"New Technologies" to be announced by RSC in the next weeks

[Machinist]

That's really great a functional "palmpad" (or joypad in palms) to drive trains whilst Raildriver, the proper console to simulate driving trains since 10 years ago, still doesn't work fine! That's may let facebook people impressed, but not me...

[bpetit]

Guys, I think that they are tapping into a new market so to speak. I haven't seen any train simulators for console until now.

[AdmiralLeviathan]

Uh-uh, I think I know where this is going. Possibly console versions of Railworks? There's no reason to implement Joypad support, because Joypads don't have as many keys or buttons as a keyboard, making using one on a game like Railworks a handicap. I can't think of anyone who would want to use a joypad for the PC version of Railworks.

Guys, I think that they are tapping into a new market so to speak. I haven't seen any train simulators for console until now.

Well, there's Train Frontier Express (http://trainfrontier.com/), but I don't think it qualifies as a "Train Sim".

[hminky]

Seriously, gamepad support, for a train simulator.

Is it April first! Really!!!!!

Now that is hilarious!!!

Harold

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Joypad driving is probably easy to program for there is already a raildriver.dll in the plugins folder. It is therefor easy to adapt that to a USB joypad, provided it allows true proportional control. Personally I cannot see the point in driving track-bound vehicles, trackless is OK of course.

Same challenges/problems as with the RailDriver: modern engines have more features and scripted actions than the typical controller hardware can handle, let alone the user remember.

Next "new technology" item please.

[dazzharvey]

Task map looked pretty interesting :)

[thecanadianrail]

in my opinion i see no point in the controller, it just means its going to be harder work for the simmer, because you will need to remember certan codes or button combos to do something, as there are only so many buttons on a game controller compaired to our keyboards. i do like the task map feature, i can see this comming in handy quite quickly!

i really hope next week they will have something better than this.

[Samwolf]

That's really great a functional "palmpad" (or joypad in palms) to drive trains whilst Raildriver, the proper console to simulate driving trains since 10 years ago, still doesn't work fine! That's may let facebook people impressed, but not me...

AMEN!!! Get Raildriver to work first before futzing with a gamepad.

[MikeK]

I was genuinely hoping for an announcement about changes to the underlying physics engine. I don't particularly care one way or another about whether the game supports console controllers (or consoles for that matter), but the fact that this is the first big announcement is a let down. When I look at the list of things that ruin the immersion in the game for me, using a keyboard doesn't show up:

- Broken couplers
- Incorrect power and brake curves on locomotives ... blast up Cajon pass in run 2 anyone?
- Brake pipe changes that don't propagate along the train, and instant recharge rates
- Unable to do realistic single track traffic patterns.
- Broken AI
- Pauses in the graphics and sounds when the game loads new tiles
- Sounds that stop playing if you move too far away from the source of the sound for too long
- Save game files that don't save all the parameters, like the coupler stretch position, or the load of the engine or dynamic brakes. (Ever saved a game with a train going down hill using dynamic brakes, then reload it and discover that you have a runaway train while it waits for that 10 second DB delay to elapse? Then the brakes kick in and you have to wait while the couplers compress again? The only time to safely save and load a game is when you are coasting on a flat section with no throttle or brakes!)
- All the outstanding problems with Donner pass
- Any number of issues around running long trains, including the fact that the F4 view won't scale out far enough to show you the track ahead!

RSC is a business first and foremost, and they have to make a profit to stay in business. Increasing market share means supporting more platforms. I am guessing that they looked at their business model and decided that putting effort into supporting consoles would make more business sense than putting effort into fixing their janky physics engine. Let's face it: fixing the underlying engine could consume LOTS of man hours, and may only be appreciated by a small percentage of their customers.

Am I personally disappointed? Yes. Can I fault them for making this move? Probably not. This is their livelihood that is on the line, not mine. I imagine they will lose a few hard core simulation fans, and pick up an enormous number of new players looking for a "train game".

One more thing that has me convinced that they want to be in the game business and not the simulation business. If you had a rail simulation and you decided to support a new controller, wouldn't you chose raildriver, not a console controller?

Oh well, between the next version of OpenRails and Run 8 in a few weeks, I guess it is not all bad news for people who are after a hardcore US freight sim.

[eyein12]

will axniously be awaiting the "next" new tech unveil.

[GeorgeT93]

I'm with Machinist and Samwolf on this particular announcement. Fix the issues with the Rail Driver before adding support for additional controllers. I don't mind the support for gamepads for those that use them, but it's disheartening that adding gamepad support was a bigger priority than fixing support for the 'de facto' train controller. :(

-George

[thecanadianrail]

i believe the main reason behind not fixing the raildriver problem is this, for the average consumer, what is the price difference between a $30 xbox controller and a $200 raildriver desktop controller? yup, the big pricetag. i think they thought that people would be more attracted to the cheap controller than the one that will cost you an arm and a leg.

[hminky]

If the first announcement in "new technologies" is gamepad support RSC is clueless!

Still laughing!!!

Harold

[SpeedbumpJoey]

Yeah just saw what RSC posted on FB. Seems kind of pointless to me.

[SteelRoad]

i believe the main reason behind not fixing the raildriver problem is this, for the average consumer, what is the price difference between a $30 xbox controller and a $200 raildriver desktop controller? yup, the big pricetag. i think they thought that people would be more attracted to the cheap controller than the one that will cost you an arm and a leg.

Pretty much this. I love trains and digitally collecting them just as much as the next buff, but I'm not spending $200 on a controller when my keyboard/mouse work just fine. Alternatively, I own an xbox and have several 360 controllers, so it'll be interesting to see how well they work