NEC New York - Random Observations

[Tomcat]

Spawn walking on the Hell Gate bridge. From this vantage point almost the entire 13.5 mile length of Manhattan should be the dominant feature on the Western horizon. In TSW it's almost completely absent. For what it's worth my graphics settings are set to high or to Ultra for the all the settings that have Ultra as an option.

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Similar view in TS2018 on the New York - New Haven DLC. It's a decent representation of the skyline from this angle.

Screenshot_New York to New Haven_40.78116--73.91892_07-18-13.jpg

And lastly one of my location scouting photos showing how the skyline looks from Astoria Park. This covers the skyline from approximately 74th street to 96th street. If you zoom in and look closely at the skyline on the far left you can just make out the top of the Empire State Building which is about 40 blocks further South.

AstoriaPark01.jpg

If you don't live here than this probably is not something you care about but since I do live here it's kind of disappointing. I was expecting TSW to give a much more accurate and impressive view of the city, not so much less than TS20XX.

[Tomcat]

Had to post one more image from Google Earth to show how dense the skyline is. I can't think of one route builder on these forums who would not try to duplicate this view, and then fail only because it was beyond the capabilities of the program itself and not for the lack of trying.

GEAstoriaPark01.jpg

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Could that skyline have been a flat backdrop and still look convincing?
AFAIK, you cannot wander on foot very far off the track centerline, what about flying far and high in 2 or 3 view?

[ex-railwayman]

Everybody has to remember now that this is an XBox route for an XBox game - not something designed for a PC Simulator to the degree that we have experienced up to TS2018. Do you guys really think DTG are going to take anything up to a year, or, more, to build highly detailed lavishly created cityscapes depicting in full the area surrounding that particular route's location, then, you're in for a really looooooooooooong wait. The demographic for these XBoxers that DTG will cater for now is for Multiplayer, career scenario achievements and chasing round collecting hard hats, do you think today's kids are more interested in the new modern designs of such architects as Santiago Calatrava and Frank Gehry, I don't think so, somehow.

Cheerz. Steve.

[plovdiv21]

Everybody has to remember now that this is an XBox route for an XBox game - not something designed for a PC Simulator to the degree that we have experienced up to TS2018. Do you guys really think DTG are going to take anything up to a year, or, more, to build highly detailed lavishly created cityscapes depicting in full the area surrounding that particular route's location, then, you're in for a really looooooooooooong wait.

Cheerz. Steve.

+1
And also note the empty street and repetitive pattern for the water.

[OldProf]

Hmmmmm . . . How's the view from under the bridge, guys?

[Tomcat]

Nothing of Manhattan visible from looking under the bridges. At this location I should be standing right at the railing of the walkway along Shore Blvd. which would be just inside the Queens side towers of both bridges. If nothing else the water looks much better down low, up high it's repeating pattern is a distraction.

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About a half mile further East the only part of Manhattan visible is a small section of downtown with One World Trade being the tallest structure left of center. Just right of center should be mid-town with a very dense cluster of buildings including such iconic buildings as The Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, CitiCorp etc., etc., etc.

Notice how the RFK/Triborough bridge ends in mid-air. Another half mile East and the you would pass over Grand Central Parkway which is pretty much bumper to bumper traffic 24/7 with the only difference being rush hour is 3 mph and off-hours is 50 mph but in TSW there is no traffic at all - anywhere (well, I might have seen a moving vehicle somewhere, can't remember offhand).

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While TSW is gorgeous at times, this route feels rushed with perhaps concessions made for xbox, which is a shame. I would love to see the full NEC someday but I think that will only be realized if tools are released and cactusjuice and crew have a crack at it.

I really want to like TSW. I really want to try route building in TSW. So much potential with, unfortunately, the equal potential for it all to be wasted.