Dear Community,
thank you for all your interesting feedback and questions so far. It was a pleasure to read all your comments and we’re extremely happy to read all your constructive messages.
In this post, we have summarized the most frequently asked questions regarding the partnership with astragon Entertainment, which we would like to answer in this post. So, let’s go!
Is astragon going to help with the development of the game?
In addition to their internal expertise, astragon can rely on a wide range of established and specialized contacts in the form of programmers, modelers, and others in the field of game development. Based upon the results of the quality assurance runs and on the content for version 1.0, which has yet to be set, their longstanding expertise will be of great help.
Will Railroads Online! be developed according to the roadmap that was officially announced?
The official roadmap will be our anchor point for the content of version 1.0 as it includes many wanted community features. Our primary goal is to do QA runs on the current build so we can work out a clean development plan that balances improvements and new content.
Will the game stay an American narrow gauge sim?
We can confirm that Railroads Online! will of course keep its historic US narrow gauge setting and vehicles. There may be other gauges after version 1.0 if there is an interest for those in the community.
Will „content XYZ“ come to the game?
We are still in the phase of setting everything up so we cannot exactly answer content-related questions yet. However, we can give more concrete answers about the content in the coming weeks, so you must be a bit more patient 😊
Will there be better communication and more transparency between the development and the community?
We plan to regularly post update blogs on Steam with the latest development news, plans, etc. to inform you guys about the most important topics. The updates will be either posted by the community managers Jana, Wladi or by Keume but always coordinated together. This way we ensure that we release only verified, reliable information from one official source.
Will all communication take place on Steam or will the Discord be re-opened?
As mentioned above, the official communication will be handled via Steam. We regularly read your forum posts, discussions, and reviews to gather your feedback which works quite well in our experience. Currently, we do not plan to re-open the Discord server. Perhaps it will be re-opened or there will be a new one in the future. We will definitely discuss this topic internally.
Will there be a different EULA?
Contrary to the rumor, the EULA for Railroads Online! has not been changed since its release on October 1st, 2021. We can assure you that playing via Steam in Single- and Multiplayer, streaming, sharing screenshots, videos, or other social media content of Railroads Online! is perfectly legal. We will take a look at the current EULA and make necessary adjustments if there are any unfortunate choices of words for example. More details in our recent blogpost.
How much oversight will there be over the development of the game as a whole?
astragon and Keume will work closely together to develop the game. That means that decisions regarding the development will be coordinated together so we can ensure we are all pulling together in the right direction. That includes for example the QA, human resources, milestones, release dates, etc. which are necessary to work out version 1.0.
What timelines can we expect for bug fixes, new content, etc.?
As you probably know the frequency of updates is usually tied to the expense of the content, so it very much depends. That being said, we plan to give you regular updates on the progress of bug fixes, new content, or other news regularly so you stay on track.
So the game has been outsourced to Germany?
Fun fact 101: Railroads Online! has been coded and developed in Germany by a sauerkraut-eating German called Keume. But psst! Keep this a secret 😄
Will there be regional pricing for this game?
We will look into regional pricing and discount events in the future. But this has yet to be worked out.
Will there be DLCs for Railroads Online?
We will not add any DLCs in Early Access.
Will there be microtransactions?
We do not plan to add microtransactions.
We hope that we have answered some of your most pressing questions and are excited for the journey ahead!
If you have more questions feel free to ask them down in the comments below and Jana, Wladi or Keume will try to answer.
Thanks and see you soon!
The Railroads Online! Team