along with the 170s/153s on the Chase) were wholesale replaced by 350s. That said, I wouldn't have minded 323s to Aston as AI.
     
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  4. bescot

    bescot Well-Known Member

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    Lol Matt - great minds we do think alike.
     
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  5. fakenham

    fakenham Well-Known Member

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    Scary station, platforms too narrow with fast trains passing on a blind bend as well - not good.

    Loving the route, but have not had any adverse signalling as yet, apart from approach control which is superb. Just hoping I can upset the timetable a bit by starting late etc....really hoping that DTG build route extensions for this. Looks like they built the tracks around Washwood Heath for some reason.
     
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  6. squerble

    squerble Active Member

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    Anyone know if there's particular services that run as 6-car? Everything I've picked so far has been 3 car :)
     
  7. KMAN

    KMAN Well-Known Member

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    I had a SPAD due to spawning in a Train (166 - acting as 170 to Hereford) and setting a path with the console commands. I spawned in early and messed around with the commands. By the time I got my path it was 14:53 and another service had the road. So I was now in Driver stress mode as I was running 3 minutes late already. Started driving to get back on time and forgot to turn on the signal HUD so driving and eventually lost concentration and SPAD'ed. Great fun!!
     
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  8. KMAN

    KMAN Well-Known Member

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    The earliest 6-car I found was 2R99 (New Street) - RDC (Redditch) and 5P07 New street- Litchfield City.
     
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  9. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    I agree I would like to see them added to make New Street appear busier. Certainly in the mid 2010's they worked Walsall to Wolverhampton as I often used to get one to Sandwell and Dudley.
     
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  10. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    Yes you certainly get a buffetting when a fast train comes through the lower level platforms.
     
  11. squerble

    squerble Active Member

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    The OSS going into Lichfield City is so harsh - it's got me 3 times now! Think I need to slow down quite a bit sooner.
     
  12. ChrisR

    ChrisR New Member

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    My gripe isn't that it's quiet - it's that some parts of New Street are completely wrong. Also, there's no addition of the orange coping stones or the precision stop marker on 12. Having these would make the route feel a lot nicer to drive and feel more true-to-life.
     
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  13. antony.henley

    antony.henley Well-Known Member

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    Managed to travel past Lawley Street last night. There's a fair bit of track there. This also does not guarantee that there will be any route extensions on the route. See here. This is where I finish the freight run at Kings Norton, then sit in the second mans seat for a 20 minute or so run So sit back and relax and I'm not quite sure where we end up. Perhaps one of you might.

    Have a watch:-



    As a side note I am loving the route. (although I cannot get it to work on the PS4 even though the PS4 version of TSW 3 is telling me its installed.

    Hentis
     
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  14. Sharon E

    Sharon E Well-Known Member

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    Drove the freight service 6M60 yesterday evening and it was fun working on getting those aggregate hoppers up the Licky Bank even with 2 class 66s in run 8. I know, in the UK you have a letter designation for the hoppers, but here in the US a hopper is a hopper.
     
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  15. w2sjw

    w2sjw Active Member

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    I'm super-pleased to see the amount of content that fellow users have gotten up in the Creation Centre in just the first 24 hours (both liveries & scenarios). This route is quite fun behind the controls of the 387!
    BCC_387.jpg BCC_314.jpg
     
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  16. squerble

    squerble Active Member

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    Thanks. Following on from 5P07 is 2R07, a 6-car LTV to Redditch service.
     
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  17. fakenham

    fakenham Well-Known Member

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    Just did a v nice run, 2R57 Lichfield TV to Redditch, using todays date and dynamic weather. Started cloudy and quickly turned to torrential rain for 95% of the journey - nice to see the station lights on at this time of day as it was v gloomy. Temp must have dropped because the rain turned to light snow towards the end, with a nice covering of snow and a fantastic sunset as the cloud cleared. That dynamic weather really does make a difference.
    Also had a hold up for another train, won't say where....!
     
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  18. antony.henley

    antony.henley Well-Known Member

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    Yes was a nice surprise to see the station lights come on for me at around 0845 in full fog on one of my runs using Dynamic Weather.
    Looks very nice.

    Hentis
     
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  19. bescot

    bescot Well-Known Member

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    Talking of lighting. Did DTG put the new ambient light sensors in,.instead of the timer based method? Matt talked about some plans for these in the last roadmap. He said he'd find out whether X City would have this system, but I didn't hear if we got an answer.
     
  20. Mr heff

    Mr heff Well-Known Member

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    Really enjoying this route so far after a few services. It's beautiful for sure, almost makes Birmingham look like a nice place to live. sounds are good and there's just a lot of little details overall. The signalling even had me in free cam trying to re-read some of the signals and signs on my first run, which is great since most previous UK TSW routes have provided little signalling challenge IMO. For example there are some new signs relating to low adhesion areas and un-electrified track, with a healthy dose of preliminary route indicators at Lickey incline. New street station is also very pretty mid-morning as it glistens. the GSM-R console is a lovely addition, just wish I could type in the head code myself.

    In conclusion, it's been great so far. Well done! :)
     
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  21. breblimator

    breblimator Guest

    Lovely scenery, outstanding in-cab sounds. Love it.
     
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  22. Tom Fresco

    Tom Fresco Well-Known Member

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    Glad you're enjoying those scenarios! :D
     
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  23. Odd1ne

    Odd1ne Active Member

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    Oi bit of a cheap shot ;)

    I do agree played a run tonight really enjoyed it, this route seems a big step up.
     
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  24. AndyTF

    AndyTF New Member

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    Have been enjoying this add-on so far and overall think it is excellent, however I have just driven onto the Redditch branch for the first time, and I have to say I am appalled with the flat/empty scenery and the shoddy track ballast work, it is a crying shame that what would be a good route has been let down by a section like this, it looks as if it has been designed by a placement student or something, and is certainly not in a release condition, not by the latest TSW standards anyway.

    The fact this section of the route wasn't shown on the preview stream can't be a coincidence and quite frankly looks like Dovetail were trying to decieve prospective customers by covering up their mistakes. Just when it feels Dovetail are moving on and getting better, this kind of thing happens and we go backwards again, so disappointing :(
     
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  25. Mr heff

    Mr heff Well-Known Member

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    I was thinking this when driving a northbound service from Redditch earlier this evening, even with a quick glance at Google maps i can see that it isn't supposed to look like they plonked a railway onto a golf course. Let's hope it's fixed.
     
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  26. gee

    gee Member

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    Don't buy it until it's in a sale.
     
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  27. gee

    gee Member

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    Most peoples wages haven't risen with inflation for a long time.
     
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  28. Redbus

    Redbus Well-Known Member

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    Couple of things:
    Has anyone managed to get gold on the 323 intro? You need 1800 AP but I've tried 3 times and my best was only 1650 AP, which is nuts really what more can you do to get the necessary points?
    Also, has anyone who has had an AWS penalty stop actually waited for it to time out and unlock? I waitied a good 3 or 4 minutes but nothing happened (yes I hit the AWS reset a few times). The only way I got going again was to isolate the AWS and unisolate.
     
  29. deeuu#6908

    deeuu#6908 Well-Known Member

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    I don't think it's currently possible to get gold.
     
  30. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    …and ask yourself, does it really matter in any way at all? Really?
     
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  31. Factor41

    Factor41 Well-Known Member

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    Seems like there are a few services, particularly in the layers, that it's impossible to gold. Surely this stuff isn't difficult to work out.
    If you're making a game where there's actual functionality to "gold" a journey chapter, and that chapter contains services that are impossible to get gold on, yes, it's quite important for people who play this game like a game.
     
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  32. JetWash

    JetWash Well-Known Member

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    The point is getting ‘gold’ means nothing, it does nothing. It’s absolutely pointless!
     
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  33. Factor41

    Factor41 Well-Known Member

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    You could argue the whole exercise of driving a train in a game with no real end goal is pretty pointless. I realise that this is in the PC category, where many people are obsessed about the simulation, and would happily spend hours tinkering with ini settings and waiting half an hour for some air brakes to release, but if you play it as a game, then getting gold, completing the journey chapters, collecting medals and trophies/achievements is entirely the point. If that functionality exists, it should work.
     
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  34. Redbus

    Redbus Well-Known Member

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    Not at all, but for those of us who are even mildy OCD it's a bit of an irritation. ;)
     
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  35. lux#4689

    lux#4689 Well-Known Member

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    I did get gold. I ran several circles, as I was just having fun with the 323.
     
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  36. Factor41

    Factor41 Well-Known Member

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    Just did the same - let it run at 60mph for a couple of laps before the first stop, finished with over 2000AP and the gold!
     
  37. PAFC47760

    PAFC47760 Member

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    Not great,
    Strange consists the hst up the lickey 3 hst power cars on the front a 47 on the rear where did they get that formation, no runs to doncaster ever went like that.
    most freights from bromsgrove hanging off the back of the platform yet we can't take longer consists up ourselves steam with 10mk1s diesels with longer consists too.
     
  38. w2sjw

    w2sjw Active Member

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    I was playing around on foot last night at a bunch of stations getting the route maps & flowers done. I decided to spawn-in at 8am in fog. It cleared to this after about 25 minutes. I was like 'Damn, does SEHS ever look this good in the morning?'
    BCC_Sunrise.jpg
     
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  39. rennekton#1349

    rennekton#1349 Well-Known Member

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    Almost looks like real life
     
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  40. squerble

    squerble Active Member

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    Can any devs confirm what the OSS set speed is just before Lichfield City, heading north? It's just after the speed limit changes to 45, signal AN155 and before the single track joins from the left. It's absolutely brutal - even though I've braked below 45, am still braking for the 20, I'm always getting hit and stopped. I've gone through at 19mph and been safe, but the speed seems way too low considering there's still reasonable distance to slow down to 20 before the 20 limit starts.


    EDIT: So I just tried at 25 and it got me, so it's set below 25 but above 18/19. That seems... really wrong.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2022
  41. CowBoyWolf

    CowBoyWolf Well-Known Member

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    I think it has as this is 1700 in nov vs june upload_2022-11-20_21-49-5.png upload_2022-11-20_21-49-16.png
     
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  42. CowBoyWolf

    CowBoyWolf Well-Known Member

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  43. bescot

    bescot Well-Known Member

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    Interesting thanks, I'll take a look too now God Mod is out. The street lamps times are still hard coded though. That needs addressing as they don't come on until 1900 and go off at 0700 - all year so it is very dark in the winter and autumn months.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2022
  44. yliu312

    yliu312 Member

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    the brakes now have animation on them when you applying
     
  45. Phil567

    Phil567 New Member

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    Have to say I think this route is excellent! I own lots of the other train sim world routes and definitely think this is near the top in terms of enjoyment to drive , scenery , attention to detail etc. Yes there are a few bugs but nothing that bad in the scheme of things in my opinion! Of course would be nice if Birmingham New street was busier , but really think it’s still overall a great route. Also 323 really quite fun to drive, great sounds! The route is surprisingly addictive , and did not think I would enjoy it as much as I have! Got the BCC starter pack so first time experiencing TSW 3 after upgrading from 2. Experiencing the new TSW 3 weather effects with this route is also awesome!
     
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  46. w2sjw

    w2sjw Active Member

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    Let me ask a quick question for the locals to this route - while I love experiencing the wonderful hard work of the members on the Creator's Club with repaints, was there ever a time when the 323 was simultaneously wearing the WMT and LM paint schemes at the same time during the takeover by WMT?
     
  47. alexjjones6024

    alexjjones6024 Well-Known Member

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    That's a fair distance from Northfield to Kings Cross, there would be many houses left out based on that distance ;)
     
  48. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    I would imagine so, there were class 172's running around in both LM and WMT livery on the Snow Hill lines although they were fairly quick to get them repainted or revinyled whatever they do now!
     
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  49. After throwing several hours into this route and setting aside the usual dtg release bugs, I like bcc alot. Well modelled 323, goodish sounds and some rather nice scenery.

    Worth the money.
     
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  50. maxipolo12

    maxipolo12 Well-Known Member

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    hello, is Birmingham still empty?
     

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