The Amazing Acela!

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by Amtrak_Fan, Feb 21, 2023.

  1. Amtrak_Fan

    Amtrak_Fan Well-Known Member

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    Hello everyone! Welcome back!

    Today I want to talk about the Acela DLC, and how I think it's one of the, if not the best Loco DLC for TSW! So lets get started!

    First off, I haven't encountered any game-breaking bugs which is always good! Usually I'm content with the DLC as long as the thing works, however the Acela takes it to a different level! It feels smooth to drive, the safety systems work great, the sounds and model are great, and overall it's one hell of a good DLC! Not just all of that, but the attention to detail is crazy! I didn't notice until I went to look, but the foot pedals under the engineers seat work! They didn't need to add that since the acknowledger is on the top along with the horn, but they took the time to add a horn and acknowledger foot pedal along with the side window blinds! You can actually open up the side windows!

    Now, I may be BIAS since the Acela is my favorite trainset, however, I really think it's amazing, and should be considered a standard of quality for all loco DLC's going forward! Even If there are a few bugs, those can be worked out in due time! 20230221120205_1.jpg
    20230221120633_1.jpg
    Thank You DTG and cActUsjUiCe! :)
     
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  2. DTG JD

    DTG JD Director of Community Staff Member

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    Thank you for the lovely feedback. Glad you’re enjoying it!
     
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  3. steveownzzz#6107

    steveownzzz#6107 Well-Known Member

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    Nice, glad it's good. I'm taking a half a day at work so I can go do some Acela runs.
     
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  4. olly.smail

    olly.smail Well-Known Member

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    hoping for a uk train add on the same quality as this soon
     
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  5. phil.elliott

    phil.elliott Well-Known Member

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    I thought this and the NY-Trenton DLC looked great on-stream last night (and it was great having cActUsjUiCe there too!) - I will definitely picking both up, but with costs going up all over the place and with no 10% pre-order or day one discount it'll have to wait for later... and look forward until then!
     
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  6. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    The team really did a fantastic job overall. Not perfect by any means, but it's of exceptional quality overall.
     
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  7. Winzarten

    Winzarten Well-Known Member

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    I just completed my first run in the Acela in Boston - Providence. No issues, either with the train, or safety systems. Looks great, sounds great, runs great :)

    Also some of attention to detail is amazing, like modelling the "exit" position on the cab light switch. It will turn the cab light, and automatically turn it off after certain time, so the engineer can exit the cab under light.

    And the reworked signaling system on the route made the route much more enjoyable. Being able to approach Providence without any weird and suddent speed drops and restrictions make this so much more fun :)

    Thanks for all the effort in this US release :)
     
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  8. Redbus

    Redbus Well-Known Member

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    Is it me or is the penalty brake system broken? PCS should surely release after a brake suppression setting and train speed is brought down below the penalty speed? I had to take the brake all the way to handle off to get PCS to release. Bug?
     
  9. pveezy

    pveezy Well-Known Member

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    Love this train! Just did a full run on Boston and smooth as butter (other than overshooting Rt 128 station by quite a bit).

    I am trying it on Trenton and having a weird issue. Train 2155 From Penn...

    Starting from Penn, safety systems on, load passengers, close doors, release brakes, ready to go... ATC says Restrict 20mph. Start moving... as soon as I hit 1.5mph I get an overspeed and penalty brake?

    Am I missing something?
     
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  10. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    It's not the PCS. ACSES is de-energizing the magnet valve for the brakes during a penalty brake application. So upon penalty, the brakes go to Full Service. Once at or below the target speed, you can recover the train by setting the brakes to Suppression or higher. Sometimes it doesn't immediately release control of the train to you and I'm not quite sure why. But most of the time it works fine.
     
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  11. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    That's a new one. Can you record footage?
     
  12. pveezy

    pveezy Well-Known Member

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  13. Redbus

    Redbus Well-Known Member

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    Thank you, yes I tried again and recovering worked with Suppression. The first time I was panicking and the Acela ground to a complete halt. Only then Handle Off was necessary.
     
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  14. CowBoyWolf

    CowBoyWolf Well-Known Member

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    I got issue with High Speed US scenario not allowing me to depart from providence
     
  15. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    Per my reply to you on Discord, I remember Paul (trainsimulatordriver) saying that there's a weird order of operations with the reverser and ATC/ACSES. Set reverser FIRST, then enable the safety systems. Shouldn't matter but apparently it does? Please try that.
     
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  16. pveezy

    pveezy Well-Known Member

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    This worked! Not sure if it is prototypical or still a bug but doing things in that order works.
     
  17. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    It's a bug. I just finished reporting it to the team via official means.
     
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  18. flirt745

    flirt745 Active Member

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    Having driven the Acela a couple of times on NEC Boston - Providence I have to say it looks and sounds amazing. It has definitely added more action to the Boston - Providence route.
     
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  19. surreychuff#3060

    surreychuff#3060 Active Member

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    Not familiar with the Acela, but took a service out on Trenton-NYC.

    It sounds very quiet outside away from the engines… like I can hear track joints and ambient sounds, but no wind noise I don’t think… it seems very quiet. Have I got a dodgy install or is this correct?

    edited to say playing PS5 version on PS5
     
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  20. CK95

    CK95 Well-Known Member

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    I would also like to add that the way the Acela looks & feels is great - the sounds massively let it down though, they aren’t great.
     
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  21. Mattty May

    Mattty May Guest

    Can you sound the horn like this in game…

     
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  22. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    I have to agree, only had time to do only one run yet on Boston, but it was great!
     
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  23. Dave Mel

    Dave Mel Well-Known Member

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    ive noticed in this vid above that the acela has both pantos up, but in the game itself only has the one panto up, or maybe i didnt notice both up
     
  24. MAX1319

    MAX1319 Well-Known Member

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    not my picture but wanted to share is this a new seat on the acela
    upload_2023-2-21_16-52-30.png
     
  25. Dave Mel

    Dave Mel Well-Known Member

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  26. swift19

    swift19 Active Member

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    How do you reset the emergency brake? I'm a total novice. Cheers
     
  27. dr1980

    dr1980 Member

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    Had a great run in the Acela today too. I’m curious in the real world how do drivers typically use the cruise control? Solely for long stretches with constant speed or do they use it as well for speed changes, slowing down for stations etc.

    I found what worked best for me was disengaging it for speed changes then re-engaging it, but I’d be curious if anyone knows what the pros do.
     
  28. redrev1917

    redrev1917 Well-Known Member

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    On PC steam on BS both pantos are up., No idea about other formats or on Trenton
     
  29. pveezy

    pveezy Well-Known Member

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    Brandon talked a lot about that on the stream last night.

    The way he explained it is that in real life most drivers use the cruise control for most their braking too (dynamic brakes), for speed changes at least.

    ALSO, your throttle position directly controls how much power your dynamics produce. For example if you have drop your cruise control to slow down you will slow down faster if you have your throttle in notch 10 vs notch 5 etc.

    And the way he explained it with automatic brake is that it’s generally only used for station stops and for suppression braking due to a speed drop.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2023
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  30. rennekton#1349

    rennekton#1349 Well-Known Member

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    Acela is great to use. Only did the tutorial, but I like it. One thing I would like to see improved is the fan sound which turns on almost immediately after the loco starts moving and immediately when it comes to idle which was also mentioned in SP's video. But, it doesn't stop me from playing.
     
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  31. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Interesting, since that's pretty much how I drive German trains with AFB- which, I understand, is totally against DB regs. Maybe it's an American thing?
     
  32. traindori

    traindori Well-Known Member

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    I like what I've read and seen about the Acela so far.

    Is it worth buying along with the new NY-Trenton route?
     
  33. Luke8899

    Luke8899 Well-Known Member

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    If you are going to buy NY-Trenton anyway, then yeah Acela is a pretty useful addition, it adds a decent amount traffic to a quiet route and it is quite something to see it whizzing by (check video reviews though as AI Acela can have quite the performance hit if you are playing near the capacity of your machine. Console might not be as bad). You also get substantial distances at top speed, and the route itself feels very very very long so the high speed services do not feel like they are over in a flash by any means.

    But if you already have Boston Sprinter then Acela by itself is a perfectly good loco to go with it, of the two routes Boston is the more challenging for Acela because of its more frequent speed reductions and conflicting signals, but the 150mph stretch is fairly short in total, shorter still if there is a train somewhere in front.
     
  34. Redbus

    Redbus Well-Known Member

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    The Acela is definitely fun. I bought it for Boston-Prov which will already give plenty of play value, and will pickup NY-Trenton in a future sale as not in a particular hurry for it.
     
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  35. Ferrovipathe67

    Ferrovipathe67 Well-Known Member

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    I find the fan sounds a little too loud for reality
     
  36. HappyBasher

    HappyBasher Active Member

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    Ah, thanks, that answers the question I was going to ask, how to release the penalty brake! Cheers
     
  37. Ferrovipathe67

    Ferrovipathe67 Well-Known Member

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    a small update to do JD is to slightly reduce the sound of the fans so that we can also hear the sounds of the train but the DLC is very good
     
  38. cwf.green

    cwf.green Well-Known Member

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    Did you acknowledge the alarm? You need to both move the brake handle to Suppression and acknowledge ACSES (or ATC).
     
  39. dr1980

    dr1980 Member

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    Thanks, that’s really helpful information. Especially this tidbit, I never would have guessed that. I’ll play around with that tonight as last time it felt like the deceleration wasn’t strong enough to be useful, I probably didn’t have it sitting in throttle position 10.
     
  40. jolojonasgames

    jolojonasgames Well-Known Member

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    I also really think the Acela turned out amazing. Easily took Boston-Providence way up my list of most played routes, even though I normally only stick to German stuff. It looks and feels amazing! I also love the screenshot I took of it leaving Boston shown below.

    [​IMG]
     
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  41. jolojonasgames

    jolojonasgames Well-Known Member

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    I also noticed this. As someone who usually plays German stuff, and doesn't brake with AFB, it feel really unnatural. It does make some more sense if you consider that German locomotives usually have independent controld for Electric and Air braking, whereas in the Acela only braking by cruise control with let you brake with only E-brakes. Guess practices differ everywhere.
     
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  42. pveezy

    pveezy Well-Known Member

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    Yep. My typical thought would be if my goal is to slow down, drop throttle to 0. But not the case for using dynamics/cruise on this one. I only know this because of Brandon's comments on the stream, but it seems key to operating the train.
     
  43. Arpadiam

    Arpadiam Active Member

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    i didnt like the sound in general from the acela, the fans or whatever it is are way to loud, driving with a windows open is annoying on how loud it is

    apart of that the rest is great
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2023
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  44. Link

    Link Active Member

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    The Acela looks really great and I was looking forward for this DLC, but the sound of the fans are like a broken vacuum cleaner.
    I don't live in the US and unfortunately I've never seen an Acela Express in real life, but when I compare the one from the DLC with the real Acela, the sound is worlds apart. I love loud fans like the one from the BR 143 / BR 112 which is way too silent in TSW3. But the screeching fans from the Acela gives me headache.... :|
     
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  45. pessitheghost

    pessitheghost Well-Known Member

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    class 700 or 800 with that quality would be perfect
     
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  46. Mattty May

    Mattty May Guest

    According to Brandon, he rode in the cab of an Acela to get some sound recordings and he said it really is that loud and that the engine room doors do a great job at muffling the noise.
     
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  47. Arpadiam

    Arpadiam Active Member

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    still they should tone it down just a bit like 20 or 30% because is annoying and makes me want to alt+f4 or move to another train
     
  48. LodeStar

    LodeStar Active Member

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    Woah! I like it too! Just did a run on Providence - Boston. But the fans are indeed really loud. And yes, they are pretty loud (like a lot of TGVs too) in real life as well. But this is a bit overreaching perhaps.
     
  49. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    Here's my recording of the blowers while sitting in the secondman's seat. The door directly behind me was open and then was closed as we were departing. You be the judge. It's really loud.
     

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  50. LodeStar

    LodeStar Active Member

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    I stand corrected. :D
     
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