Service mode is possibly one of the coolest features of Train Sim World, but DTG never seems to be exactly sure about what to do with it. it seems that every DLC comes with a bit of a different... style of timetable, you could say. It can be a bit of a hit-or-miss thing sometimes- and sometimes people have very different opinions on whether a route's service mode is terrible or great. To make things more interesting, loco DLC are also beginning to change service mode, as seen most notably in the BR Heavy Freight Pack but also in the BR182 and BR155, and locos can substitute in existing services in RSN and MSB as well, so one might think a timetable is terrible without DLC and great with the extra DLC added. After the release of another DLC with what is apparently a really good service mode (BR Heavy Freight Pack), and a bit earlier a DLC with a variety of different opinions on it (Tees Valley Line), I wondered... what does everyone think about different routes' service modes so far? Reason I went with unlimited options and strangely worded questions is that most people seem to have a fine line between timetables DTG really did well on and timetables that just don't quite do it for them. If I wanted people to put their, say, top 5 choices, well, maybe their 5th choice they actually didn't like, or they have a 6th choice that they thought DTG did really well on but they can't vote on it, and it seems less popular in the final results. So, to be clear, please vote for *all* the service modes you think are good. Just thought this would be an interesting idea, maybe it could even help DTG see what kind of service mode people like the most or something. Who knows?
Great topic. I spend most of my TSW time playing service mode. I think as of now my favorite service mode would be NTP with the heavy freight pack DLC. I notice more AI interaction that make me pay more attention to the signal aspects. Interested in seeing how this poll turns out.
Usually for routes i like it when theres on the passenger side a mix of longer and shorter / express services. Like the MSB one, where you have some short runs if you feel like it or passenger runs over the whole route. I like a good mix there. On the Freight side it really depends on the features / rolling stock. I liked the TVL Service Mode for freight with the loading / unloading and shunting. The NTP with Heavy Freightpack brought a lot of unique services into the Mix which i do like. The Banking ones in MSB are interesting aswell. To make it short, i prefer when its not only a End to End Freight run. Some switching, coupling / decoupling, on the way adds to the mix. I voted for: MSB, RSN, NTP with DLC and TVL. One of the not so good for me is RT since its mostly whole route runs.
I don’t have MSB yet, but I heard that it’s very good. I like GWE, RSN, and MSB. Those are the busiest routes.
I agree that service mode has been a real boon it is a shame TS1 wasn't capable of it as I can imagine some routes like Riviera in the 50's, Woodhead Blue etc where it would have been wonderful to have a full days services. I think service mode has to be believable so a passenger train leaving Manchester for Leeds every ten minutes would not be believable and would spoil it for me. Certainly NTP with the new freight pack is my favourite but I do like the variety the German DLC has bought to the German routes, which makes them more interesting especially for someone with little knowledge of these routes and operations. My problem with WSR is the extra DLC hasn't resulted in extra services, it could be a little more intensive, maybe one extra trainset on the line. I think the 09 should be restricted to something like a Minehead to Blue Anchor shuttle as 20 miles in it is tedious (do they really use the 09 for the full route length on the WSR)? I also wish you could actually get the real engines which run on the line in service mode, I have yet to drive North Star you just get some randomly numbered 47, the same with the 33. Overall I think service mode is great, I just wish on the mainline routes you could have a possibility of incidents, a setting similar to the weather selection so you may see a train breakdown (AI or player) or a signal failure to create some variety, if you choose. I do hope with the editor that at some point you could create your own service modes, I would love to do one for the WSR.
Service mode is meant to represent a normal day. Scenarios are more for breakdowns and “out of the ordinary” things.
It took me a while to warm to the service mode concept coming from TS20XX. Well done scenarios provided a story if you will that added to the overall enjoyment. Service mode on CSX HH to me were monotonous freight slogs from one end of the route to the other. Later routes like MSB, TVL and now the freight pack for NTP have added a fair amount of variety where services have become enjoyable.
I like the ones that show a progression and let you do different things back-to-back. I would have voted for the NEC if you separated out the freight. The more interesting service modes would still be helped by the ability to jump forward in time.
If you travelled on my local lines you would see that a "normal" day would involve breakdowns and out of the ordinary things, these things aren't rare and certainly not in BR days thinking of NTP for example! By having the possibility to have "incidents", i.e. the choice of the user and maybe a grading of the likely hood or not of something happening it means that the same services could be played several times and you would not know how the run was going go on any given occasion. It is likely that this would not be possible to implement but I am just saying that in my opinion it would add to the replayability of the same services if it was something that it was possible to implement.
I voted NTP w extra dlc as with the variety now and GWE as i like the 166 full stops Gotten burnt out on the DB lines for now i played them so often - ill eventually get back at them... especially once the 294 is added *cough cough*
I like scenarios a lot too. Services just 'make sense' and you still get some purpose from it if you look at the big picture.
Yeah, I also like scenarios, they can be more immersive sometimes if done correctly( the more story-ish they are, the better, personally), but the whole 24 hour thing with service mode is just neat. You could theoretically sit there all day and just watch traffic, and keeping that in mind while driving makes it more immersive to me. I can also see a 24 hour service mode thing working well with multiplayer. I know that's just an incredibly vague plan at this point, and I also know the idea is just to support small PAN multiplayer... but I'm sure someone will find a way to make a larger online server, which- given that it would be carefully moderated to ban people who just sit in front of signals to block people or keep switching junctions against trains all day- could also be fun. But that's for the way distant future. P.S. I call dibs on that multiplayer server idea. Shouldn't be too hard. I know it might be a couple years though lol
All of the US ones are either monotonous (CSX:HH), unrealistic (NEC is just trains every 15 minutes), or barren (LIRR is missing 3/4 of the system timetable). The best one for me is Main Spessart Bahn. Almost every scenario you see multiple trains going the opposite direction. Good mixture of freight services, and passenger is the most comprehensive and frequent as you have services of differing distance and variety.
Thanks for creating the poll! I have been wondering for a while which services people like the most in TSW since I still have loads of services left to add to my website. Now I know which ones I should prioritize.
Service mode is my favorite feature of the game, I really like the open-world feel it has it it. In my opinion, a service mode timetable doesn't need to be very dense to be interesting, but it should represent the operations on the line as fully as possible: The CSX HH timetable doesn't lack more trains (there aren't more in real life), but there isn't enough switching, refueling and servicing of locos going on in Cumberland yard. Also, what goes on at Rockwood mine doesn't make sense to me from an operations point of view. Some AI traffic at Cumberland going onto the Mountain Subdivision would also be nice. The round-trip to Shaw Mines near Mayersdale is very nicely done, though. I generally like the service modes for NTP, MSB, RSN and GWE. However, I have a gripe with the fact that diverging lines are underused, particularly in NTP and RSN (around Leeds, Manchester and Hagen, Huddersfield and Mirfield/Ravensthorpe, Reading to a lesser extent). In my view, there should be more AI traffic going on on diverging lines around the bigger stations, so that you are held up at signals more often. These services wouldn't be player-driveable, but that wouldn't be the point of them. As it stands, the bigger through stations and larger junctions just feel oddly deserted. I really hope the upcoming editor will allow for the creation and modification of service mode timetables by the community.
WSR results are interesting. Has to be speed related I think. I did vote for that because it is nice to jump in and run one every once in a while as a step change from the other routes
For me it isn't speed related, it is a 25mph preserved line so it is what it is, so I don't want it to go faster. My complaint is that especially with the extra DLC for it the service mode timetable is that intensive, it doesn't really represent a diesel gala. I find the loco's used are very randomly numbered not reflecting the loco's which run on the line in reality. More variety of mark 1's would be nice but that is a different topic.
I believe the diesel switcher usually does the switching operations for German lines. Hopefully when it releases, we will see a lot more traffic/shunting operations in service mode in all the German routes. MSB also has a segment of diesel branch that is unused because there is no appropriate stock. As of right now, most service mode freight operations are just drive to and from a destination point which is disappointing.
Nothing against your poll, but I'd rather spend time running services than filling out polls. Thanks, anyway.
Nothing against your post, but since the poll is only a single question it probably took longer to write this response than it would have taken to check a couple boxes. Thanks, anyway. In all seriosuness, that's fine, you don't have to answer it. I'm just curious as to what people think!
Popped over from the PS4 section and saw this thread. (Shame there's not a overall general discussion area since many items effect all platforms. It'd stop things getting missed or repeated and maybe create a bigger community instead of in our own sections.) Anyways... I like the service mode, it's what I use the most. In many ways it creates the World part of TSW and with each release they are continually getting more immersive. But I wish there could be a bit of randomness built in to make it even more so. The AI are always punctual. They are dead on time leaving the station, siding or carrying out the shunting duty. They then always run at the same speed and arrive/finish at the same time. If some random timing variations could be built in it would make it more interesting. Trains sometimes departing late or running more slowly would give each service a slightly different feel each time you played it. Almost like a random event. The dispatcher can be quite clever in handling things like late running trains. I often deliberately delay my starts and it'll route an AI train before me. Makes for more variation then. I've always thought that would add so much to the world "feel". As you say it doesn't need to be drivable, you just need to see it. And if you have to interact by waiting for it all the better. I've ticked GWE as one of my choices although it could do with being a little busier at times, especially on console. I'm sure it would be if it had just come out now. Sorry, long post! Back to my PS4 section.
PjM, agree 100% with your post. I wonder if the AI could be +/- 5 or so minutes from the schedule, thereby allowing each run of a particular service to be slightly different. Anybody know if this is a possibility?
Yes that maybe all it would take. I was going to say that trains rarely leave early but thinking about it, if they have the road, freight trains often do. In fact freight can vary widely so their times could be +/- even more.
I spent most of my service mode time evenly distributed over the three German routes with DLC locos and sometimes the British lines if I'm feeling lucky. I didn't play much US lines since I didn't learn the signaling yet ;-)
The US routes have the worst service modes anyway TBH compared to the other ones. LIRR could be a lot better but probably has the best service mode of the three... and it's still criticized for feeling dead and way, WAY less busy than it is in real life.