56xx released.

[briyeo1950]

The wagons have been upgraded they are not identical to the freeware ones. I presume they wont overwrite the freeware ones because they will be in the RSC developer folder. It looks a very good pack when you see what you are getting all in one screenshot and scenarios too of course.

[hertsbob]

It looks a very good pack when you see what you are getting all in one screenshot...

It most certainly does. My Friday evening is well and truly sorted. Can't wait!

Cheers

Bob

[darkdj]

Looking fabulous. That's my RSC alloted funds gone this week.

throwing in some GWR wagons too? I wont be surprised if we see a sudden massacre of GWR Routes...

Hmmm...actually, I do need to start the Bramley & Watford again....

Dark.

[StanierMogul]

I've been looking forward to this one since it was announced, I can see my weekend taking on a distinctly GWR theme!

[crumplezone]

Well, there is alittle surprise on steam right now, while facebook said the 3rd of June for release, they seem to have release tonight, so the 56xx is now available on steam for £11.99. go now!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/65222/?snr=1_4_4__103

Whats in the pack beyond what was noted in the earlier website post:

Includes:
GWR 56XX Tank Locomotive with tapered or parallel buffers with ‘Shirt Button’, GWR or Great Western logo
BR 56XX Tank Locomotive with pre-1956 or post-1956 logo
6 ton Fruit 'A' Van (Y.2)
3 - 8 ton Cattle Wagons with cows, goats, sheep, and one empty wagon
10 ton Fruit 'B' Banana Van
10 ton Covered Goods Van
10 ton Fish Van
10 ton Gunpowder 'Cone' Van
10 ton Linoleum Wagon with Tarpaulin
10 ton Open 'A' Goods Wagon with Tarpaulin
10 ton Ventilated 'Mink A' Van
12 ton China Clay Wagon with Clay
12 ton Conflat 'A' Wagon with 3 wooden and 2 metal GWR containers
12 ton Motor Car 'Mogo' Van
13 ton 3 plank Open Goods Wagon with Lumber and Tarpaulin
13 ton Open Goods Wagon with Gravel, Bricks, and Tarpaulin
15 ton 'Open C' Wagon with Pipes and Tarpaulin

6 scenarios:
An Introduction (Oxford-Paddington) – learn the correct usage of all the locomotive controls including cylinder cocks.
That’s the Ticket (Oxford-Paddington) - take the 56XX along the main line to the Didcot Railway Centre for full servicing, dodging in and out of the daily traffic.
What a Picture (Oxford-Paddington) – the newly-serviced 56XX is making its way from Didcot Railway Centre with a rake of mixed wagons to the newly-opened Oxford Railway Museum.
Stock Check (The Port Road) – Run from Dumfries to Castle Douglas to retrieve a train of cattle wagons full of prize livestock. Requires The Port Road freeware route available on Steam free of charge.
Doing Your Part (Bath-Templecombe) – it’s 1942 and The Royal Ordnance Factory at Wrexham is expecting three wagons of vital test equipment to be dropped at Shepton Mallet.
The Challenge (Bath-Templecombe) – it began as an argument in a pub – “The Welsh tanks could NEVER make it up the gradients of the Somerset & Dorset with a decent load!” The challenge was set, and you have 20 ex-GWR wagons to take across the hills.

Manual for 56xx located at \steam\steamapps\common\railworks\Manuals\en

[stuart666]

Fantastic, he used my bits for the manual.

[crumplezone]

I'm somewhat lost for words at first...its incredible beyond words. Well first thing I can say, I managed to blow the cyclinders...ehehe *restart scenario* Ok, so were back in the 56xx and following the instructions correctly this time , boy what a beastie it is, hold E, reverser lock removed, reverse forward, cyclinder cocks open this time, can hear a steam sound building, whooooosh, off goes the safety valve as noisy as it should be.

Injector open, release brakes, regulator open, off we go! 4 rotations of the wheels, Cyclinder cocks closed and the tick tock of the GWR locomotive thumps into rythmn, toot on the chains from the cab for the whistles, both operable, exshaust beat getting stronger, alas the line is nearly gone and we got to stop, but it allows to stop and see all the wonderful interactable features in the cab and set the lamps aswell as pose for photo from the platform.

Its magical, it sounds just like the real 56xx and all the features and smoke effects from all over the locomotive is nothing short of impressive. Its also a challenge to drive and you must pay attention to everything otherwise you be hitting that quit button and restarting faster than you realise.

The model of the locomotive is a masterpiece, I have a Bachmann 00 model of the 56xx which is suppose to be pretty accurate, but Pete has more detail than even that on the locomotive, also better sound (I also have the bachmann model soundchipped), its just wonderful. This is probably one of the most accurate and close to experiences you get without stepping on the footplate of the real thing and Pete should be commended for just how many features he has packed into this package aswell as all the interactivity of the locomotive presented to the user.

So congratulations Pete, job well done and I hope in the future we will see more from you, but no pressure, you just finished this beauty and its going to bring hours of enjoyment to me and anyone else who is a avid kettle fan and Great Western fan alike.

[metrobus]

Woow, Just Woww That's all I can say wowww It is absolutely amazing, words cannot describe how happy I am with my purchase.

On a side note, I'm still not sure about the cylinder exploding, I've blown it 3 times when I really shouldn't have, once I stopped for about a minute and used the cylinder cocks, but shut them a tad early, second time I stopped for about 30 seconds ( quick station stop ) and they blew upon departure ( they seem to blow at about 8mph ), and the third time I stopped for about 10 seconds and they still blew Not sure if that's overly accurate I thought they'd probably blow if you were idle for a long time like 5 minutes and not open the cylinder cocks, not 10 seconds

Still a fabulous, Fabulous product and I would highly recommend it to anyone
Regards
Edward

[Kariban]

It's timing, the longer you sit still the higher the chance. I think, anyway, not checked the script for some time now. But best bet is to just open them when you stop. This is a sim, it needs to be representative - how often are you going to sit still for 15 mins in a scenario? but the drain cocks are an important part of driving, so imo it's not a bad thing as it is. Really horribly annoying when you're shunting and forget one time, but there you go

Not hard to make it a bit longer if you want either.

( don't forget to play with the toolbox... )

[Marleyman]

Just how difficult is it to drive?

I like the list of content with the 56xx but I am not sure that I will be able to drive the darn thing... I play in expert mode always, but I don't ever do the 'Fireman' role when I drive Steam Trains, so, if I play in expert mode with this add on do I need to do all this 'extra' stuff to stop the train exploding?

[msey0002]

I would also like someone to answer Marley's question, please. I don't mind all the extra stuff, but if I have always driven a steam locomotive with automatic fireman 'ON', how much more difficult is it to drive?

[partyspiritz]

Lovely loco but I to am not sure about the cylinder exploding. It is also going to be a hard loco for novice to drive. I have done a few demos of Railworks and invite the public to have a drive. I am due to do one at Didcot and this is a must loco to show there. But doing the have ago with it not sure

Regards


John

[Darpor]

It was always going to be a trade off, as with everything else. Vast amounts of people complain that there is not enough realism, so something immensely realistic is released and then others complain its too hard to drive. Can't please everyone!

Don't let it put you off by any means, I hadn't the foggiest idea of how to drive a steam loco, I was always unsure about the default locomotives that were nowhere near as involving as this. However, I had a go, blew it up for a while but gradually learned how to do it which ended up being enormously satisfying actually. In reality, it's as close as I am going to get to trying a real one, so I just bit the bullet.

[crumplezone]

Just how difficult is it to drive?

I like the list of content with the 56xx but I am not sure that I will be able to drive the darn thing... I play in expert mode always, but I don't ever do the 'Fireman' role when I drive Steam Trains, so, if I play in expert mode with this add on do I need to do all this 'extra' stuff to stop the train exploding?

Its not much harder than expert mode, you just have to remember to actually use the cyclinder cocks like they are suppose to, instead of on existing railworks kettles where its just for pretty steam effects. Braking is also different in that it requires you to use J key, which opens the ejector to operate vacuum, its quite prototypical in that sense and accurate for a GWR locomotive also.

I do have auto fireman on while driving in expert mode, I believe that is why my safety valve is blowing a fair lot, but otherwise after you get used to the cyclinder cocks opening and shutting at the correct timing its a pleasure to drive. There is a introduction scenario which tells you how to operate the 56xx and also lets you get used to the steam sound which changes in accordance with when you need to shut off the cyclinder ., it also notes that 4 full revolutions of the wheels is a good time to shut off the cyclinder cocks.

The manual is quite indepth about all the things you must keep a eye on and is certainly helpful, its not a huge textbook, so don't worry.

One thing I have noted, I placed the BR 56xx down on the East Somerset route and found, while all the other sounds worked, the two whistles did not, now I'm not sure if this was just a hiccup in the sound engine or not, but I also recalled Matt had his hand in the soundset and toggled on his asset tickbox, 92210, and the whistles came back, so if any of you experience that try that solution first.

Another thing to note is you will probably require to check the numbering section of the manual when you place the 56xx down on any routes, as it'll need some alteration to the headcode area to make sure all the bits look right when you run the scenario.

Niffty thing I've noticed while driving is that depending on the regulator level, the chuff smoke changes, same with the cyclinder cocks steam release, which is a great feature added, I also noticed smoke colour change currently when running at 45mph at half regulator, not sure if this is another feature but if it is, well done.

[msey0002]

Cheers Darren . I'm not complaining at all, the only reason I'd buy this is for the realism lol. But I don't want to spend 14euro and not be able to drive the thing . So you got used to it you say?