Despite my best efforts, the redesigned demo was not ready in time for Train Fest. Adding two new directions (up right and down right) is taking longer than expected. Please accept my apologies along with the small consolation that is this progress report.
Hexagons are the Bestagons!
From the expectation that you should be able to build your track anywhere you want and in any order you want while still having it all line up, hexagons do this job nicely. Build out your track network any way you see fit as long as it's on the hex-grid and primarily in the rightward direction.
Planning your network
Grab your trusty shovel and start digging! Preparing the ground is the first step when building out your track network. As you shovel, survey flags will mark out the edges of the to be constructed track.
Some light grading work will help you quickly establish the shape of your fledgling rail empire.
Ballast Prep
Railroads don't sit in the dirt, and neither will yours! Transporting the ballast to the work site is going to be a significant logistics challenge. I'm particularly proud of the dumping physics!
All orderings are fine
An important lesson I've learned is that a good job simulator never never tells you how to do your job, only that it needs doing. If you want to build all right side rails first, that's none my business 😅 Thanks to the hex grid, all freeform construction is guaranteed to line up eventually.
Simulating engines
The sawmill is the test bed for the simulation that will enable the locomotives. All the concepts are here - fuel, temperature, drafting, pressure, piston phase, and force interactions with the physics world (the log in this case). Cutting logs effectively is also operating the steam engine effectively.
Now What?
I'm getting close to completing the basic set of functionality required to make this idea work. Development is still focused around the early stage of the game where everything is done by your own hand. This will be the basis from which TGR will finally transition from prototyping to production and will open the door to early access.
While it's disappointing I wasn't able to rework the demo in time for Train Fest, I'm excited to gain some breathing room to try again with Next Fest in October. I'll know then if early access in still viable for this year.
Thanks
Josh