Wcmls Major Update (december 2024)

WCML South - Major Improvements coming Early December
Following the launch of TSW5, we’ve been listening closely to your feedback for the West Coast Main Line route, and we set in place a commitment to bring you all a range of improvements that will help deliver the best possible experience for the line. Since then, we’ve shipped multiple changes with fixes and minor changes over a series of post-release updates, and today we’re happy to announce that our teams are ready to deliver the large-scale route enhancements we’ve been working hard on, with support and collaboration from key community members.


This overhaul will include 800 new timetable services, with additional rail tours, a rework to freight gameplay with new layers, a range of large scenery improvements including tweaks to nighttime lighting, terrain and water texture updates, 710 stop markers and route-wide fixes and tweaks. Alongside this, we'll be adding the Class 350 suspension physics, and we thank for your patience as we've implemented this.


See below for a full breakdown of what you can expect:
Gameplay Improvements

• Added new suspension physics to the Class 350

Timetable Improvements

• Over 800 new services added.Bringing the total of services to 2000+ with over 990 being playable
• Freight fully reworked with multiple layers, unloading, shunting and correct speeds/pathing.
• New freight layers (New TSW5 Gameplay pack, HOA, JNA, MFA and TEA wagons)
• Fully reworked London Overground and London Underground services(Credit to Fawx for layers, and additional support, testing and research by Vieon).
• Marston Vale full services including playable ECS moves
• 87 'Friday Charter' rail tour
• Flying Scotsman 'The Cheshireman' rail tour
• Class 390's timed for 125mph
• Brent sidings and other yard statics
• Sleeper static
• Fix incorrect/missing service numbers and portal destinations linked

Scenery Improvements

• Scenery enhancements along the route, including distant and track side scenery
• Updated water materials
• Added 710 stop markers
• Tweaked PIS to Euston ramps with new Euston concourse screen
• Added disused Primrose Hill station.Now a starting point for freight.
• Added disused Brent Sidings
• Added Willesden 'F' sidings as playable area
• Added blue glow to Wembley arches
• Added rusty rail ends
• Fixed light sources not having ToD 4 emissive values
• Fixed light baking at Primrose Hill tunnel
• Removed foliage overlapping tracks
• Removed excessive light sources around original Bakerloo section to help performance
• Terrain and foliage colour correcting (Tree LOD's match model colour, grass matches scenery objects grass etc)

To keep you informed of our progress, we are now in the final steps of development after working with our beta teams for their feedback, and we’ll be shortly moving towards QA testing and then assigning it to builds, ready for the release around this time next month.


We are extremely grateful for the community support our teams have received when developing these improvements and wanted to thank you all for sharing your feedback and waiting patiently for an update on our progress. We hope these changes will give the WCML South route the full experience many of you have wanted since our first announcement.


(Taken from the Roadmap/DTG website)

Fair play, this a huge leap forward for the WCMLS..

 

Really appreciate the official and unofficial people involved in bringing the WCML up to where we all hoped to see it .
Thank you to everyone involved.

 

This is good news, question is, why weren't these there to begin with?

 

DTG: No plans. Almost zero chance.
Also DTG after Community EP success: Sure. Absolutely yes.

 

'Rivet'

 

Instresting to see a Marston vale full service on there too.

 

This is all good and proper, but there is still one big issue, which will not be resolved before the 'holidays' (by this I assume Christmas, I won't even try to reason why they haven't just said Christmas if so) and that is the performance. Surely if this route is giving enough gip now then when all this is added it will just get worse and all will just be back at square one where the route is near enough guaranteed to crash on you.

 

No congratulations until it releases.

 

I have seen the Marston Vale on the roadmap but does that mean the line or just the ECS services?

 

Is this just the EP being released through official channels so everyone gets it automatically?

 

Seems like we might be getting a 710/3 (the 5 coach variant)!

 

So did you guys just pull a lot of the elements from the WCML EP into this update?

 

ah okok

 

Right, so the idea is game wide performance will be in the new year, but WCCL will receive performance boosts with its revamp, that is fair enough then. Liam, may I ask if it is you leading this revamp? I do hope so!

 

Does this mean that there’s a certain new variant of an ex-subterranean train in the works?

 

You mention Rivet, buy DTG are the ones who signed it off in the first place. They're more at fault for thinking it was OK for release.

DTG are more to blame IMO.

 

I am glad DTG are doing this work to improve the WCML and it is good to hear that some non-DTG people have got on board with it too.

The improvements sound very worthwhile and interesting.

 

Credit has to go to Fawx for his amazing WCMLS timetable mod....but great to see the console players will get to play the improvements we have been playing up to now via the EP

 

Performance is going to be bad. I'm on ps5 and stopped playing this route because it's so bad in places. And now all this added stuff going in to the route can't say I'm looking forward to it. Will dtg look at the performance on ps5 and other consoles probably not.

 

Sadly those were withdrawn when Vivarail went bust recently, and the service has been run by a class 150 since, I think.

 

Ah, so a certain new variant of train possibly already being re-worked on for another new upcoming development, then?

 

Looks and sounds very promising. I’ve not bought this route yet as wasn’t impressed by the standard and late changes of branding.

This on the face of it seems to be the condition that it should have been released in.

Will await review by folk who have it when the improvements are released, but may buy this route after all!

 

I hope so it really does need looking at. Many thanks.

 

I'll have no choice but to wipe WCCL's slate clean and go back to it when you are finished then! Thanks Liam mate, I am sure everyone here would agree with me when I say how much your work is appreciated.

 

DTG Liam Hello Liam, with the whole revamp of the route. I was speaking to you earlier on the TSC Discord but want to speak here so those who don't have it. With the Class 390 services, as you know tones of missing AI and playable and also the missing services back to Wembley Intercity Depot, are all those gaps missing in the 390 timetable going to be filled (Exclude Voyager ones ofc)
I can't wait to see Euston packed and that, it is going to be like seeing it in real life.

Just wanted to discuss it here again, with the PIS being incorrect how likely do you think it will be fixed? Be nice if it is to show proper stops, so for example If a Train is going to Glasgow Central and it is the fast one It should say Calling at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Penrith, Carlisle and Glasgow Central not just say Non stop to Glasgow Central.

 

This is very positive news.

I'm glad that DTG have taken every single bit of feed back onboard and are bringing the WCML South upto the standard it always deserved to be. All the upgrades look really promising.

I think Liam deserves to be given DTG sainthood for the work he does.

Credit to Fawx for the timetable work, it's nice to see the console players like myself aren't being left behind on this one.

Looking very good! I also want to thank the community for staying firm and pushing for this since day one.

 

Ah that is fair enough mate! Thank you very much for your quick response!
I am fully excited for it!

 

It's nice that the WCML is getting a overhaul. This is why persistent feedback and criticism is a good thing. The route shouldn't have released the way it did and hopefully DTG won't make the same mistake again. The addition of the 710/3 is a nice addition.

 

DTG Liam Are you the unofficial one man army preservation team now?
I know you have a couple of projects under your belt and with more being worked on. It’s such a big load for one man, you could really do with a small team to really get those updates done quicker. That’s not to say I’m impatient or anything, I don’t mind when they arrive. I’m just speaking out loud. Good things come to those who wait.

 

DTG Liam - thanks for all your hard work on this update. Please can we get the saloon lighting to turn on at night for the Class 350s? Please could we have more 8 car services too?

 

As a user of the excellent Fawx timetable, I can say "be excited" as it really brings the WCMLS to life. I thought this would be a banger of a DLC once all the issues were fixed and this Roadmap update looks like exactly what the route needs.

 

what about gen 8

 

What about them?

 

- Put lipstick on the pig.

- Rope Fawx in to fix the timetable.

- Show a screen shot of a class 87 rail tour, so more people will buy the route.

Basil Fawlty would be proud.

 

So, we would get suspension for 350, scenery enhancements and a busier timetable with new layers and services, all of these looks and sounds promise. I already installed JetWash's brillant EP pack and Fawx's wonderful timetable but I am still happy to see DTG can fix this route for everyone who owned it.

It reminds me of the efforts Skyhook had made to improve their MML, which showed that post-released improvement can really change a route. I hope that this major improvement would make WCMLS to the quality it deserves, after all, it should be the flagship of modern UK route.

 

DTG Liam, any plans for the RHTTs to be added to the WCML as part of its update?

 

Thanks very much but just a point of order, the EP was not just done by me and was very much a team effort between all of the people credited.

Some elements of the EP will have to be removed or altered once this releases to prevent duplication but hats off to Liam for dragging this route to where it should have been on release.

DTG Liam I didn’t see it mentioned in the original post, if it hasn’t been done already please can the 390 speedset be assigned to the usual key combo (I believe it would be Ctrl+R). It’s really conspicuous by it’s absence.

 

Will we get the improvents and attonal services

 

Improvements you’ll probably get (we’ve not seen DTG skip over Gen8 for scenery updates), the services I doubt, they seem to be focused on freight & the DC line, I imagine some will be for the 350 though.

The article doesn’t really break down what is going to be core & what will be part of the gameplay pack, the latter won’t be for Gen8.

 

The only concrete bit says there will be freight layers from the gameplay pack.

 

Yes and there’s also the Marston Vale addition which I suspect will include some converted D Stock. I’m guessing these two will be the primary focus of the gameplay pack.

There is also the 710/3, I wonder if the gameplay pack will be the new base for the full DC line TT, with the current Goblin Line layer staying as it is, unless everyone that owns Goblin Line gets a 710/3 for free, or the DC TT & 710 will become part of the WCMLS core.

I would bet that we’re going to see something similar to what happened with Cathcart, the new timetable will only be accessible via the paid gameplay pack & potentially cut Gen8 out.

 

Will the number range expand for the Class 350, similarly to what happens with the BML 377/4 also functioning as a 377/1?

 

It's fantastic that we'll be able to drive more Lioness Line services, but what about more 390 services? It's alarming how many gaps there are, and the bulk of the Avanti services that call at both Watford and Milton Keynes appear to be missing. I've no idea why they weren't there to begin with. Personally I'd want to see them prioritised over the Overground/ Bakerloo services- the fast 390 runs are the bread and butter of this route.

Also, am I the only person on PS5 who isn't getting major performance issues? I mean it's not great, but I've dealt with much worse. BML at Victoria is still worse. Maybe I've just grown numb to it.

 

Id argue the commuter stock is the bread & butter, running a mainline service into the Capital is pretty boring if the route is barren of the more numerous local stock, plus it was just added to WCML as an addon, so even DTG didn’t see it as the main attraction. Not disagreeing that they got the TT wrong though, and the 390 being a DLC is all the more reason that the TT for it should be correct.

On the performance front though I’ve also had no issues there, in fact WCML is the one route of all 3 TSW5 routes that hasn’t caused me problems.

 

Tbh this route should’ve come with at least 2 subclasses, but unfortunately at this stage I don’t seem them adding more 350s, there are interior differences such as 3 + 2 seating & TPWS Mk2 in the cab. It’s not like where some 377/1s looked identical to the 4/s