Train Life - A Railway Simulator News

Today's patch has the much anticipated performance stabilization fixes for our last patch. We apologize for it taking so long to get a hotfix out, but our internal tests showed drastically improved performance so we hope that you all experience similar results. Let us know how it plays!

More information on Update 3 will hopefully arrive in the coming weeks, as we have lots of exciting stuff to share and show off!



[h2]Changes & Fixes[/h2]

• Tracks & Railways
  • Fixed a few issues related to speed limits on sections near Gorzów, Dresden, and Prague
• Gameplay
  • Inverted the colouring on the chassis weight comparison – Down good, up bad. Now down green, not red. Now up red, not green. This makes me want to do a whole series of patch notes written like a caveman. Maybe one day…
    
  • Fixed an issue with cars randomly disappearing – Technically this was not auto theft because nobody reported them stolen
    
  • Fixed an issue where there were incorrect images for some train parts – I tried replacing them with memes, but the coders caught me
• Stability & Performance
  • Fixed an issue with culling volumes that were causing frequent FPS drops – No jokes on this one, let us know how your performance is!

[h3]Have questions or issues about the game?[/h3]
You're all, as always, invited to join our Discord Server and chat with us directly! It's a great way to get more immediate feedback, or just watch me ping the QA team with your bugs.

You may also follow our Twitter, if you want a break to the normal Twitter craziness, and our Twitch account if you like copy pasta or joining us on Monday livestreams (or both).

We've got some miscellaneous fixes for all of you today, with many more in the pipeline to accompany Update 3. We'll definitely have more to share as we get closer, as we'd like to write a pre-update dev blog like we did last time. Enjoy the fixes and let us know if there are any problems!



[h2]Changes & Fixes[/h2]

• Tracks & Railways
  • Fixed multiple sign and signals issues
• Tablet
  • Fixed GPS route is not retained after loading save data
• Gameplay
  • Fixed an issue where the number of city bonuses may exceed the allocated slots – If you have this bug we won’t be removing the excess ones, and they’ll have to run out first before disappearing. Happy Valentines Day. :heart:
    
  • Fixed bug with U2 cities levelled up after save migration from U1 have no bonuses
    
  • Fixed a bug where picking up wagons while near a service center may result in the wagons being clipped into it – Tracks get cramped for space, but after some research we realized that this was not how wagons work
    
  • Fixed a bug where driving through the passthrough of a station doesn't unlock the station for employees – Station managers, like loving grandmothers, aren’t happy that you can ignore them completely and still get your birthday money, or in this case the station unlock. We told the station managers to deal with it, but please don’t say this to your grandparents.
• Level Art & Design
  • Adjusted height of flying passengers in Prague Main Station – Flying is dangerous, and it must be done safely and with regard to the passengers around you
    
  • Removed overlapping buildings in Prague Main Station – It turns out that Prague Main Station is not currently at Deus Ex levels of the future…..yet

[h3]Do you want our undivided attention?[/h3]
So does my cat! You're all, as always, invited to join our Discord Server and share problems or issues directly with us! It's a great way to get more immediate feedback and answers, or just watch me ping the QA team until they complain that I do it too often. But I won't stop.

You may also follow our Twitter, if you want a break to the normal Twitter craziness, and our Twitch account if you like channel points or joining us on Monday livestreams with Mike (or both).

While we had hoped to get a patch out earlier this week, today's patch has many more fixes than expected! Firstly, we'd like to apologize for not having a hotfix sooner. Making a build can often waste precious development time, as it requires all teams to coordinate on the notes, release, and testing of the game to ensure it passes QA. We made the decision on Monday/Tuesday to hold off on an early hotfix and aim for a Friday patch with more issues that were found after release. On behalf of the team I'd like to thank you for your patience and apologize for all of the issues you have identified and reported. We have more fixes on the way for various issues, and will probably aim for a patch next week if nothing more urgent is required.



[h2]Changes & Fixes[/h2]

• Tracks & Railways
  • Fixed blocking signals not working in many instances
    
  • The blue light on blocking signals is now much brighter – We were initially aiming for ‘blinding sun’ levels of brightness, but after a few employees lost their sight, we decided against it
• HUD
  • Improved GPS routes on Employee Driver task map
    
  • Fixed problem where the NPC train marker constantly switches sides
• Tablet
  • Added icons and sorting options for showing supported transportation modes for locomotives in the Service Center
• Gameplay
  • Fixed Employee Drivers not making any money – They have been thoroughly educated that their work deserves reward, and more than that, you deserve most of it because you run the company
    
  • Fixed impossible to fulfill level requirements for Brno at level 1 to level 2 – This can be blamed entire on Joey, so if you didn’t like this bug being present, you have full permission to call Joey a dum-dum
    
  • Fixed impossible to fulfill level requirements for Prague at level 2 to level 3 – This one is definitely not Joey’s fault. Absolutely not. There’s just no way it could have been him again. Oh wait, hold on, I’m getting a note here that it was indeed Joey’s fault here too.
    
  • Fixed wipers being unable to turn off in the Lechner-Koch DP locomotive
    
  • Fixed inability to open the map tab in some scenarios
    
  • Fixed a bug where the chassis is misaligned with the bogies on both UIF locomotives in the Service Center
    
  • Fixed a bug where the number of city bonuses may exceed the allocated slots – Excessive bonuses will first need to expire before being fixed, so enjoy the gift!
    
  • Fixed an issue where the chosen difficulty preset resets to default after using "Continue Game" in the Main Menu – Non-default players rejoice!
    
  • Fixed a bug with random events when the player is driving in reverse
• Level Art & Design
  • Fixed sporadic passengers on scenario stations
    
  • Fixed flying cars near Szczecin – Cybertrain isn’t here just yet, but maybe one day
    
  • Added missing platforms on Leipzig Main station – Too many passengers were complaining, as usual
    
  • Adjusted position of overpass pillars placed in the middle of a track between Gliwice Main and Gliwice Warehouse
• Language
  • Added missing localization texts
• Stability & Performance
  • Fixed crash when changing Car Traffic Density setting while in-game – Turns out that a crash button in the options menu is not a good thing

[h3]Public Trello + Patch Times[/h3]
On a few smaller notes, though certainly important in their own right, I'd like to give an update on our Public Trello we talked about at initial release and the dates of the patches we make here on Steam.

• Public Trello - We're in the very final stages of preparing the public Trello board for you guys to have a bit more information on upcoming features. We don't use Trello for project management in the team, so I wouldn't expect to see much dynamic movement over time here. We just wanted to give you a bit of a deeper glimpse at features and what they will entail. If you have any questions about the board when it goes live, please feel free to ask about them in our Discord and we'll do our best to answer them!
  
• Patch Times - A lot of our patches have been coming out on Friday, which is good for us as it coincides with our work sprints (AGILE term). However, this does come at a cost of not having much time to immediately respond to issues that may arise. We're going to try moving patches to be more often between Monday and Wednesday to give us more time respond to problems and push a hotfix later in that respective week.

[h3]Want to get our Community Manager to pester our dev team?[/h3]
Me too! You're all, as always, invited to join our Discord Server and chat with us directly! It's a great way to get more immediate feedback, or just watch me ping the QA team with your bugs.

You may also follow our Twitter, if you want a break to the normal Twitter craziness, and our Twitch account if you like copy pasta or joining us on Monday livestreams (or both).

On behalf of Simteract and Nacon I am very pleased to announce the release of our second major content update! Last week Friday we posted a dev blog preparing all of you for the biggest changes to our game with this patch. More can be read below, but I'll also summarize it for any new readers:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1330660/view/3117055056361031157

• Game Redownload & PAK Files
  • We've split up the game's files into multiple chunks, making future patches much lighter on both your internet usage and hard drive usage for the unpacking/patching phase. However, this will require you to redownload the game for Update 2. This process should be automatic on Steam's side.
• Unreal Engine Version
  • Shortly after Update 1's release we switched our engine version from 4.25 to 4.27. No issues have been noticed with this switch, and it provides us with better tools and more stability. That said, we will still be monitoring for potential engine bugs with the update.
• Antwerp City Leveling
  • We fixed a bug preventing the upgrading of Antwerp from level 2 to 3, but this will mean that your progress from level 2 to 3 will be reset.
• Weight Rework
  • We've adjusted the weight values of everything in our game to be more realistic, and then counter-adjusted our physics calculations to make it feel like before. This has been noticed to have about a ± 10% difference in feeling compared to before, which is within reasonable range for us. That said, without a doubt we will be watching closely and making balance adjustments in future patches if needed.

I've got a nice list for you guys and gals here, but I was a bit pressed for time, so not as many jokes as I could normally achieve. I am greatly disappointed in myself, and beg your forgiveness.

[h2]Additions[/h2]

• Features
  • Added a completely new Service Center – We’ve serviced our center to provide a better center of service for all of your Service Center servicing needs
• Regions
  • Eastern Europe
• Locomotives
  • Lechner-Koch DP2500 (and its upgraded variant, the DP3100) – This hardy electric locomotive from Austrian company Lechner-Koch is a solid upgrade to the FZ model
• Level Art/Design
  • Added new city elements (supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations)
• Scenarios
  • Added 1 Cargo Scenario – More will certainly follow in the future!
    
  • Added 3 Passenger scenarios
    
  • Added 2 Postage scenarios
• Sounds
  • Minor additions to electric engines – There is more variety in their sound now
    
  • Damaged engine sound, so you can hear that you are breaking the car, Samir
    
  • Added an air conditioning sound
    
  • Added some ‘Walkie Talkie’ sounds when contacting stations
    
  • Added a small signal for passenger boarding
• Tutorials
  • Revamped tutorials with better objective wording and pacing, as well as the addition of subobjectives – Note that it’s likely tutorials will receive changes in the future as other systems get adjusted, such as station gameplay
• Miscellaneous
  • Added a taskbar icon

[h2]Changes & Fixes[/h2]

• Tracks & Railways
  • Added three new junctions: Berlin Farm/ Szczecin Refinery, Cologne Power Plant/ Cologne Factory, Hamburg Coal Mine/ Hamburg Factory
    
  • Redesigned railway schemes on passenger stations: Aachen, Amies, Brussels, Bern, Bassel, Brno, Bremen, Dortmund, Dresden, Gliwice, Hannover, Innsbruck, Lille, Luxemburg, Lichtenstein, Mannheim, Ostrava, Reims, Saarbrucken, Szczecin
    
  • Added bypass tracks at the Frankfurt Warehouse, Stuttgart Warehouse, and Cologne Main Station
    
  • Fixed many bugs related to rails and signals
    
  • Made visual improvements to switches and electric traction
    
  • Updated the model of blocking signals
• Tablet
  • Fixed a few UI navigation problems
• Gameplay
  • Adjusted all weights in-game to have realistic values
    
  • Slightly adjusted the performance of all train parts
    
  • Fixed some bugs related to scenario barriers
    
  • Fixed the behavior of animal events
    
  • Fixed some event spawn placement
    
  • Fixed an issue causing markers to be doubled
    
  • Fixed a contract generation bug
    
  • Fixed an incorrect Antwerp City upgrade requirement preventing progress to level 3
    
  • Fixed float inaccuracy of the 10% repair in the Service Center
    
  • Fixed a problem with adding wagons while touching the track end blockade while backwards
    
  • Switching your locomotive without changing cargo mode won’t remove contracts
• Level Art & Design
  • Various visual fixes (corridors fixes, adjusting object positions, etc...)
• Sound
  • Engine sound is not bound to one point anymore, it now follows the player’s camera and should be louder in the front bumper view
    
  • Fixed issues with wagon clicking not played correctly
    
  • Fixed annoying screeching sound on turns, it’s now louder the closer we get to derailment
• Language
  • Fixed various localization issues
• Stability & Performance
  • NPC locomotives are now less performance intensive
    
  • Adjusted the min/max spline draw distance
    
  • Track markers are now more optimized
    
  • Car traffic has been greatly optimized
    
  • The GPS system has received some foundational optimization
    
  • NPC passengers have been further optimized
    
  • Changed Minimap rendering method for better performance, and in preparation for future Map/GPS changes

[h3]Post-Update Focuses & Confessing My Love For You[/h3]
As usual we're going to carefully monitor the launch and collect bugs as well as feedback. We expect there will be a hotfix this Friday, but if something needs a more immediate build, we will certainly respond.

As for you, yes you. Go to the closest mirror and look at yourself, even if it's in a public place. Make a little kissy face at yourself, and then awkwardly pat your back for us. We love you, and want you to know how thankful we are of all the feedback and wishes you have for our game. We may only have a limited number of hours in a day to work on our game, but you all live rent free in our hearts. Thank you for all of the support, honest reviews, and hours you've put into our game. This is only our second major update, and we have a lot more planned for you this year.

We hope you enjoy Update 2; keep your eyes peeled like onions, or bananas I guess, for Update 3!



[h3]Update 3[/h3]
Speaking of that, I'm proud to say that update 3 is coming tomor--

No, I wish, but we are hard at work on Update 3 and I think it's safe to say you can expect another dev blog about it, similarly to what we did with teasing the new Service Center and locomotive. This is dependent on when we have this information available, and the features ready to show off. Take a look at the next section for links where you can follow us and talk with us!



[h3]Want to lurk while watching the devs annoy each other with pings?[/h3]
You're all, as always, invited to join our Discord server and chat with us directly!

You may also follow our Twitter, if you like blue birds, and our Twitch account if you like to spam chats or join us on Monday livestreams (or both).

I am very excited to say that our second content update is just around the corner, and by 'corner' I mean the weekend in this case! How does the 26th (January 26th) sound? I mean, if that's too soon then we can always hold back, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna want this content.

We've definitely been a little too quiet since our holiday patch, but after the long and much-needed break we've been busy finalizing Update 2. (not the prettiest name, but accurate)






We have some important changes in Update 2, and before the update we wanted to caution you about some larger changes to the core infrastructure, as well as some minor overall changes.


[h2]PAK Files, Build Size, and Update Times[/h2]
Since the dawn of time release of the game we have been frustrated along with all of you that our game's size and update times are just way too unruly. With Update 2 it is our pleasure to say, but mostly mine because I'm writing this, that we have split the game into multiple PAK files (chunks of compressed files, essentially).

What this will mean is 2 things, one good and one bad:

• Firstly, this means that update times and build sizes will be smaller/shorter than before.
  
• However, this also means that with Update 2 you will be required to redownload practically the entire game. This is because we have essentially replaced the game's core file with many smaller ones, so it has to delete that old file and download the new ones. This is certainly an unfortunate product of the change, but future patches and updates should be much smoother and will not require this complete redownload.
  

[h2]Unreal Version Updated[/h2]
We have shifted from Unreal 4.25 to Unreal 4.27! We made this change shortly after Update 1 to help give us better engine tools and bug fixes, as well as receive bug fixes for built games. This does not come with any immediately noticeable negative effects, but it's always safe to relay ahead of time that changing engine versions can potentially lead to unforeseen side effects. We will be monitoring all aspects of the game after launch just to catch any edge case issues.

[h2]Antwerp City Leveling[/h2]
One minor issue in Update 1 was that Antwerp's level 3 requirements were unable to be fulfilled. We have fixed this for all save games with Update 2, but this will mean that all progress from level 2 to level 3 has been reset.

[h2]Weight Rework[/h2]
Up until now we've been using some arbitrary values for weights, and it bothered me so much that I had to do something about it. Our goal with a light rework was to adjust the values shown to the player without affecting physics in a major way.

With Update 2 you'll notice more realistic weights assigned to all aspects of the game. We've used multipliers on each aspect to help keep total weight in line with the existing feeling of driving, though please note that this does not preclude future physics adjustments from happening.

[h2]Holiday Items[/h2]
Last, but not least, Update 2 will remove the cab decorations. We hope you enjoyed them for the festive season, and we're definitely interested in doing more themed updates like this in the future! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season; 2022 is going to be a great year for Train Life!




You're all, as always, invited to join our Discord server and chat with us directly! You may also follow our Twitter, if you like blue birds, and our Twitch account if you like to spam chats or join us on Monday livestreams (or both).