Is there any route that can really be driven completely without a HUD and with safety systems on? So far, on all the routes I have driven, I have had missing speed signs, incorrect signaling aspects, missing safety magnets or magnets that shouldn't be there and also completely incorrect stopping points in the stations. Can anyone recommend a route where these things have been integrated almost perfectly so that you can really drive completely without a HUD without driving too fast somewhere or encountering a stop signal even though the advance signal said clear to proceed.
My favorite routes to drive hudless are FCL and LIRR 2. With FCL there is an upgrade from 35 to 90 that’s not posted after Haymarket and there’s a downgrade from 75 to 60 (or 65) that doesn’t have a morpeth board between Aberdour and Burntisland I think but these are pretty easy to keep in mind. With LIRR2 there are some very predictable code drops before Jamaica in both directions and right before you merge onto the main line. There’s also a 70 into 60 drop as you get closer to the terminal stations from 70. Pretty easy to learn and very satisfying when you get them right.
London Commuter - I do it frequently Southeastern Highspeed - I'm still learning I think Dresden Riesa might also work, but I haven't tried Boston Sprinter - ACSES and ATC do most of the heavy lifting, but you need to learn stops LGV Mediterreanee - TVM430 helps, but you'll need to learn the route around Marseille Schnellfahrstrecke Kassel-Wurzburg - LZB helps, but you'll need to learn the route around Wurzburg. London Underground Bakerloo Line - just the speed limits - you can stop at stations on sight Schnellfahrstrecke Koln-Aachen - I never bothered trying, but I am certain the standard stock will work. East Coast Mainline: Peterborough to Doncaster - No missing limits, but it is a difficult one to learn. While I don't have the route, I think the London Overground Suffragette Line may also be a good one. This list is not exhaustive, but I think most of the routes in the game are actually doable. What routes have you tried?
Only playing german routes so i can only say something about them. Niddertalbahn is very nice to drive with PZB and Sifa. Without the HUD it looks very good too! Another one is München Augsburg on the Sbahn line. Signals are simple enough to understand even without much knowledge. If you want a simple modern route then Maintalbahn would fit as good as niddertalbahn.
I think the HS1 section of SEHS is really easy to learn, as TVM guides you down at each station. I think there is a 60KMH limit missing as you come out of the tunnel into St Pancras, but otherwise everything else is given with TVM
I would agree with BPO. I've put a lot of hours in to this route, so a lot of the signs I don't need anymore, but off the top of my head, I can't think of any missing signs.
Up to now I have mainly driven the S-Bahn Vorarlberg, LGV, Kassel Würzburg, Maintalbahn, EAST Coast Mainline and Boston Sprinter. Unfortunately, the Maintalbahn is missing some signs and signals, for example, show 40 but the HUD says 60 and in LGV I find it very annoying that the speed signs in Marseille are almost completely missing. Kassel Würzburg is probably OK but with LZB and AFB it is unfortunately very boring and the landscape is not particularly exciting. Maybe I will have to try Blackpool Branches after all. Unfortunately, it is never on sale.
Almost all german content can be played hudless without many problems, occassional missing sign is annoying, but if you have a book timetable open, you don't really need them, and that's what you would have in reality as well. Just Münich - Augsburg is frustrating because PZB will be stopping you many times because of bugs, for no reason. I don't have Maintalbahn so I don't know if that's the case, but in some cases this may be correct. Hp 2 is defined just as "Drive slow" signal, which defaults to 40, but can be defined to other speeds in book timetable or other documents, and it's not that uncommon.
I've learnt Southeastern High Speed off by heart (still learning the gradient changes with HS1 as there are too many and of high frequency. On HS1 the TVM system helps with stopping and slowing down although it can get messy at St Pancras or Ashford. East Coast Main Line I've learned and can drive HUDless. An easy one to learn I feel. BPO is also easy to learn. As is BML and East Coastway Although I still have the HUD on, but I rarely look at it on those routes, its mainly there so I don't have to keep changing the settings for it.
I agree Blackpool Branches is a good one for HUDless. One not yet mentioned which I’d recommend is Northern Transpennine. To be able to do the stoppers HUDless takes quite a bit of learning, but to learn to do the fasts, semi-fasts and freights HUDless is fairly quick and easy. The relatively low speeds on the route mean most things can be done ‘on sight’ so the number of restrictions and stations you actually have to learn is small.
Train driving hudless is about route learning, like in reality. You wouldnt be allowed on a route, where you have never been before. In tsw there are well made "buchfahrpläne", where you can drive safe at night too. DTGs "performance" not beeing capable of placing all speed signs / indication signs on their a-b route, is another topic. (They dont even bother to fix it.) What does it say about testing when they are not even notice the incorrect/missing sign in 1 ride each direction? Its well known that tsw lacks of quality control entirely. Production companies evolved here 500%. Errors will be made always, but detected in a very efficient way. Long story short sense: Dont wait for DTG, go for ebula / buchfahrpläne if you drive germsn routes. Make yourself one for uk routes. Mark your brake ponints etc.
For me it's not that it's too difficult to drive without the HUD. Quite the opposite, I want it to be difficult and I want to learn the routes. My question is more about which route is recommended if my little perfectionism gets me worked up about something missing, so that I can drive a route for a change where almost everything fits and I can enjoy myself and relax a bit before I start learning the next route. Thank you very much, I didn't know that. It could well be that this is the case here.
I started with UK Northern transpennine, and teesvalley line, which i can drive without any plan /sheets hudless. But it was a pain to make the documentation about braking points markings etc., but it was worth. For you i recommend to start with german routes, because you orient yourself about the milemarkers, which are on a big sign after each 200m. This is in my opinion one of the best improvements to make railway safer. After deadly accidents this was actually a suggestion by drivers, which couldnt see the small mileage signs on the ground. Also if you master the PZB, you get guided by signals a lot in terms of speed etc.
I can only speak for US content that I regularly play. Boston to Providence Long Island Rail Road 2.0 You'll have a hard time with New York to Trenton because of the signalling inaccuracies in several areas.
True. Even when I’m on routes which I haven’t learned, so have to use a HUD, I use a minimal HUD telling me only the next station stop and upcoming speed restrictions (everything else is visible in the cab or out of the front windscreen). My HUD doesn’t tell me signal aspects, so the issue you mentioned applies whether I use the HUD or not. You’re’ re right, though, that using a ‘full’ HUD would mitigate the issue. My mitigation is always to approach the 2 signals I know of where the issue can occur as if the distant had been at caution (even though it never is). The line speed’s fairly low at both locations anyway so it doesn’t cost much time to do this.
As mentioned before, all German routes can be driven without HUD. Tools like this from the community: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/introducing-simple-ebula.81175/ make it much easier and so much more immersive, as much more realistic.
Speaking only for British routes, I would say every single one can be learnt HUDless. Apart from routes I already had knowledge of, the easiest for me were actually GWE, which I don't think has had a specific mention. It does obviously depend on which routes you play the most and engage with, as something like ECW seems easier to learn than, say, TVL, but I can do TVL HUDless but haven't driven ECW enough to drive it HUDless off the bat.
I am just wondering how you guys are running hudless, as without hud (F1) i don't even see my mouse and what i am doing ?
Good point about GWE, especially the HST runs. Even at either Reading or Paddington, it isn't hard to memorise the speed changes.
Unfortunately that's Dovetail's idea of hudless. No crosshair or control change notification. You could choose the "Off" setting under accessibility but then you only get tooltips and nothing else.
Fairly easy on PS5. I've not played TSW on PC so not sure how it works, but on console, it is always the same spot where the 'mouse' pointer is, smack bang in the middle of the screen. If you need it, you could always put a dot there on your screen I guess, but I just point the centre and click and it works. Most of the controls I need are on my controller anyway, so it is usually only lights and safety systems when setting up, or wipers if it starts raining.
I.find the UK ones pretty easy to drive with no hud German routes are decent too. American routes you have to know the route a lot more
