the update 221120 has just been released to the main and beta branch!
Changelog: -updated beta branch to main branch -added 2-8-0 Mosca -added end of track device -added large turntable -fixed bug where car trucks did rotate while on turntable -fixed bug where game would spam set switch command while a train is driving over a switch
New Locomotive – „Mosca“ Originally built in 1873 for the Denver & Rio Grande this 2-8-0 locomotive comes with a tractive effort of 12431 lbf / 56.3kN. It also features a brand new bell sound.
New End of track device / Bumper With this little device you can effectively stop your trains at the end of your track.
New Large Turntable This new large turntable offers plenty of space for even the heaviest locomotives of Railroads Online! ...
...or even heavier engines ?
Also, just to let you know: Railroads Online! is today's DAILY DEAL on Steam with a 30% discount!
the new build 221115 in the beta branch has just been released!
Changelog:
- optimized code for truck/rail interaction for better FPS performance - turntables can now be linked directly to rails - fixed bug where switches and turntable rendering disappears when near the edge of the screen - fixed bug where player could not delete old spline fill/wall placed at ground level - fixed bug ballast end caps incorrect height - fixed bug where player could not link rails at unloading areas - fixed bug where 3ft Rail IV can no longer be placed on top of ballast splines or linked to other track splines that are higher then ground level - fixed bug switch interaction UI appearing on screen when placing a new spline - fixed class 48 interaction with the crossovers placed under the previous build tools - fixed Glenbrook: missing trigger for sanddome hatch - fixed Glenbrook: too high boiler pressure - fixed typo in industry difficulty tooltip
Thanks and see you soon!
RAILROADS Online! - BETA BRANCH - 221104
Hello everyone!
the new build 221104 in the beta branch has just been released!
Changelog:
- fixed incorrect truck rotations for locomotives & rolling stock - fixed player clipping into splines/groundwork - fixed player can not interact with locomotives (e.g. at log pond, inside engine house) - fixed player can not delete old rail splines - fixed player can not delete crossovers - fixed engine shed door hitboxes - fixed class70 missing paint styles for headlight and left door - changed switch interactions to the "classic" system: Hold LMB + drag in direction - added switch control helper UI
Thanks and see you soon!
RAILROADS Online! - BETA BRANCH - 221103
Hello everyone!
the new build 221103 in the beta branch has just been released!
Changelog:
- fixed bug where game would crash if client buys a tender locomotive - fixed bug where game would crash randomly if client walks up to a loaded freight car - fixed bug where locomotives would spam force updates - fixed class48 inverted brake lever - improved locomotive and locomotive components render performance - improved spline track render performance - improved spline track physics performance - added steam community forum button in main menu - added tooltips for host server settings - added auto set correct rail alignment when starting from a rail link - added more frame rate options in the graphics menu; for the smoothest first person experience we reccommend to set the frame rate limiter to a value closely below your average FPS
Thanks and see you soon!
RAILROADS Online! - Status update
Dear Community,
once again, thank you for all your feedback, your questions and your general interest in the development process of Railroads Online!
Today, we’d like to give you an update on the current status of the game, what we’re currently working on (or waiting for) and what is going to happen next. Additionally, we would like to answer a few more of your questions. So, let’s get started!
What we are currently working on
The current focus for any updates and patches to the beta branch is improving the overall performance where we can right now. This includes fixing random game crashes and low performance issues, even when no train is being moved.
In addition, we are working on optimizations for the render distance of both vehicles and rails which will ultimately affect vehicle components, particle effects, animations, and blueprints. We are also investigating further improvements to vehicle physics and the associated collision behavior. An improved vehicle setup to prevent popcorning is in testing but still in a very early phase.
We’ve also started working on new vehicle models, buildings and even new sound effects – but they are still quite some time away.
What is happening behind-the-scenes
As mentioned before, quality assurance runs are our main priority in order to work out a clean development plan. We’re happy to announce that QA runs are happening right now and we should receive the first results soon. At the same time, we’re looking into possible partners that can support us for the source code review, as well as for proper localization. Depending on the results of the QA runs and the code review, we will be able to move forward with the roadmap planning – YAY!
More questions
What’s the makeup of the astragon team?
astragon is supporting the development of Railroads Online! with a team of experts from different departments: Producing, product management, sales, marketing, PR and social media/community management. As a publisher we offer expertise and resources to lessen the responsibilities of the development team so that they can solely focus on just that – developing the game.
Will updates take longer now?
Possibly, yes. We do want to keep up a regular update schedule, but with QA testing updates before their release, it might take longer than you are used to. We do believe that introducing QA to improve the output is more positive than some assume.
But if your QA team will be testing the beta before it releases, what’s the sense of having US play the beta?
The QA team will try to make sure that the updates do not break things in the game that are already working and flag the most glaring and obvious issues. However, your feedback, support, knowledge and bug reports will still be super important for the development of the game. This project would not be possible without you!
We hope this status update gives you a bit of an insight into what’s currently going on behind the scenes. If you have more questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below and we’ll try to answer as much as we can at this moment in time.
We wish you all a great weekend!
The Railroads Online! Team
RAILROADS Online! - BETA BRANCH - 221008
Hello everyone!
the new build 221008 in the beta branch has just been released!
Changelog:
-removed debug mode for player
Thanks and see you soon!
RAILROADS Online! - BETA BRANCH - 221007
Hello everyone!
the new build 221007 in the beta branch has just been released!
Changelog:
-Fixed bug where client would spam a server call each frame during a multiplayer session -Fixed bug where save game would write excess data for new splines when saving -Fixed bug where player would be stuck: If you jump and your Z location has not changed, the game now teleports you to a higher location -Introduced maximum render distance for track splines and spline end-segments
Thanks and see you soon!
RAILROADS Online! - BETA BRANCH - 221004
Hello everyone!
the new build 221004 in the beta branch has just been released!
Changelog:
-Fixed missing brigde supports - brigde end segments now scale correctly to the spline end -Fixed tracks to connect with engine house -Fixed tracks to connect to turntable track -Fixed Waycar collision -Fixed rendering for short spline segments -Fixed Montezuma brake texture -Fixed Class 70 missing meshes -Fixed Glenbrook tender infinite wood -Fixed Class 48 infinite boiler pressure -Fixed Montezuma and Glenbrook wheel animation speed -Fixed Shay tractive effort -Fixed Glenbrook tractive effort -Fixed Class 48 tractive effort -Fixed Montezuma tractive effort -Fixed draw bar on Montazuma, Glenbrook, Eureka, Cooke Mogul and Class 70 -Fixed shay whistle to single chime
Thanks and see you soon!
RAILROADS Online! - 1 Year Anniversary Update
Dear Community,
Hooray! Today we celebrate 1 year of Railroads Online! For this special occasion we have prepared a special update!
Season Fall The world is now cloaked in ocher soils and colorful birch trees heralding fall.
New locomotive - Glenbrook Originally built in 1875 for the Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company to haul cordwood and lumber from Glenbrook, Nevada. You can now enjoy this beautiful machine in Railroads Online! 147 years later.
New locomotve - Shay This two truck shay will definitely boost your logging business! The locomotive features the destinctive side mounted cardan drive system and the offset boiler to balance out the masses over the frame. The shay was specially designed to provide plenty of traction on bumpy logging railroads with tight curves.
New locomotive D&RGW Class 45 This Baldwin 6-22-D Heavy Tank Locomotive was built in 1875 for the Denver & Rio Grande. Being a 0-6-0 this locomotive makes a compact yet powerfull switcher.
New feature - Paint Works With this update you can now choose from a range of different paint works for some rolling stock and locomotives, giving your railroad a more individual, customized look!
New feature - Ballast Switches can now be built with or without ballast.
Complete Changelog -fixed bell location on montezuma -fixed valve gear mesh on montezuma -fixed steps mesh on waycar -fixed bug where player would collide with invisible freight on cars after re-rail -improved spline track FPS render performance -added wall spline without rails -added switch variants without ballast -added glenbrook locomotive -added shay two truck locomotive -added D&RGW Class 45 -added selectable paint works for rolling stock and locomotives
The latest update is available in the BETA-Branch. You can join the BETA-Branch in your Steam Library->Right click on Railroads Online!->Properties->Beta->"Beta - PublicBeta"
SPECIAL THANKS to all the players, streamers, railroaders, historians, museums and fans!
With your continuous support, input and knowledge you are providing a tremendous amount of help and motivation to us - especially in situations that have been rather tough. This project would not be possible without you! So a very big thank you! to you guys!
We are very exited to continue this journey together with you into the coming next years of Railroads Online! We wish you all Happy Railroading! and a great weekend!
The Railroads Online! Team
RAILROADS Online! - We answer your most burning questions!
Dear Community,
thank you for all your interesting feedback and questions so far. It was a pleasure to read all your comments and we’re extremely happy to read all your constructive messages.
In this post, we have summarized the most frequently asked questions regarding the partnership with astragon Entertainment, which we would like to answer in this post. So, let’s go!
Is astragon going to help with the development of the game?
In addition to their internal expertise, astragon can rely on a wide range of established and specialized contacts in the form of programmers, modelers, and others in the field of game development. Based upon the results of the quality assurance runs and on the content for version 1.0, which has yet to be set, their longstanding expertise will be of great help.
Will Railroads Online! be developed according to the roadmap that was officially announced?
The official roadmap will be our anchor point for the content of version 1.0 as it includes many wanted community features. Our primary goal is to do QA runs on the current build so we can work out a clean development plan that balances improvements and new content.
Will the game stay an American narrow gauge sim?
We can confirm that Railroads Online! will of course keep its historic US narrow gauge setting and vehicles. There may be other gauges after version 1.0 if there is an interest for those in the community.
Will „content XYZ“ come to the game?
We are still in the phase of setting everything up so we cannot exactly answer content-related questions yet. However, we can give more concrete answers about the content in the coming weeks, so you must be a bit more patient 😊
Will there be better communication and more transparency between the development and the community?
We plan to regularly post update blogs on Steam with the latest development news, plans, etc. to inform you guys about the most important topics. The updates will be either posted by the community managers Jana, Wladi or by Keume but always coordinated together. This way we ensure that we release only verified, reliable information from one official source.
Will all communication take place on Steam or will the Discord be re-opened?
As mentioned above, the official communication will be handled via Steam. We regularly read your forum posts, discussions, and reviews to gather your feedback which works quite well in our experience. Currently, we do not plan to re-open the Discord server. Perhaps it will be re-opened or there will be a new one in the future. We will definitely discuss this topic internally.
Will there be a different EULA?
Contrary to the rumor, the EULA for Railroads Online! has not been changed since its release on October 1st, 2021. We can assure you that playing via Steam in Single- and Multiplayer, streaming, sharing screenshots, videos, or other social media content of Railroads Online! is perfectly legal. We will take a look at the current EULA and make necessary adjustments if there are any unfortunate choices of words for example. More details in our recent blogpost.
How much oversight will there be over the development of the game as a whole?
astragon and Keume will work closely together to develop the game. That means that decisions regarding the development will be coordinated together so we can ensure we are all pulling together in the right direction. That includes for example the QA, human resources, milestones, release dates, etc. which are necessary to work out version 1.0.
What timelines can we expect for bug fixes, new content, etc.?
As you probably know the frequency of updates is usually tied to the expense of the content, so it very much depends. That being said, we plan to give you regular updates on the progress of bug fixes, new content, or other news regularly so you stay on track.
So the game has been outsourced to Germany?
Fun fact 101: Railroads Online! has been coded and developed in Germany by a sauerkraut-eating German called Keume. But psst! Keep this a secret 😄
Will there be regional pricing for this game?
We will look into regional pricing and discount events in the future. But this has yet to be worked out.
Will there be DLCs for Railroads Online?
We will not add any DLCs in Early Access.
Will there be microtransactions?
We do not plan to add microtransactions.
We hope that we have answered some of your most pressing questions and are excited for the journey ahead!
If you have more questions feel free to ask them down in the comments below and Jana, Wladi or Keume will try to answer.
