Idea - Trainspotters on the map, passengers with bags

[Atoka220]

This is just an unimportant idea but i think it would make simrail's world even more lively if there would be random occasional trainspotter characters pointing a camera at trains or standing there having a camera on a tripod near stations, on platforms or on open tracks near cities

On the other hand, passengers on platforms should be packed with smaller or bigger bags as passengers using trains always carry some bags packed to the brim. Either backpacks, traveling bags, sports bags, etc (and of course we need more passengers if time and performance will allow it in the future)

[Angelo]

Whilst all of these ideas are pretty neat, having more passengers would really make a difference: as of today, Warszawa Centralna looks like we're back in march 2020, and it's not the only place that gives such an odd sensation. I do understand there may be some performance issue, though.

[Glendathu]

I don't know if that is really such a good idea in Warzawa Centralna because of framerates. This is the only station where the framerate drops dramatically. I don't think that more passengers are helpful there...

[Angelo]

Maybe a setting for biasing the passengers quantity could help with that? But sure, in general more people means worse performances.

[jeroezie]

Theire is already such a setting for cars. Maybe the dev's could consider a simular setting for passengers.

[weezzah]

On 1/23/2024 at 7:41 PM, Glendathu said:

I don't know if that is really such a good idea in Warzawa Centralna because of framerates. This is the only station where the framerate drops dramatically. I don't think that more passengers are helpful there...

To crowd places like Warszawa Centralna they could use character models with optimized geometry and no animation, which is cheap compared to having multiple animated characters walking around. A non-animated character would probably only require a surrounding box collision to not be walked through by AI or players. In terms of crowd variation over time on multiplayer servers, one could shuffle these static characters around when there are no players nearby, or when the server restarts.

And another thing; backpacks, luggage, purses, etc is a perfect fit for static characters since these characters do not move around which minimizes possible visual glitches as in mesh intersections. Static characters could even have large suitcases standing next to them.

[jayzhead]

While I'd love to see luggage added to passengers, I think the passenger system as a whole in the game has much more pressing issues that need to be addressed first. As was already mentioned, the passenger quantity is laughably small, and given current performance concerns I understand that it would be difficult to implement many more of them, but it should be considered a priority to work on, there are train sims that manage much more animated passengers than simrail currently does, so I suppose it must be possible with some clever coding. But even the passengers that are currently in the game need an urgent behavioral upgrade. For starters, most of them don't ever even get on the train, even on local service platforms that only have one service stopping - what exactly are they waiting for, I wonder, if most passengers on the platform ignore the only train that stops at said platform for the next hour? Also, the few passengers that do want to get on, tend to spread out across the entire platform - which is unrealistic behavior - people IRL tend to bunch together, towards the middle of the platform, and on top of that the passengers in simrail only "wake up" to walk to the train after you've opened the doors, which means most of the time they are left behind as they need to walk for a long time to reach the train, especially if it is a short train stopped in a reasonable mid-platform position. Also, they often walk for ages to a random door down the train's length instead of walking to the door closest to them.

So, a few relatively easy fixes that will not affect the game's performance in the slightest would be:

* Make passengers stand closer together, towards the middle of the platform, mostly closest to the platform entrance points (stairs, underground corridors, etc). Definitely not all the way at the very end of the platform, beyond the stop points, where many of them tend to spawn now.

* Have passengers start walking towards the train when it approaches the platform, as it happens IRL: people will usually get up and start walking towards a door while the train in still slowing down at the platform.

* Have the passengers get on the door closest to them at any given moment, and not stubbornly slow-walk all the way down half the length of the train, making you late

* Have most, if not all, passengers that are waiting on the platform get on the g'damn train, and not just stand there waiting for Godot 😛

Edited May 14 by jayzhead

[Azrael]

I wouldn't like to see the passengers transformed into some 2D Mesh, they should stay 3D and moving around, that is actually a pretty important part of making the world feel alive.

But besides that I agree, they need improvements. Gathering near the Holding Area for a Train, taking the closest door... I mean just look at what IRL passengers do and copy that, we're not reinventing the wheel here.

[Jasonic]

I’m sure the passenger system seemed to work better in the early days of the playtest? does anyone else think so ?

[Maty556677]

Awesome idea, but I think that trainspotting in Poland is prohibited (?)

 

Edited June 6 by Maty556677

[the810]

9 hours ago, Maty556677 said:

Awesome idea, but I think that trainspotting in Poland is prohibited (?)

If you open the Reddit thread, you will find out it's not.

Do some staff members like to act like it is? Yes. I got screamed at for taking a pic of a train in Hidasnemethi some time ago 🙂 But that doesn't mean it's legally prohibited. In principle, you can trainspot anywhere in the EU unless there's a specific sign saying you can't (e.g. at some border stations with customs facilities, even if it's a bit dumb there too). The issue with some people trying to convince you otherwise has been present since forever, I always reply by inviting the person who claims so to call the police if they feel like I'm breaking the law. 

[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]

Platforms need amount of passengers set, in regards time of day. As can be adjusted in the platform properties in TSC.

So what the game really needs are public editors, so that we can do this.

Developers obviously have too much to cope with already.

As we are still in early access and the game was originally called SimRail 2021.