Spirit Of Steam Release Speculation

"So they can sell us a Jinty and/or 4MT tank loco ..."
Happy to pay for them, given what they would add to the route.
If only.

 

Although, they could have given us a Black 5 instead of the two similar steam locomotives and include the Jinty or 4MT from the beginning, but since that is the sensible option DTG wouldn't do it.

 

What is sensible to you may not be to others. Discluding top expresses and heavy freight would be as annoying to others as their inclusion is to some

 

Why would that be sensible?

 

Talking of Steam, how are DTG going to make it feel authentic with TSW not supporting any sort of guard operation and/or platform dispatch with whistles whatsoever?

I can’t help but feel it’ll be quite an immersion breaker to have to use the [tab] menu overlay to open and close doors, whilst being a Steam driver.

It’ll essentially be a DOO Steam service.

 

Solutions- Put train guards on the ends of Platforms in the diorama format seen on Boston or TVL 37 rescue scenario DLC, click on them to instruct opening and closing doors? Make the load/unload objective complete sound a whistle?

 

It is how it is in TS1, it isn't great and saps away at some of the immersion I suppose, but overall it doesn't overly bother me. The same could be said for the loco hauled services on TSW, as though the cab of a class 45/47 has a button to close all the slam doors in a kind of blue/grey Mexican wave!

A guard with a whistle and flag would be a great to see though if DTG are seriously intent on recreating a realistic experience.

 

Do you mean Thomas and Friends Jinty & Belle? To turn 4MT Tank into belle you need to use Blue Yellow & Red on the 4MT. German Spirit of Steam DB BR010 Frieda with DB BR095 DB BR086 Bamberg-Hof line. However, DTG might do DDR Deutsche Reichsbahn 65.10 52.80 18 201 for DCZ DRA.

 

I'm
Not sure they will. Most people playing the game have probably never know a guard or fireman exist on a steam train for it to detract from their right trigger to accelerate, left to brake (or whatever it is) user experience

 

Well then are we ever going to get any kind of historically accurate simulation? Some of us don't just want to drive steam trains because they look good and sound good, some of us have a real interest in the period and want to recreate the experience as it was. There are some very good and detailed routes and stock on TS1 and I hope we will see the same eventually on TSW but I hope DTG don't just play to the crowd.

The difference between the railways of the 1950's and today wasn't just the use of steam trains as opposed to modern multiple units. The railway was a very different place, the way it worked was very different.

I can see they have done a lot of research to make this route look historically accurate but will it be the case operationally. On modern routes they go to fine detail, including changing the colour of the ballast, I hope this route shows as much attention to detail. Certainly first impressions look promising.

 

Completely agree. I do hope they have a realistic fireman though, at the very least. If not, it'll be super boring.

 

Maybe you ask the wrong question. A simulation can be accurate, but it always will be a simulation and not the real thing. The point is which aspects are important for you to be simulated accurately? In every simulation (i have created simulations professionally), you need to make choices on what to represent and what is important. This is the hard point for DTG and they probably will guess wrong and learn from our comments. Also be aware you cannot do everything that might be wished. There will be limits in accuracy due to performance constraints and due to the costs of creating such a simulation.

 

Well yes I realise that not every little detail can be simulated, I don't expect that and would never ask for that.

Something to differentiate the way station duties are performed between the different periods of route setting, I would hope isn't impossible to implement, maybe not now but in the future at least.

Having to press a key or a command to shut the doors may seem like a slightly petty and rather small point. But it is quite immersion breaking when you are driving a train of slam door stock as it is wholly unrealistic. TS1 didn't do a great job of simulating station duties either but at least you don't have to lock the doors yourself on those trains where passengers themselves operated them.

 

An auto-guard function wouldn';t be very hard to program at all, really.

Code:

IF trainspeed = 0 AND trainlocation = memberofset "Platform,"
THEN opendoors

IF doorstatus ="open" AND currenttime >= departuretime
THEN closedoors

Heck, AI trains already do it!

 

My expection is that it'll be a hybrid of TS20xx. You'll see a second man sat in the fireman's seat, as you do with the class 37, but you won't see him shovelling.DTG really dont do advanced human animations.

 

Surely you'd need some form of "if trainlocation = memberofset 'stoplist'" otherwise "fast trains" that get held up by a red light that just happens to be adjacent to a platform would try and do a passenger load cycle, and for newish trains this would lock the controls.
Might be slightly annoying that

 

Also, if you're late, that code would open the doors and then immediately close them - the instruction wouldn't complete, and would never complete without player intervention.

 

The opendoors routine should have a countdown timer and be the one calling the closedoors element of the code, so I look at what they typed as a couple of snippets rather than contiguous code

 

The algorithm has a variable called 'departuretime' which would imply to me the scheduled departure time, given it's being checked against a variable called 'currenttime'.

 

Agreed, but all should be based on the door cycle having completed in the first place for AI. Obviously players can override, but then the passenger load cycle task doesn't complete

 

It was just a sketch of the idea, obviously it's not working code.

The important thing is that AI trains are already programmed to open and close doors at passenger stops, and exactly the same routine could be used on player trains which IRL are guard-operated.

 

Yep, and then all that would be needed is the guard buzzer functionality. Presumably that doesn't happen on AI

 

For Spirit Of Steam you wouldn't even have the buzzer - you would be looking back from the cab for the station staff or guard to give "right away" with either a green flag or lamp handsignal.

 

In some routes in TS, the " guard " actually buzzes the driver and speaks those immortal words.

 

Or go back to MSTS days, one developer had sourced a very dour voice, "Right away, driver..."

 

Thanks, OldVern, senior moment there. It was indeed MSTS. I think I was recalling the Cambrian Coast Route by 3DTS specifically.

 

I remember that well. A northern accent if I recall, sounded perfect for the Thames-Mersey route.

 

I loved that route, it was my second payware route purchase. I loved the DMU in particular and the Prairie was the first steam driving experience.

Funny how in those days we were satisfied with relatively little and now with several simulators and hundreds off add-ons available we never seem so contented.

 

Well you can already glitch the game into thinking your train is AI controlled - you can drive it but the AI does things like doors etc (think it even sets up the cab for you).

 

I was actually the route builder on that one, with a lot of help from other members of the team. Of course it looks rather old now and quite a few things grate, like the gap between platform and rails. However IIRC it was done when things were at quite an early stage, we didn't have much UK DEM so most of the terrain was done by hand and markers had to be referenced off the paper sheet OS maps!

 

Yes, it was partly to do with expectations, partly the novelty of train simming but very much the result of numerous talented individuals and small studios being drawn to the creative opportunity presented by the full editor. Not to forget the support and outlet offered by UKTS and other sites.

 

That is good to know, it gave me many hours of pleasure I can tell you. At the time it was one of the more detailed routes for MSTS from my recollection, certainly of the payware ones.

 

And not long ago a really useful bug (thanks DTG for fixing it) meant you'd have it when driving trains. jamesthepershing said it might have been the game getting confused about what was AI and what wasn't; either way I wish it was evolved into an actual feature.

 

Oh they fixed it?

 

They haven't. To trigger it just make sure NOT to be seated at the exact moment the service starts, and you'll have a ghost controlling the doors.

 

I was thinking about this but from Liverpool Lime Street's perspective, are we to get light engine/ECS runnings for the loco/coaches that have arrived from Crewe perhaps? Then return later to form a new service back? I do also hope there are plenty of services to choose from though...

 

As I’ve mentioned previously, the SIAM traffic control game for Lime Street set in 1958 would probably reveal all. Just that no-one (including myself!) can quite bear to part with £30 for old DOS based graphics to check it out!

However in theory yes, all the relevant in and out workings, stock and light engine movements should be included.

On a separate note though, looking at the mess that seems to be the Harlem Line and now issues with Horseshoe Curve, I am starting to have doubts that DTG can pull this off quite as we would hope. Perhaps we need to lower our expectations a few notches.

 

This was leaked on twitter yesterday in regards to SOS……not sure of the source or accuracy

 

Couple more that have gone live. I do not take any credit for these. I am just sharing from a source I follow



Is that a fireman



OldVern you might appreciate these. These are rather exciting!

 

I imagine that is the fireman as he is on the right hand side of the locomotive.

They look good, I like the detail of the footplate and the wagons too.

 

I’m not a steam fan as such but my god does that loco look amazing!, the external and the light casting inside on the pipe work. Beautiful

 

I hope something about SOS announced at the next Roadmap.

 

Have to say those screenshots look very enticing, this could be back on for a Day One purchase.

 

The first pic is an artist's rendering, and so will probably be the "Box" illustration, and the advert splash sccreen.

 

The first picture is very reminisant of the Terence Cuneo railway paintings

 

Funny how the exact same figure in the foreground on the right is on the far left as well.

 

Gotta say I'm not a fan of those smoke effects if that's how they're going to look on release. With how old TS Classic is I would've expected a much bigger leap forward than what we're getting here. As is I'm not sure if I even prefer them to the smoke effects the TS Classic Bossman engines have.

 

In the End if its a hard decision because of the Hardware Framerates, i still prefere an advanced simmugraphed steam locomotive, than high quality smoke to simplified steam physics.

But im sure DTG will make it look better. Maybe in this particular case it makes sense for an option in the settings menu for the "Quality of Steam particle effects".

 

That would be their advert artist, the guy who did the two javelins in front of the Dartford bridge for SEHS...

 

That's Tom Connell for anyone interested.