Rail Route News

It's arrived! Dive in and see some of the new features for yourself!

[h2]What's New[/h2]

[h3]Leaderboards[/h3]



Rush Hour maps now have leaderboards! You can compare your current run to the world record, the record among your friends list, or your personal record.

[h2]Contests[/h2]



It's simple: You have around a week to get the best score possible on a set seed. Oh, except you can't load saves! Every run must be done from wave 1 to wave 10. That may seem like a small change, but it makes a big difference long-term...

[h3]New Maps[/h3]



There are a few new Rush Hour maps to try out, all with varying difficulties!

[h3]Main Menu Options[/h3]



Starting a new game, loading an old save, or deleting a map now only requires that you hover over the level preview! No need to try and click on those pesky buttons anymore...



[h2]New Features[/h2]

• Rush Hour maps can be started with a seed that determines the traffic.
  
• Contests support added - special main menu item loaded from web server, runs a given map with a given seed. Subscribes and downloads map from workshop if needed. Submits score to own leaderboard.
  
• Added leaderboard modal for use in main menu leaderboard viewing
  
• Added hover and click effects to news item in main menu
  
• Added option to toggle leaderboard submissions on or off
  
• Added pause screen to Rush Hour with benchmark graph
  
• Leaderboard and benchmark times shown when playing Rush Hour
  
• In Main Menu, score & percentile displayed from leaderboard for Rush Hour maps
  
• Editor support to configure Rush Hour wave intensity phases
  
• Copy & Paste sound
  
• Possibility to allow / forbid each train being generated per Rush Hour's wave onset phase
  
• End of wave sound
  
• Platform number is shown on train destination popup
  
• Possibility to mute narration on Wave Complete screen
  
• Rush Hour maps from SteR: Chicago Ogilvie Center, London DLR, Central Tokyo
  
• Show score for endless maps in map tiles
  
• Floating score is having a sound
  
• Sound for perpetual route
  
• Sound for train delay, run-through and occupied penalties
  
• Sprites for zoomed out signals
  

[h2]Updates[/h2]

• Do NOT stop time while in construction mode
  
• Added tooltip with full map name when it was truncated in the menu
  
• Clear display of tracks when zoomed out
  
• Don't move the camera when accepting a contract
  
• Finished maps have different color in menu
  
• For Timetable and Rush Hour maps the primary action in Main Menu is 'Start new game' instead of 'Load last save' if the level was finished after the save was made.
  
• Incentive to try Rush Hour mode removed from tutorial for now - too complex for a new player
  
• Leaderboard and wave end screen updated
  
• Localizations (fr: tutorials; ja-JP: tutorials, ui; zh-Hant: all; zh-Hans: ui)
  
• New button layout for level items in main menu
  
• Pause real time in Rush Hour when pause menu is opened
  
• Precision key (X) hides trains to make small track segments clickable
  
• Slower speed for music intensity change
  
• Station + platform display simplified
  
• Timer display for prototype trains counts down 1 minute since contract acceptance
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Clicking item locked by research did not show related research when research panel was opened for the first time
  
• Deallocating signal in build mode would add signal to inventory without bulldozing
  
• Do not autosave after wave 10
  
• Editor timetable columns were misaligned
  
• Floating score text started from outside timer UI
  
• Fullscreen mode actually set borderless windowed mode
  
• Global leaderboard was displayed empty if the player was not in + combination logic reworked
  
• Going to main menu from game end screen was making a save again
  
• Graph was not drawn properly sometimes
  
• It was possible to build a tunnel from/to an allocated track
  
• Keystrokes +/- modified autoblock size by 2 instead of 1 if platform was built before
  
• Long level names went past level list item borders
  
• Next benchmark button during Rush Hour didn't show next benchmark
  
• Old Rush Hour maps were missing wave onset phases
  
• Old saves were missing some narrations in the first train chapter
  
• Removed hover sound inside level item in menu
  
• Save and share panel had text going past the panel
  
• Station Sign on Wave Screen was smaller than text & misaligned
  
• Station labels were not displayed in the Visual Timeline after omitted station (...) become visible station.
  
• Typo in playthrough (not) randomized
  
• Unlocked items didn't show at end of wave
  
• Various contest item fixes and visual improvements
  

That’s all for now, folks - Enjoy! We can't wait to see your highscores. Please, don't forget to put Jozic into the wishlist ;).

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

As always, happy dispatching.
- The Rail Route Team

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

It's been about a month since Rush Hour released, and you know how we are - As soon as one major update releases, we get to work on the next as soon as possible.

As you probably noticed, we've got a story mode planned for the near future as a (free) standalone game - While a lot of our efforts have been diverted to making this experience a reality on time, we're not going to neglect the main game. After all, improvements for Rail Route are also improvements for the Story of Jozic, right?

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

Well, bugfixes are, at the very least. There's far more to be excited about in Update 5 than bugfixes, though... Wanna see?

[h2]STEAM LEADERBOARDS[/h2]

One of the biggest requests that's popped up every now and again since Early Access began was was Steam leaderboards. It seems like a perfect fit, right? Check in and compare yourself to other players to see how well you're doing worldwide, maybe even compete for the world record...

With the release of Update 4, even more requests for this feature piled in, and for good reason - Rush Hour is the perfect mode for leaderboards. Speed is key, but you still need your wits to make a competent layout with limited track! Excellent for competition, right?



Well... Do you notice anything... different?



Right above the timer is a second clock! Instead of telling you how long you've been playing for, it displays one of the following times:

• Your Previous Record
  
• The Best among your Friends
  
• The Global Highscore

On the right, it'll show you how much better (or worse!) you're doing in comparison to the record you're comparing against. This way, you can gauge how well you're doing in this current run.



When you complete a wave, you can see some information about your performance compared to whatever benchmark you've been keeping track of. You can toggle between a graph that shows you your progress wave-by-wave or a leaderboard that shows your standing for that wave in comparison to multiple people.



Once you've finished the last wave, your score will automatically be submitted to the leaderboards. How well did you do? Only one way to find out...



In the main menu, you can see your leaderboard placement right next to your score. Oh, yeah, scores have gotten WAY larger, too. See that 35k? A bit of an outlier, but still, quintiple-digit scores are pretty easy to get now, when previously they were unheard of. This'll help separate old scores from the new!

Speaking of the main menu...

[h2]MAIN MENU OPTIONS[/h2]



Right now, it's... honestly, kind of a pain to load older saves, start new playthroughs, or edit/delete maps from the main menu. The three dots in the upper-right corner of a map's preview are pretty tiny and easy to miss...

No need for any of that hassle anymore, though.



Now, just hovering over the preview will bring up all the icons you'll need! No more struggle with accidentally loading the last save instead of starting a new game.



For Rush Hour, we've also added a brand-new feature to go with this - Seeded runs! If you'd like to play the map over and over again while keeping the same set of trains, just type in whatever you'd like - up to 6 characters long - and the game will always give you the same results!

[h2]NEW MAPS[/h2]

When Rush Hour first released back in Update 4, there weren't many official maps for the mode; Just two, one of which was a repurposed endless map. While Rush Hour certainly has its replay value, with each new run being a chance to beat your highest score or find a new technique to play better, two maps is still prettttty low.

Well, with the next update, we're fixing that! Plenty of new maps - most based on real locations! - will be showing up in the next update.

[h3]London's Dockland Light Railway[/h3]


Mess around in a simpler experience on London's Dockland Light Railway around West India Quay!

[h3]Central Tokyo[/h3]


Give Central Tokyo's network a hand, with fairly high train throughput in the later waves! Just remember you can right-click to reverse trains in busy platforms if you ever need to...

[h3]Chicago Ogilvie Center[/h3]


Try managing one of the many major stations in the heart of Chicago, Ogilvie Transit Center! Don't let the extreme amount of trains intimidate you...

That's not all, though! A few more maps are being worked on, but we aren't quite ready to show you those... Keep an eye out for more to come!

[h2]EDITOR TOOLS[/h2]

As some of you may know - and many may not, as we only mentioned this in our Community Discord - Rush Hour waves can actually be split into multiple parts if you know what you're doing.



Well, now you don't need to know what you're doing! At least, it's going to be much, much easier to set up. Want trains of a certain type to only start spawning midway through the wave? Want a massive push of trains before the wave stops spawning things? Maybe just want to give the player a breather before the difficulty picks up again?

This finer level of control should allow you to build the best Rush Hour map you can ever imagine, and also make it MUCH easier to understand what you're doing as you build your map.

[h2]Update 5: May 16th![/h2]

...Oh, and did we mention how soon the update's going to release? Mark your Calendars for May 16th!

As always, happy dispatching!
- The Rail Route Team

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

Another month, another set of maps to try! Unfortunately, no Rush Hour ones yet - we've all been busy on other things recently and haven't really had the time to try any. We've been hard at work with something special, and just haven't had much of a chance to get any onto the list yet. Sorry!

Despite this, we've still got a good handful of creative maps for you to try! Why don't we just get right into it?

[h2]142[/h2]


Not many maps use the (Any) platform feature. It's understandable, honestly - Figuring out how to schedule a map when you can't see the timetables is really tricky, and making it possible to somewhat-fairly beat is even more of a challenge. Yet somehow, this stage pushes things further, forcing you to use the right platforms for the right trains at its central station.

This map really isn't THAT hard, but if you're looking for a unique challenge, give it a go!

[h2]Hamburg Port Railway North[/h2]


Shunting may not be available, but that won't stop anyone from making freight-centric maps! The port has plenty of services that need to rumble around, often with trains running at reduced speeds as they run backwards through long stretches of track. Plus, tons of trains reverse outside of stations, and there's a fair share of unique stations to visit.

Think you've got the patience to master this map?

[h2]Growing Metropolis[/h2]


We didn't really feature any of the runner-ups for last month's contest... Well, now's the time! Growing Metropolis came in close second to Westendhafen, and for good reason - the map plays similarly to Rush Hour, with the map getting harder and more complex wave after wave as you slowly upgrade your system.

It was a good bit tougher than Westendhafen, though, so don't expect any walk in the park here!

Alongside these featured maps, the curated list has some new additions:

• Martslock
  
• Aresund
  
• Lyon Part-Dieu
  
• Garnish
  
• Derby Yard
  

That's all for this month. Hope you enjoy this month's picks!

- SteR

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