Freight loading! part 1 - v5.23

This update is a special one!
It marks the beginning of a series of major updates where I'm finally adding functional freight loading into the game, a much requested feature that I've always wanted to work on!

Since this is a very large and complex feature, I'll be working on it in smaller parts and releasing them as individual updates as they are ready. To kick things off this first update makes it possible to load any prop you want into an "inventory" which certain freight wagons have (like flatcars). These props are visually displayed on the wagon!

This system is incredibly flexible and entirely supports modding, which means you can display prop mods on freight wagons, and make your own train mods which can display freight. Wagons can even be loaded with locomotives and vehicles.

This news post will only briefly show off the new features, but there is a full guide here which goes into lots of detail about the whole system:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3395546391

At the moment these "freight loads" are purely visual, and there are no ways to load/unload freight automatically. These props need to be manually placed on the wagon.

But the next step in this series of updates is to add functional industries!
This means special buildings which have the ability to add/remove freight loads from wagons. Things like coal dumpers filling a wagon with coal, or a log pond to unload logs from a flatcar.
So keep an eye out for the next update, which will be all about turning this freight load display system into a fully functional industry system!

[h2]Loading wagons with props[/h2]

To access these new features, open the newly added drawer in the "trains" category called "freight loads":

It has a bunch of official wagons which support freight loading, as well as lots of props which can be loaded on to them.
Remember you can load ANY prop or train on to a freight wagon, not just the ones in this drawer!

Simply point at a wagon and press "L" to open the freight loads menu.
From here you can access the wagons inventory and places props in each slot:

You can customize all kinds of things, like the size & position adjustments of props, as well as control how the props are organized.
There is a full guide here which goes into lots of detail about the whole system:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3395546391

[h2]Modded freight loads and wagons[/h2]

This feight load display system is entirely integrated with modding, which means you can make your own prop mods which can be used as freight loads, and you can make your own train mods which can have "display points" to display props that are loaded on to them.

The above guide goes into full detail about how to use the new modding features, and has step-by-step examples on how to make a train mod which makes use of this new system.

I've also uploaded my own example freight wagon too:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3401617685

You can also find this example mod in the folder "Rolling Line/modding/templates/train mod examples".

On the Steam Workshop you can now also see a tag for "Freight loadable" under "mod features".
This tag is automatically added to any train mods which support the freight loading system.

[h2]New props to use as freight loads[/h2]

This update adds a few new props as dedicated freight loads.
Some of these were made by SmokeStream and are from their mod packs!

I highly recommend having a look at their mods, they are excellent!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3209903016

[h2]Other features & fixes in this update[/h2]

This update also includes:

You can now see which direction a train will be facing when placing it, there is an arrow on the "placing ghost" and you can also press Q and E to flip the placement direction while placing too:
When using the "Clone left/right" hover options, wagons with randomizable colors are now shuffled (instead of all being the same color). If you want to place multiple wagons with the color you can still hold shift while placing them one-by-one and they will keep their color:
In the modding manager, the "wagon length" option for train mods is now found in the "wheels" menu, as well as the "general options" menu.
When adding items to a list (like in various modding menus) the page of the list will automatically set the page which the new item was added to.
Some props that are very thin (like logs and containers) now have wider hitboxes when they are inside an inventory slot so they are easier to select.
The hand-held controllers on the wall now auto re-spawn if they are destroyed.
The setting which makes controllers return to their holder when dropped is now on by default.

And that's everything!
I'm so excited to finally be working on freight loading, this is a feature I've been dreaming of for years. Keep an eye on future news and updates as this system has a lot more development still to come!
The goal is to have a fully dynamic loading & unloading freight system, where freight trains can be loaded up in one location and then driven to another to then be unloaded, all with a wide range of different industry types.
In the meantime, please enjoy these new freight load display features!