Atomic Systems

As much as I welcome any improvement with lighting effects and it will be nice to see but I'd much sooner this was implemented on colour light signals to improve their visibility as they're nowhere near as bright as they are in reality. From what I've read so far from RSC they've mentioned headlights but not applying it to signalling. Surely it would be as easy to do that too?

Agree signals are very hard to spot at any distance. I could not see how drivers could ever react in time in real life.

chrisreb wrote:Agree signals are very hard to spot at any distance. I could not see how drivers could ever react in time in real life.

I'm not sure I'm with you here. Braking distance is calculated from the signal, not from a distant view of it. That's not always so in the simulator, of course, it depends whether the route developer understands signalling and reproduces it properly (and, of course, whether correctly scripted signals are used).

The other issue with the simulator is that you are seeing a scaled-down view of the outside world on your screen - if it was displayed 100% size you would see a lot of things (including signals) much better! We have to accept compromise until the day virtual reality becomes really virtual.

John

Well what I am saying is that looking at the real thing they have a very bright aspect from a considerable distance. Appreciate not directly possible in the sim but some of the standard lights seem overly difficult to spot. I would have thought either some sort of lense flare or a larger disk of colour at distance should be possible.

All you would need to do this would be 3 small light emitters that would only emit in one direction,red,yellow,green as opposed to emitting in a 360
circle like whats in game now.Wouldn't be that hard,would also look good with signal light sourcing shining on the sides of the trains,but to many light sources
may well have a devastating effect on FPS.Would be nice to see though at night,but not a high priority.

Daz

Carinthia wrote:

chrisreb wrote:Agree signals are very hard to spot at any distance. I could not see how drivers could ever react in time in real life.

I'm not sure I'm with you here. Braking distance is calculated from the signal, not from a distant view of it. That's not always so in the simulator, of course, it depends whether the route developer understands signalling and reproduces it properly (and, of course, whether correctly scripted signals are used).

The other issue with the simulator is that you are seeing a scaled-down view of the outside world on your screen - if it was displayed 100% size you would see a lot of things (including signals) much better! We have to accept compromise until the day virtual reality becomes really virtual.

John

Not really relevant to the argument and an apologists remark imo (Amercian signals use high intensity lights), I remember in MSTS a signal patch that made signals double the brightness, and that is an ancient program that managed it, despite it being

a scaled-down view

so...... why not in TS2014? And whilst on the subject of lighting, since we get sun "shine" on the rails why can't other light sources be added like signals and headlights?

Lens flare won't make any light source brighter. All that it does is place artificial lens refraction rings somewhere in the image. Rings that any decent photographer or film maker spend a fortune in money and time to get rid of.

Using it whilst driving will make it look as though you're driving whilst looking through a camera viewfinder... Hardly a simulator must-have.

Must admit I thought that the light flare feature would be a way of making the headlights appear brighter or more intense, but if it's just adding reflection rings then it might not be so great. Need to see it in action to be sure.

A few years ago I took my kids for a bit of spotting on the WCML at Acton Bridge. The line there is dead straight and standing on the station you have a view of several miles down the line towards Crewe. My enduring memory of that day was that for incoming trains all you could see was an intense white light from several miles out right until they were almost at the station. It was almost impossible to tell what type of train was coming until the last few seconds.

It was this kind of effect I had envisaged for TS2014 with its headlight flare.

smarty2 wrote:I remember in MSTS a signal patch that made signals double the brightness, and that is an ancient program that managed it, despite it being

a scaled-down view

so...... why not in TS2014?

You can't really make things brighter than your screen is capable of, but perhaps this is the kind of thing you are after?:
http://www.armstrongpowerhouse.com/inde ... duct_id=81

this pack has been updated to include new and improved signal light textures for the default UK colour light signals and tradtional bulb 'UK Pro' signals

John

Fodda wrote:Lens flare won't make any light source brighter. All that it does is place artificial lens refraction rings somewhere in the image. Rings that any decent photographer or film maker spend a fortune in money and time to get rid of.

Using it whilst driving will make it look as though you're driving whilst looking through a camera viewfinder... Hardly a simulator must-have.

Have to agree with the lens flare, coming round a corner or out of a tunnel into direct sunlight would be very annoying...

Atleast here the signals have fresnel lenses that make the light beam very narrow (see http://vaunut.org/kuva/72467 for example).

Why aren't different LOD levels utilized in signal glow to simulate this laser like visibility over great distances? I believe in competeting product tutorials modelers were adviced to make signal light glows huge in more distant LOD levels so that they could be seen very far away. For example glow could be over 10 meters by 10 meters when viewed over 1 km away.

Carinthia wrote:You can't really make things brighter than your screen is capable of, but perhaps this is the kind of thing you are after?:
http://www.armstrongpowerhouse.com/inde ... duct_id=81

John

I like the effects in this pack but I will hold off buying it until TS2014 appears - just in case it breaks it.

Peter

749006 wrote:

Carinthia wrote:You can't really make things brighter than your screen is capable of, but perhaps this is the kind of thing you are after?:
http://www.armstrongpowerhouse.com/inde ... duct_id=81

John

I like the effects in this pack but I will hold off buying it until TS2014 appears - just in case it breaks it.

Peter

A wise decision, I have the pack already.