Super late to the game here, but after purchasing TSW3 in the winter sale I'd like to share my (late) thoughts on TSW3. There's been quite a few threads listing issues and feedback so some of my comments may be duplicates, but DTG likes duplication Starting with the new Menu UI: For the first time, TSW actually has a cohesively designed menu UI. The overall design is quite nice and doesn't feel like 5 people who never spoke slapped it together like the TSW2 menu. So nice job on that. A couple things I think need some improvement: - When selecting a locomotive to drive, you're presented with the liveries and variants (*sigh*). If there are no custom liveries and only one variant, you should just be able to click the loco in the main UI and it will automatically proceed to the next page, rather than clicking the main UI then the single variant on the side panel (this eliminates a couple unnecessary clicks). Similarly, double clicking the main UI should use the default version for fast tracking this. - Hitting `Back` can jump back further than desired, particularly because the "Service/Scenario/Tutorial" selection is an overlay. So if going back from "timetable selection" should go back to the overlay, but instead goes back to the route selection screen. - On the timetable/weather selection screen: - You now have to click "get started" to actually start the service. Double clicking should be allowed here. - Please add a setting to let the default weather selection be "custom". I have no interest in the comically bad implementation of dynamic weather and I'd like to be able to not have to change from Dynamic -> Custom every time. Or at the very least, let the sliders be enabled under dynamic weather so that I can just grab one of them and it will automatically switch to custom - There should be an option to select whether thunder is desired. Heavy rain != thunderstorm. Same with snow, thundersnow is such an incredibly rare event (because it requires extreme dynamics) and may not always be desired. - Adding a temperature selector would also be nice. Right now, if I want winter but rain, I use the god mode mod to adjust the temperature once I get in the game. - Finally, not a TSW3 specific thing, but I'll list it here, as someone who doesn't play in game with the scoring UI turned on (and has no interest in that), please add an option to turn the medals off. The new lighting: After actually playing TSW3, all of my previous comments on it remain the same. I do not think it's massively better than what we had. Everything is too overexposed and the new ICE still looks like a toy. Kassel-Wurzburg is the worst of the 3 routes and makes me think it was the first route completed before the lighting was "finished" and nobody went back to adjust the values. Cajon pass and SEHS actually seem better, but still need some improvements. I tried the "Fast track to Fulda" scenario and came across this: The scenario is supposed to be set in bad weather (resulting in the LZB fault), except, this literally looks like someone unskilled in photo editing took a sunny day screenshot and added clouds without adjusting the scenery levels to balance out. That bad weather immersion completely ruined there. The adjustment entering a tunnel is way to slow and overdone. You're easily 200m into the tunnel before it gets dark since the fade animation doesn't kick in until after you're in the tunnel. This is supposed to be a first-person POV, model the eyes not a camera. (and I'll tack on my plea here, please stop making cabs go pitch black, especially modern cabs with screens and other light sources. I should still be able to see the desktop and controls, at least faintly, even in a tunnel or at night). Again, eyes not a camera. Cab lighting level is also too bright and doesn't always blend well with outside, particularly where it actually is somewhat dark outside from bad weather. I think this might be one of the bigger reasons the lighting bothers me so much, as I spend most of my time in the cab and not the external cameras. The switch to feet for countdowns: There is some inconsistency here with some trains (even in the new TSW3 stuff) still using yards (e.g., see the 465 on SEHS). I'll agree feet is probably better than yards for imperial units, although I'd also like to propose an option to keep distances in tenths of a mile (which would also work for kilometers). Run8 uses this and I find its much nicer. The rapid countdown/numbers changing can be somewhat distracting, and with the switch to feet that countdown begins at 10 000 ft/~2mi which I'm finding is quite hard to adjust to. Resuming from save: Haven't done enough to know whether save game is fixed, but I'm finding at least on Cajon, resuming a service with custom weather isn't restoring that custom weather - it's resuming to Sunny. The routes: Kassel-Wurzburg: Haven't done much on this since there really isn't much variety to peak my interest and the lighting, but it does seem to not have the best performance. The service I ran last night I had to average 25-30fps with constant drops into the teens. Though I'll need to play this some more to see if this was a one time thing or if it truly is bad, so I'll digress on this point. Also, at least to my preference, the camera position in the cab is too high. I don't like that I have to look down to see the controls. I think its time to add a way to adjust camera position. Not in terms of making seats adjustable with animations and what not, but physically moving the camera around as if you're leaning. See Run8 as an example. This actually is also really helpful when in a curve and you're trying to see a signal. SEHS: I'm not usually a UK route/train fan, but I have to admit, I'm quite enjoying this route. My biggest issue (and I think this has been raised before), but the safety system alarms are much louder when using an external camera than in the cab. Cajon Pass: The ES44 is actually nicely implemented - much better than the one for Horseshoe curve. Though, I still needed the sound mods because we still can't get the audio team to produce non-flattened audio for a diesel engine. However, the mod only boosts the bass (iirc) so the actual sound is there, it just needs a little love. It's miles better than previous US DLC and is a step in the right direction. I was also pleasantly surprised with the inclusion of the traction motor audio. It's the first AC US locomotive to actually include this. Seriously, this is a step in the right direction, please don't take two steps back again in future DLC. Similarly the horn mod gives a whole new depth to the horn and makes it much more realistic. Also kind of a small thing here, when the DB handle is put into setup, the engine should rev up, and not when you reach something like DB4. However, thank you for actually making the DB fans a decent volume level and not an unpleasant screech like some past locos. The SD40 is still the sad, neglected train. Still using the same audio from SPG. The SD40 also has the e-bell, which I don't think is right. US Freight Physics: Speaking specifically in terms of air brake physics here, the ES44 is definitely a step in the right direction of continuing to improve the physics. Although I wish we could just get it right and be done as the constant mismatch of physics makes it quite hard to consistently drive trains in the game. I think the SD70 in SMH also had this, but it's nice to see the Eq Res & brake pipe don't reduce at the same rate like the earlier locos (i.e., make a 20lb reduction and the Eq res follows the brake handle and the pipe follows behind by several seconds). Although, the minimum reduction is 8 lbs on this loco, it should be 6lbs (84 from 90). This shouldn't still be an issue. Brake system recharge time still needs work too. I did a test between a consist in TSW3 and Run8, and TSW is still way too slow. I couldn't perfectly recreate the train in Run8, but I tried as best as I could to make a similar consist and length. Service M-SDGCHC7-05, a 56 car manifest train (4loco x 52 cars) Timings on recharging from a minimum set, for consistency I used the 8lb reduction of TSW3, so recharging from 82 to 90 on the rear: TSW3: Over 12 minutes to get 90 on the rear (after 4 min: 85, after 6: 87, after 8: 88) Run8: Less than 2 minutes to get 90 on the rear Recharging from a 20lb reduction: * side note: applying a 20lb reduction took 2 minutes in TSW3, and only 1 minute in Run8 TSW3: after 8 minutes, only at 87 on the rear. I didn't take the full time measurement here since we just about caught up with the other test but it would've been about 15 minutes to fully recharge (and it was already well behind the Run8 test below) Run8: 4 minutes to fully recharge the train. So I have questions: are we modeling the emergency reservoir helping with recharging? Are all the locos in the consist (the 4 up front) assisting in recharging or is it just the lead loco (there were no DPUs)? The older stock (like the SD40) probably is a little slower, but 4 ES44's shouldn't have much problem pumping up an train from a simple brake application. Things that need to get added: - Working flow meter. This is actually super important and is a neglected gauge on all the trains. The SPG AC4400 doesn't work right since it just bounces all around and so they just turned it off completely (I remember Matt made a comment about this on some stream recently). One of the things I've learned watching someone on youtube (works for NS) is that they use the flow meter to know when the brakes are released (even if the train isn't fully recharged) and they can start moving (for ref, its 60cfm per NS rules). - Actual DPU controls, including fencing. If we're gonna keep doing mountain routes (particularly), this is something that needs to get done.
Can't really do anything about the freight engine audio if dtg don't have new or any recordings of it. So an sd40 will use the same old engine sounds, etc. So us pc players will have to rely on sound mods
