Rolling Line News

Hello everyone!
This has been a slightly longer gap between updates than usual, but that's because some big changes are happening in the background! I'm finally putting some serious time towards improving the optimization of Rolling Line and cleaning up old legacy features that have stuck with the game since release day (over 3 years ago now).

And the single oldest part of Rolling Line is the original main layout, called "Top of the south"



Back when this game came out it only had one single layout, and the map editing tools were hilariously bare-bones compared to what they are now.
Because of this, the old "main layout" is actually built using entirely different tools and methods to how every map in the game is made now.

All the systems like skyboxes, switchboards, powerlines, turntables etc were all hard-coded for that single layout. But after many, many updates to the game all of these features can now be done using in-game tools!



Because of all these old "hard-coded" systems being used on the main layout it's been really complicated trying to make optimizations and improvements to how the game runs and loads maps.
So something I've been dreaming of doing for a long long time is to finally "convert" the old main layout into a modern map, all using in-game props, track, tools, etc.

And that's exactly what this update is about!

On the surface it hardly looks like anything has changed, but the new "Top of the south" layout (included in this update) is actually a painstakingly-built one-to-one copy of the original.
This means that you can now actually edit all the props, track, skyboxes, switchboards, etc, just like any other map in the game!





And best of all, I can finally remove all the old legacy code that the original main layout relies on.

This is all quite technical and hard to explain, but all you need to know is that Rolling Line just got 100x more flexible to future change, so the next series of updates are going to be focused on improving performance, stability, and all-around optimization!

Please keep in mind that no optimizations are in the game yet! This update is just the initial layout conversion that gets things ready for what I have planned next.

But even though it doesn't look like much on the surface, this update is actually a massive milestone for how far the game has come since release. Features like skyboxes, turntables, dynamic track, switchboards, etc, are all now proper in-game tools, yet back when the game came out these were all features I could only dream of. But now, 125 updates later, here we are!

Here is the full list of what's changed in this new version of the main layout:

• All track is now editable
  
• New audio sources and ambient audio
  
• Switchboards are now dynamic
  
• All signals now use the new system
  
• All level crossings are now dynamic and use custom triggers
  
• Skyboxes use the new skybox system and are editable
  
• All props (aside from roads and terrain) are editable
  
• The layout is now in the custom table room, instead of the legacy main layout room
  
• All powerlines use the new dynamic wire system
  

In addition to the main layout conversion though, this update also includes some new features to enjoy:

[h2]Drawer style customization[/h2]

You can now customize the visuals of the portable drawers!
Simply press Q (left-hand hover option) to open the popup menu and you can edit a bunch of options.



In this menu you can customize:

[h3]Opening drawers (with a handle) or stationary[/h3]
You can choose to make the drawers open/close when clicking on the handle. So you can place the drawers in the walls and open them when you need them:



[h3]Change the shelf style[/h3]
Choose between a few different shelf styles, like a glass case or a foam holder:



[h3]Change the colors [/h3]
You can change the inner and outer box colors. Just paint them like any other prop in the game:



[h3]Enable/disable the inner/outer box [/h3]
You can also choose to hide either the inner and outer box. This is great for making glass displays (where you don't want the drawer buttons visible).

[h2]New props[/h2]

During the process of converting the main layout there were a few new props which were added. These are:

• Two new industrial buildings (originally from Picton)
  

• A bunch of new rock & boulder types
  
• Playground prop
  
• Rubbish bin
  
• Various sign posts
  
• Various road signs
  
• Tent
  
• Roadworks barriers
  
• Seat
  
• Shipping container
  

[h2]New main menu[/h2]

The main menu is now the Hanmer Springs scene.
In the future I plan to make a system where you can create your own custom main menu scenes, or even share/download them on the workshop! But for now, this scene is replacing the old ones in various locations around the main layout.



[h2]Kaikoura earthquake map[/h2]

You may have heard of an easter egg where you could trigger an earthquake on the Kaikoura coast and get a unique post-earthquake scene.
Well in the process of re-making the main layout I decided to make this easter egg a proper map that everyone can access from the main menu!



[h2]Other changes[/h2]

• The "main layout quality" setting has been removed, since it's no longer used
  
• The "Startup load type" setting has also been removed for the same reason
  
• The "Kaikoura, picton, ward, etc" loading stages are now gone, since the game no longer needs to load these manually
  

And that's everything!

Even though on the surface this "main layout conversion" doesn't look like much, the amount of work involved was insane and the amount of flexibility for future changes and optimization that this has made possible is massive.
Rolling Line certainly has some big changes on the way, and converting the old main layout was the number-one roadblock to making that possible.

And I am very, very excited to be working on what's to come!

Remember those passenger coaches from the Weka Pass update? Well I've finally added custom livery support for them!

I spent most of this week moving house and things have been very busy.
So I decided to do a quick and simple update, and it was the perfect opportunity to add liveries for these coaches.

These new livery types are:

• NZR Coach Long 1st class
  
• NZR Coach Long 2nd class
  
• NZR Coach Long Baggage

Lots of people have already started making liveries with these new templates, and you can find a bunch of them on the Steam Workshop.
You can find them simply by going to the Steam Workshop and using the “livery type” drop-down list:



Just as with all the other liveries, you can find the templates in the "Rolling Line -> Modding -> templates" folder.



Plus there's a guide here on Steam that explains how to make your own liveries!
All you need to make liveries is basic image editing software (even MS Paint is fine):

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1405658466

As with all other liveries on the Steam Workshop, once you have subscribed to them they will show up in the "trains -> liveries" drawer:



To get you started, here's a nice full set of liveries called the "Northern And Southern" made by smfinney64!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2522576317
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2524419490
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2524459313

This update also includes a few fixes:

• Added "new" flares to recently added livery templates
  
• Fixed a bug where pressing R and F (delete and transform edit) at the same time would get you stuck in transform edit mode
  
• Fixed a bug with the Top-of-the-south's earthquake easter egg not working properly
  

And that's all for now!

I've finished the house-moving process and now I can get focused on a larger update next.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these new livery templates!

The Santa Fe remaster is here!
It's been over 2 years (almost 3!) since I made the Santa Fe map, so it's become pretty out-dated.
There's been so many new features added to Rolling Line since then, so this update finally brings it up to the modern standard.

This includes:

• Full skyboxes! (extended scenery in miniature mode)
  
• Switchboards
  
• Working signals
  
• Powerlines
  
• Entirely re-laid track
  
• Tunnel regions
  
• Level crossings
  

But best of all, I've extended the map to include whole new areas!
These new locations are:

• Goffs, California
  
• Two Guns, Arizona
  
• Twin Arrows, Arizona
  
• Mojave desert
  

Here's a map showing the newly extended version of the map:



Here is an HD version (click to view):





The Santa Fe layout is inspired by the route of the famous "Super Chief" streamliner, and crosses from Pasadena in Los Angeles, through the Mojave desert, and through old Route 66 towns.
The map exits through the red desert canyons of Arizona.

[h2]Pasadena, Los Angeles[/h2]

In the outskirts of Los Angeles, Pasadena is one of the iconic stops of the Santa Fe’s flagship passenger train, the "Super Chief".
The Super Chief is a streamliner that ran end-to-end from Chicago to Los Angeles and wore the famous red, yellow and silver “Warbonnet” livery.

Railway timetables called Pasadena the "gateway" to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and the San Fernando Valley.



[h2]Goffs, California [/h2]

Goffs was a classic western mining town on the edge of the Mojave desert with the Santa Fe railway passing straight through.
Route 66 use to pass through Goffs, but was later re-routed to bypass the area, which led to the towns slow degradation into a ghost town.

This section of the map serves as a classic "wild west" style American town, and also borders on the vast Mojave desert.



[h2]Two Guns, Arizona [/h2]

Due to its dark history and multiple large fires, the small settlement of Two Guns is considered to be cursed, and sits today as another ghost town along the old Route 66.

Two Guns was the site of a grim conflict between the Apache and Navajo tribes in 1878.
Apaches were hiding in a cave but were discovered by the Navajo, which then lit fires at the cave entrance to draw the Apaches out. The smoke suffocated 42 Apaches, which led to the Cave being forever known as the “Death Cave”.

In the 1920s the land at Two guns was purchased and turned into a roadside tourist stop. Despite the areas real history, the land owner brought in lots of fake relics and even painted fake cave drawings to entertain tourists.

One of the other attractions for tourists was a Zoo. It housed mountain lions, cougars, snakes, birds and more. There was also a gift shop, which even sold Apache skulls found in the Death Cave. Selling these skulls is what is believed to be the source of the towns curse.



[h2]Twin Arrows, Arizona [/h2]

Twin Arrows is just a simple trading post which lived and died alongside Route 66.

It was originally called “Canyon Padre Trading Post” but the name was later changed to mimic the nearby town of “Two Guns”.
Two giant arrows were built as the icon for the trading post, and business actually vastly improved.



[h2]Canyon Diablo, Arizona [/h2]

Canyon Diablo (aka “Devil's Canyon”) is a steep gorge crossed by the Santa Fe railway.
The original trestle was built in 1882, then In 1946 a steel arch bridge replaced the old trestle.

You can actually see both versions of the bridge on the layout, with the modern steel arch bridge on one side, and the old trestle on the other.



[h2]Skyboxes[/h2]

Out of this whole remaster, the most important new addition to the map is full skyboxes!
Unlike the old map, there is now scenery filling up your surroundings when in miniature mode.

Here are some examples:



A view of Pasadena:



A view of the whole canyon area:



[h2]Other details [/h2]

The newly remastered layout also makes use of all the modern editing features in the game.
This means things like dynamic powerlines:



Switchboards to control turnouts (which you can use inside the trains):



Tunnel effects, custom audio, ambience, etc (all the new miscellaneous map features):



Working signals, which actually detect trains.
(the original Santa Fe was so old it didn't even have real working signals!)



And the whole map now has infographics!
Which means text and real-life photos around the layout with info about the real locations the map is based on:



And of course:
[h3]Easter eggs! [/h3]
The new version of the Santa Fe now includes a whole bunch of easter eggs (and even some props you can unlock in the "unlocks" drawer from finding them).


[h2]New props [/h2]

This update also adds a few new props.
These are:

• An RV (made by microcosmologist!)
  
• The "Mountain lions" zoo building from Two Guns
  
• A couple of snapable clay wall props
  
• Plus a bunch of props hidden behind easter egg unlocks!
  

[h2]Accessing the new map[/h2]

You can play the new version of the Santa Fe by simply starting a new game on the Santa Fe map! The "new game" menu now also has "Updated" flares to show which maps have been recently changed.



[h2]Other new features & fixes [/h2]

Here are a bunch of other small fixes included in this update:

• Added a "None" ambient audio option (which mutes ambience)
  
• Fixed the audio for the "desert 2" ambient option
  
• Level crossings now only trigger for trains that are moving. which means that a stationary train will not activate the level crossing
  
• Fixed an issue with trains not being hidden when leaving the skybox if the player is standing still
  

And that's everything!

It was tons of fun finally getting the chance to extend the Santa Fe layout, since I've always wanted to do more with the American desert scenery. The new locations were interesting to research and I'm really happy with how they turned out.

I hope you have fun with the new map too!



(Also, here's some bonus HD screenshots)
https://imgur.com/gallery/LXLQol8

Today's update includes a bunch of useful tools and features for layout building, bug fixes and quality of life improvements.

Most of all, turnout lever styles!

But this update also includes:

• Tunnel regions (areas you can set where a special lighting effect is used)
  
• Rain exclude regions (areas where rain & snow is disabled, like underground and inside buildings)
  
• Changes and fixes to the wire tool
  
• Optimizations and lag fixes for skyboxes
  
• Various bug fixes
  

Plus i'll explain a bit about what i'm working on at the moment and what's coming to Rolling Line in the future!

[h2]Turnout lever styles[/h2]

You can now change the style of the control lever on turnouts.
There are a whole bunch of options, and you can find them in the new tools drawer in the "track tools" category:



There are six different variations:



You can also the the 'X' painter to remove the turnout lever entirely.
This is useful for if you want to make the turnout only controllable from switchboards.

You can also swap the side of the lever (left - right) using the arrow painter.

[h2]Tunnel regions[/h2]

One of the strange features that you can only find on the old "Top of the south" layout is something called a "Tunnel region".
Tunnel regions are areas where a special visual effect will happen if the player is inside them.
The sun will go darker, and fog will block the distant view.



This effect is used inside tunnels to make things look a bit nicer, but you can also use this same effect to make underground areas darker (or more if you want to be creative with it).

You can now make use of this effect yourself on your own layouts!
Simply use the new tunnel region options panel to set where this effect is used.
(you can find this panel in the "advanced editing options" panel on the wall)



From here you can spawn in "bounds boxes" (just like with audio regions, skybox regions, etc).
If you place these bounds boxes inside tunnels then you will get the tunnel visual effect!



[h2]Rain exclude regions[/h2]

Just like with tunnel regions, this system lets you choose areas on your map which (in this case) exclude rain & snow.
When the player is inside one of these regions the rain & snow effects will stop.
This is perfect for any indoor or under-cover areas.



[h2]Various fixes and features[/h2]

- The wire tool now has transparent selection points to help make accurate placement easier:



- There is also a bug with the wire tool selection that has been fixed.
(changing to the "erase" mode with a selection active could cause the tool to break)

- The level crossing on the Miami Shelf layout now uses the new dynamic trigger system.

- Fixed an issue where leaving the thumbnail capture mode would sometimes spawn you outside the map.

- Fixed issue where region bounds boxes would still have active snap points even when hidden.

- Fixed material issue with the audio panel icon.

- Fixed major optimization issue with skyboxes. You may have noticed lag spikes when running maps with skyboxes (spikes every second, constantly). This has been fixed.

[h2]What's next?[/h2]

Something fun!
After a long time of very "technical" updates (designed for map makers) with things like ambient audio, level crossings, wires, switchboards, etc... I'm now working on something a bit more creative!

It's the "Santa Fe remaster"
Much like how the Miami Shelf map got an extended skybox and updated wires/switchboards etc, the Santa Fe map also needs this.
But this time I am going to be expanding the map a bit, including adding new locations and even some stuff surrounding the Mojave desert and Route 66!



The Santa Fe layout was made a long time ago, and almost every aspect of it (signals, track, skybox, etc) needs to be updated to the new tools that have been added to Rolling Line.

So keep an eye out for that!
I personally absolutely love the Santa Fe layout, and I've always wanted to expand it and make the most out of it's beautiful setting and theme.

Enjoy!

Something that's always forgotten about in Rolling Line... audio!

I've been meaning to put some time towards the audio system in the game for ages, and that time has finally come! This includes:

• Customize the overall ambient audio for your layout
  
• Create "Audio regions" where different ambient audio plays (e.g. different locations in your layout, like cities and deserts)
  
• Create "Audio sources" which play sounds from a specific point in your layout in 3D space
  
• Import your own audio clips to use for both ambiance and audio sources
  
• Share your modded audio on the workshop and package it in your layouts
  

No longer are you bound to the default ambient birds (that have become synonymous with Rolling Line) you can now have ambiance like city streets, industrial factories, windy grasslands, seaside towns, etc...

You can also use the new "Audio sources" to place specific sounds around your layout.
For example, a river that makes rushing water sounds, or a power station with an electrical hum.

And of course you can use the modding system to import your own Mp3 files for all of these features!


Plus I've also made a bunch of improvements to some of the official layouts, like skyboxes, powerlines and full custom audio!
(More info on that later in the news post)



[h2]Ambient audio [/h2]

On the wall next to all the other map customization options there is now an "audio options" panel you can open:



On this panel you can easily choose which ambient audio you want from a list of pre-packaged options. Simply choose the one you want and it will replace the default ambiance, and will be included in your save file.

Modded (either created yourself or downloaded from the Steam Workshop) will show up in this list, but more info on that later in the news post.





The main chosen ambiance will play everywhere, regardless of where you are on the layout. But you can also create "Ambient regions" which will play specific ambiance when in specific locations.

[h2]Ambient regions[/h2]

From this menu you can choose to spawn in a new ambient region.
Clicking this will give you a little speaker prop which you can then place on the ground.





Once placed on the ground, use the "Edit Options" popup to set it up:



From here you can set up all the options for the audio region.
Firstly you can choose which audio clip it will play, and you can set whether it is "high priority" or not. High priority regions will be chosen over others if they overlap.

Next you can use the "add bounds box" button to start setting up the area where this audio will be used. Just like with the skyboxes regions, you use cubes as "bounds boxes" to define the area.

Whenever the player is inside one of these "bounds boxes" the ambient audio will be replaced with the one chosen for this region.



[h2]Ambient sources[/h2]

You can also create simple "audio sources" which will emit a looping sound from a specific point.

You can spawn these from the audio menu on the wall, just like the audio regions.
Place the speaker prop on the ground and edit the options using the popup options menu.

You can change things like the audio clip, volume, and range (how far away you will be able to hear this audio source in 3D space).



These little speaker icons are only visible when you have the audio options menu open. Simply click the "Apply and hide audio icons" button on the wall menu to stop editing them.



You can simply open the wall menu again to make them visible again.

[h2]Importing your own audio files [/h2]

You can add your own audio clips using mods!
Just like with prop mods, open the modding manager (from the pause menu) and change the category to "Audio clip".



From here you can create a new Audio Clip mod, which only contains a single audio file (Mp3).
Just like with all mods, you need to place the assets you want to use (in this case an Mp3 file) in the "Rolling Line -> modding -> custom assets" folder.

Then after you have saved the new mod, the audio clip will show up as an option in any audio choices list (ambient and sources).

If you download an audio clip mod off the workshop, it will also appear in the audio choices list.

[h2]Audio mods on the workshop[/h2]

There is now a new main category on the Steam Workshop for "Audio clips"



As a little example, I've made a quick Far Cry 2 diorama!
This layout uses modded audio to add ambiance and music from the game.

You can find this example layout here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2484509554

The modded audio clips are already packaged inside the map, but you can also find the individual audio mods here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2484506598
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2484507196

[h2]New skyboxes and audio in official maps! [/h2]

As part of this update I've "remastered" a few of the official layouts to include new features.

Most of all the Miami shelf layout now has a full skybox, plus custom audio and also makes use of the new powerlines:



The Hanmer Springs map also now has a full skybox and custom audio too:



And lastly, the Hallowed Cove layout also has an extended skybox and custom spooky audio.
The "Halloween sky" is also now stored inside save files! so this means that if you set the sky to use the special Halloween sky, it will be saved in the save file.
When you load the Hallowed Cove map, it will now automatically enable the Halloween sky!



[h2]Other features [/h2]

Lastly, this update also includes a few other things.

There are now a bunch of mountain peak props:
(You can find them in the terrain drawer)



There are also now a bunch of painters which you can use to switch props over to different skybox layers manually. e.g. if you want to move a prop into the "miniature only" layer without re-placing it. Keep in mind you need to save and re-load your layout for these changes to take effect!



The sky also no longer dims while the weather is set to stormy or heavy cloud in large scale. Previously the room would go a bit darker to reflect the weather, but this feature has been removed. So the room will stay at full brightness regardless of weather.

And thats everything!

Lots of stuff in this update, and I really hope you have a look at the newly updated maps (Miami Shelf, Hanmer Springs and the Hallowed Cove) because the new skyboxes and audio make a world of difference.

Enjoy!