Major bug fix: Train merging! v3.3

Guess what!

I've fixed something that has been plaguing the game since day one, the "merging" trains and general buggy train movement. This has a bit of a trade off though, since there are unique features to the old system that some might prefer to keep.

So now there is an option to switch between the old and new systems.

In this news post ill go into detail about how the two systems are different and the pros and cons of each. But by default you'll automatically be using the new system, so unless you want to deliberately switch back to the old system, then you should see the new changes immediately!

You can find the setting for the two modes in the "pause menu -> gameplay" menu:

The two options are: Simple (new) and Dynamic (old)

[h2]Dynamic (old system) [/h2]
The old train movement system that i made for Rolling Line that has been in use up until now is the cause of the dreaded "merging" bugs, but it also has some more dynamic features that can't be re-created using the new system.

Specifically, this system has a "wagon slack" effect, where wagons will push/pull each other one-by-one when a train starts/stops. This creates the effect on a long freight train that each wagon has a bit of slack between each other, so when a long freight train is stopped it will actually take time for the movement to spread down the whole train.

It's hard to explain what i mean, but this "wagon slack" effect is something that I added to the game right at the very very beginning of development, and personally i really like how it looks.
Here is a visual example of this "wagon slack" in action:

Sadly this wagon slack is the exact thing that leads to the "train merging" mentioned before.
At low frame rates this system starts to really fall apart, with wagons breaking apart, merging together, or just moving along with very messy movement.
If you are running the game with a good frame rate then this isn't an issue, and you can take advantage of the neat physics of this system without the down-sides.

But of course, a train movement system that falls apart when the frame rate drops isn't very stable... hence where this new train movement system comes in!

[h2]Simple (the new system) [/h2]
The new movement system that this update adds is actually much simpler that the "dynamic" old one, since it no longer takes wagon slack into account. Instead, all wagons will copy the movement of connected wagons 100% directly, making things much more stable.

While it's a shame to no longer have the wagon slack effect, the benefits of having completely stable and reliable train movement is worth it. This new system makes merging trains practically impossible, and trains can be be insanely long without any threat of disaster!

To show the difference in train movement, here is the new system in action:

Aside from the lack of wagon slack, the new system doesn't really have any downsides at all. It's a much simpler and more stable system. If you're in doubt, this is definitely the better choice between the two.

[h2]Other features[/h2]
Aside from the new train movement system, this update also adds in a few other things:

[h3]High speed derails [/h3] Previously, there was an option to make trains derail if they collide with another at a high enough speed. Well this system has been changed a bunch and is now the built-in default.
Trains will always derail wagons ahead of them if the speed is great enough, which means plowing into a row of wagons at high speed now makes for some great crash scenes:
The "infographs" (images and text on the walls) in the Paranapiacaba map now automatically disable in miniature mode, which means things like the map on the wall are not visible when exploring in miniature.
Fixed shading issues on one of the bridge models.
Fixed the "near clip" distance on the transform mode camera (so it matches the players camera).

And that's all for now!
I'm sure people are going to be really relieved to finally see this major issue fixed. I'm interested to hear what you think about the old vs new movement and which you prefer, so let me know in the discussion comments!

There's lots of great things still to come, and now that ive got this huge bug fix off my queue it's time for some more fun stuff! Im thinking of running a new competition soon (similar to the Compact Comp and Color Comp last year) so keep an eye out for that, it might even be what the next update is about.

But anyway, in the meantime go and make some long trains and enjoy the absolute lack of glitching wagons!