After five weeks of beta testing version 1.4 is now ready to become the default game version. Version 1.4, like all previous game versions, keeps saved games compatible all the way back to the original v1.1 build. But due to gameplay, sim, map and rules changes some manual adjusting might be required after loading an earlier saved game.
In particular v1.4 introduces Mercator coordinate correction, which means distances in-game now match those of real life maps, instead of the exaggerated scale of previous versions. But since player built objects are anchored to absolute geo coordinates, it means all player construction shrinks in size compared to v1.3, unless built on the equator. So v1.3 and earlier saves will see shrink down station platforms. This can be fixed with some reblueprinting and rebuilding of station platforms.
If you would rather keep playing v1.3 a legacy branch has been created for it, and it won't ever be deleted.
Read on for an overview of the changes in v1.4.
Mercator distances correction
The game using Mercator coordinates directly for distance calculation was one of these prototype phase decisions which weren’t reviewed or prioritized enough back in the day, and it stuck for release. This is now fixed in v1.4. Old games remain compatible, but they might require some retouching around stations and manually laid parallel tracks.
Proper layered drawing
All the map drawing for user place objects is now properly layered, including trains. Additionally tunnel tracks are also displayed under roads, but this can be disabled if desired.
Saves backup
Steam Cloud Saves have been supported from day 1, using the automatic system, which Steam implements by synchronizing the contents of the game saves folder with their online storage. From time to time I receive reports of save corruption, which I have been unable to reproduce in any way, but which appear related to this system. For this reason v1.4 implements an automatic backup system. All saved games, including autosaves, will be backed up in a “Roaming Profile” folder in your Windows user folder. This folder is the same used for the settings file and it is left out of the configuration of Steam Cloud Saves. Hopefully starting in v1.4 it will be possible to point players to this folder when they encounter the save corruption error.
Building system
An entirely new base game object has been implemented: buildings. Building is actually not a correct name for this feature, but most of the time it will be used to draw buildings or parts of buildings. Buildings are a new kind of object, a resizable, orientable rectangle you can build anywhere in the world, and pick its texture (and sometimes color) from a listing of textures which can also be expanded with mods.
Buildings are just a building (heh) block for larger things. For now they are restricted to cosmetic improvements to stations (indeed, every cosmetic detail of a station is now composed of one or more buildings), but they will form the base of future new features.
Curved platforms and remade stations
The default stations of the game are now based on the new building system. Every aspect of the default station is now optional, and it can be stripped down to just the track segments:
They can also be made curved, and any attached building will automatically curve itself with the track:
Copy paste and selection rotation
When advanced players start building their stations with the new building system, they will naturally want to replicate this work for their networks. The default station tool would be useless, since it builds either simple prebuilt stations or strips down from that simple construction. A new tool is required to replicate your custom station work: track editor copy paste.
With track editor copy paste you can select any number of buildings and tracks (including platform tracks) and copy and paste them anywhere in the world, as blueprints. Once pasted they are normal objects, which you can further move, change or delete in any way you desire to. But just being able to move them is not enough, so selection rotation has also been added. Make any selection (pasted or not), and prepare to move it like you would normally do, but hold the Alt key while doing so. This will rotate the selection around its center.
Blueprint clipboard collection
Building upon the copy paste system, it is now possible to save the track editor clipboard contents to disk, and keep them in a persistent collection, independent of the loaded game:
Special buildings: platform extension and user map labels
Platform extension buildings are special, editor-only buildings which allow to extend the reach of any platform they touch. This is a built-in solution for creating distant platforms without the use of empty platforms just to link them
User label buildings add new map labels. The player can freely edit their contents and pick a color and some styling.
You can read the full development notes here:
https://carloscarrasco.com/nimby-rails-december-2021/
https://carloscarrasco.com/nimby-rails-january-2022/
https://carloscarrasco.com/nimby-rails-february-2022/
https://carloscarrasco.com/nimby-rails-march-2022/