Route Mbta Commuter Feedback Thread

Bodyless passengers are there but it seems to be a core issue as it happens on every routes.
Beside this funny thing, I haven’t encountered any problems/issues for the moment, the route is enjoyable especially the HSP-46.

 

Are there going to be mastery challenges for this route? They are not yet visible on dovetail live.

 

I saw this so it might me one of them:

 

Ah so it's just not visible yet. Haven't been able to check in-game yet.

EDIT: visible now, so never mind

 

Why is the image for it the old passenger car from Harlem Line? Lol

 

Mastery is shown now, it appears there’s only one tier:

DTG is recycling (again)

 

Not very creative tasks, lol.

 

The monthly mastery is ironically better lol.

 

The ATC/ACSES acknowledge is broken on PS5 for the F40PH locomotive. Pressing circle doesn't work like it should. Haven't tested the other loco, but I'm going to assume it'll be the same. Just using the HSP46 and the circle button acknowledges the ATC/ACSES fine

 

Same for the CTC-5.

 

Figured it would be. It's a basic bug which would have been found if a human played each version.

I'm convinced the beta testers are just figments of the imagination

 

On Xbox at random the audio will mute and then come back a second or 2 later. Doesn’t seem to be my Monitor as my audio settings haven’t changed.

 

About halfway through my initial run west bound on pc. I am liking this route, ACES and ATC working great. Frame rates are acceptable for an initial run.

 

1. The "Doors Closed" Lights don't go out when either side of doors open on the F40PH.

2. The lighting is incredibly unbalanced when driving the F40PH. As in turning on the headlights in a tunnel/covered station looks like turning on literal daylight.

3. The MFD in the CTC-5 doesn't show effort/traction info from the locomotive.

4. The fuse cabinet door (where the ATC/ACSES fuses are) on the HSP46 opens/closes aggravatingly slow, no matter the direction applied on the joystick.

5. The left-hand MFD on the HSP46 could really use a brightness adjustment button.

6. I skipped the F40PH/CTC-3 tutorials and did the HSP46 ones first and when I went back to do the F40PH/CTC-3 tutorials they were already showing completed with the same scores as the HSP46/CTC-5 tutorials.

6. The sounds across the entire route are absolutely amazing and can't wait to sink hours into this route.

Some general feed back after about 30 mins of play time on the route. I'm on PS5/controller.

 

Happens on PS5 too on multiple routes for me. Always just figured it was my Astro A-50s.

 

I like it, a long route with variable scenery. The night-lighting looks good too.

And so far no real issues, no stutters, no scenery/texture/foliage pop-in on PS5 Pro.

 

havent found a normal way how to release traction lock, the only one that helps is slamming the brake into emergency and then back to suppression... I am pretty positive this is not how most locos release? ... or I am just dumb lol

 

Playing on pc. The CTC-5 Introduction has the bronze medal set to 4000 instead of 400 like the other Introductions

 

different day, same atrocious lighting
*mega sigh*

 

Had my first run on PC in the HSP46, overall I really like the route so far! The scenery is very great, especially in Boston. There are areas where it's a weaker in comparison, but overall a really nice looking US route. Lighting is also good, I love the color of the world, it's not washed out.

Small details are really good. The collectibles are nice and fit into the scene. I especially like the route map, as it finally looks like a real network map.


A few smaller issues are noticed:
The doors on the single level cars show closed when looked from further away. The two screenshots below show how it switches from closed to open at this view distance.



Not really a bug I guess, but the side lights on the bi-level coaches are not turned on. On the single level cars they are. Interestingly they can be turned on manually by clicking them, but I didn't see light being cast from them.


The gauge lights in the HSP46 are very pixaletad. And while I don't know how they look in the real locomotive, but they seem a bit too white to me?

 

Also while the route seems to be running fine (25-30 fps) most of the time, there are areas where the framerate just plummets. Seems to be something to do with the foliage.

For example on this station I'm getting 15 fps, despite not even having that much foliage on screen.


Even though I'm already on medium foliage quality, I had to lower to low sometimes to get any playable performance. But the difference between medium and low is very bad visually.



Another example between medium and low. Half the fps on medium settings, but on low it turns into a goddam desert, lol



Of course I have a quite dated rig, only an 1050Ti powering it, but no other route has even run this bad before for me. Reminds me of when Sherman Hill had that performance killer grass at a few places.

I'll admit that there is plenty of foliage on the route, so worse performance is to be expected, but isn't this a bit too brutal? It's ridiculous that the same route will go from capped 30 fps to barely holding onto 15 fps depending on section. Could we check if any of the foliage assets have a bigger performance impact than the rest?

Quite bummed about it, because in the current form it renders the route unplayable to me, which is the first ever in TSW. So I might try getting a refund until I get a better PC - which I plan to do in the future, but not yet.
Or I'm thinking about quickly getting and swapping in an 1660 or something, I wonder if that would hold up better. Does anyone here have an 1660 to report back on performance maybe?

 

I want to ask PS5 owners. Have you seen the blurry textures in this DLC?

 

not sure if this is "normal" but when doing any freight service with CSX stock, I am not notified of speed reductions on the track monitor.

 

The 1658 to Worcester from Boston when started, it says you have SPAD and you can't continue PS5

 

Hi Harry, yes it’s happened a few more times since then but not as much as the first run. I’m on Series X.

 

Is it just my game or does using the AC4400 and the C40 while doing one of the mainline runs not want to move? I’ve set the locomotives properly and the consist doesn’t seems to not want to budge..

 

I've only done 2 scenarios, but haven't noticed any. (Yet)

 

getting used to the loco overall... it takes notch 3-4 to get going somehow, up to 6 it is like 25-30 lbs of force (or sth like that), and only on notches 7 and 8 you get significant acceleration, almost double the force (sometimes getting as high as 55 or so) as on 6 or lower... dunno if it is supposed to be like this

 

HSP46 joint sounds more like the real train, instead of the plastic barrel. But not all the time, sometimes it sounds a bit awkward(cuts off too early).
Don't get me wrong - it's far from ideal but it's a progress!

 

On Xbox Series X

• The fuse panel door on the HSP is painfully slow to open and close; please set it to toggle open/close like the one in the F40.
• All of the Training Center scenarios for both cab cars and the HSP have you release brakes before completing passenger operations (opening and closing the doors). I'm assuming the F40 does the same, but upon completion of the HSP training, it marks the F40 training complete without actually having done it.
  
• I know I mention this often, but can we please have a "shift" function for the bell on North American locomotives on console? If it can be done for high and low tones, I don't see why having "shift" horn toggle the bell can't be a thing.
• The word "alerter" is misspelled in the fuse cabinets of both the CTC3 and the F40.

• Upon loading the introductory train ride scenario out of Worcester, you are greeted with some very blobby textures.

• Also during the introductory train ride, we get some pretty rough asset "pop-in", as well as the standard track shadow issues.

• South Station's lighting is way, super messed up and very washed out. It behaves as if South Station is within a tunnel, rather than under a canopy.

• The lighting in Back Bay is also awful. The station lighting in real life is much better, even in the more enclosed portion of the station. Also, what's with the piles of garbage everywhere? I know train stations here in America don't exactly win awards for cleanliness, but the garbage in Back Bay is exaggerated to the point of being distracting. See this video by New England Rail Videos for an example of the actual, real life station environment... https://youtu.be/yrFEMqez0-E?si=zJ6SE4W6fBXxADdK

• Also noted in Back Bay, during the ACSES/ATC training scenario, I had to put the train into suppression after getting distracted taking video clips, and for some reason just the F40 decided it wasn't going to shake, rattle, and roll. I'm not quite sure why a suppression brake application makes the F40 twerk like Doja Cat, but it's not a good look. Also, the diesel exhaust effect in the tunnel looks totally ridiculous.

Thankfully I've got a backlog of other routes to go through, because this has been a less than stellar first impression with this DLC. Hopefully by the time I pick it up again there will be some patches, but for now I'm not rushing to jump back into this map.

 

The main big issue for me is the engine sound there's no turbo scream when your accelerating especially when you shove it streight into max throttle and they scream in real life ive looked at loads of YouTube videos of these departing stations and passing at speed as soon as it was announced so safe to say kinda disappointed
(Platform Xbox series X Gen 9)

 

Love the game but just one item from a realism standpoint, in the real world on the MBTA the ditch lights should flash automatically any time the bell is on. Hopefully can be fixed on an update.

 

Schnauz take a ride, and since he isn't a sponsored reviewer, it might give a different view:

 

it’s not so much the beta testers not doing it properly, but more dtg not listening and acting upon their feedback

 

now that you are mentioning turbo... is it why at notch 7 and 8 there is a significant spike in power/tractive effort compared to lets say notch 5 or 6? like at 6 or 7 the turbo kicks in? cos around notch 5 or 6 the lbs is around 25-30 or so and at 7 and 8 it goes to like 45 or even up to 60

 

Ive been also having issues with the csx AC4400 in TSW5 on other routes .even after setting it up it just wont go or very sluggish have to put in notch 5 or more to maybe get moving and with short train light engines ,or seems like the brakes still some applied even though fully released etc..the other day i did a run on SPG on ps5 speed was sluggish up the grade and couldnt finish the run to rockwood since i had no brakes at all going down hill they were not working thus was run away had to abort the run. Havent got Boston MBTA commuter yet i plan to get it in next week or so thats not good to hear that ac44 not working or wont pull DTG needs to get the US freight locos working properly ever since TSW 4 some dont work right or at all in free roam timetable scenario modes,, since this is probably the last US route till TSW 6 DTG needs to take some time and get some of the US freight locos some attention bring them up to standard to work right

 

I dont know tbh but now you mention it does take abit to get going like you say however i havent paid much attention to this as been more interested in how the loco sounds compared to real life

 

Why FPS at Westborough so freakin low when you facing west? 75 FPS 99% of the route and 29 at Westborough area! Thousands of trees on square foot?
Something is dramatically kicks off the FPS counter to the floor between Westborough and Grafton.

The route itself mostly looks like something from TSW2020 era(except for when you are 1,5-2 miles from Worcester - it's a beautiful area, but with flying trees and grass of course). You know that style, like 2,5(mostly identical) trees model per mile, bare ground texture, low poly surface bends, pale water, etc. But part of the route between Westborough and Grafton was made by a maniac with the goal of inserting all the missing scenery from the entire route into one tiny section. Why, DTG?

Also What is the speed limit when approaching a red signal? Cause at Worcester I get penalty brake when trying to stop near "1" sign when coasting on 3 mph.

 

the thing I was kinda puzzled by is the fact that first 5 or 6 notches add power slowly and 7 and 8 have this rapid spike in power... unlike lets say F125, where if you add notches one by one, the increase in power is more linear, or at least seems so

 

Yeah, I had that as well. Wonder how that can be avoided?

 

So the route scenery from what I’ve seen is great trackside but once you go further back it seems to get more and more bare.
Also, can you all go back through the route and check most of the water for foliage? I’m finding areas like this everywhere:

 

CTC5 - powerful joints sound inside, no joints sound outside most of the time. I'm not surprised, really. I'll only be surprised if you fix it!
CTC3 - you forget to add opened doors for LOD's.

Also CTC5 cab, I pressed E and my character got stuck with his head in the cab roof - I can neither sit back down nor move to the side.

HSP46 rear bogie have double joint sound(2 wheel pairs obviously), but the front bogie have single joint sound(looks like not at every speed, but da hell!?). You record sounds from the real rolling stock - why is the result so rough most of the time!!!??? Except sounds of stopping CTC5 - it's amazing.

Enough, I will not buy any DTG product again on release. Only after patches and at big discounts. With such quality, asking such a price is the top of impudence.

 

Yeh it does do that i did notice the amps just suddenly spike after putting the loco in notch 7 and 8 if that happened in reality youd overload the traction motors and youll go nowhere

 

The blobby textures at the intro opening are there for about two seconds. Then it's normal.

 

That doesn't make it right, or negate all the other issues. The fact that it's the first thing most new players see when loading the route for the first time isn't exactly a great first impression. My other routes load in fine, other more detailed and expansive games on my Xbox load in fine, TSC routes on a far less powerful PC load in fine. Yes, it's a minor issue in the scheme of things, but it's still an issue nonetheless. For what these routes cost I expect a little better quality control and testing, especially when it was already delayed to get "polished" more before release.

 

Passengers enormous spawn at Wellesley Hills - they just appears in the middle of the platform from nowhere. And all of them is not interesting in train boarding, they just walks, stands and spawns, spawns, spawns.

 

Relax. No body said it negates the other issues. Just being thorough.

That being said, I disagree with your assessment of the route as a whole. I think it's pretty good

 

I'm really enjoying the route so far. However, I did notice a couple of small things.

The cab signal/acses acknowledge button in the CTC-5 cab car behaves a bit strangely. With atc and alerter alarms it works completely fine. When acses triggers an alarm, the cab signal/acses acknowledge button lights up as normal, but doesn't turn back off after acknowledging the alarm.

Also on the CTC-5 cab car, the brake applied light is always on even when the brakes are released. In the HSP46, this light turns on and off just fine when applying and releasing the brakes.

Finally, the overspeed light doesn't seem to work on any of the rolling stock. At least I've never seen it turn on even when going over either the acses or atc speed limits. Also I get the impression that acses enforces a stop signal a bit early. As other people have mentioned, you cannot get to the stop marker at Worcester since acses triggers an emergency brake application because of the red signal a bit further down the line. But maybe you cannot get any closer to a red signal in real life either, I'm not sure.