Train Sim World 3 Q&a - Tuesday 16th August

There's a thought. Dynamic weather allows for the conditions for rainbows, will they be a thing in the new system, following showers?

 

As it reads that the weather change everything 3 hours or something, only if it’s for 5-10 minute

 

All of the new features look great, and I think that they will add to the immersion. But there is one thing I'm really disappointed in, which should presumably fairly simple to implement: in the video that you showed from Dartford, you can see the 20mph speed limit signs. Why was it not possible to fix these so that the correct typeface was used? It seems like the default typeface from Unreal is still being used, and it can't be difficult to install the correct typeface into UE4. These things do make a difference, as you have commented to me on in the past. Even those who have very good route knowledge benefit from having the signs there, and it just feels like such a simple thing to get right - especially as it IS right in Train Sim Classic. So do you have any plans to correct the typeface in the future, and/or use it for any new UK routes? (note: you did do a similar change to use closer typefaces for the hex signs in the [I think] the Dresden-Riesa route).

 

Will there be smart pis included like in London commuter to routes such as East coastway and South Eastern High speed ?

 

What will be the status of Rail Driver with TSW3, beta or fully integrated with programmable buttons.

 

Disclaimer: I didn't have the time to read all of the thread but as this sudden inspiration came to my mind I wanted to Post it here before it would become lost forever in the mysterious dust of forgetfulness...

As the save function is temporarily disabled, do you have any information if Gen9 xbox' quick resume comes back to life with TSW3?
Any chance to get this enabled again?

It was really really great while working in the short period before last years update. I know it's not up to you but maybe it's possible to ring some bells, esp. as a Day One Gamepass product?

 

You mention that users will be able to transfer Liverys from TSW2 to TSW3 by uploading to creators club. What about liverys for trains that are not permitted on the Creators club like the 523. How will you transfer your livery then?

 

You’d probably have to buy it companies don’t give away stuff for free like that

 

More Questions…

How will dynamic weather work without volumetric skies in TSW 2 content?

Will the interiors of trains in TSW 3 have the new lighting treatment to make them less bright?

 

Has anything been done to address trees and other scenery popping in whilst driving please? As this has been quite a large immersion breaker issue for some time and to take precedence over it with things like rain splashes or passengers with umbrellas is not satisfactory. Thank you.

 

1) Will the ICE1 be layered into other German routes? It could do services on HRR, RRO and HMA, and run AI on most others
2) Will the TSW2 core routes be counted towards the PS5 DLC limit? If so, can I remove any?
3) The idea of TGVs on SEHS is exciting - how frequent might this be? I'd like to see TGVs and ICE3Ms subbing in for Eurostar, although the latter would have to be AI only
4) Is there any chance of the starter packs being pre-orderable? I'd like to get early access but also save money and space on Cajon Pass
5) will the classic line be rendered when it runs close to the Kassel - Wurzburg line, e.g. at Burgsinn?
6) Does the extension of SEHS (and the Meissen addon) open up the possibility of future extensions? Extending MSB to Wurzburg would open up so many possibilities, as an example

 

I have a couple of questions.

• Now you can select a service by train from the menu. Will this mean that the list of stock will be "tidied" up? We have instances of duplicate stock over different routs (normally improved over time). See Dostos, 377 ect... In this case if we own the correct DLC could we run a more "up to date" version of the stock on a route it wasn't originally release for, e.g. Brighton Main Line 377 on East Coast way. Surely it would make sense to have the definitive (most improved) version on any stock on the menu to run on the appropriate routes (existing and future).
• Following on from above. (I know you briefly touched on this in the gubbery part of the roadmap stream) Will the route / loco DLC be separated in the future. For example if you did another route in the south east sometime in the future you could specify that players would need a certain loco DLC. They could have got that from previous DLC packs or as a separate DLC. You could also then specify that if they wanted extra stock other loco DLC could be available. This would give the players the choice on what they want to run along with not clogging up the stock select screen (and the players hard drive) with extra loco stock that is not wanted or needed. This would also mean that the development team could spend time creating UNIQUE stock instead of a slightly improved version of existing stock. If you wanted to improved the existing stock that could fall under the preservation crew to improve instead of creating a whole new piece of "improved" DLC in future packs. On a side note from what you said on the roadmap stream, the training centre solves the potential tutorial issues.
• Finally on a more personal note for TrainSim-Matt . From your two streams this week we can see that after a year as exec producer, you are really proud of what you and the team have created with TSW3 (it's that or the comfy chair from the launch stream). Is this version what you have been aiming for as your ultimate Train Sim or is there still a little way to go ? I don't want you to give out any spoilers of idea you may or may not have.

on a final side note. I've had to add gubbery to my computers dictionary (no more red squiggles for me lol).

 

I have a couple of questions, I didn't have time to read the whole thread so I'm sorry if it has already been asked!

1. With the two new routes and SEHS' extension, the TSW route length record as been smashed. I think it is a great thing (especially for high speed routes) and that it has been asked for a long time. You previously said that route length was limited by development time and that longer ones were unsustainable. My question is then : Are longer routes something you are aiming for TSW3? (Maybe not for all of them but at least it's something possible now)
If yes, how is it now possible for you to make longer routes? Have the automatic tools that weren't working as intended for Sherman Hill been improved?

2. Seeing Just Train joining the boat at the begining of the year has been great but we haven't had any other 3rd party dev doing so since then. Are there still things done to attract more devs into TSW? Any ones close to join the program?

3. With the 2022 IoW we saw the first unlicenced route. I do remember (but not 100% sure) that you said it isn't something you wanted to do for TSW. Can we then expect more unlicenced routes in TSW for the ones with hard to get licences? (I do think of Japenese routes, as the JR licence is a mess to negociate for foreign companies, as Union Workshop did for TSC)

Thanks a lot for your answers!

 

Have another question I'd really like to ask:

If new TSW 3 routes in the future have rolling stock that is suitable for older routes, could these be layered onto previous TSW 2 routes that have since come over to TSW 3?

For example, if there was a new TSW 3 route which had Thameslink or Amtrak's Acela, could this be layered into London Commuter and Boston Sprinter, respectively.

EDIT: Edited for clarity.

 

You've mentioned that you brought back a fix from UE5. Are you evaluating the possibility of upgrading the game engine to UE5 in the next few years? Would solve a lot of the games current issues with lighting (lumen) and Lod's (nanite).

 

Will i be able to still use keyboard on my Playstation?

 

This is more of a question for TSW2. Will bug fixes and route improvements be fixed/added in TSW2 still like they've been promised over the months/years or will the fixes only be for TSW3? For example the manual fireman for SoS and red light issues on routes, etc?

 

Will you still fix the cab signalling in Sherman Hill for TSW2?

 

I have a question, I know it won’t happen now because TSW 3 is just at the beginning stages but for the future I wonder will the last leg of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor which is between Washington, D.C.’s Union Station to Baltimore’s Penn Station be added into TSW 3 and along with the ACS 64 locomotives will Amtrak’s Acela locomotives be added into the mix or at least being considered?

 

Considering the save game is going and the plan is to bring it back route by route, may I suggest it is first brought back to the routes that require it the most rather than the most popular or most recent routes, meaning the routes with the longest services such as US freight routes and those routes with very long stopping passenger services.

Can you shed any light on whether you have already planned to do it this way anyway? I think it would be for the best.

 

Another one from me - What's changed to allow for longer routes? (I suspect it's the autogen thing, in which case, what's changed with that?)

 

Not sure if this has been asked but considering all the talking about the new lighting system with increased brightness according to real world values, I am surprised that HDR inclusion has not been talked about.

Is it coming to TSW 3 at launch or iat some point the future?

If not, why has this not been considered as it seems like the perfect companion

 

Can we have the option to use 1440p resolution for Series S consoles as well as 4K? I heard that 1440p resolution is the sweet spot between blurry 1080p and sharp 4K and less intensive on hardware.

 

I wonder if can have the East Midlands/North Lincolnshire route with a Class 185 for passenger and a Class 60 for the oil trains? That might sweeten the deal with TSW 3 and soften things from all the hostility that I have been reading about TSW 3 elsewhere. Not to forget that this would add two new trains to TSW 3 from the UK as well.

 

Will there ever be announcements eg:
Mind the gap,
The next station is.....
Change here for...
The next train is not stopping at this station,
Stay back from the platform.

 

In the written posts ot mentions that progress will carry over with your dtl account

 

I would very much want some more info regarding the new (I'd imagine) HUD, more particularly on the Liverpool-Crewe steam route, as I'd imagine we'll see the 'normal' HUD Tuesday on the german route anyway, but not the added pressure gauges on the left.

 

I do have a few questions regarding SESH Extended:
1 - Inside the cab of a 395, you have the screen that has a few buttons that are interactive. Well I say interactive, you can hover over it but it doesn't do anything when you click the buttons so im wondering if that will be fixed. (Its been like this since launch)
2 - I have a sneaky suspicion, now I could be wrong here but has the PIS been updated to be like the ones we see on the Brighton Mainline? If so thats incredible.
3 - You say Ebbsfleet is accessible, now iv only been a few times and to get from the lower platforms to the upper platforms requires walking through the station itself, out the doors and under the tracks to reach platforms 5 and 6 (or thats at least how I did it). Is this the same or have you cheated a little? lol
4 - Ashford International sees southern trains arrive/depart the station, is this a layer we can expect to see in game?
5 - What has changed at St Pancras. In TSW2 the station was so empty it felt so unrealistic. Will we see AI trains pass in and out of platforms 1 to 13, perhaps the Eurostar?, as well as other stations like Strood?

Thank you

 

No change to the HUD - they answered that in Thursday’s stream.

 

The TSW3-Logo looks a little bit like the one for Trainz. A conincidence?

 

Will the Spirit of Steam add-on have all the new features exclusive to TSW 3 or only dynamic weather like TSW 3 compatible routes?

 

Are real world ads used in the new TSW3 routes?
Will dynamic weather be used in Journey Mode services?

 

I was wondering the same

 

I have 2 questions.
1) What is the situation with preserved collection and TSW2 DLCs be used downloaded onto TSW3? is it like TSW2, when you re-download the DLCs you already had for free or will I need to re-buy them? (that is technically one question).
2) After reading the first two articles on TSW3, I am still confused about the free update for SoS. I have both SoS and SEHS on TSW2. Do I have to pre-order the game to get this free update and is it exclusive only to the Deluxe Edition?

I am on Xbox Series S (I am unaware of if I am Gen 8 or 9)

 

Has the HUD size been reduced back to how it was after the last core update for SoS strangely made it much bigger? It’s too big now even on the small setting and the large setting almost takes up half the screen. Can this also be done for TSW2 as well if it is?

 

With the livery editor. will there be new Shapes, gradients colour options. new fonts, the ability to type instead of selecting individual letters

 

Okay, I've finished the articles and streams first as requested, and here are my remaining questions. Apologies if some were in fact answered; this has been a lot of info to soak up.

1) Longer routes! What are the new length caps, roughly? And are longer trains than 100 cars now a possibility?

2) Are the TSW2 DLCs that are being downloaded into TSW3 identical? If so, would it be possible to make a small downloadable utility to verify licenses and locally copy our TSW2 DLC files over to our TSW3 installation rather than make us sit through a gigantic download (that might also take a gigantic bite out of people's data quotas, if applicable).

3) For the Xbox users: You said the lighting changes and such in TSW3 meant rebaking the whole routes. The main reason that fixing the Xbox sound issue took so long was that changing the format to OGG would have required completely rebaking the routes, which you were trying to avoid. Finally you got a workaround implemented which seemed to worked pretty well, though I think some said it wasn't perfect. So now, with the routes having been rebaked anyway for TSW3, has the new sound format been implemented while you were at it to finally put this to rest?

4) Have any of the coding changes involved making the AI more I, so certain tasks don't have to be run at racing speed in order to not be blocked off by a robot train getting in the way?

5) Related to that, have the AI-perfect service length estimates on TSW3's timetables been adjusted to be more realistic for humans, or should we expect 2 1/2 hour Cajon Pass runs to actually take 3 1/2 hours?

6) Have any changes been made in the software and/or DTG's procedures to make it easier for more 3rd party developers to work with TSW3, or is that planned?

7) You mentioned in the Roadmap stream that LZB training would be included in the Training Center. Will all other safety systems currently used in the game, as well as signalling systems, also have trainings? Or can you specify which are available now and which will be later?

8) Will centralizing the trainings also make them easier, and thus more likely, to be fixed if something is inadvertently left out? And have the TSW2 trainings been redone from scratch or simply copied over?

9) Ditto locos--will separating them from the routes help with getting them fixed when needed?

10) In the Roadmap stream, you mentioned that Adam's team will be making changes to the TSW2 versions of routes first, then porting them upward to TSW3. But the roadmap article says that changes will be released to TSW3 first, then TSW2 "at a later date". Can you clarify, please?

11) It's been quite a while since we've had any update on the status of the Preservation Crew updates. I don't mean what we can see on the roadmap; for one example, it was mentioned a while back that the long-awaited Peninsula Corridor update had failed QA and been returned for fixing, and that was subsequently moved to near the bottom of the list. We got a recent slew of updates, but there haven't been any recently or any mention of them. I'm not asking for release dates or estimates, just general info on current activity.

12) You talked about how Quickplay will choose a random route and service for you, but if locos were mentioned, I missed it. Does it also give you a random loco if a service with more than one possible loco is picked?

13) In TSW2, some locos have variations with different numbers of services that are filed as different liveries, which could be confusing. With TSW3's ability to select from the whole fleet of locos first, has this been changed?

14) Has the loudness of the startup music been lowered to match the rest of the game volume? (And can this be done on the streams also, please? Ow.)

15) While I realize this is very much swimming against the flow, will purchasing a TSW3 pack containing SEHS or SoS also entitle us to the TSW2 version if we don't already have it?

Thanks!

 

Will there be an option for cold-starting your train in Tsw3?

 

Can players still get early access if they buy after early access has started? Also, will the pre-order discount on the deluxe edition end on the launch day or on the day the early access starts? In other words, can players still get the discount after they have had a good chance to see some live streams from other players on the youtubes who have already got early access?

 

I agree quick resume was awesome on tsw 2 before rush hour update it never failed. I know it's only on gen 9 xbox only but should still be feature.

 

Will the training center also teach players about ETCS or have the small gauge track for Chur - Arosa?

 

What happens with the huge list of gameplay affecting bugs in the not preserved collection routes? For example Clinchfield has a number of services you cannot complete due to hanging AI trains. Sherman Hill has issues where the automatic coupling function hangs in the Wait a moment which seems to be forever. No need to talk about the issues with safety systems for Boston Commuter and some pathing issues in the yards.

There are far more examples. Can we have a time frame?

 

Given all discussion on the save function are you willing to reconsider the decision to remove it completely? If you do not want to reconsider it, when do we get it back? Will it take years (we are used to this kind of time frames).

 

When do we get Scenario Planner 2.0? Another broken promise, nowhere to be seen.

 

I am really not amused by loosing all achievements and game progress. Do you intend to solve these issues and when will we get it? I don't buy it any more to get vague promises. We need serious commitments now.

 

Probably this would be Ausbildungszentrum. Google Translate is wrong here.

 

Why TSW3? Sam said is is done because of the Training Centre, but because we get all TSW2 DLC from day one in TSW3 why not just an update? It would make life a lot easier. Now you need to maintain two games and test updates for both and we all know about the quality issues that exist now. Also we will loose all game progress and so on I do not understand this and to me it looks like another very stupid decision.

 

Why is the no pre-launch discount for the standard edition? I already paid the full amount for SEH and Sos. Why punish me for owning this content already?

 

How long will TSW2 still be supported? How can you afford doing this?

 

You keep saying that performance is key to TSW 3. So what have you done to improve to overall performance when compared to TSW 2. Reason being that there are large parts of the game on PS5 where the framerate drops below 48fps which is below where VRR needs to be. (there are places such as HRR where the framerate drops to single digits even on PS5 which makes TSW 2 probably the worst performing game on the console)

It is quite obvious that DTG have taken their eye off the ball in regards to the PlayStation version, so what has been done to make it feel like we are not just an mere afterthought in development.

Also has anything been done to rush hour passenger behaviours. It would be nice to actually have passengers catch the players train. Even if the route loads with a full trains worth of passengers they all disembark within a few stops. This results in around 100 passengers getting off at Berwick which has a population less than 400 while Brighton, which has a population of nearly 300k barely has a dozen people disembarking