Hello and welcome to the very first CTS: Tram Roadmap!
We are very excited to start sharing news about upcoming developments for CTS: Tram in these articles, and you can expect to see more of them down the line.
This article and its future iterations will include updates on upcoming content, screenshots, trailers and behind-the-scenes news on current developments.
Please note: The order of content shown in the Roadmap image gives a rough indication of the order we’ll be working on, but is subject to change. This does not take into account additional player feedback, which will be worked on alongside said content.
We’ll also be using data and feedback to best inform where we invest our development time.
This time, we want to highlight Early Access, which will be available from June 20th on PC. We'll explain why we decided to go with Early Access and provide details about what you can expect during this period.
If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick summary of what updates to expect next during the Early Access phase:
• ULF A1 • Quick Play • Postcards Collectible • Junction Tutorial & Updated First Time Experience • Updated Manuals • Updated Character Selection Screen & Titles • Ambient Sound improvements • AI traffic improvements
Why Early Access?
We chose to go with Early Access, because we believe that, with your input, we can create the best gaming experience, as it provides us the opportunity to develop City Transport Simulator: Tram hand-in-hand with our community.
This approach allows us to integrate real player feedback, ensuring that we create the most immersive and engaging tram simulation experience possible. Our team values player insights, and we believe this collaborative process will greatly enhance the game's quality and playability.
Our long-term vision for City Transport Simulator is over time to bring additional transport modes, expanding the maps and modes - these will be added via new paid-for releases, DLC and expansions. All of these will come after full launch, as separate releases. At the moment, however, our focus for CTS: Tram is to build the gameplay mechanics, city infrastructure, and immersion which we can use as a basis for building on in future. Our ultimate goal is to provide an entertaining, fun, varied, public transport simulator – with your feedback at the heart of it.
What’s next?
The Roadmap – First Stop
During Early Access we plan to introduce a slew of new features, separated into different phases, which we are lovingly calling “Stops”. Starting with the First Stop we’ll aim to introduce a new tram, collectibles, more gameplay features as well as finalise character selection, achievements and tutorials.
Then, in future updates, you can expect to see map extensions, additional services, new trams and even more gameplay features including dynamic weather and track events like malfunctions to make the experience even more immersive. All of this will be accompanied by updates and changes based on your feedback.
While all of this is still a work in progress and subject to change, let’s delve a bit deeper into what you can expect during the First Stop.
The highlight is certainly the addition of a new tram, namely the ULF A1, a further enhanced version of the ULF A. First introduced to Vienna in 2007 and with a much shorter length of 24,2 meters compared to the ULF B1, it is a perfect addition for your low-frequency timeslots.
We are also working on a narrative to further establish Tramau’s history and make it feel even more like a real city. If you haven’t done so yet, make sure to take a look at the regular Pic Of The Week Updates, as they provide a lot of insight into Tramau’s history and give you a look behind the curtain on how certain systems operate.
Want to learn more about the picturesque cathedral or the historical Tramau Central Station? Or are you more interested in how we implemented Passenger Information Systems, intersections or the highly detailed overhead lines? All of this and much more is waiting for you to be explored right now.
The completionists among you will be able to look forward to collectables, hidden all over the city. These postcards will unlock more of Tramau’s history, adding even further to the authenticity of Tramau as a real, living and breathing city.
This first wave of updates will also introduce the Quick-Play function, allowing you to jump into the game right away. If you’re just hankering for a bit of tram driving, this mode is for you.
Finally, the character selection and achievements will be finalized, and all tutorials will be introduced to the game.
Phase 2 and beyond
After the conclusion of Phase 1, we move onto further updates. Much like the previous content, this is currently all a work in progress and subject to change, but for now let’s take a quick look at what is currently planned.
Tramau’s tram network offers a lot to explore from the get-go, but we would like to expand this even further and add more areas for you to delve into. These expansions will add to the existing network seamlessly and allow you not only discover new areas in Tramau, but also give you more freedom to expand your network and interconnect it in new and exciting ways.
To keep things interesting, we are also working on a new, modern Viennese tram to be added in the future. We can’t reveal which one it is quite yet, but we hope you are excited and looking forward to another highly detailed and accurate vehicle to add to your collection.
Furthermore, we want to add to the immersive experience by adding AI trains at the main station and more varied passenger and AI car models.
You can also expect to hear more news about the dynamic weather feature, which introduces fog and rain effects which impact the driving behaviour of your tram. The dynamic passenger volume feature will make adjustments to how many passengers board your tram depending on the time of day, making nighttime drives calmer, but the midday rush all the more exciting.
And that is it for now! Make sure to have a look at our announcement article as well, which will go into more detail about when and where to purchase City Transport Simulator: Tram.
To stay up to date on the latest news, development updates, and other fun things, follow us on our social channels (Discord, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X), visit www.citytransportsimulator.com, and sign up to our mailing list.
City Transport Simulator: Tram will be available for pre-order on June 20th, and we can’t wait to see what you think!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2604480/City_Transport_Simulator_Tram/