Train Life - Second Major Update

More Content, Engineers!

On behalf of Simteract and Nacon I am very pleased to announce the release of our second major content update! Last week Friday we posted a dev blog preparing all of you for the biggest changes to our game with this patch. More can be read below, but I'll also summarize it for any new readers:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1330660/view/3117055056361031157

• Game Redownload & PAK Files
  • We've split up the game's files into multiple chunks, making future patches much lighter on both your internet usage and hard drive usage for the unpacking/patching phase. However, this will require you to redownload the game for Update 2. This process should be automatic on Steam's side.

• Unreal Engine Version
  • Shortly after Update 1's release we switched our engine version from 4.25 to 4.27. No issues have been noticed with this switch, and it provides us with better tools and more stability. That said, we will still be monitoring for potential engine bugs with the update.

• Antwerp City Leveling
  • We fixed a bug preventing the upgrading of Antwerp from level 2 to 3, but this will mean that your progress from level 2 to 3 will be reset.

• Weight Rework
  • We've adjusted the weight values of everything in our game to be more realistic, and then counter-adjusted our physics calculations to make it feel like before. This has been noticed to have about a ± 10% difference in feeling compared to before, which is within reasonable range for us. That said, without a doubt we will be watching closely and making balance adjustments in future patches if needed.

Patchy Notes

I've got a nice list for you guys and gals here, but I was a bit pressed for time, so not as many jokes as I could normally achieve. I am greatly disappointed in myself, and beg your forgiveness.

Additions

• Features
  • Added a completely new Service Center – We’ve serviced our center to provide a better center of service for all of your Service Center servicing needs

• Regions
  • Eastern Europe

• Locomotives
  • Lechner-Koch DP2500 (and its upgraded variant, the DP3100) – This hardy electric locomotive from Austrian company Lechner-Koch is a solid upgrade to the FZ model

• Level Art/Design
  • Added new city elements (supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations)

• Scenarios
  • Added 1 Cargo Scenario – More will certainly follow in the future!
  • Added 3 Passenger scenarios
  • Added 2 Postage scenarios

• Sounds
  • Minor additions to electric engines – There is more variety in their sound now
  • Damaged engine sound, so you can hear that you are breaking the car, Samir
  • Added an air conditioning sound
  • Added some ‘Walkie Talkie’ sounds when contacting stations
  • Added a small signal for passenger boarding

• Tutorials
  • Revamped tutorials with better objective wording and pacing, as well as the addition of subobjectives – Note that it’s likely tutorials will receive changes in the future as other systems get adjusted, such as station gameplay

• Miscellaneous
  • Added a taskbar icon

Changes & Fixes

• Tracks & Railways
  • Added three new junctions: Berlin Farm/ Szczecin Refinery, Cologne Power Plant/ Cologne Factory, Hamburg Coal Mine/ Hamburg Factory
  • Redesigned railway schemes on passenger stations: Aachen, Amies, Brussels, Bern, Bassel, Brno, Bremen, Dortmund, Dresden, Gliwice, Hannover, Innsbruck, Lille, Luxemburg, Lichtenstein, Mannheim, Ostrava, Reims, Saarbrucken, Szczecin
  • Added bypass tracks at the Frankfurt Warehouse, Stuttgart Warehouse, and Cologne Main Station
  • Fixed many bugs related to rails and signals
  • Made visual improvements to switches and electric traction
  • Updated the model of blocking signals

• Tablet
  • Fixed a few UI navigation problems

• Gameplay
  • Adjusted all weights in-game to have realistic values
  • Slightly adjusted the performance of all train parts
  • Fixed some bugs related to scenario barriers
  • Fixed the behavior of animal events
  • Fixed some event spawn placement
  • Fixed an issue causing markers to be doubled
  • Fixed a contract generation bug
  • Fixed an incorrect Antwerp City upgrade requirement preventing progress to level 3
  • Fixed float inaccuracy of the 10% repair in the Service Center
  • Fixed a problem with adding wagons while touching the track end blockade while backwards
  • Switching your locomotive without changing cargo mode won’t remove contracts

• Level Art & Design
  • Various visual fixes (corridors fixes, adjusting object positions, etc...)

• Sound
  • Engine sound is not bound to one point anymore, it now follows the player’s camera and should be louder in the front bumper view
  • Fixed issues with wagon clicking not played correctly
  • Fixed annoying screeching sound on turns, it’s now louder the closer we get to derailment

• Language
  • Fixed various localization issues

• Stability & Performance
  • NPC locomotives are now less performance intensive
  • Adjusted the min/max spline draw distance
  • Track markers are now more optimized
  • Car traffic has been greatly optimized
  • The GPS system has received some foundational optimization
  • NPC passengers have been further optimized
  • Changed Minimap rendering method for better performance, and in preparation for future Map/GPS changes

Post-Update Focuses & Confessing My Love For You

As usual we're going to carefully monitor the launch and collect bugs as well as feedback. We expect there will be a hotfix this Friday, but if something needs a more immediate build, we will certainly respond.

As for you, yes you. Go to the closest mirror and look at yourself, even if it's in a public place. Make a little kissy face at yourself, and then awkwardly pat your back for us. We love you, and want you to know how thankful we are of all the feedback and wishes you have for our game. We may only have a limited number of hours in a day to work on our game, but you all live rent free in our hearts. Thank you for all of the support, honest reviews, and hours you've put into our game. This is only our second major update, and we have a lot more planned for you this year.

We hope you enjoy Update 2; keep your eyes peeled like onions, or bananas I guess, for Update 3!

Update 3

Speaking of that, I'm proud to say that update 3 is coming tomor--

No, I wish, but we are hard at work on Update 3 and I think it's safe to say you can expect another dev blog about it, similarly to what we did with teasing the new Service Center and locomotive. This is dependent on when we have this information available, and the features ready to show off. Take a look at the next section for links where you can follow us and talk with us!

Want to lurk while watching the devs annoy each other with pings?

You're all, as always, invited to join our Discord server and chat with us directly!

You may also follow our Twitter, if you like blue birds, and our Twitch account if you like to spam chats or join us on Monday livestreams (or both).