Hello everyone,
welcome to the first development diary for LineManager.
Now that the Steam page is online, I want to document the development more regularly. For the first post, I thought a general overview would make the most sense:
What already works, and what am I currently working on?
LineManager is still very much in development. Many things will change, some parts still clearly look like a development build, and from time to time a tram decides to do something completely unexpected.
But what started as a prototype has now grown into a fairly extensive public transport simulation.
The basic idea behind LineManager is that public transport should not just be a few lines drawn on a map.
Tracks have real connections and directions. Vehicles follow actual routes. Switches need to work. Stops need suitable platforms. Vehicles need places to turn around. Timetables create real trips, and when infrastructure does not work, a vehicle should not simply teleport through the problem.
That also means one thing:
If a track connection is wrong somewhere, the game usually notices very quickly.
Bus and tram lines can already be planned, including operating hours and service intervals. Tram lines have separate outbound and return paths, and the game can distinguish between shuttle operations, turning loops and circular lines.
Vehicle duties, individual trips, breaks, depot movements and vehicle assignments are also already part of the simulation.
One of the main focuses of LineManager continues to be tram operations.
Besides building tracks, the game already includes systems for:
track directions and different track types
switches and crossings
turning facilities
depots and sidings
workshop tracks
tram signals
blocks and routes
interlocking
protection of single-track sections
balises
track and switch speed limits
line-of-sight operation
These systems are not intended to be purely decorative.
A signal should have an operational reason to exist. An occupied section should matter. A tram should respect the infrastructure around it.
This is probably one of the reasons why LineManager sometimes looks more like railway engineering than a relaxed management game.
My goal, however, is that players can use this level of detail without constantly having to fight with it.
Many technical systems can therefore be automated or assisted.
For a future playable demo, I am currently focusing mainly on Naumburg (Saale).
Why Naumburg?
Because the city is surprisingly well suited to LineManager.
Its tram network is small enough to provide a clear introduction, while still being interesting enough to demonstrate real operations. Line 4 in particular gives me a compact route on which I can test almost all important systems together.
This includes timetables, vehicles, stops, tracks and now also overhead wires.
A lot of detailed work is currently happening along this route.
The overhead wire, for example, is not simply drawn as a line above the map. The contact wire follows the track geometry, poles are placed along the route and switch areas need to be handled properly.
Of course, this creates some interesting development problems.
At one point, the tram was visually running above its own overhead wire.
That was not quite the level of realism I was aiming for.
That issue has since been fixed.
The last few days have also been heavily focused on stability.
One good example was the first departure of a timetable.
If a line started operating exactly at 06:00 and the game itself also started exactly at 06:00, that very first trip could disappear.
06:01 worked.
06:00 did not.
No tram. No bus. Nothing.
In the end, the cause was a single boundary condition in the calculation of the time window used for scheduled departures.
The bug itself was small, but it could affect every suitable line and also save games loaded exactly on a departure minute.
After fixing it, my automated Naumburg demo test now completes successfully, including operation, saving, loading and continued simulation afterwards.
Issues like this are currently more important than adding another ten new features.
The demo needs to become stable first.
There has also been progress on the visual side.
Until recently, road traffic was still represented in a very schematic way. I have now integrated a first library of 21 different road vehicles.
These include several types of:
cars
electric cars
vans
trucks
buses
The standard city bus can already use a proper vehicle model. Cars, delivery vans and trucks are also used for background traffic.
This traffic is not completely separate from the simulation.
Traffic density and speed can affect operations. Buses and trams running in mixed traffic react to road traffic and traffic lights, while vehicles on fully separated track are not affected in the same way.
Step by step, this should make the cities feel much more alive.
LineManager is not intended to become only an infrastructure sandbox.
A first part of the company simulation already exists.
Ticket revenue, subsidies and operating costs are calculated. Demand is influenced by factors such as population, jobs, service coverage, frequency and vehicle capacity.
There is also staff management, recruitment and different operational roles.
Dortmund even already has its own staffing and tax profile.
The balancing is far from final, but the foundation for a much deeper company simulation is already there.
For the next phase of development, I want to deliberately avoid starting too many new large systems.
The current priorities are:
stability
Naumburg as a compact demo region
roads and the overall city appearance
vehicle visuals
overhead wires and tram infrastructure
understandable controls
a better introduction for new players
performance on weaker PCs
Because in the end, the most detailed signalling system in the world does not help if someone starts the game and has no idea what to do after two minutes.
LineManager should be deep.
But it should still be a game.
In future development diaries, I want to show individual systems in more detail, with more screenshots and less wall of text.
In particular, I want to show more of Naumburg, tram operations, track construction and traffic control.
LineManager is a solo project and there is still a long way to go before it becomes the game I ultimately want it to be.
But I can now start the simulation, watch a tram make a real trip through the network and get annoyed when it does something that a tram definitely should not be doing.
And somehow, that feels like a pretty good sign.
Thank you to everyone who has already wishlisted LineManager or is simply following the development.
See you in the next development diary.
Yves