Pzb/lzb Tutorial Stream

First of all, thanks to Matt for the tutorial on German signalling, PZB, LZB and more. For me most of the contents was not very new,so I especially liked the part on LZB and AFB in the ICE3.

Matt, you asked for feedback on the tutorial style.
Generally I do not like long video tutorials a lot. The main reason is that it is time consuming to find the information back. For me the best way is:
- A short explanation/demonstration
- A text (illustrated) as a reference document so you can read the it again
- Short game play exercises, so you can practice yourself.

In this specific case, I would have split it in following parts:
- German signals (maybe even two separate tutorials), with a short game tutorial to show situations in game. This is easy to do. Park a train on the track, let the driving train approach it.
- ICE3 AFB setup and teardown.
- PZB O-mode, maybe a tutorial just to set it up and drive away.
- LZB in a separate tutorial
- A very short one on SIFA
- PZB kind of repeat for the BR422
- PZB in U mode for a freight

The excercises can be built using the scenario planner (I think), you only will miss instructions and comments during game play.

Some tips: to practice PZB Rhein-Ruhr Osten is a perfect route. You can use the RE drives (need MSB route). For some reason at most stops the signals are set red till you picked up passengers, so each station is an opportunity to try PZB. Also both near Hagen and Wuppertal there is a speed reduction that requires you to acknowledge PZB.

In the ICE3 to turn on PZB/LZB without leaving the driver seta, you can use the right arrow key, which will cycle you to this cabinet. Much easier than standing, crouching etcetera.

 

i quite like how it was done time wise maybe on the youtube upload after the stream they can include the new timestamps feature so if you want to learn AFB you can fast forward to that i would rather matt take his time explaining it to people than rush in with loads of information as it's allot to take in. i keep though seeing Rhein-Ruhr Osten is a good route if i was to ever have money for dlc would that be a good german route to get as i really like all the german signalling ect and the challenge to it

 

Rudolf, when watching the stream I was thinking a similar thing, that half hour streams would be more digestible. I was scribbling notes like mad (using my keyboard) when watching the stream. But I agree with Knightfire1964 I think, timestamps under the video that Matt did would be really helpful. I did the Talented Takeover scenario with SIFA and PZB enabled after watching the stream and didn't have any emergency brakes, so Matt's stream definitely taught me something

I was thinking this morning about a PZB scenario within the game/sim:
- It tell you to turn on PZB
- It points out the PZB acknowledge, free and override buttons (cab and controller)
- It explains that you're limited to 45 km/h in starting (restricted?) mode, you get going
- As you approach a 'slow' signal it tells you about it but locks out the controls so can't acknowledge, and tells you that the train is about to apply emergency brakes
- The train applies emergency brakes
- It tells you how to recover after emergency brake application, you get going again
- You approach another 'slow' aspect signal, it guides you through acknowledging it, slowing down and waiting to be past the problem and getting back up to speed again
- You approach a speed warning and again it guides you through what to do

Not sure if that would be useful or not. And of course its already quite a complicated scenario and has only involved PZB, not SIFA or LZB.

 

I'd like to see an in-game tutorial that walked us through the steps and buttons.

 

I've added a comment under the youtube video with the timestamps in it. Username 'Tony Flies'.

 

Normally i have a lot of experience with german routes, so if someone needs help with signals, pzb, lzb and locomotive i can help without problem

 

I did not have much issue with the way Mr. P presented information in the slides, however I do no think there was enough preparation. I would have liked to see him have pre-planned scenarios to test both the BR 406 and BR 442 rather than driving on LZB for 20 minutes doing nothing, and very little PZB action with the 442. As someone suggested above, placing a train at a station in front of yours in the scenario planner may be a good solution.

As for content, I understand that he does not want to get into all of the peculiarities of German signalling and PZB since he wants it to be a beginner's guide. Things like plates on signals can be overlooked because they are not critical to the gameplay (plates informing you whether the signal is a distant, repeater, main, block, etc). However there was one critical piece of information he neglected to mention about PZB that was only in the video because someone else pointed it out in the chat: you must acknowledge upcoming speed changes under 100km/h, including static signs. I have no doubt that without this information, a beginner may pass by a 90km/h speed warning board or signal, slow down for it, and be surprised when the emergency brakes come on because they didn't acknowledge it! These are critical details that should not be overlooked.

 

Where does one obtain the slides for the German signal tutorials Part 1 and 2 given by Matt Peddlesden on YouTube?

 

Click Here.
Source: Tutorial, Guides & Helpful Information forum