Derail Valley News

Hello everyone!

This is a quick post to let you know that the next Derail Valley update that we've been working on since the start of the year, B99, will be released on November 21, 2024!



The update will be rather large, introducing a couple of new stations, some train customization features, a new rail vehicle and many more improvements. We'll dive into showcasing the essentials in a long-form video that will be posted on the release date, alongside the screenshot above — unblurred.

Rather than stick to an arbitrary date, we took the time to properly finish this update after we understood better what it really should be. Unfortunately that meant we were somewhat quiet and vague with information in the meantime, – but we're almost there, – now with a definitive date and
Thanks for your patience and support, and we'll see you soon with the release news!

-Slobodan

Hi everyone! We've just released build 98, our latest update bringing you a new vehicle, new features, numerous improvements and bug fixes!

[h2]BE2-260 Microshunter[/h2]

The tiny, quirky new battery-electric shunter takes the spotlight! There's two practical functions to it: it's the first vehicle to utilize the all new electric powertrain simulation, and, once unlocked, it can be requested anywhere with comms radio for a small fee!

Microshunter isn't powerful enough to replace a regular locomotive, but it can still pull some load. That, combined with its size and ability to be requested, give it a unique advantage in many situations. Mind how you treat it though, as you'll need to service it, and even charge its battery occasionally.



[h2]DE Simulation Revamp[/h2]

With this update we've also revamped (or rather finished) the diesel-electric powertrain simulation, now vastly more accurate when it comes to governors, generators, currents, voltages, circuitry, transitions, as well as failures from the all new traction motor overspeeding. DE locomotives have received a complete overhaul in terms of behavior and characteristics, with the highlights being:

DE2 – Increased load rating, improved cooling, heavier engine feel, rebalanced wear and tear
DE6 – Completely new sounds, more accurate notch distribution, rebalanced wear and tear
DE6 Slug - Now can be utilized from both ends and behaves differently



[h2]Vehicle Catalog[/h2]

If you're curious what all those changes mean to the vehicles' performance, their various characteristics and even spawn locations are now listed in the new Vehicle Catalog handbook. The listing also features a series of scores designed to make easy practical comparisons. Generally, the catalog is intended to help players, whether new or experienced, decide what vehicle is best suited for a role they have in mind, with concise info.



[h2]What else is new?[/h2]

[h3]Work Train Improvements[/h3]

Some work trains, such as Microshunter and Slug, are now able to receive damage. The only way to repair them is manually and, being player-owned, they're not covered by insurance. Handcar and caboose are intentionally kept invincible, however, so you don't need to worry about those.

A neat new feature on the career manager allows you to see health status of the work trains you own. The machine also shows coordinates for all vehicles in the world. Additionally, handcar is now a free vehicle, available to request at all times, which is especially helpful when needing to move around in Realistic difficulty.

[h3]Adjustable Player Height on the Fly[/h3]

You can now seamlessly adjust your height both in nonVR and VR. In nonVR you can do this with X+Mousewheel (adjusting your sitting position), and in VR by holding Triggers on both hands and lifting yourself up or down. Another novelty is the ability to save your favorite "cab" and "follow" camera positions.

^ Open in a new tab, there's a train hiding there

[h3]Performance Improvements[/h3]

We've put a lot of work into numerous CPU and GPU optimizations for this build. While the improvement may not be drastic for everyone, we've seen FPS rise up to 30% in certain conditions and hardware. Optimizations apply to both PC and VR players, and there's some more coming soon.

[h3]Revamped HTC Vive (wand) controls[/h3]

We've completely reworked the Vive controls, also fixing the weird calibration angle introduced in B97. The new controls no longer block you from walking while holding an item in the left hand and are generally more consistent with all the other controller types. The exact mapping is listed in the changelog below.



[h3]Improved Tutorials[/h3]

Vast improvements have been made to the career tutorial, locomotive tutorials and the manual. Whether you're a new player or a veteran, we strongly recommend you to complete the career tutorial again (in a temporary new session, if needed) – as it teaches of a lot of features and best practices that have been recently added to the game.

[h3]More[/h3]

Apart from all this, numerous other improvements and bug fixes were made in this build. Manuals and various texts have also been updated too – and we'd like to say a big thank you to our dear beta testing and translation friends for being tremendously helpful with everything they do!

The work is ongoing on future updates too, such as on the new industries and cargo types coming in B99, but also further beyond.

[h2]Changelog:[/h2]

[h3]Stability:[/h3]

• Made numerous CPU and GPU optimizations, increasing FPS up to 30% in some cases
  
  • This affects both VR and PC users
    
  • It depends on user hardware and game situation
• Fixed a few game-breaking bugs involving tutorials
  
• Fixed hovering over save slots causing jarring hiccups in VR
  
• Fixed rare case where items or vehicles could fall through ground near tunnel entrances
  
• Fixed save files sometimes able to appear in wrong sessions

[h3]Train Simulation:[/h3]

• Added BE2-260 Microshunter work train
  
  • Microshunter is a tiny locomotive with a special purpose
    
  • It’s an emergency tow vehicle, for when no proper locomotives are at hand
    
  • It needs to be unlocked before it can be used
    
  • The key costs $30k, and it’s found in Bob’s Garage (handcar is no longer there)
    
  • Once unlocked, Microshunter can be summoned via comms radio for $2500
    
  • It features the all new battery-electric powertrain, with an electric charger socket
    
  • Beware of Microshunter not being a great choice to do orders with
    
  • See vehicle catalog for more details
• Revamped DE powertrain simulation
  
  • DE2 and DE6 now behave significantly closer to real-life counterparts
    
  • The change shows in notch operation, heat management, sound dynamics
    
  • TMs can now break apart if overspeeding
    
  • Simulating series and parallel circuitry, proper transitions
    
  • Improved governor simulation
    
  • TM wear now occurs from running at high temperature in addition to raw mileage
    
  • Rheostatic dynamic brake power now peaks at around 35 km/h
    
  • Slug can now share power from two locomotives, one at each end
    
  • Slug now has less of an impact on top speed
• Modified DE6
  
  • All new engine sound
    
  • Reduced powertrain wear
    
  • Updated gauges to fit the new simulation
    
  • Swapped large DE6 breaker switch for electrics with a smaller one for TM
• Modified DE2
  
  • Boosted DE2’s power to its former 400t glory
    
  • Reduced powertrain wear
    
  • Updated gauges to fit the new simulation
• Modified DM3
  
  • Fixed DM3 getting frozen if money shifted
    
  • Added gear shifting pattern plaque next to the gear levers
• Modified DH4
  
  • Dynamic brake no longer functions when the engine is off (no pump)
• Added a variety of air compressor sounds
  
• Fixed S282 loco and tender sometimes colliding at spawn, causing damage
  
• Fixed wipers squeaking when there’s light rain, but windows are still wet

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• Added Vehicle Catalog handbook item
  • This item is always available and can be retrieved to inventory
    
  • It condensely lists stats of all motorized and work vehicles in the game, including:
    
  • Name, unit count, production years, license info, vehicle type and role(s)
    
  • Spawn locations and chance, ability to summon and cost
    
  • Load rating on flat, dry uphill and wet uphill track (conservative)
    
  • Dimensions, mass full and empty, pricing, wheel and coupler configuration
    
  • Vehicle power supply, transmission, brake and other features
    
  • Detailed system of scores and effects of vehicles
• Turned handcar into a free vehicle
  
  • In career mode you can now spawn it for free right from the start
    
  • This helps reduce running/teleporting around in the Realistic difficulty preset
• Began implementation of player-owned vehicles feature set
  
  • Work trains are now player-owned
    
  • This means insurance doesn’t cover their servicing - careful!
    
  • You can see owned vehicles listed under the “Owned Vehicles” career manager category
    
  • You can print them for cost specifics, just like with vehicle fees
    
  • Microshunter and Slug can get damaged and need servicing to stay functional
    
  • Handcar and Caboose are intentionally made to not acquire damage or need servicing
    
  • Player-owned vehicles can only be serviced manually, not adding up to copay
• Added electric chargers
  • Located in towns’ and SM service points, for Microshunter charging
• Fast travel now elapses game time, depending on distance traveled
  • Increased the UI window to show arrival time
• Improved sleeping
  • Extended maximum sleeping duration option from 8 to to 10 hours
    
  • Modified the sleeping cooldown logic, now being less restrictive
    
  • Added Sleep Cooldown difficulty setting
    
  • In the Realistic preset the cooldown is 8h, in Standard 6h and in Comfort none
• Added loose world map coordinates next to vehicle ID on career manager
  
• Increased fire damage to vehicles x3
  
• Removed work trains being available in sandbox if they're not unlocked in career
  
• Added more day duration difficulty settings (3, 4, 6, 8 and 12 hours)

[h2]UX[/h2]

• Added sitting height adjustment in nonVR
  • Hold X and use mousewheel to adjust
• Added ability to save favorite position in a vehicle
  
  • This is a position you’ll be placed into when dashing to a vehicle’s cab
    
  • First get into a comfortable position in a vehicle. Then:
    
  • In nonVR - in mouse mode (Alt) click the new “Save Camera Position” button
    
  • In VR - in inventory top-right corner, click the new “Save Camera Position” button
    
  • Favorite positions are saved per particular vehicle type, on the user level
    
  • Click the "Reset Camera Position" button to reset to default position
• Improvements to mouse mode UI and external camera
  • Made mouse mode UI accessible by temp-holding Alt, instead of only toggle
    
  • Each camera type now has a separate button in mouse mode UI
    
  • Photo mode button now features outline when active
    
  • Same as for 1p view, you can now save/reset camera offset for the follow camera
    
  • Fixed being unable to shovel coal on S282 via driving UI, since B97
    
  • Fixed driving UI not showing amount of coal and water in tender properly
    
  • Fixed driving UI text being cut off
    
  • Increased size of non-alphabetic fonts in Driving UI, for improved clarity
• Made improvements to manual and its UI
  • Added new articles and updated existing ones
    
  • Manual headlines now break into multiple lines when they don’t fit
    
  • Manual now displays text in tooltip area on mouseover, helps when truncated
    
  • Removed text justification for languages with long words (French, Dutch…)
• Improvements to item interaction in nonVR
  • Prevented being able to grab items through walls and objects
    
  • Made held items adjust their position proportional to camera FOV
• Improvements to nonVR input
  • Fixed mouse scroll not working on career manager in mouse mode with held item
    
  • Added a couple settings for inverting scrolling in Settings/Controls
    
  • Fixed “use” action being hardcoded to LMB (mouse0)
    
  • Inverted mouse-wheel interaction with loco remote coupler selector knob
• Made turntable booths have a dash anchor, like locomotive cabs do

[h3]VR[/h3]

• Added seamless height adjustment in VR
  • Hold both Triggers and move hands vertically to lift/lower yourself
• Revamped Vive wand controls and feel
  • Fixed controller calibration angle, bad since B97
    
  • It is now possible to walk while holding an item in left hand
    
  • Use Item is now done with Trigger, like on all other controllers
    
  • Item scrolling is now Trigger+Touchpad Left/Right, like on all other controllers
    
  • To drop an item press Trigger+Grip
• Drastically improved hand shakiness and aiming smoothness feel
  
• Fixed missing haptic feedback when interacting with levers in OculusVR mode
  
• Added haptic feedback when aiming at a switch with comms radio
  
• Fixed objects in peripheral vision popping on Oculus headsets
  
• Fixed being unable to tele-interact with item-nested controls
  
• Fixed a bug where item scrolling in VR could get stuck in a certain circumstance
  
• Fixed being able to drop an item in VR with the hand still attached to it
  
• Fixed bad interaction with some vehicle buttons/switches in VR
  
• Improved interaction with fuel hose plug in VR
  
• Cut number of notches on handcar hand crank to make VR haptic feedback less spammy
  
• Shortened inventory long-press wait threshold

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• Fixed sun sometimes shining through mountains when behind player at sundown
  
• Fixed items in player’s home having bad lighting
  
• Fixed glitched lighting on passenger car windows
  
• Fixed rain droplets missing on High graphics setting (merged with Very High)
  
• Fixed shadows being glitchy on the lowest quality setting
  
• Fixed a rare visual glitch with pumpjacks being drawn behind background terrain
  
• Fixed SteamVR loading screen being low-resolution, since B96

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Fixed being able to “man vehicle” oneself into a locked military base
  
• Fixed some short sounds not being affected by the doppler effect (e.g. horn pulse)
  
• Fixed tunnel entrance structures not having collision with player and trains
  
• Fixed CCUR1 license not saying that it removes rerail discount
  
• Reduced career manager text size to fit long words in non-English languages
  
• Fixed VR-intended inventory icons showing up in nonVR inventory, since B97
  
• Fixed inventory hotbar being offset on ultrawide monitors
  
• Middle mouse button is now bindable (as mouse2)
  
• Increased size of weathercast posters
  
• Added coal service marker to CM on world map
  
• Fixed missing collision with harbor military base fence
  
• Made boombox radio signal no longer getting audibly lossy in station offices already
  
• Fixed pocketwatch ticking sound not being 3D when held in hand
  
• Made pocketwatch alarm needle movement increment 12 min to align with minute marks
  
• Numerous improvements to texts and translations
  
• Many other small improvements

[h3]Tutorial[/h3]

• Reworked locomotive tutorials to be singular runs again, but with only a short drive
  
• Integrated vehicle catalog, height adjustment, VR remote driving and handcar to career tutorial
  
• No longer showing post-tutorial steps if session was started with tutorial disabled
  
• Added all tutorial prompts to the Localization Test scene
  
• Numerous tutorial improvements, cleanups and bug fixes

Thank you for reading, and we hope you'll enjoy this update!

-Your DV Team

Hey everyone! We've just released a massive update, bringing numerous new features and bug fixes to Derail Valley.

[h3]Domestic animals & new cars[/h3]

To start off, we've added livestock, which can be found at the Farm industry. The animals are lively, moving around, making noises, and just generally contributing to the countryside atmosphere. Some of the smaller critters may even be seen crossing the tracks, but not to worry – they are immune to trains.



Along with the animals, we've added new types of cars and cargo to the game. The stock car type, pictured above, is now used to transport animals, which are visible inside and can even be heard reacting to physics forces and their health level. Another new vehicle is the short variant of the tank car, pictured below, used for milk transport.



Boxcars have been repurposed, now carrying new cargo types such as eggs, fruits and vegetables, but also wool and cotton, which now go to the Goods Factory. Hoppers too have been given a new cargo type – the sunflower seeds.



The cats' world domination has reached Derail Valley too, so naturally, you can now find strays in every city in the game. Unfortunately, you can't pick them up and carry around, although admittedly that would be very cool.

The systems developed to include these animals are the first step towards the implementation of passengers, pedestrians and wildlife to the game in the future.

[h3]Improved terrain lighting[/h3]

There's now a new graphics setting called Terrain Lighting. If set to High it will notably improve the terrain shadowing with better accuracy and ambient occlusion, and it's not even significantly taxing on performance. If you still need the lighting to be the same as before, however, put the setting to Low.



[h3]VR "mouse mode"[/h3]

We've added the equivalent of nonVR's mouse mode to VR. This is an accessibility feature, allowing players to aim at train controls with their hand and operate them remotely, without needing to physically reach for them. It's a substantial new way to play the game.

There is also a new difficulty setting called VR Remote Driving, which needs to be enabled for this feature to work. By default it is enabled in Comfort and Standard presets, but not in Realistic or existing custom ones.



In the future we plan to bring external camera and remote sign reading to VR too, along with the Driving UI, but that's not ready for this build yet. However, as a temporary measure, VR players do have access to the Weather Editor already, accessible via a button at the top-right corner of the inventory window.

[h3]More highlights![/h3]

The update also includes support for the new Quest 3 headset, vastly improved tutorial experience, as well as major bug fixes, such as disappearing money fix, DH4 tunnel item collision fix, objects in peripheral vision no longer disappearing on VR headsets with high FOV, and many, many more, as listed in the changelog below.

For players who have lost their in-game money due to a bug – please send us your save so we can fix it, allowing you to continue your session. You can do this either by emailing us to [email protected] or DM-ing @Manja on our Discord. The message should include:

- Your save file attached. (select your save in-game, then click the folder icon to get to it)
- Amount of money you wish to have returned. (add up for the cost of lost items too)



[h2]Altfuture update – Behind the scenes[/h2]

Since build 96 we were also able to focus on things other than strictly Derail Valley development, many of which were long due. Some of those involved:

- Creating a new kind of project management software, which drastically optimized our workflow.
- Updating a lot of our code and management infrastructure.
- Thoroughly planning out activities for the next year (more on that below).
- Working on the Soundtrack remaster (roughly 75% done, currently).
- Many other business activities that weren't in the spotlight.
- Taking time to rest and recover.

We'd like to thank you all for your continual support and making it possible for us to take actions with Derail Valley with the long-term approach!

[h3]Entering the Foundation Part 4 era[/h3]

With today's update we've entered the new era of Derail Valley development, the so called FP4, as per our roadmap. Rather than go for a single major update in the future, we have decided to introduce new industries, cargo types and cars in small batches, over the next year or so. There are currently 6 phases planned for this and today's farm update marks completion of the first!

The upcoming period is going to get quite exciting in terms of new content getting added, however note that the focus will be on the new industries, cars and cargo, but not yet on railway network updates or the industrial ecosystem gameplay. Those will come at the end of FP4, and will be announced much later.

Many more things are being in development already. Stay tuned!



Those were the most important bits, but there are many more fixes and improvements in this build. Please see the full changelog below. Next, we will also work on improving the translations of the newly added/modified text in the game along with our translation team.

[h2]Changelog:[/h2]

[h3]Stability[/h3]

• Fixed rare bug where money, jobs and items could disappear in Realistic difficulty
  • If you were affected, please contact us - we can fix your save. Steps:
    
  • Email us at [email protected] with your save file attached
    
  • Tell us how much money you’d like added
    
  • Add up for the cost of lost items too, so you can repurchase them
    
  • We’ll bring back money to your save file and send it back to you
• Fixed bug with items in trains hitting tunnel entrances and thus sometimes getting lost
  • Mainly DH4 was affected by pure luck, the issue was deep in general code
• Fixed possibility of loading screen getting stuck if music ends before it finishes
  
• Fixed loading screen freezing if “Pause minimized” is on and the game is out of focus
  
• Fixed failing to import a save file if it has empty space in its filename
  
• Fixed continue screen offering to continue the last career session after it’s been deleted
  
• Potentially fixed AudioPluginOculusSpatializer.dll causing crash on load on old CPUs
  
• Potentially fixed sessionData.json getting corrupted, with improved safeguarding

[h3]Industries & Cargo[/h3]

• Added new cargo types, originating in Farm
  • Eggs, milk, local fruits, vegetables and sunflower seeds now go to Food Factory
    
  • Cotton and Wool now go to Goods Factory
• Added domestic animals
  • Various farm animals can now be found at the Farm industry
    
  • Cats can be found in every town
    
  • The animals move around and make sounds during the day
    
  • The small animals may cross the tracks sometimes and are immune to trains
• Farm animals cargo is now visible inside stock cars
  • They audibly react to physics forces and health level
    
  • They lose health when underwater
• Revised HAZMAT license tier ruleset
  • 1st tier now allows flammable, asphyxiating and oxidizing cargo
    
  • 2nd tier now allows explosive, corrosive and toxic cargo
    
  • 3rd tier allows radioactive and biohazardous cargo, as before
• Allowed different HAZMAT tiers to be combined into single orders
  
• Fixed leaking flammable cargo not pooling the flammable liquid when burning
  
• Rebalanced mass, price and damage sensitivity of many cargo types
  
• Added new wooden fence type and mud pits to Farm

[h3]VR[/h3]

• Added “mouse mode” behavior equivalent to VR
  • Allows operating aimed levers and buttons remotely by holding Grip+Trigger
    • On HTC Vive controllers hold Trigger+TouchpadUp
  • Susceptible to the new “VR Remote Driving” difficulty setting (off in Realistic)
• Added Weather Editor to VR
  • To toggle it click the cloud icon button in inventory header
    
  • Susceptible to the old “Weather Editor” difficulty setting
• Fixed peripheral objects disappearing in the right eye on high FOV headsets (SteamVR)
  
• Fixed sunshafts effect in VR sometimes showing as a vertical lines glitch
  
• Simplified item storing; short-press stores item immediately without opening inventory
  
• Fixed various issues with crouching in VR not working well
  
• Improved calibration on all controller types for aim and hand alignment consistency
  
• Fixed shakiness when aiming and holding large items (fix applies to SteamVR only)
  
• Fixed carabiner slots being turned on by default (applies to new users only)

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• Added new terrain shadow rendering system
  • It’s controlled by the new Terrain Lighting graphics setting. When set to High:
    
  • Terrain is lit more realistically when sun is at a shallow angle
    
  • Terrain has shadows even at a very high distance
    
  • Water surface receives terrain shadows
    
  • Sunset and sunrise shadows are smoother, more natural looking
    
  • There’s ambient occlusion, giving more depth to the air
• Fixed reflections being glitched, as of B96
  
• Fixed train headlights not having glare in daylight

[h3]Train Simulation[/h3]

• Added stock car
  • This is an old wooden cage car, used to transport livestock
    
  • It can be found in Farm and Food Factory, and comes in three colors
• Added short tank car
  • This car is similar to the regular tanker, but shortened
    
  • It is currently used only for milk transport
    
  • It can be found in Farm and Food Factory, and has milk livery
• Improvements to diesel vehicles
  • Fixed dynamic brake being able to get stuck when doing a DE6 + Slug combo
    
  • Improved DE6 engine bay looks when player is off-vehicle and the door is open
    
  • Fixed DH4 oil gauge warning lamp turning on too late
    
  • Fixed DH4 sand level lamp not blinking and sounding an alarm when very low
    
  • Fixed DM3 window having rain tilted opposite from air drag
• Improvements to steam vehicles
  • Reduced S282’s abnormally high resistance to collision damage
    
  • Fixed misaligned valve gear with the S282A’s body
    
  • Fixed lubricator consumption getting multiplied twice by res. consumption setting
    
  • Improved VR interaction with some S060 and S282 locomotive controls
    
  • Made S282A cutoff position indicator lines white for improved visibility
• Improved item and player collision precision on all vehicles
  
• Made manually spawned vehicles have handbrake applied instead of cylinder pressure
  
• Made fire from TMs cause fire damage to vehicles
  
• Fixed wheels not turning on exploded locos
  
• Fixed cab indicator lights not being visibly damaged on exploded locos
  
• Fixed handcars having brakes be permanently applied in sandbox mode
  
• Fixed caboose brake gauge not being calibrated well
  
• Fixed the “auto-headlights” feature affecting unmanned vehicles
  
• Fixed locomotive remote inverting headlight orientation if vehicle is in reverse
  
• Fixed some headlight textures being mirrored on a few locomotives
  
• Fixed brake cylinder release handle not working on autorack car, when used in VR
  
• Increased volume of the DM3 compression brake sound
  
• Simulation groundwork improvements:
  • Rewrote resource consump. propagation code (improved loco modularity)
    
  • Improved modularity for breaker configuration on locomotives
    
  • Rewrote how emission fees are calculated for steam engines (cleaner code)

[h3]Economy[/h3]

• Upped the fee tolerance to $100k at the upper limit (was $50k)
  
• Fixed tender fees unable to be paid in a certain rare situation
  
• Halved bonus time limit for shunting (was overly generous)

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Tweaked rain to be a bit less common
  
• Fixed SW turntable causing unexpected derailments if not nudged
  
• Fixed issues with zooming and unzooming while in mouse mode
  
• Weather editor settings are now getting saved
  
• Fixed weather editor sliders for cloudiness and fog having wrong initial value
  
• Fixed tutorial messages not working well in CJK languages
  
• Fixed controls behaving weirdly when mouse-held on moving vehicles
  
• Fixed being unable to walk through tunnel entrances in some situations
  
• Fixed EOT Lanterns being able to become unretrievable and permanently lost
  
• Fixed military base, player house and a few smaller props being white, as of B96
  
• Made Within Reach controls have lower vertical range than horizontal (no roof driving)
  
• Fixed external camera getting stuck on world boundaries
  
• Fixed external camera not adhering to rain quality setting change
  
• Fixed keyboard controls not working for some switches, breakers, etc. as of B96
  
• Fixed prompt “Save changes to original [asset]?” doing opposite from chosen action
  
• Fixed different users not being able to have different settings
  
• Mouseovering items in inventory now shows their names and descriptions
  
• Improved descriptions for all items, including cassettes
  
• Fixed inventory buttons not having tooltips on mouseover
  
• Fixed inventory hotbar being too large on ultrawide monitors
  
• Fixed concrete steam coal tower model not fitting the coal particles position
  
• Fixed being taken to wrong bed when going to sleep, in certain situations
  
• Career manager license screen in sandbox mode is now listed as “unavailable”
  
• Career shop items in sandbox mode are now listed as “unavailable” instead of “sold out”
  
• Fixed the moon being tilted 90 degrees
  
• Fixed the VR “Item Holding” setting missing a tooltip
  
• Fixed held item sway not adhering to changes in mouse sensitivity
  
• Fixed fog level changing in the mornings despite weather being set to a fixed value
  
• Fixed some items still being collideable with other objects while held
  
• Fixed language setting not getting saved when playing via GeForce NOW
  
• Added backup save creation in case of another money loss incident in Realistic difficulty
  
• Improved logging in case of potential new issues with saves or sessions
  
• Made license items regenerate if missing from save file
  
• Made minor cosmetic improvements to tutorial depot (ceiling light, better glass texture…)
  
• Updated translations to various languages
  
• More minor fixes

[h3]Tutorials[/h3]

• Fixed many career tutorial issues
  • Various improvements to the flow, steps, details, text, reliability and UI
    
  • Prevented use of some leftover features before it’s their turn in tutorial
    
  • Replaced the hopper with a gondola, as the handbrake is more accessible in VR
    
  • Added teaching steps about a few more things that were missed
• Reworked locomotive tutorials
  • Locomotive tutorials are now split into 2 stages, “control showcase” and “driving”
    
  • Each stage asks you if it’s okay to begin before starting
    
  • There’s more improvements to come
• Improved tutorial note UI layout, now including action icons
  
• Fixed the manual missing the contextual “See Also:” links in UI
  
• Fixed locomotive tutorial button missing from pause menu since B96

That's all for this update – See you soon with another!

-Your DV Team

Hi everyone! We've just released the new update, featuring the new DE6 Slug and many other improvements to the game!



[h2]Slug[/h2]

[h3]What is the Slug?[/h3]

In real life when a locomotive reaches its end of life, some of its components can still be reused. Slugs are an example of that. They are modified diesel-electric locomotives, in this case a DE6, in such a way that they no longer have a diesel engine or a cab. What they do still have are the traction motors, and a body filled with concrete to make them heavy.

In Derail Valley the DE6 Slug is a "work train". What this means is that in career mode there's only one on the map, in a locked garage somewhere. The key for the garage can be purchased in the Harbor shop. Once unlocked, the vehicle can be moved around freely, and summoned using the comms radio, for a fee. In sandbox mode it's always available.



[h3]What is the Slug used for?[/h3]

On its own the Slug is practically useless. When coupled to a diesel-electric locomotive via MU cable, however, it starts to make sense. Instead of feeding only its own traction motors, the locomotive now powers both its own and the Slug's motors. This drastically reduces the amperage per motor, allowing applying a lot more throttle without risk of overheating or slipping.

In other words, the Slug can help drastically increase the pulling capacity of a DE locomotive by utilizing its generator better at low speeds. However, this doesn't come without cost – apart from adding extra weight, the Slug's traction motors also provide significant additional EMF, making reaching higher speeds much more difficult.



[h2]What else is new?[/h2]

Texture streaming – This update should bring a significant improvement to VRAM (and on some systems RAM) usage, as the game no longer holds all textures in memory the whole time but dynamically loads and unloads them as needed, instead.

Ray tracing – We've arranged it with Nvidia to support Derail Valley in their Freestyle feature, so if you have GeForce Experience installed and run the latest drivers you can enable filters for Derail Valley. The one we find most notable is SSRTGI, which does screen-space ray tracing (pictured below). Press Alt+F3 in-game to set it up.

QoL and bug fixes – We've made various small improvements, such as the ability to aim at items while zooming in mouse mode, or that unzooming in mouse mode now brings the camera back to its original position. Touch-based interaction with buttons in VR is now back too and this time works as intended (please do try it as it works great, and if you still don't like it there's an option to use Trigger instead). There are numerous other small improvements and bug fixes made, listed in the changelog below.

What's cooking? – We have many more things currently in development. Some of those are almost done and just need more testing to be included in the next build, whereas others are rather notable and are yet to be announced in the coming months!



[h2]Changelog[/h2]

[h3]Stability[/h3]

• Added texture streaming
  • Instead of holding all textures in VRAM, the game now loads them dynamically
  • This drastically reduces required VRAM capacity
    
  • This also indirectly helps reduce RAM usage on PCs with limited VRAM
    
  • This should help prevent crashes and stuttering induced by RAM/VRAM shortage
    
  • Added options for this in Settings/Advanced
• Further reduced RAM usage (apart from texture streaming)
  
• Fixed corrupted saves being able to make the main menu unusable
  
• Fixed locomotive exploding being able to cause an error in driving UI
  
• Fixed turntable sounds continuing playing when the turning stops
  
• Fixed having a disabled right VR controller being able to break the game
  
• Fixed error caused by spamming keyboard shortcuts while teleporting into a loco
  
• Fixed “transform.SetParent” warning message spam in console
  
• Fixed AudioListener warning spam in main menu, in Oculus SDK

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• Added Nvidia Freestyle support (Ray tracing)
  • Requires Nvidia GPU and GeForce Experience installed, latest drivers
    
  • Press Alt+F3 to enable the Freestyle sidebar where you can add and edit filters
    
  • We recommend giving the SSRTGI filter a try, which adds ray tracing
    
  • Note that this alters game performance
• Fixed smoke not blending into fog nicely
  
• Fixed some cases of water surfaces z-fighting when viewed from above
  
• Fixed comms radio laser not rendering well over smoke

[h3]Train Simulation[/h3]

• Added DE6 Slug
  • DE6 Slug is a stripped-down DE6 (has TMs, but no diesel engine or cab)
    
  • It’s a “work train” vehicle, located in a locked garage somewhere in the world
    
  • The garage key can be purchased in Harbor shop for $20k
    
  • The slug can be spawned freely in sandbox mode
    
  • Couple it to any DE locomotive via MU to distribute power to more motors
    
  • Doing this makes the locomotive engine better utilized at low speeds
    
  • It allows for drastically reduced overheating and wheelslip when accelerating
    
  • The slug is able to brake dynamically too
    
  • The slug is filled with concrete to retain traction, making it very heavy
    
  • EMF from its 6 TMs may drastically reduce locomotive’s top speed
    
  • The slug can only assist a single locomotive, the one that was MU’d first
    
  • Once unlocked, the slug can be moved around freely and never gets despawned
    
  • It can also be moved anywhere via comms radio work train function for $5k
    
  • The slug doesn’t receive damage and cannot be repaired
    
  • The slug model is made so that most DE6 skins work with it out of the box
• Improved steam lubricator mechanics
  • Fixed indicator not working correctly on S060
    
  • Mechanical damage now starts when oil level gets under 50% (was 100%)
    
  • Running gear now screeches based on oil level rather than damage
    
  • Remade the running gear grinding sound to be more noticeable
    
  • Lubricator now gets reset when paying fees, sleeping or rerailing
• Made accessing a fee for a single unit reset other sibling units to default state
  • e.g. paying a tender fee also disables the injector on the locomotive
• Fixed S282A and S060 brake pads not glowing when overheated
  
• Made loco remote “pair” button do nothing if user is not on a locomotive
  
• Fixed locomotives sometimes despawning prematurely (S060 in particular)
  
• Made DH4 reverser immovable when the vehicle is traveling over ~8 km/h
  
• Made DM3 lever knobs white for improved visibility
  
• Fixed S282B (tender) missing the wheel slide particle effects
  
• Modified price of caboose garage key to $20k (was $25k)
  
• Modified price of caboose summon to $5k (was $10k)
  
• Fixed DE6 warped metal look causing strange dark blotches on the side
  
• Minor tweaks to the S060 UV map and modeling

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Reworked zoom in mouse mode
  • Zooming now focuses on where the mouse cursor is
    
  • Unzooming now returns the camera to the original position
    
  • Held items now can be viewed zoomed in mouse mode
• Added setting “Within Reach” to Keyboard Driving difficulty parameter
  • This allows using the keyboard controls only in vicinity of train controls
    
  • This is now the default setting in Standard and Realistic presets
• Fixed lanterns falling off of S282 (and generally items when close to the vehicle edge)
  
• Fixed various inconsistencies with vehicle spawning
  • Comms radio spawner mode no longer offers locked vehicles
    
  • Comms radio spawner mode now includes work trains too
    
  • Removed the comms radio work train mode from sandbox game mode
    
  • Scenario train editor now shows locked vehicles with a locker icon
    
  • Trying to start a scenario with a locked vehicle now issues a blocker popup
    
  • Caboose is no longer missing from scenario train editor
    
  • DM3 is no longer possible to spawn or fast travel with when it’s locked
• Creating a new session now defaults the difficulty preset to the last used one
  
• Fixed train keyboard controls being able to cause issues when pressed during pause
  
• Made sit and lean states turn off when walking away more than a couple meters
  
• Fixed being unable to pick up items after placing them on bed/couch
  
• Fixed boombox changing modes during game pause
  
• Increased intensity and range of comms radio LED light
  
• Fixed being able to dislodge doors, levers and such with the fuel hose plug
  
• Fixes to minor missing or floating objects in stations

[h3]VR[/h3]

• Brought back physical touch interaction with buttons
  • Now works as intended, please give it a try
    
  • Can still be disabled in settings
• Simplified controller calibration
  • Pointer beam is now relative to hand and uniform across all controllers
    
  • Please let us know if calibration feels off and needs adjusting
• Fixed small items not always going to predefined position in hand, when grabbed
  
• Fixed shop scanner laser pointing down in VR
  
• Fixed some items being unable to be put in carabiner slots in VR
  
• Fixed being able to walk through thin colliders (e.g. turntable rod)
  
• Fixed UI interaction in localization test scene not working in VR

[h3]Tutorials[/h3]

• Fixed career tutorial able to break if one avoids the steps that teaches how to jump
  
• Added career tutorial tutorial step teaching about the Lost & Found sheds
  
• Added a post-tutorial step teaching how to cancel jobs (trash bin)
  
• Added “Can’t save in tutorial” message in save manager, during career tutorial
  

That would be all for today's update. Thank you! We hope you'll enjoy it, and we'll see you soon with more!

-Your DV team

Hi everyone!

The new update is out, introducing a brand new steam locomotive to Derail Valley, as well as many bug fixes and improvements!



[h2]S060[/h2]

Due to its small size, the new locomotive has very different characteristics from S282, making it quite a unique new experience. In terms of hauling capacity it sits somewhere between DE2 and DM3, and can sometimes be found in small industries, such as forests. The new locomotive can be accessed in sandbox mode without unlocking too.



Besides the new locomotive, there are many other notable improvements made in this update, such as updates to coal firing and economy, many new water towers, VRAM optimizations and more. Check out the changelog below for more information.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

[h3]Stability[/h3]

• VRAM optimization
  • Reduced VRAM footprint of dynamically generated textures
    
  • Reduced VRAM footprint of some large assets
    
  • We’re working on texture streaming, to drastically reduce VRAM usage
    • It’s currently in the testing phase. To enable it use console command:
      
    • Graphics.StreamingMipmaps.Active 1
      
    • This is still in development and may not be flawless
• Fixed career progress corruption bug
  • Hardcore sessions were able to pull in saves from other sessions when auto-saving on game exit. It was possible for this to ruin one’s career progression
• Fixed small memory leak caused by the window droplets system
  
• Improved lag-spike optimization when printing out papers
  
• Fixed brake sound getting stuck when stopped (introduced in #94)
  
• Fixed shadows cast by terrain disappearing when turning around (introduced in #94)

[h3]Train Simulation[/h3]

• Added S060 locomotive
  • Small steam shunter, great visibility, high torque and medium range
    
  • Similarly to DM3, it’s more likely to spawn in smaller industries, like forests
• Simulated efficient coal management during accelerated steam engine startup
  • Halves the amount consumed
• Made partial shovel unloading possible
  
• Reduced cost of coal by 75%
  
• Reduced DM3 mechanical powertrain damage from engine running by 40%
  
• Fixed cylinder cock steam particles being out of sync with the piston cycle on S282
  
• Fixed reverser changing headlights orientation if the paired remote is off or in inventory
  
• Made some tweaks to Auto Headlights logic when using the “Direction” setting
  
• Removed accumulation of water in cylinders when the steam vehicle is in motion
  • IRL the tiny amount of condensing water gets expelled with each piston cycle
• Fixed S282 fire not going out when coal is exhausted
  
• Fixed firebox temperature not returning to boiler water temperature when fire is out
  
• Adjusted S282 so it doesn’t go over 120 km/h
  
• Reduced price of S282A/B subsystems (and thus repair costs)
  
• Added a new, heavier, wheel rolling sound for locomotives
  
• Fixed water in cylinders being audible at large distances
  
• Lowered dynamos sound volume
  
• Fixed exploded S282 retaining red valves and labels
  
• Added numbers to S282 sand gauge
  
• Allowed adding coal to firebox via the driving UI when the firebox doors are closed

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Added 9 new water towers to the map
  • Pass-through in FF, OWC, FM, GF, MF, FRC, FRS, MB
    
  • Non-pass-through in CSW
    
  • Maps have not been updated with new tower locations yet
• Made improvements to coal/water towers
  • Added alert sounds indicating steam vehicle alignment with chutes/faucets
    
  • Improved sound placement and volume, when using the towers
    
  • Fixed the water jet effect clipping through vehicles and taking too long to end
• Reduced intensity of cab lights in locomotives
  
• Fixed locomotives being able to despawn if coupled to an active order
  
• Fixed steam engine controls not resetting when paying fees (fire, injector, blower, etc.)
  
• Fixed text on comms radio sometimes getting stuck until put in inventory (introd. in #94)
  
• Aiming at locked vehicles in sandbox now notes that they need to be unlocked in career
  
• Tweaked audio mixing so the sound is less bassy in cabs
  
• Fixed hotbar mousewheel scroll direction being inverted
  
• Fixed main menu build badge button not leading to the news link on click

[h3]VR[/h3]

• Fixed some inconsistencies with Trigger/Grip usage (introduced in #94)
  
• Fixed Vive wands not using Trigger to interact with buttons (introduced in #94)
  
• Fixed held items being offset in left hand on some devices (introduced in #94)
  
• Fixed log getting spammed on some devices (introduced in #94)
  
• Improved interaction with rotary switches, notably the S282 exterior valves
  
• Removed recenter button in main menu, should only appear in-game
  
• Fixed carabiner slots resetting rotation on game load

[h3]Tutorials[/h3]

• Fixed “vehicle must be stationary” false-positives when auto-starting quick tutorials
  
• Fixed vehicles attempting to start quick tutorials when the player isn’t licensed for them
  
• Fixed multiple softlock issues around the coupling phase of career tutorial
  
• Fixed multiple softlock points involving picking up money in the wrong moment
  
• Fixed tutorial not recognizing movement and rotation in VR for some devices
  
• Added the career tutorial step teaching how to crouch before coupling
  

We hope you'll enjoy this update. Thank you and see you soon with another!

-Your DV team