SCR version 2.0
Was it worth the two-year wait?
SCR version 2.0 came out quite recently, so I wanted to talk about it.
SCR 2.0 in a nutshell
The update primarily brings a new movement system, the first phase of an updated user interface, and a new, diesel-only extension to Rayleigh Bay for Connect and Express. It also adds a few new trains to the fleet: the Class 800, a 5-car bi-mode multiple unit for Stepford Express; the Class 156, a 2-car diesel multiple unit for Stepford Connect; the Class 385, a 3- or 4-car electric multiple unit for Stepford Connect; and the Class 313, a 3-car electric multiple unit for Waterline that replaces the Class 508, one of the first Next Generation trains in SCR. Furthermore, several pre-existing trains have been remodeled: the Class 357, the Class 170 (plus 2-car and 2+2-car variants with original style headlamps) and 171, the Class 319, and the Class 321.
In addition to a myriad of new and upgraded trains, several stations have been facelifted or overhauled as well, such as Stepford Victoria, Stepford Central, Edgemead, Faymere, Northshore, and more.
While I think 2.0 is a good update, it’s no secret that it introduced several glaring issues – and I’m not talking about having been unable to drive trains for a good half hour after the update released.
The good
I could list everything I found good about this update, but I wanted to discuss only a few new features that were especially prominent to me.
New movement system
SCR version 2.0 introduces a brand-new movement system, with trains now accelerating and decelerating much more realistically. It takes getting used to, especially if you’ve been playing for a long time before this update. While still not extremely realistic, the improvements are clear: much of the jittering, random coaches and bouncing that plagued the old movement system.
Class 801 sounds
With this update, the Class 801 received new sounds – every sample used prior has been replaced. 2.0 also brings a few minor changes to the sound system, which help render the 801 the best-sounding electric train in the game, bar none.
While they’re a miss in some areas, and almost everything else sounds like utter crap by comparison, the Class 801’s sounds still stand on their own!
Class 68/143/165/166/365 rescale
These rescales, while they may seem trivial, were much needed. I, among others, had complained primarily about the Class 143, 165, 166, and 365 trains being considerably out of scale compared to the pre-existing fleet. I would have driven the Networker Turbos much more frequently with their mesh upgrade had it not been for their being under scale, which was a shame because the models were otherwise very well done.
The could-be-better
User interface
It appears that further changes will be made to the user interface, but I think it’s best to be honest about it in its current state. While the new UI is aesthetically pleasing, for the most part, there are quite a few functional regressions. For example, the driver UI can’t be hidden anymore, which is a problem if you want to take a nice screenshot without the UI being in the way. This is easy to get around if you’re using a custom launcher like Bloxstrap (a must-have by the way), but many of these programs don’t natively support systems other than Windows.
Something that would be very nice to see is the line speed indicator to also make use of the Advance Warning Indicators (triangular speed signs with a yellow border) which warn drivers of an upcoming decrease in line speed. This could perhaps be communicated through the new driver UI with a flashing tick on the speedometer, but hey, that’s just what seems logical to me.
The dispatcher UI is very nice and is much more information-dense than the UI of old.
From what I can tell, the guarding and signalling interfaces seem to be largely the same.
The WTF????
Class 220/221 sounds
Since they were added in version 1.4.6, the Voyagers have always sounded slightly better than the rest of SCR’s diesel fleet, and I think that’s because there’s at least an attempt at pitch shifting. With version 2.0, this effect is substantially improved, but there’s a problem when you start decelerating that wasn’t there prior: instead of using an idle sample when braking, nothing plays at all.
The disconnection at the end is completely unrelated.
UPDATE 1 October 2024: SCR remodeled the Voyager models with version 2.0.1, but they didn’t take that opportunity to improve the sounds.
Class 385/802 sounds
I’m not sure why these trains’ sounds weren’t upgraded to align with the Class 801 – especially the 385 as that’s new with 2.0!
In short
Version 2.0, while a good update, seems to be propped up by its wealth of backend changes and improvements – many of which were much needed, mind you – but an average amount of forward-facing content.
That being said, I don’t think it was worth the almost two-year wait since SCR’s last major release, 1.10. But I do think there is an important piece of context that may have played a role in this lengthy wait: about a month ahead of 1.10’s release, a thing – for lack of a better term – happened (if you know, you know), which I suspect led to development being paused for the time being.
7/10
See the official changelog for version 2.0 here.
Postscript (added 24 August 2024)
It seems that the Class 802 sounds were eventually upgraded to the standard of the Class 800 and 801. I’m not changing the score though.