ECML merge - out now

[smarty2]

Nice little earner that.

[pablottie]

the route has been downloaded 266 times already, so quite a few people do seem to be signing up to the subscription service.

Do the sums.....

i have subscribed and not downloaded the route yet, so the sums could be much higher..

It is proving to be very popular by the looks of it.

[david1]

How can you equate a series of free enhancements that are available for all to taking someone else work and charging for it?

As you can only get the full ECML by paying a subscription then you are making money from somebody elses work, also selling of JT products from the site, you get a better deal from buying from Just Trains as you earn reward points, wonder who gets the points from the sale? Looks like an infringement of copyright there, I could be wrong, but I am not using the site.

[bigben5051]

you get a better deal from buying from Just Trains as you earn reward points

Not only that, but more income will find its way to the developer.

Seems like a nice money-maker to me...

[peteskink]

As far as the Merged ECML route is concerned I am very impressed with it an thoroughly enjoyed driving from Kings Cross to York

What are the frame rates and smoothness of game play like?--remember that much of the "quality" of the route building you'll see is from the original, separate, routes.

My frame rates are never that good but I am getting low 20ies in the south and up to 65/70 approaching York The routes are essentially the same but with track and texture enhancements to give a more single developer feel to the whole route. If you add the Peterborough York enhancement kit (free from ATS) to the original Creative labs route you will get some idea of what to expect although the merge is actually better

Is that the "free" Peterborough to York enhancement that needs the payware AP track enhancement pack to work?

[FrankJ]

Frank, the sticking point is not that the site has a subscription option per se, but that some content is unavailable until a subscription is taken---the argument you make regarding choice falls over at that point.
Yes, there are many reworks of commercial routes available but as freeware, the authors aren't stipulating that monies are exchanged. In the case of DPS routes becoming a "pay for" download it gets even messier---thats freeware routes being sold by someone other than the creator.

Back on topic though....do you have frame rates in the 20s in the stand alone version of the southern end?

Sorry for the delay in answering - I needed to check

It's a bit difficult as it appears to be AI related.

The AI intensive Scenarios are much the same but on the NO AI Kings Cross to Edinburgh scenario I am getting 50+ fps at Kings Cross

[august1929]

My computer spec is a bit different to FrankJ's;

Windows 8.1 64-bit, Intel Core i5 4460S @ 2.90GHz, 8.00GB DDR3 @ 798MHz, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750Ti.

TS is always kept cranked up pretty high in the options as visuals are very important to me - (no bloom, depth of field or procedural) - I will typically run scenarios with less AI in order to get a smooth experience with high quality visuals, over totally realistic with low quality visuals.

In a scenario with multiple AI moving in, out of and towards Kings Cross, I am getting 18 to 20 fps sitting at the platform without any AI moving. As soon as AI does move the fps drop to 14 or 15, A bit stuttery in or out of the cab, but surprisingly not that bad. It doesn't last long - as soon as I move towards the tunnels the fps rises again to 18 to 20 and don't drop below 20 again as far as Welwyn even with approaching AI - typically 25+ and smooth traveling at or around 100mph. Overall, not a bad experience and much better than I expected.

I haven't tested this part of the line with the original route, but I seem to remember it being much the same.

Re the worth of having this merged route, I am just fascinated with the possibility of starting at Kings Cross, heading towards the actual destination (Edinburgh Waverly) and knowing that I don't have to stop long before I reach it (even if I do give up or fall asleep ) - I will be picking up from Welwyn later today ...





Rod

[IronBidder]

I wonder how long it will be before TSW allows you to sit in a cab in a station and know that your real destination hundreds of miles away lies in front of you?

I think TS will be around a lot longer than perhaps DTG would like!

[smarty2]

At the very least Alan and Pete should be making a not too miserable donation to Darren's site, still won't subscribe, either way, its bad form and underhanded imo.

[jpvdveer]

I wonder how long it will be before TSW allows you to sit in a cab in a station and know that your real destination hundreds of miles away lies in front of you?

It will take ages. Presently TSW is tending towards shorter rather than longer routes, bearing in mind the much higher development costs and the fact that routes also need to be playable on Playstations etc.

I think TS will be around a lot longer than perhaps DTG would like!

DTG wants TS to be around for a long time to come as they are financially heavily dependent on ongoing DLC sales for the old TS. Hence continued, albeit limited, development on their side for the old TS in the form of route extensions that will then form the basis for the "new" TS2020. DTG will be more than happy with initiatives like the ECML Merge as this will encourage yet more DLC sales (and for the fun of driving it of course) - in fact they have provided technical support during the development phase.

At the very least Alan and Pete should be making a not too miserable donation to Darren's site.

Agreed. It is possible that some settlement has been reached already, noting that the original statement on Darren's site has now been removed.

We should generally also not forget Pete's heroic effort and achievement in actually merging these routes with different origins, something previously thought impossible.

still won't subscribe, either way, its bad form and underhanded imo.

Same here for now, although the offer might have been marginally more attractive had I not owned RW Enhancer already.

Re the worth of having this merged route, I am just fascinated with the possibility of starting at Kings Cross, heading towards the actual destination (Edinburgh Waverly) and knowing that I don't have to stop long before I reach it (even if I do give up or fall asleep )

I couldn't agree more and for this very reason will definitely want to pick up the ECML Merge at some point in the future, hopefully by then as freeware.

[class377fcc12]

We should generally also not forget Pete's heroic effort and achievement in actually merging these routes with different origins, something previously thought impossible.

Not quite true, merges have always been possible, just not as simple/slick as they are now with Pete's tool. Most notably Danny's many fantastic merges. Pete/Alan have never said that merges were impossible, instead reiterating the DTG line that they were just nigh on it.

[jpvdveer]

No - Danny's merge concerned routes with the same origin, where the process is "straightforward". Routes with a different origin are a completely different ballgame - long believed impossible. See for example a couple of statements by Danny in the workshop:

(North Jersey Coast, Morristown & New Haven)

"First point, I'm sure i'll be asked this a dozen times. I cannot merge the North East Corridor route (New York to Philadelphia) to this route unfortunately, this is due to having a different route point of origin to this route. (this means that if i merged it to these routes New York would be in a different place). I'm hoping people will read this bit before asking .

(In comments helow London Victoria + St Pancras to Dover (Via Faversham) 2016)

(PS if it were possible to merge GEML and ECML South, I would have merged these two routes into this uber route ages ago - the reason why i haven't so far is because I can't for the reasons of the point of origin issues that they have )

[SkylineBoy]

No - Danny's merge concerned routes with the same origin, where the process is "straightforward". Routes with a different origin are a completely different ballgame

They still were possible and there was a tool on some European site that I cannot remember that helped to do it. Very difficult to get right though and it seems to have been mastered much more by Pete.

[class377fcc12]

I think the merges were discussed in length in Alan's recent long video, in which Pete explicitly stated that DTG had said that it was possible, but not without significant work. Pete has merely streamlined the process, not created it.

[jpvdveer]

Ok. The end result is the same though - Pete is not simply making some money on the back of someone else’s work, as suggested above, but has also made a very significant contribution himself.