Rolling Line News

It's almost time for the Weka Pass update!
but before then, here are two brand new locomotives to fit the "historic New Zealand Rail" theme, the Da and Ka. As well as these locomotives this update also adds a new set of NZR passenger coaches with full interiors!

Firstly, a massive thank you to Long who made the Da and NZR coach models!
And to Sweed who made the model for the Ka and its tender!

[h2]The NZR Da Class[/h2]

The Da was the single most common locomotive in New Zealand around the 1950s - 1980s and played a huge role in replacing Steam in NZ.
Also you might recognize them as being very similar to the American EMD G12, because they are basically the same!



The Da locomotive also has its own unique engine sounds!
You can use these engine sounds for quickMods too by using the "EnglishElectric" audio preset.

[h2]The NZR Ka Class[/h2]

Meanwhile, the Ka is another popular steam locomotive which was used between the 1930s - 1960s and is likely most well known for being the engine involved in the Christmas eve 1953 Tangiwai disaster (where a volcanic lahar destroyed a bridge over the Whangaehu River in the path of a passenger train)



You can find both of these locomotives in the new drawer called "Historic NZR"
along with the new coaches as well:



The new coaches also have full interiors!!



Another small change, you can now find the Rotary plow and snow plow addon painters in the "steam" drawer (they use to be in the old "Christmas" drawer, which was pretty hard to find)



Another new feature is that there is now a full credits page in the "about" menu which goes into detail about all of the community members who have contributed to the game!



And one small bug fix:
Snapping now behaves normally regardless of whether "surface angle snap" is enabled. previously having both settings enabled would cause strange results.

You can also make use of all of the new horns in QuickMods by using the horn presets:
diesel_dg
diesel_da
steam_ka

And you can use the Da's engine sounds by using the engine sound preset:
englishElectric

[h2]The Weka Pass [/h2]

The weka pass is less than two weeks away!
This means I can share some more preview images to show how the layout is shaping up!

Firstly, i would love to thank Ze Trackmeister for his help on detailing most of the new scenery!



I hope you enjoy these new locos, and i hope you're hyped for the Weka Pass map!

And that's all for now,
Enjoy!

Here's something lots of people are going to love: semaphore signals!
Arguably the most famous design of signal in history has finally made it to Rolling Line!

As well as semaphore signals, this update also adds some new props, and includes the announcement of the Weka Pass official map! (more info on the later in the news post)

[h2]Semaphore signals [/h2]

First off, i would love to give a huge thank you to Long who made the models for these signals!

You can find a whole range or 2-light or 3-light, lower and upper quadrant signal variations inside the "track -> signals" drawer:



These signal heads snap onto the signal poles, just like the other NZ and USA signals already in the game.

Prop modding now also has the option for using the "Signal" snap layer, which means you can make your own modded signal poles too!

And just like the other signals in the game, you can manually switch the the position of the arm using the controls on the back of the signal head:



Or of course you can set them up to automatically detect trains by hovering over the signal head and pressing "Q" which will give you options like the direction, red state range, and Orange state range:



[h2]New props[/h2]

This update also adds a few miscellaneous props.

First off, this rail crane!
It was made by Sweed and even features a special animation when you click on it!



As well as the rail crane, there is also:

• A water tower for steam engines
  
• Classic water tank
  
• Coal bins
  
• An octagon picnic table
  
• Cattle crossing
  
• A farm-style fence variant
  

These props might seem a bit random... but they are all actually being used for the next official layout, the Weka Pass!

[h2]Announcing the Weka Pass! [/h2]

The name "Weka Pass" has been mentioned quite a few times before in the past, and It's finally here!
It is a local (New Zealand) preserved historic railway run by volunteers and it has a bunch of classic Zealand locomotives and rolling stock in their possession.
I visited the railway a while back and I've been hoping to make an offical map based on this railway ever since! and that day is finally here.

The next "official map" (like the Santa Fe, Miami shelf, and Paranapiacaba) is going to be the Weka Pass, and is going to feature a bunch of new trains & coaches based on historic New Zealand Rail!

The layout is already underway, and here are a few sneak-preview screenshots:
(all are very much a work-in-progress)



Something that makes this layout special is that members of the community are helping to make it!
The trains, coaches and some of the new props (like the rail crane) are being made by community members, and even the map itself is being partially detailed by people in the community!

So far I would love to thank William Tremblay for their work on the map already, and other people are also keen to help out!

This is the first ever official map to include sections made by the community and I can't wait to see how it all turns out in the end.



Stay tuned for more info on the Weka Pass, there's going to be lots of exciting stuff on the way in the coming weeks!

But in the meantime, i can already imagine tons of classic British layouts popping up now thanks to these new Semaphore signals.

Enjoy!

[h3]The modding-themed updates continue! [/h3]

In this update, you can now organize prop mods into custom groups.
These groups can even be uploaded and downloaded from the Steam workshop!
So instead of uploading prop mods one-by-one, you can now upload them all in a single workshop item.

[h2]Creating groups[/h2]

Making your own groups is easy, simply go to the modding menu (Pause menu -> modding) and switch over from "all" to "groups":



From here you can add/remove/edit groups just like any other kind of mod.

When you add a new group (or edit a pre-existing group) you can select which mods are included in the group:



After saving the group, you can then access it in the usual mod spawning drawer:



Simple as that!
Once you have made a group you can also upload it to the Steam workshop, which will allow people to download all of your mods included in the group with one single download.

You can use groups to create your own "mod packs" or even simply to just organize the mods you've already downloaded for easy browsing!

[h2]Pre-packaged mods[/h2]

Alongside mod groups, this update also adds the ability to package prop mods inside a layout!
This means you can download a layout off the Steam workshop and all of the mods it uses will be included in the same single download.
Please note this only includes prop mods, not quickMods or liveries (these must still be downloaded manually).

When uploading a layout, the uploader now has the option to choose (from a list of all their mods) which mods they want to include pre-packaged into the layout upload:



As an example, I've uploaded a copy of the "Wellington Diorama" map i made earlier, but this time it has all of the unique props pre-packaged inside this one download:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2216864519

If you subscribe to this workshop item, you will be able to play it and view all the modded props without needing to download any extra workshop items!

Please remember, when a mod is packaged into a layout upload you are making a copy of that mod!
The files for the mod are being duplicated and uploaded alongside your layout.
This means your upload will increase in file size, so please only include vital mods that are unique to your map!

This means you should only really include mods that you made yourself which are important to the core design of your map (e.g. custom billboards and signage, or unique buildings).

General mods like vehicles should be left optional, and not packaged inside the layout.
This way the player can choose whether to download these custom props.

As a general guideline, only include mods that are special and unique to your map, and leave out generic props which are used on lots of other maps.

[h2]File structure[/h2]

The main back-end feature that this update changed is the way mods can be organized in folders.
You can now have mods nested within folders, which really helps with organizing them.



The folder structure has no effect on groups, so you can organize folders however you like.

You can also store mods multiple layers deep in folders:



This "nested" file structure works inside save files and workshop items too, so you can manually store mods inside local save files the same way.

When mods are stored inside a save file they are only loaded when that map is opened.
This means workshop maps with mods included (like the "welly diorama" mentioned before) will not clutter up your mod list! These mods will only be accessible once the map has been loaded.

[h2]Other features[/h2]

This update also adds a new setting to enable/disable the spray feature.
The "spray" in Rolling Line is something that has caused far more confusion and annoyance than it was worth... so now it is disabled by default. you can enable it in the "Pause menu -> Misc -> Enable spray" setting.

The spray is a custom image which you can tag on to any surface temporarily (just line in Team Fortress 2) You can edit this image by changing the file "Modding -> spray.png"



I also fixed an issue with animation importing where animations that didn't use a "skinned mesh" would not be recognized. This has been fixed and you can now use shape-based animations as well as skinned meshes in your animated prop mods.

Lastly, duplicate mods will now be automatically ignored. so if you have a mod downloaded, then download a group which also contains the same mod, the duplicate will be ignored.

And that's all for today!

This will be the last modding-themed update for a while, as the next set of updates I am working on are going to add some much-anticipated props and features to the game!

*cough* semaphore signals *cough*



Enjoy!

For the first time, you can now import animations into Rolling Line!
Prop mods can now make use of fully animated models (.FBX), as well as a bunch of other modding improvements and features.

To quickly summarize:

• Animated models for prop mods
  
• Paintable animated meshes
  
• More collision options (custom box colliders)
  
• Scale & rotation randomizer options
  
• Hue randomizer options
  
• Prop placement angle & surface options
  
• Ability to play/pause and control animations (just like audio)
  
• Changing animation play speed
  
• Modding menu cleanup
  
• All sorts of modding fixes
  

Modding is coming along really nicely, and I'm blown away by the kinds of things the community is making!
Animations are unlocking a whole new avenue of possibilities for modders, and it really brings a scene to life when you see things actually moving about.

To demonstrate the new modding features I've added a bunch of animals from an older VR game I made in the past called "FrontierVR" and imported them into Rolling Line!



I've uploaded these mods to the Steam Workshop and you can find them here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2205192683
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2205215999

As well as a paintable version!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2206136457

These mods (and Blender source files!) are also included in the "example props" folder along with all the other template mods you can have a look at if you are interested in making your own:

(these are found in the "Rolling Line -> Modding -> templates -> prop mod examples" folder)



[h2]How to import animations [/h2]

Including animations is remarkably simple!
Just export your model in .FBX format (with the armature, mesh and animation data included) and the animation will be automatically used when you load the model in-game.

You can further customize things like the animation play mode (e.g. loop or play once), playback speed, and change the "Animation clip index" if your FBX file has multiple animations included:



If your animation has multiple clips included like this:
(I'm using Blender as an example)



Then you can set the "Animation clip index" to change which animation is used.
if you find that your animation is not playing, then I recommend trying to change this value incase your animation is at a different index than the default.
Remember: this is a programming-style "index" value, so the first animation = 0, the second = 1 etc...

You can also control how animations (and audio) are controlled in the new "general options" menu.



From here you can make the animation play/pause on click, play automatically etc.
(exactly like with audio in the previous update)

[h2]New randomizers and surface-snap settings [/h2]

This update also adds the option to make use of the "randomizers" like scale & rotation as well as a color hue shift for paintable props.



The scale & rotation randomizer is pretty self-explanatory, it makes props rotate and scale with small random changes each time you place it, which is perfect for foliage/trees:



The hue randomizer is a little more complex.
when props are paintable you have the option of adding a slight hue-shift color randomness to props. Again, this is perfect for trees & foliage to add variation:



As well as these randomizer settings, you can also now control whether props snap to surface by default:



And a useful little setting for making props snap to wall surfaces. This is perfect for making windows:



[h2]Other features[/h2]

You can manually adjust the box collider bounds now, which is very useful for fine-tuning the collision for your props.

There is also a visual box to show the size of the collider:



You can also now (after many, MANY, requests) completely disable the in-game spray.
The "Spray" is a custom .PNG image you can place on the ground anywhere (like in Team Fortress 2)
The option to enable it is in the "Misc" menu:
(it is now disabled by default)



There is also now a "remove preview prop" button.
this simply hides the preview prop when editing a mod. The preview prop is now automatically hidden when you exit out of the mod edit menu.



And lastly, here are a bunch of smaller features/fixes:

• If a model is imported with empty UVs (or corrupted UVs) then they will be automatically generated onto the default paint texture.
  
• Mods are now updated when you save on the mod edit menu (previously they were only updated when you refresh the preview mod)
  
• Fixed issues where audio files would not copy when duplicating a mod, which lead to other issues on top of that.
  
• Fixed a minor mesh issue on the Commodore car model (part of the paintable rim was not paintable)
  
• The mod edit menu is opened automatically after adding a new mod or duplicating a mod.
  
• Added a warning when a modded prop is exceptionally large (in case it is a mistake and the model has broken geometry)
  

And that's everything!
Another update full of modding features and lots of quality-of-life improvements.

Keep an eye on the Steam Workshop to see what kind of things people are making with these new features!
Enjoy!

The new features for prop modding keep coming!

You can now import your own audio files (mp3) into the game and attach them to prop mods!

This means you can:

• Make props which give off ambient sounds (e.g. engines, factories, nature, animals, sirens, loudspeakers, etc)
  
• Make props which play sound effects on click (e.g. station voice call-outs, horns, sound boards, etc)
  
• Create your own in-game music players which you can turn off & on!
  

So far people have already made things like an i-pod dock which plays music, or a Nokia phone with a ringtone, ambient sound sources (like a station platform, nature ambience, industrial ambience) and even some memes (of course ːsteamhappyː)

The possibilities of using custom audio in your mods are endless!

Like for example, this classic old radio made by Ze Trackmeister:

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

Making this update made me realize just how much audio variety was missing from Rolling Line. I Personally haven't paid much attention to ambient audio (beyond the classic "top of the south" main layout) and it has never been much of a priority.
But now I've remembered just how much ambient audio can bring a layout to life!

Thanks to these new audio modding features, everyone has the ability to completely control the ambience of their layouts, and I can't wait to see what people can create with this.

For a simple example of what you can do with these new features, here is an example mod I've made for a loudspeaker.
It plays the Rolling Line main theme "Rolling Waves" and you can turn it on/off by clicking on it.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2200038182&searchtext=

[h2]Audio options [/h2]

This update adds a whole bunch of new settings for your prop mods which you can find in the "Audio Options" menu when editing a mod:





From this menu you can change a whole range of settings to set how your sound behaves:

• Audio clip - the mp3 file which will be played (simply put it inside the "custom assets" folder just like other model and texture files)
  
• Loop - set whether the audio clip loops or stops playing when it's done.
  
• Volume - the volume of the clip (1-10).
  
• 3D audio - choose between 3D or 2D audio. 2D audio will sound the same regardless of where you are in the room (like background music) meanwhile 3D will fade at a distance and comes from a specific point in the world.
  
• Range - if you choose 3D mode, you can also set the range at which you can hear the sound.
  
• Play automatically - this will set whether the audio will start playing immediately or if you need to click on the prop for the audio to start playing.
  

Lastly, the option "Play Control Type" lets you choose how the sound is triggered:

• None - the audio cannot be controlled (it just plays automatically until it is done/loops)
  
• Click to toggle - clicking on the prop will stop/start the audio clip (like play/pause on an mp3 player)
  
• Click to play - clicking on the prop will play the sound once. Just like a sound board
  

When the prop is not editable (after clicking "apply edits" or loading a map) then you can simply click on the prop in large or miniature scale to play/stop the audio.

If the prop is editable then you instead need to hover over it and press Q:



[h2]Other features/fixes [/h2]

This update also includes a bunch of other stuff:

• Fixed issues with prop snapping (specifically when trying to place letters on the side of buildings).
  
• Lowered the minimum size of snappable props. this means you can use even smaller letters without the snapping going away.
  
• The main layout menu is now FLAT instead of curved. The diagonal sides was a big annoyance for designing menus, so its now flat just like the menu in the custom table room.
  
• Mods will now scale to fit your hand if they are overly large/small. This fixes the issue of large props filling up your screen when held.
  
• There is now a help message when the text input popup is visible.
  
• Adding a new prop mod will now automatically open the mod edit window (instead of bringing you back to the mod list).
  
• Compatible file-types are now shown when choosing assets from the asset folder (e.g. OBJ, FBX, PNG, MP3)
  
• When choosing assets from the asset folder you now have the "empty/none" option which resets the value to empty.
  
• Fixed various UI issues with the modding menus.
  

There is also now a new example prop mod in the "Rolling Line -> modding -> templates -> prop mods" folder of the speaker (to show how audio features are used).



On a side note, after prop mod snapping was added in the last update we have already got a set of snappable road props on the workshop!

Here's a massive shout-out to Jotrain Gamer for making this amazing set of mods!
He has also made a bunch of excellent traffic lights too.



You can find the full collection of road props here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2184780616

And the traffic lights here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2183199567

Modding is clearly going to be a MASSIVE part of Rolling Line's future, and I've still got lots of features to add! Stuff like mod packs (groups) and animations.

The next update will continue to expand the modding features, but in the meantime have a look on the Steam Workshop at all the amazing stuff the community is already making!

Enjoy!