As mentioned in the previous news posts, I'm currently working on a new official map set on the West Coast of New Zealand!
For this update I'm going to release a preview chunk of the map which features a some rather unique terrain... fully explorable underground cave systems! (more on that later in this news post).
Since building these caves also meant adding some new props (like stalactites and other cave decorations) I'm releasing these as their own small update now.
You can find these new props in the "Terrain -> Caves" drawer:
West Coast map preview
This update includes a small chunk of the West Coast map which you can play right now as a preview! You can play this map from the main menu alongside the other official maps:
This preview segment of the map features the Buller Gorge, Charleston, a couple of mountains and the Nile river. Obviously this is just a small part of the full map! (which is still heavily work-in-progress)
The reason I'm releasing this segment as it's own map early is because it features something very special that I want to show off for this update... underground cave systems!
As some of you might already know from the photos I sometimes post on the Discord server, I'm a caver in real life! I always had a fascination with caves, but over the last year I've been getting involved with the actual sport of caving and exploring some of New Zealand's amazing caves. So making a map based on the West Coast of NZ was an excellent opportunity to bring one of my other hobbies into the game, and making these digital re-creations of caves has been a hell of a lot of fun.
This segment of map features two main caves:
The Metro / Ananui Cave System
This is a very famous large cave system on the West Coast, It features heaps of entrances (5 of them depicted in-game) including the very pretty main entrance opening which is a big river mouth you can easily find from above. Some of the other entrances are much more hidden!
In real life this cave is much larger and more complex, but to fit it into Rolling Line I've shrunk it down and only included some of the more interesting features it has, like the "Dragons Teeth" stalactite formations, the huge lower levels and the rather strange three-prong entrance called the "Triclopse entrances".
Just like the real thing, it's pretty easy to get lost in this cave. Exploring with a torch in miniature mode (especially in VR) can be a really awesome experience!
Te Tahi Cave
This is a much longer and thinner cave, with only three entrances, including a very pretty "tomo" (vertical shaft) entrance which people abseil down in real life. The rest of the cave is a tight streamway, which is MUCH tighter in real life compared to what it looks like in-game. Since Rolling Line isn't really designed for navigating small spaces I decided to widen the passage a bit to make it easier to move through. Finding these entrances on the map can be pretty tricky since they are all quite small, so I won't give any spoilers as to where they are on the map!
How are these made?
I made these cave systems using 3D models in the terrain modding system, combined with the in-game terrain sculpting system for the surface.
Basically I would sculpt the surface terrain, then cut holes for all the entrances.
Then I use the terrain modding "Export scenery" option in the "Modding -> Terrain" drawer. This will export a 3D model of your in-game map scenery.
Then inside some 3D modelling software (like Blender) I import the in-game terrain and then create new 3D models for the actual cave systems and line them up with the holes in the surface terrain.
After that, those cave models are imported into the game as a terrain mod, and then I use props like rocks and trees to fill in the gaps and make the entrances look seamless!
I highly recommend going into miniature mode in-game and walking around on foot to explore these caves! Try and find entrances in the bush, and explore the underground with a torch in your hand. Remember you can find some hand-held torches in the "Room -> Usables" drawer:
Some of you who have played my earlier games (before Rolling Line) might be finding this all very familiar! That's because I previously made a game called "Echo Grotto" which was a VR-only caving sim.
Things like the hand-held torch and the new stalactite props are all originally from Echo Grotto, and have been imported into Rolling Line as usable props.
So if you enjoy exploring these caves in Rolling Line, then I recommend giving Echo Grotto a try too!
Mountains and Rivers map jam
This map making event is still going and finishes on June 7th! I've already been playing through the entries upload so far and there's some really cool stuff, you can view all items submitted on the Steam Workshop:
View entries on the Steam Workshop here
But anyway, that's everything for this update!
It's a bit of a strange one, and has absolutely nothing to do with trains, but every now and then I love to work on something that includes some of my other real-life hobbies. I'm very aware that the audience overlap of "model train fans" and "cavers" is basically just me, but if anyone else here is a caver then let me know in the comments!
Thank you to all my Patreon supporters!
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Ilike Tra1nZ, DOLLIN, Taerom, Chloe Surett, Garst, Gustavo Sanchez, Gazzac100, Matthew Johnson, Teapop311, TrainTiny, Ábris Pataki, Thomas Merolla, Ben Burch, Detroit_, Don Willis, Jack Fruh, Lynk_Wyland, Nathan Perez, TrainMann, Outertoaster, KathalLasagna, Richard Prior, Michelle chan, Joblogh, Railraider, The_President, Matt, Trainiac 21, ItzAerozic, Microcosmologist, CAMOGUY54321, Jayton Hawkins, Jonathan Ginsburg, TheAmazingRyry, Rowan Mackenzie, Skilker, Helga Nordgren, HuskyDynamics, Clae, SmokeStream, EngineerSmith
Past Patreons:
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