PC Thoughts On The Main-spessart Bahn Route For Train Sim World

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by NorthRail1, Feb 14, 2019.

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  1. Yes

    39 vote(s)
    95.1%
  2. No

    2 vote(s)
    4.9%
  1. NorthRail1

    NorthRail1 Well-Known Member

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    Choice and length of Route
    Like the previous two routes, this route hasn't previously been featured in TS1 which is good, allowing TSW to offer a new range of content. The route does look interesting, albeit similar to Ruhr Sieg Nord, which in my opinion is the best route DTG has released so far. However, I am disappointed by the length of the route. I was hoping for the route to go as far as Wurzburg, which would make the route 90 km (55 miles) long. I think that DTG certainly needs to start making longer routes as shorter routes limit the potential of the routes. For instance with this route, InterCity and InterCity Express services cannot be modeled since the route only goes as far as Gemünden, limiting how realistic the route can be.

    Choice of Locomotives
    Again I am slightly disappointed by the choice of locomotives. Whilst the inclusion of the DB BR 146.2, 2 new freight wagons and the new variant of 4th Gen Doppelstockwagen is good, I was hoping for a new freight loco instead of the 185 again. The DB BR 151 was used to help locomotives along the route, which would have made it a great inclusion for this route, also providing a more historic loco. I was also hoping for the inclusion of an ICE loco such as the ICE 3, however this isn't possible as the route only goes as far as Gemünden, making any ICE services unrealistic.

    Route Extension
    Extending the route to Wurzburg would definitely improve the route considerably. Not only would it provide opportunities for adding InterCity and InterCity Express services and locos, it would also introduce the first section of High Speed railway to Train Sim World, increasing the variety offered. Perhaps in the long term, DTG could build an extension of this route from Gemünden to Wurzburg.

    Passenger Information System
    It is very good to see the destination blinds working in the images shown, hopefully this will be added to older routes soon also. From the screenshots, it can be seen that platform signs are still not working, however this appears to be good progress with the PIS system.

    Overall Impression
    Whilst this does look to be a good new route, which I will be buying, it seems to have a lot of missed potential. The extension to Wurzburg would have added many more opportunities for future expansion and variety which cannot realistically be added with only the short section provided in this route. I hope that in future DTG will provide route segments which have better opportunities for expansion than this does.
     
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  2. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    People noticed that there are cars on the road too. :)
     
  3. nextgenlemon

    nextgenlemon Member

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    There are no end stations on this route for the main RE service, making it impossible with realistic timetable to set-up or shut down services like you could at Hagen in RSN. Würzburg Hbf is an end station, so would make sense to include this. Also, this portion would also include a lot of RB services with different stopping pattterns between Gemünden and Würzburg, increasing variety and playtime.
     
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  4. LT586

    LT586 Well-Known Member

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    i've pre ordered it as £19.99 is simple really so 20% off is needed but will DTG make an extension, well they had the chance to with GWE to extend it to Oxford to make an end station for at least the Class 166 or Banbury, even Swindon for the HST as you can turn around in one of the platforms, but for this if there's no end stop well who knows.

    I hope for some extension, but we'll see
     
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  5. nextgenlemon

    nextgenlemon Member

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    I'll have to say though, the whole "only one locomotive" thing is a tricky one, and possibly a bit unlucky for Dovetail.

    People are complaining that the BR146 is too similar to the BR185, which may or may not be true, I'll be honest and say I don't know the fine details and differences myself. But one new loco that reminds of another one is better than nothing right? Right???

    I have seemed to find people complaining about the fact that this route "only" includes one new locomotive, and that it looks too much like the BR185 as mentioned above. But what these people seem to forget, is that Dovetail can't just go and create whatever locomotive because it looks different, and that is what people want. I can only imagine that creating a locomotive top to bottom is a lengthy process, and only 'this' much can be done at a time. Unfortunately there are only a certain amount of hours in a day, and a certain amount of people available.
    But everything some people care about is the train they are sitting in, which is fair, but then everything else passes above their head. BR185 has received a Railion livery, double-deckers have had a minor overhaul and the result is a new variant, and there are two fresh new freight cars. If people still think the amount of new stock is too little, then I will politely point you in the direction of Long Island, which (ONLY!!!! :mad: ) had one new train and nothing else. So the amount of new and existing stock in this route is justified in my opinion.

    Regarding the route, length etc... I feel the route is a bit short. As I have said as well, it leaves out an important part of the Main-Spessart-Line, and it was also said, it is a missed opportunity with a lot of potential. I have to look more into this route to see how it looks throughout.

    Might be a bit off-topic, but I have seen some people here on the forums crap-talking Dovetail, and only promoting hate on the forums for their decision to only feature a certain amount of stock and length to the point where it seems disrespectful at its best in my opinion. Loads of man-hours go into creating a DLC like this, and this is not a spare-time job. At Dovetail they dedicate a lot of time into these DLC's, doing them to their best ability, because at the end of the day it is their full-time job. I can disagree with certain decisions of theirs, and so can everyone else (apart from probably a few, but I will let that be for now), however they are real people, and most of them probably have family to take care of too.

    In the midst of this, Dmitri is doing an excellent job in the forums. Personally I have observed the connection improve between us, the end-users, and the official announcements. We asked for teasers, we got teasers. A rather minor bug on steam page was reported, and Dmitri was quick on letting us know this was passed on. Someone asked a question about the upcoming DLC, and Dmitri has promised an answer for tomorrow. Without him, we would probably have been left in complete silence.
    So good job to Dmitri, and everyone else at DTG. Thanks for doing the job you do, and you do it great.

    Sorry for getting this a bit off-topic, but I am looking forward to the new route regardless!
     
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  6. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    Great post! I completely agree!
     
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  7. AlexNL

    AlexNL Well-Known Member

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    First of all, let me congratulate DTG on the completion of another piece of DLC for TSW. It must've been a tremendous amount of work, and the results (as far as screenshots on Steam go) are once again, stunning. The route looks very appealing to the eye.

    Saying that the 146.2 is 'just a 185 with a different number' is not fair. It is a different class of loco, work had to be done and saying "just" does not do the hard work value. The same applies for the dosto cab car, it is a different one from RSN and, once again, a lot of work has gone into it which is diminished by saying it's "just a tweaked cab".

    However, I do feel that there were some great opportunities which DTG have missed. Instead of going to Würzburg via the high speed line, for some reason DTG chose to build a regional route to Gemünden am Main, a town few people have ever heard of.

    This leaves out a lot of potential: the high speed line would've allowed them to introduce high speed rail to the German market. A longer route to Würzburg (Aschaffenburg - Würzburg via the HSL is 80km) would've given them the ability to introduce the Baureihe 101 locomotive with IC coaches, which also means building LZB on the route.

    It also doesn't do justice to Aschaffenburg and the Main-Spessart-Bahn, which sees up to 3 long distance IC and ICE trains per hour.
    Not having any of that in this route makes it a second "Ruhr Sieg Nord". That's a pity.
     
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  8. TrainSim-Dmitri

    TrainSim-Dmitri Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the feedback.

    I would like to not go into too much discussion about the Main-Spessart Bahn, since it's not released yet, but I would like to point out that making a 90km route is very different from making a 52km route. Essentially, this means almost doubling the amount of time needed to create a route, and if you add other suggestions such as InterCity, that essentially means creating a whole new DLC. Considering the dev time that is available to us, having all of this in one route would have taken much longer time, but would also disperse the focus of the DLC, if you know what I mean.

    FYI, the Main-Spessart Bahn will feature higher speeds than Ruhr-Sieg Nord (over 120kmh, although I am not sure about the upper limit, but you will find out soon).
     
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  9. LT586

    LT586 Well-Known Member

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    I agree with both Alex and Dimitri - hints at extensions for future is a good idea, even if it means paying i dont know, but if you check it really it's only the UK VAT that makes it expensive, it's actually not that pricey. We're paying 20% VAT instead of the former 17.5 so the margin for expense is high so to get this hard work for 20% off on pre-order. It just shows.

    I love it, i think it's great, keep on for TSW DTG it is by far very stable, not had any issues from it since I sorted out what was wrong with my PC even, and the work gone in it looks even better than RSN, and RSN is beautiful, even GWE and the early works on CSX the base game, you can see the effort and it's just sick :D

    Yeap I like it and cant wait.
     
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  10. Anthony Pecoraro

    Anthony Pecoraro Well-Known Member

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    I always like your comments! :)
     
  11. 333talgo

    333talgo Well-Known Member

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    I think it's a very well chosen route, with a lot of potential. I also think it's a bit short, but maybe in the future it could be extended and include operations with high-speed trains (IC and ICE). I also think that in the future, when we have the editor and more locos /trains available, we can fill the routes with other trains.

    However, in my opinion, just as the route is at the moment, it will certainly provide us hours of rail fun!
     
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  12. Digital Draftsman

    Digital Draftsman Well-Known Member

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    I posted this about a year ago, but it explains the main reason that the routes are the length they are, so I'll post it again. The graph is based on old sales data I have for some Railworks routes which were used in a feasibility study, but the principle is the same and it illustrates the point.

    In this example maximum sales are generated by a route that is 50-60miles long, however the sales are diminishing after 30miles after an initial large increase in sales from 20miles. Simply put, by creating two 30mile long routes they will generate sales of £270,000, which far exceeds the sales (£165,000) of a single 60mile long route, despite the labor time being about the same, given that both options involve 60miles of route building. This is why they generally don't create longer routes, despite longer routes being more popular. Of course each era/country/type of route will its own optimum, that optimum flexing as the asset library increases. Some routes will be slightly longer/shorter as they'll end at a convenient place, not in the middle of a field where optimum millage happens to be.

    sales_route_graph.jpg
     
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  13. Rudolf

    Rudolf Well-Known Member

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    How can you judge this route while it is not there yet?
     
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  14. 37114

    37114 Active Member

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    I find this continual moaning about route lengths and DLC being a rip-off hilarious. If you're into flight sims an add-on airport costs at least £20.
     
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