New Class 57 loco observations & opinions

[jimbf]

Yes I downloaded the new offering from Oovee, maybe because I just returned from riding the rails in Britain. I line with some rancorous discussions I first compared the Oovee site price in British Pounds to the Steam price in US$ and found that with the current conversion rate they were within pennies. I went with Steam. As you will read below perhaps not the best choice.
Point 2 - The engine dynamics are very interesting, but I am afraid that anyone purchasing it on Steam will notice that the keyboard keys are not functional, while the mouse worked fine. Had I bought on the Oovee.uk.com site I would have been clued into the solution. Simple - clear the cache! Didn't find that simple piece of installation instruction on the Steam site.
Point 3 - Like many engines I found that the glass in the cab was way to darkening. Not a big problem under sunny US skies but in the rainy, cloudy UK it was a real bother for me. So I modified the glass to make it more transparent. If you have the same opinion, I can email you the rather quick and dirty new glass file to slip into the cab textures folder.
Point 4 - The loco can only be used in Expert mode. Again something I read on the Oovee site but missed on Steam, probably because it's not there.

What have you noticed? Likes, dislikes?

Jim Friedland

[Trainguy76]

Probably not good to put an active e-mail there, as the bots and spiders pick it up and spam it.

2. You're supposed to clear the cache after each addon install, but only a few times is it required.

4. Probably because of the custom input mappers.


There is a devise that tells you when you train has passed a point you set it at.
And the engine doesn't respond immediately, but gradually, probably like it should.

[OTTODAD]

Likes ?

I already have 7 versions of the Class 47, 3 of shown below, all having modified by me performance and are looking good.

The Class 57 being a modification of it I can do without now that you have mentioned your dislikes !

Noticed that RS.com are about to release a Big Boy ?

What is different about it already having the IHH one, I also have modified with better chuffing sounds and smoke emission ?

O t t o

[styckx]

The Class 57 offering blows away the default Class 47 in every single way possible to the point I've asked myself "What is a Class 47 anyway". It's a ground up fresh model and not a repainted 47.

You need to clear your cache and the keyboard will just work fine.

The Bigboy is just a Steam release of the same IHH version. Some people don't mind buying payware straight from the developer and keeping track of their payware purchases outside of Steam. While others don't and like to purchase via Steam only to make re-installs easier.

[Trainguy76]

The Class 57 being a modification of it I can do without now that you have mentioned your dislikes !

The 57 was built from the ground up, and is developed by Oovee, not RS.com so it is impossible to be a modification of the original model. (Unless you mean modifications in real life.)

Noticed that RS.com are about to release a Big Boy ?

What is different about it already having the IHH one, I also have modified with better chuffing sounds and smoke emission ?

O t t o

There is no difference between the Big Boy's they are both from IHH.

[OTTODAD]

Unless you mean modifications in real life.

Yes, that's what I mean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_47

O t t o

[jimbf]

Yes as Otto refers to above, the wiki article does identify the class 57 as a modified class 47. "A total of 33 withdrawn locomotives have been rebuilt with EMD engines and re-classified as Class 57s" (quote from the article.) For a longer more detailed account http://www.thejunction.org.uk/cl57.html. That being the case, it is correct in saying except for the body shell, this Oovee is a totally different driving experience and in every way superior to the default class 47 experience. Maybe its the class 47 done right.

[Redcoat_1812]

No it's a class 47 done 20 years later.

With the benefit of hind sight and technological advancement.

[august1929]

The sound and feel of the Ovee 57 is just completely different - add to that the excellent texture work and you have a whole new beast.

This is a superb addon, with good scenarios - well worth the price, particularly when compared to the price of some earlier official reskins of default US stock that came with (to my mind) less than inspiring scenarios.

However, whether or not it is "value" is really down to whether or not you "collect" UK stock. A few years ago, under MSTS I wouldn't even have given a Class 57 a second glance (or class 47 - in fact, I wouldn't have known what they were, despite being a Brit living in Britain). RS/RW has changed that, and has seduced me away from the US side of the Pond back home - I now collect UK engines .

Ovee, Sly (IHH) and others are turning out some superb work, slowly increasing the range in the UK. I am hoping for someone over on the US side of the Pond (maybe SLI) to start having that same effect, where I can't help but hanker after a fairly esoteric variation.

[SCL]

Hi

I echo those above sentiments from august1929 almost exactly! I too had been almost exclusively interested in the US railroad scene for probably 30-odd years, and swung from model railroading to MSTS as soon as it was released. But I have found myself slipping back into the UK scene (and into a giant void knowledge-wise) of class types etc. As a RW user it's hard to ignore the quantity of (mostly) first-class releases for the British scene, and with the almost daily releases of freeware items.

As for the Class 57, I am totally impressed, both with the 3D model and the sounds provided with it. It has a few extra whistles and bells like animated cab parts, but the eye-candy aside, I just love the way this loco takes a few seconds to respond to control movements, and the spooling effect of the engine. The end of train device is really handy too, and hopefully being caught speeding is a thing of the past!

The sounds are excellent IMO - especially at slow speeds when flange squeal is evident.

I have no idea of how "realistic" (if ever that's possible in a game) the physics are, but it sure feels like you're driving something, and I find it pretty convincing anyway.

I had the same issue with no response to the keyboard, but that problem was spotted and reported in the forums within minutes of the loco being released, so it was soon sorted out.

For me this is an excellent add-on, well worth the price. The only other glitch was a scenario not running and reporting a strange error, but that was down to my SB X-Fi card and the ALchemy software - for some weird reason!

Cheers
Ken