Continuing the theme of new modding features, this update focuses on light sources!
You can now add your own headlights to train mods, as well as use a prop light source in your maps.


You can now create custom light sources (which can be turned on/off in the cab) for your train mods.
Just like with particle systems, you can add as many lights as you like and can customize things like the color, range, position, etc.

You can also make flashing/fade effects for things like alternating ditch lights!



You can access all these options in the Modding manager.
When editing a train mod, go to "Effects -> Lights"



Just like with the particle emitters, you can use the transform edit tool to position the light source anywhere on your mod:




You can choose between three different types of light source:

• Point light - which emits light in all directions in a sphere
  
• Spot light - which shines in a single direction, like a headlight
  
• Spot light with glow - which is the same as a spotlight, but also adds a small glow effect

if you choose the "Spot light with glow" light type, you will see both the spotlight and a second light source which adds a small glow around the light. This is very helpful for making headlights look more realistic:




Something you will likely want to do to make your headlights look better is to make a custom mesh show up when the light is enabled.

For example, you can make a custom mesh which only contains small circles which hover in front of the lights on the train. So when you turn the lights on, this extra mesh will be visible and make the lights look like they are lit:




You can find all the information you need in the official train modding guide.
The guide has also been updated to include information about custom audio from the previous update.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664192139

And there is also a guide here for making liveries using the new modding system:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2784582335


Just like how you can place a custom particle emitter as a prop, you can now place a custom light source in the same way! This means you can create your own light sources in your layouts.

You can customize these lights in all the same ways as the ones in train mods. This means you can make flashing light effects, change the colors, create spotlights, etc.

The yellow pointy object which the light comes from is only visible when editing, if you click "Apply edits" on the edit tool this will become invisible. You can use "Edit details" again to make it visible.



You can find the prop light source in the "Room -> tools 2" drawer:




This update also adds the ability to enable/disable lights on trains using the hand-held controller. You can press "L" to toggle the headlights, and "Shift + L" to toggle the cab lights.
You can customize both of these bindings in the controls menu:




There are also now a couple of new kinds of AI trigger signs!
You can now enable/disable the bell, and enable/disable the headlights using AI signs.




This update also includes a ton of minor features:

• There is now a "minimal" cab preset for train mods, this cab just has buttons and speed controls, without any 3D mesh.
  
• Fixed bug where AI trains driving in reverse would "inch forward" when stopped at a signal.
  
• Fixed issues with the doppler sound effect being set incorrectly on newly spawned trains.
  
• Fixed issue where custom audio was not loaded correctly on liveries made for train mods.
  
• Fixed the "Show Interaction UI" option, which was previously broken for props.
  
• There is now a button (folder icon) next to the wheel preset texture in the train modding menu. This button will open the templates folder (a shortcut to the template wheel texture).
  
• The "lighting" options menu is now in the "Graphics" menu, instead of "Custom track".
  
• The "Freeze time" and "Freeze weather" settings are now on by default.
  
• Workshop mods that contain particle effects or lighting effects will automatically get the tags "Particles" and "Lights", so you can tell which mods use these features, just like "Animations" and "Audio".

And that's everything for now!
You can have a look on the workshop and already find a few mods which are using these new features:

Here is a circuit board themed testing engine which has LED's which light up:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2802635675

And here is a version of the classic U20C with flashing ditch lights:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2802636105

You can also try the amazing Pennsylvania steam switcher mod which was used in the thumbnail for this update, made by Ms. Missy!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2801035222

Today's update expands the train modding system with custom audio files!
You can now use Mp3 & WAV files to replace the sounds of train mods.
This includes:

• Horns/whistles
  
• Dynamic multi-step horns (hold down horns!)
  
• Engine startup/shutdown sounds
  
• Engine speed loops

Along with the new mod features, this update also adds:

• You can now shut down a locomotives engine by pressing "G" while holding a held-held controller in large scale. You can toggle the engine on/off this way, and you can re-bind the key in the controls menu.
  
• Audio Doppler effect (+ setting in the audio menu to change the intensity of the effect).
  
• WAV files supported (it used to be just Mp3, but WAV files allow for seamless looping)
  
• Much faster audio loading.
  
• Settings data is now stored in a plain text file which you can edit/backup.
  
• A message is now shown when a livery is loaded without the required base mod, showing the name of the base mod.
  
• Minor fixes relating to Joystick gameplay and signals/AI signs enabling track editing when used.

You can now access a bunch of new audio options in the "train mod -> general options -> audio options" menu:



From here you can access a bunch of options, like engine sounds (either presets or custom audio files) and edit the horn/whistle.

For the horn you can choose between 3 different types:

• Preset (choose an official horn from the in-game list)
  
• Single audio file (supply your own Mp3 or WAV audio file)
  
• Multi-step horn (a more complex horn that can be held for a variable amount of time)

This new type of horn uses 3 separate audio files, one for the beginning of the horn, one for the middle (which can be looped) and one at the end.
Using these files the horn can be held down by the player!

(Please note, the official trains do not use this system, only mods which are specifically set up for multi-step horns will work this way)



If you set the horn type to "Multi-step horn" then you can open a new menu which allows you to set each one of these audio files:




You can also open the engine audio options menu to further customize the engine sounds.
This means you can edit things like the startup sound, cold-start, shutdown, etc.

You can also supply your own audio files (which loop) to be used as engine speed sounds.
Each sound will be used at a different speed as the train speeds up.



If you leave an option as "None" then the default sound will be used.
(e.g. if you only want to replace the engine sounds but keep the "Idle" sound the same, keep it set to "None").


You can now shut down a locomotives' engine by pressing "G" while holding a hand-held controller in large scale (or driving a train in miniature). You can toggle the engine on/off this way, and you can re-bind the key in the controls menu.
Doing this will mute the idle engine noise.

Please note that this will affect the "last locomotive driven" which means the last locomotive you selected with a controller or drove in miniature scale.


The game now uses a "Doppler" audio effect.
This effect causes moving objects to warp their sound slightly, and gives the effect of a train sweeping past you. It is most noticeable when a train sounds its horn and passes by you at speed.

You can adjust the strength of the Doppler effect in the Audio menu:




Lots of data (like settings) is now stored in text files.
Previously it was stored in the "registry", which was a really old system back from RL's release.
This means you can mess with them manually if you choose to.
You can also backup the settings files too.



You can find these files in the "Rolling Line/Data/" folder.

• The "settings.txt" file contains all of the settings in the game.
  
• The "patches.txt" file is used to track some special data patches where data is automatically updated (e.g. when settings are automatically altered after an update).
  
• The "contentViewed.txt" file stores data for first-time-viewed things in-game, like showing help messages and running maps in their default state when first launched.

This folder also contains the keyboard and joypad bindings too.

Along with this change, there is now a button in the "Misc" menu when resets all settings to default.

• Signals and AI-trigger signs now no longer enable track editing on the track surrounding them.
  
• Thanks to the above change, editing signals now no longer creates an increase of lag by editing the map.
  
• Fixed bug where the "near track" list for signals and AI-signs was not updated when loading a pre-placed object from a save.
  
• Fixed bug where an audio file failing to load would cause the desired audio file to be set to the last one loaded.
  
• A message is now shown when a livery is loaded without the required base mod, showing the name of the base mod.
  
• Made some changes to reading magazines when using a joypad (the mouse no longer appears and the black background is removed).
  
• The 3D popup message box is now wider (if the text shown requires it).
  
• Removed several unused settings from the game.

I've been planning out what I hope to achieve with Rolling Line during the year, and a big part of that is an Oculus Quest version! (and in turn, more flexibility towards other platforms in the future).

Basically I've been meaning to make an Oculus Quest version for a long time, and now is the time to finally commit to it.
But in order to do this there are lots of other features and upgrades that need to happen in the background.

Here is a guide showing the various features which need to happen to make this Oculus Quest version possible:



Also keep in mind that this does NOT include specific gameplay features (e.g. the AI update that just happened) since these kinds of updates are separate to the Oculus Quest goal and are more spontaneous. Things like train AI can be developed and released at any stage without any pre-requirements.

So basically, there will be other updates thrown into the mix, but the ones shown in this image are the key features that are getting priority.

• completing the train modding system
  
• better tutorials & in-game guides
  
• clean-up of the track addon system (+ track modding)
  
• asynchronous map loading (smooth loading)
  
• ots of back-end software optimization

And of course there will be some fun gameplay features coming too!

But in the meantime, it's good to have a clear goal for the future and a proper list to work through.
Starting of course with audio modding, which is what today's update was all about!

The new train modding system now has full support for liveries!

But this new livery system can be used for much more than just simple texture-swaps...

Think of a livery as a "variant" of another mod, which shares assets (3D models, textures, audio, etc) with the original mod. You can replace assets, add new assets, and even remove assets.
You can also modify data like cab positioning, wheel blocks, sound effects, etc.



For example:
- You could make a variant of a mod which adds an additional 3D model for a unique horn, and change the horn sound effect as well.
- You can replace the texture colors to make a re-color of a train.
- You could add different steam particle effects to a steam engine.
- You could add an additional 3D model of raw materials to a freight wagon, to create a different kind of load. Like adding tree logs to a flat-car.

From the player's perspective, if they download a livery they also need to download the "base mod" which the livery is based on.
This is because the livery needs access to the assets (e.g. 3D models) that the base mod contains.

Train mod liveries can be found under the new "Train mod livery" tag on the Steam Workshop:



There is a full guide here which explains how the new livery system works:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2784582335


A new feature which this update adds is a system for linking mods to their liveries using tags.
Any train mods uploaded to the Steam Workshop after this update will automatically include a "Livery Key" tag.
This tag will be shared between any liveries and the base mod.

What this means is that you can easily click on the livery key tag and you will see a list of all the different liveries which share the same base mod, as well as the base mod itself:






This update also adds a new feature which allows mod creators to choose permissions for whether their mods can be duplicated or used in liveries.



Choosing "Not allowed" for either of these options will prevent other players from making liveries/duplicating your mod.

But remember, modding is a community effort!
I would hope that all mods remain completely free to be edited and built upon, so please only use these restrictions if you feel that it is truly necessary.

For example, if you have a specific design which you don't want people to make liveries of, please also release a "livery template" version as well which people can freely edit.


Another useful modding feature included in this update is the "open asset folder" button next to any asset selection input in the modding menus.

You can click this little folder icon to open the folder which this asset is contained in.
e.g. if the mod is a livery, then this will open the folder of the original mod






Textures also now auto-refresh when you edit them!
So if you are creating a mod and you make changes to the texture you are using (in the "custom assets" folder) all you need to do is click "Refresh preview model" and the mod will use the newly edited texture!

This fixed the issue previously where textures would not refresh unless you used a new file-name.


This update also includes:

• You can now use a setting to switch between hold/toggle mode for "hold key to change between prop scale and prop height" when placing props. This setting is in the "Pause menu -> PC Options"
  
• QuickMods now have AI-control buttons in their cabs.
  
• There is now a pop-up message when you try and load a QuickMod livery if its base-mod is not downloaded.
  
• You will also see a pop-up message if a mod fails to load a 3D model asset (e.g. if a model is missing and cannot be loaded)
  
• Fixed bug where mod names could be set as empty.
  
• Fixed bug where collision would not be set correctly when a train mod uses an animated mesh for its body.

And that's all for now!
This update serves as a nice chunk of progress when it comes to the new modding system, and I'm sure the modding community is going to be very happy about this!

But there is still lots of work to come (e.g. custom audio and features like headlights in train mods) so the new modding system is still far from finished.
Keep an eye out for more updates in the future!

In the meantime, here are a few examples of the new livery system in action:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2784186560&searchtext=
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2784186486&searchtext=

And here is the base mod that these livery require:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2784186381&searchtext=

Making liveries is a lot simpler than you would probably expect, all it takes is some basic image editing (like in Microsoft Paint) and the rest is all done in-game.
Why not have a go at making your own? ːsteamhappyː

Here is the step-by-step guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2784582335

It's about time!
Re-bindable keys has been one of those important features that's been nagging me for years, but it never quite made it to the top of the priority queue.

So this update adds full key binding support, as well as controller support.
Which means you can now play Rolling Line with joypad controls too!



The game will recognize any controller plugged into your PC and it will be used if you have "Joypad Enabled" in the "Pause menu -> PC Options" menu.

If you launch the game with a controller plugged in you will see this message on the main menu:
Simply press "Start" on your controller to enable it!



While a controller is plugged in you can still use the keyboard & mouse controls just like normal.

You can also use the key binding menu to re-bind controller buttons as well.

Help text (like the context-sensitive-help messages) will also show the new binding keys if you change them.


You can find a new menu called "Controls" on the pause menu.
From here you can individually re-bind all of the actions in the game. Each binding can have both a main binding and an alternative binding as well (e.g. you can use both the scroll wheel and PageUp/PageDown to control the players' height).

You can also reset each binding back to its defaults individually, or clear the binding's keys (set both the main and alternative binding to "none").



At the top of the controls menu you can change the category to show a different list of controls.

You can also toggle between the keyboard & mouse bindings and the joypad bindings.
This means you can customize the PC controls as well as the joypad controls independently, without overriding the other.



Some bindings will have a little '?' button next to them, you can click this to get a more detailed description of what the binding does:



Now that there's a proper in-game controls menu, you'll probably find a bunch of controls that you didn't even know existed!
Like these shortcut controls, which make toggling options like prop snapping and scale speed much easier and quicker:



Bindings are saved to a simple text file, which you can find in:
Steam\steamapps\common\Rolling Line\Data




Remember Rolling Line uses "SteamVR input" which is an input binding system built into Steam. You can use this system to fully re-bind the VR controls (using any kind of VR controller).
The keyboard controls menu does not work for VR inputs.

You can find a full guide here on how to re-bind your controls for VR:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2029205314


There are also a bunch of new settings related to controls, like:

• "item clone key toggle" - is used to make the key which keeps a copy of items in your hand when placing (which is shift by default) behave either as toggle or hold.
  
• "cinematic mouse smoothing" - enables a mouse smoothing filter, which is great for capturing video footage where you want the camera to rotate really smoothly. It's NOT at all recommended for actual gameplay.
  
• "joypad enabled" - you can manually disable the joypad if you want to leave a controller plugged into your computer without it being used in Rolling Line.
  
• "joypad look speed (horizontal/vertical)" - change the sensitivity of the joysticks.
  
• "invert joypad look (horizontal/vertical)" - change whether the joystick view should be inverted.
  
• "joystick deadzone" - higher values reduce joystick drift, lower values increase accuracy.

You can find all these options in the "Pause menu -> PC Options" menu.




This update also adds/restores a bunch of whistles into the new modding system:

• The whistle from the Ka steam engine
  
• An NYC 6-Chime
  
• A 3-Chime

Lastly, this update also has several other bug fixes and changes:

• Fixed bug where train audio would sometimes linger in the scene after a map was loaded with no moving trains on it.
  
• Made various fixes to the cab of the custom livery U20C (like headlight position).
  
• Fixed a small track error in the save file used for tutorial maps.
  
• The VSync setting has now been moved to "graphics" instead of "advanced"

And that's all for now!
I'm so happy with how positive the reception of the previous AI update was, and that update is now the most well rated update in Rolling Line's history!

Though the exciting updates still need to be balanced out with "quality of life" features like key binding, there's definitely going to be plenty more big updates on the horizon!

Most of Rolling Line's updates are focused on either map making or modding tools, so It's about time I added something a bit more gameplay themed! So here's something that's been asked for more times than I can count throughout RL's history: train AI!

This update adds a new "Auto Drive" mode which allows trains to respond to signals and start/stop accordingly, as well as "Auto Switch" which can automatically switch turnouts to direct trains down empty tracks to avoid other trains.



You can use these new features to make all sorts of track designs, like automatically sorted yards and sidings for AI-driven trains to use:



You can also make use of a variety of "AI trigger signs" which can be placed on the ground next to the tracks to make them do things like sound the horn, reverse, stop & wait, and even control the max speed.



This AI system does require a bit of understanding to use, so I've written an official guide which explains how to build your own AI-ready layout elements and how to make sense of this new system:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2753143585

To summarise, AI relies on signals to decide where to go.
The guide above explains various ways in which you can set up signals so that your AI-driven trains can do operations like passing each other and automatically filling empty tracks in a yard.

But if you just want to do simple things like making trains sound their horn when passing a crossing, or stopping and waiting at a station then you don't need to use any signals at all! You only need to make use of the simple AI-trigger signs.





You can enable/disable AI by pressing "Y" when controlling a train with a hand-held controller.
Or you can simply use the buttons in the cab of every train:



There is also an "AI debug view" you can enable in the "Misc" menu which will make coloured lines show up in front of any AI-driven trains to help visualize what they are doing.
This is incredibly helpful when you are designing your own AI-friendly layouts!




This update required the speed of trains to be converted into real values (instead of the mysterious "Rolling Line units per hour" that is use to be!).
So this means you can now read the train speed in-game using either Mph or Kph!

The speed steps sizes have been adjusted a tiny bit too.



You can convert between the two in the menu "Pause menu -> Misc -> Mph instead of Kph"




Another bonus feature of this update is that it adds some rusty variants of a couple of the original NZ freight wagons:



And a special feature of these wagons is that they have a random chance of spawning with special graffiti on them!
Some of you may remember that this graffiti was included in the game as an Easter Egg in the past.

Huge thank you to Obli who made the incredible art for this graffiti!




This update also includes a bunch of smaller changes:

• Fixed the bug where wagon couplers drift apart when trains speed up and slow down (especially at low frame rates).
  
• Pressing Enter to copy the track data on a piece of track will now also copy the colour used for the ballast at the same time.
  
• Fixed a broken piece of track in the "example shelf" new game template map.
  
• Entering a moving train will no longer cause the locomotive to reset its "goal speed". This was most noticeable when stopping trains (setting the speed to zero) then trying to leave the cab it would sometimes reset the speed and no longer return to zero.
  
• Fixed bug where signals would flick over to green for a short time while locomotives pass by.
  
• Added audio, extended skybox and made various fixes to the Open Hearth Point map.
  
• Fixed bug where the particle emitter positioning UI when setting up a mod would forget the previous particle position when editing multiple times in a row.
  
• Loaded 3D models in the modding system will now have their materials automatically compressed into a single material.

And that's everything!
I've been away from home (and consequently away from work) for a while around Christmas and New Years so this update has taken longer than I hoped.
But now that everything is back to normal I'm hoping to release a list of what I actually have planned for this year and what kind of updates you can look forward to!

This year is going to be a big one for Rolling Line, and things are starting to kick back into gear again.
I hope everyone has fun with the new AI features, I know I'm personally keen to have a go at making my own automated AI-friendly map!

Happy New Year everyone!
I've got big plans for Rolling Line in 2022, and it's starting off with a highly requested modding feature:
Custom particle effects!

You can now add your own steam/smoke/fumes particles to train mods, as well as place a new "particle emitter" prop in your maps to create your own moving particle effects.




The first part of this update makes it possible to create your own custom particle effects for the new train modding system.

You can access these new particle options in the new "Mod edit window -> Effects -> particles" menu:



You can add as many particle emitters as you like:



And you can customize all sorts of things like particle size, colour, speed, rate, etc.



You can also easily mirror particle effects, which is perfect for making steam engines!



You can use these particles for all sorts of things, like steam engine smoke, whistle effects, and even startup fumes on diesel engines.
The rusty U20C now has a cold-start fumes effect to demonstrate this:



You can find a whole new section of the official train modding guide which explains how to use these new particle effects in detail:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664192139


This update also adds a placeable particle emitter prop!
Which means you can now easily add your own particle effects to your maps.



Of course you can customize these particle emitters with all the same options!



You can be really creative with these, and I've already seen a bunch of great ideas made by the community, like this one which uses particles for a ship's smoke stacks as well as waves!



You can find this new particle emitter prop in the "Room -> tools 2" drawer:




Some of you might know of this map I uploaded to the Steam Workshop a while back:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2142272917

Well it suits these new particle emitter props perfectly!
So I decided to give it a bit of an update and include it in the game officially.



You can find this map on the main menu by choosing "new game -> mini maps -> open hearth point"




Another modding related feature which this update adds is a new "Lock to wagon body" option for wheel blocks.
Enabling this option will make this set of wheels "lock" onto the body of the mod, which will stop it from rotating to match the track and it will instead always line up with the wagon's body mesh.

This is useful for animated steam engine wheels which you want to be visually connected to the main steam engine body, instead of pivoting independently.



You can also now access all the animated wheel sets from the official trains as mod presets!
So you can use models like the Berkshire wheels, side-rod animated wheels, big-boy, etc, in your own mods.



The control valves in the steam engine cab for mods also now control the steam effects (if your mod makes use of them) just like official trains.



You can also now use the transform edit tool (PC only) to move points used in train modding, like the cab position, player spawn position, particle positions, etc.
Simply press F when pointing at the preview point object and you will be able to move it around just like any other prop:



And a couple of small other things:

• The "Show interaction UI" and "Show button names/icons" settings have been moved to the "misc" menu (instead of being deep inside the "VR options -> interaction" menu).
  
• The page is now set correctly when selecting a mod preset from the list. This applies to all item lists (like selecting a custom livery texture, or wagon type).

And that's all for this update!
These smoke particles are really fun to use in maps and I can't wait to see what kind of creative ways people will be using them. And I'm sure the train modders are really happy with the new features.

2022 is going to be an exciting time, and Rolling Line is going to be growing a ton during this year!
Happy new year!

Merry Christmas everyone!
This year Rolling Line's Christmas update adds a very famous (and very pretty) train known as the Holiday Train!

It's actually a real-world train which Canadian Pacific runs down its main line to celebrate the holiday season. The real one even has live music performances from stages built into boxcars!



You can find the new Holiday Train (as well as a bunch of boxcar and passenger wagons with lights too!) in the "miscellaneous -> Christmas 21" drawer:



When you spawn a copy of one of the wagons, it will use a random lights design (from a few different options):



The lights on all the wagons also change colour!
And thank you to Stationmaster who made the original version of the AC4400CW with the little Christmas tree on top and the wreath!




This update also includes:

• Lots of the branding images for the game have been changed to a temporary special version for Christmas:
  
  
  
  
• Just like with other holiday events, there is now a special main menu too:
  
  
  
  
• And you can access the little scene used for the main menu from the "new game -> Mini Maps -> Christmas" option:
  
  
  
  
• There is now a warning shown when setting the "model offset" value for the wheels & couplers on train mods. This is because the model offset value is only meant to be used for small visual adjustments (like moving the model a small distance so it lines up properly). This value should not be used to extend the length of the whole wagon, for this you should use the "Length" value found in "general options".
  
• Loud weather no longer causes the music to fade out (e.g. storms and heavy wind).
  
• You can now have multiple animated meshes on a single "wheel block" for train mods. There used to be a bug where only one animated mesh would be recognized, this has been fixed.
  
• The image thumbnails for maps (and various other lists) now glow-in-the-dark, so you can still see them easily on dark maps.

You may have noticed that there's actually still a while to go till Christmas (10 days!).
I'm releasing this update a little early since I'm going to be spending the holidays with family, and enjoying some time off work. Update will resume after new years, and I have tons of exciting stuff planned for 2022!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new beautiful holiday train, and have a Merry Christmas!

Time for part-2 of the new train modding system!
This update includes a bunch of options for making locomotives, including:

• The option to make train mods controllable (and drivable inside the cab).
  
• Preset cab options, like a basic diesel cab and steam cab.
  
• Preset audio for the engine sound effects (e.g. steam engine, electric, diesel, etc)
  
• Preset audio horn sound effects. Use any of the horns/whistles from the official game in your mods.
  
• Options for adjusting the player spawn position when driving the train.
  
• And various other additions to the new modding system.

This update also includes a ton of fixes, as well as a couple of new liveries in preparation for Christmas!

The official guide for the new modding system has also been updated to include information about these new features:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664192139

And there is also a new guide which goes into more detail about making animated wheels using Blender:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2671456640


To start with, this update now lets you turn your mod into a "locomotive".
By default, your mod just behaves like a "wagon" (so you can't drive it or add features like cab controls or a horn).

If you want to make a locomotive, simply go into the modding UI, then into the "general options" menu and enable the "Locomotive" option.
Once you do this, some new options will appear (like cab and audio options).



You can now choose from the diesel and stream cab presets, which will add in the speed controls & switchboard that the official trains use.



This update just adds basic cabs, there will be an update in the future which focuses entirely on customizing cabs and more advanced things like custom models and moving the individual controls around.

In the meantime, you can change the position of a few basic things:

• Whole cab offset pos - move the position of the whole cab object. This will also move the player spawn, buttons, horn effect position, etc.
  
• Player spawn offset pos - choose where the player spawns when you teleport into the cab of this train (aka the driver position).
  
• Horn offset pos - the location where the horn sound effect comes from (line this up with the physical location of the horn/whistle on your mod).

While you are editing these "position" values there will be a visual preview which shows up on the preview train model:




This update also adds the option to customize the engine sound effects as well as the horn/whistle.
Another future update will add the ability to import your own audio files to use! (but for now there are only the built-in options).



You can also enable track clicks. This will cause this wagon to make "click-clack" sound effects when passing over connections between tracks.


There are also a few other new options & fixes:

• You can set the "pivot mode" of the wagon body mesh (whether the model averages it's position based on all the wheels or just the front/back wheels).
  
• The "locomotive" tag is automatically added if you save a mod without first customizing the tags.
  
• Fixed a bunch of problems with wheels being inverted when wagons are reversed.
  
• After saving a mod, the modding UI list returns to the correct page.

I've uploaded a couple of example to the Steam Workshop which make use of these new aspects of the modding system:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2680945462&searchtext=
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2680948451&searchtext=

You can also find some example mods included in the game files here:
...Rolling Line\Modding\templates\train mod examples\


In preparation for the Christmas update, this update includes a couple of new colour variants for official trains.

Firstly, there's a Canadian Pacific version of the AC44:



And some new red versions of the Pullman carriages:



The reason these are being added is because the 2021 Christmas update is going to include the famous Holiday Train! (as well as a bunch of wagons to go with it)



Keep an eye out for that!

And that's everything for now,
Enjoy!

This is likely the most highly-requested update that the Rolling Line community has been asking for!
The (almost 3 years old) QuickMod system is finally getting the overhaul it deserves.

Just like how the prop modding system is all handled in-game using menus (and a live preview model), this new modding system gives the same treatment to train modding.

PLEASE NOTE:
This is only part-1 of the new modding system, and currently only includes the basic features for making wagons. Locomotive controls and cab customization (and much more) will be coming in future updates!

This means you can now create your own train mods in-game!
You still need to create your 3D models & texture assets in external software, but once your assets are ready you can do everything else using in-game menus.



Making train mods no longer requires messing around with text files and having to re-load your mods over and over again to see changes.

The new modding system has an in-game preview model, which updates in real-time to show what your mod looks like! (and the positioning of wheels, couplers, etc.)



Since all these new tools are in-game, making train mods is now far easier to understand.
I've written a full step-by-step guide on how to create a basic mod using the new system, and how to make use of all the various new features this system uses:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664192139

I've also made a guide which focuses on how to make animated wheels to use in the new modding system:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2671456640

Some new features included in this new modding system are:

You can now make full use of animations (using .FBX model files) in your mods!
If you use an animated mesh as a wheel block it will match the speed of the train, which is prefect for animated wheels:



Plus you can also use an animated mesh for the train's body, which can be used for all kinds of things (more options, like being able to toggle animations, will be coming in future updates):




Something which will make modding far easier is the new feature of "presets".
You can now choose to use any of the wheel blocks and couplers from the official in-game trains and include them in your mod.
This means you don't even need to supply wheel or coupler models if you instead just want to use a default wheel block.




Something QuickMod modders will be very familiar with is the annoying limitations of the old "wagon length" system (which was very frustrating).

Well good news! this new system allows for complete freedom with length values, wheel positions, and even simple model offsets.

This means you can set the wheel positions to any decimal value easily, without any extra tweaking.
Mods can now handle incredibly small sizes too! (no more buggy tiny mods)

For example, the tiny mod shown below works perfectly fine in the new modding system:



You can also use options like "model offset" and "flip model" to move/rotate models easily without needing to edit the actual 3D asset.


Another thing that QuickMod modders will love to hear is that setting up couplers is now incredibly easy!

If you are using a preset, then coupler lengths are 100% handled for you, so you don't even need to think about it.
But if you are supplying your own 3D models then there is now an in-game visual guide to help setup couplers correctly:

(the green circle shows you where the "couple point" is)



Couplers can also be any length you like, either super-long or super-small will still work just fine!


A nice quality-of-life feature for this new mod system is these "help" buttons you can find when looking through the various options.

Simply click on these to get a short description of what the setting does and how to use it.




Just like with the prop modding system, there are now some example mods (made using the new modding system) which you can find in the folder:
"Rolling Line/Modding/Templates/Train mod examples"

These files include model and texture files for a range of different uses, including examples of animations and advanced features of the modding system.




This update changes a ton of stuff behind the scenes, and also includes a few new features:

• Hovering over an item in a thumbnail grid (like workshop maps, mod list, etc) will create a popup tool-tip showing its full name.
  
  
  
  
• The custom livery texture list now shows filenames, so you can use the search function to filter by filename.
  
• Deleting a livery now has an "are you sure? yes/no" popup.
  
• Fixed bug where wagons couplers would not detach when the wagon it was coupled with has derailed.
  
• Interaction with the preview model (for wagons and props) is disabled when capturing a thumbnail. This means you can hover over the preview and click without cloning it.
  
• The livery templates folder has been moved into its own sub-folder, alongside prop templates and wagon templates.

You can find a whole new bunch of "Train Mod" categories on the Steam Workshop now, and these will include both QuickMods as well as mods made using the new system.



If you want to browse a list of only mods made using the new system, click on the new "Train Mods" tag:



Regardless of whether a train mod is made using the old QuickMod system, or the new system, it will still show up in the same mod spawner drawer in-game.

So when you are downloading mods off the workshop you don't need to worry about which system it was made from! You can use them in the exact same way regardless.


Even though this new modding system is being made, old QuickMods will still work perfectly fine.
You can even continue to make QuickMods the old way if you choose to, and any QuickMods you've already made will continue to be supported.


Remember, this is just part-1 of the new train modding system!
There is still much more to come, including custom cab controls, custom audio, lights, steam smoke effects, etc...

This is a massive job, so I'll be releasing these features in stages.
The next part of the modding system on the way will allow you to make drivable locomotives with basic features like preset cabs and controls.
Keep an eye out for that!


But in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the new modding system!
This is something both I and the community have been excited about for years, so it's great to finally bring this plan into action.

Modding is a key part of what makes Rolling Line what it is today, and it's this amazing community of skilled and creative people that makes this possible!

Today's update adds custom livery support for the new JGR 150 steam loco from the last update!
It also includes some menu UI improvements for loading official maps.

The livery template for the JGR is an "advanced template" which means that it has much more options for detailing than the other steam engines.
Though that does mean it's a little more complicated to work with!



Just as with all the other liveries, you can find the templates in the "Rolling Line -> Modding -> templates" folder.



Plus there's a guide here on Steam that explains how to make your own liveries!
All you need to make liveries is basic image editing software (even MS Paint is fine):

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1405658466

You can find player-made liveries for the JGR simply by going to the Steam Workshop and using the “livery type” drop-down list and choosing "Steam JGR":



As with all other liveries on the Steam Workshop, once you have subscribed to them they will show up in the "trains -> liveries" drawer. Choose the category "Steam JGR" to view only liveries of that type:



To get you started, here's the livery featured in this updates thumbnail called the "Metropolitan Ry. No. 72" made by Dark Derby!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2644655372


This update also adds some new menus to make loading official maps easier!
"Official maps" are layouts that are included in the game by default.

Firstly, these maps have been divided into a few categories:

• "Main maps" - the large major maps like "Top of the south", "Paranapiacaba", "Santa Fe", etc
  
• "Mini maps" - the smaller maps like "Hanmer Springs", "Puzzling World", etc
  
• "Custom maps" - the template maps which are used as examples to help you start making a map

And you can now access all of these maps from the pause menu! (instead of needing to go back to the main menu):





The main maps also now have a new fancy UI which shows a few extra screenshots!
You can click on these to view them larger:





This update also includes a few fixes:

• Fixed material bug on the pullman passenger wagons
  
• Fixed various small mesh bugs on the JGR 150
  
• The Halloween menu is now back to normal (the Hanmer Springs menu)
  
• Lots of the menu thumbnails for things like "new game", "load game" etc have been changed

And that's all for now!

I hope you all enjoy the new liveries!