NS SD60E's Inbound

[ErikGorbiHamilton]

I have to agree with RailDriver, It is an absolute piece of garbage. To anyone thinking of buying it, don't. It is a simple waste of time.

[august1929]

For someone from across the Pond, could somebody detail precisely what makes this such a bad purchase (e.g.physical inaccuracies etc.).

Some rivet counting ok, but maybe set aside extreme rivet counting. I am not bothered about the sounds as they will likely be patched and in the end will not be an issue.

Sorry but "Trash modeling, trash lighting, abysmal sound effects.." doesn't really tell me me much...could just be a generic dislike of DTG.

Thanks all.

Rod

[ErikGorbiHamilton]

For someone from across the Pond, could somebody detail precisely what makes this such a bad purchase (e.g.physical inaccuracies etc.).

Some rivet counting ok, but maybe set aside extreme rivet counting. I am not bothered about the sounds as they will likely be patched and in the end will not be an issue.

Sorry but "Trash modeling, trash lighting, abysmal sound effects.." doesn't really tell me me much...could just be a generic dislike of DTG.

Thanks all.

Rod

For a locomotive that claims to be "100% accurate", It is not.

Audio:
The sounds are the default SD70M sounds from Sherman Hill (Mind you that's not even the right motor to begin with!) It has dynamic horns, all but one of which don't have in cab occlusion. The horn sounds like it wasn't properly even made (it sounds stereo when it should be mono). Due to this the horn will sound just as loud if you are by the locomotive when in reality you are 2 miles down the track. The horn sounds like it was taken off a video which would be ILLEGAL if Mike didn't contact the person who shot the video. You can also hear the locomotive running in the background. Horn is too sharp and does actually hurt your ears when up close (and this is coming from someone who has a audio sound board full of loud noises and sounds). If you're thinking that the sound will get patched by DTG or Mike then you are sorely wrong as because as of late most works have been rushed through the QA and Beta teams. After this stage they really wont even touch it again. On the other hand if you are referring to a 3rd party sound person then I truly have no clue what they would do (I wish them the best though!).

Model:
The model looks rather flat and dull compared to other models out there (yes, even DTG models beat this thing in terms of detailing...), The cab is extremely barren, and one thing I noted is that the horn lever itself wasn't animated correctly. They literally took the solid chunk of it, and just slid it downwards with a sliding animation, exposing a black under texture where the horn lever sits when not in use.

Lighting: Could be better. the ditch lights seem to be set to the "flash constantly" option be default. you have to manually turn the switch in order to correct the issue. The lens flares are this bright whitewashed white color that I have never seen before any any other model.

Rolling stock: Literally photo textures with some auto numbering slapped on them. Trucks don't look baked/they are light even in the shadows.


Call it what you want, even call me a rivet counter, but do know that

one thing I noted is that the horn lever itself wasn't animated correctly. They literally took the solid chunk of it, and just slid it downwards with a sliding animation, exposing a black under texture where the horn lever sits when not in use.

and

The horn sounds like it was taken off a video which would be ILLEGAL if Mike didn't contact the person who shot the video.

isn't rivet counting but rather exposing actual problems with the engine that should have been fixed/not existed at all!

In my honest opinon: This locomotive is more suited for freeware and should not even be 20 Dollars.

"My 2 cents. Your mileage may vary."

~Erik Hamilton

[PNWR1854]

For someone from across the Pond, could somebody detail precisely what makes this such a bad purchase (e.g.physical inaccuracies etc.).

Some rivet counting ok, but maybe set aside extreme rivet counting. I am not bothered about the sounds as they will likely be patched and in the end will not be an issue.

Sorry but "Trash modeling, trash lighting, abysmal sound effects.." doesn't really tell me me much...could just be a generic dislike of DTG.

Thanks all.

Rod

For a locomotive that claims to be "100% accurate", It is not.

Audio:
The sounds are the default SD70M sounds from Sherman Hill (Mind you that's not even the right motor to begin with!) It has dynamic horns, all but one of which don't have in cab occlusion. The horn sounds like it wasn't properly even made (it sounds stereo when it should be mono). Due to this the horn will sound just as loud if you are by the locomotive when in reality you are 2 miles down the track. The horn sounds like it was taken off a video which would be ILLEGAL if Mike didn't contact the person who shot the video. You can also hear the locomotive running in the background. Horn is too sharp and does actually hurt your ears when up close (and this is coming from someone who has a audio sound board full of loud noises and sounds). If you're thinking that the sound will get patched by DTG or Mike then you are sorely wrong as because as of late most works have been rushed through the QA and Beta teams. After this stage they really wont even touch it again. On the other hand if you are referring to a 3rd party sound person then I truly have no clue what they would do (I wish them the best though!).

Model:
The model looks rather flat and dull compared to other models out there (yes, even DTG models beat this thing in terms of detailing...), The cab is extremely barren, and one thing I noted is that the horn lever itself wasn't animated correctly. They literally took the solid chunk of it, and just slid it downwards with a sliding animation, exposing a black under texture where the horn lever sits when not in use.

Lighting: Could be better. the ditch lights seem to be set to the "flash constantly" option be default. you have to manually turn the switch in order to correct the issue. The lens flares are this bright whitewashed white color that I have never seen before any any other model.

Rolling stock: Literally photo textures with some auto numbering slapped on them. Trucks don't look baked/they are light even in the shadows.


Call it what you want, even call me a rivet counter, but do know that

one thing I noted is that the horn lever itself wasn't animated correctly. They literally took the solid chunk of it, and just slid it downwards with a sliding animation, exposing a black under texture where the horn lever sits when not in use.

and

The horn sounds like it was taken off a video which would be ILLEGAL if Mike didn't contact the person who shot the video.

isn't rivet counting but rather exposing actual problems with the engine that should have been fixed/not existed at all!

In my honest opinon: This locomotive is more suited for freeware and should not even be 20 Dollars.

"My 2 cents. Your mileage may vary."

~Erik Hamilton

But wait, there's more!
IMHO, the cab just looks... too clean. To boot, some of the switches, levers are off-proportion or in the incorrect place altogether!
combine that with the strange, distorted clicking noise some of the switches make,
The grey screen that doesn't even work,
Textures on the engine being too shiny
Some of the switches (IE headlight selector switch) don't even make noise (not a big problem, just a pet peeve as I think that switches should at least make some kind of click noise, and I have been in the cabs of real engines, and the headlight selectors do make rather loud clicks.)
This was already discussed, but the horn sound that doesn't change in volume is very bad and annoying.
All in all, this is a very lackluster product, save your money, don't buy it.

[TheTeenageFoamer]

.


Call it what you want, even call me a rivet counter, but do know that

one thing I noted is that the horn lever itself wasn't animated correctly. They literally took the solid chunk of it, and just slid it downwards with a sliding animation, exposing a black under texture where the horn lever sits when not in use.

and

The horn sounds like it was taken off a video which would be ILLEGAL if Mike didn't contact the person who shot the video.

isn't rivet counting but rather exposing actual problems with the engine that should have been fixed/not existed at all!

In my honest opinon: This locomotive is more suited for freeware and should not even be 20 Dollars.

"My 2 cents. Your mileage may vary."

~Erik Hamilton

Here is my stance on river counting: sure, it's annoying when the customer rivet counts, but if we want things to be accurate, we need that. With people paying attention to the small details, we get products like the AC44 and SD40-2 by SS. Without the attention to detail, we get... this. If we settle for close enough, then we start to let our standards fall. If we let the standards fall, we really can't call this a "simulator" because it will get to a point where nothing is even close to simulating the prototype.

[august1929]

Thanks Erik - puts a lot more meat on the bones.

Out of interest I purchased it just to look at the engine and the gons. I agree with the general visual quality, I don't know enough about the sounds to make a judgement, but on the basis of the models as they stand (engine exterior and interior + gons) I have requested a refund.

Sale, maybe - it is disappointing, mainly as it appears to be a step back to a standard that was "acceptable" in the early days of the sim...

Rod

[Claude350]

Dynamic braking seems to be weak and the headlights are ghost white. Not so in the real world. Ditch lights go to continuos flash after the horn is blown. I can deal with the other issues.

[buzz456]

Just keep in mind no one is forced to buy anything. I hope this is all at least somewhat factual and not based on any personal animus.

Remember this."Some people find fault like there's a reward for it."- Zig Ziglar