Vehicles in action

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Vehicles have already been introduced here. This time, we show them in action.

The following video illustrates how they look and feel in-game. We present an old steam train (Norris D 1/3, 1847), carriages and freight transport (1865), a street car (Be 4/6 Mirage, 1966) and a freight train (BR V 100, 1958).

All scenes have been recorded in-game and could be reproduced when playing the game.

Graphics, game-play and sound are not final. Also, many details are still missing. For instance, street car catenary is still missing, there is only one model for people, and animation of people and freight at stations is still very minimal. We will handle these (and more) details prior to release, but they have not been top priority yet.

At this time we would also like to announce our partners for sound effects and music.

Orchestral Media Developments is responsible for sound effects. This is a great cooperation because Orchestral Media Developments is very experienced with tycoon games, since they have also produced the sound effects in “Chris Sawyer’s Locomotion” back in 2004.

DALA Studios composes and produces the soundtrack of the game. DALA Studios will produce a soundtrack with a high artistic value. The style of the music will not be too far away from the very well-received Transport Tycoon soundtrack.

About Orchestral Media Developments: With over 30 combined years in the industry and a portfolio of over 350 completed projects, Orchestral Media Developments are at the forefront of videogame audio, working alongside some of the biggest and best known developers and publishers from around the globe including Sony, Mind Candy, Sega, and Nintendo.

About DALA Studios: Based in Winterthur, Switzerland, the studio was established in 1994. The studio is led by David Langhard, a passionate and very talented (live) musician. David plays heaps of different instruments and is in excellent standing with the Swiss music scene. The studio has already composed more than 400 tracks.

59 thoughts on “Vehicles in action”

  1. Watched this debut in-game video. First thought: great! Second thought: what I see is asking to be called ‘Transport Fever’.

  2. Finally some more news! Could have removed the music so we could really listen to the sounds of the vehicles, but seems good. The steam noise is very nice. As far as I could here, the street car too. The little bell while the tram opens the door is great, as well as the horn of the cargo train. Those details just make it be more alive.

    I’m happy is the same studio of Locomotion!

  6. Very cool. The dream of a Locomotion 2014 version comes true. The water looks amazing!

  7. Looks nice! Can’t wait for it 🙂
    Just a few thoughts:
    – Why do the people disappear when the tram arrives? Would be nice if they walk into the tram.
    – Some houses and the train station from 19th century look more like 20th century. You should improve that.

    • Come on 🙂
      “Graphics, game-play and sound are not final. Also, many details are still missing” Many details are missing, dont worry.

      What is it for a station size at the beginning, large?

      • I know – but they need feedback from us – although the game looks really really nice!!!

        • I know what you mean, but they will make those important details, for sure. They make it with love and have the time.
          Is this a conundrum? 🙂
          ” there is only one model for people, and animation of people and freight at stations is still very minimal.”

  8. ah forgot:

    Workers waiting for the tram look all the same? 🙂 and how about some females?

    • Please, read the article in its completion. It says:

      —–
      For instance, street car catenary is still missing, there is only one model for people, and animation of people and freight at stations is still very minimal. We will handle these (and more) details prior to release, but they have not been top priority yet.
      —–

      This has all been answered: the details are not final, and they are still working on them, but they are definitely already aware of them and they do not bear repeating.

  11. I am just wondering. Would that game had different looking streets also for different time periods ?
    I mean these streets looked too modern there where Horses were moving around 😀

  12. WOW this is looking awesome. Finally a game to replace Transport Giant and Locomotion. Graphics looking stunning cant wait for the release of this.

  13. Just as a note to the devs, steam only comes from the cylinders of a steamer when the drain cocks are open in the initial acceleration out of the station. Once they are moving somewhat, they are closed. Just the one thing I noticed.

    Also if you could include some influence from the Railroad Tycoon 2/3 soundtrack I would absolutely buy this game from what I’m seeing!

  14. This is looking fantastic. Based on what’s done already, it’s a definite purchase for me. Great! Sim gamers have been waiting for a game like this for a long time!

  15. Nur immer weiter so Jungs, sieht schon mal sehr gut aus, und endlich mal Haltestellen wo ordnungsgemäß umgekehrt werden kann (bitte auch auf Zugstationen anwenden, sofern es kein Wendezug ist).
    Auch wenn das Release später erfolgt, so bin ich doch guter dinge das das sehr wohl gerechtfertigt ist und ich mich freue ein sehr gutes Produkt/Ergebnis zu bekommen.

  17. The horse and cart section looks as if it is being played on fast-forward. I hope this is the case as it looks a bit funny otherwise. The rest of it looks very nice!

  18. I like the animations ! And how the vehicles slow down, also before curves. Power lines , double tracks and switches look believable. Animation for passengers getting in and off vehicles are details that will follow, I trust.

    From experiences with simutrans I know that balancing the economy is key, however, for long term fun. And that is so hard to achieve.

    Critique : smoke particles move through the street/bridge passing over the tracks. 🙁

  19. I really like the way, the game looks now. It’s great, how the vehicles and the environment is animated. Also the carriage station is nice, I hope there will also be simple terminal loops and the possibility to build complete bus stations (with possibility to add stops like tracks at a station). The only thing I don’t like at the are the rock “cliffs” next to the track, which you can see at the end of the video. I hope, they will be transformed to proper retaining walls in the final release.

  20. Very nice! The people and horses move comically fast, but I guess that is due to compressed time. Awesome job with the acceleration model for the tram, smooth! Same with the steam, very nice animation. One thing though, the color doesn’t feel right. Steam from the pistons on either side (nice touch that it is there in the first place) should be white, since there is no smoke in it, pretty dense for a fast ride, but dissolve quicker. The emission point should be more to the front, I think. The emissions from the chimney should be even darker under full load. For not showy steam operations, the emission while sustaining speed is thin black smoke. For tourist attraction nowadays, unnecessary amounts of white steam are blasted into the air then. An extra goody would me more emission points under the cab or on domes where extra valves and the whistle are positioned. A standing (running) steam locomotive should always produce some steam from the pistons and valves, smoke also.
    And for the sound guys, the release of the air brakes makes a very nice characteristic sound.
    This is going to be sweet!
    Greetings

  21. street car catenary and so happy to here that as most games miss this. I can’t wait for this game.

  22. OK, nice vid, but now you are telling me to wait? Not nice 😀

    Very good job, guys!

  23. Looks nice. I really wanted a simulator like this, a dream coming true.

    But there are a few problems it seems:

    1. The grass inside house-premises don’t blend with the natural grass terrain. Houses look weird because of that reason.
    2. The terrain grass itself is way too much bright, to the point of not looking realistic at all. Trees are bright as well. I hope this will be fixed before release, or at least become moddable to be fixed by the community later.
    3. Horse animations. I know this is work-in-progress, but they need to be fixed urgently before release. They look absurdly fast.

    • 1. It’s normally on this stage of development. For example, in CiM (if fix some scripts) we can see buildings, what don’t include in release, and they have lighter grass too. It seems, it is common thing in development time. 🙂

      3. On the episode with a horses the game speed is set to 2x. You can see it through people: they too fast too, but in next episode with tramway the peoples moves normally.

  25. This is just wonderful and down right amazing!

    Such detail and the game is not even finished yet. There’s no other transport game available to compete at any level.

    I’m excited for the beta
    I’m excited for the final release
    I’m really buying this and every dlc that might follow!

  27. It looks great, but I’m very glad you decided to release the game later. There are quite a lot of things that need to be fixed and optimed.

    I think most of things are already mentioned here, but theres one thing I noticed: The gras around buildings seems to be a bit brighter than the rest.
    And shouldn’t the whistle of the Norris be a little ‘higher’?

    Other than that it looks really nice!
    Looking forward to more information!

    • Hi,
      thats all correct, but i have a question:
      The videos calls: Vehicles in action, so what is the priority? Vehicles or some other details. They wrote: Graphics, game-play and sound are not final. They make video to show us some vehicles and therefore use some place holder (standard gras green, some standard buildings, trees, etc.)
      So i understand the exceptions, but this is not a big publisher with dollar signs in his eyes. They love her game and make it…so if read: Graphics, game-play and sound are not final, i can think about that and ask me, what could it mean 🙂 Cheers

      • I was just giving my opinion and some critism…

        And besides that, I said that it’s a good plan to move the release date to fix that. I think that should’ve been a nice indication that I do know that this is not the final form of the game.

        Eventhough the video’s called vehicles in action, they showed in-game footage which I critized.
        So there was no need for a lecture mister Springer.

  29. No doubt the most promising transport game I’ve ever seen! This video is amazing! As a fan of Locomotion, you’ve got me hooked already:)

  30. Great stuff with work so far but three sounds I thought were missing….

    1. Horses feet
    2. Trains going over points and the clickety click of jointed track
    3. Squeeling of wheels at the corners on the trams (and trains).

    Keep up the good work.

  31. Bravissimo!
    I hope the time-model will be more realistic than in the TTD?!

    • Well in TF we have more than 150 years of history (1850-2000+), so in any case time model will be not very realistic, for playability. As far I know, at this moment one game’s year = 6 real minutes, or 1 day ~= 1 sec.

      • Might be good if time scale could be altered as in CiM2, so we could have slower gamelay if we want

      • It’s a pity! I think that to build a transport empire more interesting than update trucks that occurs every 10-20 years (namely 60-120 real minutes)
        🙁

  32. I was skeptical of the details but this already contains many small details that make the game so lively.
    Good job so far and can’t wait the final version. 🙂

  33. Once again thanks a lot for your feedback! Here are a few comments and answers to questions.

    As clearly mentioned, many details are still missing. Anyway, we also appreciate your feedback regarding details, because it gives us information on what you consider most important. Of course, smoke particles will be optimized (emission points, color, dependence on velocity and power etc.), different people models will be added (also females), people animation when entering vehicles etc. will be optimized, rendering of terrain and houses will be improved, and sound effects will be more sophisticated. Also, we are aware that houses and streets around 1850 still look too modern.

    Regarding the high speed of the horses and people in the second episode, let us point out that the game speed is set to 2x there. Sorry for not mentioning this earlier, this has caused some confusion. In the game, the speed can be set to 1x, 2x and 4x.

    Regards,

    Basil Weber
    Urban Games

    • Thank you Basil.
      Can you tell me, what station size is it at the beginning, large?

      • The station at the beginning is a small station and has a length of 160 meters. Small stations can have up to four tracks. Length and track limit are not final (this is why I didn’t answer your question before 😉 ).

        • To continue a little about stations, will it be able to have an elevation/bend in a station? (The station nearest to where I live is on a bend and the one I get out the train is on an elevation 😉 )

    • 2. “Tram tracks are built on streets. However, since there are also rural street types (e.g. a field path), this does not mean that it looks like a street.”

  36. Most suggestions here are about details concerning graphics, sounds and small details. IMHO this is not that important. Really, I do not care whether the smoke of a locomotive is like in real life.
    Much more important is the gameplay, the “intelligence” of game models (e.g. traffic flow) , the economic model etc. These are vital for the fun of the game, this is what the makers of the game should care for in particular. Take for example the latest “simcity”. The graphics are nice but the “intelligence” and the economic models are very bad – and it does not make much fun.

    • The new SimCity has to go down as one of the most disappointing game releases ever. It was such a bust. I tried to get into it but it was so plagued with problems (traffic!) and was just too frustrating.

      Forget about the crappy train and freight depot operation.

      Train Fever to the rescue.

  37. I recently came across TF and am quite excited, but I have some questions as well.

    Is there a maximum train size and can you have multiple engines on a train?
    Is there a loading penalty when the train length exceeds the station length?
    And is it possible to have special loading and unloading stations for bulk freight somewhat similar to what Sid Meyers Railroads had where the train slowly drives through the station and loads or unloads instead of stopping?

    Being from the US I tend to like to play with longer freight trains, but a lot of times the station length penalty discourages this despite the station length itself being limited, and that is if the game even allows long trains at all. Roll through stations for coal, iron, and other freight would be great to see, as it would allow and encourage this. Not to mention watching a train slowly roll under a coal loader and be filled would look very neat and be much more realistic, at least in the modern years of the game.

    Also is multiplayer planned as a feature? I would love to see it, even if it is added later after the initial release.

    • Hello,

      “Currently we’re not having a limit for the train length. But it seams so that we’re going to include it. Infinite trains disturb the game mechanics and could break the experience. The train stations aren’t expendable in length, so a train does take up some time to load/unload if it’s longer than usual.”

      ”

      There is no multi-player mode or AI in the initial release.

      There will only be some “light multi-player features” like Steam achievements or resource sharing community sites, since the game allows modding and some people might create and share new vehicles or maps.

      However, there might be an expansion pack or follow-up version in future which turns the game from single- to multi-player.”

      ” Yes, it’s possible to add more than one locomotive to increase the power of a train.”

      “However, there will be a DLC for the US which adds the US look and vehicles. Also, there might be more DLCs for specific countries / regions.”

      • “However, there will be a DLC for the US which adds the US look and vehicles.”

        Now I’m really getting excited!!!

      • I think that’s quite harsh to directly limit train length. Train length should be infinite but limited by realistic factors like horsepower, tractive effort, and multiple locomotives, since that is what it’s like in real life. That would encourage strategizing to make realistic choices between, say, a locomotive that is cheap and can handle multiple units or one locomotive which is expensive but can pull the train on its own. Steam locomotives would be especially interesting to work with since they can’t really handle multiple units.

        Basically, it is unrealistic to limit the number of cars and there should be no way it can break the game mechanics by having long trains unless you allow infinite locomotives or the physics are off. Steam locomotives should definitely be limited to 1/2 locomotives per train as this is realistic behavior. Modern trains could, in theory, get away with allowing for 4-6 locomotives as you’d have large enough cars to never need a train that is unrealistically and impractically long, but you might need that combined power for a mountain pass.

        Still, I technically have no right to judge, as I don’t know what the limit is (hopefully not the infamous 8-cars of the Railroad Tycoon series) and I don’t even know how the game plays with/without the traincar limit. Also, I’m looking at this from the American perspective, where we’re freight transporters with mile-long freight trains, but in Europe, freight trains get away with being quite small. Really, a good compromise here would be to make the car limit a game rule, like what OpenTTD has.

        Anyway, good luck with the game, guys! You have a definite fan; if I’m willing to make a rant in hope of a game being a bit better than it already is then I care about the outcome of the game! I can’t wait for the beta; I really want to be a part of this!

  38. It would be great to see some more news and Dev diarys!
    When the next update?

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