[DEMO free to play] Rail Route - a rail network simulation i

Long time ago I discovered a Czech hobby rail network simulator called simply Brno (http://brnosim.wz.cz/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) – no surprise, it models railways around Moravian city of Brno. It is very different to other simulation games like Transport Tycoon because it is very realistic – according to pictures and manual, it has almost the same interface as real dispatchers use for traffic control.

It cost me many sleepless nights and gave me many early mornings when I was still playing when the sun rose. But now it is more than 10 years old and it is not a real game – it is just a simulator. You do not get any reward for playing (score or at least some delay statistics), if you want some "evolution" / "campaign", you just start at Sunday night (light traffic) and try to manage Monday morning (heavy trafic); and it tends to be quite repetitive – you just route the trains. And it is in Czech only, including manual counting 55 pages of essential instructions how to use the simulator - without them, you are screwed. (This also tells you why my English is not so good - I am native Slovak.)

So I persuaded one of my friends to create a real game – Rail Route – a rail network management and operations simulator. In our game (once finished), you negotiate contracts, build railroads, set up routes for trains and control the traffic. You unlock features to your dispatcher interface, upgrade railway network elements and research new technologies that allow you to automate the operations.



Planned features:

• rail network building
• dynamic traffic contracts
• research system
  • improve your dispatcher interface
  • research new rail network elements
  • upgrade existing elements
  • unlock automation of the tasks
• multiple game modes
  • career mode
  • challenge mode
  • puzzle mode
• in-game editor to create community based levels and scenarios, so that you can model your local / favourite railway.

Currently, we are in a prototyping phase and we will post updates about the progress of the game development. We would like to hear early feedback from the community so we will release playable prototypes regularly. Stay tuned!

Follow us (Twitter): @RailRouteGame
Homepage: https://railroute.bitrich.info" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Last update: First demo is out! Download it, play in browser or watch the game (youtube) where top score was played.

Post approved; please provide feedback here.

Update:

• The simulators we drew inspiration from employ the player mainly with operational tasks... It is fun, too (at least for some), but we felt that it is not enough for a good multi-context game. Our player should benefit both his creativity and strategic thinking too! So the game lets him to build his own railroad.
• ... looked into the graphics of the UI a bit – Rail Route now looks more like a game than a prototype!

Read full article: https://railroute.bitrich.info/2018/05/ ... ding-mode/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Checkout out a blog post about manual routing. You can also try it yourself in a web build.

We added contracts to the game to overcome the pre-defined timetable that has serious limitations for building-based campaign mode. With contracts, the timetable is built dynamically as the game progresses: Each contract has a trial phase – the player routes a “prototype” train to reach given stations so a timetable is recorded for all subsequent operational trains for this contract. The player obtains payments for routing the operational trains and is penalized for their delays relative to the prototype.

Demo will follow this week!

Read full blog post: https://railroute.bitrich.info/2018/06/ ... uncovered/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The third demo of Rail Route is out! We intended it to demonstrate how contracts work. You will find quite a big rail network inspired by Prague railways to prove your dispatcher skills.

But any feedback is more than welcome!

Download on our blog: https://railroute.bitrich.info/2018/06/ ... -released/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I haven't looked at everything, but just watched the manual routing video. Looks like you're getting on top of this. One thing to note - In the real world crossovers are one switch as far as the system is concerned, so clicking on any part of a crossover throws both ends. That prevents the run-through switch problem.

Thank you!

Well, we've got a discussion how to make interconnected switches. Under the hood, there is such file:
(We made our own font extension to visualize all switch variations – with standard font, you will see α, β, γ... instead.)

For a human being, it is obvious where the crossings are present. But computer detection is a bit harder to make bullet-proof, so we postponed this topic for now. It's on backlog.

Hot summer – coding summer. Colorful autumn – coding autumn.

See a teaser how building looks like (open in new tab to play properly). Demo of campaign & building soon!

Next demo is out! This time we want to show you the campaign mode. This will be the core game play when finished. It's in the early stage but the game is getting a direction.

Try it out and tell us your feedback! Share it with us and you will receive the complete game for free!

More on our blog: https://railroute.bitrich.info/2018/11/ ... eginnings/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Check out an update about the automation! You will be able to automate the game so you can think bigger!

https://railroute.bitrich.info/2018/12/ ... -the-game/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Automation demo is out! Check it out and give us your opinion on it!

We have made a lot of changes and with the automation at hand it is quiet a different game. But the core mechanics remains same - it's still train dispatcher simulator we want to create .

You can join our discord server and talk with us about the feedback.

Check out the introduction video!

https://youtu.be/ZsgEFdZ_hsA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We decided to release the feature alpha updates of Rail Route on the itch.io platform. And by today you can download the latest alpha preview of our game:



Beside bug fixes there is a major rework of automation. Read more...

New update is out! Check out the teaser and read about the new features.

Grab the alpha preview game at itch.io.