Railbound News

[p]Hi, [/p][p]Today's the day - Railbound's Steam Workshop support is now out of beta and ready for you to design your own amazing puzzles![/p][p][/p][p]We've improved the UI, fixed bugs, added full language support and more, to make the editor easier to use than ever. This update also adds some new Workshop-exclusive content in the form of new city-themed decoration assets that you can use for your custom levels.[/p][p]To celebrate the release, Railbound is 50% off on Steam until September 19th (our other games are discounted too!), making it the best chance yet to try out our puzzles.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To give you a quick start we've also prepared three collections of some of our favorite levels from Workshop. There are other great puzzles to be found when browsing the Workshop list, but here's just a bunch of ones we enjoyed ourselves and think are worth checking out:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][h2]Patch notes for Railbound 4.00:[/h2][h3]Main Menu - Custom Level Browser[/h3]

• [p]Added full language support,[/p]
  • [p]The Custom Level Browser is now translated into all languages supported by the game, making it easier to find what you're looking for![/p]
• [p]Added level sorting.[/p]
  • [p]By default sorts by last update / last subscribed date, but can be changed into other settings,[/p]
• [p]Added improved content descriptions for local & Workshop levels,[/p]
• [p]Added improved descriptions when no local / Workshop levels are present,[/p]
• [p]Added support for non-Latin characters in level names & descriptions,[/p]
• [p]Improved visual consistency for buttons and other UI elements,[/p]
• [p]Moved "Create New Level" button to the left area to make it easier to find,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where returning from playing a custom level to the main menu didn't open the browser automatically,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where deletion popup's level screenshot had an additional texture overlay,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where only 50 subscribed Workshop levels were displayed in the main menu,[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing SFX when clicking on some of the buttons,[/p]
• [p]Fixed errors being logged when creating new levels,[/p]
• [p]Fixed the browser UI being cut off on sides on 16:10 displays,[/p]
• [p]Fixed level timestamps being displayed in UTC instead of local time,[/p]

[h3]Level Editor [/h3]

• [p]Added full language support,[/p]
  • [p]Similarly to the Custom Level Browser, the Level Editor is now fully localised![/p]
• [p]Added new decorations & palettes to the editor,[/p]
  • [p]Introducing Workshop-exclusive city-themed content (buildings, vending machines, etc.),[/p]
  • [p]We also found some decorations from the main game that were not included in the v3.50 patch and added them back into the editor,[/p]
• [p]Added new tabs to the Decoration object panel,[/p]
  • [p]Previously decorations were sorted into 3 categories (plants/rocks/other),[/p]
  • [p]Now there are 7 categories for visual themes (forest, island, city, etc.) to make it easier to find what you're looking for,[/p]
• [p]Added character limits to level name & description,[/p]
  • [p]Those limits existed before but the game didn't enforce them (instead, you could get a publishing error when trying to send your level to Steam Workshop),[/p]
• [p]Added support for non-Latin characters in level names & descriptions,[/p]
• [p]Improved camera controls & zoom,[/p]
  • [p]Now trying to scroll the lists of decorations should no longer affect camera zoom,[/p]
• [p]Improved undo/redo behaviour,[/p]
  • [p]Now using undo/redo should better handle altering decorations & floor settings,[/p]
• [p]Improved decoration counter behaviour,[/p]
• [p]Improved decoration placement validation & rotation,[/p]
• [p]Improved behaviour when trying to save an existing level under a new name,[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing keyboard shortcuts & input handling,[/p]
  • [p]e.g. using Escape to close pop-ups or return to previous states should be more consistent,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issues when trying to publish levels with empty names and/or descriptions,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issues with level preview capture after publishing,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issues with decoration palette changes not being saved correctly,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where levels containing only trolleys could pass the Test stage,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issues with decoration counter inaccuracies and missing decorations when re-entering editor,[/p]
• [p]Fixed various visual glitches related to 3D models (e.g. white artifacts on rail buttons),[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where re-entering editor sometimes didn't open the Design stage,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where tile selection sometimes reset itself when placing new rails,[/p]
• [p]Fixed aliasing on decoration asset previews,[/p]

[h3]Other[/h3]

• [p]Fixed issue with level name UI stretching too much when playing custom levels,[/p]
• [p]Optimized textures for assets from Worlds 9-12,[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]We're super grateful to everyone who tried out the editor since May and left us feedback - it allowed us to streamline some things and make the Workshop integration smoother for new & existing players.[/p][p]We hope you'll have a lot of fun playing around with the editor - creating your own levels and discovering new ones made by our Workshop community.[/p][p]As always, let us know if you run into any issues with the game or the level editor on our Steam Community forums, our Discord or via e-mail ([email protected]).[/p]

[p]Hi! This minor update fixes some issues that popped up in the level editor - most notably the game not being able to properly count rails required for a solution when using semaphore tiles which prevented some of the workshop levels from being completed.[/p][p][/p][p]Patch notes for Railbound v3.51:[/p]

• [p]Level Editor:[/p]
  • [p](Play) Fixed wrong rail count in levels that used semaphore tiles in their solutions,[/p]
  • [p](Design) Fixed an issue where sometimes moving Station tiles around caused glitches,[/p]
  • [p](Decorate) Fixed an issue where sometimes decoration count would drop below 0,[/p]
  • [p](Decorate) Fixed being able to remove passenger models from Station tiles,[/p]
  • [p](Test) Fixed the remaining rail counter sometimes displaying an improper value,[/p]
  • [p](Test) Fixed the locomotive sometimes appearing out of place on levels with Trolleys,[/p]
  • [p]Improved editor scene loading,[/p]

[p]Cheers,[/p]

Hi,

Since we announced that we're working on a level editor for Railbound, we've also been thinking about how to best handle releasing this mode. In the end we decided to release it a bit early so that you, the players, can put your hands on it earlier and help us steer this feature in the best possible direction.

Introducing - the Railbound Level Editor Open Beta:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This new mode is available for everyone who updates the game on Steam to version 3.50 (visible in the bottom-right corner of the main menu). You can access the level editor mode through the button on the left side of the main menu.



[h2]Playing & sharing[/h2]
When opening the Level Editor mode you'll be greeted by a custom level browser menu - from here you can check out your own creations (on the "My Levels" tab) or play other people's designs (via "Workshop Levels") tab.


You can find new puzzles to solve over on the Steam Workshop tab for the game: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1967510/workshop/

Currently you need to restart the game in order to update the subscribed levels list in the main menu; we'll update this behaviour later to make it smoother.

[h2]Designing a puzzle[/h2]
After you press the "Create Level" button in the "My Levels" tab you'll enter the level editing mode. The workflow here is split into four main stages:


In the Design stage you can determine the size of your puzzle (and modify it later if your plans change), and lay down all interactive parts of a level - locomotives, train cars, switches, immutable rails, stations and more! This mode gives you access to all of the tools we have at our disposal when designing puzzles for the game (it's just that the tools are a bit nicer that what we've used when creating Railbound).


At any time during design you can head over to the Decorate tab and touch some grass, plant some trees, set up a bunch of buildings, change the visuals on the floor and make your puzzle as pretty (or as unique) as you want.


Once you're happy with your results it's time to Test your creation - in this mode you need to show that your puzzle can actually be solved before being able to share it with the world. You'll have unlimited rails at your disposal, but when sharing the puzzle with everyone else we're using your result (the amount of tiles you laid) to limit the available rail count for players.


The last step is the Publish stage - name your level, give it a fun description, decide whether to share it with yourself, your friends or all Railbound players - and off you go!

[h2]Few things about the beta[/h2]
As mentioned at the start, this mode is currently in open beta - we've shipped it earlier to get your counsel on which features we should prioritise as we're continuing work on the editor. This feature is very complex and took us a long time to develop, so expect to see some bugs, visual glitches or UI/UX issues as you're playing around with the new tools.

Some of the currently known issues that we're investigating include:

• UI issues with displaying Workshop levels under some circumstances (usually fixed by restarting the main menu or game),
  
• issues with displaying level names in edge cases,
  
• minor UI/UX glitches when using the editor in combination with some of the accessibility features,
  
• etc.
  

We hope you'll have a lot of fun with the level editor - if you run into any problems feel free to share them on our Steam Community forum, through our Discord or via e-mail ([email protected]).

[h2]Wrapping up[/h2]
Railbound was also featured during today's Thinky Direct and will be taking part in the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase from May 29th till June 5th and the Cozy & Family-Friendly Games Celebration over the weekend! We've also applied our biggest discount yet (45%) so now's the best time to give Railbound a try if you haven't done it yet.

PS. We've also just launched a big update to our latest game - Pup Champs - check it out if you haven't seen it yet :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2848800/Pup_Champs/

Hi!

We've been working hard on the Level Editor mode for Railbound and can't wait to tell you all about it... tomorrow, once the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase event is live on Steam!

Tune into the Thinky Direct, streamed live from 7PM CEST on May 29th to learn more: https://twitch.tv/thinkygames

Cheers,