Run8 V3 Roseville Sub ( Donner Pass )

[westerngy]

Well it has arrived a trip can be had over Donner Pass on the SP-UP Roseville Sub from Roseville to Reno/Sparks. Modelled towards the end of the SP era into the UP era this challenging route will test you on the hill and give you plenty of industries to serve with the locals out of Roseville and Sparks.

http://www.run8studios.com/roseville.shtml

Run on over and check it out

[NorthernWarrior]

Interesting! This certainly slipped under the radar. I'm guessing at present this will be standalone, i.e. not linked to the existing SoCal network. Time to talk nicely to the wife, I guess...

[Brad3816]

Just flew over start to end and it is stunning. Ambient sounds include traffic and city sounds in addition to industry sounds, birds, and crickets. The Busy Roseville SS1 world is full of trains traversing the route. It is a standalone region, NorthernCA.

[NorthernWarrior]

Glad to hear it's looking good. One quick question Brad, how are the terrain textures looking? Any improvement over what we have in current SoCal. I'm thinking particularly of the mountain section over the pass, the images I can see on the Run 8 website don't really show how they have captured the greener and more rugged Sierra Nevada look. Likewise trees - any advance on the 2D trees we have come to know and, um, tolerate on the other routes?

[Brad3816]

Any improvement over what we have in current SoCal. I'm thinking particularly of the mountain section over the pass, the images I can see on the Run 8 website don't really show how they have captured the greener and more rugged Sierra Nevada look. Likewise trees - any advance on the 2D trees we have come to know and, um, tolerate on the other routes?

Having been through there many times on the train and I-80, the look & feel is spot on. Ground textures are rocky & rugged where they are suppose to be, there is rushing water ambience near rivers, tunnels & snowsheds are very detailed, and the views of Donner Lake & the river valley are great. Modeling of urban areas around Reno & Roseville are excellent, and Roseville at night sparkles. There is a great assortment of new vegetation including pine, spruce & fir. It all looks good from the cab of the train. There is no way around 2d modeling of vegetation and distant urban structures--It's simply not possible while maintaining the smoothness of the simulator, especially with the weather enhancement.

[seagoon]

Just bought and installed and my initial impression is yes!.....such a good job and a nice change from the Southern Californian environment.

Well done, R8 lads.

[westerngy]

On the website here is the map of the route labelled with industries also

http://www.run8studios.com/downloads/Roseville_Sub_Track_Diagram.pdf

[NorthernWarrior]

Great to hear the positive feedback. On the shopping list once I get the wife in an amenable mood!

[haverfordwest]

No sale with 2D trees etc, this is 2022 not 2002.

[NorthernWarrior]

No sale with 2D trees etc, this is 2022 not 2002.

Yes it is a bit of a tricky one. Was watching part of a video review earlier and most of the buildings in Reno apart from the station are recycled from other routes. No casinos or any of the other distinctive buildings. If there are licensing issues with the real locations some fictional names would have sufficed. I know the emphasis is on the railway operations but at least a couple of blocks either side try and match the real location.

I’m still going to buy this later after talking SWMBO around, but would like to think Reno will get a DTG Preservation Crew style makeover in respect of the buildings.

[haverfordwest]

It is what it is Vern. Not having a dig at the developers. Just not good enough for me personally.

The all round experience i mean. Mrs M is going to stop your pocket money at this rate, buddy.

Mike.

[NorthernWarrior]

First impressions are… not too bad actually. I started at the Roseville end and the detail and texturing is pretty good, much fuller looking than parts of the SoCal routes. Trees, well some actually look 3Dish so maybe the devs have taken on board some of the feedback. It will be a while before I get up in the mountains to see what things look like up there. This could be one route where running in winter conditions brings out the best. I read a comment on The Depot forum that the night lighting, town/city effects is very good, haven’t tried that yet still 0700ish in the morning.

I’ll probably attempt a run in both directions across the route then get stuck into industries.

Of course it’s typical this comes out the day after I, 1. Reinstall MSFS, 2. Buy Wyoming and Heavy Haul for ATS and 3. Was finalising what Bossman stuff I wanted to get for TSC in the Steam sale!

Edit: Oh and 4. Was on the verge of finishing Taymyr/Russia in Snowrunner!

[haverfordwest]

Enjoy then Vern, i would be interested in any further impressions of the route.

Yikes, i can only concentrate on one game at a time.

Mike.

[NorthernWarrior]

Continued a little way up the Pass yesterday evening, also watched a bit more of the YouTube review. Lots of nice detailed buildings and tunnels, bridges etc. but the terrain painting just looks a tad monotone to me. Even up in the foothills tends to be one or two shades of green, though there is a grey rock texture mixed in on the high part of the pass. I guess that’s a trade off for getting 200 miles. One thing the guy on the video was commenting on, this route does show the limitations of the game engine for doing steep cliffs, cuts etc with a bit of a jagged appearance, kind of like we saw in MSTS. So while I still very much like the route, I would personally hope before attempting any more mountainous routes, especially anything in the Rockies or maybe Canada they see what can be done to improve the terrain sculpting and painting. I know that guy who did the Canadian route in Trainz (Roy?) was a bit arrogant calling himself Rembrandt, but there was no doubt he really captured the mountain feel in style.

[SurvivorSean]

I'm sure it's awesome but I have a server in the SE to run 24/7. Unless someone plans to buy me a computer. V3 is a great simulator and the guys continue to push the programming side. Personally I try to push the operaitons side and I'm having a blast with the AEI systems as one of those ways I do just that.

A while back I was in a forum here at TS where I clearly was mocking a company and this was said
"And Sean, yes your prejudice against TSW is understood and respected but as I said above some of us actually like to operate our trains in an environment that doesn't consist of one or two flat terrain textures and cardboard cut out trees!"

Yes another "buddy" isn't called out for expecting miracles here on their prejuidice? Yet the team has a simulator here that is working as designed to the limits they can take it and people still expect TSW scenery or something. I find that very amusing. I'm here because this is my sim once again since V3 came out and am interested in what they are developing. Unlike other sims that don't care about pushing limits just pushing out eye candy to generate more fast cash. I'll stick with the team that actually has their heart in it!

Thanks

Sean