My Wishlist For Scenario Planner 2.0

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by CrazyDash, Oct 9, 2021.

  1. CrazyDash

    CrazyDash Well-Known Member

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    Hey guys. In my last forum post, I talked about what I wanted to see in livery designer 2.0. Link to livery designer post: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/my-wishlist-for-livery-designer-2-0.46676/ I am now moving on to scenario planner 2.0 as there is a lot I want to see. I have never really used scenario planner as it feels very limited to what I can do. It is nowhere as good as the scenario maker in TS. Most of my suggestions are going to cover things to get it up to the level the TS version is on. Let's get right into it.

    SCENARIO SHARING
    Let's pick up where we ended in the livery designer suggestion. DTG has stated that they plan to make liveries sharable through an in game shop. This is a really good idea. This could also be used to share scenarios. Players would be able to create a scenario and be given the option to upload it to the in game shop once they complete it. I really enjoy this feature in TS, as it gives us more variety in the scenarios that we play.

    CONSIST MAKER

    I have made a forums post about consist maker. Here is the link if you want to look at it: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/consist-editor.33947/ However I will briefly talk about it. It would be very cool to be able to come up with our own consists for scenarios. It would give us many possibilities in scenario planner.

    MORE STOPPING AND GO VIA POINTS

    Right now, there isn't a lot of places on routes where you can have a train go via or stop at. Major terminus stations are also very limited. TS does a good job in having points all over their routes, giving players many possibilities for scenarios such as diverting trains onto another track due to a fallen tree for example. We are also limited to what platform we want our train to start or stop at when at a major terminus. Giving us more places to go at stations would be very nice.

    THE ABILITY TO FIT ANY TRAIN ON ANY PLATFORM
    This is a major issue I have with scenario planner. Let's say I want to fit a CSX freight train onto Ryde Pier Head on Isle of Wight. It won't let you because the platform is too short. This needs to be changed. What should happen is if you do have a train longer than a platform or stopping point, the train moves accordingly so that it does not overlap over buffers. Going back to our CSX train, the train would spawn in with the back of the train fitting within the platform, while the front of the train is farther down so that the rear of the train is not over the buffers. This would make me feel much less limited to what I can drive on what route.

    DIRECTION CHANGES

    This is a major one for many. Currently in TSW, you are only able to do A-B runs. You are not able to reverse. This makes it impossible to do shunting moves, or anything that would require multiple direction changes. This is something that needs to be added as it would open up so many possibilities for scenarios.

    THE ABILITY TO MODIFY PARTICULAR THINGS IN A SCENARIO
    If you guys have played a route like Main Spessart Bahn, Rhein Ruhr Osten, or CSX Sand Patch Grade, you will know that there are minor scenery changes to represent track work, or a fallen tree. What if we were able to do these things within scenario planner? This opens up even more possibilities for scenarios as we can now recreate disasters and delays that happen in real life. Now the question that remains is, how would this work? I'm not fully sure myself. All that I am able to think of is to have a very simple route editor where we are able to fly around in it, and only add and modify a certain amount of assets. For example, lets say I want to make a scenario where a tree falls down onto the tracks. I could rather select a tree on the route, move and rotate it, and then put it on the tracks, or I could add a new tree and put it on the tracks. Another example could be if I want to make a scenario where there is trackwork being done. I would be able to add some dioramas that are standing on the downed tracks as the train is passing by. One final example could be that I want to have a scenario where a train ahead of me strikes a vehicle, and you need to pass the stopped train on another track. It would be cool to be able to do these things. However, you would not be able to add or modify track, buildings, bridges, etc. But a simple route editor could be a good way to be able to do these things.

    THE ABILITY TO ADD STATIC COACHES AND TRAINS

    So far in scenario planner, you are only able to add playable and AI trains. This makes yards and in some cases stations feel very lifeless and dead. Adding on to my suggestion above, in this small route editor, we would be able to spawn static coaches or consists that would be seen in stations or yards. This would make routes feel a lot more lively and busy.

    SPEED RESTRICTIONS
    If you have played the Ruhr Run scenario in Rhein Ruhr Osten, you have to pass a fallen tree on the left-hand tracks at a restricted speed. This would be a cool feature to add to the scenario planner.

    SCENARIO MESSAGES

    This is yet another major feature people want to see. Messages in scenarios is what makes them so much different from timetables. We would be given the option to add a message once you complete a certain objective such as stopping at a station, closing the doors, bringing your train to a stop, or going via a point. This would make custom scenarios feel much more like TSW scenarios.

    THE ABILITY TO INTERACT WITH OBJECTS

    It would be amazing to be able to interact with things such as turntables, fuel pumps, switches, and more.

    THE ABILITY TO DO COLD STARTS

    Another highly requested feature. So far, we are only able to do cold starts within tutorials and some scenarios in TSW. If we were able to do these things in custom scenarios, that would be super awesome. This would bring lots of immersion to scenarios where you have to bring a train into service.

    INSTRUCTIONS FOR SETTING UP A TRAIN

    Although some may find this feature useless, it could be useful for people who do not know how to drive a particular train. Adding on to the section above, since we never get to do cold starts, we have most likely forgotten how to do a cold start in most trains. Instructions on how to cold start a train in custom scenarios would be really useful.

    THE ABILITY TO FAIL SCENARIOS
    This is something you would see in TS. TSW does not have scenario failures other than going past a red signal, or derailing. It would be cool to be able to be able to fail scenarios by not completing a scenario by a certain time. This would make scenarios in general much more challenging, and make just as challenging as scenarios in TS.

    A CUSTOM SCENARIO SECTION IN THE SCENARIO TAB

    When we save and finish a scenario, instead of going into scenario planner to play your scenario, what if there was a whole new tab inside the scenario section where you can get the option to look at the base route scenarios, or if you want to play custom scenarios for that particular route. I think this would make scenarios much more accessible and easier to find.

    THE ABILITY TO CREATE DYNAMIC WEATHER

    Currently, dynamic weather is only seen in base route scenarios in TSW. If we were able to have dynamic weather in our custom scenarios, this would add even more immersion to custom scenarios. We would have the ability to choose times when the weather is a certain condition, and how fast it changes.

    FIXES TO SCENARIO PLANNER
    Just like livery designer, there are a lot of issues with scenario planner. Although I don't use scenario planner that often, I've seen numerous bug reports on the forums with issues in scenario planner. When the time comes, DTG should open a forum post where people can report bugs they have with scenario planner so that they are able to fix it.

    CONCLUSION

    Just like livery designer, there is a lot that can be done with it to make scenarios feel much more immersive and realistic. This would allow the creativity of the community to go wild with the many scenarios that can be accomplished with all of these features. I have to be honest in saying that I rarely use scenario planner. There is just not a lot you can do in it to give me a reason to use it more than 2-3 times. If some of these features got added to it, I would consider using scenario planner much more. If you guys have things you would want to see get added to the new scenario planner, feel free to post a reply down in the comments. Thanks for reading guys.
     
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  2. Rybnicki

    Rybnicki Well-Known Member

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    I like a lot of these, the sharing is vital I agree. Not sure on the any train on any track idea - the loading gauges in the UK mean you'd basically have to have UK and rest of the world trains separate, I think.
     
  3. ScottN

    ScottN Active Member

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    I would like the ability to do loading cars like from coal loaders or ethanol pumps like loading tank cars.
     
  4. CrazyDash

    CrazyDash Well-Known Member

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    Dang how did I forget about that. DOH
     
  5. ScottN

    ScottN Active Member

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    How about adding a timetable to a custom scenario and did you say couple to formations function?
     
  6. CrazyDash

    CrazyDash Well-Known Member

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    Somewhat. But I didn’t directly say it. I’ll update this later
     

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