Expansion Thomas & Friends™ Visit The West Somerset Railway - Feedback Thread

I'm guessing someone is a fan of the Thomas/Sailor Moon cross-overs, only explanation I can think of for the installed add-on to be called 'Artemis' rather than 'Thomas' on PlayStation.

 

Hi,

Hello, Artemis appeared on my PS5 notification and my PS app on my phone.

 

Yeah I assumed it was a codename, it's the name of the cat in the Thomas / Sailor Moon parodies so very in keeping with DTG's love of cats.

Once installed it still shows as Artemis in manage game content:



Really loving it so far, the tutorials alone have been very well done with all the narration, there is more shunting in the diesel tutorial than in most route releases! Just off to Minehead now.

 

I think you should leave it as that, its a nice inside joke even if it was not meant to be... I would like to know why there are no cats in TSW if DTG are huge fans of cats...

 

One smallish niggle. The driver's position is on the right. It should be on the left as per other UK steam engines.

 

not all uk steam engines were driven on the left. GWR always drove their locomotives on the right

 

I'm not sure I agree with the accelerate to go forwards, brake to go backwards controls, poor Annie and Clarabel just got slammed into some buffers when I meant to stop but sped up instead.

Surely kids would have been okay with pressing the reverser?

 

I agree, i got the old WSR from just trains when i was 4 and was fine with all cab controls, In fact that is the reason i moved to TSW i wanted something newer

 

There's always one idiot who thinks it's okay to climb on top of the trains at a heritage railway.



(PS5 Pro, Confusion and Delay scenario cut scene).

 

Yeah the driving position was different in different areas because certain regions signalling was in different positions. I think the SECR were opposite side as well with GWR. But then BR standardised it or attempted to with the standard locomotives etc which all had similar cab layouts for the most part.

Although unsure what the E2s driving position was which would be good to go off!

 

Thomas is looking like I DONT CARE I DONT SEE YOU

 

So erm....Who knew Diesel could fly?

Was doing Diesel and the Fireworks. On one of the tasks I'm asked to take some firework wagons to Williton up platform, but the marker is right next to the signal, I bring the train to a stop. The next task asks me to uncouple, so I did.

The wagons then started rolling back towards Diesel, the second they made contact they launched him into space, Scenario failed.

PS5

 

Ok, I've been playing through the scenarios thinking how I would leave a glowing review at the end of the story, but oh my God have I come to hate the controls!

Letting go of the accelerator to stop accelerating, absolutely fine, speeding up when you press the brake? Why DTG, why?

Here I am nearing the end of a scenario, slowly approaching a set of wagons I need to couple to, pressed the brake to slow down and, because I was going backwards, I sped up instead, before you know it the hyper-realistic physics kick in and I'm off to the moon!

 

Can you also make it so coaches CAN NOT derail, as per the unwritten rules of TTTE

 

Just imagine a child throwing the controller against the wall or banging it into the screen in his frustration ...
Young hands perhaps want one handle controls or even more simple?

Have DTG actually tested TTTE in the hands of 5 year olds instead of their trusted and over cautious ambassadors?

 

I mean if i can teach my dog to drive it, (Please be aware i am actually teaching my dog to drive the class 47)

 

Having completed the storyline, I just want to say congratulations to everyone at DTG who worked on this, it was a great way to spend a few hours, all it needed to be perfect was a reverser.

I haven't seen or read Thomas in a great many years, but the story was good fun, and built around that story were a lot of enjoyable driving tasks - it reminded me of the excellent 363 services on Ruhr Sieg Nord, but with added smiley faces! It would have been nice to have more manual switches, but I guess that got dumbed down - I don't know who at DTG decides these things but kids are a lot more capable than this DLC gives them credit for, if anything they would likely enjoy the added challenge of making sure they were going onto the correct track. The lack of a reverser really does boggle the mind.

The tutorials were some of the best in the game, Thomas having to actually fetch the coaches before heading out on to the training center loop was much better than the usual coasting is important, and Diesel had much more to do than the Class 66 tutorials.

The narration was spot on, right from the tutorials through to the end of the story, it wasn't Ringo Starr quality, but it was very good nonetheless. It could maybe have done with a few more incidental lines during some of the scenarios, for example a friendly narrated reminder to wait for the signal to change before changing directions.

Thomas, Diesel and the accompanying coaches and wagons were all very well modelled, I spent nearly the whole thing using the external cameras, watching Thomas blink when he whistled never gets old.

While I would have liked to see Sodor recreated in game, the choice of the West Somerset Railway was certainly a good one, it's a fantastic looking route and the way the story took place at the different stations along the way was very well done. Hopefully any young-uns who play will also then go on to try out the other locos that come with the route, hopefully they won't be too confused by having to choose a direction to head in...

 

The add on is broken on Xbox. I'm playing on Series X

During Diesel and the Fireworks, I'm stuck on stage 11 of the schedule (Couple to Formation Firework Trucks). The signal doesn't change so you always fail when you pass it. I've tried to do it multiple times but it stops at the exact same point. I've sat waiting and it still doesn't change.

Edit. Holding B forced it to change as Jamie said.

 

Thanks Jamie. That forced it to change. I've edited my comment. Sorry for being harsh.

Though I would say, if Dovetail are planning on this being used to bring kids into Train Sim World, the add on doesn't explain to you about holding B to request to pass.

I should know better (I've been playing the game long enough, ha! ) but kids are going to see the signals all changing for themselves up until this point and be confused.

Still, I can continue now. Thank you.

(On a more positive note too, up until I made a fool of myself, I've have enjoyed this add on. It's been a really nice change and the models, sounds etc are spot on! Hopefully there will be more to come!)

 

is there any update on where the addon goes live on steam?

 

Thomas DLC is not loading up properly on Epic upon installation, seems to be pak file misplacement (pak is seen in Epic Games\TrainSimWorld5\WindowsNoEditor\TS2Prototype\Content and not the proper location)

 

Oh dear!

Also find it odd that the speedo goes to 125 - unless Thomas is classed as a HST?

 

I can confirm that it has been fixed now, thanks.

 

On pc the DLC filename is also TS2Prototype-WindowsNoEditor-Artemis.pak

 

Lol

 

Wasn't planning on buying this but it inexplicably ended up in my Steam library this evening alongside Cardiff City Network. Oops.

I have to say the add-on is very nicely done and the choice of the WSR was a good compromise vs modelling Sodor, you certainly get the feeling you're in the Thomas universe and the story mode is really well thought-out. I too find the controls counter-intuitive, however, and the lack of any indication on the HUD probably doesn't help as you have no idea if you're at 1% or 100% throttle (managed to ram Annie and Clarabel at about 40mph, good job the derailment physics have been given an extremely high tolerance!). As much as I try to bear in mind the control system is designed to be simple, I can't help but end up driving in the wrong direction and thinking kids will have the same issue. Perhaps a Trainz-style "control throttle" on the HUD, with a reminder of the forward / reverse key mappings on either side, could be a future improvement.

Other than that, my feedback and suggestions would be:

- The "Load from last checkpoint" feature seems to be broken in story mode. I've used it a couple of times with Diesel (haven't tried with Thomas) and the route simply reloads without him in it, so you're forced to restart. The throttle controls do nothing and neither does the reset physics option, which I tried in the hope it would "reset" him into appearing.

- I feel a trick has been well and truly missed with regards to the locomotives' braking physics. In the Thomas world, slamming on the brakes generally leads to wheels locking up and a nice long slide (followed by a Full English or a barber-related incident). Even if it's not a proper "slide" in terms of simulation physics, I think stopping the wheels from rotating on full braking would be a nice feature that would add to the.... realism?

- Those troublesome trucks could do with their handbrakes set to bare minimum so you can bump them down the line

JB

 

So, I've done all but one of the scenarios and so far I'm enjoying it for the most, it's nice and relaxing, the speed limits are more of a suggestion than a rule which is nice.

I do have some...niggles.

The reverser system...I've spadded more times today than I have in the last six months because I pressed the wrong button. It is confusing.

The stop markers, some are right next to signals and with how the trains lurch if you're just one yard away from a red signal and the stop markers it's easy to spad if you don't trigger the marker.

The scenario where as Diesel you "hide" Annie and Clarabel, when you move the carriages Clarabel's Eyes and eye lids have a disturbing disintegrating effect as the graphics pixelate.

The insane effects of Thomas and Diesel being launched into orbit if a wagon rolls into you.

The manager of West Somerset (Mr Peters?) has a jarring opening mouth action when he talks, looks like something from a Gerry Anderson show.

Replayability? Personally not for me. I'll happily use Thomas and Diesel on free roam but I can't see me doing the scenarios again.


However as a DLC I think it's a win. I think young kids will love it and some adults will get a real sense of nostalgia as well. I think it's worth the asking price as well.

This is on PS5

 

The sounds are very nice.
Textures are even above what I expected.
The only "bug" I've noticed so far is that looking out of the side windows, there is an odd "artifact" effect. It doesn't happen if your head is out the window and looking in... but looking out it's very noticeable. It's like a sort of triple reflection effect of the brass railing it seems?
Since I'm guessing people will be looking out the windows of the cab quite a bit, it might be an issue.
Not a show stopper, but very noticeable.
Everything else is just how it was designed I think.
For example...why does the speedo go to 125? Seems neither safe nor recommended for kids to EXPECT that from Thomas?
More importantly, there's no visible throttle position, either in animation of the lever or a percentage or position (like on real trains in TSW)
Again, they're designed in, not "bugs" just curious.
Still just started the journey mode, so that's all I've managed to notice thus far.
I've heard from several people who said they are already playing with their kids, so that's a good sign!
The only problem might be having something new to put out when they're done with the 8 scenarios included!
I know the forum will just say "well then they get to learn about real trains!"
But we know kids.... they're gonna immediately ask "what about Thomas's other friends?"

Good job on it overall.

 

Issues i've encountered so far (PS5)

During both tutorials a massive popup appears "press L to move the camera around"

Speedometer cannot be toggled off

During the gift finding scenario the doors wouldn't open/close with the hotkey so had to open them manually

There doesn't seem to be a way to toggle the headlight on a controller

"A Diesel in Distress" scenario has a missing wagon and the wagons spell out "Fireorks" instead of "Fireworks"

My character decided to jump out of the cab and stand on Thomas during the final cutscene

Brakes could be a little stronger when pulling trucks (slowing downhill on Bernina Linie is futile)

 

Other then the issues I posted above it seems.....ok

I thought the story element was cute but the gameplay a little tedious, it's mostly shunting which isn't my cup of tea and I think kids would get bored of it quickly. I think there could have been more variety like a chase sequence for example.

Taking the engines outside of WSR and playing with free roam I found to be much more enjoyable, it's a real shame you can't couple up to non-Thomas rolling stock however.

It has heart but I think if DTG were to do this again they should aim higher, maybe create the Island of Sodor

 

I'm enjoying the DLC. The simplified controls may need some tweaking I feel.

Stuff that jumped out at me.
I remember Diesels coupling rods being 180 degree offset to each other in the model era. I don't know about the CGI models but now the coupling rods are mirrored, not sure it that correct but we'll this is Thomas

I never noticed how Thomas buffers are more narrow gauge in spacing that the rest of the stock. Poor Annie but get alot of buffer lock.

The most annoying thing is that I'm still getting the map freeze issue on PS5. I haven't played TSW5 in 3 months but I thought the map issue was fixed.

 

On the second mission I think Diesel just disappeared. When doing the final part after moving Clarabel/Annie and going to get the Troublesome trucks, when backing up a red light instantly popped up 2 feet behind the train, and it SPADDED. Ok... no worries right? Went to go back into last checkpoint and... diesel was invisible.
The cars were there. It acted like there was a locomotive there. You can move the camera as if the locomotive was there. But.... no loco. Since the loco didn't exist you couldn't get out of it either. Have to restart the scenario.
After all that shunting, that could be a 'toss the controller" event for a kid.
Speak of... it's much more than necessary. You can get the idea of "let's move his carriages as a prank" idea across with just one shunting move from one track to another. You don't need the extra troublesome trucks part. It just makes it pointlessly twice as long and I think lots of kids would find it less interesting.
After the glitch I know I audibly groaned and I actually LIKE shunting.

 

Also, Diesel and the Fireworks scenario. You spend ages moving the wagons, then uncoupling them individually and leaving them at various points in the platforms, it's bit of a pain in the bottom at times, you then begin the scenarios where Thomas has to move them out the way.....and the wagons are all coupled together again in the platforms, making a huge chunk of the Diesel scenario pointless.

 

Couple of small things as I'm playing through, will give review once finished:

- Had the same issue as above, but slightly less obvious on PC (drive is in front of the window) - Confusion and Delay scenario cutscene



- An NPC walked straight through Mr Peters during the cutscene
- The final cutscene in Diesel and the Fireworks seems to be shot weird. Diesel is in the middle of the platform with trucks behind and one infront and it says something like "Diesel raced away laughing" but he can't move without taking the truck in front of him with him, he's blocked himself in (following the scenario instructions anyway) so that doesn't make 100%.
- Quoted from below but I'd recommend this addition: "Not a bug but I do think skippable cutscenes for repeat playthroughs and checkpoints would've lowered the frustration of unexpected SPADs. I can see a lot of people getting caught out and confused, not realising they need to wait for the level crossing to close before moving back into the yard."

 

Great so far, completed the first two

 

A couple things from playing the first two scenarios and a quick spin in free roam.

• Diesel's cab doors aren't solid on the inside. You can go right through them as if they weren't there.
• The speedometer HUD seems to be permanently stuck on no matter what. The game seems to have reverted to "normal" HUD in the settings and if you try to apply the minimal HUD, it will again revert to the normal HUD as soon as you exit the menu. The speedometer is stuck on even in photo mode.
• Not a bug but I do think skippable cutscenes for repeat playthroughs and checkpoints would've lowered the frustration of unexpected SPADs. I can see a lot of people getting caught out and confused, not realising they need to wait for the level crossing to close before moving back into the yard.
• Clarabel's eyes clip through her eyelids when she sleeps. This seems to vary based on camera position and distance.

On the whole though I've got a big dumb smile on my face playing this. I've already taken Thomas to meet the ScotRail fleet and I'm sure there'll be plenty more adventures to come.

EDIT: The devs have beat me to the eyelids thing with today's update

 

So my nostalgia got the better of me and considering I had a gift card on coop I bought the dlc.

I was going to put feedback later but I've managed to break Devious Diesel quite spectacularly! (Xbox Series X)

I reloaded a save game as there's nothing to tell you to wait for the crossing to go down at Minehead (There is no close signal prompt apart from just holding B which it doesn't tell you to do). So instead of sitting through the cut scenes I tried to save. And upon reloading Diesel has deviously disappeared/gone invisible.

However despite this inconvenience I have managed to couple to Annie and Clarabelle with an invisible locomotive and am persevering with the scenario with a new and interesting aspect of an invisible locomotive! (Although I can't believe that no one seemingly tested the save game function)

 

So it's not just me that had the "invisible Diesel" bug.

 

I too have the invisible Diesel upon reload issue. I was able to finish it up at least (uncoupled the trucks with external camera)

I would say that for a kid/novice that Minehead's extra persnickety signal blocks are going to be very frustrating for shunting. If Thomas and friends can ignore the speed limit then turning off the red lights might not be a bad idea either

Having a reverser and visible throttle position would be more intuitive for me if that could be an option

 

I do think the "simplified" controls are going to cause some level of confusion even amongst the younger players who aren't fighting the muscle memory of how most other TSW locos operate.

Your speed-up and brake alternating based on direction definitely requires more active thought than the standard system of having a seperate reverser. I get the analogy to driving a car in a racing game but you are almost always going forward in those games and more likely to brake rather than outright reverse. In a train sim, especially with shunting locos, you're going back and forth in far more equal measures. Especially in these story scenarios where there's quite a lot of shunting front-loaded in the first few scenarios.

I also think analogue triggers are essential for this control setup. I've had to very gently apply pressure to avoid shooting off. Thomas and Diesel definitely can crawl but it's far trickier than I'd have expected.

It's functional, and I don't really expect any changes or additional control options to be made, but it might be something to bear in mind if this sort of control scheme is revisited in future DLC.

 

Oddly enough on the WSR route itself, I never have an issue with those signals on any other scenario or timetable.
They're only so finicky on the Thomas scenario.
Seems like the reverse should be true. It should be simpler for the kids DLC.

Not sure how much can be done about this DLC, but if it sells well, can definitely improve future releases. 6 or even 10 year olds aren't known for a huge amount of patience and tolerance ;-)

I agree that front loading a lot of shunting wasn't the best idea. Do some longer delivery missions for or pick up someone important, then have the antagonist get involved? Alternately, I'm not sure having the antagonist be the drivable one fits in. Kids want to root for Thomas... so BEING the "bad guy" might seem a bit odd. I'd just have him show up and "poof" it's done. Then in the morning you can be like "Oh no he switched stuff up in the middle of the night and you need to fix it before Thomas can start the day!" Otherwise it's oddly confusing as to why YOU are intentionally creating a block that YOU will then have to "fix."
If Diesel just did it on his own then it's a much clearer way of doing things and there's a sense of accomplishment.
Reminds me of digging holes in the Army, filling sandbags, loading them in a truck, driving in a circle, then unloading the sandbags so you can empty them and fill the hole back in.