It’s been a long time since our last patch and with multiple delays, blood, sweat and tears that have been shed, we’re finally proud to announce the second patch for Train Life! As you can probably already tell, this is going to be a doozy of a patch note. Everything from Tracks and Railways to the HUD, gameplay and scenarios have been tweaked and fixes have been made. I know you all want to get into it, so without further ado, let’s dive right in!
Changes & Fixes
Tracks & Railways
Tweaked some issues with the placement of electric lines – there were some players reporting electrical lines missing, now you’ll be able to make a zappy connection with your ET’s!
Tweaked some issues with lack of camera collision with stations elements
HUD
Updated Block Occupancy icon under the mini map to display the state of not only the next (closest to the Player) blocking signal, but also the state of the following one (second closest one)
Updated GPS Destination Switcher above the mini map to display the remaining distance to the next route target when in Custom Route mode. This has been requested by the community many times, so hopefully you guys enjoy it!
Replaced the old Next Speed Limit icon on speedometer with the new, dedicated widget placed next to the Brake and Throttle indicators under the speedometer - now players will be able to see how far they are from the next Speed Limit sign
Fixed a problem with mini map auto-resize function not working. Now the mini-map will zoom out and in when moving forward or not.
Fixed a problem with vanishing "Reverse Train Direction" option from Radial Menu
Fixed a problem that caused displaying Navigation Mode Change icon as debug output
Fixed a problem with incorrect distance shown in Cargo minigame
Fixed a problem with finished contracts summary screen displayed improperly after using contract details screen
Tablet
Introduced new Info tab, that aggregates the Codex and restored Production Tree tabs
Added to the World Map an option to clear current GPS route with single click
Changed codex formatting, added more images
Fixed a problem with incorrect cities counter displayed in Dashboard tab
Fixed a problem with inability of scrolling lists content while using a controller
Fixed problem with inability to zoom the World Map under some circumstances
Fixed a problem with CODEX pages flickering under some circumstances
Gameplay
Incline/Decline Multiplier has been adjusted. Inclines and declines should have much more impact on driving.
Updated visualization of passengers waiting on station to a new one
Locomotive and wagon doors now open on the correct side
Improved automatic GPS mode behavior for Cargo gameplay
Fixed a problem with loading incorrect saved data for passengers and postage contracts
Fixed a problem with inconsistent show behavior in Alpine areas
Fixed a problem that prevents saving changes done in Vibration settings
Due to copyrights issues the Radio has been disabled
Scenarios
Hannover – Munich scenario estimated time increased – Maybe I will be able to personally complete the scenario times finally.
Hague Pumpjack scenario estimated time increased
Brussels-Amsterdam starting location changed
Requesting station access at the beginning of the Company Management Tutorial is now an objective
Fixed a problem with the last VO not being synchronized with subtitles when playing Train Control Basics tutorial as scenario
Fixed a problem with the confirm task objective completes prematurely in the Company Management tutorial.
Fixed a problem with not being able to fulfill a passengers/postage boarding objective
Fixed a problem with Early Bird achievement does not unlock
Fixed a problem with tracks separated in Scenario being also separated after returning to Career
Fixed a problem with new contracts generation
Fixed a problem with GPS mode switched prematurely in passenger scenarios if the player misses the correct track.
Fixed a problem with GPS ceased to function after requesting access to Brussels Warehouse in Brussels-Amsterdam scenario
Fixed upcoming blocking signal visibility state to reflect correctly game settings
Fixed a problem that caused train unexpectedly derail after closing the window with Orient Express input controls information
Fixed a problem with steam particles being overactive
Fixed a problem with Vienna and Strasbourg being displayed in dashboard without installed DLC
Fixed a problem with missing input prompts on the initial screen for Orient Express scenarios if input was adjusted in the previous live version
Sound
Tweaks in engine sounds
Language
Added missing translations for all languages
Fixed multiple translation bugs
We hope you will enjoy this massive update to the game and in the meantime if you have any feedback or further suggestions, feel free to join the official Train Life Discord channel and speak with like=minded individuals and the dev’s directly regarding any comments or concerns.
On behalf of Simteract and Nacon, we thank the entire community for sticking with us through thick and thin, and we hope Train Life will be a game you all will enjoy for years to come! Oh, and sorry for the delay on this one, as you can tell it was HUGE, but hopefully the wait was worth it.
Until next time!
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Developer Note: Things that we're working on for the next patch!
Hello Engineers!
Thanks for taking the time in joining us once again in our weekly update regarding some of the things that we’re working on to improve Train Life. You all have been great in reporting bugs and giving us some great suggestion and we want to encourage to keep on doing your thing.
Keep in mind, these are for PC only, if you’re on console and you’re wondering what’s going happening on that end, please join the official Train Life Discord channel.
*Disclaimer: Take everything here with a grain of salt. These are things we are re-testing and doesn't mean that we will add all of these changes and fixes in the next patch, albeit, we'll try our best!
Inconsistent snow behavior in Alpine regions (The snow appears abruptly and only after nearing Salzburg. In the case the player reverses and drives forward again – it disappears and does not trigger again until reaching Salzburg)
Missing Key/Buttons prompts on the initial screen for the Orient Express scenarios (Basically, if you have an older save of Train Life and you updated to the newer version 1.10 the buttons on the right side of the screen are missing in the scenario)
One string for steam locomotive instructions is either shortened/elongated in most languages when using a controller (In the controls section where the player is being explained what they all do in the OE scenario – the first line of instructions is either over extended or shortened hiding what the instructions say)
Train Life crashes during the Paris - Vienna scenario
In the tutorial – the task completes itself before user input.
Passengers’ models clip through standard passenger wagons walls
Contracts to Vienna was generated for players with no DLC access
There have been reports of players getting these tasks when they don’t have the DLC installed. Which in short players without this DLC are not able to complete.
When you browse through wagons in pick-up menu, when attaching a broken train, the trains mesh disappears.
Train Derails when driving through the junction at London Main, despite driving at a low speed.
The station are at Berlin Main Station is too small and players are not able to start scenarios on the tracks between the entrances and platforms.
You can expect the next patch to be implemented within the next couple of weeks and feel free to let us know your thoughts on this type of communication between the you, the player and us the studio.
On that note, I wanted to thank you all for taking the time in reading this note, and make sure to follow Train Life on Twitter and join the official Discord channel as mentioned above. We do livestreams on our Twitch channel every Monday @ 7PM CEST where we face the questions you guys ask on our Discord channel head on! If this is something you’re interested in don’t hesitate to smack that follow button on Twitch!
Take care everyone,
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Patch Note# 23 | Patch 1.10 is now LIVE!
Hello Engineers!
Welcome to patch 1.10! Your friendly neighborhood community manager Mike is here 😊
We’re pleased to announce that you’ll be able to experience the new HUD we teased over the last couple of months as well as some other gameplay and visual improvements to the game. With that out of the way, let's dive right in!
Changes & Fixes
Tracks & Railways
Tweaked some issues with the placement of electric lines
Fixed a problem with a blocked player movement at Service Center Innsbruck warehouse
Fixed a problem with broken traffic lights at Main Brussels and near Paris Station
We fixed a problem with the sudden stop of the train when high speed is reached, between Zurich Factory and Zurich Main – this was reported by a few players highlighting that the train came to an immediate halt due to the environment not loading in on time. You should not have this issue any more in this section of the map.
Fixed a problem with a sharp connection angle between rails in Berlin region – this should fix derailing on these sections of the tracks.
Fixing a problem with missing part of the tracks near Munich Refinery
Fixed a problem with sudden stop of the train near Leipzig Main
HUD
Now we can sort Cities table using controller
Fixed bug where inverting camera axis was affecting map controls
Fixed bug that was deleting GPS route after switching navigation mode
HUD Overhaul – this has been a long-awaited feature since the launch of Train Life, and we are pleased to announce that it is here! Let us know what you think of the new features!
Gameplay
Fixed GPS Bugs – this should have fixed the issue with navigation points being removed after the player arrives to one, among other bugs as well.
Now Train cannot be reversed, and cabin cannot be changed during boarding
Scenarios
Fixed a problem with missing a track section near Antwerp pumpjack during Brussels-Amsterdam scenario
Fixed a problem with a redundant blockade near Strasbourg Main during scenario Paris-Vienna
Better Orient Express steam release particles – when doing the OE scenario, you should now see that smoke is coming from the chimney.
Level Art & Design
Fixed a problem with snow under the roof at Munich Station
Fixed a problem with buildings on the tracks at Strasbourg Station
Cleaning track zone from branches, grass, and ground
Multiple minor art fixes
Language
Fixed Translation bugs
We hope you will enjoy this update and we encourage the community to continue with the feedback. Make sure to follow Train Life on Twitter and join the official Train Life discord to speak with like-minded individuals as well as the Dev’s themselves! You can also join our weekly livestreams on the official Simteract Twitch channel where you can get your questions about the game answered live as well as stay up to date with the latest and greatest news for the game you all know and love.
We will continue to keep you guys updated with the games upcoming hotfixes and patches on a weekly basis as we have been doing since the release of Train Life. Thank you all for sticking with us throughout this time and until next time, engineers!
Signing out,
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Developer Note: Next bug fixes and optimizations incoming!
Greetings Engineers!
Welcome to another developer note written by yours truly, Mike! We have been rolling out the hotfixes left and right and we’re coming back to tell you what we’re working on next. So with that out of the way, here is a list of stuff that we’re currently working on either retesting or implementing in the next hotfix for Train Life.
Engineers License achievement does not unlock after meeting the conditions
Orient Express scenario durations are not adequate. We’re adjusting the usage of coal and water in these scenarios.
Parts of tracks missing near Munich Refinery Station
Scenario: Calais - London - GPS leads to wrong tracks in Calais.
Redundant blockade near Strasbourg Main during Orient Express scenario Paris-Vienna
Debug output displayed for "Next navigation mode" binding in PC controls
Animation of rain inside the 'Munich main' station during gameplay
Incorrect flag can be spotted at Lucerne Main
Also, we understand that this wasn’t communicated before, but we also wanted to talk about the change when it comes to the route planner. So when does the route planner work? Here is an explanation:
Almost everything happens when the player is in passenger/postage mode and is boarding passengers on a passenger station or loading/unloading mail at a warehouse. You take the passengers and mail whose destination is on your GPS Route. If you want to do passenger/postage transport on a route, for example, A B C D, then you simply add those stations to your GPS - and then drive the route and perform station operations on passenger stations and warehouses accordingly.
Passengers and postage don't behave like they do in the real world and don't use timetables, but they still assume you'll get them to their destination in a timely manner. They will leave the train at the first opportunity if their patience runs out (you took too long to get to the destination) or if their destination is no longer on the GPS Route (because you removed it).]
We hope that explanation cleared some things up for you and in the meantime, we want you to keep the feedback coming! We encourage all players of Train Life to join our official Discord channel and provide feedback, suggestions and comments about the state of the game and how we can make it better for everyone!
Thanks for taking the time in reading our note, until next time!
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Patch Note #22 | Hotfix 1.03
Hello everyone!
Welcome to Hotfix 1.03 for PC. We’re also releasing the Orient Express content for all PC players that took part in the Early Access for Train Life.In the meantime, we have some fixes for today's patch to get through, so without further ado, let's dive right in!
Changes & Fixes
Tracks & Railways
Tweaked some issues with the placement of electric lines. Now you will not get shocked by the electrical lines.
Cleaning track zone from branches, grass, ground. To do this, we developed a lawn mower as well as a hedge cutter in UE4.
Fixed a problem with a broken traffic light near the Bremen Smeltery. No more traffic jams at the intersection.
Tablet
Added additional highlights to active buttons. It should be easier to tell the difference regarding which selection you are making.
Fixed a problem with saving force feedback option
Updated translations. If you find any more translation errors, we encourage you to let us know!
Fixed a problem with the Back button on a few screens.
Fixed a problem with input configuration from older versions. This was reported by the community from people coming from the EA version to the 1.0 version of Train Life regarding the new navigation buttons, that well, were not working, that great to say the least. But now, everything should be fine.
Fixed a problem with not updating immediately tooltips for GPS Mode Toggle after input rebinding.
Added keyboard and gamepad controls for Show Hide HUD action.
Fixed employee list to better show its content
Fixed a bug with Cancel button in scenario start panel
Gameplay
Improvement of train inertia.
Fixed a wrong top speed of locomotives.
Fixed the "Renowned Tourist" achievement. Players might have to revisit the stations once again to get the achievement.
Fixed a bug with the number of passengers during boarding.
Scenarios
Fixed GPS route in some scenarios.
Level Art & Design
The switch near the Munich Factory has had its logic reversed.
Part of the wood floating in the air near Hague Pumpjack is not floating anymore.
Stability & Performance
Fixed a rare crash during a boarding passenger in the scenario "Paris – Strasbourg".
That about wraps it up folks! We hope you are enjoying the fixes that we are implementing throughout this time, and we hope the players enjoy the Orient Express content we added for all Early Access players!
Make sure to follow Simteract and Nacon on all social media platforms and join our Discord channel so you don’t miss a beat when it comes to news and updates for the game. Until next time!
Mike Simteract Community Manager
The 1920's Orient-Express Train DLC is now available!
Hello everyone!
Today our team is thrilled to announce that you can now take the controls of the legendary Orient-Express steam train operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits and retrace its storied route, as the Orient-Express DLC is now available for purchase.
Additionaly we want to remind our Early Access participants that this DLC has been added to your Steam account as a token of gratitude for your support during this essential part of the game's development.
The 1920's ORIENT-EXPRESS TRAIN DLC contains:
The Orient-Express train of the 1920s, operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits
The 231C Nord steam locomotive
The historic route of the Orient-Express train, from Paris to Vienna
6 exclusive scenarios in which you are at the controls of the Orient-Express train
2 new cities: Strasbourg and Vienna
See you soon on the the railway!
Benjamin Nacon Community Manager
Patch Note #22 | Hotfix 1.03
Hello everyone!
Welcome to Hotfix 1.03 for PC. We’re also releasing the Orient Express content for all PC players that took part in the Early Access for Train Life.In the meantime, we have some fixes for today's patch to get through, so without further ado, let's dive right in!
Changes & Fixes
Tracks & Railways
Tweaked some issues with the placement of electric lines. Now you will not get shocked by the electrical lines.
Cleaning track zone from branches, grass, ground. To do this, we developed a lawn mower as well as a hedge cutter in UE4.
Fixed a problem with a broken traffic light near the Bremen Smeltery. No more traffic jams at the intersection.
Tablet
Added additional highlights to active buttons. It should be easier to tell the difference regarding which selection you are making.
Fixed a problem with saving force feedback option
Updated translations. If you find any more translation errors, we encourage you to let us know!
Fixed a problem with the Back button on a few screens.
Fixed a problem with input configuration from older versions. This was reported by the community from people coming from the EA version to the 1.0 version of Train Life regarding the new navigation buttons, that well, were not working, that great to say the least. But now, everything should be fine.
Fixed a problem with not updating immediately tooltips for GPS Mode Toggle after input rebinding.
Added keyboard and gamepad controls for Show Hide HUD action.
Fixed employee list to better show its content
Fixed a bug with Cancel button in scenario start panel
Gameplay
Improvement of train inertia.
Fixed a wrong top speed of locomotives.
Fixed the "Renowned Tourist" achievement. Players might have to revisit the stations once again to get the achievement.
Fixed a bug with the number of passengers during boarding.
Scenarios
Fixed GPS route in some scenarios.
Level Art & Design
The switch near the Munich Factory has had its logic reversed.
Part of the wood floating in the air near Hague Pumpjack is not floating anymore.
Stability & Performance
Fixed a rare crash during a boarding passenger in the scenario "Paris – Strasbourg".
That about wraps it up folks! We hope you are enjoying the fixes that we are implementing throughout this time, and we hope the players enjoy the Orient Express content we added for all Early Access players!
Make sure to follow Simteract and Nacon on all social media platforms and join our Discord channel so you don’t miss a beat when it comes to news and updates for the game. Until next time!
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Developer note: List of bugs and fixes
Hello everyone!
We’re back with our weekly update on what you can expect from the next hotfix for Train Life! Keep in mind, these bugs are currently being retested, which could likely mean that they will soon be fixed. However, not all decisions are final and everything is subject to change.
Without beating around the bush too much, let's cut right to the chase.
Player hotkeys for track interaction and navigation mode fail to work after transferring over to 1.0
Active option highlight may not be clear for the player base
Some text on the new map are not translated correctly to other languages
Tracks covered in grass near Nuremberg Power Plant
Players are unable to deliver goods after loading save data
Some players are unable to switch navigation modes
Floating wood near Hague Pumpjack
Orient Express Content partially available before release
You can expect the next hotfix to be released on September 22nd. The same time Train Life is being released on consoles, yay!
That about wraps it up for this week's update. Let us know what you think of these weekly updates and as always, we encourage the community to continue in providing feedback for the game using the official Train Life Discord channel as well as our social media!
Until next time!
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Patch Note #21 | Hotfix 1.02
Hello Drivers!
We’re coming back with another back-to-back patch for Hotfix 1.02! Joey is sick, so, I Mike, the all mighty community manager will be taking the reins of writing these patch notes this time around. Let’s all wish Joey to get well soon!
Keeping in-line with our communication strategy with the community, we want to keep hot fixing the game on a weekly basis and improve the rocky launch of Train Life. With that out of the way, lets get into it.
Sounds
Added a sound alarm for an occupied track. Another quality-of-life feature that we believe will further help the community with making sure they are dodging trains the correct way.
Settings
Added an option to disable force feedback vibrations in control settings.
Changes & Fixes
Tracks & Railways
Fixed a problem with a broken traffic light near the Bern Food Plant
Tweaked some issues with the placement of electric a pole.
HUD
Fixed a problem with player input of track action and switching navigation
Removed the blocking signal notification from notification panel
Tablet
Locomotives in Service Center now are sorted by unlock level
Updated company logos, now they have bigger resolution
Added more sound effects in UI elements
Added confirmation pop up when escaping to main menu
Fixed the track interaction controls prompt for inputs
Removed non-existent cities from the start cities list
Gameplay
Adjusted the default keybindings of the Navigation Mode selector
Fixed a long-standing bug regarding electricity costs in electric locomotives, restoring a cost to using electric locomotives for the player
Fixed a rare crash during game load
Fixed a bug in Early Bird achievement. The player might have to complete any scenario again to unlock the achievment.
Fixed the passenger wagon capacity perk which sometimes doesn't work after game load
Fixed a problem with not saved properly camera and zoom inversion
Fixed a problem with removing player's GPS route after adding a task for a hired driver
Fixed a problem with two actions with the same bind input
Fixed a rare bug with ghost contracts
Fixed a problem with disappearing station the Zurich Main
Fixed a snow appearance in some part of the game
Updated an electricity cost calculation
Fixed visibility of UI elements during second cinematic after skipping fifth tutorial
Fixed a problem with delivery goods after loading save game on service center
Scenarios
Fixed some text in Postage Scenario descriptions
Switching GPS Map Mode is scenarios in disabled - the game change GPS Map Mode automatically
Language
Updated translations
Miscellaneous
Updated a game version number to 1.02
DEVELOPER NOTE: If any players encounter with not working navigation mode buttons such as ( , and . ) the players should remove input.ini file from C:\Users\\AppData\Local\TrainLife\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor and it should solve the issue.
The Hotfix this time around, was a bit bigger than the last one and that’s because we’re monitoring all the feedback that is being sent by the community through our Discord channel as well as social media and later taking this information and executing changes to the bugs you guys find.
We really appreciate all the effort you guys are putting into making Train Life a game you will be playing for years to come. Thanks once again from the Dev Team and next week, we will have some more news updates to share with you all.
Best,
Mike Simteract Community manager
Train Life Developer Blog | About Release
Hey, ladies and gents!
Joey here, Train Life’s Creative Lead and Lead Game Designer. As a team we are, of course, very happy for the release of our game, but we definitely wanted to talk to you formally (via this post) and informally (via Discord/Forums) about our game and what we’re focused on. I’m no business-focused developer, or from any marketing department, so I’d rather skip the buzzwords and be straight with all of you!
Bugs & Polish
We’ve got bugs, and we’ve certainly got some polishing to do. There’s no way to soften this one, so I just wanted to relay that it is the top priority of Simteract and our publisher, Nacon, to get these problems solved ASAP.
We’re reading all of your criticism and feedback, whether it be from your reviews or your posts, and we’re very glad to see so much community involvement regarding this. Keep writing it, and we’ll do our best to address it!
Our latest hotfix, just released, addresses the first of these issues. We’re already working on another one, and will be able to share more about the date as we progress with it.
Level of Simulation
Something we’ve struggled to communicate effectively from day 1 has been the intended level of simulation we’ve been aiming to achieve with Train Life. I don’t believe we’ve done this as well as we could have, and that fault can only be attributed to us.
First and foremost, we are not a hardcore simulator, and never desired to be. Train Life is a casual-midcore simulator that takes a more arcade-like approach to vehicle physics, railway traffic, and rail laws. Train Life is inspired by games like Euro Truck Simulator and Transport Tycoon, focusing more on the management metagame (leveling cities and managing employees) and requiring a more consistent amount of player attention and input compared to what might be the case in reality. This has been our core desire for Train Life from the start, though I will reiterate that this was clearly not communicated as effectively as we would like, and I apologize for that.
Going forward, we’d like to assure you that tweaks and changes to physics, traffic, or laws are not excluded from our plans, and we’ve certainly made many improvements to these over the course of Early Access. However, large overhauls to these systems are not likely to occur. We’d like Train Life to be playable and accessible by all audiences and ages, striking just the right balance between the feeling of driving on the rails and relaxing as you deliver some wagons!
Conclusion
In short, we’re not done with Train Life, but for the time being our priorities are fixing bugs, polishing, and improving the quality of Train Life’s gameplay. I know that waiting for the next hotfix can be frustrating, and some bug priorities aren’t as high on the list as others. Many of us have our Discords and Steam forums open all day, checking and relaying what you say, or even responding directly to you if time allows. It’s hard for us to get to everything, but we are definitely listening!
Thank you for sticking with us and being honest about your thoughts! Without that, there’s no way we could ever realize Train Life’s full potential! If you have anything to say or ask, please feel free to join our Discord to talk directly to us; you can ping me with anything, and I’ll be sure to handle any topic, no matter how difficult! Additionally, following us on Twitter and Twitch can get you up to date with the latest info and streams.
Thank you for all of the support over the last year, and this is definitely not the last you’ve heard about Train Life’s future!
Greetings Engineers! 
