Rolling Line News

Most of Rolling Line's updates are focused on either map making or modding tools, so It's about time I added something a bit more gameplay themed! So here's something that's been asked for more times than I can count throughout RL's history: train AI!

This update adds a new "Auto Drive" mode which allows trains to respond to signals and start/stop accordingly, as well as "Auto Switch" which can automatically switch turnouts to direct trains down empty tracks to avoid other trains.



You can use these new features to make all sorts of track designs, like automatically sorted yards and sidings for AI-driven trains to use:



You can also make use of a variety of "AI trigger signs" which can be placed on the ground next to the tracks to make them do things like sound the horn, reverse, stop & wait, and even control the max speed.



This AI system does require a bit of understanding to use, so I've written an official guide which explains how to build your own AI-ready layout elements and how to make sense of this new system:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2753143585

To summarise, AI relies on signals to decide where to go.
The guide above explains various ways in which you can set up signals so that your AI-driven trains can do operations like passing each other and automatically filling empty tracks in a yard.

But if you just want to do simple things like making trains sound their horn when passing a crossing, or stopping and waiting at a station then you don't need to use any signals at all! You only need to make use of the simple AI-trigger signs.





You can enable/disable AI by pressing "Y" when controlling a train with a hand-held controller.
Or you can simply use the buttons in the cab of every train:



There is also an "AI debug view" you can enable in the "Misc" menu which will make coloured lines show up in front of any AI-driven trains to help visualize what they are doing.
This is incredibly helpful when you are designing your own AI-friendly layouts!



[h2]Speed value changes [/h2]

This update required the speed of trains to be converted into real values (instead of the mysterious "Rolling Line units per hour" that is use to be!).
So this means you can now read the train speed in-game using either Mph or Kph!

The speed steps sizes have been adjusted a tiny bit too.



You can convert between the two in the menu "Pause menu -> Misc -> Mph instead of Kph"



[h2]New rusty & graffiti wagons[/h2]

Another bonus feature of this update is that it adds some rusty variants of a couple of the original NZ freight wagons:



And a special feature of these wagons is that they have a random chance of spawning with special graffiti on them!
Some of you may remember that this graffiti was included in the game as an Easter Egg in the past.

Huge thank you to Obli who made the incredible art for this graffiti!



[h2]Other fixes and features [/h2]

This update also includes a bunch of smaller changes:

• Fixed the bug where wagon couplers drift apart when trains speed up and slow down (especially at low frame rates).
  
• Pressing Enter to copy the track data on a piece of track will now also copy the colour used for the ballast at the same time.
  
• Fixed a broken piece of track in the "example shelf" new game template map.
  
• Entering a moving train will no longer cause the locomotive to reset its "goal speed". This was most noticeable when stopping trains (setting the speed to zero) then trying to leave the cab it would sometimes reset the speed and no longer return to zero.
  
• Fixed bug where signals would flick over to green for a short time while locomotives pass by.
  
• Added audio, extended skybox and made various fixes to the Open Hearth Point map.
  
• Fixed bug where the particle emitter positioning UI when setting up a mod would forget the previous particle position when editing multiple times in a row.
  
• Loaded 3D models in the modding system will now have their materials automatically compressed into a single material.
  

And that's everything!
I've been away from home (and consequently away from work) for a while around Christmas and New Years so this update has taken longer than I hoped.
But now that everything is back to normal I'm hoping to release a list of what I actually have planned for this year and what kind of updates you can look forward to!

This year is going to be a big one for Rolling Line, and things are starting to kick back into gear again.
I hope everyone has fun with the new AI features, I know I'm personally keen to have a go at making my own automated AI-friendly map!

Happy New Year everyone!
I've got big plans for Rolling Line in 2022, and it's starting off with a highly requested modding feature:
Custom particle effects!

You can now add your own steam/smoke/fumes particles to train mods, as well as place a new "particle emitter" prop in your maps to create your own moving particle effects.



[h2]Particles for train mods[/h2]

The first part of this update makes it possible to create your own custom particle effects for the new train modding system.

You can access these new particle options in the new "Mod edit window -> Effects -> particles" menu:



You can add as many particle emitters as you like:



And you can customize all sorts of things like particle size, colour, speed, rate, etc.



You can also easily mirror particle effects, which is perfect for making steam engines!



You can use these particles for all sorts of things, like steam engine smoke, whistle effects, and even startup fumes on diesel engines.
The rusty U20C now has a cold-start fumes effect to demonstrate this:



You can find a whole new section of the official train modding guide which explains how to use these new particle effects in detail:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664192139

[h2]Particle emitter prop[/h2]

This update also adds a placeable particle emitter prop!
Which means you can now easily add your own particle effects to your maps.



Of course you can customize these particle emitters with all the same options!



You can be really creative with these, and I've already seen a bunch of great ideas made by the community, like this one which uses particles for a ship's smoke stacks as well as waves!



You can find this new particle emitter prop in the "Room -> tools 2" drawer:



[h2]Open Hearth Point[/h2]

Some of you might know of this map I uploaded to the Steam Workshop a while back:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2142272917

Well it suits these new particle emitter props perfectly!
So I decided to give it a bit of an update and include it in the game officially.



You can find this map on the main menu by choosing "new game -> mini maps -> open hearth point"



[h2]Other features[/h2]

Another modding related feature which this update adds is a new "Lock to wagon body" option for wheel blocks.
Enabling this option will make this set of wheels "lock" onto the body of the mod, which will stop it from rotating to match the track and it will instead always line up with the wagon's body mesh.

This is useful for animated steam engine wheels which you want to be visually connected to the main steam engine body, instead of pivoting independently.



You can also now access all the animated wheel sets from the official trains as mod presets!
So you can use models like the Berkshire wheels, side-rod animated wheels, big-boy, etc, in your own mods.



The control valves in the steam engine cab for mods also now control the steam effects (if your mod makes use of them) just like official trains.



You can also now use the transform edit tool (PC only) to move points used in train modding, like the cab position, player spawn position, particle positions, etc.
Simply press F when pointing at the preview point object and you will be able to move it around just like any other prop:



And a couple of small other things:

• The "Show interaction UI" and "Show button names/icons" settings have been moved to the "misc" menu (instead of being deep inside the "VR options -> interaction" menu).
  
• The page is now set correctly when selecting a mod preset from the list. This applies to all item lists (like selecting a custom livery texture, or wagon type).
  

And that's all for this update!
These smoke particles are really fun to use in maps and I can't wait to see what kind of creative ways people will be using them. And I'm sure the train modders are really happy with the new features.

2022 is going to be an exciting time, and Rolling Line is going to be growing a ton during this year!
Happy new year!

Merry Christmas everyone!
This year Rolling Line's Christmas update adds a very famous (and very pretty) train known as the Holiday Train!

It's actually a real-world train which Canadian Pacific runs down its main line to celebrate the holiday season. The real one even has live music performances from stages built into boxcars!



You can find the new Holiday Train (as well as a bunch of boxcar and passenger wagons with lights too!) in the "miscellaneous -> Christmas 21" drawer:



When you spawn a copy of one of the wagons, it will use a random lights design (from a few different options):



The lights on all the wagons also change colour!
And thank you to Stationmaster who made the original version of the AC4400CW with the little Christmas tree on top and the wreath!



[h2]Other features and fixes[/h2]

This update also includes:

• Lots of the branding images for the game have been changed to a temporary special version for Christmas:
  
  
  
  
• Just like with other holiday events, there is now a special main menu too:
  
  
  
  
• And you can access the little scene used for the main menu from the "new game -> Mini Maps -> Christmas" option:
  
  
  
  
• There is now a warning shown when setting the "model offset" value for the wheels & couplers on train mods. This is because the model offset value is only meant to be used for small visual adjustments (like moving the model a small distance so it lines up properly). This value should not be used to extend the length of the whole wagon, for this you should use the "Length" value found in "general options".
  
• Loud weather no longer causes the music to fade out (e.g. storms and heavy wind).
  
• You can now have multiple animated meshes on a single "wheel block" for train mods. There used to be a bug where only one animated mesh would be recognized, this has been fixed.
  
• The image thumbnails for maps (and various other lists) now glow-in-the-dark, so you can still see them easily on dark maps.
  

You may have noticed that there's actually still a while to go till Christmas (10 days!).
I'm releasing this update a little early since I'm going to be spending the holidays with family, and enjoying some time off work. Update will resume after new years, and I have tons of exciting stuff planned for 2022!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new beautiful holiday train, and have a Merry Christmas!

Time for part-2 of the new train modding system!
This update includes a bunch of options for making locomotives, including:

• The option to make train mods controllable (and drivable inside the cab).
  
• Preset cab options, like a basic diesel cab and steam cab.
  
• Preset audio for the engine sound effects (e.g. steam engine, electric, diesel, etc)
  
• Preset audio horn sound effects. Use any of the horns/whistles from the official game in your mods.
  
• Options for adjusting the player spawn position when driving the train.
  
• And various other additions to the new modding system.
  

This update also includes a ton of fixes, as well as a couple of new liveries in preparation for Christmas!

The official guide for the new modding system has also been updated to include information about these new features:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664192139

And there is also a new guide which goes into more detail about making animated wheels using Blender:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2671456640

[h2]New cab options[/h2]

To start with, this update now lets you turn your mod into a "locomotive".
By default, your mod just behaves like a "wagon" (so you can't drive it or add features like cab controls or a horn).

If you want to make a locomotive, simply go into the modding UI, then into the "general options" menu and enable the "Locomotive" option.
Once you do this, some new options will appear (like cab and audio options).



You can now choose from the diesel and stream cab presets, which will add in the speed controls & switchboard that the official trains use.



This update just adds basic cabs, there will be an update in the future which focuses entirely on customizing cabs and more advanced things like custom models and moving the individual controls around.

In the meantime, you can change the position of a few basic things:

• Whole cab offset pos - move the position of the whole cab object. This will also move the player spawn, buttons, horn effect position, etc.
  
• Player spawn offset pos - choose where the player spawns when you teleport into the cab of this train (aka the driver position).
  
• Horn offset pos - the location where the horn sound effect comes from (line this up with the physical location of the horn/whistle on your mod).
  

While you are editing these "position" values there will be a visual preview which shows up on the preview train model:



[h2]Audio options[/h2]

This update also adds the option to customize the engine sound effects as well as the horn/whistle.
Another future update will add the ability to import your own audio files to use! (but for now there are only the built-in options).



You can also enable track clicks. This will cause this wagon to make "click-clack" sound effects when passing over connections between tracks.

[h2]Other modding features[/h2]

There are also a few other new options & fixes:

• You can set the "pivot mode" of the wagon body mesh (whether the model averages it's position based on all the wheels or just the front/back wheels).
  
• The "locomotive" tag is automatically added if you save a mod without first customizing the tags.
  
• Fixed a bunch of problems with wheels being inverted when wagons are reversed.
  
• After saving a mod, the modding UI list returns to the correct page.
  

I've uploaded a couple of example to the Steam Workshop which make use of these new aspects of the modding system:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2680945462&searchtext=
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2680948451&searchtext=

You can also find some example mods included in the game files here:
...Rolling Line\Modding\templates\train mod examples\

[h2]New official liveries [/h2]

In preparation for the Christmas update, this update includes a couple of new colour variants for official trains.

Firstly, there's a Canadian Pacific version of the AC44:



And some new red versions of the Pullman carriages:



The reason these are being added is because the 2021 Christmas update is going to include the famous Holiday Train! (as well as a bunch of wagons to go with it)



Keep an eye out for that!

And that's everything for now,
Enjoy!

This is likely the most highly-requested update that the Rolling Line community has been asking for!
The (almost 3 years old) QuickMod system is finally getting the overhaul it deserves.

Just like how the prop modding system is all handled in-game using menus (and a live preview model), this new modding system gives the same treatment to train modding.

PLEASE NOTE:
This is only part-1 of the new modding system, and currently only includes the basic features for making wagons. Locomotive controls and cab customization (and much more) will be coming in future updates!

This means you can now create your own train mods in-game!
You still need to create your 3D models & texture assets in external software, but once your assets are ready you can do everything else using in-game menus.



Making train mods no longer requires messing around with text files and having to re-load your mods over and over again to see changes.

The new modding system has an in-game preview model, which updates in real-time to show what your mod looks like! (and the positioning of wheels, couplers, etc.)



Since all these new tools are in-game, making train mods is now far easier to understand.
I've written a full step-by-step guide on how to create a basic mod using the new system, and how to make use of all the various new features this system uses:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664192139

I've also made a guide which focuses on how to make animated wheels to use in the new modding system:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2671456640

Some new features included in this new modding system are:

[h2]Animations [/h2]
You can now make full use of animations (using .FBX model files) in your mods!
If you use an animated mesh as a wheel block it will match the speed of the train, which is prefect for animated wheels:



Plus you can also use an animated mesh for the train's body, which can be used for all kinds of things (more options, like being able to toggle animations, will be coming in future updates):



[h2]Presets [/h2]

Something which will make modding far easier is the new feature of "presets".
You can now choose to use any of the wheel blocks and couplers from the official in-game trains and include them in your mod.
This means you don't even need to supply wheel or coupler models if you instead just want to use a default wheel block.



[h2]Decimal wagon lengths[/h2]

Something QuickMod modders will be very familiar with is the annoying limitations of the old "wagon length" system (which was very frustrating).

Well good news! this new system allows for complete freedom with length values, wheel positions, and even simple model offsets.

This means you can set the wheel positions to any decimal value easily, without any extra tweaking.
Mods can now handle incredibly small sizes too! (no more buggy tiny mods)

For example, the tiny mod shown below works perfectly fine in the new modding system:



You can also use options like "model offset" and "flip model" to move/rotate models easily without needing to edit the actual 3D asset.

[h2]Easy coupler editing [/h2]

Another thing that QuickMod modders will love to hear is that setting up couplers is now incredibly easy!

If you are using a preset, then coupler lengths are 100% handled for you, so you don't even need to think about it.
But if you are supplying your own 3D models then there is now an in-game visual guide to help setup couplers correctly:

(the green circle shows you where the "couple point" is)



Couplers can also be any length you like, either super-long or super-small will still work just fine!

[h2]in-game help info[/h2]

A nice quality-of-life feature for this new mod system is these "help" buttons you can find when looking through the various options.

Simply click on these to get a short description of what the setting does and how to use it.



[h2]New example mods[/h2]

Just like with the prop modding system, there are now some example mods (made using the new modding system) which you can find in the folder:
"Rolling Line/Modding/Templates/Train mod examples"

These files include model and texture files for a range of different uses, including examples of animations and advanced features of the modding system.



[h2]Other features and fixes[/h2]

This update changes a ton of stuff behind the scenes, and also includes a few new features:

• Hovering over an item in a thumbnail grid (like workshop maps, mod list, etc) will create a popup tool-tip showing its full name.
  
  
  
  
• The custom livery texture list now shows filenames, so you can use the search function to filter by filename.
  
• Deleting a livery now has an "are you sure? yes/no" popup.
  
• Fixed bug where wagons couplers would not detach when the wagon it was coupled with has derailed.
  
• Interaction with the preview model (for wagons and props) is disabled when capturing a thumbnail. This means you can hover over the preview and click without cloning it.
  
• The livery templates folder has been moved into its own sub-folder, alongside prop templates and wagon templates.
  

[h2]On the Workshop [/h2]

You can find a whole new bunch of "Train Mod" categories on the Steam Workshop now, and these will include both QuickMods as well as mods made using the new system.



If you want to browse a list of only mods made using the new system, click on the new "Train Mods" tag:



Regardless of whether a train mod is made using the old QuickMod system, or the new system, it will still show up in the same mod spawner drawer in-game.

So when you are downloading mods off the workshop you don't need to worry about which system it was made from! You can use them in the exact same way regardless.

[h2]A note about QuickMods[/h2]

Even though this new modding system is being made, old QuickMods will still work perfectly fine.
You can even continue to make QuickMods the old way if you choose to, and any QuickMods you've already made will continue to be supported.

[h2]...And the future! [/h2]

Remember, this is just part-1 of the new train modding system!
There is still much more to come, including custom cab controls, custom audio, lights, steam smoke effects, etc...

This is a massive job, so I'll be releasing these features in stages.
The next part of the modding system on the way will allow you to make drivable locomotives with basic features like preset cabs and controls.
Keep an eye out for that!


But in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the new modding system!
This is something both I and the community have been excited about for years, so it's great to finally bring this plan into action.

Modding is a key part of what makes Rolling Line what it is today, and it's this amazing community of skilled and creative people that makes this possible!