Rolling Line News

Here's something useful, customizable drawers!
With this update you can now create your own drawers and fill them with trains & props of any kind, which means quickMods, liveries, official trains, and all props.

You can place them inside these drawers using a sort of "inventory tetris" system following a grid:
(note you can press Q and E to switch direction when placing trains)




As well as trains (liveries, quickMods, etc) these drawers can also store props!
All save data like paint color, material style etc is also saved in these drawers:




Unfortunately you can't store track or "painter" props in these drawers yet, though I plan to add this soon (possibly included in the next update) along with more options for positioning and rotation of items in the drawers.

When you open the new "custom" category in the drawers you can add and remove your own drawers:




The save data for these drawers is stored in plain text (just like a normal Rolling Line save file) in the folder "Modding -> custom drawers"
If you want to copy-paste drawers between friends then you can access and edit these files directly!




I'm working on adding the ability to include custom drawers in workshop saves (so downloading a map would give you access to the drawers the original owner has) and this should be coming in the next update.

Something useful about these custom drawers is that you can use them to store special rare trains like the golden trains and ghost trains:




Along with these new drawers, this update also includes:

• Golden trains can now be cloned.
  
• Individual drawers can no longer be picked up (this use to be a setting, but this feature is very out-dated and is no longer needed since drawers are placeable and moveable now).
  
• Fixed bug where the Brazil freight wagons would disappear from drawers after visiting an easter egg scene.
  
• Pressing Delete on PC use to remove props from drawers that should be un-deleteable, this has been fixed.
  

And that's all for now!

In a matter of days I'm going to be announcing a livery creation jam for everyone to take part in, so keep an eye out for that!

Pine trees?
It's about time!

Today's update adds a simple yet massively requested set of props, classic pointy pine trees! Plus the classic tall poplar tree (a very common sight along the rivers and vineyards where I live!).
As well as these new trees, this update also adds some other stuff surrounding Easter Eggs!

Firstly, pine trees:



You can find a new drawer full of all sorts of pine tree variants.
This includes dead tree trunks as well as some snow-coated versions.

The new poplar trees can be found in the drawers alongside the other trees and scenery props.



Aside from the new tree types, this update also adds a new drawer in the "misc" category called "unlocks"

This draw lets you spawn in any secret props you've unlocked through finding Easter Eggs!
(and yes, Rolling Line has a ton of Easter Eggs)

Once you have accessed a secret prop or train it will show up inside this drawer so you can re-spawn it into your map at any stage.



If you are interested in seeking out the many Easter Eggs of Rolling Line then i recommend having a look at this steam group:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/RlEasterEggs

There are heaps of Easter Eggs that have been found already, but there are still some yet to be found, in fact... there might just be some brand new ones... ːTinyBunnyː

This update also includes a few small fixes:

• Fixed the Biome Brush values for the jungle trees, they should now space out and layer correctly
  
• Fixed the "near clip plane" of the transform mode camera, it now matches the player camera
  
• Added a couple of small clean ups to the Paranapiacaba map, like a ladder inside the station tower and a new controller holder by the staging yard
  

That's all for now!
I'm currently away from my house but able to work, so updates will still continue, but the timing and topics of the next few updates might be a bit unpredictable. Though i doubt anyone on the player-side is going to notice a difference.

Anyway, enjoy!
I bet some great new scenery styles are going to come from these new pine trees!

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!

Things certainly have been busy over the last few weeks!
New Zealand (where I live) has begun to leave lock-down and things are starting to go back to normal.

During this time I've been making a bunch of additional media for the Paranapiacaba layout, mainly a new video trailer and a 2D track plan image! There is also a bunch of new features added to the in-game photo mode (based around video capture).

[h2]New trailer video[/h2]
Firstly, I've made a new video showing off the Paranapiacaba map!
This is actually the first video I've made for Rolling Line since it's release (aside from the soundtrack videos) so it was great to get my "trailer making" workflow back in to action. You can find the new trailer right on the Rolling Line Steam store page:



Or you can view it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBQbl56Ng2g

Though since the YouTube version is quite compressed, you can also download a full HD version of the video here:
https://mega.nz/file/C5swGYKJ#P94bCwrsdYa69vF9seFjlCt4cBJkREl2S0BJN91ajQ0

The music used in the video is from the Rolling Line in-game soundtrack, which was actually generated using artificial intelligence! The exact song used is called "Diamond Skies".
I uploaded the full RL soundtrack to YouTube last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-PxFRlEwvc

[h2]Top-down track plan of Paranapiacaba [/h2]
Just like with the other official maps I've made a proper track plan image for the Paranapiacaba layout:


You can download a full HD copy of the map here:
https://i.imgur.com/mmvY80w.jpg

This map can also be found in-game in the Paranapiacaba layout on the wall:



[h2]New photo-mode features[/h2]
The actual in-game part of this update is all about the photo mode added in the previous update.
In order to film the Paranapiacaba trailer video i added a bunch of camera panning controls, train quickSave/load, and various other small features.



[h3]Panning controls:[/h3]
You can now set an X, Y, Z offset for camera panning. enabling panning will move the camera using the position values you choose. you can also press "V" to enable-disable (start/stop) panning.

You can also set the "reset point" of the camera by pressing "Shift+R". this reset point can be returned to by pressing "R". This means you can set the start of a panning shot to be your "reset point" then continuously repeating the shot by enabling panning and re-setting the camera position back to the beginning.

[h3]Train quickSave/load:[/h3]
A very useful feature for recording shots of moving trains, you can now "quickSave" the position and movement of trains, then "quickLoad" back to that point.
This quickSave/load feature only effects trains and does not require reloading the whole map!
For example, you could set up a moving train, quickSave at the beginning of the shot, then continuously re-load the same position in order to get the shot perfect.

This feature was incredibly useful for setting up shots in the Paranapiacaba trailer that involved multiple moving trains in one shot.

[h2]Steam trading cards[/h2]
Something else to note, Rolling Line now has Steam trading cards, badges, wallpapers and emotes! This is something I've been meaning to add for ages, and it's great to finally have some custom profile backgrounds and such for Rolling Line!



You should start getting these card drops automatically now that they are released.



[h2]Other features:[/h2]
As well as the features mentioned above, this update also includes a few fixes and smaller features.

• Fixed the depth of field "focal length" setting not working correctly.
  
• Added a "press F12 to take screenshot in Steam" help message to photo mode.
  
• Pausing time in photo mode now also freezes pantograph spark effects!
  
• Fixed small white dots showing up in the transform edit mode view
  

I'm also hoping to run a competition soon! Much like the Color Comp and Compact Comp of last year.
More news on that later on!

In the meantime, I hope you like the new trailer video! There's lots of exiting stuff still to come, and now that Brazil is all finished I can move my focus on to new ideas!

Enjoy!

Here's something nice, Rolling Line now has a proper photo mode!
In this photo mode you can pause time, move the camera around, change things like time of day, customize post-processing effects and even save HD screenshots.

There use to be a very bare-bones camera mode in the game (more like a developer tool) but this new photo mode is much more user friendly and has tons of new options.

You can press 'C' at any time to open photo mode, and press 'Shift+C" to re-center the camera on your player view.

[h2]Screenshot capture[/h2]
Firstly, you can now save screenshots directly in-game!
Pressing "take screenshot" will save a screenshot to your PC, which you can find by using the "open screenshot folder" button.
You can even take an HD screenshot (2x your screens resolution) with the "take HD screenshot" option!



You can also do things like switch between miniature and large scale, pause time, set the field of view, and hide the photo mode UI (this is for when you want to take a steam screenshot with no UI on screen).

All of these options also have keyboard shortcuts which are listed in the photo mode UI.



[h2]Post Processing[/h2]
From within photo mode you can also adjust all sorts of post processing effects!
These include:

• Color correction (contrast, saturation)
  
• Ambient occlusion
  
• Depth of field
  
• Bloom
  

All of these effects carry across into normal gameplay too, so you can choose to add effects like DoF and bloom to your normal gameplay:



With all these new settings you can make your screenshots more beautiful than ever!
Since these effects apply to normal gameplay, this means you can use post-processing in your workshop thumbnails too.

Bloom is especially useful for night-time scenes, to emphasize headlights:



All of these options can also be set in the standard pause menu (outside of photo mode).
You can find them in the "pause menu -> graphics -> post processing options" menu.



Photo mode can also be opened in VR, but it must be controlled using a keyboard and mouse on the computer (there are no in-VR controls).

Effects like Depth of field also work in VR too!
[h2]
Store page cleanup & new icons [/h2]
As you might have spotted, Rolling Line now has a whole new set of Icons and branding based on the new Brazil layout!
There are a bunch of new screenshots on the store page too.



I'm working on updating the store page to reflect all the new features rolling line has gained over the years, since all the information was quite old.

I'm going to be recording a new trailer showing off the Paranapiacaba map as part of this, so keep an eye out for that!

[h2]Other things[/h2]
Though the photo mode is the main feature, this update also includes a range of fixes and other things:

• New random variations of starting trains on the Paranapiacaba map. Now when you start a new game of the Brazil map there are multiple types of trains and locations you might start from.
  
  
  
  
• Added new single rows of vineyards as props.
  
  
  
  
• Adjusted wind and thunder values for some weather presets.
  
• There is now no setting for "allow photo mode", it is always accessible without any need for a setting.
  
• Fixed issue with menu buttons being spaced out on the quickMod spawning drawer.
  
• Fixed the same issue on the signal menu.
  
• The standalone player icon has been updated.
  

Anyway, this update should have quite a big effect on the quantity and quality of screenshots! taking screenshots just got a whole lot more enjoyable, easier and customizable.

Also, remember that I post screenshots all the time on my Twitter:
https://twitter.com/gaugepunk



So keep an eye on that and i might post something of yours!
I post screenshots from Steam, Discord and I take my own screenshots of all sorts of workshop maps.

Twitter is also the most up-to-date place for you to get news on what im working on (and what the next update is going to be)

Share your screenshots on the Steam community, or even share the link in the comments of this news post and your screenshot might show up on Twitter!

Enjoy!