Sweet Transit News

[h3]Sweet Transit Update Two Patch Notes [/h3]

Hello everyone, Ernestas here!

Welcome to the patch notes for Sweet Transit Update 2: Forging Forward, OUT NOW!

With this update, I've focused on introducing some bigger features that the community have been asking for, as well as improving the game's logistics systems. You can read about some of them in this blog post.

The new Undo and Redo feature proved to be a very useful addition during testing. Players can now undo their mistakes when in a rush or when they're still getting familiar with the game's controls and systems. Personally, this saved me tons of time when rails didn't align the way I wanted them to. The new Scenarios bring a new and exciting game mode that can be expanded more in the future if players are enjoying them. Hopefully, all of the new features together will make the game more accessible and engaging. With this update completed, I will be looking to focus much more on adding new content to the game.

One feature I didn't talk about previously is in-game people's logic. I have added depth to their simulations, making them more engaging. Before, most of the traffic was to the station and back, apart from some wanderers. Now people will navigate to service structures, such as markets or bars which will generate income. Structures like the house of worship ring their bells three times a day, indicating that it is time to worship the God of Trains. Now those worshipers will actually go to churches from all around the village to pay their respects. This adds a lot of new foot traffic. It is fun seeing workers go from work to home, then to the market, and then maybe to a bar or school. This traffic can be optimized for even more income. Commercial structures such as Bakeries and Clothes shops also generate income based on traffic. This means that placing bakeries near station exits might make them generate income instead of losing money. One of my favourite things to do is to place bookstores around bars, which not only generates income, but makes reading more fun with friends!

I hope you enjoy the new features, and as ever, I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Check out the trailer:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Additions: [/h3]

• Updated blueprint library
  
• Steel bridges with corners
  
• Scenarios system with 20 built-in scenarios
  
• Undo/Redo in build mode
  
• New and bigger station
  
• Added option to disable refueling at stations in Station UI pressed on fuel icon
  
• Added income generated by inhabitants visiting service structures
  
• Added income generated by inhabitants and travelers visiting commercial structures
  
• Added transfer train to the depot button in Train UI
  

[h3]Changes: [/h3]

• Made wooden bridge show as invalid in signal build mode
  
• Limited specialization bonus to +50%
  
• Increased steel mill craftsmen requirement from 20 to 40
  
• Increased brick storage craftsmen requirement from 2 to 4
  
• Increased brick kiln craftsmen requirement from 15 to 30
  
• Increased cattle field craftsmen requirement from 7/24 to 15/24
  
• Increased hop farm craftsmen requirement from 10 to 20
  
• Increased hop field craftsmen requirement from 3/24 to 6/24
  
• Increased pump jack craftsmen requirement from 10 to 20
  
• Increased oil boiler craftsmen requirement from 5 to 10
  
• Increased oil cracker craftsmen requirement from 30 to 60
  
• Increased wood processor craftsmen requirement from 10 to 20
  
• Increased pulp producer craftsmen requirement from 5 to 10
  
• Increased wood processor craftsmen requirement from 10 to 20
  
• Increased dairy field craftsmen requirement from 7/24 to 15/24
  
• Increased milk storage craftsmen requirement from 5 to 10
  
• Increased cheese production plant craftsmen requirement 20 to 40
  
• Increased craftsmen tax bonus from bread from 1 to 3
  
• Increased craftsmen tax bonus from cheese from 2 to 5
  
• Increased meat unlock requirement from 300 to 500 craftsmen
  
• Increased hops unlock requirement from 600 to 1000 craftsmen
  
• Increased cheese unlock requirement from 1400 to 1800 craftsmen
  
• Increased paper unlock requirement from 2000 to 2500 craftsmen
  
• Made invalid route jump less between actions
  
• Made intersections prioritize trains that are waiting for the longest
  
• Made people leaving stations go to their actual residences
  
• Removed turning off people option in the settings
  

[h3]Plus many bug fixes![/h3]
[h3]Check out the game changelog for full details.[/h3]

[h2]Logistics[/h2]

Hello again, everyone! The next update will be logistics focused. New features are time consuming to code and do not add that much to write about.

[h3]Data[/h3]

With this being the last post this year, I would like to start by talking about development stats. For me, it is always interesting to hear what it takes to build something and it only sounds fair to share some data about Sweet Transit (Also, as I said, there is not that much content to write about). I started working full-time sometime in November or December 2020, clocking more than 4.8k hours during that time and some before. It is more or less typical work hours, but every game dev knows that a lot of the problem solving happens when you are not 'working'.

Sweet Transit is made using my custom game engine with Monogame as a base. There is no good way to measure code, but using Visual Studio DPack Solution Statistics tool shows 206k lines of code and 1k files throughout 9 separate projects. The main project is the game, which contains 170k of those lines, and the other ones are server, custom tools, reusable libraries and testing. Work is mostly evenly divided between new features, UI, refactoring and bug fixing. These days I do not spend time on optimization as it is not really needed thanks to refactoring and efforts to have clean code all around. But to be fair, there are some classes that are scary to approach such as train movement calculations and I only have myself to blame.



Graphics are mainly done using Blender->Substance->After Effects->Photoshop stack with some custom tools in between to make it more straightforward. Currently, the graphics only folder has 190k different files and is 185GB. There are many different files, such as sprites, textures, references, project files and so on. There are also other smaller folders regarding UI, icons and design, all housed inside my PC and personal Dropbox as a backup. In the end, the Sweet Transit project folder has data worth of 250GB with only a build size of 2GB to show for it. Now imagine how many terabytes of backup AAA games have. Good advice here is to never do your maximum and forget being a perfectionist. Graphics take the longest to do and usually they are tied to the content. Make and optimize your pipeline with the visual goal of "good enough". As an example, my hourly limit to make a locomotive with its wagon is 30h and that includes going from an idea in my head to an iterated in-game sprite with all relevant data set. It is a lot knowing how many different kinds of content are needed to make a game. There are tiles, trees, decorations, villages, industries, people, goods, and it all adds up.



The biggest thing I learned during the past two years is just how many things I do not know. "Finish a game" advice is a golden one. Just don't start with your multi-year dream project if you value your sanity. Now let's talk about new features.


[h3]Undo and Redo[/h3]

The long awaited undo feature is being worked on. A standard undo with CTRL+Z will remove or rebuild your last build step with a moddable history of 50 actions. Together with this will come a redo with CTRL+Shift+Z allowing you to go through build history both ways. It was less complex than expected. However, I believe that bugs and side cases will be all over the place. The QA team should have their hands full checking this one.


[h3]Blueprint Library[/h3]

Blueprint Library should also be a welcome addition. Factorio and Dyson Sphere Program were the main inspirations. This panel will allow you to share blueprints, folders and rearrange them seamlessly using the game or windows explorer. Preview is interactable allowing you to zoom in, out and navigate.

I am not yet sure what to do regarding icons. Other game blueprints are more varied allowing industry specific icons to be used. But in Sweet Transit it is only rails and stations. Rendering a preview is an option, but if the blueprint is large then only noise will be visible. Feel free to share ideas as I will tackle this after the new year.




[h3]Steel Bridge[/h3]

Bridges are still straight except for the steel one. Steel bridges will have corners now, allowing you to drag multiple shapes. Can't wait to see the new intersection designs!




[h3]Scenarios[/h3]

There will be a new game mode! Newcomers are having a hard time learning how to properly use signals which is understandable. Experienced players need a place to test their solutions. Scenarios will solve both of these problems, allowing players to solve ever-increasing difficulty challenges and measure their throughput. And best of all, it is compatible with mods.




[h3]Build Mode[/h3]

Finally, build mode will allow you to go to the map view for a general overview of where you can or can not build. There is still no ability to build in map view, but at least you will be able to zoom out.




Until the next week!

Hi passengers,

Another hotfix has arrived and we hope it makes your journey with Sweet Transit even smoother! Details of this patch are below.

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• Fixed Cracker description typo
  
• Fixed a crash when building trains
  
• Fixed being able to delete a rail under a train when there are multiple trains in a single signal block
  
• Fixed a rare crash when destroying multiple stations at once
  

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Updated credits
  

Safe journeys everyone!

Hi passengers,

Hotfix 9 is now boarding! Thank you for continuing to provide us with your feedback and thoughts on Sweet Transit. We'll keep you informed about future updates. Details of this patch are below.

[h2]Bug fixes:[/h2]

• Fixed Craftsmen Stoneworks not refunding bricks when destroyed
  
• Fixed a crash when trying to remove a rail signal on a bridge with a road below
  
• Fixed stats UI disappearing when clicking on the hidden scroll button
  
• Fixed in-game problem tooltips not being shown
  
• Fixed signals tutorial taking too short to validate completion
  

[h2]Changes:[/h2]

• Made trains force their reservations on rails when multiple trains are using them
  

Safe journeys!

Hello all. Please find below our latest hotfix information for Sweet Transit for Hotfix 7 and 8.

Hotfix 7 was released on 03/11

Hotfix 8 was released on 08/11

[h3]Bug fixes:[/h3]

• Fixed not being able to scroll wagons in the train depot with middle mouse button
  
• Fixed sandbox gamemode not enabling upkeep
  
• Fixed a crash when detaching a distribution center from a station
  
• Fixed a crash when removing a station bridge near the main station building
  
• Fixed a crash when removing rails in front of a moving train
  
• Fixed tools shop not being present in settlements
  
• Fixed localization issues
  
• Fixed train reserving chain signals where they shouldn't
  
• Fixed settlement production buildings not producing after load
  
• Fixed settlements not registering imported goods from outside production facilities
  
• Fixed multi action destinations not being able to load/unload at the station with a single wagon
  
• Fixed a bug when blueprint flip invalidates signals
  
• Fixed a bug when rails allow or block their removal when they shouldn't
  
• Fixed Cheese Factory having a block range
  
• Fixed tooltips not calculating storage capacity bonuses
  
• Fixed City UI goods tooltips not disappearing on mouse press or mouse leaving the area
  
• Fixed multi action destinations not finishing their job
  
• Fixed rails always being overgrown;
  
• Fixed remove mode from upgrade tool not refunding
  
• Fixed a crash when mass removing rails with validation
  
• Fixed stamps available text going out of bounds
  

[h3]Changes:
[/h3]

• Made bridges transparent in the rails build mode
  
• Made add wagons in the train depot fail if new train wagon would exceed the train depot length
  
• Made sandbox gamemode enable cheats by default
  
• Updated Save UI date format to Year-Month-Day
  
• Updated train movement system
  
• Increased signal block max inner blocks from 6 to 24
  
• Increased ST30 ramp speed from 35 to 40
  
• Increased ST30 corner speed from 20 to 30
  
• Made trains stop in the middle of the station if front is occupied and all train wagons fit the station
  
• Removed potato farm restrictive placement based on fertility
  
• Improved train path station finding
  

[h3]Additions:
[/h3]

• Added block goods slider to block certain amount from settlement exports
  
• Added tools storage to the town medium storage
  
• Added production facility road range increase together with the stamps upgrade
  
• Graphics:
  
• Added Medium Warehouse Storage graphics
  
• Added Medium Warehouse Storage icons