As a developer of the first "german railway" set for the patch, the DB Set (XL), I´d like to add my 2cc to the discussion.
First of all: I surely don´t want to spoil other people´s fun in making their own train set, everybody has the right to work on whatever he/she likes.
However, having read through the posts, I have similar subjects as Ken (and I have even more).
- "is it really worth the effort?"
That´s a conflicting question. Possibly yes, because working on anything for "the patch" is defined as "valuable", the question remains if there would be better ways to add value to the patch than working on a topic which has been considerably dealt with.
Ken also adresses the issue of an "interface" for gaining access to specific vehicles of a foreign vehicle set.
This question has been discussed extensively over the last year but there hasn´t been much progress. Nevertheless, it´s on my to-do list since a long time. I plan to implement such an interface in the DB set to enable use of DB set trains from other sets, e.g. from my own "alpine set" or enabling usage of the ICE-3 by the NS set. However, that´s not a trivial task, because it doesn´t simply address veh-ID usage for locos, but the whole "train compilation" has to be preserved. In addition, using additional vehicles from different sets doesn´t cancel the veh-ID limitation, on the contrary!
Nevertheless, there will be some form of an interface in the near future.
Now let´s proceed towards the more subtle questions raised.
- "I would like to see an extensive range of international trains."
This will be addressed automatically when such an interface will be available, e.g. the "alpine set" will add some international trains running from Netherlands/Germany to Switzerland/Italy. There have been also plans to include the "Thalys" into the DBXL (it´s running in Germany and the DB owns three of them). Although the graphics are available, it hasn´t been done yet because of game-balancing issues.
- "CityNightLiners"/TEN will be in v0.82 of the DBXL now that passenger-passenger refitting is possible. Although it doesn´t add to the "game", I´ve been requested to allow refitting to "sleepers" from quite a number of people during the last months.
- "Rolling Motorway" (RoLa) is already an element of the "alpine set" and will be accessible from the DBXL as soon as we´ll have that new interface.
- "Push-Pull" trains aren´t possible ATM. Nevertheless, as soon as the patch makes it available, it´ll be implemented in the DBXL (and the alpine set). This has been "on the list" for quite a long time.
- "Making the set compatible with temperate and arctic climates."
There´s already a version of the DBXL operating in the (arctic based) "pseudo-alpine" climate, the "DB Set XLA"
- "Vehicles should be concentrated on Epoch 3/4 time frame. Although we, of course, will need a limited number of early/late model vehicles too, so that the game can be played from 1921 maybe 1930 or a bit later onwards."
This is a very ambitious issue. IMO, this isn´t possible because for an early start you´ll need a good base of early material and hence there will be a lack of IDs if the emphasis of the set should be the 70s. It´s not only enthusiasm for the very early DRG stock which lead to more and more early locos in the DBXL, but simply requirements of the game.
- "Have no time restriction applied to vehicle liveries; ie leave it to the player to choose the livery they like, even if it has been superceeded by a new livery."
That´s an original feature of the DB set since it´s first version.
- " using seperate MU-Wagon in Purchase Window".
That approach will use up additional veh-IDs. It´d be better to use "var. liveries" resp. "wagonoverride" to spare IDs.
- "I have listed everything, why we want to have the 'Deutsche Bahn' Trainset developed".
Many of these points are resp. will be addressed by the DBXL if there´s any sense in implementing it. However, you didn´t address the original aim of this set once called the "DB passenger set". Which had been set up to include a multitude of DMUs and EMUs found missing in the DBXL.
That was a qualified proposal, because not many of those DMUs/EMUs will be implemented in future DBXL versions, simply because of game-balancing reasons. However, skipping the whole freight sector to have more IDs available for passenger trains could have been an interesting approach for a special kind of game and it could technically work.
But your new project is both more ambitious and more wide-spread as that original approach and will unavoidably end up in a very similar set as the DBXL.
Which again rises the question whether such an enormous amount of work has to be spend a second time?
I don´t know.
In any case there will be further developments of the DBXL which I hope you won´t think are "imitating" your ideas (just let me point out that silly "S-Bahn" accusation), e.g. the next version will contain
- some additional (early) locos,
- additional EMUs,
- additional liveries for the VT-137,
- additional train sets like "Ruhrschnellverkehr" and "Metropolitan",
- refitting possibility to "sleepers" (TEN)
- and a couple of other things.
@Saskia:
Saskia wrote: Many colours of [Michael's] vehicles visually don't match the real colours ...
I presume that´s your hobby-horse?
regards
Michael
And not to forget: Many colours of his vehicles visually don't match the real colours ...
