Canadian Route Coming Soon from RSC... [Rogers/Kicking Horse Pass]

[Toripony]

I've been busy/away for a while... glad to see this is released. I'm surprised there's scarce mention yet about the new braking, which is my main interest in this route. There was a lot of very geeky discussions in beta about US train braking to make that enhancement; I couldn't follow some of it but I think DG/RSC understands it now. If I understood correctly, it took some core change to make it possible, which is why I'm looking forward to repaints of this model someday and am hoping DG adds the enhancement to future models.

I got to test drive it a while back at difficulty level 2... it was the most realistic mountain driving experience I've had yet. It felt real enough that I actually felt fear at running past the red at the bottom of a grade (until now it's been wayyy too easy to stop), but ended up pleased with myself for stopping about as perfectly as could be! It definitely wasn't the same "armchair drive" that has bored me in my attempts to enjoy heavy-train, mountain railroading so far. Mastering each difficulty level and working up to level 4 adds a new challenge to the game, I think.

It's still not a completely realistic braking system (which DG is aware of) because, as I understand it, some things like bailoff would require more difficult core work, but I would like to publicly thank Matt and the others who worked to implement this enhancement. As soon as my life quiets down again, I might be playing engineer more often than I used to thanks to this new ride.

[dr1980]

I agree, the new braking system makes slow, mountain railroading much much more interesting and challenging before.

It would be great to see this retrofitted to previous releases.

I think the documentation that came with Mapleleaftracks' Rogers Pass had documentation (from CP) on train handling, minimum brake reductions over certain areas etc, I'm going to dig that out since that type of guidance is now very useful.

I wonder what we'll see for DLC? I'm thinking multimark SD40s, and/or SD40F red barns. VIA Rail, Rocky Mountaineer, or even CP for Pax operations...

[awaken1977]

In short: route is good, and quite long to provide hours and hours of driving.
Scenery is OK , but lacks of fine details like grass or small brush, that's why it looks quite "MSTS-ish" .

To learn brake operation, there is a special training scenario, it helped me a lot.
Without that, I tried scenario and ran over red light twice.

[Chacal]

I think the documentation that came with Mapleleaftracks' Rogers Pass had documentation (from CP) on train handling, minimum brake reductions over certain areas etc, I'm going to dig that out since that type of guidance is now very useful.

It does.
http://www.mapleleaftracks.com/files/fr ... uments.pdf

[GP15Dash1]

Anyone else notice that the windshield wipers squeak?

Nice touch.

[bpetit]

dern I wanna copy those brakes over to the all the SD40-2s. I only understand simulation files though, I can't wrap my head around script.

[Chacal]

And anyway I suppose the lua source code is not included, sadly.
Reppo delivered his Baldwin centipede with the source included, I can't see why the others don't do that.

[AdmiralLeviathan]

I think if I have to find a weak link with the route it would definitely be scenery. It's not as bad as Donner Pass Mk.I, but it's not as good as Marias pass or Donner Pass Mk.II

The scenery looks good on the parts of the line near Kicking Horse Pass and the Spiral Tunnels, but everything past the big tunnels on Rodgers Pass looks very barren and, I'd hate to use the term, looks very rushed. The roads look out of place, since they're very bright and placed over dark grass without a gravel or dirt texture underneath. The vegetation in the open field areas is sparse to nonexistent on Rodgers Pass. I understand this region doesn't have a lot of plants growing, but any areas where it does in real life look bad in the game.

Since I'm not much of a realism/physics/driving buff this route seemed woefully underwhelming to me. The new Canadian rollingstock is nice, but just one locomotive seems a bit cheap to me. I was expecting at least two (The ES44DC which we got and an SD40 which seems to be the standard).

The braking physics doesn't impress me. I'm not qualified to say how accurate it is since I'm not associated with the Railroads or driven a train in real life. I'm not saying it's bad or incorrect braking, but I'm not blown away by it since it just seems like slightly different momentum physics to me. I totally believe it's a massive improvement but I don't think that alone makes this route worth $40.

[plethaus]

I agree somewhat about the scenery, although in my opinion I wouldn't call it 'woefully underwhelming.' I just think the route would benefit a LOT by using some gravel or sand textures to represent shoulders around roads and trails, to help them blend in better. Same thing with housing and such.. they really need something underneath them to 'blend in' better with the terrain. As it is right now it's very old-school looking. I still enjoy the route because the scenery (in a 'grand' sense) looks really awesome. It just kinda falls apart when you're looking out at the scenery from the cab windows. Stevens and Marias are pretty much the set the bar now for this type of route.

Here's to hoping it can be improved with updates and not just forgotten like most of the other DLC...

[OldProf]

Anyone else notice that the windshield wipers squeak?

Nice touch.

Could that have been your desk chair?

[GP15Dash1]

Anyone else notice that the windshield wipers squeak?

Nice touch.

Could that have been your desk chair?

Ha! At first, I thought it was something outside. It's barely perceptible. Definitely timed to the movement of the wipers, though, and doesn't happen with the wipers off.

[bpetit]

I think if I have to find a weak link with the route it would definitely be scenery. It's not as bad as Donner Pass Mk.I, but it's not as good as Marias pass or Donner Pass Mk.II

The scenery looks good on the parts of the line near Kicking Horse Pass and the Spiral Tunnels, but everything past the big tunnels on Rodgers Pass looks very barren and, I'd hate to use the term, looks very rushed. The roads look out of place, since they're very bright and placed over dark grass without a gravel or dirt texture underneath. The vegetation in the open field areas is sparse to nonexistent on Rodgers Pass. I understand this region doesn't have a lot of plants growing, but any areas where it does in real life look bad in the game.

Since I'm not much of a realism/physics/driving buff this route seemed woefully underwhelming to me. The new Canadian rollingstock is nice, but just one locomotive seems a bit cheap to me. I was expecting at least two (The ES44DC which we got and an SD40 which seems to be the standard).

The braking physics doesn't impress me. I'm not qualified to say how accurate it is since I'm not associated with the Railroads or driven a train in real life. I'm not saying it's bad or incorrect braking, but I'm not blown away by it since it just seems like slightly different momentum physics to me. I totally believe it's a massive improvement but I don't think that alone makes this route worth $40.

Rushed? Its been in the works for almost a year.

[tsayyote]

Anyone else use the RailDriver? I can't get the train brake to respond to the RD. It's the Pacific Surfliner fiasco all over again. I tried the stock RD script and also the modified 'combined handle' script but no go. Looking forward to the running the new braking system, but I'm spoiled with the RD.

[buzz456]

Anyone else use the RailDriver? I can't get the train brake to respond to the RD. It's the Pacific Surfliner fiasco all over again. I tried the stock RD script and also the modified 'combined handle' script but no go. Looking forward to the running the new braking system, but I'm spoiled with the RD.

I think this would more likely be answered in the problems thread but who knows.

[tsayyote]

my bad, buzz, i'll redirect my question there if I can't figure it out soon.