TS future

[AmericanSteam]

If they came out with too much information it would probably cause declines on their sales.
If I knew the release date was close I know that I would hang on to my money..

[JerryC]

I've actually ported part of the C30-7 into the Unreal Engine. I'm kind of optimistic about it, cause if it does what I think it does, it may do away with all of the shaders we currently have to insert in our materials in favor of ones built into the Engine. Still haven't figured out though how animated parts will attach and work. Maybe we need a "UE4 Developers Brainstorming" Forum section.

[buzz456]

If they came out with too much information it would probably cause declines on their sales.
If I knew the release date was close I know that I would hang on to my money..

If you think everyone is going to immediately abandon TS2016 when this much hyped new product comes out I think you are mistaken. I personally have far too much time invested in addons, third party routes and modifications to even think about a new sim regardless of how great some new graphics are.

[JerryC]

What Buzz said. And i'll add "The best is yet to come!"

[ZekTheKid]

The new UE4 TS will just be another sim that I will have in my possession, and I've already bought quite a couple of addons, might as well put hem to use.

[Overshoe]

If you think everyone is going to immediately abandon TS2016 when this much hyped new product comes out I think you are mistaken. I personally have far too much time invested in addons, third party routes and modifications to even think about a new sim regardless of how great some new graphics are.

I agree completely. I have more trains than I can drive, more routes than I can explore now and with creators like Jerry and Ian and Dick and the several MIkes and all the others making stuff and/or repainting stuff. And with Buzz and others making repaints and routes... Don't need another sim. Got all I want right here.
Sure, if the introductory price is low enough I'll try the new sim if it comes out before I die, but unless it leaves my living room smelling like Union Station platform in the 50s I probably won't use it much.

[Ericmopar]

I'll believe it, when I see it...

Based on what Jerry said, I'd be curious if it will be practical to eventually import some of our favorite engines and rolling stock into the UE4 sim.

[JerryC]

There are a lot of unknowns there. ASSUMING that there will be some sort of published pipeline about what would be needed to be done to get a current model converted to Unreal, the person who holds the Origin mesh for the model could convert it. Max and Blender natively export the FBX format. 3DCrafter would be out of luck, unless you exported the 3DC model to Blender first, which I can assure you is not a pleasant experience.

The big question is going to be the same as it was for converting TrainSimModeler files from MSTS to Railworks and beyond. UE4 may make our current models look pretty bad without some serious upgrades, so will it be worth the while?

[Griphos]

TS2016 graphics are very tired now. The trains themselves are usually great, and we have had wonderful improvements in realism for them. But the scenery we drive through looks mostly the same, and some aspects of it, like water features, or rocks, just look so 90s, graphically. I'm looking forward to the new engine, and haven't bought anything for a while in TS2016 as I have plenty of nice routes and don't need any more that are still stuck in this old engine. Weardale & Teesdale was the last purchase for me, I think. That route is a lovely and loving homage to a particular era and place and was worth it.

[JerryC]

I think the graphics in TS are pretty darn good! On some screenshots you have to glance at it a second time to realize it's not a real life photo.

How real are we wanting the graphics to get? Federation Holodeck resolution? I for one need a little bit of fakery in my sims. I get quite enough of the real world when I open my eyes every day.

[buzz456]

What Jerry said.

[BNSFdude]

Id just like it if I didn't make my roomom hot just running the dumb game.

[peterhayes]

Jerry
Have you had a look at DTG's Euro Fishing Sim to see if you can add or change items - that's UE4 64-bit so it will be similar to TSUE4 when released?
Any issues when changing TS2016 DLC from Direct X 9.0c to DirectX 11.0/12.0, the latter should be in the UE4 engine?
pH

[JerryC]

I have not taken a look at their fishing sim. I'm just waiting to see how things go just like everyone else. However, this evening I started doubling down on my efforts to convert one of my locomotives to UE4. Look for the results in in the form of pictures or a how-to in a month or so.

@AW - water cooling is great. The Haswells run hot, and shadow baking literaly does create temps hot enough to bake!

[OldProf]

Not to derail this fascinating exercise in speculation, but what do you folks think life on Mars is like?

What do you mean, it's too early to tell?