I'm just getting back in TSC. One of my sour spots I had with TSC is the lack of good looking colorful autumn trees. What route has the best autumn trees at this point?
Uh-oh, it depends. Quite frankly, I'd follow Jörg Kunscher and create a mix by replacing. The Portsmouth Direct Line (and its sister routes) have good fidelity - I don't recall any route with newer assets. However, the colour is very uniform. Koblenz-Trier offers a good mix of colors but at fairly low resolutions. There are better pics but this showcases a bit of everything, from evergreens to oranges and browns. Overall, quite nice to drive in. On the other hand, Semmeringbahn is quite green. Next up, Köln-Koblenz, sporting a typical mix of DTG a few years prior. A fine mix, a bit more brown. It can feel in several ways depending on the weather - I've seen blue autumn but this one is gray, making it a bit altmodisch. However, trains are red. Last in the variety post, Canadian Mountain Passes, which is representative of the Donner Pass, Marias, Stevens, and similar routes with predominantly spruce but having transition. To be continued with one more duo and a bit of a thought.
So. Apart from the odd route where autumn is not particularly colourful, all is well. Overall, I'd choose based on my mood, train colour, quite possibly weather (clear vs foggy). And, or, just enjoy that they're all somewhat different. For example I really like PDL with the green train, which wouldn't work with most other options. Something to note are the assets used on the updated Kuju original routes. Sometimes it feels versatile but on verifying, less so, ... also pic two with an ICE ... but there is also a trick: their summer is a bit dry, feeling like late August, but this year where I live we had slightly colder and wetter summer which resulted in September feeling exactly like Kuju summer: Also, I just remembered to show All Aboard. Clearly 2D, clearly dated, and yet feels nice: and - I'm not finding any of those wondershots, when driving Ohio Steel 2 it is absolutely crazy colorful, but there is a catch and I didn't capture much. In any event, look at the variety. I hope it helps. Also thanks for the opportunity to do my favorite thing and dump screenshots. ;-D
Very rarely, I see screenshots of nice fall colored trees. These are usually user created routes so the trees are from parts unknown. I'd love to get or even make some seasonal trees that pop in color. Fall isn't fall without those yellows, reds, oranges and even some purples thrown in. I'm surprised that nobody has made trees like that seeing how long this simulator has been out.
Yes, mixing them is a good option as each route comes with a limited set - shape and colour. Same as with wagons. Most routes aren't particularly loaded with scenery, so you can simply upgrade them by adding more. As you say, different colours. For a long time standard autumn weathers were fairly dark and gray, I skipped quite a bit while looking for these above. Let me try and tag Blazin and joerg.kuenscher for you. And Pookeyhead might have something. While I'm pure Steam, these guys are using enhancement packs and edits. Question is, do you like any of the above, or is it still too bad? I noticed running a random slideshow over the weekend that this game doesn't easily compete with photographs, and definitely doesn't with seriously edited colour juice like Trout and Coffee autumn videos on Youtube.
Looks like the Saluda Grade Route has some yellow autumn trees but not much else. I'll have to see if there is a YouTube video showing the route.
The South Western Main Line: Southampton - Bournemouth route probably has some of the most vibrant Autumn trees I have seen in the game!
The Southampton trees are also in Chatham Main Line (the originals were mostly replaced) + Extensions, WCML South, Cross City, Dresden to Riesa / Leipzig but I think they were originally from the N Line (and most routes after that one (at least DTG ones).
Aren't the Southampton assets the same as the PDL, mostly at least? Brightness, contrast and shader add-ons can change the look and feel significantly. Bit of a sad attempt but a similar shot to the first can look like...
I have a feeling I will be mixing and matching trees from many different sources. I wonder how hard it would be to make some trees? I made plenty of models over the years, but never trees.
I did take a look at this route. While the trees are colorful, many of them look to be 2D trees. I will keep this route in mind when I finally go tree hunting.
Not for trees - Southampton has the newer ones from N Line (PDL Waterloo) has the trees from 2012 I think? (so not kuju but the ones after), but other assets probably a lot of the same ones. (some of the trees though may have been included to add to the numbers and variation though for Southampton))
Hm. Okay Not arguing as I didn't play either, was only judging by the extremely similar colors and density feeling. (Which makes sense if this corner of the UK has mostly uniform orange autumn. Or maybe artistic preference.) PDL Waterloo (2018) definitely feels different from the 2012-2015 routes I played. The screenshots above are from all those routes and the PDL is this distinct yellow. There are also several models I haven't seen before. That said you may be right that a big part of the story is density, the old models are effectively balls. That's what I actually like about the oldest models, they are fragments but look like actual trees.
