Rolling Line News

Today is a special day, a massive community-made map project has been released after 3 years of work!
This was an entirely player-organized and player-built map, and was made entirely using the tools available in the game, including a bunch of modding and liveries!

This map is truly awe-inspiring, and really shows what kind of massive projects are possible in the game. The map is available on the Steam Workshop, and is just a simple one-click download. All required mods are packaged within the map already:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3369355289

For those who don't recognize the "Gorre & Daphetid", it's an incredibly famous real-world model railway that existed in the house of John Allen, which burnt down after his death in the 1970's.
The map was famous for its immense verticality and detail, and is seen as a true pioneer layout of the hobby, as it featured things like intricate scenes and stories told through the details and scenery which was very rare in the early years of model railroading. The map was so ahead of its time, and was a real sight to behold in-person. It's often referred to one of the greatest model railways of all time.







Massive congratulations to everyone who took part in the creation of this map, you might recognize a lot of them as the original "Beer Line team" who made another one of Rolling Line's most famous community projects!



More news about the next game update is soon on the way, but in the meantime I couldn't possibly not shout-out this incredible community achievement!

[h2]New error log file system[/h2]

There is now an "Error_logs" folder in the route Rolling Line folder.
It stores log data for multiple sessions! So you no longer need to use the AppData folder to report a bug (and it doesn't get erased every time the game is launched).
These log files are also cleaner and easier to read:



[h2]Disable auto-horns for AI trains[/h2]

There's now a setting to toggle the horn being played when AI trains start from a red to green light.
It's a neat feature when there's just a couple of trains, but rapidly gets annoying when a layout has tons of AI trains all stopping and starting, so you can choose to disable/enable it.
Cars also no longer honk on a green traffic light (this was a mistake, not a feature).



[h2]Toggle gravity/collision shortcut key[/h2]

You can now set a custom keyboard binding to enable/disable player collision/gravity in miniature mode. This is very useful if you want to fly the camera around (like when driving trains) without needing to go into the pause menu and disable collision completely. This binding is F8 by default and can be changed in the controls menu.



[h2]Fixed major packaged mods issues[/h2]

Turns out there was a very old bug relating to packaged mods! If a train mod livery is packaged inside a map, and the base mod that it requires is downloaded separately (off the workshop) then the game would fail to link up the livery to its base mod correctly. This has now been fixed.
There was also an additional bug relating to linked save files (where a save would look for packaged mods in a different folder directory). Sometimes this file path would become invalid, and this has been fixed and should no longer be an issue.

[h2]Other minor fixes[/h2]

• Fixed the cloth physics on flags being broken when using transform edit mode
  
• Track held by the player will no longer be included in a track mesh export
  
• Both the bulk move tool and track export now select track segments more accurately
  
• Removed debug overlays for photo mode that were not suppose to be accessible
  

[h2]In other news[/h2]

I just attended RailEx (a model train expo here in Wellington, New Zealand), next year I'm hoping to actually get organized beforehand and set up a booth running Rolling Line and have a go at selling some physical game disk copies just for fun.



I also recently dropped off a copy of Model Railroader at a very remote backcountry hut (Maungahuka Hut in the Tararua range). I hope someone gets a laugh one day out of the "Great mountain scenery" title, it's probably the only model railway magazine to ever make its way into the Tararuas ːsteamhappyː

Today's update finally replaces the old and terrible "QuickTerrain" modding system with a proper modern system with heaps of new features!

This has been on my to-do list for around 5 years, since QuickTerrain was always suppose to be a temporary feature. This new system uses the modding manager (just like train mods and prop mods) and makes the whole process infinitely easier and actually useful!

You can find a full step-by-step guide on how to make a terrain mod for a map from scratch here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3360803467&tscn=1730918534

To summaries though, this terrain modding feature lets you import 3D models from external software (like Blender) to use as terrain, and you can export the track & props in your map into raw 3D models to use as a guide to create your terrain.
This means you can easily line up the track in your map with the terrain mesh!



This 3D modelling method is exactly how I make most of the official maps, and it's how I create the neat "clipped wall" effect on maps, where the scenery is aligned with the table edge of the layout. This is commonly seen in real model railways:



[h2]Full features of the terrain modding system:[/h2]

• Import 3D models and textures in-game using the modding manager menu (just like train mods and prop mods).
  
• Export in-game maps (both props and track) as raw 3D models. You can export the entire map or choose smaller sections using bounds boxes.
  
• Set the view distance and low-detail view distance, and swap out to low-detail versions of the terrain when viewed from far away.
  
• Set different parts of the terrain model to only be visible in large scale, or miniature only, and on different skybox regions.
  
• Set a custom collision mesh.
  
• Package terrain inside a save file when uploading to the Steam Workshop (just like other mods).
  

The map exporting feature is especially interesting, since it basically means you can take anything made inside Rolling Line and turn it into a raw 3D model!





There's also now a "Terrain Mod" category tag on the Steam Workshop:



[h2]This update also includes a few minor fixes[/h2]

• Fixed rare freezing bug when editing roadnumbers on mods
  
• Added copy-paste options to all other transform edit inputs in the modding system
  
• The modding menu no longer hides when far away while open
  
• Fixed shading on the popup message box
  
• Fixed text alignment on the Brazil tanker freight wagon
  
• Improved the collision on various road marking props
  
• Disabled temporary Halloween menus (it's back to normal now)
  

And that's everything for now!
If you want to have a go at using the new terrain modding system, please read the full detailed guide, since there's a ton more information than I can squeeze into this news post:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3360803467&tscn=1730918534

Happy Halloween! (in advance)

This update brings back the classic Halloween theming to the game, but most of all adds dynamic text support (roadnumbers and roadnames) for train mods. It also adds some more features like AI tags for trains and more switchboard options!

[h2]Dynamic roadnumbers for train mods[/h2]

Firstly, you can now add 3D text to your train mods! The previous update added roadnumber and roadname options to official trains & liveries, and this update completes the job by adding these features to the modding system.

You can find the new text options in the modding menu "edit mod -> effects -> text objects":





Mods that use this new feature will also automatically get tagged on the workshop with "Dynamic Roadnumbers":



[h2]AI tags for trains[/h2]

This update also adds an "AI tags" feature for trains. You can set tags on trains for things like "Passenger" or "Freight" and then make AI trigger signs & circuitry train sensors only detect trains with matching tags!

For example, you could make an AI "sound horn" sign that only makes passenger trains use their horn (and ignore freight trains).
Or make some circuitry that makes different lights glow depending on whether a freight wagon is tagged with "Coal", "Wood", "Steel", etc.





You can edit a trains tags using the popup options menu and choosing "AI Tags":



[h2]New switchboard features[/h2]

This update adds a couple of new options for switchboards, you can now hide sidewalks and road edges to clean up road switchboards. You can also opt to hide "invisible" track (track which has no visual mesh, usually used for moving train mods around which are designed to look like planes/boats).



[h2]Halloween menus[/h2]

You'll notice that the game now launches with a selection of Halloween themed menus!
This is just a temporary event, but if you want to then you can disable this feature in the "Pause menu -> gameplay -> main menu options" menu.
If you disable this then the game will use your own custom selection of menus instead.





[h2]Other Halloween stuff[/h2]

Of course you can also access all of the classic Halloween items added in other updates!
You can find all of the Halloween themed props in the "Misc -> Halloween" drawers:



These props include gothic-style fences & gates, various decorations, light-up pumpkins, gravestones, colored lights, hanging lights and even a bubbling cauldron:



There's even a loot pumpkin which you can open to get special train variations (and tons of candy):



And of course the ghost trains!
You can get them as rare rewards from opening the loot pumpkins, and there are a bunch of different wagons and locos:



You can turn on the special Halloween skybox by going into the "weather & time menu -> advanced" and turning on "Halloween mode":





[h2]Other features[/h2]

This update adds a new setting to automatically disable dynamic text for either just mods, freight wagons, or all trains.
(e.g. if you prefer the way the wagons looked without numbers on the side)
You can find this setting in the "Pause menu -> graphics" menu:



You can also now set a custom list of random roadnumber options instead of just a random range.
E.g. if you only wanted the random roadnumber choices to reflect actual real-world locomotive numbers for a set list.



And various other smaller fixes:

• If a QuickMod or train mod does not have a custom roadname set, the controller will instead display its name (instead of the roadnumber/name combo)
  
• Fixed shading issues with some fonts
  
• Fixed custom livery numberboards for the AC4400CW
  
• Fixed incorrect text position on the ATSF boxcar
  
• Cloning the example preview wagon when making a livery is now blocked (since this is a temporary model and should not be used in save files and results in multiple bugs)
  
• Fixed incorrect info on the context help for track gradient controls.
  
• Fixed the options menu popup still being visible when other hover options are hidden
  

And that's everything for now!
Now's a great time to make some Halloween themed maps (even though there isn't an official competition going on).
If you want some inspiration, have a look at the entries from the "Hallowed cove" comp event from a few years back!
You can find them under the workshop tag:

After about 6 years of every single train being number "5270" you can now finally customize individual locomotive & wagon roadnumbers! (as well as lots more).

Currently, this only applies to official trains and liveries, mods do not support dynamic roadnumbers yet, this will need its own separate update. You can still give them a custom road name & number, but it won't be visible on the model.

But for official trains, you can now see the number dynamically displayed on the model!



And on freight wagons as well:



[h2]You can also enable this for liveries too![/h2]
By default, all liveries have dynamic number displays disabled for backwards compatibility (since most liveries already have numbers drawn on). But if you leave the number locations blank on the livery texture, you can re-enable the dynamic numbers:



You can also customize things like the font, color and size of the text (which is perfect for liveries!).





There is a full guide here which explains how road names & numbers work, and how to customize them:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3341507001

Roadnumbers are randomized, but you can set a custom random range if you want.
You can also set the Roadname, which is an identifier for the railway that owns the locomotive/wagon (e.g. BNSF, NZR, CSX).

All of these options can be customized by opening the new train options menu by pressing "o" when hovering over a train (or the down-context-action in VR):





Changing the name & number of a train will also change its display name on the hand-held controller and in the cab:



This update also includes some other minor fixes & features:

• Fixed bug where a combined save file would not correctly combine (everything works fine now).
  
• Fixed bug where the pause menu could accidentally be included in a split save file.
  
• Text on the hand-held controller will no longer scroll if the length of the text is small enough.
  
• The tutorial has been updated to include new steps for reversing trains in VR.
  

This update includes a lot of new code under-the-hood which is working towards a much bigger update:
[h2]Freight loading and unloading! [/h2]
So keep an eye out for even bigger things to come!

Regardless, I'm sure the operations fans will be very happy about these new custom roadnumber features in the meantime anyway ːsteamhappyː