Loco Add On Bundle 2 - Out Tomorrow (21st March)!

There is a PIS display in one of the screenshots that shows Thameslink. Another screenshot shows a tiny glimpse of the 700.

 

Yeah it was for me also very strange.... Why don't wait one month.... Also the thing is that DTG not the best is in updates. If you see the NEC update is also a big question after several off updates roll out without any news there

 

That, and not having to see 422s on Köln-Aachen

 

Fiscal year ends March 31

 

I don't know.. I have no idea how that works.

 

Basically, a date by which you have to make the numbers look good. That's probably why we're seeing a ton of rushed releases is the last month, so sales go up, and those above are pleased...

 

Pack now released on PlayStation along with the individual options to purchase each loco.

 

assuming it’s same on xbox?

 

I would guess so.

 

A company such as DTG has to prepare yearly accounts. DTG draw theirs up to the 31 March. We know this, as all UK company accounts are publicly available on the Companies House website

Things like staff bonuses and shareholder dividends can be dependent on these year end results.

Now I am not saying DTG are doing this, but many companies try to squeeze as many sales in prior to their year end to make the accounts look as good as possible, especially if they are behind budget/target.

The problem with doing this is that it can mean a lack of sales at the start of the new financial year along with extra costs, especially if you have to go back and fix things.

You end up "chasing your tail" because at the end of year 2, you are short of even more sales to meet target, so you end up taking even more shortcuts to meet the second years targets and so on and repeat. You can only have the sales income once!

 

I agree, the issue isn't the accountants, it is whose bonus depends on the earnings figure being at or above X. Where clearly they aren't currently on track to meet X...without all these sales being booked this side of April 1st.

It is quite disappointing that things are so obviously being rushed out the door in a pretty naked cash grabby way, where the cash grabbing has to be done by a certain date and the fixes and patches can wait until next month. Just give us your money.

It reflects badly on the organisation and the people who are driven by profits and not by the love of what they do and the pride in their products and reputations.

For sure it won't be the people we know, but they must feel a bit let down by all this, it is setting up for months of fixes, we should do better, etc and so on. Meanwhile the main elephant in the room is why were they below target in the first place?

I've said before the take-up of TSW3 seems poor, and we've seen comments on this forum from long-term hold-outs who don't want to buy it or who think TSW2 is still better (performing).

If anything is taken from this it needs to be that they have to stop chasing the money or it will dry up even further. Make decent content with good quality and build your name slowly while you gather more 3rd parties so content can be produced faster, not through short cuts, but through more hands making light work of it.

The more half-finished items you pump out with promises of future fixes, which sometimes arrive and sometimes don't, the fewer customers will buy at full price and maybe not even be tempted in the sales.

 

It is worth bearing in mind than many of these March releases are Partner Programme releases involving content from at least four different companies and that could account for the increase in output.

What is unusual for DTG though, is that they appear to have abandoned their typical marketing technique of weeks of hype and preview before release to now just throwing it out there with the occasional 'leak' to generate hype instead. Personally, I think its great!

I am guessing that now with the partner programme established and more getting on board they anticipate that their output will increase even more in 2023/24 and are also reaching a point where they can start pulling resources from TSC into TSW.

Anyway, I can't wait for this loco pack and the MML! Keep them coming DTG!

 

It have to do with partner releases! what i have write earlier.... Sony and Microsoft have not engouh timeslots to release stuff. So the whole thing with bugs and releases are the consoles. That's also confirmed by DTG earlier in stream that there issues with releases and the slots.

 

You can use release slots to also update previous broken content, which is NOT happening so far... or at least not in a large enough amount. Yes, there are limited slots, but where there's a will, there's a way.

 

No releases and updates in the same batch cause issues! So there is no way and no will in this case. That's the point the never do that.

This is the whole point on this forum at the moment.... The most people yelling everything they want to see but that's not so easy as the most users thinking....

 

Did I really see that the GSM-R doesn’t work on the ROG Class 37? Not sure how that ties in with what Matt said in February…

At the first time of asking we’re back to square one. For God’s sake DTG, come on!

 

Unnecessary for sure... On the Birmingham route this thing doesn't work properly

 

So rather than have them implement it properly, you’re happy for them to just not bother at all. It’s pretty easy to see why that’s their default way of doing things isn’t it?

 

I don't think gsmr is a standard feature for it to be required on every route.

 

GSM-R exists on the modern British railway. The box is modelled in the cab and therefore it’s quite simple.

DTG put put the most basic interpretation of GSM-R possible in to the game and DTG Matt himself said that therefore should be the new standard. At the first time of asking we’re back to a blank screen. GSM-R is absolutely no different to wet platforms or any other feature that the game has now, or has had in the past. This is either a simulator or it isn’t, and right now it’s more arcade game than simulator because the detail that separates the two is almost always missing. I’m fine with that, if TSW is an arcade game so be it. DTG’s rhetoric suggests that isn’t what they want it to be however, therefore things like this (and seriously, how hard would it have been to implement?) should be present and correct.

The only thing that is consistent is that this is yet another half-finished and incomplete DLC release.

 

A simulator like this is always a simplified version off the reality. so this GSMR is nothing more than a box with a view lights. I can imagine that DTG have other priorities to make a good working route with less bugs.

 

Judging by the last couple of releases, that is definitely not a priority.

 

If that was actually a priority for them, then they haven't done a great job nor is that a priority for them.

 

Where does it end? Headlights? Only a small thing, no point in including that. Door lights and sounds? Same. Safety systems? Same. All these things add up. When the Exec producer himself says it’s fair to expect that a new feature included by DTG should become the new standard (no matter how basic it is) I’m baffled as to why the TSW Cheer Squad are trying out their latest routine on this particular point.

The fact remains that when you buy a DLC for this game you have no idea what you’re going to get. Will it be complete and feature rich, or will it be rushed out the door half-finished to bring money in in what is clearly an ‘end of the financial year’ bid to meet some target or other?

 

What with all the issues in TSW, when it comes to squawk-box screen displays I find I'm all out of rats' asses to give.

 

I´m sure they´ll retake quality delivery when the financial KPIs are polished enough to ensure the boni for the suits.

Muuhahahahahahaha .... yeah, that was sarcasm.

 

This is this forum in a nuttshell... People aksing and yelling for things that have a very low priority... So if you expect such things in a Simulator that is made for casual gamers better buy ZUSI3 thats a simulator where you can expect all the real driving options. But on they other hand you have less better graphics... And this is the whole situation. There is no simulator that brings both worlds togehter so it's a choice that you have to make and nothing else.

These are just 2 different revenue models and choices that the developer chooses.

 

Presumably at something less picayune.

 

While it is true what you say we can still expect a "standard" level of quality, as well as fixed stuff, even for TSW.

I'm a long time DCS player as well, their have been third party developers which didn't meet the standards required by Eagle Dynamics, what happened is, that they had been kicked out of the door. And at least paying 70-100€ for an aircraft module you get long term support. Or to say it the other way around, yes I would pay 50 EUR or more for a new route, I would even pay 30 EUR for a single loco DLC, IF it would get feature updates, bug fixes etc.

 

On the subject of GSMR, I get that some people just see it as a non functioning box, but personally I find it to add quite a lot to the realism of the train cabs, one of the worst things about the electrostars is that half your screen is in cab screens and they’re all blank.

In the case of the 37 though, this DLC was all about modernising it, and for me, missing a screen which does that defeats the purpose of it, regardless of what it does.

 

The GSMR in BCC does nothing except show the time (and run a rather pointless self-test) Oh, and they moved the "Contact Signaler" to a microscopic button instead of a big handset.

 

Thats what i mean.... A box with some minor options only optical and do nothing....

 

But that doesn’t mean sack it off and give up on it. What it should mean is do it better, make it work. Make it worth something.

Your argument is completely bizarre.

 

With obviously finite dev time, I would suggest that it would be MUCH more important to develop working Ebula, or fully-functional US MFDs (or even EOTD boxes). Even if GSM-R were completely modeled right down to the static, what functionality does it add? Ultimately it's just a radio-- and there's nobody to talk to.

 

As I said, a truly truly bizarre argument.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth....incredible

 

Why is it a bizarre argument? GSM-R at this stage contributes nothing to the gameplay, even if the box was developed futher. For GSM-R to actually makes sense we would first need an interactive dispatcher. Only then it makes gameplay sense to build interactive facades on it based on region and era (GSM-R, or older rail radios). This would also be quite a big feature, and also gameplay paradigm shift. And it certainly wouldn't be developed as an extension of the box we have BCC, which is nothing more, than a service number display.

I feel like DTG has currently bigger fishes to fry on the core front... i.e. making the existing gameplay contributing features, like safety systems, less buggy. Or... , maybe finally releasing the mythical TSW 2 patch...

 

To be frank, I can barely be bothered to explain this again. Look at the posts above, it’s all there.

In a nutshell, it was added to BCC. It was a very poor implementation but it was there. Not even 4 weeks ago Matt said we should expect that going forward all features, when introduced, should form the new standard. At the first time of asking they’ve reverted to their standard MO of blank screens. This is meant to be a next-gen sim, and other than the basic stuff you can control virtually nothing in the cabs. Nothing works. They spend time on adding guard panels further down the train when there isn’t a guard gameplay option, but the bread and butter of the sim (the cab) is just a sea of not much going on. You wait for this Class 700, God forbid it’s like it was in TSC.

Put bluntly, it should be there because it should be there. It should be there because blank screens are rubbish. It should be there because it is easy to implement (in the grand scheme of things) and adds a disproportionate level of immersion for the effort involved. Finally, it should be there because Matt said it should.

Bears in high-vis jackets, ice cream stands, cats and all the other stupid and pointless collectibles add absolutely nothing to the gameplay of a train sim, but they’re still there. Given the choice I know which I’d rather have. All it needs to do is allow you to turn it on, register your train (headcode and starting signal) and then give you the option to contact the signaller rather than using tab. All AP products for TSC have just that, and it adds immersion. It is a good thing. You are not seriously suggesting that someone at DTG couldn’t knock that together in an afternoon and once it’s done it’s done. It would simply be a copy and paste job to put it on all UK traction that should have it. There is no excuse for it not to be included with the 37/7.

 

lol, you’re arguing against GSMR for stuff that you still aren’t getting.

We aren’t talking about DTG making something new, we’re talking about them implementing something that they’ve already created.

If anything DTG not using the existing GSMR directly conflicts with your own points, because so far they’ve wasted time creating something that they aren’t using.

 

It’s like them developing the Ebula, putting it out in a DLC then the next release that should have it they leave the screens blank.

It’s a total nonsense argument.

 

Tbh, for me what was there wasn't GSM-R, and I still cannot understand why people were so exited about it. It is a simple static display that shows the time and train number. If that's GSM-R, then we've had EBulas since, forever... As the static display in german locos, currently in game, that only shows time. It looks like an Ebula.. it just lacks the EBula information (as GSM-R lacks the GSM-R functionality)

So, that's the reason why I don't care if it is in following DLCs, or isn't. Becasue it contributed nothing. For the same reason I don't care if German locos have the 'DTG EBula', or the display is just blank. I'm more pissed about functionality that actually was working and actually contributed to operating the train, and are in some cases kinda essential to safe operations i.e. air flow gauges.

Until it realy serves a purpose, like it did in West Highland Line on TSC, I don't really care if the control is lit-up, or blank.

Put it bluntly, not even Run 8 or ZUSI, simulate everything in the cab. For me a display that is just static, and doesn't serve the purpose that is does IRL (like communication with the dispatcher for GSM-R) isn't any different from a display that is just blank. And the last thing I want in TSW is another Foreman Dan Hernandez, because of fake immersion....

 

That isn’t GSM-R, that’s a radio electronic token block which is a different thing entirely.

There is more functionality in the BCC GSM-R than was first apparent. You only see it if you load from a save (because that inevitably doesn’t work properly) but it’s there. Setting up a GSM-R as part of the cab set up adds gameplay and adds immersion.

 

This. Agreeing with you 100%.

When was the first time Armstrong Powerhouse implemented GSM-R? 2016? TSW is the future of train simulation, and they cannot get it right? I don't want to hear excuses... Those who defend DTG on this are wrong. It's 2023, GSM-R is a realistic expectation. Period.

 

Especially when DTG advertises TSW as the most immersive and detail rich train simulator up to date. I don't understand those who defend it by saying "it's a casual sim for casuals", when clearly that is not how they advertise the game.

 

For me it rather breaks immersion, as does the necessity to turn on all the safety systems. Unless you're taking the train out of depot, those things should already be on.
I'm starting at a station, how the heck did the train got there if GSM-R wasn't on until I took over?

 

So not having GSM-R at all is better?

 

I posted a question this morning but didn't get a response, other than class 37 reskin and new SEHS livery what is in it for somebody who only plays uk routes? Incidentally I play on ps4 and it's not showing in the store yet

 

I answered it previously, Until I can actually use the GSM-R to call the dispatcher and ask for dispatch (asking for passing red light is not dispatch), or get information about how long I can expect to be stopped at a red light...etc, it is the same to me, and I don't care.

 

Also the pricing, I swear the only game people are willing to compare it to is MSFS, and maybe DCS. Seriously, it kind of gets on my nerve how people call it a game for casuals, when its pricing would drive out about 80% of hardcore gamers, let alone anyone actually casual. TSW makes games which are generally considered heavy on DLC like Cities Skylines & The Sims 4 look like they're dirt cheap and slow as molasses at making new content.

 

Right, well you’re one person. I agree that’s where this sim should be, but I would far rather have what AP brought to TSC (at the very least) than another blank bloody screen in the meantime. I suspect I’m not the only one. To bring something in then bin it at the next time of asking because they ‘ran out time’ (which is apparently the official excuse, boo bloody hoo) is outright pathetic.