As I said before elsewhere, the current mix for the 110 at least (never been in the cab of a driving 103) is a pretty good match for what you actually hear in the cab. That's why I'd like it to remain as is. I suppose one could add some sort of setting in the options for tuning various sound sources but barring that, I'd very much like to keep the (realistically) loud fans.
I'm not an audiophile by any means, nor an expert on trains. If it "seems" fine, it's okay. It just has to "fit." Diesel engine needs to sounds like a diesel engine. Steam whistle like a steam whistle. I won't say "screw this game" because it's not the game itself, it's usually specific locos so some I play more or less depending on if it seems "right." Only a few have I seen in person or on a video so I can say that's REALLY accurate. I will give credit to the GP's on Oakville. They nailed the horn and bell sounds. That's exactly how they sound around here for GPs. The diesels seem pretty decently accurate too. Even the knuckle collisions. Aside from accuracy, I know the European horns always seem "weird" but they're probably accurate. They just sound weak and reedy compared to North American...not sure how anyone would even notice them for safety reasons given their low volume and high pitch but I digress. That's a personal thing. I don't know if some of the track sounds are accurate either, but there's something about the older stuff (before self-guiding trucks and stuff) that "makes" a train sim feel cooler to me. The squealing of the flanges, the "clack" of the gaps, the occasional "flat" wheel on a boxcar. If those are there, it just feels like a "traditional" train. It lends it realism compared to a perfectly silent glide on perfect wheels, perfect rails... in my experience you rarely had a "perfect" train and it makes it seem kinda "fake." I'm told there are some random elements in the game like random misaligned wheels and such to generate that sort of "imperfection" but I can't say if that's real or not or just on certain locos/stock/routes.... I have noticed that on the heritage lines and older locos and stock however (the sounds around curves and such anyway) I know there are people that swear they can tell if a steam "chug" is correct, but I can't. I just know they "seem" fine. Love the reverb and changing sounds from tunnels and passing trains by though.... VERY good work by DTG on that. So, bottom line... is it "make or break?" Well... the loco can be. There's a few I don't drive much or don't use the horn on because they're just "off", but the game itself I think does a VERY good job overall.
My five cents: Sound is my number one dealbreaker. There is no physical feedback, only optics and sound. And sound is the only way to have a real immersion. Optics can be as crisp as the want, I'm still sitting in front of a monitor, sound can bridge this gap. If I'm sitting in a 628 and don't get the typical sounds I don't get the feeling of riding the proper train. So where is it done pretty good: I think Karlsruher Kopf, 628 and ICE 3 are great examples of good sounds. A really bad example was ÖBB 4023. BTW, that broke the straw for me not buying TSW 4 or any new route at the moment.
My only experience with UK/EU trains and their sounds comes from RW/TSC/TSW so I have no opinion on the accuracy. I have, on occasion, gone to YouBoob and watched some UK/EU cab rides/train op videos just to get a general sense- like the DB BR 187 model for example. However, given the fact that most of the videos I've sat through have only been recorded via a GoPro or someone's cell phone, I can't say how accurate those sounds are. I'm personally fine with generalized sounds that can be made distinct and recognizable (like the sing-song of the 187's amps increases) if that makes any sense, but the sounds don't have to be 100% authentic recordings- I would happily accept authentic recordings if they were available(!) but as long as the loco or stock sound close to the original then I'm fine with that. I listen to a variety of music most of the time when I sim, so would probably miss out on the fine margins anyway.
My personal opinion is obviously if you can get a recording, if not something similar and if not that make it sound convincing, sound isn't everything, yeah it is nice and obviously we dont want clipping or screaming sounds but I'd rather have the stock in the game with subpar sounds rather than being lost to time or £170 on TSC because you need the route, the loco, the AP dlc, the other ap dlcs just to use the scenarios etc.
Personally, I believe that having an audio recording that is authentic does take priority. For example, the Vectron is absolutely incredible, similarly the BML 377 and 387s, plus the Taurus locos all sound fantastic. I was stood on a platform waiting for my unit to roll in, and had a Shed with some JNAs run through at speed. It sounded absolutely incredible! My main issue is lack of power from locos/units when they are AI. Some of the physics that way with AI aren’t personally that great. For example, steam loco AI doesn’t have any exhaust when leaving a station or going up a bank. It just removes some authenticity from the experience.
The physics on the ai are the way they are to save on memory and performance. Simugraph is very resource intensive. If you are talking about sounds, etc then it makes sense, but dtg can't have simugraph running on every train
Then they need to improve it in some way. I'm not saying it's easy to do that, but it's got to happen if we're talking authentic sounds.
There doesn't appear to be an acceptable standard for third party devs as far as their audio is concerned why some can do it and others can't seems a mystery to me, take the 170 for example where's the bogie run sounds they aren't even acceptable in my opinion and they shouldn't be for DtG either. Even the inconsistency in environmental sounds eg some bridges have reverb a lot do not, that is an instant immersion breaker for me, TSC does it better if devs can be bothered that is; sounds are a distant fifth cousin for most devs. If you want a master class in environmental sounds take a whiz on the final version of Im Koblitzer Bergland 3 reloaded.
I bought a Pulse Elite headphone for late night gaming and I'm very impressed by the sound quality of the headphones for that price but disappointed by TSW for that price because the only game that made me facepalm was TSW. When you turn your head you get a plain stereo view. It's just very weird and I don't understand why people always complain about not using the original loco sound or how a loco sound. The simple stereo set up makes it impossible to "enjoy" the engine sound so it does not really matter how it sounds is. The engine sound should stay behind you at all times no matter what side you look. Time to get some surround sound in this game.
Just an idea that popped into my head! If you went into a railway museum that has these locomotives, and ask if you could just record engine audio at every notch instead? for example the Ilinnois railway museum?
I think one of the biggest bugbears is the inconsistency at least TSG make a consistent effort to do good sounds DtG is a bit meh and consistently inconsistent, now if that is down to third party devs doing audio for DtG products I do not know, but there should be a standard set for all devs when working on audio, there's only one train simulator that does audio really well and that is JR east train simulator.
The suggestion to try recording at railway museums is unfortunately a non-starter. First, there would be no running sounds. More importantly - most of the locos are likely to be static displays, i.e. non-functioning. Imagine firing up a steam loco with an expired boiler certificate.
You may not get a reply as Matt is no longer looking at the forums and has presumably also blocked “pings”.
Saying that it sounds good is a bit unfair. As this is just prerecorded footage and audio for the most part, it is not really applicable to a fully simulated software product like TSW. Sure, the recording sounds good, but it's not really a generated sound. TSW needs to react to your positioning (internal/external cameras, first person outside trains, etc.), react to various simulated train systems, weather condidions, and simulate plenty of other things, that a recording like JR East Sim just doesn't do.
Have to agree with you here, mate! I bought a couple of the JR East games a while back and apart from the massive HD footprint, you are really just driving the video clip. So, no time of day variation, no weather or seasonal variations. If you’re not matching the speed the clip was filmed at, moving objects outside the cab are too slow or too fast, or freeze when you stop. People’s heads are blurred out for privacy. It’s a bold experiment but really belongs to the era when video was seen as an easy alternative to coding a proper graphics engine. If only DTG had more of a presence to represent the Japanese scene in TSW, we would take great delight in running these routes in this game.
One thing about a Japanese DLC - passenger programming would be easy - judging by the video 95% of males are wearing dark pants and a white shirt!
The point I was trying to make and failing was the audio experience in general not the why to's and there fore's of JR East simulators methodology. Those sounds relate to what the train is doing in the environment it is travelling through, TSW is totally unrealistic in that respect. And I disagree it does sound good compared to TSW.
If they can make a believable experience without authentic recordings, I'm okay with that. That's what audio engineers are for. I often forget that the Class 700 sounds aren't real 700 sounds... yet I still believe I'm driving a 700 anyway... imagine that
Actually i think it is a good choice , because in some railroad museums like the one i mentioned (ilinnois), you can take the locomotive for a ride with a locomotive engineer as supervisor. i don't think they would refuse you to record engine sounds instead either running or doing load test?. as for running sounds , there are american locos who have good running sounds (for example the new F59PH) , so you could use them as they are similar i think. i mostly talk about american diesel locomotives and especially EMD.
Exactly, how difficult can it be to get some sounds from passing buildings bridge parapets walls steel bridges etc etc and sample them and put them in-game? Do they have to be 100 percent accurate? no; but it would elevate the immersion 100 percent.
