Modified Time of Day System for US Routes

Modifies the Time of Day system of all US routes to bring the overall lighting visuals in line with what was introduced on the two German routes "Dresden - Riesa" and "Dresden - Chemnitz". This has the effect of making the nights look significantly darker overall and therefore appearing much more natural as opposed to the overly bright visuals on other routes in the game. It also vastly improves the lighting in cloudy and rainy conditions, removing the washed out feeling the routes usually have with this weather setting and making it look a lot more appropriate for a cloudy sky. You may also notice that the sunrises and sunsets have a much more natural transition and the timings now match what you would see in real life a lot more closely.

I have also made sure to lower the bloom intensity setting on the routes in this pack where it was a lot higher than what we are used to on most routes from DTG. This removes the incredibly bright effect everything appears to have in the game with the higher bloom setting which also adds to the more natural feeling of the enviroment.

I'd also like to say a massive thank you to @Aurora Bee/annadess for providing me with her guide on all relevant changes that need to be made and helping me through the process of getting the changes into the game.

A comprehensive list of changes can be found below:

• Changes the Time of Day system on the following US routes to use the DRA/DCZ lighting setup:
  • Clinchfield Railroad
  • Long Island Railroad
  • Oackville Subdivision
  • Sand Patch Grade
  • Peninsula Corridor
• Seperate Versions for each route, allowing you to pick and chose which ones you wish to have installed
• Significantly improves the lighting on the route:
  • Makes nights appear a lot darker than before
  • Removes the "washed out" effect from the enviroment when running with clouds
  • Changes the dawn and dusk transitions to feel a lot more convincing
• Reduced bloom intensity on routes that used a higher than normal setting

There is currently no version for the Horseshoe Curve, Cane Creek or Harlem Line routes because I don't own them at the time of uploading these mods. This page will be updated if and when I get around to making them.

Installation Instructions

Download the .pak file of your choice and move it into TSW's DLC directory, this is usually located here: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Train Sim World 3\WindowsNoEditor\TS2Prototype\Content\DLC"

Additional Comments

Patch Notes

8. April 2023:

• Aran-CRR-Time-of-Day-Update-v1.0.pak - Initial Release
• Aran-LIRR-Time-of-Day-Update-v1.0.pak - Initial Release
• Aran-OSD-Time-of-Day-Update-v1.0.pak - Initial Release
• Aran-SFJ-Time-of-Day-Update-v1.0.pak - Initial Release
• Aran-SPG-Time-of-Day-Update-v1.0.pak - Initial Release

Known Issues

Due to the way routes are set up in TSW, it is possible that not all routes will have identical lighting visuals with this mod. While the same improvements will apply to all routes the mod is installed for, it is possible that you will notice cases where some routes are significantly darker than others. If you wish to not use this mod on any one of your routes, it can simply be removed while all other routes will continue to profit from the improvements made with it.