Iron Roads News

The first gameplay change in this build is that towns require a continuous feed of perfume to remain above a certain size, they don’t just need it to grow. Without sufficient supply of perfume your towns will eventually shrink!

This build also adds Snowy and Desert biomes. Desert is effectively a Hard mode, with less time to transport passengers, and stricter resource requirements. Conversely Snowy is the Easy mode, however with towns growing more easily, you quickly end up with a lot of passengers so it can become Crowd control mode....

This build also has a lot of minor fixes. Including:

• A new pause screen
  
• Currencies are shown gradually as they are needed
  
• We have fixed the description of the Aether to correctly identify it as a railbus, not a DMU
  
• We have fixed the scroll on the train screen
  

[p]A tester recently shared an interesting save game with around 100k passengers and cargo units on the board. Unfortunately it was running a little slowly, but it has been a great test case to improve performance. This update to the `beta` has a number of performance improvements for large games.[/p]

[p]It also fixes:[/p]

• A bug that could cause inconsistent train display, and eventually a crash (introduced on the `beta` branch)
  
• UI scaling on larger screens
  
• A bug that could double charge for track when extending platforms
  

[p]Thanks to all those who have given us feedback on the current `beta`, please keep it coming! If you have not yet tried the preview of Beta 3 and would like to, there are notes on how here.[/p]

[p]If 0.6.7’s Quality of Life fixes were the crowd pleasers of Early Access patches, then the update we’ve been working on recently could be thought of as Iron Roads’ difficult second album.[/p][p]In the biggest set of gameplay changes since Early Access launch, we have changed Iron Roads' default play mode from scenarios to the new Endless mode. Endless mode represents a new, randomly-generated play mode, in which you start with just three towns needing connection. If you serve them well, they expand and you are rewarded with R&D tokens that you can exchange for map expansions to add towns and systems to your map. Start small, end devilishly complex![/p][p]If you'd like to try Endless mode, we'd love to hear your feedback. We have pushed a build to the beta branch - there are notes on how to try that here[/p][p][/p][p]What if you really liked scenarios, I hear you cry out? They are all still there, along with the time-bounded monthly challenge - we just don't expect players to be playing these by default and as the main gameplay.[/p][p][/p][h2]Why we made these changes[/h2][p]Feedback from players revealed a few issues we wanted to address:[/p]

• [p]Iron Roads had 4 modes of play, which was too many for a minimalist management game. Worst of all, no single mode contained all the best content. So we've merged what we believe are the best elements of Iron Roads into the new Endless mode[/p]
• [p]We want players to be able to start simple and scale up to something complex. Scenarios are fixed in scale. They are either too small, limiting how much you can develop your network, or they are too big, and risk overwhelm. The map in the new Endless mode grows with your network[/p]
• [p]Scenarios have limited replayability. In Endless mode games are more randomly generated. The player shapes the game and the map through their choices when playing, rather than our choices when building the scenario[/p]

[h2]Other gameplay changes[/h2][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]A new 'Issues' screen lists things that are stopping your network from flowing or expanding, such as stuck trains, towns with insufficient connections or arrivals, platforms that are too short, and long waits. This list should act as an active to-do list to help network optimisation [/p]
• [p]The old Free Play mode is gone, but Infinite Resources can now be turned on at any time from the preferences. Cheat at will! (except in challenges)[/p]
• [p]In the Endless mode perfume is now needed to grow towns beyond a certain size[/p]
• [p]Star unlocks for scenarios are gone. You can now play any scenario at any time[/p]
• [p]The old sandbox mode has been removed in favour of Endless mode[/p]

[h2]UI improvements[/h2][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]We've added a help button to all build modes. Click it, and it will show a small help screen with a link to the tutorial when appropriate[/p]
• [p]We've added an Undo button at last. Click it to revert your last construction/deletion[/p]
• [p]The currency indicators have been moved from the toolbar to the left hand side. This obscures less of the map with UI, and makes it clear that they are there[/p]
• [p]The speed selector has been split into 3 separate buttons, so there is no more toggling through speed modes![/p]
• [p]We have overhauled the visual style of the research and graphs screens[/p]
• [p]We have worked further on the town screen to improve information messages[/p]

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Deselect completed contract (don’t keep showing it)[/p]
• [p]Disable the growth button when not viable[/p]
• [p]Stations snap to horizontal/vertical when building at all times, rather than the behaviour before where they would sometimes fail to build at angles[/p]
• [p]We have fixed a large number of text overlap issues[/p]

[p]All our recent patch notes seem to contain a variant of A big update is coming, but we aren’t quite there yet…, so it is with relief that I can tell you this particular butterfly is ready to emerge from its chrysalis, with quality of life fixes in tow.[/p][p][/p][h2]Create routes directly on the map[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]No more need to memorise town names! When editing a route, buttons will appear directly on the map to add a town to the end of the route. The old UI remains to fine tune the route, but for the most part you won’t need to use it.
[/p][h2]Town screen overhaul[/h2][p][/p][p]The town screen is an interesting problem for a designer. Iron Roads’ minimalist aesthetic is a core part of its identity, but for the game to have depth, players need information on how their network is performing. The town screen had become a dumping ground for us to add in this detail, and the screen had become crowded over time. [/p][p][/p][p]The most important question the town screen can answer is why is my town is not growing? because the answer to that is also the answer to what should I do next?. To simplify this, we’ve added a new issues display up top of the town screen to summarise growth problems. This saves you from reading the growth numbers scattered across this screen like tea leaves. All the information we had previously is still there on the new screen, but has now been collected together in an infographic for clarity.[/p][p][/p][h2]New map generator[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]Maps in sandbox used a very small subset of the available landscape tiles, and as a result they were aesthetically lacking. The new generator uses the WFC algorithm to fill shorelines with a wide range of tiles and patterns. [/p][p][/p][h2]Mini town badges[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]There has been a lot of feedback that town badges are too large, and cover critical map space. We’ve added a smaller variant of the town badge with just the name that shows at low zoom levels. It will automatically swap back to the previous badge as you zoom in.[/p][p][/p][h2]Automatic collection of growth rewards[/h2][p][/p][h2][/h2][p]When a town grows, the game rewards you with resources. Previously it was necessary to click to collect this reward. The intention was to ensure players understood where the funds were coming from, but collecting rewards became irritating busy work. The reward indicator still shows in the updated version, but closes automatically, animating the reward into place.[/p][p][/p][h2]Growth cap (challenge only for now)
[/h2][p]It has been pointed out to us that rather than connecting all towns together, the best strategy for success in Iron Roads is to connect only a few towns. Small clusters of connected towns are easier to manage, and grow more quickly. We think it is unfortunate when a transportation game encourages you not to transport. To solve this, we have added a feature where town growth is contingent on a minimum number of other towns it is connected to. This should naturally encourage fully connecting your towns.[/p][p][/p][p]For now this is only in the monthly challenge (from september onwards), but if it goes well, we will enable it in other modes.[/p][p][/p][h2]What is next?[/h2][p][/p][p]Although numerous, these fixes have not been our primary focus. The majority of our efforts have been directed at unifying the content of Iron Roads in a single game mode. Currently you can play Iron Roads in scenario, freeplay, challenge and sandbox modes. This proliferation of modes has split our focus, and makes the game confusing, so we are looking to merge that functionality and create fewer, better modes.[/p][p][/p][p]Testing should start soon(ish), but there are likely a few big update is coming, but we aren’t quite there yet… patch notes before we are ready to release![/p][p][/p][h2]Bugfixes[/h2][p][/p][p]We've fixed:[/p]

• [p]A bug with the cargo chooser that could cause issues with custom loadouts[/p]
• [p]A crash that could occur after removing a stop from a service[/p]
• [p]A bug where clicking the arrivals table could jump to random screens[/p]
• [p]A display bug that occurs when jumping to the graphs from the top bar[/p]
• [p]A bug with the layout of contracts[/p]
• [p]A bug where the speed reported in the train screen can exceed the train's maximum speed[/p]

[p]We've done a lot of work on making Iron Roads smoother to play recently, and those changes are collected into the 0.6.7 update that we have just pushed to the beta branch.[/p][p][/p][p]If you are interested in trying it there are instructions on how to try Steam betas here. We'd love to hear your thoughts![/p][p][/p][h2]Create routes directly on the map[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]No more need to memorise town names! When editing a route, buttons will appear directly on the map to add a town to the end of the route. The old UI remains to fine tune the route, but for the most part you won’t need to use it.
[/p][h2]Town screen overhaul[/h2][p][/p][p]The town screen is an interesting problem for a designer. Iron Roads’ minimalist aesthetic is a core part of its identity, but for the game to have depth, players need information on how their network is performing. The town screen had become a bit of a dumping ground for us to add in this detail, and the screen had become crowded over time.
[/p][p][/p][p]The most important question the town screen can answer is why is my town is not growing? because the answer to that is also the answer to what should I do next?. To simplify this, we’ve added a new *issues* display up top of the town screen to summarise growth problems. This saves you from reading the growth numbers scattered across this screen like tea leaves. All the information we had previously is still there on the new screen, but have now been collected together in an infographic for clarity.[/p][p][/p][h2]New map generator[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]There is a new map generator. Maps in sandbox used a very small subset of the available landscape tiles, and as a result they were aesthetically lacking. The new generator uses the WFC algorithm to fill the shorelines with a wide range of tiles and patterns.
[/p][h2]Mini town badges[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]There has been a lot of feedback that town badges are too large, and cover critical map space. We’ve added a smaller variant of the town badge with just the name that shows at low zoom levels. It will automatically swap back to the previous badge as you zoom in.[/p][p][/p][h2]Automatic collection of growth rewards[/h2][p][/p][h2][/h2][p]When a town grows, the game rewards you with resources. Previously it was necessary to click to collect this reward. The intention was to ensure players understood where the funds were coming from, but collecting rewards became irritating busy work. The reward indicator still shows in the updated version, but closes automatically, animating the reward into place.[/p][p][/p][h2]Bugfixes[/h2][p][/p][p]We've fixed:[/p]

• [p]A bug with the cargo chooser that could cause issues with custom loadouts[/p]

• [p]A crash that could occur after removing a stop from a service[/p]

• [p]A bug where clicking the arrivals table could jump to random screens[/p]