Ive been enjoying TSW3 lately, yes theres a few issues but on the whole I am happy. One area that needs some work is the passengers. Yeah I like the way they can move up and down stairs and into the station but they look very 2005. There needs to be a cleverer approach, mixing and matching assets rather than repeated models with different colour hair and jackets, passengers with bags - because lets face it no one goes travelling with no bags or luggage or even briefcases, rucksacks and such. There should be more static passengers in different poses dotted about stations with some other unique equipment and also kids and stuff possibly, even some staff at the stations doing jobs and things. They also need to sit down properly and not disappear. I like the umbrella touch but its still very basic. The stations look great and so do the trains but the passengers just seem pulled from another time. Yes it might be a bit of work but I definitely think this would take it up a notch.
First the DTG should fix this: passengers dont board, empty expresses, empty commuters, empty subs etc. Old DLCs look empty (especially old UK BR blue routes).
Seeing ICE, TGV and Gatwick trains with 0 passengers and 0 baggage onboard will always be surprising to me
The entire underlying system is due for an overhaul, something more than what we saw during the Rush Hour bundle or even the handful of improvements we saw at the launch of TSW3. The logic, the way they move around and interact with things, all of this could be improved. Generally speaking, one of my biggest pet peeves and immersion breakers in TSW is that the passengers do not board how you'd expect them to. For instance, its common for a considerable portion of passengers to remain on the platform as if they're waiting for another train, but that train is probably 15 or 20 minutes away and is probably going to the same destination anyways. Furthermore, the passengers do not populate the platform properly, and instead they prefer to bundle up in these big rectangle shaped patches. It would be nice if they spread out more, or even used waiting rooms properly. Often times, these seats tend to remain unoccupied. Only after things like this are addressed, should we concern ourselves with passenger variety. How come was the diorama feature boasted about with Rush Hour seemingly gone unused? There are numerous improvements to be made to the passengers, and I do agree they could use a genuine overhaul.
It's the pandemic effect... Suprisingly we don't see passengers in TSW 3, with covering facemasks, which is prominent in two other simulation games, Bus Sim 21 and TramSim Vienna. (Hey @DTGMatt, don't get any ideas now...)
It bugs me when you see passengers get onto your train and then if you walk through it, it's completely empty! The only thing that adds to passenger realism, is how some passengers barge you out of the way. I actually had one push my off the platform and into the path of the oncoming train that I was waiting to take over. Now that was almost brown trousers time! But that was my fault for not standing behind the yellow line.
Oh God!... please don't. Shouldn't' even mention it. Yeah Matt - do not get any ideas. That was a time on this world most of us would like to forget ever happened. We don't need reminders of that whole farce of a thing in our little pleasures of distraction.
The only passengers I am familiar with in the game is on Pen Corr & Oakville as commuters (only routes I have with passengers) and so in those cases baggage would be limited or not there at all. But yes, you are right some people would/should typically have backpacks, briefcases, maybe lunch bags, or large purses/shoulder bags. I have not yet seen an umbrella during a rain except in screen captures from other routes. And yes, kids travelling with parents too. Nice observation. I also agree on the seated passengers - no one is ever sitting on the benches or standing in the booths. As for entraining - detraining yes they are like a herd of cattle plowing through a gate and can sometimes push you back, but this is fairly real in crowded communities. I actually found it funny that all the passengers on the platform would stand patiently and wait for the detraining passengers to get off before starting to board. I was actually expecting more of a flow of both like traffic on a street passing through the doorways. But it's all real enough for me. Though the variety of persons could be improved as you state - clothing, hair colours/styles, facial features, &c. It's always the same half dozen or so wandering around. Then again, it's not the focus of the game so it is a minimal consideration & development. They are just there to fill the need for reality while doing what the game was meant for - driving trains. But you know what would be the cool of all cools re: passengers and other assorted persons in game? --- If players could submit their own images for development and inclusion into the game as NPCs. Or even to have more control over the look and features of their driver player character. Oh, and one more minor issue, none of the pretty ladies ever come up to talk to the Engineer. And that's just not real at all ;-)
