I've heard of stories where 'oh, we were doing physics on that but it was too much for the CPU so we disabled it' problem I have with that is that not all CPUs are equal, and it should be up to the player, not to DTG, as to what has physics and what does not. (Also, one of my common motifs of game design is OPTIONS OPTIONS OPTIONS! so I may be biased) I think individual options for things like hose physics, suspension and wobble, coupler slack, level of physics on AI trains (would be needed for hump yard work-can't turn off physics when disconnecting a car in motion on the hump) maybe even to the extremes of precise airbrakes vs simple airbrakes (though right now they certainly do not feel precise with the way the pressure bounces around). Those kinds of options could reduce a lot of the load that "extra" physics stuff that does not control how the train drives but still suck up CPU in order to let people with poorer CPUs still play at a reasonable framerate without much of a difference to usual (mostly just graphical TBH). Conversely, someone with gobs of CPU power could turn on more physics than usual or make the existing physics use more precise calculations in order to take advantage of the CPU they have.
Also it makes no sense to simulate hoes and such stuff on the playertrain when he is sitting in the cab.. he will never see it, only simulate them when they are in view and close enough to actually matter visualy. And actually, with those arcadestyle locophysics its just a joke to simulate the rest of the train accurately..
Totally agree. TSW wants to be a revolutionary game with a brand new grade of detail. Actually, the graphics are spectacular and there's hardly another simulation being able to compete with TSW at the moment. But it absolutely makes no sense to develop a game with incredible graphics that has physics like one of the first simulations that have ever been released. A completely new and highly realistic game should not only come with great graphics, but also with realistic physics which should copy the behavior of real trains when you are accelerating or breaking and should not make the player feel that he or she is sitting in a small car instead of a huge locomotives because the behavior of the trains in TSW is often more like the one of a car, but not like the one of a train with dozens of wagons. Of course, the simulation of highly realistic physics might be too much for some older GPUs or processors, so a regulation of the grade of detail in the options menu would be highly recommended, as I think. In general it can be said that more options with which the player may customize graphics, physics, sound etc. are never a bad idea because then every single player is able to set the options in the way it is best for his computer.
Totally agree with everything said in this thread. Give us the option to make things are real as possible!
After playing Run 8 for some time, I think that the topic of "realistic physics are too hard" is an excuse. They seem to manage it just fine. I think part of what they do, for optimization, is to simplify the physics when the player is away from the area. Maybe DTG could do something similar?
Well they’ll need to do something because now they are saying that they won’t make stuff that won’t work on XBONE and an XBONE does not have the most powerful CPU. Maybe XBONE shouldn’t have hose wobble and stuff in order to save on CPU so it can actually handle CSX Heavy Haul.
Not to get into the PC master race debate, but if TSW is going to be limited to XBONE's capabilities, we're stuck with an arcade game.
It is ironic how they kept saying “XBONE isn’t doing anything to PC” then they specifically say that they will be making future content with “both platforms in mind” (implying that what they have made already was true to what they said-not letting XBONE slow them down, and that now they are regretting not letting XBONE slow them down) and as as XBONE is the weakest link, that’s basically saying “with XBONE in mind.” So much for what the box can do not changing what the desktop can do.
