Derail Valley News

Hi everyone!

We’ve got some news about Simulator, the upcoming major update to Derail Valley! Though you may have seen me share details about the update’s new expected release date on Discord and Steam forums in prior months, I wanted us to first start the closed beta and make sure things work as anticipated, before making an official announcement.



It’s been a bit over a year that we’ve been working on Simulator. As the headline suggests, we recently started the closed beta with our most trusted community members. This comes after a few weeks of testing internally by the dev team. We’re making improvements with weekly iterations, and so far, the progress has been going great! No major issues came up during testing, and we don’t expect any in the following period either.

That said, we are moving the release slightly from the previous announcement, namely to around March of next year. We’re doing this for a couple of reasons, but mainly to accommodate a couple more features and content than initially planned, and to avoid the Christmas press saturation. It will be absolutely worth the wait.



Currently, we’re working on a lot of things simultaneously. Some of those things will be part of Simulator, and others will come later. We’ve previously announced exactly what is coming in the major update (along with the upcoming price increase), but to avoid any confusion, here’s the full listing:

Coming in Simulator:

• Day and Night Cycle
  
• Dynamic Weather
  
• Improved Diesel-Electric Simulation
  
• Improved Steam Simulation
  
• Revamped GUI
  
• User & Save Manager
  
• Sandbox Game Mode
  
• Localization
  
• Various smaller improvements, to be announced
  

In progress, but coming after Simulator:

• Simulation of other loco types (DH, DM, E)
  
• New Locomotives (S060, E6, DM1P, DE6 Slug...)
  
• Locomotive Mod Support
  
• New Cars & Cargo Types
  
• New Industries, Cities & Villages
  
• Revamped Railway Network (double-tracks, electrification, etc.)
  
• Improved Gameplay (better job system and more)
  

Many of the features from the latter list get requested frequently, so we want you to know they’re taken care of and being worked on -- however we’ll only be ready to reveal more information about them some time after the release of Simulator.



As we are now deeply focused on the future and getting Simulator ready for release, we’ve decided to skip the next small build and merge it into Simulator instead. When we get closer to the launch in a couple of months, we’ll have a new trailer, new screenshots, in-depth videos and overall more details about the massive update!

In other great news, after a long search, we’ve recently grown our team with two additional highly skilled programmers. Our work output is notably ramping up and we can’t wait to start churning out the exciting new features and content in 2022!

Until then, thank you for your patience and understanding! We wish you a great holiday season ahead!

-Slobodan

Hi everyone,

We've listened to all your feedback over the weekend, and have just fixed all the issues introduced in #92, regarding stability and vegetation.

Inventory order will no longer shuffle when you restart the game, items won't pop out of your hands or the Boombox, and belt orbs will work in VR now.



We've also done some minor fixes to vegetation, such as grass having too short render distance on the High setting, or it being too tall in yards. It was lowered just enough so that the rails are now clearly visible.

These were the issues with the vanilla game -- note that mods could cause their own issues.
Have fun playing!

-Your DV team

Stability:

- Fixed inventory order getting messed up, as of #92
- Fixed belt slots in VR not working when on vehicles, as of #92
- Fixed items falling out of players hands when going from one vehicle to another, as of #92
- Fixed cassette falling when placed in Boombox while on vehicle, as of #92

World:

- Increased grass render distance on High settings
- Reduced grass height in yards
- Reduced grass popping
- Improved shading and shape dynamics of green crop plants

Hi everyone!

Recently we’ve announced our next major update, Derail Valley: Simulator. The feedback was phenomenal -- we’re close to 1000 likes on that post, almost three times the amount Overhauled had when it was announced. Thank you! This makes us incredibly excited for the future.

In the meantime, we’ve worked on an intermediate small update, #92. As always it’s got one prominent new feature, and this time -- it’s the all new vegetation!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Vegetation in Derail Valley has always been lacking in fidelity, so in our common fashion we decided to give it an overhaul. Not only does this greatly improve the look of scenery but it also adds a few additional types of flora and makes cliffs look more natural. Along with the beautiful plants themselves, vegetation settings were changed too.



[h3]Unchanged performance:[/h3]

While the new vegetation looks better, we were extra cautious not to impact performance negatively, and also to provide even higher levels of fidelity for those who have the hardware for it.

Formerly, the vegetation was meant to be fully compatible with VR, even at the highest quality settings. However, modern hardware can do so much more in regular non-VR PC gameplay. Thus, we’ve done some renaming. What used to be Ultra High is now simply High, retaining the same frame rate as Ultra once had, but offering more lushness and detail. This is what we recommend as the maximum setting for VR.



The new Very High and Ultra High settings, on the other hand, take things to the higher level of fidelity by taking full advantage of your GPU. We’ve confirmed with our beta testers that non-VR players of build #92 with GTX 1080 Ti and higher can max out all graphics settings and play at stable 60 FPS.

If you had your vegetation set to Very High or Ultra High in a former build, it will automatically be rolled one step back to compensate for the new higher fidelity. Players with low-end hardware will also benefit from this update, as vegetation set to Mega Low and Very Low levels will now render faster than it used to. In that sense the new vegetation now covers a broader spectrum of performance for all kinds of hardware, and we will tweak it further as needed.



Apart from revamping vegetation, we’ve also made some notable bug fixes and small improvements in this build. For example, we’ve added a new radio station - TruckersFM, we’ve improved the Boombox cassette file reading, we’ve fixed remaining cases where trains could get damaged unfairly, added a second row of cars to the job booklet for better clarity and made junctions highlight when aimed at -- to name a few. For the full listing, see the changelog below.



Finally, in case you missed it, we’ve recently updated the Community Unlocks with more details and information. Be sure to check it out!

That’s all for this update! As always, we’ll keep you posted as we get closer to another release. We’re most active on Discord, so make sure to join our server!

-Your DV Team

Build #92 - August 20, 2021:

  Stability:

  - Fixed trains getting damaged on game load if a consist was compressed
  - Attempted fix at locos getting damaged very rarely when player spams teleport

  World:

  - Revamped vegetation
  -- All new trees, bushes, grass and rocks
  -- Added some additional types of flora
  -- Modified vegetation settings (auto-reduces by one level if Very High or Ultra High)
  -- Now defaults to High

  VR:

  - Fixed trigger and grip buttons getting swapped sometimes
  - Fixed HP Reverb G2 having bad beam angles
  - Fixed controllers being drawn behind menus
  - Fixed couplers and brake hoses not following the "item grab" setting principle
  - Fixed being able to feel map buttons during fast travel in OculusVR
  - Changed default setting for movement orientation to Headset
  - Fixed VR tutorial not pointing the correct inventory button on Vive Cosmos

  Misc:

  - Boombox improvements
  -- Added TruckersFM radio station
  -- Now can play .wav files
  -- Now can play .mp3 files with embedded album art
  -- Now can change volume with scroll or trigger+joystick when held
  -- No longer stutters when changing songs from HDD
  -- Fixed Boombox audio not ducking when overshadowed by explosions or horns
  -- Changed cassette item collision sound
  - Fixed several bugs that would prevent lost items from going to L&F
  - Fixed items being unreachable when in interaction collider (e.g. lighter on firebox sill)
  - Job booklets now show two rows of cars for better clarity, if train has over 10 cars
  - Added highlight to aimed junctions (can be disabled in settings)
  - Added item placing (R) to nonVR tutorial
  - Fixed item placer gizmo getting stuck on screen if pressing esc while placing
  - Fixed bad loco remote and world map orientation when item placing
  - Fixed Boombox volume not working properly when mouse-scrolling
  - Clearing the Caboose now moves it to depot together with items inside
  - Fixed player movement being choppy when going down the hills
  - Made the console key remappable (default ~)
  - Fixed items in Caboose dropping through the floor when in drawers
  - Made service station controls easier to use with mousewheel
  - Fixed being able to cause an empty inventory slot with wallet by a certain action
  - Fixed being able to squeeze into locked garages
  - Fixed Item hanging in the air if the game is paused during telegrab
  - Only show 'Press LMB to deposit' when a transaction requires money
  - Allowed banknotes and coins to be used in nonVR for transactions
  - Fixed clipping house floor in GF
  - Flipped loco spawner orientation in FM
  - Cleaned "missing script" log spam (OculusVR will still have some)
  - Cleaned "There are no audio listeners in scene" log spam
  - Fixed "Oxydizing" typo on a hazmat placard
  - Updated Readme.pdf

Hi everyone!

It’s been a long time since our last big news. Today we’re announcing our second major update, Derail Valley: Simulator, slated to come by the end of the year!



Back in October we hinted at some of our plans for the update. Today we want to share those plans with you in greater detail. For many months, we’ve been working on lots of big and essential features, with the primary goal of fortifying Derail Valley as a well rounded train simulator product. Without going too much into detail, these are the main changes you can expect in the update:

[h3]Revamped Train Simulation:[/h3]



Simulation of the steam engine and diesel-electrics will be completely remade. With further emphasis on realism and details, as well as fully finished controls and manuals, the locomotives will be complete. There will be very few visual changes, and more in how the locos behave - with actual amperage, traction motors, cylinder cocks and other specifics simulated. We’ll go into more detail when the update is close to release. Driving trains in Derail Valley will remain accessible and fun, in our standard fashion, but will also be much closer to how the real trains work. Big thanks to the select few of our highly trusted and knowledgeable beta testers who have been selflessly helping us get this right!



While working on the sim revamp, we’re also laying the groundwork for adding more locomotive types to the game in the future, such as pure electrics and diesel-mechanicals. For Simulator, we’re creating the new simulation platform in such a way that no coding is required to create a new locomotive. While still complex to use, the new platform will greatly increase the output at which both us developers and eventually the modding community can churn out new locos to the game, of virtually any kind. The train mod support and the new loco types won’t be part of the Simulator update on release day, but they’re actively being worked on as part of the sim revamp as we speak.

[h3]Day and Night Cycle and Dynamic Weather:[/h3]



As an addition to its beautiful natural landscapes, Derail Valley will receive seamless cycling of day and night, as well as dynamic weather conditions. This will include clear, cloudy, foggy and rainy conditions that will all spontaneously morph into one another, as you’d expect. The locomotives will, of course, feature wipers and proper headlights to accompany the addition, and the rain will affect traction quality.



While not set in stone yet, the frequency of the day and night cycle and weather changes will be probably set to a certain rate in Career mode (e.g. 24h in game will equate to 1h real time), and will be completely adjustable in Free Roam mode (more on that further below). Players will be able to interact with beds in order to sleep and pass the time. The concept of time passing be further incorporated into gameplay later on, although this remains to be seen.

[h3]Main Menu & Save Manager:[/h3]

Click here or gif above for higher quality video

Perhaps one of the most critical improvements in Simulator will be the complete GUI architecture revamp. Starting Derail Valley won’t throw you directly into gameplay anymore. Rather, a proper main menu that welcomes you first will finally be in place, where you’ll be able to select a user, load and save your progress, start a new game, and do other usual game actions that have been lacking in Derail Valley for so long. The reason this comes this late is that it is much harder to pull off than it may seem -- the game couldn’t be made restartable without some bigger changes that we’re working on, which is a prerequisite for lots of related features.

The new interface is made flexible in such a way that over time we can easily add new settings, such as the “skip tutorial” button when starting a new career game, and alike. The new GUI is also fully consolidated between PC and VR, which wasn’t the case previously, making it easier to maintain it on both platforms.

[h3]Sandbox / Free Roam Mode:[/h3]

Click here or gif above for higher quality video

Welcomed by many players will be the new Free Roam mode. It will let you play without worrying about fees, licenses or earning money. You’ll be able to pick your own scenario parameters, such as starting location, destination, time of day, weather conditions and train, and just do whatever you want without consequences. Only the base locomotives of each kind will be available on fresh start in Free Roam. You’ll need to unlock the higher classes by buying the license for them in Career first, thus incentivizing the player to play the much more engaging Career mode. Of course, the players who insist on having everything unlocked right from the start will still have the option of asking someone for a save file with everything unlocked.

You’ll be able to design your own consists for use in scenarios, and share both consists and scenarios with other players. In Free Roam the jobs, trains and locomotives will still spawn in the world as they do in Career mode. You’ll be able to complete those jobs, but without any monetary rewards, nor penalties.

[h3]Localization:[/h3]



We’re making Derail Valley multilingual, which should increase the game’s reach in many countries around the world. Currently, we’re aiming for German, Russian, Dutch, Japanese, French and Serbian languages, and we’ll likely also include Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, Korean and Polish. If there’s demand for these or more languages, please let us know -- your input means a lot. We’ve been preparing all of the game’s string database, GUI and booklets for localization, and the only things that will remain universal (in latin script) will be the IDs of locos, tracks, locations, jobs and licenses.

[h3]In The Meantime:[/h3]



We expect to have Derail Valley: Simulator ready for release sometime by the end of this year. This is not set in stone, however, as there’s still a bunch of work to be done and things could be pushed further. When we’re ready to fully reveal the update, we’ll do an In-Depth series going in detail about each of the new features, like we did with Overhauled.

Until then, we’re looking to release 2-4 small updates, similar in scope to builds #89-91, which too were worked on during the ongoing development of Simulator. The small updates will be focused mainly on bug fixes and small improvements, but with each also having a prominent new feature.

[h3]Price Increase:[/h3]

With the release of Simulator, we’ll increase the price of Derail Valley from $19.99 to $35.99. This increase has been long planned and announced, and despite staying in Early Access, we feel that at that point Derail Valley will be worth the new price. Of course the increase will not affect those who bought the game prior to the price increase.

Beyond Simulator, we plan to focus on adding a lot of new content to Derail Valley and making the late game gameplay more strategic and goal driven. That too is heavily under development, but we’ll probably discuss it more next year.

That’s all for this news update! Thank you all for your support, patience and understanding that these things take time! Despite not having released many updates lately, we’ve been busy as always working on Simulator, and our goal remains to make Derail Valley the best train simulator in the world. See you soon with the next small game update!

-Your DV Team

Hi everyone!

It’s been a couple of long months, but we’re back with a new update! This time, the snow has melted, and lovely music took its place! As always, Ivan accompanied this update with an awesome video:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Boombox comes with a variety of music cassettes that you can buy in shops, as well as the ability to play radio. It can be customized to play your favorite online streaming radio stations, as well as playlists of your local music files! We strongly recommend you to read the new readme.pdf file before playing with it, located in the game installation's root folder.

With the boombox came the need to precisely place items in nonVR, which is another addition in this build. Placing items is done using the key 'R' and the mouse wheel.



Having watched your videos and streams, we also acknowledged that rerailing should be made free at the early phase of the game, so we’ve made that change. Additionally, we’ve improved item belt orb slots in VR, booklet saving, fixed trains spawning in each other, and a lot more small things.

Finally, we’ve removed the snow as promised and it won’t be available at least until another Christmas. We know many of you would like us to keep it as an option, but technically that’s not possible right now. Maybe some other year in the future.



If you’ve been wondering about the status of the 2021 major update - it’s heavily in progress, but there’s still a LOT of work remaining to do before we can share anything. Until we have more information, we’ll have small updates coming out, such as today’s one.

We’re looking forward to hearing what you think about the new boombox and the rest of the changes! Have fun driving with your new companion!

P.S. While finishing up this update, we learned that the inventor of the cassette tape, Lou Ottens, had died yesterday at age 94. May this update be in his memory.

-DV Team

Build #91:

  Stability & Internal:

  - Attempted fix for trains that occasionally spawn inside other trains, causing unfair fees
  - Drastically improved automation of terrain build preparation process
  -- This speeds up internal workflow for build making and testing
  - Preferences optimization
  -- Increased preferences reading speed
  -- Added functionality to auto-upgrade preferences
  -- Made anisotropic filtering auto-upgrade to Ultra, if was on High in previous build
  -- Added versioning to preferences file
  - Updated Post Processing

  Items:

  - Added Boombox
  -- Can be bought in CitySW
  -- Features two modes, Radio and Cassette player
  -- Radio can play real life online radio stations (included https://simulatorradio.com/)
  -- Players can add or create radio stations (see readme.pdf for details)
  -- Radio features audible signal loss effect when going through tunnels
  -- Cassette player can play cassettes that can be bought in shops
  -- Some cassettes contain music, whereas others point to players’ local playlist folders
  -- Players can add their own music to those playlists (see readme.pdf for details)
  - Added item placing feature in nonVR
  -- Hold R while holding an item and aim at a surface to see item gizmo
  -- The gizmo will show warning color if aimed location clashes with another surface or item
  -- Use mouse scroll to rotate the gizmo
  -- Release R to place the item in place of the gizmo, at the aimed location
  - Booklets now save the page they were on
  - Fixed issues with Loco Remote
  -- Fixed nonVR mouse interaction not working with joysticks when ungrabbed
  -- Improved couple knob to react better to mousewheel
  -- Fixed item preview being offset in VR inventory
  - Fixed issues with Pocket Watch
  -- Fixed occasional scrolling  jam in nonVR
  -- Fixed wind knob chaotically colliding with the environment when held
  -- Fixed falling too slow
  - Fixed the inability to pick up the items remaining on the turntable control panel in nonVR
  - Item highlighting is now disabled by default in nonVR
  - Optimized shovel texture size

  VR:

  - Made improvements to belt orbs
  -- Their position is now saved
  -- Items stored in them are now saved too
  -- Orb rotation now snaps to 90 degree angles when in close proximity
  -- Rotation gizmo now appears when hovering over the orb
  - Improved controller anchors for Cosmos users (thanks Niko!)
  - Fixed draft lever (and DE6 windows) not working on some headsets
  - Fixed shovel in VR getting dropped when holding it a certain way and teleporting

  Career:

  - Rerailing is now free until buying licenses CCUR1 or LONG1
  - Improved randomness of destination input tracks in job generation
  - License printouts now list license dependencies
  - Removed the ability to click trash bin to delete job (throw it in instead)

  Tutorial:

  - Fixed taking money via wallet-click in tutorial breaking the tutorial
  - Tutorial now introduces the player to mouse-scroll train controls in nonVR
  - Fixed various rare bugs with reloading the game while in tutorial part 2 or skipping tutorial

  Misc:

  - Removed snow, at least until next Christmas
  - Improved interactable control aim precision in nonVR
  - Limited junction speed limit to 60 (was 70 before), to prevent unexpected derailments
  - Money left in cash registers, career managers, etc. is now returned to wallet on game quit
  - Fixed receipt not being able to flip pages
  - Fixed missing crosshair tooltip in nonVR if starting the game with Cab Highlight option off
  - Fixed nonVR inventory bugging out when retrieving items via pause menu
  - Improved tender water hatch to be easily grabbable in nonVR
  - Tweaked shape of controller tooltip background in VR
  - Added readme.pdf to game root folder