It's been a hectic start as we're sure you all can agree, however, we're happy to bring you the first post-launch hotfix 1.01! Without further adeu, let's dive right in!
Changes & Fixes
HUD
Fixed a problem with scenario saves always being first on the ‘load save’ list
Fixed a bug with problematic GPS routes via non-existing rails
Fixed the level up screen not appearing in some cases
Tablet
Fixed the Production Tree image missing from the Codex
Fixed the player’s company logo being low resolution
Gameplay
Fixed multiple problems in tutorials
Fixed issues with employee routes and map filters
Fixed the locomotive customization camera in some locomotives from blocking the view
Fixed the ‘Passenger Wagon Capacity’ perk resetting after reloading the game
Scenarios
Fixed an issue preventing an objective in Scenario 7 from being completed
Level Art & Design
Fixed some problems with asset clipping in the locomotive
Fixed some problems with disconnected and missing electric overhead lines
Stability & Performance
Fixed career and save game limit resulting in massive save bloat – This will automatically cull (delete) save games past a limit of 20 per career, choosing the oldest first.
Fixed some situations that resulted in lag when saving
Fixed a fatal error crash when attempting to load save data
Miscellaneous
Update the game version to 1.0, removing the “beta” watermark
Removed the game version watermark from the gameplay screen
That about wraps it up for this hotfix! There will be more to come, and just a reminder in case you missed the last developer blog, we will keep you guys updated regarding the transparency we want to keep with the community with weekly updates on addressing your issues and sharing some of the things we're working on so there are no surprises. Make sure to join the official Train Life Discord and follow Train Life on Twitter!
Until next time!
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Post-Launch Train Life | Developer Blog
Hello Engineers!
We would like to start off by welcoming back all new and returning players to Train Life. As you all may already know, we have encountered a few bumps in the road when it comes to the full release, so we’re writing this blog to address your current concerns and what our action plan will be with the community moving forward. So let's cut to the chase.
Coming Soon - Hotfix 1.01
A few days after release, we’re planning a hotfix that will be addressing some immediate issues that we will take care of. We made a post about this in the community hub talking about some known issues and fixes moving forward. You can read about them here. The Hotfix will go live 100% this week (most likely tomorrow - 31/08/22) at around 6PM CEST!
Moving Forward
So we are planning on being more transparent with you guys in the coming weeks. Basically our plan is to update you more frequently on upcoming hotfixes before the next major content update is launched, which will include the new HUD as well as the Orient Express. For the time being, we wanted to share with you all the bugs and other fixes that our team is already aware of and are diligently working on implementing.
Filters do not function properly using employee routes
Level up screen not displayed after reaching a new level
Inconsistency with loading in snow
Players are unable to set GPS route while in pickup/dropoff area
Setting route between Amienc and Munich makes the route invisible
Small freezes during autosave
Input key remapping after 1.0 launch
Scenario save is always displayed as the newest save game and loaded through continue
Steam locomotive icon in scenario list is at a low resolution
GPS does not clear last visited station during passenger/postage route
Player company logo is displayed in low resolution
Some text on the new map and GPS interface are not translated into other languages
Names on Minimap and GPS overlap with one another
Title displays build version
Player avatar is visible in FPP
Various graphical glitches with level art
This is all of the bugs and fixes that we will be working on in the coming days/weeks. As you can see there is much more work to be done in order to bring the game to an even better state post-launch so expect a lot more forum and discussions posts on Steam and Social Media on a weekly basis.
Thank you
We wanted to thank everyone for the valuable feedback they have given us throughout the entirety of Early Access as well as the beginning of the full launch. We want to encourage you all to continue to post your bug reports and feedback using the official Train Life Discord channel as well as the Steam Forums. Make sure to also follow Train Life on Twitter so stay up-to-date with the latest news and changes made to the game.
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Developer Note: List of Known Issues & Fixes
Hi engineers,
Train Life officially launched yesterday after a challenging and exciting period of Early Access.
We are aware that the game’s launch has brought some new issues, and we want to assure you that we are currently working on resolving them through a series of fixes as soon as possible.
Here's a non-exhaustive list of fixes you can expect:
Removal of the BETA watermark
Fix of the "V" keyboard shortcut for when a player at a station to upload passengers
Addition of the Production Tree to the codex
Fix Driver Avatar Collision
Developer note: There have also been some of you reporting errors such as "LowLevelFatalError" and in this case we recommend reinstalling the game and verifying the integrity of your games files. The same goes for players trying to change controller inputs in the games menu.
We are aiming at releasing a first post-launch update early next week (week of August 29). We are also invesigating other issues that you have reported us and might implement in either this nex update or upcoming ones.
Thank you for your understanding, and support.
Have fun on the railways!
Patch #19 | FULL RELEASE + DAY 1 PATCH
Patch #19 | FULL RELEASE + DAY 1 PATCH
Engineers! The time is nigh, Train Life 1.0 is here and it's time to talk about what you can expect today patch while playing the game. Before we get into that, I would like to welcome all new and returning players back to the game. As for those veterens who have stuck around for the entirety of Early Access, you guys are the real MVP's! Lets dive right in ladies and gentleman!
Additions
Features
Added Codex tab to the Tablet - now you can learn about the game as your on the move.
Added possibility of reverse train anywhere - No more reversing at Service Stations!
Added new Map system - a long awaited feature, that will definitely make your life that much more easier.
Added Orient Express DLC with steam locomotive system and customization DLC
Added controller feedback support
Added “Lucky Cargo Values” City Bonus
Locomotives
Added animations to some in cabin customizations - the bobble heads will now bobble
que TikTok wiggle sound*
Scenarios
Added Towing and Shunting Scenarios
Added possibility to continue game in scenario after derail
Sounds
New voice lines in the tutorials - We considered adding Joey's voice, but he's from Wisconsin, so yeah...
New voice lines when contacting stations via radio
Settings
Added missing button prompt in company management
Changes & Fixes
HUD
Fixed access to radial menu during cutscenes
Fixed subtitles in tutorial cutscenes
Updated tutorials and scenarios by changing the way that tasks are displayed
Updated radial menu icons
Tablet
Fixed new career panel navigation
Updated position of tutorial widgets
Updated of controller linear, now is more readable than before
Fixed a locomotive upgrades price to by affected by the setting multiplier
Fixed render opacity for confirmation popup in Escape Menu
Gameplay
Fixed lack of rain particles in some places
Fixed problem with refresh GPS during changing locomotive cabins
Fixed problem with lights state after game load
Update camera sensitivity settings
Lowered the default wagon XP value of all cargo goods by ~50%
Increased the default passenger/postage XP by 20%
Lowered the default wagon cash value of all cargo goods by 25-33%
Added a few more variants of NPC locomotives you can encounter during events
Increased the starting number of wagons that start on production points at the start of a new game
Increased the starting number of passengers and postage that start on main stations and warehouses at the start of a new game
Increased the price of derailing and continuing from 10,000 to 50,000
Increased the price of returning to the previous station from 5,000 to 10,000
Level Art & Design
Fixed asset popping on scenario’s start
General improvements to old gen consoles
Stability & Performance
Improvement of path searching in map
Improvement of GPS system
Fixed problem with fps drops scrolling list of locomotives in Service Center
Stability fixes
Miscellaneous
Fixed some not saved gameplay settings
Fixed problem with skipping tutorials
Fixed various problems in tutorials
Fixed various problems in scenarios
Before we end here, I wanted to share a few words (it's actually a lot, but Joey is a little softy when it comes to these things) a word from our Lead Game Designer:
"It’s a tremendously exciting day for game developers to release their game, which is usually the culmination of many years of challenging work. For Simteract, and the incredible team we’ve had working on Train Life, it’s no different. Allow me to take just a moment of your time, and then we can get back to gaming!
First and foremost, I want to thank our community members who have been with us from the start, and the ones who are joining us on day one of our full release. While it’s easy to pinpoint the monetary support as a direct contribution to our artform, it would be remiss of me if I failed to mention your bug reports, criticism, and activity within our online communities. Early Access is a grueling, but crucial, phase of iteration, polish, and community involvement. I sincerely hope that we removed as many barriers as possible to aid the flow of information between you and us, the developers. Going forward as a studio, I can certainly promise the continued treatment of the community as an extension of the game’s development team. We look forward to the long-term fans and appeal that our games generate, as well as proving that, at our heart, Simteract aims for transparent and collaborative development with our community.
To our team, our lovely group of quirky and talented men and women, I have nothing but pride thinking of how much we’ve grown and learned. Our combined mental forces can conquer even the mightiest of hurdles, and I could not ask for a better set of people to work with on a daily basis. Stand up proudly and wear a well-deserved smile when you think of where this game is now and where it began. Game development is certainly not an easy industry, but even on the toughest days I can rely on my team to put a smile on my face and encourage me onwards. Keep being your best selves, being honest, objective, and fun. Keep being the best friends I’ve ever had, and let’s make some great games together!
Lastly, but absolutely not least, our friends and business partners at Nacon deserve a big spotlight as our publisher. We’re all in this industry together, and putting all of the puzzle pieces together can, at times, be stressful and hectic. Like any good marriage, communication is key. Thank you, Nacon, for showing us a ton of care, consideration, and understanding when it came to Train Life. Working with you has been an immense pleasure for us, and we’re looking forward to the future of our relationship with you!
From all of us to you players, thank you for everything! <3
Joey Bougneit Creative Lead & Lead Game Designer"
Thank you Joey, and thank you all for playing a huge part in this project.
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Train Life Developer Blog | All aboard the train out of early access!
Hello Engineers!
Welcome to another developer blog for Train Life! As many of you know, Train Life is leaving Early Access on August 25th! In this blog, we wanted to talk a little bit about the things we have been working on leading up to the full release of the game and some insights that we may have not necessarily shared in the past. We’re going to be talking about everything from UX/UI design to the Orient Express. Let's dive right in!
The Player HUD
We tested the current HUD with the player-base and we came to the conclusion that there are a few changes that still need to be made. We re-organized practically all of the widgets and during that time, we made them look a little “lighter” Check out this screenshot.
Keep in mind, this isn’t the final version and could still be changed upon the full release of the game.
We added a visual to show the player when there will be the next speed limitation to give the player some more time to react to speed changes among other changes that we will share in the post release patch notes.
Please remember, it’s possible that the new HUD will be available to the player-base on the first major post-launch update.
Map Overhaul
The map overhaul is something that has been highly requested by the community and we agree, it was long overdue. We’re glad we can finally share some concepts that we are working on for the full release. Again, this could change upon the full release of the game so take everything with a grain of salt.
With the map overhaul, comes a variety of different changes. You’ll be able to manage your company's drivers, filter the icons that you see on the map where the player is going to be able to type in the icons and as well as the type of stations and stations with reserved contracts AFAIR, among other general improvements with the maps as a whole. We’re probably going to change the background a little bit and remove some signs.
MiniMap and GPS Improvements
The minimap is also going to get a facelift along with some more improvements. For example, the minimap will adjust its zoom levels based on the player's speed. We think this will be a welcome change that will help players be more aware of where they are without opening the full map. However, this doesn’t mean that the player won't have any control. The player will have manual control over the map zoom via new hotkey implementations. When it comes to the navigation in the minimap, performance and path finding have been significantly improved.
The Orient Express
The Orient Express is something that we’re super excited about players trying out. Just as a reminder, EVERYONE that took part in the Early Access version of Train Life, will get access to the Orient Express. However, not exactly at launch, but possibly about a month or two down the line during the first post-launch update. The Orient Express update will feature unique gameplay mechanics and a different HUD, to give players an experience playing Train Life like never before. We’re super excited, and we hope you are too!
Choo Choo, leaving EA!
We are super proud of our team and the community as a whole for sticking with us through thick and thin throughout the entirety of Train Lifes Early Access. The community has played a key part in helping us improve the game over time, and we’re ecstatic that EA is coming to an end. However, this doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for Train Life. Post launch, we’re planning on bringing more DLC content, more maps, trains, bits and bobs to help make your experience playing Train Life as EPIC as possible. Early access was the tip of the iceberg, and now we can all rejoice and finally play the game.
Make sure to follow Simteract and Nacon on all social media channels including Twitch! This month, we are going to be at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany and we hope we can meet some of our fans there! If not, make sure to catch the livestream for Train Life where we will be doing some developer interviews on the launch of the game. We will share more information on when the livestream will happen towards the end of the month.
See you in 1.0 Engineers!
Mike Simteract Community Manager
Train Life launche's August 25th, 2022!
Hello Engineers,
The Early Access journey has been a long one, yet it’s time to pull into the station. Gather your luggage and embark on a new journey. The official Release!
Train Life will officially launch on August 25th, at 6pm CEST.
Version 1.0 will be coming with our latest major update, full of new content that will be presented in a developer stream and a patch note shortly prior to the date.
A special note for our beloved Beta Testers:
First of all thank you for your support along the way. We are here today thanks to your detailed feedback, numerous bug reports, and your trust, buying our game at this early stage. For that we are eternally grateful, and we hope that you had a great time and that you will continue to enjoy Train Life.
But because words are not enough to express our gratitude, we also have a few gifts.
Every EA tester will receive:
A mini Golden locomotive <*> A Droby Smoke dragon <*> A Handcar
These customization items will be added to the game automatically on release day, at the same time as the launch update.
Finally, you will receive:
the 1920’s Orient-Express train DLC.
This locomotive will be available after release, and we can’t announce the exact date yet, but we are aiming for fall 2022.
We want our Beta Testers to feel special, also because we have another news to share: The price of Train Life will remain the same.
The release will come with its fair share of new content:
• The launch system overhaul • Map feature redesign • New scenarios • Event system & new events • Final achievements • Vibration support • Full controler support • And more!
Stay tuned for more news about Train Life and the release content in the coming days!
What’s next?
Some of you might be happy the game is finally releasing, and some might be concerned, wondering if the game is ready.
We want to reassure all our players; leaving early access is not the end of the development. We want Train Life to have a long life and continue to plan a lot of content for the game, along with continuous support for bug fixes and other miscellaneous improvements.
We also have major content scheduled to come after the release such as the Orient-Express (free for all our Early Access Players).
More information will come in due time. For now we are concentrating on bringing you the best release update on August 25th!
Follow us on our different social media to be sure not to miss anything about Train Life: https://twitter.com/TrainLifeGame Discord: https://discord.gg/9YKRmm5d97
See you onboard!
Twitch Stream - Big Announcement
Big Announcement!
This is going to be an Epic stream. I am being joined by our Lead Game Designer, Joey (MaesterSilvio)!
Join us @ 7PM CEST (RIGHT NOW!!!!!) on the official Nacon Twitch channel: http://twitch.tv/nacon
Train Life - Patch #18
Patch #18 - Build 25036
Hello Engineers, your community manager Mike is here! Joey is still recovering from his vacation and is lazily sitting in his home-made hammock wondering, what I am going to write in these patch notes. It's been a while since we launched Update 3 and while it was a success, we noticed that the community encountered some pretty strange issues which, we can address right now. So with that out of the way, lets dive right in.
Changes & Fixes
Tracks & Railways
Fixed problem with some missing, redundant, and clipping sign and signals
Fixed problem with the unfunctional bumper block at Szczecin Farm
Fixed problem with tracks covered by snow under roof at the Zurich Main. Joey mentioned in the last patch notes that this was the winds problem. Well, I agree.
Fix problem with tracks covered by snow in Bern’s tunnel
Fixed problem with spawn frequency of a snow pile event. To be honest, too much snow doesn't sound so bad this summer.
Gameplay
Fixed some problems with camera collision
Fixed not counting postage missions as a city level up task for Liechtenstein
Fixed not working switching train lights from older save versions. We know this was a huge pain in the butt for the community, and although we know it shouldn't of happened in the first place, we're glad we could alleviate the pain. It just took us a bit longer than your average pain medicine.
Fixed the place of back wagon camera
Scenarios
Fixed a few issues with tutorial objectives
Hate bugs, and need to rant about them?
We're here to listen, and fix them! You're all, as always, invited to join our Discord Server and chat with us directly! It's a great way to get more immediate feedback, or just watch me get banned for posting memes in general.
You may also follow our Twitter, if you want to get 10 years of good luck, and our Twitch account if you want to join our Monday livestreams and tell me how good of a Train Life player I am! For major content updates you can find us streaming on Nacon's twitch channel, which you should follow as well to see gameplay and news of other Nacon games!
How We Create Sound In Train Life!
Hello Engineers!
Welcome to one of many more to come: Dev Blogs for Train Life! In this short read we will talk about how we create sound for our game! We feel that sound is not talked about enough, and it plays a crucial part in Train Life - in any video game, for that matter.
With that in mind, let's get into it!
Placing Sound FX
Placing sound effects in a game seems like an easy task. The Sound Designer puts them as fixed-point sound sources on the levels and sound effects play when triggered (either once or until they are stopped). But it is a challenge when we have to face a huge map like Train Life has.
One of the first problems we encountered was the density of sound sources. In places where we wanted players to hear the constant sound (like forest ambiance), it was hard to decide how far the sources should be from each other, both in audial and optimization cases.
Luckily, we came up with a tool to place sounds in special areas that can be modified by desginers.
Developing Tools
Once a player enters the area, the sound source glues itself to the player and follows them. After leaving the area, the source still follows the player but is limited to the area's border. This allowed us to easily create ambient sounds in huge spaces (like forests, cities, or plains), as well as in smaller places (like industries).
We developed a variation of this tool for randomized sounds that play once per time, like birds or sirens.
The method of placing this tool is the same as for the previous one, but it works differently. It randomizes a location of where the sound should be played (whether on the border of the area or inside it) and designers can specify min-max values of how often the sounds should be spawned.
But that's not all. You must have noticed that when you enter tunnels or bridges, sound changes a bit. We add reverb specific to those places or, in the case of tunnels, we mute some of the sounds.
When implementing those effects, the sound designer's first thought might be placing collision boxes, triggering the effects on entering and removing on exiting. However, the change would be immediate, and we didn't want it in Train Life.
That's why we created a special kind of collision box that changes the strength of the effect based on where you are in the collision box. Thanks to that, the effect is not independent of the trains' velocity.
Usage In-Game
Although those tools speed up the process significantly, it still takes a lot of time to place them. They make it easier to see what type of sound is where and what sound line or zone needs to be adjusted if a level changed, but an empty level, especially a detailed one, needs days to be considered completed. Nevertheless, they allow us to quickly create soundscapes in big areas, giving a solid background for places that need more detail.
A big shoutout to our sound designer Greg in writing this blog! We hope you all enjoyed this informational blog post and make sure to follow Train Life on Twitter and join the official Discord channel to stay up to date with the latest and greatest news from our teams.
Until next time!
Mike Train Life Community Manager
Train Life - Patch #17
Patch #17 - Build 24310
Hey everyone, Joey here! It's been far too long since we had the pleasure of bringing you the latest batch of fixes. First and foremost, we're really sorry about the extended delay here. As we're nearing larger milestones internally with the project, we recently had some goals that required 'all hands on deck', so to speak. Unfortunately, however, this had the consequence of delaying our PC patch that we had planned to have out much sooner.
On the bright side, the scope of these internal milestones, which I sadly can't talk about just yet, resulted in many bug fixes as well as performance improvements. I can hint that they will lead to some really exciting bits of news in the near future though! As we start to shift from content development to polishing, a more stable and finished product will thankfully emerge from the other end. It's too soon to pour the whiskey just yet, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
I won't drone on further here though, because we both know you just want those juicy notes! Please enjoy our latest patch and let us know, either on Steam or on our Discord, if you have any issues with it!
Additions
Features
Added a rear-view camera that you can switch to in order to see from the back of your wagons
Changes & Fixes
Tracks & Railways
Fixed a problem with an absent track in Hamburg Main
Fixed a problem with 50km/h speed limit bypass tracks at Liechtenstein Grain Mill, Bern Main, and at Prague Warehouse – Not much of a bypass if you’re asked to drive slower than grandma going to buy lotto tickets
Fixed problem with blocked tracks in Cologne area, Dresden Pumpjack, and at the entrance of Szczecin Main
Fixed a problem with a missing entrance marker in Dortmund Steel Mill
Fixed a problem with snow covering rails in tunnels – I mean, I could have found some excuse for this, like maybe the wind blew it in or something
Fixed a problem with “blocking signals” at entrance of the Brussels Main
Fixed a problem with 80km/h speed limits set in Luxembourg Main and Basel Main
Fixed many instances of missing, redundant, disconnected, and clipping signs and signals
Fixed a problem with a dysfunctional bumper block at Calais Main
Fixed a problem with broken switches near the entrance of Dresden Main, Hamburg Main, and Cologne Main
Fixed a problem with the speed limit setup between Berlin Smeltery and Berlin Warehouse
Fixed some instances of missing entrances and track markers
HUD/UI
Fixed a problem with notifications of Level Crossing being duplicated
Fixed the functionality of the coupling/decoupling icon in the locomotive's dashboard in scenario 10
Fixed some improper terms in gamepad joystick terminology
Fixed the headlight icon under the speedometer not reflecting the current state of lights after game load
Added a missing part of the Pickup Planner Keyboard Input Legend
Fixed exiting Career Options taking the user to the main menu
Made some visual changes to the main menu loading bar
Fixed showing XP and monetary rewards on scenario list screen which do not correspond with actual rewards received
Added missing control tooltips in main menu and escape menu
Fixed the missing Pizza Square icon in Locomotive Customization section of the Service Center – Just remember, do NOT buy the cursed pineapple pizza; we are unlikely to ever be friends and I've heard rumours that the game crashes more often for those that like pineapple pizza
Fixed using SPACE as control action's input
Gameplay
Fixed an issue with stations only producing 1 contract per good type, now they will produce a maximum of 10 per good type – This can only be described as a major bug that I'm surprised wasn't noticed sooner, but we're really looking forward to how the community enjoys the intended contract gameplay!
Fixed an issue allowing players to enter service centers without applying the emergency brake first
Fixed an issue where the player could enter the pickup/dropoff minigame without applying the emergency brake first
Fixed a problem with postage deliveries not counting for Liechtenstein’s level up – We told them that if they don't let players level up then they can't receive all the junk they ordered off of Amazon
Fixed a problem with the money bonus from contracts being different than expected
Fixed a wrong time bonus multiplier with delivering an expired postage contract
Fixed receiving 2X rewards on completing a cargo 'Delivery' task – Wish it worked that way in real life
Fixed an issue with an objective in Tutorial 1 asking you to switch cabin
Fixed showing the wrong distance to the pickup track on cargo contracts
Fixed not gaining time and XP multipliers after completing passenger/postage deliveries
Fixed some bugs and made minor changes in Tutorial 3 and 4
Fixed an improper button prompt for increasing the throttle in objective 5 and 10 of the first tutorial
Fixed custom bankruptcy thresholds not being properly applied and saved on new careers
Fixed cargo contracts being labeled as “Delivery” completed in details screen
Fixed a problem with contracts finished on a save migrated from Update 2
Fixed some objective text in the third tutorial
Scenarios
Fixed fog light penalty in scenario 'Leipzig-Nuremberg (Logs)'
Fixed improper completion time displayed after finishing Scenario 11
Fixed "Contract finished" objective in scenarios
Adjusted the estimated times of two scenarios – We know you like it fast, but nobody is THAT fast...not even me when they put the mulled wine on sale
Level Art & Design
Fixed various problems with some missing, disconnected, and clipping electrical lines
Fixed a problem with redundant lampposts at Szczecin Main
Fixed a problem with missing passengers on the platforms of Hamburg Main
Sound
Fixed a problem with the horn when the player opens the tablet – I'd still like to add a 1/10000 chance that when you honk the horn you hear a goose instead. We'll see what the future holds!
Language
Fixed some missing translations
Stability & Performance
Fixed a crash while re-entering decoupling mode after delivering a contract
Fixed a rare crash that occurred while leaving a Service Center
Fixed a common crash that occurred when trying to switch to a different tab from the Station Panel
Miscellaneous
Fixed an issue with pickup and drop off tracks not appearing after loading save data created within the station
Improved the visual transition into and out of snowy regions – Minecraft-esque biome transitions definitely shouldn't be present in our game, as much as I love Minecraft
Hate bugs, and need to rant about them?
We're here to listen, and fix them! You're all, as always, invited to join our Discord Server and chat with us directly! It's a great way to get more immediate feedback, or just watch me get banned for posting memes in general.
You may also follow our Twitter, if you want to get 10 years of good luck, and our Twitch account if you want to join our Monday livestreams and tell our Community Manager, Mike, that he's a bad player. For major content updates you can find us streaming on Nacon's twitch channel, which you should follow as well to see gameplay and news of other Nacon games!
