Atomic Systems

As the title says really.

https://train-simulator.com/loch-and-load/

Have the major problems with the route as originally released been fixed I wonder. Not possible to have any kind of traffic in scenarios, player train and static consists only otherwise the player route does not work. Rather limits the ability to write engaging scenarios.

The post from Trainsim-James has a picture of a loco on the route,this is a real photo,,make no mistake,you wont see anything like this on the route. When it first came out,it had many bugs,most fixed,but still a long single track,,nice yard at Inverness,but the rest is single track,with a few stations. it was not bad,but now showing its age,,many,many kuju assets,and you wont see as many scenario's as the JT one,as it uses JT loco's.
If DTG have not updated it ( what they don't usually do ) then it still an old route,IMO,there are better freeware ones on workshop.

I've got the route and have found it ok, but not great.

It does have three distinctive scenery stages: lowland and agricultural out of Inverness, upland and highland from Dingwall and then coastal into Kyle. I think the most appealing section scenically is the highland part. It's a long slow route (apart from a few miles out of Inverness) with very limited opportunities for AI, partly because of the nature of the route, but also because of pathing/routing bugs and restrictions. The super elevation was retrofitted after first release and sometimes this shows, with buried sleepers on one side and ballast mounds (of a different colour to the track ballast) on the raised side to hide the lifted edge of the sleepers. Often the vegetation is rather unconvincing, especially lineside which lacks randomness or sprawl, and I'm not a big fan of the JT 3D trees, though they would be a lot better if they weren't placed with uniform orientation and size/height! The class 37 supplied is the Kuju base model, but with physics tweaks and much improved smoke and clag effects, which I rather like; it's certainly better than the one supplied in the West Highland South route.

If the Steam version makes some use of DTG's vegetation and there are one or two tweaks elsewhere it could be a great scenic route and quite atmospheric, but it's never going to be operationally complex. Let's see what's released. If it gets a makeover then it could be worth buying.

I wonder if those of us who own the JT route will be able to get a code to register it on Steam ? Probably not ?

I haven't used this JT route for a long time ( & maybe I don't have the latest updates), but I remember a bit of a problem with track rendering. I'm not sure what the effect is called, but it is where the sleepers seem to cause visual interference in front of the train. I don't think it is my set up as I have not experienced anything quite as bad with any other of my 226 routes.

I think people are being harsh, I'm often critical of JT routes and I was when the Kyle line was first released. However, since the upgrade I find it a really enjoyable drive, the scenery is now decent and it feels like being on the real route. Obviously, like all the single line routes in TS2017, it's virtually impossible to schedule AI services in scenarios, but that's a problem with TS2017 and not the Kyle line itself.

I often wonder why people buy a route, is for the reality, the scenery, the scenarios ??
When I want a quick dash A to B I use the Granfield Branch just long enough to get me in the mood with interesting traffic patterns at either end.
Recently I made it more interesting by doubling the line, so I understand the comment re the Kyle line and its lack of traffic but that’s the Kyle line, its single track.
So . . . if traffic is what you want, why not make it more interesting by doubling the track ? ? Not necessarily the whole line but long sections of it so you can rattle past the class 37’s
I think it’s called “artistic licence” the film industry does it all the time........................

Who threw that brick ?

dinna fash John

The AI issue is fixed,AI can now be routed normally,there was a fault in the RETB signals. The update has had to be held back as other changes have been made to accommodate DTG restrictions on the steam version.

AFAIK the update will go live on JT soon.

almark wrote:The AI issue is fixed,AI can now be routed normally,there was a fault in the RETB signals. The update has had to be held back as other changes have been made to accommodate DTG restrictions on the steam version.

AFAIK the update will go live on JT soon.

Thanks for the update Mark, can't wait to get some stuff in scenarios on there. May have to use Richard Fletcher's excellent 101/observation coach.

deltic009 wrote:May have to use Richard Fletcher's excellent 101/observation coach.

If I can fix it

almark wrote:The AI issue is fixed,AI can now be routed normally,there was a fault in the RETB signals. The update has had to be held back as other changes have been made to accommodate DTG restrictions on the steam version.

AFAIK the update will go live on JT soon.

Mark, I love this route but one thing that I find detracts from it for me is that the tolerances on the times in the scenarios are very tight, much more than other routes. Anything more than a few seconds late and you get a fail. Is there anything you can do to give a bit of slack, please?