Hey guys, I've done a recent track comparison (and finally, one of my famous collages again). Our TSW 3rd party newbie, Alan Thomson Sim, has introduced a new version of the track shader into the game, which I think is the closest to reality yet. The original TSW track shader has been in use since 2017, but it's a bit too reflective and looks a bit outdated, while the Niddertalbahn version introduced in 2023 looks a lot like Train Simulator Classic. This is probably due to performance issues, as consoles often hide reflections when RAM is overloaded. So what's your opinion? Should there be a uniform visual track overhaul for all routes or are the current differences in the display not a big problem for you?
Whats most annoying for me when it comes to track ballast is probably that the texture is so repetitive. Even Manchester Airport suffers from this, even tho there was a lot of attention going into it. DRA had some nice textures for its time, even different coloured ballast throughout the route (even indifferent sleepers) and especially nice because different types where nicely blended in, on SRM it was sort of there but was way more hard edged between old and new ballast. Also, i feel tracks should be more overgrown, especially on tracks that aren't regularly used, its quite typical in Germany to find those overgrown rails. This makes things look more organic. Beside this, its mostly too shiny in TOD4 Routes even in dry weather. This is the stuff we are looking at all of the time, so i would welcome it getting more attention again.
