Nec: Boston Tod4

[deleted]

 

Why am I not surprised? Of course they had to mess it up somehow...

Anyway, I have not had the opportunity to try it myself yet, but will do so on the afternoon and report if I experience the same issue.

 

What is the problem?

 

Look at the "CLEAR 125" and "70" display on the right screen. Looks messed up.

 

Haven't watched the whole video, but this might have the answer (posted by cActUsjUiCe):

 

AMTK50 TSW 2 Special Livery:


Regular ACS64


Service - Amtrak Service #86 Providence to Boston (15:56)
Location - The exact spot you spawn in at.
Date - August 20th
Weather - Clear
Platform - Steam PC

Why does the lighting look so different in the cab? something is wrong here.

 

And now it begins........

 

Are you talking about the low visibility caused by the lighting? That's all I can see

 

For one, the screens itself look too washed out - though that might be acceptable if it's because of the sunlight hitting it.

The bigger problem is the said "CLEAR 125" and "70" texts appearing totally bright/strong in comparison to the rest of the screen. It's like the light is not affecting them.

 

I see. Will check it later on the Epic. The displays definitelly look odd.

 

I was just wondering why your 70 is red, mine is yellow (PC Steam). Are they now using arbitrary colors on the different platforms?

 

Outstanding! Thank you!

 

Excellent video!

 

Well what a surprise, the new lighting is totally broken...

For starters, what the hell is this horrible contrast between the inside and outside at Boston station? Let's not even mention the lighting on the first Amtrak coach.



The tracks also look like this for some reason?


The switches inside the MBTA F40PH are either just way too bright, or are completly missing textures - both on the drivers control panel and the back wall panel.



And inside tunnels/dark areas the doors open/closed and brakes released/applied warning lights are completely white and blank.
(bottom image is how they look in normal lighting conditions)



Gauge glass surfaces also overly bright for some reason, making them barely visible. For some reason, this effect disappears when you get out of your seat. So they are only ugly when you are right in your driving seat! Great!


I have spotted these in 30 minutes while redoing the route introduction and F40PH tutorials. Are you guys doing all of these "updates" blindly and release it without a single playtest session?

 

Yes, the difference is that the ceiling in the TSW2 edition ACS64 does not occlude the sunlight, is like a convertible version of the same loco.

 

So, I have not installed the update yet, but I have had very strange issues that have cropped up in past updates (missing sounds, texture oddities, track rendering issues) that have only been fixed by uninstalling and reinstalling TSW3. (I'm sure there is a more efficient way of doing it; unfortunately, simply asking Steam to verify the file integrity did not work.) It's a hassle, especially if you have slow internet and/or a lot of DLC packs, but perhaps you could give that a try and see if it fixes anything?

 

Honestly the new lighting isn’t an upgrade, it’s just replacing a bad system with another bad system.

You get certain times of day on certain routes where it looks good, but generally I don’t think this new lighting system is that great - too many situations where it looks washed out.

 

TOD 4 won't automatically fix or improve things. In fact it brings its fair share of issues with it - one of the most noticeable issues with TOD 4 is that it can make scenes look horribly washed out and/or overexposed.

 

They probably ran out of time and no promises it will be revisited.....I know it very frustrating......
We need to take a pause and not give in. We need for them to fix these routes before we put our hard earn money. Once they have our fund it will be on to the next. Look at their history. look at what they are saying even for a brand new route that they know is missing content. no promises

 

This is PC (Epic) - what on earth is this?



The cab looks very flat too, so you guys above were right. I tried a Providence - Boston run a moment ago, and arrived 6 minutes late. The signals after providence forced me to do 45mph for no reason in the 125 section, there was no train in front.



I guess I won't be buying the Acela, even if it's great, because the route is still broken. What a shame...

 

Are you sure you actually received the update? Also, what service were you operating. I highly doubt you'd get a drop to 45 for "no reason".

 

Instead of that question, it is better if you clearly state what the issue is. That goes for the OP as well. Good bug reports need to be fully understandable as to what is being reported.

 

I had an update on Epic around 4PM, and by judging the file modification time, it was the Boston-Providence route. It was around 1.1GB if I'm correct.

 

Well, there is an image, maybe it's not showing for you? The back of the last carriage has this weird effect (transparent copies of the carriage create this 'halo' effect). My INI file hasn't been modified.

 

Me looking at all these pictures for the obvious problems that don't need an explanation...



I am not saying there are not issues, but for those of us without a photographic memory of what the route looked like before, some pointers towards what doesn't look right helps.

 

Do you have motion blur on? It can cause that when you're moving

 

I wonder if the team realizes this. did someone on the forum let matt or JD know yet?

 

If you don't know how it looked before then why claim it's related to TOD4? Maybe it always looked like this? I dunno tbh, but I didn't look at your initial screenshots and think "oh no what have they done", and I played Boston Sprinter a couple of days ago. Like I said, not saying nothing is wrong, just that it's not obvious what is so wrong that it doesn't need an explanation.

 

Nope, that was the first thing I disabled. And it's still disabled, just double-checked.

 

"I have a dream..."

 

That's an effect of TAA. Switch to FXAA if you don't want temporal artefacting.

Cheers

 

Boston sprinter looks way better than before but again there are issues on Xbox. The audio is broken again. In gear 8 the engine produces audio artifacts again.

I also had this weird washed out lighting entering a tunnel.

Overall my first run was positive on the graphics parts but a huge disappointment on audio. Unplayable again on Xbox because of audio issues in TSW3

 

FD1003 - Can't help much to resolve your issue, but as I have this route and play on XBOX PC, I fired it up. Mine does not look as bad as your screenshot. I'm playing on ULTRA 2560 x 1440 and all looks fine to my eyes.

I played through a couple of timetables and a scenario and the only thing really annoying me is that the white flash on entry to tunnels seems to be back.

Nothing to do with the weather system, but it made a change to be able to run with safety systems on and arrive on time.

In general though I think it looks better than it did before, it certainly seems to play better with the updated signaling, but I'm just not a fan of this route so nice as the Acela looks, probably not going to get it,

 

I hope this won't be the case for the Amtrak Acela

 

I have no issues like that! I looks stunning and the game runs smooth

 

I can see the image but it wasn’t obvious what you were trying to point out. It’s so much easier to tell what the problem is now you have described it. As it is, that is a graphics artefact that crops up a lot between moving and static items. I’ve always found having motion blur on smooths it out but it could be something the devs can fix in this instance.

 

Just did a run from Providence to South and everything looked fine to me.
In- cab displays, signals and safety were flawless, even cruise control worked perfectly. No problems, except that I was late into Boston as usual. I suspect the timetable makes it difficult to stay on time.

 

Did a run with the ACS-64 (original livery) and the display seemed fine on my end. Will do more runs and see if I notice anything.

 

Honestly having fun with the update so far! Lighting seems much better (especially in the winter), and I’m really enjoying the adverse signals around Canton Junction and the info the safety screens with the colorful numbers provide even if you don’t have the safety systems turned on.

Nonetheless, a few issues I’ve noticed (PS4, ACS-64 Providence-Boston service, midday, wintertime, snow on the ground & partly cloudy skies):

• There doesn’t seem to be TSW3 snow buildup even though the introduction of TSW3 weather was advertised. Perhaps this was turned off by the devs accidentally?
• As with other TOD4 routes, cab/cabin/reading lights seem to have no effect whatsoever during the daytime anymore even though they should be considerably noticeable in a dark loco/wagon interior.
• Cab lighting seems very weird. So bright, with almost no shadows (especially in the ACS-64). The wagon interiors look better, but still a bit too bright as well.
  
• Some of the tunnels in the approach to Boston don’t correctly cause the lighting to darken, everything stays sunny instead.
• ACS-64 (and possibly others as well):
  • The colors of the numbers in the cab signal aspect screen seem slightly off… it’s as if they’re not affected by the lighting. Or maybe that’s the intended behavior and the other in-cab screens with the gauges etc are too matte/washed out? Don’t know, but one of them is definitely wrong!
  • Both horn buttons (low/high) seem to have the same sound.
  • Cruise Control is still broken. Not represented in the HUD in any way, and it appears to get stuck at the acceleration/deceleration level it’s applied at the very moment you hit the “Cruise Control Off” button. Appears to reset correctly after a while (not sure how to cause the reset), but still quite unplayable.
  • Not sure if the big and heavy swing doors between the Amfleet coaches are closed during normal operations? Does not seem realistic at all.

 

Cruise control was never meant to be a feature which is why it doesn't work completely. So I don't expect it will be touched at all

 

Did a couple of runs and I have to say the signaling works. I did a night run and I have to say looks good. I’m liking it. I wish BCC look this good at night. I can actually see at night. The approach into Boston at night looks. Great. Hopefully the can fix all the other bugs mentioned if they haven’t run out of time

 

I also agree. They really make Boston come to live, especially with the lighting and the scenery where finally there are actual real building with light on, that way we can see more better at night. I hope this is going to be the new standard with all upcoming American Route.

 

More beautiful TOD4 images from Boston. Night lighting might be good (have not tried it myself yet), but daylight lighting is totally broken.

 

The issue with the TSW2 livery/Unit 662 ACS-64 has nothing to do with the update and predates it. Maybe even back to the release of the livery?

For some reason on that loco the roof doesn’t block sunlight. So on certain times of day your entire dashboard is covered by sunlight. And you even see shadows off the roof electrical equipment on your dash. So it’s like the roof basically isn’t there for blocking light.

Might look even worse with the new lighting but it was always there and made most services where the sun was behind you super annoying.

 

Yes, that black area is supposed to be a wall or something, but that art of the building is completely dark. There are other similar assets along the route with the same issue, like that route map at Back Bay Station.

Talking about Back Bay Station, of you go up the stairs to cross tracks to the other platform, at the stop of the stairs you are met with this weird untextured floor that NPCs sink into.



I don't remember this being there in the original TSW2 release. It's also supposed to be a player accessible area, so it shouldn't be there. There is even a collectible right on top of it.

 

It's the effect of having motion blur turned off. You also see it inside the windows of any cab you are sitting in. Personally I prefer it over the blur which gives me serious eye strain and migraines but to each their own.

 

I already pointed out elsewhere the issues with the tunnel entry flash but may as well link it here for folks if we're compiling a list.
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/boston-providence-exposure-seems-backwards.65205/

 

It's been stated multiple times in the thread that this has nothing to do with motion blur; it is an artefact of TAA. Disable TAA if you wish to remove the temporal artefacting.

Cheers

 

On the console versions you cannot disable TAA, as it's the only automatically enabled AA option, so anyone not on PC only has that option for dealing with it. And TAA is still generally preferable to stuff like FXAA and no AA, but some people who can tolerate motion blur can overcome it with that if they want.

(Personally I find it far less intrusive and immersion breaking as the TAA trail with its broken sequence of image outlines more closely represents what objects moving past at speed in the real world look like to my actual eyes than the out of focus smears of motion blur)