With multiplayer officially released, it's time to really make the most of it!
When you experience a map with multiple people it really changes how you view it, and lots of different design ideas suddenly become more important. So a map designed from the beginning to be played in multiplayer is quite different from one that isn't.
So the goal of this map jam is simply to make maps themed around being played in multiplayer!
Here's the details:
This map making event runs from now until December 15th! (26 days)
There are no restrictions on theme. It just needs to be in the spirit of being played in multiplayer
You can work with other people, or solo
You can make as many entries as you like
You can upgrade old maps to design them for multiplayer. It doesn't need to be a brand new save file
You can use as many mods (trains/props/terrain/etc) as you like
You can host your maps in multiplayer servers at any time, including during the event, in fact I encourage you to test your work-in-progress maps out in multiplayer!
How to submit your maps:
When uploading a map/mod to the Steam Workshop in-game, check the "Multiplayer map jam entry" toggle, that's all you need to do! (This is in the "Pause menu -> Workshop -> Upload current map" menu)
You can also view all entries on the Steam Workshop by choosing the "Multiplayer map jam" tag under the "Competitions" category:
Some ideas for inspiration:
"Operations" are amazing in multiplayer! This means players taking on roles and driving trains around the map in an organized way, like communicating with each other about when a train is leaving one station and arriving at the next
Maps designed to be played in miniature scale, like adventure maps
Using circuitry and automation tools to make maps interactive
Puzzles/mini games, something like a maze for players to complete in miniature scale
Underground subway tunnels where players need to read signals to know if trains are coming down the tunnel ahead of them
Stormy weather/natural disaster themed maps, where players can role-play a disaster response situation
Shunting puzzles
Platforming maps, with jumping and climbing challenges to be played in miniature
Abandoned mine exploring/urban exploring with torches in miniature scale
Freight train hopping (hiding on freight wagons, staying out of sight of other players)
Or something completely different!
Playing a map with other people adds a whole new world of design possibilities, and I'm quite excited to see what people will be able to come up with!
"Ops of the south" - My own map entry
As with a lot of these map making events, I've made my own example map too!
After seeing how other players were running such amazing operation sessions in multiplayer, I've had my own go at making a map designed for simple operations.
It's a minimalist version of the "top of the south" route from the official map (you'll recognize some features like the Picton ferry terminal and Kaikoura station). But I've included some of the other towns along the way to make for a more interesting operations setup.
This map is designed to have a "yard master" at each location. This person gives clearance to trains arriving and departing, and keeps track of turnouts to make sure trains pass through correctly.
Along with the yard masters, there are several other roles you can take on, like driving various trains (passenger trains and freight trains heading between destinations) and even some shunting jobs, like moving freight wagons and cars on to the ferry.
When you join the map you will see some instructions on how to play, and even some pre-designed roles you can choose for yourself (they are ranked by difficulty). This map is designed for around 6-10 people to play at once, but you can keep adding more trains to involve more people.
There are also varying levels of complexity, depending on how detailed you want the operations to be.
There's even some circuitry involved if you want to make things even more organized!
At each station you can press buttons to communicate between different destinations to let them know a train is waiting, They can then communicate back to you and give you the green light to proceed:
This map is deliberately very minimalist in terms of scenery, so it can easily be run on low-end PCs and laptops. It can also transfer over the network very quickly for people joining the server.
You can find this map here on the workshop, and anyone is welcome to run an operations session with it!
If you want you can try hosting it on a public server and see what happens, but a better way would be to run it with a small group of friends and give the operations a go in a smaller setting where you can all communicate with each other with voice chat.
Other fixes and features
As well as the map jam event, this update also includes some fixes and features. Since the last update I've released a few patches which included:
servers now have a custom max player count, which you will see in the server browser
the host can now control whether players are able to change the time/weather/skybox on a server, or if only the host can
the host can set a max speed for trains, so even if joining players have faster mods/speed settings, the speed can't go above the server max
blocked the "remove all trains" buttons from being used when the edit tool is force enabled, except for the server host
You are now prompted when starting a server as to whether your want it to be private or public (which will automatically setup some basic server settings).
Server hosts can set whether people joining are required to have the map already downloaded or not
Add a horn spam filter (so you can't honk the horn non stop) this is an optional setting when creating a server
Fixed bug where some official built-in maps would require save data transfer over the network when they shouldn't
Fixed a bug where loading screens could get stuck when loading missing mods
Fixed the context help text position being wrong alongside multiplayer chat
Added a setting for the server host to force block ALL use of the edit tool, regardless of the person joining and their own settings. But of course you can still disable this, and allow the edit tool on a per-server basis.
Fixes the audio layering bug, the audio should no longer cut out on busy servers
Fixes the "engine can't stop when train is moving" message being visible to everyone on the server
Fixes the magazine reading UI from getting stuck if using while joining a server or entering the chat menu
Fixed some shimmering effect on the message box popup in miniature mode
The floor now no longer moves higher when in multiplayer (this was originally a fix to make the players not look like they are floating, since the actual floor location is lower than zero. But several maps rely on the original incorrect floor position, so ill keep it the way it was)
Waybills are now hidden in miniature mode
Extended the view distance for waybills
And thank you to all my Patreon supporters!
Taerom, Trainiac 21, Codebag Playz, Joey Drysdale, Clae, The_President, Teapop311, Chloe Surett, Rowan Mackenzie, Matt, Ábris Pataki, NESecretWeapon, JohnR, ItzAerozic, Matthew Johnson, Microcosmologist, Blake Prevett, TrainTiny, Thomas Merolla, Don Willis, Jayton Hawkins, Helga Nordgren, Leto Gloas, TheAmazingRyry, Outertoaster, Nathan Perez, TrainMann, Railraider, Garst, Richard Prior, Joblogh, Detroit_, CAMOGUY54321, Ben Burch, Michelle chan, Jack Fruh, Jonathan Ginsburg, Lynk_Wyland, SmokeStream, KathalLasagna, Rivet, HuskyDynamics, Trackmeister, Lutz
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