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Shunting Sensor, Relay Sensor and the Conductor Office

Hello Everyone,

You might think the title of this post sounds like the start of a quirky joke or an intriguing story – "A Shunting Sensor, a Relay Sensor, and a Conductor Office walk into a bar..." But no, it's actually the exciting lineup of features we're rolling out in Update 18 for Rail Route - a Train Dispatcher Simulator! 🚂



And we're thrilled to pull back the curtain on Update 18, which is currently chugging along in our #staging version. Let’s unpack the goodies we've been tinkering with!

Wait! What's Staging Version?


Wondering about #staging? It's our exclusive playground for the most active and passionate community members on Discord. They get a sneak peek at new features and provide invaluable early feedback, shaping the game's future. Big thanks to our dedicated players! 🌟



Want to join this elite group? If you’re a Rail Route fan and value Rail Route as high as nominating it for a Labor of Love Steam award and you actively playing Rail Route (Rail Route is your second job), then hop onto ➡️ our Discord and ask for #staging access.



Introducing: Relay Sensor




The Relay Sensor is your new best friend for simple yet effective automation. Ideal for managing intersections in the early stages of your network, it instructs one signal to create a predefined connection. Routing Sensor then takes over for more complex scenarios, tailoring connections based on a train's destination.



NEW: Relay Sensor
[NEW: Relay Sensor Tutorial


Introducing: Shunting Sensor




Remember the Shunting Commands from Update 17? They just got better with the Shunting Sensor. Set up Shunting Rules to automatically apply to trains based on their heading and destination.



What's more? Future upgrades will allow rule customization for trains with specific compositions! Expect that next week in #staging!

NEW: Shunting Sensor
NEW: Shunting Sensor Tutorial


Conductor Office: Your Gateway to Green Contracts




We're introducing the Conductor Office alongside existing Dispatcher Office. This new feature generates green contracts, streamlining your station's contract management. Say goodbye to contracts cluttering next to station signs – decide where to have them by build a Conductor Office and speed up contract generation by building more.

NEW: Conductor Office Building
NEW: Green Offerred contracts moved from Station to Conductor Office




In Conclusion


And guess what? We're just getting warmed up! Next week, we'll be bringing even more to the table with a revamped schedule editing feature in the Editor – all part of Update 18. The pace at which we're churning out these updates is nothing short of a high-speed train, and it's all thanks to the incredible teamwork and passion here at Rail Route.

We're all aboard this journey with you, our amazing community. So, come hang out on Discord, share your thoughts and laughs, and let's continue this incredible adventure together.



Until next week, keep those tracks busy and your trains on time! - The Rail Route Team



Patch Notes

NEW: Relay Sensor
NEW: Relay Sensor Tutorial
NEW: Shunting Sensor
NEW: Shunting Sensor Tutorial
NEW: Conductor Office Building
NEW: Green Offerred contracts moved from Station to Conductor Office
NEW: All sensor sprites
NEW: Updated Train Bottom Bar

UPDATE: Sensors reordered on Build Bar
UPDATE: Don't show keybinds on Train Bottom Bar all the time
UPDATE: Improved invalid configuration sprite
UPDATE: Red tier 2 threshold requirement lowered to 10 from 15
UPDATE: Reuse button removed from train bottom bar
UPDATE: Shunting Track building moved into Connections
UPDATE: 'Go to platform' shunting command now routes trains to last visit if train departure frot there is not recorded
UPDATE: Train does not move even in shunting mode until departed from station


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1124180/Rail_Route

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1896900/Rail_Route_The_Story_of_Jozic/

The Steam Awards nominations: Make Rail Route your 'Labor of Love' choice!

[h3]⬆️⬆️ Click the box above to nominate Rail Route ⬆️⬆️[/h3]


As the Steam Autumn Sale (November 21st to November 28th) approaches, we've got some exciting news to share. It's that time of the year again when you, the players, have the power to nominate your favorite games for the prestigious Steam Game Awards. And guess what? We're counting on your support to make Rail Route a standout choice in the "Labor of Love" category!

[h2]🚂 Why Rail Route Deserves Your Vote 🚂[/h2]
Dedication Beyond the Tracks:
Rail Route isn't just a game; it's a labor of love for our dedicated development team. We've been working on updates, improvements, and optimizations to ensure your train dispatching experience keeps getting better and better.

Continuous Innovation:
Rail Route is constantly evolving. We've listened to your feedback and incorporated new features, automation tools, and optimizations to keep the game engaging and exciting.

Community Engagement:
You, our incredible train dispatchers, are the heart of our community. Your feedback and ideas have shaped the game's development, making Rail Route a true labor of love for both us and you.

[h2]🌟 How to Nominate Rail Route 🌟[/h2]
Nominate directly at the top of this post or nominate Rail Route in the Labour of Love category on the nomination page!

Remember, your vote counts, and your support means the world to us. We couldn't have made Rail Route the game it is today without our community. Spread the word, rally your fellow players, and let's make Rail Route the shining star of the Steam Game Awards. Together, we can celebrate our shared passion for trains and dispatching!



Over the years we have released a lot updates, really advocating for Labor of Love award. To celebrate this, we have created a roadmap guiding you through our time together - take a look:



If you wanna dive into the memory lane and check out every update, we got you covered:
Early Access! - Rail Route officially launched on Steam
Update 1 - 1.1 finally made it to the public
Update 2 - Meet Jozic!
Update 3 - New Accessibility Features
Update 4 - New Game Mode - Rush Hour!
Update 5 - Contests, leaderboard for Rush Hour and new maps!
Update 6 - Rail Route's new story mode "The Story of Jozic"
Update 7 - A multitude of quality of life improvements like train alerts.
Update 8 - Advanced arrival and routing sensors
Update 9 - New Menu and Waiting Train Icons
Update 10 - Menu and game scene combination and New loading screen
Update 11 - More Control and Flexibility in your Rail-building Experience
Update 12 - Revamped UI
Update 13 - Keybindings: More Freedom, More Control
Update 14 - The new dispatcher office
Update 15 - More diverse contracts and improved schedule modification
Update 16 - Tiers are in, improving system upgrades
Update 17 - Shunting and improved contracts planning


But what’s next? We are quickly approaching the 1.0 release, aiming to leave Early Access in February. Stay tuned for more information, share your feedback, and thank you for being a part of our incredible journey. 🚉❤️


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1124180/Rail_Route

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1896900/Rail_Route_The_Story_of_Jozic/

Hotfix 1.17.16

UPDATE: Localizations (es: achievements, ui; nl: tutorials, ui; zh-Hans: tutorials, ui; no: ui; ru: ui)
UPDATE: Station visit info panels can no longer be dragged around in contract focus view

FIX: Error thrown when train was selected and new contract was accepted in focus view
FIX: Hovering a subtask icon leads to bad icon flickering
FIX: Main menu tab selection buttons where still acting on keybinds when menu was closed
FIX: Playing the story of Jozic with all researched pre unlocked leads to the story to get stuck
FIX: Positions of windows were wrongly saved for stabling rules
FIX: Reuse shunting command did not show up when editing stabling sensors
FIX: Saving a go to signal shunting command with a deleted signal leads to a NPR and breaks the load
FIX: Stabling sensor would still add shunting commands to train with rejected contract
FIX: Start / stop train button was still listening to binding after train bottom bar was hidden
FIX: Text in timetable completion modal had graphical artifacts
FIX: Train dispatched from Coach Yard in advance (as ECS) caused errors when schedule editing was attempted
FIX: Train shunting queue was not cleared when trains contract was rejected
FIX: Trains outside of endless mode did not show timeline on hover
FIX: Zoom to contract views were wrongly computed in some cases


Note: Build 1.17.15 contained critical bug and was skipped.

Czech & Slovak Games Week 2023

Come and celebrate the annual Czech & Slovak Games Week with us. To celebrate this, Rail Route will have a 20% discount for the coming week!

Every year on the 17th of November, Czechia and Slovakia celebrate national holiday in honor of the events of 1939 and 1989. The Day of the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy is primarily linked to the year '89 and the so-called Velvet Revolution, which marked the peaceful transfer of power and the advent of democracy. It represents the beginning of free entrepreneurship in our countries, including the gaming scene, which gradually developed during the 1990s to its present form.

Situated in the heart of Europe, Czechia and Slovakia may be small countries, but the local gaming scene punches well above its weight! Join us in celebration of Czech and Slovak game developers, and the plethora of games they’ve brought to this world!


As a studio in the Czech Republic, we are proud to be part of the annual Czech & Slovak Games Week with so many other fantastic studios and great games.

Rail Route received Update 17 last week, finally adding the long-awaited feature shunting. This week we recommend you to try it out on our Prague map, to celebrate this very special week. Go dispatch some trains!

And as always, share your feedback:


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1124180/Rail_Route

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1896900/Rail_Route_The_Story_of_Jozic/

Hotfix 1.17.13 & 1.17.14

Hotfix 1.17.13
NEW: Train schedule is shown when hovering visit in station info panel timeline

UPDATE: Bigger tunnel connector sprite
UPDATE: Stock endless maps updated (more space for yards)

FIX: Closing contracts menu would leave black artifacts behind from station signs for a short time
FIX: Contracts menu did not switch to correct tab when showing specific contract
FIX: Edit contract keybind closed active contract focus view when different train was clicked
FIX: Incorrect duplicate tooltips on editor checklist items
FIX: Player was forced to wait for Jozic to stop talking until he can close the station panel in the auto accept trains chapter
FIX: Wrong sound position when station sign clicked on UI


Hotfix 1.17.14

UPDATE: Dock station info panel subtask in the tutorial has been removed

FIX: Incorrect string format for chinese localization of reuse shunting command time
FIX: Localized text on upcoming trains and train bottom bar was not updated directly after changing game language
FIX: Non bulldozable items could be bulldozed when clicking just after deselecting an item on the board in bulldoze mode
FIX: Subtask hint icons being displayed under the system upgrades panel
FIX: Subtasks hint keybinds in the system upgrade panel were confusing for the gamepad
FIX: Train names where not localized when loading a save with a different localization active or changing the localization in game