Donner pass and extension update??

[Hawk]

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[PamBrooker]

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Thanks Hawk.. Will do..

So, theres a hill somewhere between Cheyenne and Portland thats being released in July ( shrmans hill?? ) and thats cool, although Wyoming/ Montana has some of the most boring country side i've ever seen, it still demands a heck of a good lash up to move the freight through there.. It could be good route.. But i'm still kind of interested in learning peoples reasons for why they think donner pass sux. Are folks just being rivet counters or are there some serious problems with the route.. ???

[micaelcorleone]

(...)But i'm still kind of interested in learning peoples reasons for why they think donner pass sux. Are folks just being rivet counters or are there some serious problems with the route.. ???

Two words: trackwork and scenery!

The trackwork is just horrible. The grades change abruptly and superelevation in curves is way too much.
And the scenery is in some places very questionable. Especially the terrain textures are really bad in various places.

But a fix was promised to come out soon and the route also has its good sides.

[PapaXpress]

To add to that. DP does not look like the Sierras. The mountains may be DEMed correctly but the trees, and ground textures are from some other place.

[Rich_S]

(...)But i'm still kind of interested in learning peoples reasons for why they think donner pass sux. Are folks just being rivet counters or are there some serious problems with the route.. ???

Hi Pam,
Like Micael mentioned, the gradient changes are very abrupt. Another issue is with the hill, it should be more of a constant grade, RSC has modeled too many level locations on the hill. Another issue deals with Roseville yard, at the railroad east end of the yard the switch stands are all in the gauge of the track. There are also a few locations where you encounter sharp "S" curves that are even more distorted by the amount of super elevation used on the route. Nick covers some of the other problems in the video, which you may not have seen if it dies about halfway, so I'll repeat, like the floating cars on the highway, floating buildings, the dynamic brakes on all of the units are to strong (This is more of a Rail Works problem). Another major problem is one of the scenario's cannot be completed partly because of a new Rail Works feature. And lastly one of the scenarios has you adding helper power to a train that is already over powered.

Now that I've mentioned some of the bad parts about the route, lets talk a little about the positive aspects of the route. The route comes with talking hot box detectors (currently these only work with the supplied Donner Pass engines) During winter months, high snow banks appear along the Right of Way. During Winter months, snow will lay on the engines and the train will produce a blowing snow effect. RSC has added new scripting features first in the Horse Shoe Curve route and now in the Donner Pass route that can cause unit malfunctions while on the road, with some of these malfunctions causing the engines to shut down.

In closing I think one of the biggest problems with the Donner Pass route was, it followed the release of the Pennsy era Horseshoe curve route which really raised the Rail Works route bar. Just about everything new in Rail Works 3 Train Simulator 2012 was featured in the Horse Curve route, so it didn't take very many bugs in the Donner Pass route to bust that bubble. Being a route builder, it's fairly easy for me to correct a lot of issues with the Donner Pass route, the only problem is they said they were going to issues a update. I'd hate to spend a lot of time correcting the route for my own enjoyment, only to have steam over write it with RSC's update. So I guess it's a double edge sword, the longer I wait the less impressed I am with RSC's promise to fix what's wrong, but if I decide to fix it and then they over write it with something that is not up to what I did on my own, then again I'd be very upset with RSC. I guess in the long run, it just like the old car commercials, "Your Mileage may vary"

Regards,
Rich S.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

They do seem to take their time, RSC, don't they?

Why release a new route when your last effort is still broken? What have RSC learned from the Donner Pass debacle? Questions will be answered soon I think.

[glenn68]

Thats how they make money.

They do seem to take their time, RSC, don't they?

Why release a new route when your last effort is still broken? What have RSC learned from the Donner Pass debacle? Questions will be answered soon I think.

[PapaXpress]

Thats how they make money.

Or how they will not make money.

I have not made it a secret about how I feel about RCS's quality of work. DP was just the straw that broke my back. Until RCS gets its act together, I am not giving them a dime of my hard won wages.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

I agree with Papa. Unless the promised new route is good, which we will know shortly after its release, I will keep my money in my wallet coming vacation months.

Also I don't think there will be that much of a difference between the guessed Sherman Hill and Barstow - San Bernardino. Both are western US, feature barren wide open spaces, some mountains and some industries. Not that much of a difference, unless UP paid for its development .

I for one would rather have had a Tehachapi Loop extension to B-SB or more ATSF, UP, SP locomotives and rolling stock, again fort of expanding on what we already have.

I will wait and see how things evolve. Guessing and speculating is fun.

[glenn68]

I am leary as well. I did not like the Donner Pass but I paid for it. I was really hopeing for a SD9 but no avail.

Glenn

[Machinist]

I played a lot multiplayer mode of Trainz's Tehachapi route by JointedRail, awesome indeed, a hard work for dispatcher and very fun for engineers (sometimes boring going uphill slowly... or, when going downhill, waiting on sidings).

[PamBrooker]

Thanks Guys..
Its too bad really.. Ya'll know how much i love the sierra's, and i've become so tired of just driving my train around in little circles or chasing after the next car in the consist, but, in the flight sim world, planes are released broken all the time ( and for about the same amount of money ) and are never fixed ( my own work however is not among that group of companies . It would have been nice having a good long run through an area i love so much, and the only long run mountain rail in america ( Shermans hill is high plains even though its in the rockies ) but I'll hold my wallet for now, and keep hoping.. Maybe someone will do the eastern run between new york and florida. Theres some awful pretty mountains on the way down and itd be a really nice drive.. I'm just not into commuter trains like Ace or Bart, or anything thats more an oversized bus than anything else where you have to stop at every stop and it takes all day to go ten miles. heh. Give me a five engine lash up with a two mile consist and nothing but a road in front of me.. Way too much of a gypsy in my soul ::lol::
Thanks again..
Pam

[PamBrooker]

I played a lot multiplayer mode of Trainz's Tehachapi route by JointedRail, awesome indeed, a hard work for dispatcher and very fun for engineers (sometimes boring going uphill slowly... or, when going downhill, waiting on sidings).

I thought about trainz a few times, but i'd already purchased railworks and it was at a time when trainz wasnt a very good product. With my budget as tight as it is, i can only afford one so unfortunately i had to let trainz lay..

[PapaXpress]

Pam, there are several awesome mountain routes. Horse Shoe Curve (RSC), NSAND (SMMDigital - freeware), and Tenessee Pass (Marc "simmo413" Simpson - freeware), and that just the start.

Its been said before that RSC raised the bar with Horse Shoe Curve, and its no joke. Route builders took the challenge and poured their hearts twice over into their routes to meet or raise above this bar, and they have.

[PamBrooker]

Then i'm gonna have to take a serious look at horseshoe curve :0.. Friday is payday :). The others i'm gonna take a close look at too.. Been way too long since i've been able to just relax and have a lil fun..