Rail improvements for ATS

[Felk]

Since the beginning of discussion about railcars in Wyoming thread, some of us stated about a lot of improvements in ATS regarding the depictions of railways and it's industry in ATS. Despite ATS being a trucking game, railroads moves the majority of freight inside US, and trucking and rail industry have very close ties, mainly at intermodal sector and helps to develop and add realism and complexity even more to game.

So, not to pollute any other thread regarding this, I took the opportunity to bring this new area to discuss and add new horizons for our beloved game.

[poozykrem]

Keeping in mind that this is a game about trucking, i'm absolutely cool with the current state of railroads

[Tails]

would be nice if freight trains were longer making railroad crossings more interesting to watch.

[plykkegaard]

Yes it is a game about trucking but without roads, traffic, freight, warehouses, industrial compounds, ports, cities, mining, hazards, weather, trains, railways, bridges etc
It wouldn't be much of game about trucking

[gt379]

Yes, good thread, I will bring some information later when time allows

[flight50]

@plykkegaard agreed. We all are fully aware that this is a game about trucks. Not one person here has asked to drive trains or make the game about trains. Quite simple.........trains are in the game and are a part of the game..like it or not. We have trains sounds now with fmod, but don't stop there. I don't see an issue with bring more immersion to all elements in the environment. This thread was created to avoid derailing other threads so here we are. If you are content with the current state of trains, this thread is not for you. All people are saying is get the correct rail cars in the game. We have train depots in the game to deliver to and from. As more and more industries come, more and more cargo will come. All cargo in the US goes thru rail, sea, air or land transport by trucks. Like it or not, trucks are huge parts of transport as sea ports and inland ports. SCS has provided both. In order to get certain cargoes shipped by train, we need the correct rail cars to go with the game in unison. You can't just throw any car in the game and expect immersion to be there for everyone. If one doesn't care about railcars.....so be it. Some care, some don't.

With all the details that SCS is going above and beyond with, they might as well make proper rail cars. Prime example is here viewtopic.php?p=1354019#p1354019 when I wrote a post about ports. We don't have railcars for autos in ATS. If ATS gets a revamp like ETS2, we should be able to haul cars to and from train depots but for immersion purposes, we need those particular rail cars.

Coal. If it comes with Wyoming, proper cars would be nice so that coal cargo could possible come. Oil, sand, gravel, grains.....there are remote train depots out in the middle of nowhere irl life. We can get those same type of depots but we need the right rail cars to go along with them to make them valid trucking depots.

Want more immersion..........bring two locomotives. Its very very rare to see a US freight train with a single locomotive. Find a way to make longer trains. If mods can do it, there has to be a way to make it stable and for vanilla. Again, everyone is fully aware this is a truck game. If we can get a variety in AI cars in traffic, people want better AI behavior, we have AI trucks...........what's wrong with wanting more AI rail cars if the other AI is also part of the environment? Nothing AI will be under our control, its for immersion. What's the point of continuing to fake stuff if SCS has upped their game on many details across the board. Its always the smallest details that makes the difference. Can't loose site of that.

[akima]

- Currently trains are able to brake extremely quickly and unrealistically. I saw an NPC vehicle get stuck on a track and the train stopped like it was a sports car. I'd much rather it slowly came to a stop and if it hits the car, so be it.

- I'm not sure, but it seems like the g_traffic variable also effects train spawn frequency. My g_traffic value is 2.3, which for me is close to perfect, however sometimes I've noticed delays at certain railroad crossings as one train after another comes in quick succession.

- Would be nice if there was an animation for lifting shipping containers off the truck and onto a train carriage (where applicable).

[gt379]

I'm not sure, but it seems like the g_traffic variable also effects train spawn frequency. My g_traffic value is 2.3, which for me is close to perfect, however sometimes I've noticed delays at certain railroad crossings as one train after another comes in quick succession.

I too am not sure about that but I think you found it!

I did not change the traffic variable and I don't have this "double in a row" train that you are experiencing.

My suggestion (it is the rail topic after all !!),

rail vehicle spawn should have its own line in the "config" file so that you still can have the appropriate number of road traffic (at your liking I mean) and have a more realistic train spawn....

[Some newbie driver]

g_traffic variable has always affected all traffic, trains included, in both games. And it's very well known (and warned by SCS) that values over 1 can cause problems; one of them being stuck at railroad crossings due excessive train traffic. Said differently, to increase g_traffic variable is not the proper way to have a "realistic" traffic mix but just to have problems.

And about train length int he game; I asked in other place a few days ago but nobody answered. What's the actual length of trains in ATS? I mean vanilla ATS without any modification.

Regards

[plykkegaard]

Too short, but longer than ETS2
8 to 10 cars?