I am very new to TSW 4 (2 weeks) and I am already hooked, I would like to try it with no hud or as little as possible to try to enjoy the visual experience as much as possible but I keep getting hit with speeding 9n my end results. I try to watch for the speed signs but by the time I see them, I can't slow down quick enough, is there a setting or a sign I should look for to give me a warning of an upcoming speed change? How do real train drivers deal with this? Thanks
As far as I know, at least in the UK, real life drivers just learn the route a lot, have certain things to look out for along the way, maybe sometimes a building or a bridge or something and then they know that's the point where they need to brake etc... There is some signage, but I'm pretty sure most of it is just having good route knowledge. Maybe I'm wrong, in other countries it might be different and I'm not a train driver in real life so somebody else here will probably know better than me but that is my understanding of it.
Route knowledge is everything, as in the real world. Also, drive with safety systems on and to the speed limit of the train, not the route (if not the same).
IDK how drivers do it in real life, but when I “route learn” in TSW I do my first service or two with the HUD on and take notes. I’ll pause the game to take notes where needed, noting land marks, upcoming speed changes, and what not. Writing stuff down in a notebook and having it as a reference helps for future no-hud runs. After a few runs, I find that I refer to the book less and less. The hardest part for me, I find, is knowing when the rear end clears the speed marker… Then there are some routes that are easier or harder than others… what routes are you currently learning?
In the real world we just spend months learning the route until we are confident we can drive it. In the game I'd suggest using the hud and just keep going over the route until you feel confident you can switch it off.
As mentioned, you need knowledge of the route. Bml is my most played route, and after a few hundred runs it comes to me subconsciously. Slow down as the speed limit drops up ahead briefly, or prepare for a stop signal up ahead at this time of day etc.
I bought the train sim world 4 flying Scotsman edition which only comes with the Peterborough Doncaster route. I am currently driving the class 801 LNER with the safety systems on and having an absolute blast. With the hud on, I'm getting too focused on watching my speed and things and missing the great views and that's why I wanted to try it without the hud. I haven't tried the class 66 EWS or the flying scotsman yet as i want to get comfortable with the overall interface. I guess I'll have to start taking notes on the routes. Thanks.
I also probably have a couple of hundred runs up and down the BML in TSW. To the point where I know things like where to take the power off on an uphill stretch in order that I don't need to touch the brakes on the downhill
Literally hundreds of hours. I've played every service in the time table more than once. You get to know where all the speed limits are, depending on the service. Some services are routed thru different platforms with different limits or across junctions with speed restrictions. Once you get to know the route and the services you will also know if your service is likely to get stopped at a signal on certain parts of the route to let other services thru a junction ahead or if there's a train ahead of you etc. Once you learn the route it all comes as second nature.
Well from what I’ve seen, a few people have mentioned that going HUDless Doncaster - Peterborough in the Azuma really elevates the experience. So it sounds like a good route to try. You’ll probably want to write down some landmarks to start your braking patterns, etc. Not a lot of margin for error when you’re high speed. Hudless is great when you can pull it off. Very immersive. I even get enjoyment out of “boring” routes like Goblin line by going hudless.
In real life there are such a variety of things which can be used as reference points, including bumps or joints etc in the track as no matter the conditions there is not HUD to fall back on if you can't see more than 10ft. It does take many months to learn a route and not a quick process as like I say we need to know exactly where we are and what needs doing no matter the conditions. There are various methods of remembering places which are significant to what needs to be done, for example I have little rhymes or nicknames for various buildings along my route which link them and the thing I need to prepare for ahead which works for me, but every single person will learn and remember differently. The Azuma on this section of line is a great place to start as there are significant landmarks along the route which you can use as reference points, the important thing is to make them memorable. I actually find it harder to learn routes in game than in real life, which seems strange but in real life not one thing looks exactly the same as another, but in game there are, understandably, a limited number of assets used.
You might find these useful: Real Train Driver tutorial for Train Sim World 4 - Part 1: Real Train Driver tutorial for Train Sim World 4 - Part 2:
Try the minimalistic hud with disabled speedometer. Also disable next signal aspect on the hud. This way you get the information on hud, which you would have because of route knowledge (speed limit, signal locations, speed restrictions, stop locations). For anything else you need to look either onto the locomotive dash (actuall speed), or onto the world (signal aspect). This is how I play, and imho it strikes a nice balance.
Well there's a mod now introducing class 700 to bml so there's a lot more services to try and a lot more learning to do. I generally drive a lot of different routes but bml is quite busy so it never gets boring.
