Dovetail Direct Live Stream Reaction

Meet the new boss…
TSW 3 was supposed to be all singing all dancing and a cure for all ills, yet a year on there are still problems with it . No doubt the same will happen next year with TSW 5
In my opinion (and others on here ) it reeks of EA . Never enough differences between each Madden and FIFA , so only buy it every two or three years .

 

NY-Trenton?

 

Well, I will wait and see. There are some interesting things for me, the volumetric fog could be nice, the Austrian track could be interesting. Other things are maybe nice for others, but I simply don't care for them. So I am not sure if I want to pay for the whole thing.
The CGI trailer video - well, it doesn't look bad. But I don't get a feeling from it how driving will feel like. While you see a train passing by from the outside and see detailled grass, you don't see what it looks like from the inside of the locomotive to the outside. The colors look a bit too "plastic" for my taste, but that might just be me.
All in all, I am not sold on it, but I wouldn't condemn it either yet. It will depend to a big portion on how good things will work, if there will be a lot of scenarios one cannot complete, strange lighting like the stations on HRR for example which still bugs me, and so on. I am curious how it will turn out.

 

I'm surprised their PR guy didn't just tell them to "grin and bear it" for a while. I mean, it's evident these devs don't regard their playerbase very highly, but they don't have to spell it out, jeez. "Oh, a long-term customer left? Happy to take credit!"

Then again, this is the author of "you're just going to have to swallow that one" we're talking about.

 

Stuttering is built in to Unreal Engine. You would get it on a Cray supercomputer; and there is no way to rid TSW of it without changing to an entirely different engine.

However, I agree with you about shadow draw distance, which DTG should make variable so that high-end systems aren't constrained to the performance limitations of old systems.

 

The ACS-64 (and Acela) were Boston retreads

 

I think I will preorder TSW4. 52€, 3 routes and 2 locos is a good price after all.

The Editor things are not mine, console player and I play other games also. But I hope talented players are able to do even better stuff than already with the new tools. At this point: Thanks for the great liveries on the creators hub.

The Antelope route looks better than expected as I‘m not in US routes but think I will give it a few hours

ECML… was hoping for it to go to London as this is of most interest to me.

Vorarlberg… looks great. But why again a DB 185 and not (again) a 182 but in ÖBB livery? Why no RJ? Maybe with further Austrian route or as DLC? Hope we can drive the DB101 as it had a service there since a few months ago (was replaced by ICE4 service)

 

I have to say I was disappointed by two features which are apparently NOT coming to Livery Designer 2.0: numeric input, and layer groups/savable decals.

Also, 1000 layers ain't nothing. (Although text boxes should reduce layer consumption some)

 

Yes, I would expect a PAID DLC that will be peddling a 182/Eurofima reskin.

 

All just seems a bit meh really. Do the new features really justify the cost of upgrading the core game? Is photo mode really all that?? Take into account the routes are pretty underwhelming as well and it all seems to be a bit of a damp squib to me.

Will wait till the big sales, probably when TSW5 is due out!!

 

Still included the new NJT loco and two cabcars.

Besides, most newer routes at least include a second existing loco, like Bremen-Oldenburg including a the BR155 and Linke Rheinstrecke also including the BR110. Not new, but still included. That's more than TSW4 routes get, with no mention of the inclusion of a 2nd loco in any of the routes.

But still, personally I find TSW4 a fair deal. Just pre-ordered my copy.

 

This is giving you three new routes as part of it's price. Or can upgrade to TSW4 by just buying one of the routes. So it's adding new content, and can't really be compared to FIFA/Madden.

 

I take your point that some issues are inherent to Unreal, but it's not an issue I've noticed with the dozens of other Unreal games I've played on PC or console. Satisfactory, Densha de Go - stuff which has comparable demands and comparable opportunity to notice stuttering

 

Seeing as TSW 4 won’t be in game pass, I’ll buy out TSW3 and collect DLC.

I still have TVL and DCZ missing from TSW 2 as well as the separate DLCs for TVL.

 

The ECML includes the Class 66 beside the Azuma, and the Vorarlberg includes the Railion BR 185 beside the Talent

 

I've just read the full FAQ and my questions were not answered at all.

So I would like to try my luck here.

1. Im not interested in any of the "core routes", will there be another opportunity to upgrade to TSW4 ?

2. Whats the pricing? (As far as im aware PC players get an Editor, Console Players not) Will this be reflected in this price?


At this point im not going further into the discussion, but as far as i have seen, TSW4 is not a new game at all, rather than an expensive Update. Which is sad.

Still it would be nice to get those questions answered. Thx.

 

I'm torn. I get it, DTG employees need to get food on the table. And probably my disappointment is driven by the total uninspired routes in which I have no interest what so ever. First I thought, the network for the austrian route has some appeal, but thinking about it, it will be again an empty route with an reheated EMU. The HS route on the island is, like the HS route between Kassel and Würzburg, half baked. So that turned me off.

Looking at the game improvements aka features, they are minor and actually don't justify a mayor update to V4. Yeah they are nice, but most of them don't improve the game in immersion (fog and suspension). The rest are new "features" aimed at niche audiences.

So now I'm forced to buy a new game, in order to get access to new routes which could suite me more in the future. I need to pay for things which I will not use. That really grinds my gears.

I really love TSW. I love to play it despite it many bugs and errors and shortcommings. I really buy into the enthusiasm of the developers and often enough it shines through, for example at SEHS or London Commuter. So I really want the game to be good and for that I'm totally down to pay even a lot of money.

But the disappoints pile up. Time over time, route by route they fail to even match expections barely. Just one recent example. I just bought for a normal price Linke Rheinstrecke. And I have to say, I hate it. It looks awful. The gameplay is horrible. The 103 lacks soul, the wagons are wrong, at lot, that made the DB in the 90s is not captured, and the smallest details like platform pis are missing. So I consider Linke Rheinstrecke a failure, because DTG to a bite to big, because they couldn't deliver what should be delivered and that after a long time after release. (There better routes that keep my hope up though, fx Niddertal, Köln, London)

The next thing that will drive me nuts is going to be the 3 Versions of gameplay in TSW 4. You will have the legacy experience, the rushhour/TSW3 experience and now the TSW4 experience. Awful!

Lastly the marketing. They promised more transparency a long time ago, and for some months it really was good. But over the last 18 months or so, these efforts are lost. It went more intransparent than ever. The roadmap is a joke, nobody wants to be specific anymore until the last moment. The best example is this TSW4 anouncement. If they would have been open about this new release pattern: Every year a new game because reason 1, 2 and 3, I could have been okay with it. But in the recent month I get the impression, even here on the forum, buy or get lost.

And that is the main point of my disappointment. I, the gamer and customer am no longer part of the conversation.

So will I buy TSW4. Yes, because I still want to play the game I love, in the hope of better days and better routes, because there is no way around it in this case.

 

Apologies if it has already been answered or if it said in the stream but will the keyboard shortcuts be user assignable on consoles as well as PC? I’ve wanted that for such a long time.

 

The Deluxe version seems pretty good value, and for the enjoyment I get out of the game €50 pales into comparison compared to what some of my friends shell out regularly on rail tour tickets or model railway items.

 

The editor has nothing to do with the price, anyone can use the editor. It's not part of the purchase.

 

Other thing. In the FAQ it is said, that progress is ported but trophies won‘t autopop.
Do I read out of this, that old DLC will have trophies again in TSW4 and may have to be replayed again? Wouldn‘t it be better to leave old DLC trophies out and have more trophies of new DLCs? As we know from TSW2 to TSW3 profile transfer wasn‘t the best option to get trophies and ih was a bit annoying to do old TSW1 stuff again to „complete“ trophies

 

To question 1 - No, the standard edition is at this moment the only way to upgrade (44,99 Euros without discounts on Steam)

 

What about the promised Trenton timetable ? I have a feeling that we will have to do it ourselves - luckily there will be an editor.

 

When I saw what the ECML route was, I was disappointed, however having now watched most of the stream it still offers a decent length high speed UK run, and the Azuma does look good in the LNER livery too. Flying Scotsman should be fun. I just think Doncaster, whilst being a iconic railway town and quite an important junction station is a very odd place to end a service. The iconic York station would have been lovely to see too. I would have preferred York to Newcastle to be honest.

I like the other two routes, especially the European route, it looks like a lovely and scenic little network.

The new scenario planner and the editor both look exciting, I haven't watched those bits of the stream yet.

 

Same, the ECML only really gets interesting as you head north past Darlington, but I’ll save judgement for release.

 

Just a massive disappointment. But at least they're being completely transparent this time about TSW3 going obsolete shortly after launch instead of stringing people along like they did with TSW2.

But DTG have clearly reverted to their old pre-TSW2 ways. The preservation crew has been disbanded and routes are pretty much left by the wayside after a few months, and certainly after a year when the new game version releases locking everything out unless you shell out some more cash. It really is making my question what's the point in buying anything in TSW anymore if its just abandoned after a short bit, and the game is replaced every 12 month (this is rhetorical, please don't quote and respond). Made worse by having to re-download content every year because there's no mechanism to just copy over already downloaded files.

The new routes aren't really that interesting to me. There doesn't look to be a whole lot of variety to them, which lowers my interest significantly. All of the new features seem to be geared towards creative people. And for them that's great, but it offers no value to me. I'm not creative enough and/or don't have the attention span to design a livery in the livery editor with the awful controls it has. Scenario designer has always been a pain, and even the new upgrades don't make it seem like it will be much easier to construct a scenario, other than making it less likely to get stuck because AI can't be routed out of the way. I don't care about the scoring system, in fact I'd really like an option to completely turn it off (no medals in post-game screen/main menu UI). The minimal HUD might be the only thing that interests me a bit, but I'd have to see it in action more to get a full opinion on it.

TSW3 still has significant issues that should've been addressed in this release. The lighting needs to be fixed - exposure, eye adaption, etc. still has significant issues. Those little sliders you added in photo mode, need to be implemented in the main UI to offer graphics settings controls while actually running the game if you're not going to fix the lighting yourself. The passenger system needs a significant overhaul to fix ~that mess~. See any of the major issues posts over the last 12 months that have been completely ignored in the next major release of the game. This is quite sad.

While I do think this should've been a free core update, with optional route packs (nothing is going to change my mind on this), I'm gonna meet half way here. DTG please think about another option, call it the "customer loyalty version" for existing customers. Release just the core game update but for like $5. A lot of the new features require a TSW4 route anyway, so this just removes a massive paywall barrier for future content and fixes, and allows for at least everything to be in one game. I do think there is some hard work that has gone into this to bring some of these new features, but I don't think existing customers should be penalized for wanting to stay in the TSW franchise but don't necessarily want the new routes to be a barrier to that. And please think about the burden you place on your customers by forcing an update every year going forward. I'd like to think with the release of the editor now, maybe you'll settle down and TSW4 will be the last "new game" iteration for a while so content doesn't become locked out in the future. I can't imagine the disappointment that would arise for the average person creating something and within a few months having it locked out to everyone who's not on TSW5 or whatever else comes in the future.

 

We need to stop with this, it’s garbage.

The average DTG employee is not looking to screw the likes of me and you just so they can earn a wage.

DTG are a business and the decisions made and probably way above their level.

This attitude of DTG employees rely on us as customers to make a living and they should be grateful is so completely condescending but also inaccurate.

 

Farming Simulator 22 console users get freeware creations made with PC version in a way that the game publisher checks the content and publishes it in console store as free addon for everyone. Something similar might be possible here..

 

Quite a few LNER Azuma service pass through Doncaster on the fast lines. Not sure how they get timetabled in?

 

Hey Buddy, just to be clear: I want to be paid for my work too. So this was just a statement on the obviously new yearly release pattern for the game. This is fine.

BUT (and that is the tldr version just for you) I don't want to be charged for routes I don't desire in order to push a new game version. Charge me the money for the update and be transparent about it.

 

I wonder if TSW3 and TSW4 coming off Gamepass will enable more sales on Xbox?

 

Other thing. In the FAQ it is said, that progress is ported but trophies won‘t autopop.
Do I read out of this, that old DLC will haveo trophies again in TSW4 and may have to be replayed again? Wouldn‘t it be better to leave old DLC trophies out and have more trophies of new DLCs? As we know from TSW2 to TSW3 profile transfer wasn‘t the best

 

Will there be a monthly roadmap still?

 

Just checked the Dresden-Riesa route map from the stream and there's no additional branch from Neustadt to Flughafen.

The Vorarlberg route map from the stream, however, has a branch (not the one to Lindau) around the Bodensee, with dots indicating stations, which might mean inclusion of un-announced S3 (Bregenz - St. Margrethen) and / or S5 (Lustenau - Keldkirch) services in addition to the announced S1 (Lindau - Bludenz) services. There's also a short branch (with no stations) in the map from the stream around Feldkirch, possibly indicating additional AI S2 (Feldkirch - Buchs) services.

 

So one has to buy the three routes (Standard Edition, because it has the lowest price with discounts) just to get TSW 4? I don't get it ...

 

So no longer on gamepass and no more discount. Does that mean we get proper sales now to fall in line with ps5 and pc

 

Paused the stream at the wrong point. Sorry DTG JD. At least you have a new desktop wallpaper.

 

I'd be incredibly disappointed if this was exclusive to PC. The idea of being able to customise the controller based on the current train I'm driving sounds really sweet.

 

Ill be interested to see if people will be humble enough to revisit their opinions in 6months

 

It's possible I've never said I won't buy the game, I know I changed my mind with TSW3 after I got it gifted to me last christmas but I'm more pissed off with the fact that we keep getting broken promises expected to pay for fixes and improvements every year with these "new game" releases, when they could have been part of a core update and have a route/loco bundle... Just like TSC does every year and that game is still going strong.

 

Hey JD I've read them. Yes, fx the German Package with Dresden (which I own, so why should I buy) and for regions I don't care at the moment, because (this time unfortunately) I don't like the routes you offer. So in plain words: You force me to spend money for TSW4 and routes I don't care for, just to be able to get updates and be able to buy future addons. I still would rather buy the update without the routes.

 

The one thing I've been griping about the most on these boards is the value of the individual TSW3 routes, $40US is simply too much for me to pick up everything I want. DTG can't mention it on their highlight reel, but the fact that the entire TSW4 standard package (with PS+ discount) is currently that same price tells me that they are listening. Thank you for this DTG.

 

I am excited about TSW 4 especially the Germany to Austria and Metrolink routes but I'm disappointed about the Peterborough to Doncaster. I would have liked it to start from London king's cross to Leeds and Hull with the addition of Hull trains and playable class 700 and 387 services then It will be my UK route and I'll be happy. Peterborough to Doncaster is such a missed opportunity. I also hope Dovetail games make a East Coast Commuter London Kings Cross to Petersborough and Cambridge with the addition of the Northern City Line with Great Northern and Thameslink!!!

 

THAT would have been an awesome route!

 

Nice to See ECML in the game but it should have included Newcastle Central Station - iconic. The Blackpool route looks good - new train. Aside from that, I'm a bit underwhelmed - partly because TSW3 still doesn't work correctly.

 

I'd say there are more satisfied than unsatisfied. The unsatisfied are just way more vocal, as is normal.