So ever since I went to Chicago a few years ago, I've been fascinated by the train system there. It's very unique compared to most subway systems, being almost completely above-ground, with some parts at grade level and some underground (mainly the Red line from Howard to Dan Ryan). With the addition of the Bakerloo line to TSW 2, new subway routes seem more likely than ever before, and I think the "el" could make a great addition, being an elevated metro system. For some history (I'm going off of wikipedia for those who care, and I might not be 100% correct), the first elevated railway began service in 1892. The line, now part of the CTA Green line, was operated by the South Side Elevated Railroad and went from Van Buren street to 39th street. Until 1947, more and more companies built similar railways and a few consolidated, but that year, CTA acquired the companies and took over all operations. Since then, CTA has expanded the system with new extensions and more lines. So how would this integrate into TSW 2? Obviously licensing would need to work, and it may take a while. But which lines should be included? Which trains? I'm going to rank the top 3 lines based on what I think would be the best. Also, multiple lines would be really cool to see at some point as there are many places where trains from different lines would pass. 1. CTA Brown Line - Kimball to the Loop: This 11.4 mile route takes passengers from Downtown Chicago to Ravenswood, a large neighborhood on Chicago's north side. This route is of a decent size but not too big, and there is a lot of wonderful scenery along the way. The route uses the 2600-series and 3200-series rolling stock. Another thing I would like to say is that during busy hours, trains on this route skip stops and go express. 2. CTA Blue Line - O'Hare to Forest Park: This line would be the easiest to do without having any add-ons, since it doesn't have any stops where it would exchange with other lines. The airport would be neat, and the line runs downtown, however, at 26.9 miles, it's long compared to others. This route also uses the 2600 and the 3200-series rolling stock. 3. CTA Red Line - Howard to 95th/Dan Ryan: The red line, as far as I know, is the only line with a substantial part being underground. This route would be nice with the possibility of the brown or purple lines being added, since a lot of the stops between the 3 are the same. This route uses the new 5000-series rolling stock. So a few other things, I would like to see a good sound integration on this route if it comes. There is an authentic PA voice which comes on at every stop as the train arrives, when the doors close, and well before every stop. It also comes on randomly to remind passengers not to smoke or to remind them about priority seating. I would also like to see building replication to be as authentic as possible. Peninsula Corridor got it right, so I'm not too concerned about this. And that's pretty much it for this route. Let me know what you think! Also, even if this route isn't possible, I would like to see more subway/light rail routes, so feel free to talk about that as well. A map of the "el" for reference:
I would like to see the Red, Purple, Blue, and Green lines in the game. Also, they would need to put the announcements for the CTA lines in the game too so it won’t be eerie, but I doubt they’d do that.
With the loop trains, it would be kind of weird to have only one line, since you typically see many different lines there. I made a note in my post about the fact that the blue line has no transfers, so that might come into consideration. Another thing they could do is have the red, purple, and brown lines since those have the most transfers between them. For the rolling stock, that's something I don't really care about personally. They could have 1 for all the lines and I wouldn't notice. ZeenozPlays what exactly do you mean about them needing to put announcements for CTA lines in the game? I'm not sure if you're talking about some kind of station message or if you're talking about some technical thing like the roadmap having announcements.
Oh ok. I knew it would be something obvious. I think I actually mentioned that in my original post, the fact that they would need the authentic sound for "doors will be opening on the left at (insert station name here)". Though it is very important, it seems kind of hard to miss. There's also public service type announcements talking about handicap and priority seating and reminding you not to smoke that play randomly (or at regular intervals that aren't obvious).
Knowing DTG, they won’t add it as they left out announcements for LIRR, Bakerloo, and I think some of the German Routes.
Hmm... well I hope you’re wrong. What is it though with Dovetail’s sound development? That seems to be where most of the game’s issues are, at least for now. I still can’t honk my horn fast on some trains or else it’ll be silent. The fact that there’s people here who care about the announcements though, will hopefully convince DTG to add them in.
Idk why their sound design is horrible at certain times. The track noise is basically non-existent Traction Motors are too loud sometimes They like to reuse a lot of the horns and they cut out a lot Announcements are not present And more.
