Adaptable Radio Range

[Azrael]

So at the very least on DE1 (I guess on other servers too?) we usually have train drivers greeting dispatchers and other trains with their macrophone. While the train drivers can simply greet back with their macrophone, dispatchers usually greet back via the radio voice chat.

The problem is, radio range is fixed to several kilometers. So when you greet every train in a highly populated area like the Katowice-Sosnowiec-Dabrowa Gornicza Area or from DGZ to Zawierce, several dozen players are about to hear greetings from every dispatcher there.

A rather easy solution for that problem would be, if dispatchers and train drivers could adjust their radio range, these could be fixed 1 km steps down to minimum 1 km and it would only affect the sender. So if you as dispatcher have set it to 1 km and a train 8 km away contacts you via radio, you still hear it.

It would be nice, if there would be a visible, adjustable turning button or slider on the radio models ingame, but it would also be fine, if it would be in the HUD.

[Bazinga]

Solution is already mentioned in the game:

[Azrael]

vor 14 Stunden schrieb Bazinga:

Solution is already mentioned in the game:

Well, this is a game, a short greeting can't hurt, it's just that it is not necessary for all players within like 15 km to hear it.

People tend to do a lil socializing in games. Let them.

Edited June 25 by Azrael

[Bazinga]

If short greeting can't hurt - why are we even discussing in this thread? On polish servers we use horn to greet the other driver or dispatcher. And even this can be annoying, as due to the nature of the sound it can be a jump scare when properly timed. The majority of voice comms is just [train number] ready to departure/hold x minutes we're prioritizing the route/get ready to departure etc. everything that smooths out the traffic flow.

PL2 is busiest server and it doesn't feel cluttered at all, just because people use push-to-talk for important stuff, chat for less important, but still traffic/game related things. Saying hello to everyone over the mic is unnecessary and simply annoying to people that don't want to participate in it, as they cannot mute it without being cut-off from dispatchers.

It's like smoking indoors and then nagging about the smell, asking for more fans to blow out the smoke. Just comply to the "no smoking" sign and the problem will be solved. Don't act like you and the person you meet are not the main characters on the server, not everyone have to know you both met each other.

Edited June 25 by Bazinga

[Azrael]

I can't understand this negative reaction, on DE1 I never heard anyone complain when I greet players back over voice in less populated areas and I never heard them complain when others greeted back.

More so, this suggestion would make it just smoother for those who want to use the voice chat for that reason. For those, who want to be totally strict and don't want to use voice chat for that, it wouldn't change a thing for them, if this would be implemented.

[Gazz292]

Thing is, SimRail is a realistic train simulator (not a game in my eyes... it is after all based on the training simulators the parent company SimKol make) 

In real life you can't adjust the range of your radio... well you could possibly adjust the transmit power level, but there will be no 'set to 1, 2, 3+km range' thing... some people will receive even a 0.5 watt broadcast many KM away due to having a good high gain antenna. 

 

At the end of the day, the radios are there to communicate about railway operating matters between the drivers and dispatchers, and occasionally driver to driver to advise of problems seen on the line.

Just like real life, occasionally the radio's will become swamped with people trying to all talk at the same time,  
That's when you'd change to a different channel to have an important conversation and not get interrupted by others, but i'm not sure if you do that on the PKP railway? 

 

So i guess you could designate say channel 12 as the 'greetings' channel on a specific server, but you'd have to remember to switch back to the proper channel to receive info from the dispatcher. 

 

[Azrael]

vor 11 Stunden schrieb Gazz292:

Thing is, SimRail is a realistic train simulator (not a game in my eyes... it is after all based on the training simulators the parent company SimKol make) 

In real life you can't adjust the range of your radio... well you could possibly adjust the transmit power level, but there will be no 'set to 1, 2, 3+km range' thing... some people will receive even a 0.5 watt broadcast many KM away due to having a good high gain antenna. 

At the end of the day, the radios are there to communicate about railway operating matters between the drivers and dispatchers, and occasionally driver to driver to advise of problems seen on the line.

Just like real life, occasionally the radio's will become swamped with people trying to all talk at the same time,  
That's when you'd change to a different channel to have an important conversation and not get interrupted by others, but i'm not sure if you do that on the PKP railway? 

So i guess you could designate say channel 12 as the 'greetings' channel on a specific server, but you'd have to remember to switch back to the proper channel to receive info from the dispatcher. 

Well, people PLAY this GAME for enjoyment, no matter what some people individually believe. It is the individual freedom of everyone to play it for whatever motivation they like.

"IRL there is no setting of range" is no argument. IRL you also got no constantly flying cameras around the train, yet here they are. IRL as dispatcher you can't freely choose another signal box every day. IRL you can't quit your service freely, when you had enough. Heck, IRL you don't have a freaking HUD hovering before you, showing you information, you gotta figure that out yourself.

This could go on and on.
Hence, this is a game, because this program makes several compromises for the sake of enjoyment of its players. Every game does that to a certain degree, no matter the genre.

And socializing is part of a multiplayer game.

So I don't see the possibility, to set a radio range as such a huge, game-breaking feature, that it should be vehemently opposed. it is optional, if you don't want to use it, don't use it. If you want to use it, you would have then the possibility to do so.

So if the devs would implement this, it wouldn't impact the gameplay of anyone negatively.

Edited June 26 by Azrael

[Bazinga]

It would impact the game, as you still distract people around you who don't want to participate in your chit-chat. Just in a smaller radius. I kinda disagree with "socializing is part of a multiplayer game". Saying hello brings nothing to the table unless you talk more with the guy, but then you're jamming the channels even more. Would you like to race in a simracing game, where you can't focus because people are talking all the time? Would you like to play a FPS where you are distracted by people from the enemy team chit-chatting? Well, neither dispatchers do.

I have a suggestion. Go to Łazy as dispatcher and try to coordinate actions with two neighbours, give trains proper priorities, set their routes, fill out the EDR, report departing trains to the next dispatchers and notify the drivers about your moves. It's a difficult task, when it's a rush hour it feels like a sweaty chore. Add some meaningless chit-chat to this and I am pretty sure you will mess something up and make some trains wait for your actions.

You sound like a guy who drives with HUD, mainly on some train with cruise-control. Disable the hud, switch to EN57 with frequent passenger stops or some heavy cargo train with slipping wheels/long brake cables and let me know how many signals you will miss or how fluent your ride was, simply because you were distracted.

Edited June 26 by Bazinga

[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]

"And socializing is part of a multiplayer game." Not for me it isn't, i only play MP because it has AI.

I do not want to talk to anyone, toot my horn at anyone or txt anyone.

[Gazz292]

8 hours ago, Azrael said:

Well, people PLAY this GAME for enjoyment, no matter what some people individually believe. It is the individual freedom of everyone to play it for whatever motivation they like.

Like i mentioned before,  SimRail is a train driving and signalling simulator, 
it is the same thing that's used to train real life train drivers, SimKol the parent company make training simulators.... they have basically given us the general public access to the kind of software you'd usually only get to experience if you applied for a job at the PKP. 

 

8 hours ago, Azrael said:

"IRL there is no setting of range" is no argument. IRL you also got no constantly flying cameras around the train, yet here they are. IRL as dispatcher you can't freely choose another signal box every day. IRL you can't quit your service freely, when you had enough. Heck, IRL you don't have a freaking HUD hovering before you, showing you information, you gotta figure that out yourself.

Again, SimRail is a consumer version of the real life training simulator software, 
As it's all a computer simulation to be used by the general public, you have to add some things to help them like the HUD... which i don't use btw, i have my own versions of the paper timetables displayed on an external screen that give me all the info about the service and line i need. 

The whole idea of SimRail is it's as close to reality as possible without making at something that you'd need to spend a few weeks at technical school learning how the trains work before being able to understand things. 

 

8 hours ago, Azrael said:

And socializing is part of a multiplayer game.

Is it? 
weird, i managed to play GTA online for years never having a microphone connected to my pc, 

See this socialising on multiplayer games thing can come to bite you, there are some people who only bought SimRail because it's multiplayer,  they thought they could make new friends / find a partner on here or something. 
They have no idea how a train works, how it should be driven, what the infrastructure is etc. 

Things like that are why there's reviews on steam saying 'it's so hard to figure this out'  or 'it's far too complicated compared to xyz train game' 

That's the whole idea of SimRail, simulating the reality of train driving within the limitations of being a computer simulation. 

 

8 hours ago, Azrael said:

So I don't see the possibility, to set a radio range as such a huge, game-breaking feature, that it should be vehemently opposed. it is optional, if you don't want to use it, don't use it. If you want to use it, you would have then the possibility to do so.

So if the devs would implement this, it wouldn't impact the gameplay of anyone negatively.

You asked for a fictional button or slider to be added to the radio's microphones to limit the range! 

if you have to chat to other people whilst driving the trains of dispatching, use discord of facebook chats on your phone whilst you are using SimRail. 

 

Like Bazinga pointed out above... sometimes you need all your concentration on what is going on in the sim, 
it's summer now so pretty easy to drive most trains,
Just wait till it's winter again, and you are battling to get traction on damp or icy rails, whilst there is ice on the overhead line so you have to watch the Kv meter and reduce power or you'll trip out. 
All the while looking out for signals,  and signs, like the ones for the neutral and pantograph down sections, plus the hundreds of temporary speed limits,  then the last thing you want is a few others on the radio greeting each other and demanding you reply you reply to them too.

Edited June 26 by Gazz292

[Schinken235]

It would be cool and not unrealistic to have something like a "wave" or "raise hand" animation for drivers and dispatchers. The "raise hand" animation would also be useful for shunting, at least in Germany.

[Gazz292]

yes that would be a cool addition and add to the realism. 

I sometimes get so engrossed in driving a train in SimRail with my 3D printed controllers, i actually have raised my hand to wave at other drivers... then remembered all i can do is flash my lights or honk the horn. 

i use face tracking too, so where i look the view changes, and i often wonder if my drivers head moves to match that, i've sometimes turned the head torch on and moved my head side up and down at night to other drivers, but not sure if they can see the head torch or if it moves with my head.