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Rail Route News

Hotfix 1.8.6

UPDATE: Localizations (fr: research, ui; no: research, ui)

FIX: Arrival sensor showed incorrect configuration when not all platforms could be reached
FIX: Game was crashing on some maps with sensors when exiting from building mode or configuring the sensors
FIX: Renaming save without screenshot broke save list UI
FIX: Signals on bends or dead ends would rotate when signal next to them was built or bulldozed

Update 8 - Programmer's day!

In celebrating the 2^8 (256th) day of the year, we are releasing the next free content update for Rail Route just now! And by a big coincidence, it's also the Day of the Programmer. So, happy dispatching and celebration!



Update 8

We initially did not plan for a September update, but we changed our minds :).

[h2]Advanced sensors[/h2]

And to improve the feel of a Programmer as a Dispatcher, we've included some new configuration options for the arrival and routing sensors. If you check Rail Route's suggestion site, there are some suggestions regarding sensors at the very top.



[h2]Advanced Routing Sensor[/h2]

Routing sensors are used to route trains based on their destination automatically. But when your train network gets more complicated, someone would like to route trains not only by their destination but also the type (Commuters, IC, Freights, etc.) So that's basically what the new Advanced Routing Sensor is doing, and you can unlock it as a System Upgrade.



Once this upgrade is unlocked, you can override your default setting for every train type by selecting the train type from a dropdown box and changing the routing table.



The only thing which is now missing in routing sensors is ability to route a same destination to multiple connections (1-n routing). Please, tell me if you'd be interested in that functionality in the comments!

[h2]Advanced Arrival Sensor[/h2]

When a train is approaching the station, an arrival sensor is at hand to automatically route it to a corresponding platform. It checks the train's desired platform and sends it there. You could also specify the default platform. But some trains don't have any platform assigned, and that's where the sensor was not enough.



With the Advanced Arrival Sensor Upgrade, you can specify which platforms are available for the trains that do not have a platform assigned and are either stopping or passing through the station. Don't forget this handles only the trains having the station in theirs timetables.

To make this "any platform" routing even more useful, you can set a train's stop to Any platform after you unlock via the Platform Adjustments Upgrade.



[h2]Stacking of sensors[/h2]

Once you highly appreciated the signals in the corners in the previous Update, we decided to go more in this direction and allowed the building of both sensors on the same tile (as you can now in the autoblocks).



This also improves the sensor's cooperation. Arrival sensors have a priority and if it triggers, the routing sensor will not do anything. That means you can happily use 'Other To' on it.



[h2]Platforms limit[/h2]

Maybe most of our players do not know, but there was a hard limit of 11 platforms per station within our editor. And we understand that you don't like these limits. So, feel free to build as many platforms as you want. Not more than 1 million; otherwise, the game will crash :)!



[h2]New Track Crossings[/h2]


We added a bunch of new track crossing configurations. For instance, an orthogonal track crossing but many others as well. Check them out:



Construction limitations are something that recently stepped up in priority in our roadmap. We are not happy to see new players struggling with these limitations when they try to express their creative mind when building their desired track network. And we would like to target that even more in the upcoming updates.



We either include even more to current switch options so the limitations are as low as possible, or we will simply allow the construction of tracks in all directions in one tile. That would altogether remove any hassles. Don't forget that the game is a projection into a scheme; one tile is 96 meters wide. So it would not be a 9-direction switch but more of a set of switches. The train would be allowed to continue in less or equal to 45 degrees. With more connections in one place, we would employ some speed penalty for that tile. I'd like to read your opinion on this topic, so be sure to put your thoughts in the comments.



[h2]Next?[/h2]
Maybe, you've read about Menu Redesign we preparing. Let me share you some progress with you!



Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the Update and stay tuned for future announcements. We have a lot planned for the following months; we are forming a roadmap to 1.0 and it'll be awesome.

Happy Dispatching!

Angel

[h2]Full Changelog for Update 8[/h2]
  • NEW: Advanced routing sensor configuration
  • NEW: Arrival and Routing sensor can be built at the same place
  • NEW: Hot keys (CTRL + L) to switch between English and previously selected language
  • NEW: Impossible build message on the platform and the sink.
  • NEW: Maps can have unlimited number of platforms
  • NEW: More switch variants allowed: ╳ crossing, ┼ crossing, their incomplete variants and variants with one arm bent 45 degrees left / right



  • UPDATE: Added touch pen support (experimental)
  • UPDATE: Changed animation when rotating signal
  • UPDATE: Improved animations when building and bulldozing
  • UPDATE: Localizations (de: research, tutorials, ui; en: research, tutorials, ui; es: tutorials; fr: research, tutorials, ui; hu: tutorials; ko: research, ui; no: research, ui; pl: research, tutorials, ui; cs: research, tutorials, ui; ja-JP: tutorials, ui)
  • UPDATE: Removed scheduled toggle for arrival sensor and updated sensor tooltips
  • UPDATE: Stacked sensor priorities - Arrival Sensor goes first and Routing Sensor acts only if Arrival Sensor did not handle the train


  • PERF: Saved game loading optimization and lags removal
  • PERF: Various performance optimizations for smooth running on big maps


  • FIX: Arrival sensors did not queue up routes
  • FIX: Basic tracks update was not unlockable if tutorial was already skipped
  • FIX: Boosted contracts upgrade boosted 20x instead of 2x
  • FIX: Bulldozing tunnel could freeze in animation
  • FIX: Contract with minimum time between stops did not reward full amount
  • FIX: Game Board was constructed in one frame, causing lag in loader
  • FIX: It was not possible to reject a contract that reused the number of an rejected contract.
  • FIX: Keybind name for language toggle was missing in options menu
  • FIX: Learn Auto Signal task was getting stuck in some cases
  • FIX: Long train did not register passing stop and trains longer then tunnel stopped halfway
  • FIX: Pause menu was shown shortly when loading save
  • FIX: Resetting arrival sensor settings did not show the updated settings
  • FIX: Selecting different station for arrival sensor did not update its configuration
  • FIX: Sensor settings did not display correctly
  • FIX: Test was failing. Switch is no more in Hidden state when route is highlighted.
  • FIX: Unlock popup shine animation started and ended in incorrect position
  • FIX: Zoom was so close in rush hour maps on start



Follow us:


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1124180/Rail_Route
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1896900/Rail_Route_The_Story_of_Jozic/

Hotfix 1.7.7

UPDATE: Localizations (pl: all; cs: tutorials, ui; de: achievements, research, ui; es: achievements, ui; pt: achievements, ui; ja-JP: research, tutorials, ui; no: research, tutorials, ui; zh-Hans: research, tutorials, ui; zh-Hant: research, ui; en: ui; fr: ui)
UPDATE: Translation to Norwegian language finished enough to be shown in-game (whole UI translated)

FIX: Diagonal signal rotated incorrectly when building track to it at an angle
FIX: Researched basic tracks upgrade did not show as unlocked correctly during story
FIX: Right click input did not work
FIX: Time Saver achievement description was incorrect
FIX: Timetable maps would sometimes show incorrect time in main menu
FIX: Tunnel connected to occupied dead end track could be bulldozed
FIX: Unfulfilled contract rejection penalty was not given
FIX: Very long trains would show incorrect alerts, not stop correctly or behave expectedly

Main Menu Redesign!

Hello Dispatchers!

It's summertime for most of the development team, and we're off enjoying some free time with our families - but that doesn't mean that we're not working hard preparing the next free content update for Rail Route!

We were really happy with the great reception to Update 7, and it's given us a clear direction for our future updates. With Update 7, we wanted to see whether we could deliver important changes and new content in a short amount of time - just under a month of development time. We're happy to say that we were successful.

But we'd like to dig into a different topic this time. We've added a lot of new content to Rail Route during the first year of Early Access, including a new game mode called Rush Hour. That particular update made our menu screen cramped, exacerbating a problem with the main menu that we'd had for some time already. So, it's main menu redesign time!

[h2]Main Menu Redesign[/h2]


Our problems with the main menu are not exclusively about Rail Route's game modes taking up space (and the potential future game modes that will take up even more) - there are an abundance of issues with our current menu design, and we want to target those too. We want to create a menu that will be easy to use with a controller, that will work well on smaller devices like tablets or mobiles (you guessed it!), and gives our players a much easier time choosing which great map they'd like to play next!

[h3]Most Common Actions[/h3]
Before we can dive into what we'd like to change about the menu, let's examine what our players use the main menu for. As you can see, the two most common actions are continuing with the most recent save (LoadCurrent) or starting a new map (NewOther). We'll have this in mind in our new design. And we think our current menu does a decent job of these already - so we've got to make sure we don't accidentally hinder that!



[h3]Why Even Have A Menu?[/h3]
In Update 7, we improved saving and loading times drastically by using different techniques under the hood. We are currently working on further performance optimizations. We'd like to be able to load a save as soon as the game opens. This would mean the game loads directly into your last save, but in the same time it takes to load into the menu currently. That would mean that we wouldn't need a separate menu - the menu would be integrated into the game pause screen. Whenever you hit ESC (or click the top right button), the main menu will open. This would also make changing a map during the game will much faster - we'd remove the middle man, the main menu.


[h3]Prototype in Progress[/h3]
Check out our current prototype.





What do you think? We'd love to hear YOUR ideas!
Share your ideas and tips in the comments, I'll read them all.

It's your turn to have a say in our QoL updates.

🚂🚆🚉🌅🌄🌻
Happy Dispatching,
Angel

Hotfix 1.7.6

UPDATE: Localizations (cs: all; de: achievements, research, ui; en: research, ui; es: ui; fr: all; hu: tutorials, ui; ja-JP: tutorials; zh-Hans: all; zh-Hant: research, tutorials, ui)
UPDATE: New sprite for departure sensor
UPDATE: Prague map / Story of Jozic tweaked: narration after building double switch disabled temporarily & a walls added next to Docks's sink to reduce confusion of not being able to connect to it


FIX: Blur effect did not go away after changing maps during story
FIX: Camera panning could result in unintended camera behaviour
FIX: Coach Yard and Tunnel were not visible after being built
FIX: Contract generation slowed down after many one-off trains dispatched
FIX: Custom level with a lot of schedules doesnt start because of duplicate generated contract numbers
FIX: Departue sensor had incorrect sprite and was unplaceable in tutorial
FIX: Editor timetable list width didnt update when maximized
FIX: New arrival train alert would show on last station if last station was the same as first station
FIX: Placing station signs near level border prevented building on bottom left of level
FIX: Route preview would interrupt train spawning
FIX: Stopped train alert would stay on automaticly reversed train in station
FIX: Tunnel entrance on right level edge would dissapear on load
FIX: Window mode dropdown was hidden sometimes