Career system unfair!

[OldProf]

Hold onto your hats, forum regulars, as I reveal that I decided to try playing a career system scenario -- driving a passenger train, no less. I picked something that sounded at least vaguely interesting from the Hamburg-Hannover route, which offers only career scenarios, a blatant smack in the kisser to avid amateurs and beleaguered bums everywhere. Well, lemme tell ya how it went down, kiddos: the first maneuver involved driving an ICE 2 train from a storage area to a station track and loading passengers there. I already knew that watching the speed limit was important to "My Brilliant Career", so I throttled up from 0 to 40 to 60 to an amazing 120 (on the way from "garage" to "street"???). The next speed limit in the ribbon was 60, so I started braking and got down to 60 in good time ... only to be docked many, many points because the actual speed new limit was 40, not 60.

Unfair to drivers, I say! If management can't play without cheating, what chance is there for a career? Let me hear it, guys and gals ...

Strike!

Strike!!

Strike!!!!

Or just go for a non-career? Who can get the least points from a given scenario? Yeah! That's more like it. Teach the bums a lesson! Up with downness!

Go Pogo! "We has met the enemy and they is us!!!

[thecanadianrail]

I had the same issue with a scenario for marias pass using the GP38-2, you are told to go to the elevator to pick up some loaded hoppers, the track says that the speed drops to 15mph, well it did, but then about 200ft after that it drops to 10mph without any indication that its going to. (nothing on the "hud" and no speed signs)

There is defiantly some bugs in this scenario mode.

[OlPaint]

I have yet to successfully complete any of the canned/bundled CS scenarios for any of my DLC routes. When I run the scenario, I get check marks for all the task list items but at the very last task item, it says I failed to complete all the tasks. And then I am rewarded with a RED X for my efforts.

Then I discovered the Standard Tab and ran the identical Horseshoe curve standard scenario, I have never looked back. IMHO, the timetable requirements for completing a CS scenario successfully are un-attainable.

OlPaint

[wackyhuman]

> only to be docked many, many points because the actual speed new limit was 40, not 60

Stop watching the HUD and start watching the signals. Hamburg - Hannover, but also Cologne - Dusseldorf, have speed restriction applied by the signals that do not show up in the HUD. Or, in some cases, the speed limit is applied before the the speed limit in the HUD. You have to watch the signals. This is not unfair to drivers, but the reality of railroading in TS201x.

[OldProf]

> only to be docked many, many points because the actual speed new limit was 40, not 60

Stop watching the HUD and start watching the signals. Hamburg - Hannover, but also Cologne - Dusseldorf, have speed restriction applied by the signals that do not show up in the HUD. Or, in some cases, the speed limit is applied before the the speed limit in the HUD. You have to watch the signals. This is not unfair to drivers, but the reality of railroading in TS201x.

Now, there's a concept! Look at a signal as you pass it at 120 kph and try to slow to 40 by the time that limit takes effect about 10 k down the track. Sure! By the bye, I don't buy your argument: if route creators are going to put speed limits in the ribbon, they ought to put them all in. Experienced drivers in the real world surely know the limits of the routes they drive, but that's not very feasible for simulator drivers, so the career system remains unfair in my opinion.

However, I did learn something yesterday. I'd read about the AFB Speed Control in the ICE 2 manual, but hadn't tried it yet. So, I quickly put together a Free-Roam scenario and experimented at driving with AFB: it seemed to handle quick speed changes well. Today, perhaps I'll find time to try it in an actual scenario.

[wackyhuman]

I almost always drive with the AFB. Makes sticking to the speed easy.

However a note of warning. On the Cologne-Dusseldorf route the AFB reacts different from the Hanover-Hamburg route. Or to be precise, the AFB reacts the same, the LZB works slightly different. Even within the different trains it reacts slightly different. On Hamburg-Hanover it will control the speed of your train, increasing speed and slowing down when needed, almost like an auto-pilot. On Cologne-Dusseldorf it will not, but it will show the speed you need.

Not sure on the how's and why's, I haven't been in Germany in over 8 years and I'm by far not the biggest expert on German safety systems.
Experiment, but... you will still have to watch the signals and or in-cab display and not just the HUD. :)

[OldProf]

Yah! und donut nisht der XYZ und die MNOPs unter den linden ferghetten bissen!

Thanks for elevating my confusion level! I'll just go back to running whatever scenario strikes me as interesting in my own way, ignoring the career ladder -- pretty much as I did while teaching college for 25 years.