Train Sim World 2020

Does anyone else here play Train Sim World 2020? I am finding that every signal that I come across seems to be green and even with the AWS enabled, I rarely get an alarm. Is there any way to increase the difficulty level?

Most signals are green I think really they need to up the AI trains in the game to make more congestion.

I play TSW on exbox,
I have most of the routes including ECW, the vintage Railtour if you have the 40/47 add-ons from the Leeds route pack, that has you chasing reds and is very intense if you play as the 66.

What routes do you have?

I have the additional Trans Pennine, heavy freight and Somerset Railway routes. Although they don't always appear in my menu. PS4 here.

I think there's a GWR service from reading a few minutes after another and has you chasing reds too, about 0940 ish I think, because a service departs a few minutes before you. Haven't really played transpennine although I do have the route.

I was wondering about the lack of AWS alarms as well as I expected it to go fairly regularly but it rarely seems to, I've only done a couple of the class 37 scenarios so I was wondering if they get trickier with more AWS alarms in the more difficult scenarios.

So far I'm find it more enjoyable than the previous game which seemed too fiddly and looked awful, it's a nice touch being able to move outside the train as well since it makes it a bit more convincing.

I don't like the game at all, The graphics are phenomenal, and I love that you can walk through the train and platforms but apart from that it's not as good as the original Train Simulator, you can't build your own routes so your forced to wait and buy what DTG put out which is always expensive, the routes are short too, whats the point of just Paddington to Reading once you've played a few scenarios it just gets boring.

East coastway isn't bad, I would definitely recommend it. Very realistic. Although the real Newhaven yard doesn't have the unloading thing it's done by grabber.
I agree that the routes are too short. Could do with a nice long American railroad really, like on TS where you're driving for hours and hours

In many cases when a train is running to time it should not have any reds. However, in the real World things change and the traffic may well get in between two booked trains and create yellow ad red signals. I was at Marylebone between 1974 and 1981 and we seldom saw any red signals while running as everything was running in order. However, it did create the situation that you still had to keep your eyes and thoughts on the signals as at any time you may get an unexpected check.

Bill EWS said:

In many cases when a train is running to time it should not have any reds. However, in the real World things change and the traffic may well get in between two booked trains and create yellow ad red signals. I was at Marylebone between 1974 and 1981 and we seldom saw any red signals while running as everything was running in order. However, it did create the situation that you still had to keep your eyes and thoughts on the signals as at any time you may get an unexpected check.

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Ah I hadn't thought of that but it makes so much sense! Thanks for the reply from the real world. Perhaps the scenarios would offer more interactions rather than the scheduled services.

You can turn on AWS manually in the cab. You can also turn on the driver vigilance device (DSD) as well if you want.

On the 377 on the East Coastway route, the switches to activate both are on the wall above and to the right of the secondman's seat.

On the HST on the Great Western Express, the switches for both AWS and DSD are on the far right of the cab on a control panel.

On the 166, the DSD switch is on a wall among other switches, at the top of the wall to the left of the driver's seat. The AWS switch is on the panel directly behind the driver's seat if I recall correctly.

Sorry I'm a bit vague, not really good at explaining these things. Just explore all the buttons and switches in the cab and you'll find them eventually. The option to activate them isn't in the game's options menu as you'd expect, and you'll have to activate them yourself at the start of each journey, the game doesn't save it as a setting.

I get my train-driving fix on TSW on my PS4 Pro - I have all the UK routes and play it most days. East Coastway, Tees Valley and Northern Trans-Pennine (with Heavy Freight Pack) are definitely my favourites with the most variety.

I found the Great Western Express routes a bit samey. I think they should have added the branches such as Greenford, Windsor, Marlow and Henley-on-Thames for some variety on the Class 166s and done more with the Class 66.

Having said that, it's probably worth noting that Approach Release is modelled in the Great Western Express route, so on some services, more likely with Class 66 or Class 166, you will get a sequence of amber and red signals ahead of a cross-over between Fast and Slow lines (or vice versa) with the red clearing as you approach the signal.

As coradiafan2000 says you can turn on the AWS manually - I would have put it that you MUST manually turn on AWS on each drive. Personally, I enjoy the drive a lot more if I switch everything on.

As noted, each type of traction has its own specific way of enabling AWS, though for most UK diesel types it's generally done with two levers often located on the back wall of the cab - one for Cab Changeover and one for AWS Isolation, both have to be set for AWS to work. More modern traction is usually just the AWS Isolation either through a key-operated switch or a panel switch somewhere in the cab or fusebox - they're not always immediately obvious, so you may have to go hunting around. You will get a confirming alarm, which you need to cancel, in every type once AWS is active and the Reverser is set for forward or reverse.

DSD, TPWS and sometimes DRA are also isolated unless you enable them manually.

If you have AWS enabled and the route features AWS (Northern Trans-Pennine does not, even though the trains are AWS equipped) you will get either a bell, chime or alarm as you pass over the AWS magnet for each signal and in advance of some speed restrictions. If you're not getting that then something is wrong - most likely that AWS is not enabled in the cab or you're on Northern Trans-Pennine.

In the very early days of TSW there were considerable problems with bugs in AWS but these seem to have been ironed out pretty comprehensively and the whole thing has been greatly improved. TSW is in continuous development and each new route seems to bring with it a raft of enhancements - East Coastway, being the most recent, is also one of the most impressive. It has been rumoured for a while now that an editor is in the works so maybe we will get the ability to create our own routes or modify existing ones eventually.

As regards continuous green lights - in normal operation, that's what you'd expect if everything is running as it should. As far as I can tell, the AI trains run according to the main timetable. I have suggested to Dovetail that they might like to throw some random delays into the AI trains so that you don't always get a forest of green lights. The occasional TSR, signalling or track failure, eg. frozen points in winter, would be nice too. Hopefully enhancements like these will feature in future releases.

I've just tried a route in a class 66 with AWS enabled and all the signalling HUD repeaters turned off. Its a much more engaging experience and much harder work! I think I'm starting to learn....

trainmania100 said:

East coastway isn't bad, I would definitely recommend it. Very realistic. Although the real Newhaven yard doesn't have the unloading thing it's done by grabber.
I agree that the routes are too short. Could do with a nice long American railroad really, like on TS where you're driving for hours and hours

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Is it worth it solely for the 66? There's some negative reviews saying there's not much to do with loco.

JohnMcL7 said:

Is it worth it solely for the 66? There's some negative reviews saying there's not much to do with loco.

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The Newhaven day aggregates runs aren't particularly enjoyable, you shunt the wagons under the unloading bay, run around the loco and then take it back to Lewes.
If you've got the trans Pennine 47/40 pack then you can spawn at Lewes 1240 and then at 1242 a Railtour comes , and you can drive 66 Railtour to Eastbourne, chasing red signals the whole way
It's not worth it just for the 66 in my opinion. But there are some nice 377 tours, and theres a top and tail 66 scenario where you drive via Brighton to Kingston tunnel landslip

JohnMcL7 said:

Is it worth it solely for the 66? There's some negative reviews saying there's not much to do with loco.

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I've found most of the 66 scheduled runs devoid of any real interraction if you keep the default of AWS turned off. I once started the trip, set the power to about three quaters, got up from the couch, put a load of clothes drying away, put a load of washing on, made a cup of coffee and a sandwich, ate the sandwich and then returned to the couch 25 minutes later just in time to bring the train neatly to a halt in the yard with no infractions at all. I have found it much better to enable AWS and turn off the HUD displays for the signal distance and aspect. Makes for a much more interesting interactive trip.

Thoughts on the new loco & route coming out?

I think the Caltrain Baby Bullet looks really good, but not so sure about the Canadian route. We still haven't gotten another NA cab loco since the first DLC,and It's only 24 miles in route length. Why are the routes getting shorter and shorter? Also, where is the editor? It's taken longer for it to come out than the game itself. And don't get me started on the bugs. It's the stupid little stuff like how on the light display in the cab all the lights are red or that the train spawns with taillights in the middle of the consist.

Sorry for making you read more poorly put together rant.

Routes are getting shorter due to how much it costs to make them.

The amount of detail required is a major factor: they have to do detailed modeling on the trains and the stations, much more so than in Train Simulator (TS1) as you can get much closer to it. In TS1, you had a partially modeled cab and a few partially modeled passenger views allowing for some limited camera movement. Stations and environment were also built rather sparsely - "it should look okay if you're in the cab". In TSW, you can walk throughout the entire train and sit down anywhere. You can get off and walk along the platform or even lineside. This is even encouraged by the jobs (such as "repair broken fences") that you have to do. To the developers however, this does mean that they have to do much more work than before.

This also affects how much trains are in a route. In TS1 it wasn't uncommon to get three different types of trains with one bundle. In the newest TSW releases, you usually see one new train type and one 'rehashed, but adapted' variant of an earlier released model. Once again, this is due to how much it costs them to make it - much more detailing goes into making the entire thing.

In my view a contributory factor is that DTG have not raised their prices. When Great Western Express came out in 2017, it was sold at the same price as DTG charge for new content today. I can't imagine that they are immune to inflation, fluctuating foreign exchange rates and their staff wanting pay raises as they get more seniority.

What's the sim like on the PS4 as i'm considering a purchase, i see the basic version is £24.99 from the playstation store?

OpenBVE shouldn't be ignored. It's an excellent simulation as far as driving experience is concerned. It's quite old now and doesn't have much AI moving trains but that is still progressing. One author has just come up with a route programmed for correctly programmed moving AI trains that move on opposite lines and looks great. Hopefully other route authors will be adding this to either previous routes or new routes as time goes by. And it's all, free. I have been using BVE since the first version BVE2 to BV4 and then OpenBVE and that is now more years than I care to think about. There is a BVE5 but I have never got into it so can't comment on it.

Bill EWS said:

OpenBVE shouldn't be ignored. It's an excellent simulation as far as driving experience is concerned. It's quite old now and doesn't have much AI moving trains but that is still progressing. One author has just come up with a route programmed for correctly programmed moving AI trains that move on opposite lines and looks great. Hopefully other route authors will be adding this to either previous routes or new routes as time goes by. And it's all, free. I have been using BVE since the first version BVE2 to BV4 and then OpenBVE and that is now more years than I care to think about. There is a BVE5 but I have never got into it so can't comment on it.

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Agreed, BVE5 is the only one compatible with later version of windows though, not sure if OpenBVE is compatible with later versions of Windows

Statto said:

What's the sim like on the PS4 as i'm considering a purchase, i see the basic version is £24.99 from the playstation store?

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I'd say that's a pretty reasonable price. I have it on PS4 and I've been having a lot of fun with it.

It's good on a PS4 but a lot better on a PS4 Pro.

071 said:

It's good on a PS4 but a lot better on a PS4 Pro.

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The same could be said for all PS4 games.

I've decided to buy it for the PS4 & it's quite good, main issues i'm having keeping the train at a constant speed, & leaving the debriefing page, seems to take forever to leave the debriefing page after i've finished.

Statto said:

I've decided to buy it for the PS4 & it's quite good, main issues i'm having keeping the train at a constant speed, & leaving the debriefing page, seems to take forever to leave the debriefing page after i've finished.

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You'll learn to control speed eventually. I think it's part of the fun. Taking into account gradients and when you'll next have to stop, and figuring out how much power to apply.

And the loading times are pretty poor when leaving the debriefing page although I've had worse from other games. From what I remember of Train Simulator on PC the loading times were astonishingly slow.

Agree that speed control is an acquired skill and comes with practice and route knowledge. The Northern Trans Pennine route is especially unforgiving of poor speed management with long climbs and descents. When I first got it I was lucky to be within 10 mins of scheduled time on arrival at Leeds or Man Vic, now I can get there early on an express or calling at Huddersfield-only service.

For instance, I now know that, on a Leeds-bound service applying full power going through the tunnel at Heaton Lodge Junction will help maintain the 50mph speed limit going up the bank to join the mainline to Mirfield - if you don't apply power early it's easy to let the speed drop to mid-40's.

Ha yep, i did Leeds-Manchester express using a class 47, i was about half an hour late into Manchester, the class 47 is slow getting up to speed, i then did Paddington-Reading on an HST & i was 4 minutes early arriving at Reading, i found the HST easier to drive too.

Driving the Class 47 is more difficult and for best performance requires close attention to the in-cab ammeter - on a console at least. The graphics of the HUD ammeter and in-cab ammeter are different and the HUD yellow zone is in the wrong place. Also watch what happens to the amps when the field divert kicks in at 31mph and 45mph. Try the Class 45 until you get the hang of it.

I've been playing the Long Island Railroad scenarios, & the timings are a bit optimistic aren't they, i'm always late.

Annoyingly their are a few bugs, i'm playing Down the line senario on GWR, there is 3 options, drive one train on P8 the other P10 & another on P14, i've chosen to drive the one on P8 the Slough departing 09.46, the train on P10 due to depart 09.44 to Reading goes a minute late, but the train on P14, the 09.48 to Hayes & Harlington departs seconds before my train does at 09.46, & my train then gets held up by signals due to the 09.48 leaving early & being cleared to proceed before my train does.