Drivers

[TheShotte]

I've posted this days ago in the Bugs section, and it's still pending approval. Maybe that was the wrong section for it, so I'm trying again. As many of you may have noticed, there is no driver in your own locomotive when you switch to the external view (default key 2). Obviously, this shows up in screenshots. Also, AI controlled trains do not have any drivers as well. I cannot be the only person that takes issue with this. I mean, whenever I see a train without a driver in the game (I learned not to look already) it just breaks my immersion (at first I even panicked a little because runaway train, no joke).

So you end up getting lovely screenshots like this:

Which are contradictory. If the locomotive was stopped, the fact that there is no driver wouldn't be that awkward, however, the motion blur insinuates speed, and thus the picture looks completely wrong without a driver. This is effectively a screenshot of a runaway train.

Thoughts? Comments? Like I said, I cannot be the only one that takes any sort of issue with this. I know the developers are doing a super job in developing this game, and I realize the amount of work that they have on their plate, for sure things more important than this, but I just want to make sure it gets noticed. I mean, for a simulator that is supposed to realistically represent railroad operation...

Edited December 17, 2022 by TheShotte

[Pixelade]

agree with you, feels off. would be nice if at least real people driving a service showed a driver in the seat.

[TheShotte]

Just now, Pixelade said:

agree with you, feels off. would be nice if at least real people driving a service showed a driver in the seat.

100%. Even if it's a random character. I wouldn't even mind the race or sex of the driver, as long as there was someone. 

[pschlik]

This reminds me of a moment where I was in the orbiting camera and underneath the camera I saw the shadow of a floating person, as if my character was attached to the camera. Never been able to reproduce it, but it does seem to imply the game assumes your character is located where your camera is. So if you aren't in the cab camera, then no driver. And AI trains have no player in the cab camera, thus AI trains have no driver. Doesn't seem very well thought out to me.

[Pixelade]

43 minutes ago, pschlik said:

This reminds me of a moment where I was in the orbiting camera and underneath the camera I saw the shadow of a floating person, as if my character was attached to the camera. Never been able to reproduce it, but it does seem to imply the game assumes your character is located where your camera is. So if you aren't in the cab camera, then no driver. And AI trains have no player in the cab camera, thus AI trains have no driver. Doesn't seem very well thought out to me.

i've been seeing some crazy weird stuff too!

 

honestly i recommend downloading OBS and just screen recording while you play if you happen to have enough hard drive space incase anything weird happens, you have it documented. great to do even if you don't plan to upload the footage anywhere. 🙂

Edited December 17, 2022 by Pixelade

[TheShotte]

13 minutes ago, pschlik said:

This reminds me of a moment where I was in the orbiting camera and underneath the camera I saw the shadow of a floating person, as if my character was attached to the camera. Never been able to reproduce it, but it does seem to imply the game assumes your character is located where your camera is. So if you aren't in the cab camera, then no driver. And AI trains have no player in the cab camera, thus AI trains have no driver. Doesn't seem very well thought out to me.

Funny you say that, this coincides with my theory. I've been thinking that the player model MUST be attached to the camera, because when you're in exterior cam, others can't see you inside the cab either. So the reason why we're not seeing a person in our cabs is because like you said, the person is with the camera. That's kind of funny. They're fantastic at making sims, truly incredible, but when it comes to making games...

Numpad 2 needs to create/use a separate ghost camera, leaving the initial player cam and model in the cab. As far as AI locos, they need to spawn with a player model attached to the seat socket (even the player model is doing some default animation the whole time for now), but I would like to see fully animated player models at some point, but this part is nowhere near essential, as long as they're there I'll be satisfied.

To devs - remember: as realistic as playable. At some point you will make concessions for the sake of gameplay, such is the way of developing virtual worlds for others. Whether it be hardware or technology restrictions, or playability restrictions, at some points we simply must give.

Edited December 17, 2022 by TheShotte

[TheShotte]

Just a side note, yeah, so whenever playing online, and a fellow driver switches to exterior view, his character is removed from the locomotive. You don't see people floating in the air above their trains, but I'm assuming that's because they're hiding the player model.

[Bescot]

I noticed if you teleport from your cab via the 2 key nobody else can see your avatar, but if you leave via the cab door and jump down they can. This supports Shotte's theory.