Hello fellow rail enthusiasts! Angel here, and I’m thrilled to share with you another edition of our Rail Log, where we explore the latest happenings and developments in the world of Rail Route. Since Update 11 rolled out, our dev team has been diligently addressing issues and gathering invaluable feedback from our fantastic community. In this week’s Rail Log, we’ll talk about post-Update 11 changes, hotfixes, and offer a sneak peek into what’s coming in the next update. So, buckle up and let’s get this train rolling!

Post-Update 11: Hotfixes

After Update 11 went live, our dev team has been hard at work fixing major issues and fine-tuning the game based on your input. One improvement we’ve made is in track speeds. Now, track speeds are more visible when zoomed out, and they’ll appear over the track for 5 seconds after every speed change. You can even enable track speeds to be visible all the time through the options menu.

We’ve also made it more intuitive to change signal types using the primary action (left-click), just as you were used to, rather than grabbing them.

Your feedback has been essential in refining Rail Route, and we’re incredibly grateful for your constructive comments! It’s important to remember that it’s difficult to please everyone, and while we strive to bring numerous improvements, there’s always a chance of introducing new issues. The key here is iterating and moving forward. That’s what we trying to do.

Upcoming Update 12

Revamping the Contracts System

In the next update, we’re overhauling the contracts workflow to enhance your gameplay experience. Instead of a UI list, offered contracts will now appear as icons on the game board, above station signs (the position of contract icons for a station will be configurable by additional Upgrade we’ll bring to the game later).

The contracts limit and generation will now be station-specific instead of global. No more waiting for a new contract to station of your desiree, each station will have its own generation interval based on the free slots in it. Contract details will be displayed directly around that icon, replacing the small UI window. Additionally, when a contract icon is clicked, its details will show on the board as well. Timelines with predicted arrival times for every station will be visible, making it easier to plan your train traffic more efficiently.

Our main goal with this contracts system revamp is to make your gameplay more fluent and enjoyable. By moving contracts to the game board, you’ll be able to play the game where the action is, instead of focusing on the UI. This change lets you quickly find contracts for a specific station just by checking around that station, eliminating the need to decline unrelated contracts.

You might recall from another Rail Log that we want to use this approach for sensor configuration as well. We see a great fit from internal prototypes and it brings another level of immersion to the game.

New Contracts – Regional Trains

In the upcoming update, we’re introducing a new type of contract: Regional Trains. These contracts require more attention and careful handling from players, as they come with multi-stage schedules.

Each stage of a Regional Train contract is treated as a separate train, with its own destination and timetable within your stations. After completing a stage, there will be a waiting period before the train can proceed to the next stage and continue on its journey under a new train number.

The next stage may begin at the same station where the previous train ended, or it may require a transfer between stations. This adds an extra layer of complexity, as you will need to manage “idling” or “traversing” trains and ensure they are not forgotten when needed. Players will have to make sure these trains are stored appropriately and are ready to proceed when the time comes for their next scheduled stage.

These regional trains will become the first source of red points once we introduce the Revamped System Upgrades structure. However, that won’t be included in the next update, as it would be too big of a task.

Beyond the Update 12

Automating Regional Trains

As our goal is to have fully automated traffic, the new Regional Trains will bring two fresh challenges: first, how to stable the trains (either on dedicated tracks or, later on, in the coach yard when it becomes a higher-tier unlock with the revamped System Upgrades). Second, how to “call” the train back to a platform after the waiting period has passed.

To tackle these challenges, we’re introducing two new sensors:

• the Stabling Sensor and
• the Dispatcher Sensor

The Stabling Sensor

will be able to route finished trains based on their “next stage” destination and will effectively replace the “finished to” functionality of the current Routing Sensor. You can define multiple destinations per station, allowing you to assign a set of tracks to be used for stabling the finished trains.

On the other hand,

will be used to signal stabled trains and switch them to their new schedule, which would need to be done manually without it. The train can then be routed via the standard Arrival Sensor logic to the corresponding platform. This combination of sensors streamlines the process of managing Regional Trains and helps maintain the seamless automation of your rail network.

Closing Notes

That’s all for this week’s Rail Log, folks! I’m already looking forward to sharing more exciting news and updates with you in our next edition. Apologies for not delivering this Rail Log on Monday as usual – we had a national holiday this week, and we’ll be having another one next week. Rest assured, we’ll be back on track soon!

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on these updates and any suggestions you might have. Please feel free to leave your comments below this article or reach out to us through our social media channels and Discord. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us, and we appreciate your continued support in making Rail Route the best it can be.

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