Let's talk about The Bus (EN)

To Quarney and all TML team. This a thread started on the fellowsfilm forum because we all support this.

From Whistlehead, a talented developer.

Right now, The Bus has a few issues. Some of these are typical Early Access type issues, which I am sure will be resolved by release - others feel a bit more fundamental.



I'll start by mentioning the early access price, which at £21.95 is extremely reasonable if you just fancy picking it up to have a look for yourself (or of course you can enter our raffle and get it for free).



Being early access, there's obviously bugs right now - small things like the satnav cutting out, the cab light turning off when the doors are shut while the switch is in the always on position (and then turning back on again when you turn the switch off then on again, a simple state-machine bug), the FOV being limited to too narrow a range for ultrawide monitors, etc. I'm sure all of this kind of thing will be fixed for full release.



Similarly, content right now is very limited. There's one route, which takes 30 minutes, one bus, and no AI buses. The first two are definitely on the roadmap for the next phase, the last I assume will be addressed?



The graphics, while impressively flashy, feel a bit overdone in that very Unreal Engine way - I know a lot of people like that, but at times it's a bit hard to look at with brightly coloured screen space global illumination lighting up all the shadows, streetlamps sparkling and flashing like nobody's business in the distance, light effects only turning on within about 50m of the bus (with light distance set to "high") giving a strange feeling of being in the opening scene in Harry Potter. All in all it just feels like that typical small studio thing of turning on all the Unreal post processing to make their game look AAA - which is kind of a shame, because underneath all the flashy effects is a very good looking map, with nicely made PBR materials (even if the drain covers do stick up 5cm above the road surface). Fortunately a lot of the effects can be reduced or tuned off, but there are a few lighting bugs (mainly with the streetlamps) which still remain.



And of course my personal bugbear with all driving simulators - why on earth do developers always paint the AI cars like a pack of M&Ms? Why are there two different kinds of bright orange, one of which does a pearlescent shift from greenish yellow to red at angles, but no plain white or silver cars? There are a few metallic grey cars around in the sim, and they look fantastically realistic. More of that please.



On to the things I'm not so sure will be sorted: the driving feels a bit "off" with no real sense of weight or momentum, and the sounds leave a lot to be desired - particularly under deceleration, where every time you tap the brake it seems to play a "retarder" sound whose speed bears no relation to the vehicle speed, and which sometimes continues to play after you've stopped. I've looked at the roadmap and these issues either seem to not be on the radar or are listed as "backburner".



Lastly, it seems like to load a new vehicle or change route you have to completely reload the map, and you can't have more than one vehicle at once. I may be wrong on that, but I couldn't find a way to do it. Apparently this is the same system as Fernbus simulator, though I've never played that title.



Of course, the most interesting thing is going to be the Unreal Engine mod tools, when they come out. It'll be interesting to see if the issues I have with sound in particular can be addressed by a more experienced bus developer, and whether the tools are accessible enough that a similar mod community develops to that which we have in OMSI. With the full power of Unreal Engine available to make vehicles and maps, an experienced and technically minded developer should be able to do pretty much anything (depending on how the tools are implemented), but the barrier to entry might be higher than OMSI. We'll just have to see.



All in all, I had a pretty nice and relaxing time driving around Berlin. The way it looks like this is going, if you enjoy ETS2 then you will definitely enjoy this title. If you've still stuck with OMSI up to this point though, you're probably here because of the driving physics, the sounds, the variety of content and the easy modding - none of which The Bus offers just yet.

Thank you to all your efforts TML, it really feels like Berlin. These niggly bits and further improved steering / physics. Even the AI car colours, avoid the harsh oranges because the lighting is too excessive. Apart from all that. Amazing

Quote from Routeres

Spot on summary, he really hit the nail on the head with the graphics part.

Yeah, if we all report and keep abreast of the graphical quality, vehicle physics, sounds, especially sounds; most likely the feedback will get to TML.

Quote from Mainline421

Just tried the game, the detail is excellent seems spot-on from how I remember Berlin. But the acceleration is a little off, it's like whenever you push up on the keyboard it just flaws it, making it difficult to drive at a reasonable speed, should implement Omsi's braking system. Also the onboard computer was completely non responsive the first time I booted the game, had to restart since there's no quit to menu button, but was fine after that.

Otherwise all good.

I think they made the acceleration for pedals, since I use pedals here the acc is ok, I think they just need to tweak a lil bit for people using keyboards

BVG Haltestelle

Asked on the discord. In game so far these need updating