Hello everyone!
It's my pleasure to introduce you to InfraSpace's Train Update!
We have an in-game roadmap where players can vote on new features. Trains have received a total of 12,613 votes, so that's what we focused on first.
To get an overview of all the new stuff, you can either scroll through the rest of this post or check out JD Play's video about the train update!
Let's go through all the new things, shall we? Buckle up!
Trains
The main part of the update. Trains are primarily a tool to keep traffic under control in mid- to late-game. However, they are unlocked quite early so that you can plan your city around the stations if you so like!
There are 4 stations available with different sizes from 2 to 8 platforms.
Setting up Train Lines
You can set up as many train lines as you want and add trains to them. Train lines and stations can be renamed and you can even choose the train color for each line to keep your train system well organized.
Rails + Auto-Curve
InfraSpace's auto-curve function has been a point of contention, but for rails, nice curves are essential!
That's why we developed a new curving system that makes it much easier to get nice curves and perfect circles without moving any of the neighboring segments If players like this, we'll also apply this to the road system.
Automatic Train Signaling
As soon as you have trains in a game, collisions and deadlocks become an issue. These are usually solved either through an involved signaling system, which can be fun to tinker with but frustrating if you don't want to deal with it. Or trains just despawn, teleport and drive through each other when they get stuck in a deadlock.
With InfraSpace we're trying a different kind of automatic signaling system.
The game automatically detects collision points (red) and creates rail intersections around them (orange). The green rails are collision free segments of rail. The automatic signaling system deals with collision and deadlock prevention and all you have to do is provide enough space of green rail to maximize your throughput!
Train Appearance
InfraSpace trains are quite long, consisting of 1 locomotive and 11 wagons. Also, trains change their look dynamically based on how full they are. The train color is determined by their train line.
We also added some small niceties like trains kicking up dust while driving or sparks flying when they slow down ;)
Train Info Panel
The train line panel let's you know what your trains are transporting and how full they are. This helps with understanding which goods benefit most from your train line.
Car / Train Path Visualization
Speaking of transport analysis, you can now click on cars and trains and see exactly where they are going. Check out some cars on your most congested roads and you might get an idea of which shortcuts to add or where a new train station would be beneficial!
New Habitats
Our previous line of habitats looked all kinda dull and similar. Now, you get an all new white-blue design with different variations for each habitat level. Hooray!
Neural Processor Balance
I have heard repeatedly that neural processors are still too much of a challenge in mid-game. Until we introduce better tools for mass building, this update reduces their nanotubes intake by 25% and speeds up their production by 10%.
U-Turns disabled by default
Another common gripe of players was that cars would make U-turns instead of taking the intended route. To combat this behavior, U-turns are now forbidden by default except for dead ends.
You can still allow U-turns manually with the lane config tool.
Better "Insufficient Power" Message
Some players used to have trouble finding out which parts of the power network were disconnected from their power plants. Now you can jump to the disconnected buildings and see them displayed red in the power visualization.
New Marker for dead ends
It was a simple issue, but annoying nonetheless! You are now notified when you mess up one way roads by mistake.
Other Stuff
We also have a couple of extras in store, the most important ones being:
- Building sounds are off when buildings are not active
- Not enough workers message vanishes when you have grown your population enough
- Fixed a bug where after loading the game, small rocks were on the roads
Previous Updates Since Early Access Release
If you haven't been following InfraSpace since its Early Access release 2 months ago, you might have missed our updates since then!
We're releasing a weekly dev logs and in the last 2 months we also provided almost weekly updates that focused a lot on fixes and quality of life things like road building.
You can check all of them out here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1511460
There is still much to come for InfraSpace, but we hope you enjoy today's update!
Let us know how you like it and report any issues you find. Happy playing!