I dabble in scenario creation and in the past I have always worked on trying to make engaging scenarios with the minimum of DLC requirements. Given that I have spent the last week making a real time representation of a service from Cardiff to Taunton (as for as Bristol TM) that was actually scheduled to run last Thursday at 15:00 So to the question. Given that I am modelling every single service running through Cardiff, along the South Wales Mainline and into Bristol, as you probably understand there are a lot of different consists that would have been in use (including classes 143, 150, 158, HST, 800, 220, 70 etc) Would you prefer to have a minimal DLC load but have one or two units in the wrong livery or even a replacement train (mainly to avoid the 220 DLC to avoid one single XC consist on the whole route) or would you prefer to have a high DLC load to make it as accurate as possible. One thing to note, no changes to DLC have been made in this instance that would change timings. Using 3 DLC I can create the whole route as a decent representation of timings / passing locations and stops.
Personally I look at a Scenario and see how many reskins I need to run the scenario By using the 801, which is available as a reskin, means I would have to download and install it. And then look to see what else I would need to download Somebody else had done a scenario for Waterloo - Portsmouth and had used a lot of AP Sound/Enhancement packs. Which is OK for the player train but buying them for EMUs I might not drive very often puts me off Ok, I can swap the stock with RW Tools but then the enjoyment goes if I have to spend 30 mins changing and saving for a 30 min scenario.
Me too, just wondered if it annoyed people that the "Crosscountry service from Nottingham to Cardiff" which would be a Class 220 in real life is actually a class 158 which would have a similar timetable in game. The service timings are all accurate, but it means you need three DLC rather than 8 or 9 On the 801, Would I be able to put that on the workshop because of external content?
I too am put off by large amounts of re-skins. These days I just don't bother any more if I see all the links to other sites to get downloads, bah. Its a shame really as all the hard work to make the scenario can't be seen and enjoyed by the many who don't want every Tom Rick and Harry's version of a re-skin for every train ever ran in history. Use of another item instead is just called "Artistic License" and is always welcome in my books.
Mark me as also against scenarios that require numerous re-skins, not to mention lots of DLC in general. If I find myself tempted to insert "foreign" (i.e.: rolling stock not included with the route on which the scenario takes place) engines or waggons, I make a "plain vanilla" version first and then, if the temptation lingers, which it seldom does, insert non-included materiel. After all, I'd rather have people drive my scenarios than avoid them.
Currently Cross Country uses 3 car Class 170 units on the Nottingham Cardiff run - No 220s to Nottingham.