Ny-trenton: Usa Content Is Still Severely Flawed

May as well just turn it into a joke thread at this point

 

You forgot Canada, Switzerland and France.

 

Also, I must add, I expected the timetable not to be fixed on short notice, but the fact that all the clipping issues at NY Penn aren't being looked at is a real dissapointment. Even though I find the route okay overall, with the timetable being it's main shortcoming, I find this really mediocre work from DTG. Those kind of big and widespread clipping issues shouldn't have been there on release, and definetely should be fixed ASAP.

The timetable also needs work, but I can understand that being a long term product and am willing to wait for it. I also think however that a large customer base is lost for the period that the route has a sub-par timetable, so perhaps it's wise to fix that someday to generate more sales of this route.

 

2, April 2022 I posted my open letter to DTG, in which I identify the issue of trains clipping scenery.

https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/an-open-letter-to-dtg.53456/

Almost a year later and the issue is carbon copied into a new route.

 

In my opinion the only way we get a new timetable is if DTG comes out with a new loco for NJT which will cost 25 bucks and probably won't happen for a long time. Next US content will be a freight route so you are looking at a least a year or longer if anything happens. CAsh already collected, on to the next , repeat......

 

Open letters don't work. May I suggest a meme?

 

Going by the amount of players reporting issues on this thread I predict at least about 80% purchased the DLC. With the good advertising they did and you add everyone else , DTG probably made a very good sale. So yea they are getting some backlash on the content. On any business is normal. I’ll compare DTG to Spirit Airlines ( no offense to them). Passengers will complain about their service and say they will never fly them again. What happens next, those same passengers will book the next flight back on them. And that’s with competition. DTG currently has no competition they know this. Also they know all this will blow over by next week when we start talking about the next content . Is a business to make profits and the stake holders want their funds. Is ugly. I don’t like it but It is what it is. The only thing we can do is either buy or not buy the content, those are the choices

 

Completed a run to Boston from Providence in the Acela this evening and whilst pulling in to Boston during the evening rush hour, I was greeted by a full Boston South Station:



This is what I would wish for NY-Penn Station too. The feel of driving into a bustling big city.

 

It's laughable that in TSW3, Boston South Station is busier than New York Penn... and they wrote that New York Penn is the busiest station in the USA in the introduction scenario monologue of New York to Trenton. So much for a realistic, immersive simulation.

 

It's true that it's the busiest station in the us in real life lol. It's a fact in real life terms

 

Has anyone done any rail fan on the NEC NY-Trenton route around the busiest time of the day to see how many trains pass through the busiest rail station in the US? Would like to get a number and time of day

 

I figure I'll add this here instead of creating another thread - either I'm an idiot, or there is something wrong with the brakes on the ALP-46. I put it into 'service' for 2 seconds, and then go right back to 'lap' & she wants to come to a full-on-stop in about 6 seconds. Am I doing this wrong?

Also, has anyone else noticed that in certain sunny conditions, the aspect display on the ACS is almost unreadable? I took out all the mods I had for the ACS that were related to Boston-Providence & still see this issue.

 

Heard that before on that dreadful LIRR dlc....But I can say the Boston Sprinter has quite some traffic in and out of South Station, that I give credit.

 

The comparisons between Boston South Station and New York Penn are crazy because Boston-Providence was a route developed with the intention to be one of three routes bundled in a $40 pack. It’s a route that basically had a value of $13.33 at release. And it features a timetable that makes Boston feel very alive.

Trenton costs $40 without any extra stuff bundled in with it. This route that costs the same price as the whole Rush Hour trilogy is arguably worse than any one of the RH routes. How do you even do that?

 

They were running to Long branch before the 2002 25kv 60hz live wires from Aberdeen Matawan to Long Branch video is from 2001. Excellent point there

 

Yes its buisness...
But some gaming companies have a far far greater care of their customers. Yes even the niche ones.

We all know DTG enough to know that not the case here. Their base of customers is irrevelant, the forum complaints are irrevelant either, only bringing new customers is important . I suppose it works as a buisness.

I suppose that a lot of people are still happy even with half finished content.

 

I bought the Acela last night and had a drive to Boston and indeed it was very busy. Loved hearing the sounds of the carriages going over the pointwork, the complete experience was very atmospheric and immersive. It has become a favourite route of mine.

Hopefully at somepoint NY Penn will feel as lively.

 

My sentiment exactly. Boston feels so polished as a route now. A go-to for me as well.

 

Lighting and scenery aside, yeah. Such a shame the scenery is quite weak, especially on the southern/western parts.

But the timetable is good with great variety and freight cars at sidings all along the line.

 

The thing is, good timetables are way more important than stunning scenery. I've forgiven scenery on plenty of routes, just because the timetables are so good.

 

I must be honest I thought on the whole it looked better since the upgrade to TSW3 although I only played it briefly before the update. There were a couple of funny blips in tunnels but I didn't come away thinking the route looked awful.

 

The general lighting looks good in TOD4, but I find the eye adaptation makes everything look way too bright and washed out when looking forward from the cab. I also find the ground and glass textures way too reflective, which makes them shine too much when you are driving towards the sun. The flashes when entering the the tunnels are just disgusting...

Also the F40PH's and ACS-64's cab has some issues with the new lighting, which is pretty annoying.

 

I have only tried the Acela so far with the route in its TSW3 guide. The class 323 suffers from that somewhat on BCC I must admit.

I suppose it is something you get used to.

I do think some of the lighting contrast when entering/leaving tunnels needs some work.

 

Your right i keep going back to BML which as a fantastic timetable even though it as black lines for roads and tree branches in the drivers cab

 

BML is the best example how a timetable can look like and thats why i love this busy route it gives me a atmosphere that a simulation needs and it has super sound i mean the joint track sounds which i really like.
if NJT would have such an atmosphere it would be without doubt under the top 5 routes.

 

Boston sprinter was part of the yearly bundle (rush hour). Anything outside of the summer releases are the regular dlc prices

 

It's hard to give an exact number just because the amount of trains are a large amount but strictly on the ny-trenton section for NJT the PM rush from 3:30PM to about 7PM is roughly every 15-20 minutes with some trains with 7 minute headways

 

Known issue in NYT but I have no clue why. Something with the emissives on the ADU I suspect. Boston is completely unaffected.

 

No surprises here. The people have spoken.

 

Even when you read the positive reviews most of the mention the timetable as being negative

 

I noticed that too. Seems that most DTG stuff on Steam has mixed reviews as an overall score until you read the comments and see that a lot more could have easily been a thumb's down. Numbers of reviews as well seem to be getting lower over time (granted this one is brand new).

 

I’m glad I didn’t buy the DLC. After reading all the comments, it has made it much more easier to digest and coming to terms of not buying it. I mean I wanted this route so bad. Gave lots of feedbacks before release on hoping it would had been the best US route.I started hearing and seeings lots of red flags I knew we were going to get suckered punch, and we did. Honestly it has made me appreciate Harlem line much more. That route has some issues with some services, and the NY skyline, but at least is a busy route. 25-30 trains pass through 125st an hour during rush hour.

 

This is why I think steam reviews should just be a rating out of 5 stars. Two options of just simply “Yes” or “No” is not enough and sometimes it may just be a “Maybe”

 

Perhaps there needs to be a tsw3 version of the open letter to DTG.

 

this reminds me to leave my review, which will of course not be the best. this route feels empty [most] times and is plagued with way too many issues than i can shake a stick at.

They tell us constructive and even negative feedback is important so make sure you leave it in a place where they acquire new players/sales (steam, playstation store, xbox store, etc)

On here it feels like we are shouting at the wall, but i’m sure most of our concerns will be taken seriously if they prevent new players/sale from coming in.

 

Your sitting on the benches idea is fantastic

 

i’m gonna keep mentioning it in my videos cause i think about this a lot. it would add a new perspective either just railfanning or waiting for another service to pick up while in free roam

 

I wanted to share some positives from other US content. So I did. Two different railfan at 125st in Harlem line. The first was on XBOX X between 17:30 and 18:30 and saw 28 trains past and 1 freight along the east river track.On my PC on steam I did a morning 07:30 to 08:30 and I saw 30 trains and 1 freight along the east river. I saw most AI trains PIS were on and working. Imagine if they added the M8 and Diesel trains to this route, would be twice as busy……..

 

I haven't watched your videos yet, but AFAIK, sitting on a bench was implemented in the "training center" route. I thought from there on the following routes might implement it, too, but it will be probably like with reflective signs, or elevators - one route will have it, but none or just few of the following will; it will be forgotten that this ever existed and it won't be ever retrofitted on older routes, either.

I've been missing sitting on benches quite from the beginning I started playing in TSW. I remember at the time people were asking about working toilets in some of the live streams, I asked about sitting on benches. I think I miss it the most when I want to switch to another camera while on the feet, but I also quite miss it in underground stations on Bakerloo line, as there is not much to do (after you found all the collectables), while waiting for the next train, just being pushed by other passengers on the platform.

 

So for those that purchased the route we know the timetable is probably the worse out any other route that’s being represented in TSW, and we know the scenery was just cut and paste and not sure what polishing was done. My question is are least is the signaling good? Bad? Ok? Comparable to the new Boston? Old Boston? Harlem line type signaling? Would like to get some feedback if possible?

 

signaling is for sure messed up. with ATC on i’ve been dropped down to 45 and held there for 3+ miles with no other services in front of me many times and i’ve been seeing others on the TSW facebook community page with the same issues. i’ve been playing with it off after this makes it impossible to get gold on services

 

Dovetailgames, please fix New York Penn station and the trains clipping into the platforms. Might aswell fix everything wrong with New York to Trenton, I feel like we, the comunity, have thrown enough money at you. You need to stop beign so lazy and deceiving. Please improve that garbage you've just sold me for 51.99CAD thank you.

 

Some services are nearly impossible to complete as even with all safety systems disabled (noticing this the most in the amfleet cab car) i'll still get penalty break applications that I can't acknowledge and recover from until I halt to a complete stop. This keeps happening over and over.

Even ACSES goes haywire sometimes giving me random aspects that make no sense like -2 mph then cutting back to where it's supposed to be again.

I don't understand how this DLC wasn't delayed because selling a product this broken and incomplete is infuriating.

With every release, you continue to break the trust of customers that were once loyal to you. So so sad.

 

$52?!? Yeeesh! Hope you're still within a window to get a refund.

 

The real thing in action

 

Does this look like the Penn Station you see In game and see how busy it is. They knew Penn Station needed a overhaul but instead they blew there opportunity. We still clipping platforms since 2020. We are in TSW 3 zero changes whatsoever. Here is my thing why is it $40 if we are paying for the same reused part NYC & Parts of NEC? If we gonna pay $40 do the job right

 

That's what baffled me too. When I saw all the marketing material I was thinking they were going to serve the US customers base on their complaints of lack of passengers routes compared to the other 2 TSW countries. Having the crown jewel of the US train fleet aboard this should have been their redemption launch. Looking at the Boston upgrade that was the intention but a lot of people already have Boston and new players will probably go for Trenton first. All eyes are on Trenton and then you get trains clipping into pilars and platforms, non working pantographs, no traffic, a covid lockdown version of New York.

What a mess! Finally my interest for American railways had risen enormously and now it's all dimmed again. Time to go play some finished games. See you all when the long awaited Japanese route get's launched I suppose

 

You mean "the garbage you decided to purchase without being forced into"? It isn't as if there hasn't been enough information on this thread alone for you to make an informed choice! You bought it, you weren't sold it.

 

True. We were bombarded with red flags the whole two weeks before release. They told us from the beginning that the timetable will be lackluster, half of the route reused and that US content gets rushed in general.

At that point I only had hope in the preview stream somehow still making me fall in love with the route, but the moment I saw the trains clipping the platforms and support pillarts at NY Penn in the first 5 minutes of gameplay, I knew this is a no-buy. Then came the old TSW2020 scenery, trains with pantographs down, etc...

All this route would've needed is one or two more months of polishing and bugfixing. But no, it HAD to release in february with the super duper US bundle...

 

Just my thought about the timetable. Yeah it ain't realistic NEC traffic.
But there's clearly still some wrinkles still being ironed out of the ATC/ACSES system. For that reason I'm glad the traffic volume is the way it is.
I feel like more trains would equal gridlock or extremely rough runs. Plus there's definitely more way traffic than LIRR.

I'll give credit where credit is due. Their ATC/ACSES implementation has come a LONG way. I feel like it's very close to becoming PZB reliable and I'm excited to see that happen.
I can't image it was an easy thing to simulate.