Thank you, this is very helpful. Mostly things which I suspected were wrong but couldn’t say definitively, so it’s good to hear it from someone who knows. For a route on which a lot of really good work has obviously gone into scenery and other features, it’s such a shame that fundamental things like AWS and signalling sequences are wrong. These are things they’ve generally got right on older routes. Unfortunately it reflects the general change in DTG’s focus away from operational realism and towards eye-candy and gimmicks. I doubt any of these issues will ever be fixed as DTG don’t appear to see it as a priority, but hopefully I’ll be proved wrong.
Sorry, just to add another point to this. The vehicle numbers on the class 323 are also incorrect. They are indeed 64, 72, 65 but the numbering is completely wrong. 323230, for example would be formed of vehicle numbers 64030, 72230, 65030. 323232 would be 64032, 72232, 65032 and so on.
Thanks for sharing! Time permitting, could you please specify which part(s) of the 323 has inaccuracies for a Northern spec (apart from vehicle numbering)? As someone having little knowledge of Northern trains I found both cab and passenger saloon modeled relatively accurate compared to real-life pics?
Sure! - The track circuit operating clips (TCOCs) are located above the cab-saloon door rather than on the second person’s side - The windows don’t have the large metal bar across - There are no stickers next to the window or on the sun visors - The wiper controls aren’t a switch, they’re a round spinner as per the ones found on the 150 with only 2 settings - Most of the DRAs are the push/pull type, although you do get some with the switch type as found in game - The forward facing camera is inside the destination blind rather than on the driver’s window The saloon is modelled very accurately, it’s just some small differences in the cab compared to the WMT ones.
So I was doing some more research on the route and what it had to offer and decided to embark on it. Thought I'd share my thoughts below. Manchester Piccadilly looks beautifully modelled,. never been there but it looks really good and I like the insertion of the dioramas back into this (think its one where a worker is looking at a power box or something). I also like the screens which are cycling the pictures, it made me wonder, some of the newer stations that have TVs, could that then present some electronic billboards cycling info opportunities (not sure if bid stacks still a thing) It's a nice little route to be fair, I was initially put off whenever I hear Cathcart as a comparison but putting that to one side this feels like it stands on its own more. I like the lineside clutter and I think there's a really decent attention to detail on this route, seems like more time has been spent trackside. Train, oddly, not much to say on this as its the same solid model from BCC (though I did notice on one scenario the internal PIS did not change from guide bridge). Guard mode, I think its a good concept but I think it needs a bit more, it all seems a bit too polite, no grumbly passengers and then I wonder do they get off at the next station, can we make them pay for a ticket now, is the next addition a working ticket machine. I think the text on the whole bottom side of the screen could potentially be better with just a white font rather than that huge great box but its a good start. Photo mode, again, interesting concept but it seems a bit pointless at the moment, its another good idea but wonder if it could be padded out that its more of a railfan mode. I noted in the upcoming 700 manual all the train numbers are in there, this photo mode could be better placed if you're recreating a spotters mode. From an accessibility point of view here DTG Matt you might be able to offer up a mode here whereby those who are disabled etc and cant enjoy trainspotting in reality can spawn in anywhere at a given time with a railfan mode whereby they can look at what's rolling past, open up a trainspotting book in game and then tick off what they've seen. I think that would potentially be a new way to exploit the timetable mode some more with another game play arm. Succinctly, if you are on the fence, it's decent and enjoyable route. Transparently honest I wasn't sure when watching the stream (think I must have been distracted by food or my phone) but I think its a nice one. Purely speculating, I wonder what you could join onto those branches one day....... (SEHS style) Good one!!
So either there was an update that fixed the problem with the transparent textures/trees (maybe maybe i have it read over) or I've now found the perfect setting for me that makes it look good. [system settings] foliage.LODDistanceScale=5 r.viewdistancescale=6 With this settings in the INI everything is normal as usual and the level of detail changes far enough that you don't see it. In general, I think that the vegetation on this route is well done , even if some would have liked more "disorder". Considering the lower price and the already good Class 323, there really isn't much to complain about.
Yes, if your GPU can handle those settings without slowing to a slideshow. viewdistancescale is one of the most brutal of speed killers.
Well, went and bought it. Seems a nice little route for short drives. My only issues is that the dash is very washed out which makes the gauges hard to read.
Really enjoying this route. I generally do shorter stopping runs so this fits the bill perfectly. Also given the limited scope of the route itself, the timetable is really quite impressive with some fun AI stuff as well.
Here's my review: I really like this route. I've played quite a bit of it now. The things I like: - doing a roundtrip service - 323 is great to drive, good for reaching and maintaining speed - stations are nicely modelled; I like the little surprises of places you can go, the route talks were enjoyable - unique fixed distant signals (learned something new) - performs excellent on my old gen Xbox - the guard mode Scenario Guard mode Scenario: Yes, I enjoyed this scenario and played it five times in a row the first time! Yes, I want to do more of this. It would be great to have a separate timetable mode for guard services. I'd love to see it fleshed out more with varieties of interactions with passengers, various situations to attend to, longer services. Basically, my feedback is that I love it and would like to see you dive in deep with it! Things you could improve on: - AI takeover at Glossop / Hadfield is really immersion breaking - Make the roundtrip one complete service option or add this as an option to the 'Where To Next' menu - Extend GSM-R functionality - Add to the route... I wish I could have driven the other Northern services - The 158 service was... disappointing (oh look we're here!!) - The Steam tour was... a bit less disappointing (a bit longer and a gradient to deal with) Overall, I really like what you've done and hope this feedback is helpful for the future!
On the one hand yes. But at the same time, the level of detail of the trees in sight popped up again, which is very annoying.
Must say I love the on guard mode on this line well done dovetail love to see it rolled out to other routes for sure
In Guard mode, I had to inspect a Gorton to Gorton ticket, where both stations were the same. The date was valid. I informed the passenger to get off at the next station. I don't think TSW3 has return tickets, only single tickets. No points awarded.
Had it written further above that I had changed the setting to "5" and it works with it. [system settings] foliage.LODDistanceScale=5 r.viewdistancescale=6 FPS consistently 60 on the Glossop Line.
There are return tickets in the scenario, but they would still be A-B irl with validity on B-A as well. Here it's A-A... and sometimes it is valid... BUT... there are also single A-A tickets... and they're still valid... the scenario has some cool ideas, but it's a mess when trying to figure out those RNG tickets. If this is supposed to become a timetable thing, it needs TON of work. And c'mon... I have been to the UK twice and even I was sad I always had to go to the rear cab to open the doors... the middle car panel is functional, guys.
I’ve just has a little bit of fun riding as a passenger on an AI train that came into platform 13 (the through platform). It went on it’s merry way towards Liverpool and took me over the railway arches nearly as far as Oxford Road. Sadly the scenery ran out before the end point but the first part was modelled nicely and was recognisable.
I walked all that way. Yes it opens put to the 4 tracks for the station, but unfortunately the station wasn't modelled.
So far, I'm going to say, I am Loving the glossop line .The first scenario with the flooding is awesome and will like to see more of that in regular time tables, like a random event. The guard mode is pretty nice too. My only complaint is that I am only able to check 3 to 4 people before the station arrives because of how short stops are in between. I think guard mode would work, better non-commuter like routes where it's not frequent, stopping and shorter spaces between. I think the high speed lines like ice would work best for checking tickets. I also found a cool glitch in the guard scenario where I just opened and closed doors, which then commuter routes, would be much more fun Imo That made it much more fun for me instead of running back-and-forth down the train to quickly check the tickets before the train stopped. There's also nice freight traffic with the class 66 and a good amount of those which you will see along your journey operating the 323 and you also have the option to use steam which I have not tried yet, but will hopefully this weekend. To be honest, it's a good size route for anyone not wanting to play more than 40 minutes per and stands strong with what I think is exceptional gameplay. Very satisfying.
As regards the Guard scenario. Couldn’t wait for it to come round in Journey so just jumped into the scenario. It’s okay as a prototype but could be better. The door operation part was fair enough but there needs to be a “lean out” function where you can stand at the panel and check no one is trapped in the doors etc. after closing. The ticket examination is a bit funky, TBH. It needs more interaction with the NPC’s rather than just text responses, spoken dialogue would be better. Also you only get a handful of passengers to check, a fraction of those who seem to board. The final summary is a bit vague as it gives no clue as to how accurate your checks were. Not really on par with OMSI2, The Bus, Fernbus etc. You should also see the people you’ve chucked off actually leave the train. Anyhow it does give me an idea for when DTG Matt brings out the catering car pack. Interactive buffet service. If you’ve ever played those stupid fast food/restaurant games on the iPad etc., where you have to rapidly prepare various meals for waiting customers, you get my drift as to how it would go.
To the tune of the train chase from The Wrong Trousers right? (That gives me an idea for a new licensed DLC...)
Real BR tickets were issued either as SGL A-B, or as a matching pair of tickets OUT A-B and RTN B-A. You would only need to present one portion of the ticket, corresponding to the direction of travel. Except for the "Cheap Day Return" type which would be valid for only the same day as the outward portion, the RTN portion would be valid over a significant range of dates.
I like this route, only played a few scenarios but it looks rather good for TSW standards. First route were I love the attention to detail for sound effects. I don't mind these shorter routes.
To my knowledge, this route has no locked journey chapters, and you can choose any scenario/service in any chapter at any time via the main menu. So you could do the guard scenario immediately and it would still count for journey completion (which is exactly what I did on the day I bought the route ).
I must say this route has really grown on me - despite it's short, limited service pattern, I'm still playing it nearly every day. What DTG have done right this time compared with a few previous UK TSW 3 routes is that Glossop actually feels like it has life - the AI traffic at Piccadilly, the plethora of freight and rail tours (even if they are short in duration). If they can keep this up, and make some more epic large routes/timetables like they did with Rush Hour in the days of TSW 2, then I'll be very happy.
Agreed with your points. Even the super short 158 service was pretty cool… I won’t spoil it but keep an eye on the class 66 in the station at the beginning of the run. Pretty cool stuff going on.
Great route! But I say DTG would it be possible to have the 158s and 150s in a northern livery going to Manchester piccadilly as it would bring more verity to the route as you could see them going in and out of the station, also it would be good for a bit of trainspotting at Manchester but I also say that some of the buildings in the game are a bit bland. But One last thing I'd like to say, as we have Manchester piccadilly in the game now would it be possible to have Blackpool to Manchester Airport and maybe a bit further so the route is a bit long instead of a short route, so in the game so players would be able to enjoy it a lot more I say and that also drivers could stop at Manchester instead of having Manchester being like the final stop also while seeing all the trains that stop their in the station?
Great route, tried the guard scenario for the first time yesterday. Will be playing again, more of this please
I'm trying to drive the 323 in the opposite direction in free roam after completing a timetable. I moved to the other end but I can't get the train to move. The brakes are off and reverser forward but no power is applied when I use the power handle. What am I doing wrong?
Not feedback, just a story. Set up a scenario with the WCL Class 37 and five wagons starting at Hadfield. Set up the loco, released the brakes, nothing happened. Remembered that you need to set the loco to vacuum brake so hopped out, entered the rear cab, changed the brakes and hopped onto the platform. The train is now moving. I forgot Hadfield is on a steep incline. Ran to the front door but the train is moving too fast for the climb steps prompt to appear. I won't be getting in the cab then. I remember that if you stand in front of a train you sometimes spawn in the train, so I run past the moving train and stand in front of it. It takes TSW a few seconds to work out what is going on, and eventually I appear in the train. Standing in the first wagon. So now I'm descending at 1 in 100 in a runway train stood in one of the wagons with no means of escape. I think it's downhill all the way to Manchester, so I was tempted to let the scenario play out and see if I derailed or ran a red along the way, but I had better things to do, but feel free to try it for yourself!
Looking at the gradient profile, the question would be how much speed you’d gain by Dinting. You’d need to be going slow enough to make it around the curve, but fast enough to get over Dinting viaduct, which is level. If you made it to the falling gradient beyond the viaduct, I reckon you’d reach Piccadilly. At that point you’d need to think about how you’re going to stop…
Got round the curve ok and was still going at a good speed across the viaduct, at which point I quit.
Definitely enjoying this DLC, nice short 30 minute runs which is ideal for me as I don't always have the time to sit and go 1-2 hour+ services, loved the 'On Guard' scenario, always nice to be able to do something different while on the train instead of just sitting down, seeing a guard functionality added into the timetables as a core feature would be great instead of it just being single scenarios all the time but that's just me.
Decent wee route tbf, think the part 1 & 2 thing is silly snd definitely impacts enjoyment for me, but other than that a pretty well done route, with a good train. Addition of the Rose Hill line with a 150 would have made it a really fun little network, as well as further populating Piccadilly, so do think an opportunity missed a bit though.
Have to say I quite like this route. I didn't think I would from the release news about it. I know alot of people who know the line say its too clean, I've no personal reference so I take it for what it is and its a nice short fun route. I like some of the interesting station buildings along it too. The 323 is well suited to it. I would welcome any and all additions to it.
Sorry if it has been answered already, but does anyone know the location of the class 76 mastery? Thank you.
I also enjoyed the guard scenario. I've only played it once so far, but a couple thing to note: 1.) Only being able to use the rear cab for door control was a bit of a bummer. I'd love to use the middle guard console on the more curved stations. 2.) Duplicate Origin/Destination tickets. 3.) It's only on a section of the route. This one was a surprise to me given the length of the route already. I wanted the full Manchester-Manchester run, was expecting a full one-way trip, but only got a few stations leading into Manchester. I'd love to see this mode expanded on as just that: a playable mode. It could be implemented free-form in the scenario planner. Create a scenario in "Guard" mode, set up an AI service with the tick-box "Guarded by Player" so it has the correct stopping behavior, set it's stops, then set up other AI services accordingly. I know some trains have guard controls and others don't, but I feel like that can be a tag added to each formation in scenario planner (if not already) to automatically disable ticking the "Guarded by Player" box.
