Tram catenary, asset tool, map import and many improvements

Update February 25, 2016: Today we released the build 7753 which improves on the previous build 7554 by adding an option allowing to adjust the growth behavior of towns. Also the compatibility with integrated Intel GPUs was highly improved. Please find the complete release notes here and the release hints here.

We are very happy that today the newest build 7554 was released.

This update introduces three widely requested features and also aims to further enhance the gameplay, usability, as well as performance.

Trams finally get their long awaited catenaries. Players can now upgrade streets with electric tram tracks. Next to presenting a visual eye catcher, catenaries are also an optional new gameplay element.

tram_catenaryThe newest build introduces catenary for electric trams.

A very flexible and highly modable asset placement tool opens a wide range of new possibilities to polish and decorate maps with any objects. Because we have observed that the modding community wants to snap assets to tracks, we have also implemented track-aligned assets.

asset_placementA new tool allows for placing both track-aligned and free assets.

With the new option to use height maps for generating landscapes, player are now able to create truly realistic and beautiful sceneries. In combination with the possibility to include predefined seeds, this allows for creating various challenging and diverse scenarios.

height_mapHeightmaps from grayscale images can now be imported.

In addition to these new features, based on the feedback of players many improvements have been made:

Trains behave more predictable when changes are made to the track and stations. Industries grow twice as fast than before and decline much slower, making them less sensitive to fluctuations in the transport network. We also optimized city development resulting in an increased performance and reduced lags at the end of months.

The modding possibilities have been significantly widened, giving content creators more control over how the game behaves and looks.

Our volunteers from the community put much effort into improving the translations and Swedish was added as a completely new language.

There is also a long list of various small improvements and bug fixes. Please find the complete list in the release notes.

More information on how to use height maps and an example map can be found in the release hints.

We put as much effort as possible into this build and we did our best to consider as many wishes and suggestions as possible.

Let us express a big thank you to all players, modders, testers and fans. Without all the suggestions and testing effort contributed by the community, Train Fever would not be where it is today. We hope you enjoy this final update and we very much look forward to see even more great contributions from the modding scene.

At the moment we are working very hard here at Urban Games and we look forward to soon share some very exciting news with you.

Diamond crossovers, better usability and many improvements

Update September 15, 2015: Today we released a new build 6219 which improves on the previous build 6181 by fixing a couple of bugs and adding a new way for modders to change the vehicle load configurations. Please find the complete release notes here.

Right before the 1st birthday of Train Fever, we are happy to announce the release of the newest build 6181.

With this game update we fulfill some of the most common wishes by introducing a new rail switch type, improving the usability and the user interface, as well as adding new ways to modify and customize the game.

speed_trainThe newest build introduces diamond crossovers.

Parallel Track building and upgrading is much easier and forgiving. Not only can you upgrade crossovers to diamond crossovers, it is now possible to upgrade tracks at any time regardless of whether the track is used by a train or not. The length limit for multitrack tunnels is gone.

Another big enhancement is how the different cargo types are handled by vehicles. To achieve a more realistic simulation, a truck or wagon is now fitted on purchase to haul one specific cargo type.

A significant effort was also put into improving the user interface. Windows are now arranged and aligned in a more intelligent way. Better window layouts and new buttons, overlays and filters make Train Fever more accessible and easier to use. There is more direct control over vehicles by allowing the player to reverse trains at any time and send it to a depot effortlessly.

speed_trainIntelligent alignment, filters, customizable cargo types, improved window design, more control over trains and user-friendly tools.

To provide more influence over how industries and cities behave, more parameters are now exposed to modding, allowing for a way to affect how a map develops by customizing the maximum size of industries or the grow rate and starting size of cities.

To bring more life into the simulation, a new animation type was added giving any object in the world the ability to play animations in a continuous loop. This opens a lot of new possibilities to modding.

Last but not least thanks to the everlasting support of our community we were able to eliminate yet another couple of reported bugs including disappearing vehicles and issues with track building.

Please find the complete release notes here.

Thank you for your continuing interest in Train Fever! We hope you enjoy the newest improvements and additions.

One hundred thousand thanks

Since its release in September last year, Train Fever has been sold more than 100.000 times. We are incredibly happy that our debut title was received so well and we would like to take the opportunity to express our thankfulness to everyone who contributed to this success story.

speed_trainUrban Games says thank you.

In particular we wanted to express a big thank you to the modding community (most important: www.train-fever.net). More than 1.000 mods have been developed and make the game varied and long-living. It’s exciting to have such an active and motivated modding community and we are heavily impressed by all the creative creations.

Similar respect and thankfulness is addressed to all YouTube authors. An uncountable amount of YouTube Let’s Play’s demonstrates game-play and have inspired many followers. These contributions had a very positive effect on sales and they also helped us to get a good understanding of how people actually play the game.

This said, we wanted to let you know that we are still improving Train Fever and for sure there will be additional game updates. However, because we also started working on our next game title, Train Fever updates will be less frequent in future. Therefore, we kindly ask you for a bit of patience in this regard.

Today we can tell you that our next game title will be a transport simulation game again. Development has already started and we are currently finalizing the budget and game design. We are very confident that you like our plans 😉 and we would love to share the exact plan with you. However, because the plan is not 100% final yet we will announce details at a later point in time.

Thanks to our successful debut title our company is expanding. In future, seven people will work at Urban Games. One particular highlight is that one of our employees will work as a community manager. As a consequence, you can expect that our communication and community support will be much better in future.

Finally, let us mention that currently there are two open positions. Urban Games is looking for a full-time software engineer as well as a 2D / 3D artist intern. If you are interested in one of these positions, please find the job descriptions here.

The whole Urban Games team say thanks again for your interest and contribution!

Better performance, more robustness and a bunch of improvements

We are happy that today build 5746 was released.

The game update brings a significant performance boost (especially in the late game), fixes most of the remaining bugs and improves the game at various places. In other words, the train runs faster, safer and offers additional services!

speed_trainTwo of the improvements: Better performance and individual line colors.

Not only the game runs at a higher frame rate now, there is also less stuttering (e.g. at the end of each month) and the first view is faster now (i.e. when exploring the terrain and towns for the first time). Furthermore, sorting of large user interface lists (e.g. the vehicle and station lists) does no longer slow down the game, and loading of save games takes less time.

We are confident that with this update most of the remaining bugs are history. Most important, thanks to the help of various players, we have fixed a bug which caused some save games to not load anymore. With this update, all save games should correctly load again.

A bunch of improvements complete this update. In particular, players can now set an individual color for each line and the save game dialog was re-worked (all save games are shown, replace warning is displayed and double click is working). Also, we have added an option to control the style of the vehicle lifetime notifications (text or 3d in the main menu interface settings), because many player have requested this option.

Please find the complete release notes here.

We have followed many discussions about the future of Train Fever. Some players even suspected that Train Fever is dead and won’t be improved anymore. Let us clarify here that there will be additional game updates for sure. However let us also state that a part of our resources is needed for planning and preparing the future of Urban Games.

With a next update, we want to focus on new features. Probably the most requested feature is better track construction including X-crossings. You can be sure that we do everything to realize this request.

Thanks for your continuing interest in Train Fever and best wishes!

Improved game version and mod specification released

Today we have released a new game version which contains several improvements and bug fixes. In addition, there is good news for all mod developers: A specification for the newly introduced mod system was made available here.

Most important, the new game version contains three vanilla mods which let you remove the street main connection feature, play the game in a sandbox mode or disable that vehicles run out of availability. The community has repeatedly requested these options, and here they are!

vanilla_modsMods from left to right: No main connections, No costs and Vehicles: No end year.

Also, the community requested configurable town and street names. Players can now specify which kind of town names to generate. This also means that the USA DLC now features American town and street names, independently of the actual game language set.

Several bug fixes, performance improvements, new features and mod system enhancements complete this update.

Please find the complete release notes here.

This said, let us point out that the game will also be updated in future and you can be sure that we will continue to listen to community requests.