Some serious issues were resolved, such as the GP7s and GP9s crashing the game and the broken F unit brakes (I think). But overall the quality of the DLC has not improved.
I found a bug in the F3's InputMapper file. You cannot disable the Tactile Detents (Ctrl+Shift+3) for the brake handle, which cause overshooting to Emergency easily, due to the responsible ButtonState set to "ButtonUp" instead of "ButtonDown" which is required for a Toggle type key. Edit: Not a bug. My bad. I find it less uncomfortable to operate the brakes without the tactile detents (in fact they're still there, only easier to overcome), but as for now you have to edit the F3 inputmapper yourself to enable this feature. Still I find myself overshooting either to Release or Emergency. Don't like the script, makes it harder than necessary. The brake handle's your enemy. And apart from that I'm not sure the El Capitan operated with 90 psi brake pipe pressure instead of 110. Correct me on that if I'm wrong. But then, as there's still no passengers on it, it may not matter. This one handles like a freight train, and has not much in common with the real thing. Throttle handle is silent, no sound at all. But then that's probably just too high expectations. Coupler is textured now. This is just about the F3. Haven't checked the rest. Will do when I'm in the mood. Air condition:
Depends on what your expectations and demands as to quality are. A passenger train without passengers, is it worth the asking price for you?
I want the locos to work and to look as in real life. And about the passengers. I thas always been like that there are hardly any or none in the passengerwagons in the game.
That's not an error. It's a "ToggleControl" command, so it doesn't matter whether it's "ButtonUp" or "ButtonDown". Either way it'll perform the action as long as you don't hold down Ctrl+Shift+3 forever. I tried it myself with the "SF-RP1 F3 warbonnet" just now in Quick Drive and it works fine. When I disable the tactile detents (which I personally can't do without), there is no resistance at all.
I remember it not to work unless changing the InputMapper. No resistance at all? You mean you can seamlessly move the handle with keyboard controls? Hmm. This did not work for me on El Capitan Pt1. I'll check again. Edit: You're right on the InputMapper, sorry for that. Still I have to hold the key to move the handle from Running to Service, so the detents are still there. I cannot easily go from Service to Lap without having to hold the key for a certain time and risk overshooting to release as soon as the detent is overcome. So why does it work for you and not for me? Edit: Seems I've figured the logic out. With detents disabled, you still have to overcome ONE detent and then, while keeping the key down, there's no detents any more (but the handle moves pretty fast). Wish they'd be off completely though. Still the brakes on that should operate at 110 psi and kick in much harder, shouldn't they? But then...
I always use the mouse on the handle in the cab or, sometimes, on the F4 HUD's slider, and that works smoothly. If you use the train brake keys (I personally don't like using the keys), then it behaves the way you say (I don't know why though). The whole point of the detents is in fact to make it easier, not harder, to move the handle to a detent and leave it there without overshooting, by imitating (as much as is possible in a computer game) the tactile feedback you get when a real handle reaches a detent . Maybe it's just a matter of practice. Yes, they probably should operate at 110 psi (90 psi being the setting for freight). We might revisit the decision to leave it at 90. Remember that the consist is over 1,000 ft long and it takes time for the pressure change (which is the "signal" to the triple valves to do their thing) to travel that length, so the entire train doesn't brake instantly. It also takes time for the pressure to drop in the equalising reservoir (according to the UP rule book, it's about 7-8 seconds for the first 20 psi reduction and 9-11 seconds for a further 20 psi reduction, and that's just in the equalising reservoir in the locomotive, not the entire brake pipe all along the consist). Plus, if you've already applied and released the brakes before and haven't allowed enough time for the cars' auxiliary reservoirs to recharge fully, the first X pounds of reduction will have no effect at all. The brakes on a car start to apply only when the brake pipe pressure (at the branch pipe going to the triple valve in that car) falls below the pressure currently in its auxiliary reservoir. Eventually, you can even end up with not enough air in the aux.res. to get full brake cylinder pressure on that car or worse still, practically no air at all. So no, the brakes shouldn't be kicking in any harder than they already do.
Thanks for your answers. Could never get used to playing with a mouse, as it's like having one hand only. Have the left hand on the throttle keys and the right hand on the brake keys when driving...