Cabin physics

[Suly]

 

Hello, I would like to apologize in advance for my English, I use Google Translate.

What I miss most about the game is the cabin physics simulation. It's like I'm riding a flat table. On curves, the train has to push it out of the curve, on crossings and bridges it has to swing, because these objects are hard compared to the rest of the gravel track. The same applies to switches, when I drive in a turning direction, there is a big shock. When I drive a Pendolino and drive 200kph, nothing happens even on a straight route, I doubt that all the tracks in Poland are so well paved. 🙂

I would like to ask the developers if they plan to implement this feature. It would change the driving experience and I think I'm not alone in missing this thing.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[mluczak.kutno]

In previous versions (since playtests or maybe even demo), cab physics was enabled. It didn't worked great, after reaching certain speed cab was simply swaying from left to right in completely predictive manner. For many players it looked completely unrealistic, so it seems that this feature was disabled in latest update (or maybe I'm blind or maybe I didn't had a chance to spot this, because game is so unstable...). 

45 minut temu, Suly napisał(a):

I'm not alone in missing this thing.

You are not alone, in Polish section there are many players with the same wish. Check this latest thread (in Polish, Google Translate will help)
 

 

[BigVern]

I thought it was just the EN57 etc that had this feature missed off. Hopefully the devs will add this back in otherwise if I want "bounce" the Class 142 on the TSW Blackpool route will need to be brought out to play!

[jayzhead]

On 11/27/2023 at 12:23 PM, mluczak.kutno said:

In previous versions (since playtests or maybe even demo), cab physics was enabled. It didn't worked great, after reaching certain speed cab was simply swaying from left to right in completely predictive manner. For many players it looked completely unrealistic, so it seems that this feature was disabled in latest update (or maybe I'm blind or maybe I didn't had a chance to spot this, because game is so unstable...). 

The feature was not disabled, it was never really there. Cab sway simulation needs to be dynamic and physics dependant, and that never existed. A simple side-to-side swaying animation is baked into some of the trains in the game, and not others. The EU07/08 still sway from side to side like they always have - you can notice it easily when you look at the sky through the window for example, or if you get up from the chair while driving and see the train rock back and forth around your avatar. The elf also has a slight sway animation, especially on points, while the pendolino and the EN57 don't have it at all. While the simple side to side animation is better than nothing, it's not at all satisfactory for a sim of this detail level IMO. Cab sway is implemented in pretty much all of the major (and minor) train sims nowadays. It's especially good in Diesel Railcar Simulator, and with the recent update to Derail Valley it became top notch there as well.

This is by far the feature I personally want most, but unfortunately the devs never mention working on it. In the polish thread you linked the dev responding is also brushing the issue aside claiming that making the cab sway is unnecessary for the sim - "I don't see such a need" he claims, at least through translate it seems.

Edited November 29, 2023 by jayzhead

[mluczak.kutno]

13 godzin temu, jayzhead napisał(a):

The feature was not disabled

Are you sure? Yesterday I spent a couple hours driving Elf and I didn't notice swaying. I think I need to take a closer look. I was also driving EU07, but with a heavy freight on the back you don't have many occasions to speed up and notice swaying.

 

13 godzin temu, jayzhead napisał(a):

EN57 don't have it at all

Well, that old beast should bounce A LOT. Thanks to bogie construction, EN57 (and EN71, they are very similar in that matter) have massive problems with hunting oscilations. Those oscilations are brutal, you don't want to stand inside that train when those things happen. They also generate a lot of specific sounds. Unfortunately, neither hunting or sounds of it are present in the game.

That's how it looks in real life:
https://youtu.be/mkIk-UNB8cQ?t=46

A little offtopic. There is a completely free polish train simulator, called "Maszyna EU07". EN57 is also implemented there and it's very fun to drive. Noisy and bouncy, just like it should be 🙂 Fun fact: a couple of years ago, some developers left Maszyna team and joined Simrail. Some say, that Simrail should be called "Maszyna v2.0", but right now it's more like "Maszyna v0.5". Too many features are missing and the only clear advantages over old Maszyna ( BTW this game is around 20 years old) are graphics and scenery. Well, unlike to Maszyna, Simrail also has multiplayer mode, but after spending almost 200h hours in it I had enough and switched to singleplayer.

13 godzin temu, jayzhead napisał(a):

This is by far the feature I personally want most

Yeah, I would also like to have it properly implemented. As you said, devs are not interested in it, at least not right now. What a pity! And also a major immersion breaker...

[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]

Thanks for reminding me about Maszyna, mluczak.kutno. I played it many many years back. Just installing the latest version, after i believe seeing that it includes the SU45 and SU46.

[jayzhead]

There is also the polish community-driven "Train Driver 2" which also recently gained cab sway and is multiplayer. I want to give it a try one of these days, but free time is not forthcoming lately 😶

I might be wrong about the elf's sway animation, it might only really be visible when going over points. I seem to remember there was very slight sway but I wasn't really driving it lately. The old locos are most definitely (unrealistically) swaying with no regards to physics, but since the camera is locked in with the sway you can only notice it if you get up from the seat or look at the sky or the catenary.