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

[MikeK]

This quick drive thing isn't going to be very useful if an AI train is placed facing you on the other end of the route and you have to wait where u are until it passes because AI is still Stupid and locks all the turnouts on the route. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping this is not the case.

I agree 100%. The AI needs to be dynamic. It shouldn't determine where the meets will be at the start of the scenario, it has to be able to watch how the action is unfolding and dynamically put trains into sidings as required.

[PapaXpress]

I actually like this quick drive idea. It addresses one of the biggest shortcomings in the sim: lack of content.

Content comes in 3 forms: routes, rolling stock and scenarios. RW is in dire need of more scenarios. The ones that come with the routes are generally stupid and unrealistic (pick up some double stack cars from a warehouse?), and have no replay value whatsoever. I have no interest in making scenarios since it is no fun to drive if you know where all the AI trains are going to be.

What they REALLY need though is improved AI: especially improved dispatcher logic! Then random trains can be generated on a single track route, and the AI dispatcher will dynamically put trains into sidings as required. If they are working on the AI as part of this quick drive idea then maybe we can finally have single track routes in RW (which MSTS has had from day 1I should add).

Dynamic scenarios will not solve the problem. You will get stranger scenarios since you can clobber together anything you want. Passenger cars from a cement factory, tankers from a quarry, just imagine it, and it will become silly really quick.

[MikeK]

Dynamic scenarios will not solve the problem. You will get stranger scenarios since you can clobber together anything you want. Passenger cars from a cement factory, tankers from a quarry, just imagine it, and it will become silly really quick.

In my mind you set up a large pool of pre-made consists that make sense for the route and era, and there would be some way to tell the sim which of these to select from. It would randomly choose a handful of trains and put them on the main line, and you drive your train to the other again of the line against this opposing traffic. Of course this is boring on a double track main which is all that RW can do right now, but I am still hopeful that one day this sim will be able to support more interesting single track operations.

What would be really cool is if you could assign priorities to different trains, then the AI dispatcher would try to get faster trains to overtake slower trains as well!

But of course you are right, if we end up with activities that don't make sense it will get silly quickly!

Don't worry though, this is RSC we are talking about. I know that they will get it right the first time!

[PapaXpress]

Don't worry though, this is RSC we are talking about. I know that they will get it right the first time!

If only we lived in a comedy.

[artimrj]

Well it may not be a comedy but it is like being in a B movie.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

The gamepad, the Steam workshop with scenarios only, the automatic dispatcher and random AI movements show to me RSC has the intention to move TS2012 definitely into the game market.

But what XBox or other console maker will accept such a sloppy program?
Consoles fare because of the "ROM" type of plug-and-play games, albeit now mostly DVD's that require "activation" and a permanent connection to the Net for multi player gaming or paid subscription for new content, etc.

With the current state of TS2012 in even half decent hardware support and player experience and immersion, and with even the simplest of updates turning out to be a disaster for the majority of users, the chances of a successful entry in the game market are slim to nil, IMO.

But perhaps over in the UK it is quite a different prospect, I really don't know.

[MattW]

If they can implement this right, it sounds like a positive step forward, but I'll remain cautiously optimistic. PapaXpress is right in that a true randomizer will give even more bizarre results than the default scenarios, but a true randomizer wouldn't require much work on the part of the Railworks team to implement, but you'd end up with an SD40 leading an amfleet, two British gondolas, a superliner, and a Class43 on Siegerbahn doing an express passenger run from a freight siding to a random crossover before reversing. So it sounds like they're doing the legwork for this to generate some plausible if not completely accurate scenarios. I hope there's some route-specific file or setting that can be configured so you can set car types for each siding.

[PapaXpress]

I am interested to know what they were trying to hide in the youtube. They fuzzed out two times on the top of the screen.

[Machinist]

That's not exactly a new "technology", but a "tool" or "feature" instead.

Well, I do confess: I liked very much this, and will put often in good use.

Most of time, when working with my enhacements all I need is a single scenario, easy to set and - especailly- change start time, wheter, vehicles (as the new tool likely will do), to test engines etc.

Game's score of New Technologies X Needed Features is now (for me):
1 X 2

Doc.

[Cardinal51]

Think quick drive will be a great addition

Do you guys think it will be a payware add-on, free update, or part of TS2013 ?

I also hope they will add a route-map, how else will one be able to set the start- and end point of the journey.

[Rich_S]

Cool, now I'm be able to run the narrow gauge trains from the PP on the Northeast Corridor route, at midnight in a pouring rain. They forgot one option, complete elimination of all speed limits on the route so I can drive as fast as I want and not derail Maybe it's just me, but do the majority of Rail Works users just want to operate a train from point A to point B and look at the pretty scenery? What about having work orders and switching out and picking up cars at local industries along the route? Maybe it's just me, but it seems as though Rail Works is being transformed into a game? Yes, my opinion and my

[PamBrooker]

I'm retired and work is a four letter word ::lol:: seriously, i think you'll find its a nicely balanced mish mash of styles. Some people like switching, some people like to do pick-up/drop-off runs, others just like to free roam and snooze as they listen to the purr of the engines..

[ArcticCatZRT]

...others just like to free roam and snooze as they listen to the purr of the engines..

I am definitly in this category! This type of tool was in MSTS and I greatly enjoyed it, glad to see RW has worked it in!.

[snowstorm]

It's not the #1 thing want to hear (performance overhaul/optimisation) or what many others want to hear (e.g. improved physics), but seems like a welcome feature. Especially being able to conveniently set time of day, season and weather conditions - that's long overdue, though I wonder if it will be possible to select for scenarios rather than just the Quick Drive mode, regardless of the fact that setting the weather to sunny for a "winter storm" scenario would be inconsistent with its description (having the option to easily mix up time/weather to make up for the existing lack of variety seems more important).

[PamBrooker]

Wellllllllll, what i'd love to see is real time and time progression.. not just the time played in the game.. Sun-up sundown would suite me perfectly..