Last December we wrote about getting funded for the Early Access development of Derail Valley. Since that day nearly all of our work involved various paperwork, hiring, getting an office, installing internet, buying furniture, assembling PCs, setting up software...
A few weeks ago we were finally done with most of it and dove back into development. It’s not just the two of us anymore - we are now a 4-member team, joined by a new artist and a programmer (Syberia and Forsaken Box on Discord, respectively). If you're a programmer in Belgrade, we still have one open position!
The steam locomotive is in the works
What's next?
Our immediate focus is on resuming regular updates to the beta version of the game and reaching the initial Early Access release as soon as possible. This also includes increasing awareness of the game, so you can expect us showing more of the game content as things get done.
Shunter dashboard has been redesigned to show all the needed information
Roadmap / what’s coming at launch:
As promised, here’s our roadmap for Derail Valley!
ROADMAP LINK
Note that it is a subject to change (in fact it’s likely to change a lot eventually, depending on circumstances), but it will give you an idea of what we’re aiming at, both for the initial release and the full release later down the line, given the available resources and timeframe.
Separated into several phases, the roadmap also shows our planned pricing level, which will be $15.99 at launch (or Steam-suggested equivalent in your country), increasing gradually up to $27.99 as more content and features get added during Early Access.
Let us know what you think about our roadmap! Feel free to discuss it on our forum, or Discord!
Beta status?
Beta has stagnated for some time, but now we’re focused again to releasing beta builds every week. As soon as some basic things get implemented (we are working on some terrain tech improvements), we will start expanding the beta team with our favorite testers from the now huge list of applicants.
If you’re planning on applying to beta now, take into account that due to a big backlog of already selected testers, we will be only accepting testers with exceptional motivation, communication skills, presence on Discord, and knowledge about trains or train sims.
The new WIP tanker car in the wild
When’s the release planned for?
The last months spent on the funding definitely took a toll on our release date, but it will pay off immensely in the months to come. While our full release is scheduled for 2019, the Early Access release will come notably earlier. We’ll let you know the date closer to release.
First we want to make sure the game is fun and playable, as well as having a proper awareness in the train sim and VR communities. Spreading the word of Derail Valley would greatly help us right now!
Thank you for the patience, and see you soon with more news!
We got some amazing news - we’re funded for the entire duration of Early Access!
In February we will expand our team to five members and work on Derail Valley for at least one full year during Early Access. That’s without taking into account actual revenue which should allow much more. This pretty much guarantees us delivering a full game in early 2019, with Early Access starting in a few months. Here’s what it means:
We can focus on development without dependence on initial success
We can reveal our full roadmap for the final game (coming in the next months)
We’ll have regular updates during Early Access (starting early 2018)
High chance of bringing the game to completion (early 2019)
We’re very motivated to do this
Some of you might remember that last summer we’ve spent a month preparing an application for funding. It was for the Serbian Innovation Fund, an organization focused on funding innovative technologies here in Serbia. Recently we were informed that we made it to the finals, and then invited to pitch in front of the jury of international investors. Out of 237 company applications from all kinds of industries (including medical, agricultural, machine, etc.), we were among the 25 to receive the funding. Here's the cool part:
We retain full freedom to do what we believe is the best for the game, without sketchy compromises. In fact, our vision and plan for the Early Access development is already on paper, and our only obligation to the Fund is to actually deliver what we set in it, on a quarterly basis. We will reveal this roadmap in the following months, and we think you’re going to love it.
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As a team of a few people who started making Derail Valley with our own savings and an ambition to make a dream-game of every train sim fan, we’re super thankful to the Serbian Innovation Fund and their jurors who recognized our potential and agreed to fund us. There will surely be many obstacles and hiccups along the way, but we’re determined to make Derail Valley the best train simulation out there and possibly this way help VR market grow and become more affordable.
Finally, thank you all for the support and feedback you’ve sent us - without you we wouldn’t have had anything to show to the investors as proof that this is a game you want. Do spread the word about the game - tell everyone that it’s coming, and it’s going to rock!
We will be opening job positions soon in more detail, but in summary we are looking for developers already located in Serbia: two experienced gamedev programmers and one experienced gamedev 3D artist. If you live in Serbia, fit the criteria and would love to work with us on Derail Valley, send us an email with CV and portfolio to alternativefuture@gmail.com.
In the next post we aim to reveal the upcoming steam locomotive (you can see some interior shots here already)! I’ll also sneak in a reminder that we’ve got a Discord. Feel free to drop by - we are active there daily.
Thanks for reading and see you all soon!
The project is financed by the Innovation Fund from the budget of the Republic of Serbia
from the division of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development,
through the Serbia Competitiveness and Jobs Project (loan agreement with the World Bank).
Sign up for closed beta!
Hey everyone,
Closed beta signups for Derail Valley have begun!
As announced in our previous post, we will be providing beta access to selected core community members on September 30, and slowly expand it to more testers over the following weeks and months.
Note that we don’t guarantee access to every tester who signed up. Amount of approved testers will be limited and we will prioritize those who have actively participated in discussions on forums or Discord, as well as those who have logged in significant amount of playtime with the demo.
Note: Steam lets us see playtime of demos only if you played them recently. If you haven't played Derail Valley demo in the past two weeks please start and close the game so it becomes visible on your Steam profile under “All Recently Played”.
We’ll start with a small group of selected testers and during beta include more testers with each update. Updates are aimed to be made on a weekly basis. If you’ve been given access, you will receive an email from us.
Why beta?
In case you missed it, give our previous post a read. Our goal with the beta rollout is primarily to provide something new to those of you who have been eagerly waiting for the now postponed release, but also to receive feedback, performance and bug reports regarding new features.
Tester community:
In the next days we’ll establish dedicated channels where beta testers will be able to provide feedback, discuss updates between each other and receive information about beta updates. We’ll include those in the beta access confirmation email.
Game status:
We are calling it closed beta as it gives beta access for the Early Access release. However the game itself is in pre-alpha state, and will only be in alpha when it is released in Early Access.
As expected the game is incomplete and heavily in progress. Initial “beta” release will showcase some additions, but expect a lot of missing features, content and polish (especially due to transition to the large world). From the initial beta release we will be updating the game regularly, adding missing features and content.
Until we get the game to a more satisfactory state, please note that we ask testers not to reveal any information about beta content publicly, including descriptions, reviews, screenshots or videos. You will be able to share this information with other testers however, and later publicly once we’re happy with the game’s state and have explicitly permitted sharing.
Beta duration:
We’re yet to determine how long the beta signups and beta access will last. This will probably be as long as it takes us to get the game to the intended level of completeness for Early Access release.
Large world progress & closed beta instead of release
Hi everyone,
It’s been a long couple of months, and finally we’re here with some notable news - both good and less so. To get the bad stuff out of the way - sadly we won’t be ready for a September release. There are many factors behind that outcome, some of which I’ve explained further below. Still, knowing you guys are eager to try the new content, we’ll soon start with closed beta signups, to begin rolling out at the end of month!
Large world - proof of concept:
Onto the progress - the huge news is that now we have a working proof of concept for large worlds. It was hands down one of the most critical milestones for Derail Valley, and probably the most complicated we’ve done so far too.
From the moment we’ve launched demo Update 5, bgr and I have been working day and night on this, among other urgent distractions. After a ton of research, testing, planning, development and practicing black magic, just a few days ago we’ve finally got the full new world tech running in VR. The system is not flawless and there’s a lot of things to improve still, but currently it runs fairly well on a GTX 970.
Judging by the screenshot alone it might not seem like much of a breakthrough, but there’s a few important things to note:
The world can now be literally the size of a small country
It works in VR
The large world system was built in such a way that the world’s size is virtually ineffective on performance. It also requires minimal human input in order to expand it with more content, however it is not completely procedural - we retain human control over gameplay-dependent aspects of it (i.e. where we want hills and valleys to be, and how high, as well as the distribution of biomes and vegetation on them).
With the technical and artistic foundation complete, it is now fairly simple to add more surface area. The world is currently at 16x16km2 (64 times the demo world), and we’re planning to at least double it later during Early Access.
Roughly painted map defines where we’d like mountains, hills and valleys to be. Our system then creates a detailed photorealistic world from it that runs in VR
Rather than tediously placing assets by hand and building fake “corridor” environments, we made this system to create a truly vast world with a living railway network. We want to invoke the feeling of the player taking a small part in this world, able to choose missions and routes seamlessly, without the limitations of pre-defined “scenarios”.
See that mountain in the background? You can actually get there by train!
Railway remains to be added as the final essential feature, which will also be a combination of human input and procedural generation. Currently the generator is able to create meadows, fields and forests, and during Early Access we’ll expand it with a lot more biome and vegetation diversity, including rocky cliffs, rivers, lakes, swamps, towns and other geographical features. Once we’re done with the essentials, we’ll make a dedicated devlog describing how our large world system works in a lot more detail.
Delay and release postponement:
While the large world milestone is great news, it took us longer to get here than we anticipated. Thus, we won’t be able to finish everything we planned for September Early Access release and have to postpone it once again. It’s entirely our fault for the repeated faulty release estimate, but nevertheless here’s some contributing factors that you guys should know:
Although we’ve been a three people team, only bgr and I worked on the majority of the game for quite a while now. Several times this has led us to miscalculate plans that depended on three people actively working on the project but had two instead. Our third team member does great work and remains involved with Derail Valley, but due to not being able to focus entirely on our project he opted out from being a vital member. As a 2.1 person sized team now we will essentially retain the same productivity rate, but just be better at estimating our progress.
Some delays came from the tools we use. The large world system relies on a few great third-party Unity plugins, some of which are still in development and some not even released yet. Their postponements, some of which measured in months, directly affected our own estimates. Still, developers of those plugins actively work on the plugins and some directly communicate with us in solving problems together, and without their heroic efforts a game with ambitious scope like ours would’ve been impossible for 2.1 persons to tackle. Good news is - we’ve got most of core dependencies under our control now.
Finally, one of the biggest delay contributors was a rather positive event - an opportunity to submit our project for consideration to a local technological innovation fund. Considering that it’d allow us to hire more developers and bring the game out of Early Access much quicker - independently from actual revenue success - we thought focusing on submitting Derail Valley there had higher priority than releasing the game on time.
Preparation for that submission (which had 1st of September as deadline) took us a whole month, and resulted in us creating a very detailed project plan which defines what the game will have when it’s finished, and what it will take to get there. We’ll turn that plan into a roadmap for you guys to see as well once we get the urgent stuff out of the way. Regardless of whether we’ll be awarded the grant or not (which we’ll find out in a few months), it’s another rather important milestone done. Wish us luck, as we believe the positive outcome of this submission would be very significant for the future of Derail Valley, but also for the future of VR and train simulations in general.
Closed beta instead of release:
We know you guys are eager to try out the new stuff, and considering we’ve already postponed the release date once, we felt it would be unfair to do the same thing again without some way to compensate for it.
Therefore, in late September we’ll start rolling out beta access to Derail Valley fans in whatever state the game is in at that moment. Beta will last as long as it takes us to finish the Early Access release version. We won’t give any estimates for the release date anymore, but you’ll be able to judge completeness based on beta and directly influence the release date with your feedback! We have the steam locomotive in development already, so you can expect to see that too in rough form.
Considering that the release version will still be in development at the time of beta rollout, those of you who’ll get into the beta first might experience FPS drops, hiccups, and things of that sort. We will aim to eliminate any critical problems before releasing the game on Early Access.
The only thing we will ask during the beta is not to post any reviews, comments, screenshots and videos of the beta content publicly, until the game is released - simply because it would be the best for the project if the highest fan and press attention is focused at the time of launch, rather than spread-out when the game is still not yet available for purchase. We will however have our internal beta Discord channel where you guys can discuss new features, share media with each other and give us feedback.
Very soon we’ll make another announcement with a link to a beta access request. Stay tuned!
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That’s it for this update. We've also updated the store page descriptions to reflect better what the game will offer when it's released. In the meantime please spread the word as it’s always helpful to have new players trying the demo or new fans joining the community! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, let us know on our Steam forum or Discord!
Update 5 - Camera stabilization, booklets, new missions and lots more!
Hey everyone,
A new demo update is out! As we wrote in our previous status report, this update is quite large, so let’s get onto the details. Like with our previous update, we’ve made a short devlog video describing the highlights. Dive in!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0kK1uF9flM
Camera stabilization:
Going over bumpy tracks feels much more natural now. This was tricky to do though - for the best results the game needed to adjust stabilization dynamically based on approximation of where the player is looking. The result turned out quite good. We explained more about how it works in the devlog - check it out!
Booklets (remade paperwork):
All paper-based information in the game has been remade. The new booklet style offers improved readability in VR, and by allowing any number of pages, it also decreases clutter. This will be crucial for future development of procedural missions, but also allowed us to make a far nicer tutorial and train yard maps.
New missions:
Missions have been remade from scratch, now having more relaxed deadlines, but still remaining challenging. With the improved map and yard signs (mentioned below), navigation is now more fun too (but not too simplified)! Walking outside still remains to be done however, which will make it easier to change switches when they are obstructed by cars. Mission progress is now auto-saved during the same play-session, meaning that in case you derailed after completing the first mission, you’ll be able to continue from there until you leave the game.
Signs & signals:
Demo railway has been equipped with speed signs, yard signs and signals. Signals currently don’t have any purpose, but being fully operational, they’ll be vital for adding NPC trains to the game later on.
New models:
Finished truss bridge
Added new hopper car
Remade railway model
UI & Controls:
We’ve redesigned the main menu, which now features several options and can be accessed with the menu button. New floating tooltips have also been added, aiding players when they are encouraged to look at a specific location (e.g. a button on the controller). Touchpad now has better visual and haptic feedback, and you can toggle-hold items by pressing grip button while holding them (or see options for an alternative way).
Audio:
Previous build had issues with sounds missing when starting the game sometimes. This has been fixed, along with missing reverb in tunnels. Environmental parameters have been tweaked, resulting in better audio immersion.
More notable highlights:
- No more trees popping when switching LODs
- Items in the cab are now affected by inertia
- Brake is now more responsive
- Derailed cars now blink on the coupler display
- Camera re-centering has been moved to options (or for experienced players: hold both menu buttons)
New physics (beta branch):
Finally, we have a big new work-in-progress feature: new train wheel physics. Once complete it will allow trains to tilt, flip, jump or otherwise detach from railway realistically. This is not included in the main demo build yet, but you can try the current version by switching to a beta branch (in Steam right click Derail Valley Demo, go to Properties and in the Betas tab choose “experimental”)!
There are many more small changes in this update. You can find them all listed in changelog.txt located in the game files.
With this update we’ve also made many under-the-hood changes and tests that are hard to show, but which were essential for us to determine exact steps we will take towards Early Access release of the game. We’ve described our new roadmap in our previous news post, so make sure to check that out if you missed it! In the meantime we’ll be working on a small update to integrate the new train physics in the demo, and from that point on focus solely on the release.
That's it for now! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, either for the update or the devlog, let us know on the forum!
Status report: Demo update coming soon, Early Access release postponed
Hi everyone,
We’ve been too quiet lately (unintentionally), so just wanted to quickly share some information and keep you up to date with how things are going:
Is a new demo update coming soon?
Yes. It is quite considerable too, spanning over what we originally intended to be multiple smaller updates.
One of the reasons it took so long is that many of the under-the-hood parts of the game, which were rushed for the MSI contest, have been reworked. This will help us keep the game stable and easily expandable in the future. Many small additions and improvements are included too - you’ll hear all the details in the upcoming devlog!
The update is nearly complete. Actually the biggest chunk of work left to do is to prepare the accompanying devlog.
Is Early Access release still coming in June?
Unfortunately no. It’s been an uncertainty for the last couple of weeks, but we just made that decision definitive. Based on our observations and comments we’ve received over time, our idea of what the release should include evolved into something slightly bigger. We’ll be postponing the release a few months to include those changes. The paid game should be undoubtedly perceived as a larger game than the free demo, which is the primary reason for the postponement.
With those extra features implemented from the start, a steady flow of updates will be far easier to maintain from there on during Early Access, and at the same time we will have more information to accompany the Early Access roadmap.
Postponing will also help us avoid a potential clash with summer holidays and sales.
Roadmap for initial Early Access release
The advantage we have now compared to several months back is that while reworking many of the things for the upcoming demo update, we got a clearer picture of what exact features we want to have in the initial release version, as well as how we’ll implement them. Thus, at this point we feel confident to share the rough initial release roadmap with you. Of course, more detailed explanations will follow in the months to come:
Large world (proof-of-concept)
Without going too much into gameplay details (this will be further discussed in a future devlog), we want the release version to offer at least one long hauling mission (lasting ideally more than 30 minutes to complete). It would require a railway network spanning over many miles of realistic landscape, and include a few train yards where shunting missions will be available.
The large world will not be fully complete at the time of release, but its purpose is to prove the feasibility of this major feature and to let us confidently announce what’s yet to come at the time of release.
One new locomotive
We want players to strive for something specific in the game, and already in the initial release version we see the need for at least one new locomotive (probably steam-based). Players will need to earn enough money by completing missions in order to buy the new locomotive.
We plan to add several more train types after the release, but again, further gameplay features will be discussed in a future devlog.
NPC trains
While going about your business, you will encounter other trains along the way. This will include the signaling system (which has been made already and is coming in the demo update), as well as new cars (one is also coming in the update, others are in progress).
Improved train physics
Driving a train is going to be more dynamic. You’ll see big improvements to derailment (coming in the next demo update already), as well as more gameplay-specific elements such as wheelslip, engine overheating, brake pressure management, etc.
Walking / Teleporting
We think that being able to walk outside the train is a crucial feature in order to solve visibility problems, especially when shunting long trains. A lot of work has been done in the upcoming build that made it possible to start working on this as soon as the update is released.
This will also make it possible to come out of derailed trains and observe them, or just do some trainspotting.
Support for more devices
Oculus has supplied us with a free devkit of Rift and Touch. We want to officially support these devices at release date.
Additionally, thanks to your feedback we’ll include rudimentary support of keyboard & mouse controls, for players who would like to try the game but don’t own VR headsets or even just controllers yet. A lot of work was put already into making many systems in the game work with such controls.
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Now, we know that the release postponement might come as a turn-off for some of you. It surely is for us, and considering that the game is already playable it might not seem necessary. However the demo is still there and updated, and we think the game will have a better future if we ensure it will release with more content, more stable updates and more information regarding its future roadmap right from the start.
While the upcoming demo update will already provide a refreshment (it’s got entirely new missions, for example), for those of you who are absolutely eager to try the release version as soon as possible we might be able to sneak in beta access some time prior to release. :)
That’s all for this update. Please let us know your thoughts about this news and in the meantime stay tuned for the demo update coming very soon!
The new update is up, fixing the most critical issues. With it we've also launched our first devlog video, so please check it out and let us know your thoughts! If the feedback is positive, we'll continue making these for every new update:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUzKT5uaX6g
Fixed derail glitches:
You've probably experienced cars unexpectedly derailing at some points on the map, even at very low speeds. That's been fixed and trains now feel generally stronger and more robust. Also, when derailed cars should no longer get stuck on track ballast and falling through bridges.
Fixed invisible tunnel wall:
Previously if any car would have derailed on the map, you would no longer be able to go through tunnels. Furthermore, if you'd try to come out of one, it would launch the locomotive flying! That's been fixed.
Improved controls:
Based on your feedback, we've moved the controller interaction point slightly forward making it easier to handle controls. The spherical indicator now glows when in range of an interactable object, and touching the coupler buttons will give vibration feedback.
Room-scale recentering:
It's possible now to recenter the camera in room-scale, in case you'd like to avoid standing close to a wall. Proper teleporting feature will be added later.
Generally, for small spaces we recommend playing in seated mode. In it, you can reposition yourself to four different corners of the cab, using the camera controls (they need some tweaking though).
Improved wheel sounds:
Interaction of wheels on railway has been made more prominent sound-wise, and now gives a better idea as to when you're about to derail. Trains generally feel more massive now.
Changelog:
We've added a newspaper-like changelog to the rear of the cab, in place of an obsolete old map (see devlog video for more details, the actual map is on the front desk!), where you will be able to see the list of main changes in future builds.
For smaller changes, check out the changelog.txt in the game files (there aren't many this time)!
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That's it for this update! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, either for the update or the devlog, let us know on the forum!
Announcing a new VR game: Derail Valley!
Hey everyone!
We’re thrilled to announce Derail Valley, our train simulation game made for VR!
What is Derail Valley?
In Derail Valley you drive a train using your own hands in virtual reality. You’re tasked to reposition rolling stock between trainyards on time, which will probably result in an unexpected derailment. Our idea with the game is to bring something new to train sim and VR games. Please see the Steam description for more details.
If you have an HTC Vive, you can try the free demo!
Who’s making it?
The game is made by three of us - Ivan, Nenad and myself, who also happen to be roommates, long time best friends, and vehicle, game development and technology enthusiasts. There’s some more info on our history and roles on the website!
What’s the plan?
The plan really is to make it the best train simulation we can. This means that in Q2 2017 we’re set off to release an expanded version of Derail Valley in Early Access, and from that point on keep developing it according to available resources and community feedback.
Until then we’ll be working on new features, such as procedural shunting missions, NPC trains, and more car variety. A lot more features and content will eventually make it into the game, but we will reveal our plans as we go. We intend to post news updates regularly, so stay tuned!
Paid version of the game is expected to be in the $15-20 range at launch date, with a possible increase later down the road, respective to the amount of features and content the game will eventually have. Demo will remain available for free.
Please see Early Access information for more details.
Current status:
Derail Valley currently offers a single 2x2 km square map with 4 train yards, one fictional diesel-electric shunter locomotive and 4 shunting missions. Essential train controls are functional, as well as coupling and derailment (which still needs some work), in both seated and room-scale modes. The game is playable and completing the missions can take multiple hours.
At least in the initial version, we want players to experience imperfection of the rail transport, so we’ve decided to focus on abandoned equipment, with old rusty tracks, worn-out trains set in overgrown nature and a bunch of paperwork on the desk. Some odd railway vehicles that normally wouldn’t find a place in simulators, are welcome here.
Although we started making the game 8 months ago, the major push in our development was made thanks to the MSI VR Jam, where, amazingly, we’ve won 3rd place among more than 600 participants. We were awarded $15.000 cash prize, which will ensure stable development of Derail Valley for months to come!
Controls:
Currently Derail Valley requires an HTC Vive headset. In future we will look into the possibilities of Oculus Touch integration as well as keyboard and mouse controls for those who don’t own a VR headset. We’ll be posting more about these possibilities later on, and if you’re one of those who would really want these features, be sure to let us know on the forum!
Updates:
We’ll be posting further updates to the Steam page regularly, as well as on our social networks, so you can follow us via links below:
