Atomic Systems

Hello all,

I've only recently been a fan of driving at night. I used to have a CRT monitor, and could not see jack all on it at night, so never bothered with night scenarios as just the slightest light gave a massive reflection on the screen!

Now I've got a LCD monitor, it is MUCH MUCH better ! I actually love driving night scenario's now, especially on detailed routes. I know there's not generally a lot of AI at night, but that sense of driving in the isolated darkness, with the odd light reflection flaring through the cab when passing a level crossing with floodlights, the glow of lights approaching a town/city/station, the unknown night works that could divert you onto the fast/slow line (where applicable!) etc, I just love it.

I might be tempted to do a late night Colchester Town - Liverpool Street 321 scenario, set on one I saw on RealTimeTrains.

So you like the night life, or hate it with a passion?

I think it's one aspect of driving trains and I don't dislike them out of hand. That said, I don't find them as satisfying because I like to see the countryside passing by. My favourite time of day us around dawn, when you start in darkness and have the light increase, gradually showing more of your surroundings.

Keith

I too drive night scenarios, and would give yours a shot. However, I MUCH prefer driving in the light, when I can see the scenery, cars, people, and have more AI traffic.
EngineerKenny123

I like driving very early in the morning, see the light coming.

tubemad wrote:Hello all,

I've only recently been a fan of driving at night. I used to have a CRT monitor, and could not see jack all on it at night, so never bothered with night scenarios as just the slightest light gave a massive reflection on the screen!

Now I've got a LCD monitor, it is MUCH MUCH better ! I actually love driving night scenario's now, especially on detailed routes. I know there's not generally a lot of AI at night, but that sense of driving in the isolated darkness, with the odd light reflection flaring through the cab when passing a level crossing with floodlights, the glow of lights approaching a town/city/station, the unknown night works that could divert you onto the fast/slow line (where applicable!) etc, I just love it.

I might be tempted to do a late night Colchester Town - Liverpool Street 321 scenario, set on one I saw on RealTimeTrains.

So you like the night life, or hate it with a passion?

I like night driving scenarios with the AP lighting pack, it's how it is in real life. Would look forward to one for the GEML.
Like or hate may be down to how people drive on Train Simulator. On many youtube videos some players are hardly in the cab during the journey. Also not a fan of pack as much AI in as you can on the GEML route, with it's problems, will DTG ever sort it.

I prefer day time driving, that way you get to see the scenery etc.

johnwatto

Short and sweet, no.

Night is when I find the sim at its most immersive, especially since TSX lighting was introduced. The TS2014 world is still a relatively dead/artificial one visually, giving a sense of isolation. That feels pretty unnatural in the day but much less so in the wee hours, while the darkness also hides the sim's visual shortcomings and gives audio (which isn't as hard to make seem realistic) a bigger role, allowing the 'suspension of disbelief' to really kick in for me.

Night driving requires the AP lighting effects enhancement pack, though, because TS2014's default night-day is seriously messed up (sky starts to brighten around 1AM, beginning an extremely gradual dawn).

Ahh yes, completely forgetting about what the default system is like First thing I install pretty much after a re-installation on RW from a reformat or whatever is putting the AP lighting effect back on. I must admit I too enjoy early morning/late evening runs too.

You're right about different driving perceptions too, I prefer the cab as I like a realistic experience, but I can understand those who like to drive outside or from view 2, as we all enjoy different things, but when I make a scenario I base it from what you can see from the cab.

I remember doing some night driving on MSTS, the headlights were like massive searchlights ! Though I remember when it came out that was the bee's knees then

I enjoy driving at night. One of my favourite night-time scenarios is for the German E18. I love the headlights of the loco lighting up the rails and infrastructure ahead.

That said, I don't drive at night very often. And when browsing screenshots, I don't enjoy the nighttime-screenshots as much, because mostly it is just dark, and not atmospheric.

I should re-install the AP lightning enhancement packs which I bought years ago... Might make night time more enjoyable

--Tim

One thing I find with night-time driving is that (assuming you have the HUD off) it's a brilliant way of testing your route knowledge!. As has already been mentioned, I find it very immersive, particularly with the AP Lighting Pack. For me it only really works when I'm driving in the late evening, with the lights off and curtains shut. Now the evenings are drawing in I'm looking forward to more of it...

I think much of my enjoyment of modern sims comes from what a powerful computer can do nowadays. We who have been around home computers since the early eighties just have to think back a couple of decades to once more be filled with a certain awe of the stuff currently available to us!

Now, although there's obviously no REAL comparing night-time driving in TS2014 and the following, sometimes when I drive by night I get the feeling it suddenly becomes a bit of an unnecessary throwback to the days of this:


Train Driver (AGA), Amiga

And, if you go airborne, perhaps even this!:


Nightflite, ZX Spectrum (16K)

Those were the days... but I feel myself less and less nostalgic about them!

Prefer night time driving to day, especially on routes that really make use of the new lighting effects, only drawback is with rolling stock that has no cab lighting, makes using the in cab controls a little difficult!

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smartie38 wrote:Prefer night time driving to day, especially on routes that really make use of the new lighting effects, only drawback is with rolling stock that has no cab lighting, makes using the in cab controls a little difficult!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Yes, absolutely, especially since I'm a fan of driving by cab controls!!

Best scenario I ever played was a night time drive in this pack:

http://www.fastline-simulation.co.uk/ts ... -1986.html

Forget which one it was now though