While I continue to work on multiplayer behind the scenes, there's still a bunch of features that I'm planning to add before multiplayer is done!
One of those was a very highly requested feature: the option to control speed by exact amounts (instead of the speed steps currently in the game). You can now switch to an optional "smooth speed control" mode where you can set the exact speed value you want!
Simply hold and release the speed up/down buttons to change the speed gradually, instead of clicking them to change the speed step:
You can toggle between the two control modes inside the cab, or you can change the settings for whether the control mode is "step" or "smooth" by default. These settings can be found in the "Pause menu -> Gameplay -> Train speed control options" menu.
There are also different settings for both then in-train cab controls and the hand-held controllers.
You can also now adjust how fast trains will slow down and speed up using the "Train acceleration rate" and "Train deceleration rate" settings.
These settings only affect when smooth acceleration is enabled, which by default is when you are in miniature mode.
This means that when you are in large scale trains will speed up and slow down in a faster snappy movement (like a real model railway) but when you are in miniature mode, they will accelerate and brake much slower, like a real world locomotive.
A big behind-the-scenes part of this update is that I've completely changed the Steamworks framework that Rolling Line uses! (this means all of the features relating to connecting to Steam).
This is mostly invisible to players, but it means a lot under the hood.
The main difference you will notice is that the workshop uploading and updating process has changed a bit. The uploading process now has a completely different system for error reporting and will show you much more detailed error messages when your item fails to upload (hopefully putting an end to the dreaded "Generic failure" upload message!).
The files for your current upload are now temporarily stored in a new folder:
...\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\Rolling Line\\Modding\\workshop upload temp
So if you want to use a custom thumbnail you can modify the files in this folder before clicking upload.
Previously you needed to find the upload folder in appadata, so it's much easier now having it in the main Rolling Line directory
The workshop item update process now works quite differently, instead of needing to have a local copy of all the workshop items you had uploaded in the past, you can now access every single item your account has ever uploaded!
Having the original mod files on your PC is no longer required.
When you choose the option to update a workshop item you will see a list of all your previously uploaded items (you need to be connected to Steam for these to load!). Simply choose the item you want to update and the rest of the process is the same as it was before.
Another bonus of this system is that the title and description that you have set on Steam will be used, so if you have edited your description manually through Steam then this new description will be kept when updating.
Something else that this new Steamworks integration includes is the Steam "rich presence" feature, which means Rolling Line can set a custom status to display to your friends while you are playing.
Currently, these statuses are:
Making mods
Building maps
Driving trains
And once multiplayer is released:
Hosting multiplayer
Playing multiplayer
This feature is really just a bonus for fun, and if you would prefer for it not to be displayed you can turn it off using the setting in "Pause menu -> Misc -> Enable Steam public status"
Fixed bug where opening the custom tag setting menu for a workshop item upload would not appear correctly when using the 2D menus.
Text box menu settings (e.g. the description for workshop items) now clip their text display correctly so the text wont overflow.
The "max speed" setting for mods now scales in a much more logical way. Instead of being exponential, it is now linear.
Fixed shadow casting on the Weka Pass map's road models.
Fixed bug where toggling fullscreen when using 2D menus would lock the cursor.
While I'm still working on other features (like this update) most of my time is going towards developing multiplayer! Progress is going great, and the main features I've been working on recently are things relating to Steam.
You can now easily host a game and invite your friends to join you, all entirely within Steam!
Of course you can still host and join servers using a traditional IP & port connection, which means a connection to Steam is not required to play multiplayer. And you can easily host a LAN game on your local network.
I've also been working heaps on multiplayer synchronization for controls and gameplay features, like controlling pantographs/lights/loading/unloading/cab controls/etc.
It's all working really well!
Multiplayer development is well underway, and it might not even be that long before I start running private beta testing.
These are really exciting times for Rolling Line, and I can't wait for multiplayer to be complete!
Ábris Pataki, Ben Burch, Blake Prevett, CAMOGUY54321, Detroit_, Douglas Niven, Don Willis, Garst, Gustavo Sanchez, Helga Nordgren, HuskyDynamics, ItzAerozic, Jack Fruh, Jayton Hawkins, Joblogh, JohnR, Jonathan Ginsburg, KathalLasagna, Leto Gloas, Lutz, Lynk_Wyland, Matt, Matthew Johnson, Michelle chan, Microcosmologist, Nathan Perez, NESecretWeapon, Outertoaster, Railraider, Richard Prior, Rivet, Rowan Mackenzie, SmokeStream, TheAmazingRyry, Thomas Merolla, Trackmeister, TrainMann, TrainTiny
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