Hi everyone!
As most of you probably know, we’re nearing our newly-announced Q4 2018 Early Access release (exact date TBA). While a huge amount of work has been done on the game already, there’s still a lot remaining to be done, and we want to keep you guys up to date with general status:
First off, Derail Valley now has a teaser trailer!
https://youtu.be/irovFD2meTc
Revamped world tech:
Over the past year we completely revamped the world tech, due to the need for more control over terrain sculpting. The world now features rivers, gorges, viaducts and tunnels, which were missing in the previous iteration. Needless to say, graphics improvement has also been significant!
You can travel anywhere in this world by train, or even climb a mountain if you enjoy a good view. As stated in the past the size is 256km2. After the revamp it turns out to offer a lot more room for railways than we originally anticipated, so for now we will be sticking to this world size, even though technically the game supports a much bigger size if need be.
Complete train simulation, damage and servicing:
With the two locomotives planned for release (shunter and steam) all planned train simulation features are now complete. The aim is to make them enjoyable to both newbies and veterans. Taking into account the remaining development time available, we distilled the essence of train driving into various individual features, without going too deep into details.
For example, to drive the shunter you’ll have to start its engine first. Running the high RPM will heat the engine up, and if it overheats it could shut off or cause damage, which will then cost you money to repair. The engine will cool down faster if you are getting air through the radiator.
Going uphill while pulling heavy cargo might require deploying sand, or the wheels will slip and potentially get damaged. Fuel and oil levels need to be monitored too, and you will need to refill your locomotives at service stations. Make sure you don’t hit something hard, because apart from damaging the engine and wheels, you can also break the windows!
The steam locomotive will have you shovel coal, light up fire, regulate water level and generate steam with optional help of blower and draft valves. The cut-off will regulate ratio between power and top speed. We aimed for a fine balance between the steam locomotive being realistic and fun, with simple instructions to players who are not familiar with the inner workings. Veteran skills will make your trips more efficient, but everyone should be able to drive the steam locomotive.
To gain access to the steam locomotive, you’ll need to earn it first. Completing train driving jobs will earn you money, with which you can buy an appropriate license to unlock the locomotive. This will also apply to the other three post-release locomotives that we’re cooking.
Teleport, Smooth Locomotion & Non-VR controls:
We put a lot of effort to make controls feel right in Derail Valley. Being a VR game, we opened up a number of options to play it, and for each we aimed to make it as high quality as we could.
https://youtu.be/AwAk_t5iPWY
With the combination of teleport and smooth locomotion, you’ll be able to play in very tight, seated playspaces, as well as standing, room-scale, teleporting or strafing, or using both simultaneously, with optional comfort tunnel and snap rotation. Finally, a non-VR option will allow you to play the game without VR, in case you don’t have a headset yet (more on that in the future, as it is still in development).
Missions (jobs) and career:
Design and technical basis of missions (or rather jobs as we call them) are complete. To get a job you’ll walk into a station office and pick one up from the table. Currently we have shunting and freight haul jobs, each clearly describing the steps to be taken in order to be completed. Completing a job on time will no longer be a requirement, but only a money bonus.
The jobs will earn you money that you can spend on licenses. As you acquire licenses for heavier trains, you will unlock more difficult jobs as well. Eventually during Early Access this will progress further into passenger transportation.
The game world now features a specific cargo chain of cities and industries, which will generate all the missions through supply & demand (more on that in a future post, as this too is still in progress).
Pushing the limits - the genre’s, and our own:
Making Derail Valley is tough. We ran into countless obstacles, some of which we’ve overcome and some of which still remain. Pretty much all of them are bound to us needing more time, but the time is up. That said, it feels the timing is right to explain why we are doing what we’re doing, and what our concerns for the launch are.
Back in 2012, as a couple of friends, we used to play train sims. While initially it was a lot of fun, as time passed by they didn't seem to age all that well in our eyes. A point came where we found ourselves wishing for what they could be, rather than enjoying them for what they are. Dated graphics, physics, limited gameplay and complicated manuals made us think that even we could make a better game.
It just seemed logical that a train simulator could be built in a modern engine, with more immersive controls, graphics, sounds and seamless, fun gameplay. It could have proper derailments and a simple interface with clear instructions that everyone would understand.
Then VR happened. It showed great potential, but missing lengthy games, that could be played for hundreds of hours, allowing you to get lost in a large world to explore and have something new going on every time you play it.
Throughout the past two years that we’ve spent developing Derail Valley, our aim remained to do all that. Very ambitious, but we went for it because we wanted to make train sims and VR better for everyone.
Many features in Derail Valley, though seeming logical to exist, have never been done before. There was no rulebook on how to do them, nor a comparable game to look upon, not to mention coming from a country where serious game development is only just picking up. Hence, we constantly learned, evolved our plans and vision, and it was difficult to keep everyone informed of the latest ongoings, especially after having secured funding about a year ago. Now that we’re nearing the release, some of our concerns are getting firmer and we think it’s a good time to let you know about them:
1) Our funding ends in January
In the past, we wrote that our funding will last us through Early Access. That is no longer the case. Initially the aim was to release a much simpler game to Early Access earlier, and that we’d spend the rest of the time going toward full release. However, having learned more about people’s expectations, we realized that a lot more under-the-hood reworks should be done immediately, and as a result postponed the release.
A lot of the said work will save time on updates during Early Access. Many features, content or designs planned for Early Access are partially done already. That said, once the game is out, we will not have the funding to back us up, and thus depend on the launch success financially. We will look into the possibility of getting further funded from another source in the meantime, to be able to complete the game to its full potential without depending on early release.
2) Pricing change
We’re thinking of launching at $19.99 USD (rather than the previous $15.99). This comes after reassessing the current situation, with the game including a lot more work done at launch than we originally anticipated, and considering that some players expressed concerns that previously planned price increase in several tiers during Early Access would not work out well. With this initial price, we would aim to probably increase it only once later on when it is complete. Please let us know your thoughts on this.
3) Completeness at launch
With the release date coming, we’re aiming to focus on polishing what’s already in the game, rather than adding new content. That said, there are still a few major features remaining to do: completing the railway network, non-VR controls, inventory, career-progression and NPC trains.
We don't know if all of them will be completed without hurdles in the weeks prior to release, but either way we’ll make sure that the game is fun at launch, playable and that it runs as well as we can make it.
Of course, being in Early Access, there will surely be some imperfections and bugs. During the previous year we made a good track record of releasing new builds to testers almost every week. We plan to continue doing so after release, providing fixes and new features on a regular basis.
Finally, we are so happy seeing how many of you share our vision of Derail Valley, and it’s a pleasure to have read and heard so much feedback from everyone over time. We read every single comment and email we get!
In the next period leading to the release we will be posting new media content daily (or almost daily), including screenshots, short videos and not-so-short videos!
See you soon with the next update!
-DV team