Rolling Line News

Here's an interesting one, legacy mods are now finally coming to the Steam Workshop!

The reason for this is that the old RollingLineModding website is coming to an end and the old mods need a new place to live.
Originally I was hoping to wait until the full modding system upgrade to bring train modding to the workshop, but since that might be a while away it made sense to at least bring QuickMods to the workshop in the meantime!



Not only that, but QuickMods and QuickTerrain can now be "converted" to the new modding system!
This means once you go through the simple process of converting a legacy mod to the new system, you can make full use of all the new features the modern modding system provides.

These new features are:

• Give your mod a thumbnail
  
• Give your mod tags
  
• Upload it to the Steam Workshop
  
• Include it in mod groups
  
• Package it inside save files when uploading to the workshop
  
• Browse it in the tiled mod list in the in-game drawers
  

Since QuickMods can now be packaged inside layout uploads, I have updated the "Keyna Slum" map to include the custom U26C QuickMod pre-packaged inside!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2172822471

You can download this map and access the QuickMod with no extra downloads!

Since these "converted" QuickMods use the same system as prop mods, this means you no longer need to use the old QuickMod drawers to browse downloaded mods one-by-one, you can access them through the same drawer as prop mods! (with thumbnails and a tiled list)



Please keep in mind that these legacy mods need to be "converted" to the new system to make use of all these new features.
You can still access old QuickMods through the same "QuickMods" drawer, they still work exactly the same way. But once you convert them they will show up in the new "mods" drawer along with modern prop mods and groups!

Here is a full guide on the process of converting old QuickMods to the new system:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2245149260

Keep in mind this only effects people who want to upload mods!

If you only want to download mods off the workshop, you dont have to think about this process at all.
Simply subscribe to QuickMods on the workshop and they will show up in the "mods" drawer, simple as that!
[h2]
Legacy QuickMods vs the future modding system[/h2]

This update does not change how QuickMods are made, it is only a simple "wrapper" which allows you to upload mods to the workshop.

At some stage in the future there will be a much larger update coming which completely re-hauls the train modding system!
The QuickMod system is very old and outdated, and nowhere near as user-friendly as the modern prop modding system. One day you will be able to use this same modern system to create train mods, but this is a very large update and won't be coming for a while at least.

[h2]Moving house! [/h2]

The next few weeks are going to be very busy for me in real life, since I am moving house!
I'm moving from the quiet suburbs of Blenheim back to the big city of Wellington.

This means that Rolling Line updates are likely going to stop until I am moved in and organized, but who knows, i may be able to fit in a quick update before then! we shall see.




QuickMods coming to the workshop means accessing train mods just became 100x easier, so expect to see a ton of train mods showing up on the workshop in the near future!

Enjoy!

Welcome to the Weka Pass Railway!

The Weka Pass is a preserved historic railway in New Zealand and is now available as a the next free official layout in Rolling Line! This is also the first proper official layout to take place in New Zealand since the original "top of the south" layout the game launched with.

It's about time Rolling Line went back to its roots and introduced some New Zealand content!



This layout was a true community effort, and includes help from multiple community members in the form of scenery detailing, new props and new trains!

I would love to start things off by giving a massive thank you to:

• Ze Trackmeister - For detailing scenery on the layout. specializing on the suburbs, power station, rail sheds and surrounding areas!
  
• William Tremblay - For detailing scenery on the layout, specifically the farmland, vineyards and around the hills!
  
• Coconut Pie - For making the model for the Dg locomotive! (the crown jewel of the Weka Pass)
  
• Long - For making the models for the Da locomotive and the NZR coaches!
  
• Sweed - For making the models for the Ka steam locomotive and the animated rail-crane prop!
  
• Finn - For making the Frog Rock shed, as well as several other props!
  
• Mr Pink - For making the tractor model!
  

And a special thank you to the volunteers at the Weka Pass railway for the amazing work they do, and especially to Matthew Morison for showing me and my family around when we visited the railway!

So without further ado, you can now find the Weka Pass alongside the other official maps when choosing "New Game" on the main menu:



Just like the other official maps, I've made a top-down 2D map of the layout:
(You can view an HD version here!)



Oh, and yes, the Weka Pass does definitely have Easter eggs ːsteamhappyː
Lots of them in fact!!

Anyway, here are a bunch of official HD screenshots of the layout:

View HD version: here

View HD version: here

View HD version: here

View HD version: here

View HD version: here

View HD version: here

View HD version: here

View HD version: here

View HD version: here

[h2]The Dg locomotive[/h2]

Along with the map itself, this update also adds the Dg locomotive.
The Dg is an old English Electric built diesel locomotive used around New Zealand between the 1950s and 1980s.

These locos are actually notorious for being plagued with engine failures, electrical faults and known for having cramped cabs... but they do have a lovely engine sound!

The Weka Pass Railway owns two Dg locos: 770 and 791

Thank you so much to Coconut Pie for making the excellent model for the Dg!



[h2]New props[/h2]

As part of the Weka Pass map, this update adds a few various props.



These are:

• Tractor (make by Mr Pink!)
  
• A bucket
  
• Snappable piece of corrugated iron wall
  
• Miscellaneous scrap pile (made by Finn!)
  
• A taller variant of the NZ semaphore signal pole
  

As well as these, the new buildings used on the Weka Pass map can be found in the new "misc -> weka pass misc" drawer:



These are:

• The red NZR sheds
  
• Shed doors
  
• Frog rock shack
  
• Glenmark station building
  

[h2]Other fixes/features[/h2]

This update also includes:

• Improved the collision on the NZR coaches. You can now teleport along the floor of the coach
  
• Narrowed the underside of the NZR coaches (just to make them look a bit more balanced)
  
• Fixed collision on one random silo prop in Picton on the "top of the south" layout
  
• Re-named flexytrack back to "gap-fill" track again
  
• Added some error-catching code to fix issues people were running into where the edit tool would not enable editing as it should
  

HD screenshot version: here

I'm so happy with how the Weka Pass has tuned out, and working with the community on this project has been a ton of fun. The Weka Pass has been talked about for over a year now, so it's amazing to finally have it released and officially in-game!

As for my future plans, the end of this year is going to certainly be busy...
I am going to be moving house in just over a month, and the rest of the year after is going to be a hell of a rush, so updates are likely to slow down for a while now, at least for the near future.

I also just yesterday received an Oculus Quest (thanks to the Oculus Start developers program!) and this thing is blowing my mind, it's incredible! Needless to say I am very excited to start developing for the Quest and testing things out with it.
I do in fact have plans to bring Rolling Line to the Quest eventually, but this is going to be a truly MASSIVE job, and will involve huge changes to the game before this is possible.
So it will likely happen one day, but not for a long time at least, but know that I am in fact very exited to work with the Quest in the future!

As for the meantime... maybe I could finally make the 6th issue of "Model Rolling Line" magazine...
That would certainly be a fun idea ːsteamhappyː


And thats all for today!

I hope you enjoy the Weka Pass!

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!