is there a better way to drive the train?

[Slash0mega]

I might be missing somthing but, ironicly, the worse part of this game is driving the train... there is nothing engaging about "press grab>face right>press drop>wait half a second>face left>press grab>face right>press drop>wait half a second>face left>...." loop...

the demo made me think there would be much more managing of passengers.... but them wanting somthing is so rare its not worth the ABSOLUTE DROP IN SPEED you risk going to check on them.

[Leigh]

Don't babysit the fire, I just top it up and tend to any passengers, build or plan stuff, go afk, anything like that.

Keeping in the green is not a 100% requirement. I think people worry about the speed too much.

[lionboy.dragonking]

Originally posted by Leigh:

Don't babysit the fire, I just top it up and tend to any passengers, build or plan stuff, go afk, anything like that.

Keeping in the green is not a 100% requirement. I think people worry about the speed too much.

I second this, it's a chill game and there's no reward to getting there quickly. I think it's worth pointing out that the train doesn't actually slow down as much as the scrolling animations would suggests. I think the animations are set to fast for green and slow for blue, regardless of actual speed, which is how fast the icon is moving on the map. Shovel enough coal to get the train above 40 and that should be enough for most journeys.

I agree that customer interactions are a bit infrequent, though. More snack orders or some other types of requests would help in making the driving sections more engaging.

[Ryuukaze]

I've pushed the train to 80 and I'm 100% sure it's a lot faster there than at 40. IMO, it's definitely worth it to babysit it and get there quickly.

And yes, I hate babysitting it. Anytime I don't, it ends up taking forever to get there, and the passengers so seldomly ask for anything that it doesn't feel worth it to look in on them.

[Slash0mega]

(why didn't i get notifications that this thread was replied too?)

I mean, i tried the "just let it go" route. i put the steamdeck down and did somthing else... and i think i wasn't even half way through the trip when i came back... and there is nothing to really do on the train when it is slow. one in 20 trips a rider will ask for somthing, and then nothing to do but watch youtube, and as mentioned, it will be a long video.

ill set a route and come back with real numbers.

[Slash0mega]

ok. i got the numbers. so the route miner's roost to begonia fields (which is a route the game asks for in a quest... both ways i might add,) this is what i got.

7:06 - unnatended
1:46 - attended

if my math is right that is about a difference of 5:30...

that is INSANE! what am i going to do on the train for nearly 7 minutes? the passengers need nothing, you probably wont need to do THAT much redecorating... it wouldn't be so bad if the train just stopped accelerating, but nope, keep that fire stoked or drop straight to 10-15 🐾/s

(also, I do not judge my speed from the windows scroll animation, but from the speedometer. so unless that is wrong when it comes to the speed dropping like a rock those are my thoughts. might do a deacceleration test later)



edit: oh ya. and doing other things outside of the game is a bad idea because the train might nearly stop alltogether if you wait too long to give it coal

[krieglich]

A simple solution would be if the blue and green areas were at least the same size so that we didn't have to shovel coal every two seconds.

[Cake]

I'm also kind of disappointed by how little there is to do on the train with passengers. The most fun I had was with the anniversary quest, when the train served as a storytelling device for the characters. Outside of that, passengers only have one dialogue and are irritated if you try to talk with them beyond that. They very rarely ask for refreshments and don't react to anything on your train.

I get that the train ride is supposed to be its own reward, but a little more engagement during the ride would be nice. I was never given the impression that players were intended to idle or meander between rides, especially since the train absolutely slows to a crawl when the engine is unattended. I hoped there would be more there. Nothing excessive, just something to make the train a more engaging experience since it's literally the core of the game.

[Valdania]

Originally posted by Cake:

I'm also kind of disappointed by how little there is to do on the train with passengers. The most fun I had was with the anniversary quest, when the train served as a storytelling device for the characters. Outside of that, passengers only have one dialogue and are irritated if you try to talk with them beyond that. They very rarely ask for refreshments and don't react to anything on your train.

I get that the train ride is supposed to be its own reward, but a little more engagement during the ride would be nice. I was never given the impression that players were intended to idle or meander between rides, especially since the train absolutely slows to a crawl when the engine is unattended. I hoped there would be more there. Nothing excessive, just something to make the train a more engaging experience since it's literally the core of the game.

Same more interaction in the train would be great. Like a small trolley to go around and serve food would be cute