One of the true pleasures of trainspotting/gricing is standing trackside as a train gradually bears down upon you, getting ever louder, until it finally thrashes past in a cacophony of sound and then disappears into the distance with the ever diminishing clatter of the stock finally subsiding. Train Simulator is perfectly capable of recreating just such a spectacle on our monitors, so WHY is it so bad at doing so?? The so-called "trackside camera" is, in fact, nothing of the kind. For every one, very rare trackside viewpoint, the thing will then, for the next 100 or so opportunities, position itself directly ABOVE the bloody train! Since when did rail enthusiasts prefer to see a train go between their legs?? Simply ludicrous, and I would imagine, quite easy to fix. Come on DTG - get your finger out........ Or is there a programmer out there who can write a fix? Pretty please
No need. go to camera view 8, press pause then line up your shot and watch the train slide by at any view you choose.
Exactly, I only use the "trackside camera" (View 4) to get myself ahead of my own driven train and then quickly switch to "Free cam" (View 8) and do what ARuscoe said above, you can press 8 and then quickly race ahead of your train by holding Left Shift and the up key whilst "steering" with your mouse but going via View 4 first gives you that instant jump on yourself.
Yes, sure there are workarounds, but that is not the point. The button is there, but works badly. Who dangles above a railway? Watch a bunch of gricers shooting a passing train on their phones - they just point at the thing, and follow it as it passes.. THAT is what a "trackside camera" should do. If your workaround if preferable, the "trackside camera" may as well be deleted. Ideally, all DTG need to do is make the viewpoint moveable, like all the other buttons.
No. The "trackside camera" and the "world view camera" (the globe icon) are two different functions. Here's what the DTG manual says: "move the viewing position to the left or right (except in the Trackside camera, where the focus is fixed"
The globe enables you to look to either side, but the train still goes between your legs! I want to stand at the side of it!
You realise that's exactly what I said to do apart from I used the keyboard keys and you used the HUD right?
I would think some algorithm. I've seen many references to the same issue (train straight under your (immovable) viewpoint) so I know my experience is not unique. If I leave the "trackside camera" on, I'll get perhaps one true side view, followed by so many "under the legs shots" that it becomes tedious. If DTG do nothing else, they need to rename the button! I come to TS far more from a "watching trains" position, rather than a "driving trains" position, so I spend most of my time out of the cab, using only the HUD via a wireless mouse, sitting in my armchair watching via a large screen TV - so these viewpoints are perhaps more critical to me than they would be to a dedicated driver. So, from perhaps a selfish point of view, I hope DTG (or a kind programmer) can help out this old trainspotter!
It's not about who's first or not, it's about making it clear that we were recommending the same actions but through different inputs.
While you’re correct, on a majority of routes (especially recently since trackside scenery got more detailed) especially double track routes with bushes either side, it seems to be the case that those bushes act as a sidewall and the trackside camera snaps back to the overhead view so as not to be on the opposite side of the bush. I had a bit of fun recently holding the 4 button and watching my camera smoothly move along the catenary as it was the only view available. The only way around it was to use the free camera on that part of the route in question.
Seems to be a remarkably transparent (and non existent) bridge! And if I have a choice of standing trackside, or standing on a bridge, I'll always choose the former. The ability to choose within TS would be nice!
I was making a video for reasons a while back and did think it would be helpful to be able to combine the free and trackside cameras somehow. Use the free camera to find a good viewpoint then set that to work like the trackside view tracking the train. Of course it's possible to drag the view around with the mouse but if you can do it smoothly please tell me how.
As a follow up to this, I thought perhaps I could perhaps quantify how often the "trackside camera" actually positions itself "trackside", compared with the number of times it dangles you above the running line. So - Riviera Line in the 50s - Churchward Star Class with a 10 coach train - left full time on "trackside camera"....... First 3 passes - through the legs 4th pass - TRACKSIDE! Whoo Whoo!! Next 8 passes - through the legs 13th pass - ANOTHER TRACKSIDE - Hey Hey! NEXT TWENTY TWO PASSES - THROUGH THE LEGS!! Lost interest at this point....... Extrapolating those figures gives me just SIX "trackside" views per around 100 passes So,please - don't give me workarounds - if I want to exercise my arms, I'll go to the gym. I simply want to press a button in a game and it performs the function as described in the manual. The "trackside camera" button is BROKEN..........................
Next time, can you take the picture if it forces you into the overhead pass camera? I hope it'd be fairly easy to see why if we could see where you were/what is around you at the time.
One of the passes was through a station. I'd love to meet the programmer who deemed that standing on the platform and watching the train go by was unacceptable!
I’ve had the same thoughts; I don’t play with a mouse often so I’m also incredibly aware of being stuck at the mercy of the 4 camera! But I think it’s about the camera not wanting to obstruct the view with solid objects, which include sometimes the bushes, platforms, station walls etc. Might be wrong but that’s how I’ve justified it in the past! Probably an oversimplified command!
