This update gives the PC-only interface a bit of an upgrade!
You now have a full 9-slot item toolbar which functions a lot like Minecraft, where you can scroll between the currently selected item. This replaces the old "belt" system where you store items on either your belt or in your hand. You can still enable this old system if you prefer. There is also now no longer a physical belt object on your player.
Items in your inventory toolbar also have full 3D icons, and your items are included in save files!
A system like this has been something Ive had in mind for ages, it just never quite made it to the top of the queue. The VR controls and belt are unchanged, this would require a separate update dedicated to VR which is also on my to-do list, but this will be a huge quality-of-life improvement for PC players!
How the new system works
If you've ever played Minecraft, then it's essentially just like that, but with a few extra quirks.
- The item toolbar has 9 slots, which can either be empty or hold an item.
- You can change which slot is currently selected, and the item in your chosen slot will appear in your hand.
- If you drop the item in your hand, that slot will become empty.
- If you pickup an item while there is an item in your hand, it will replace that item.
- You can use "ALT + Scroll Wheel" to switch between items on the toolbelt.
- You can also use 1,2,3...9 to set the chosen slot that way.
You can also "un-equip" items.
If you want an empty hand but dont want to drop the item you are currently holding, then simply press the number key for the slot and the item will be hidden (and the icon greyed out) leaving you with an empty hand. E.g. if you are using slot 2, press "2" again and it wil be hidden. Press "2" another time to make it visible again.
If you pickup a new item while your hand is empty it will automatically be added to the next empty slot in your toolbar.
Since the scroll-wheel is already so cemented as the "change height" control, the keys for switching between items are instead holding ALT + Scroll Wheel. You can also use PageUp & PageDown as replacements for the scroll wheel.
All of this is re-bindable in the controls menu of course:
Using the old system
If you prefer the old style of equipping items then you can disable the new system in the menu:
"Pause menu -> PC options -> Use new item equip system"
When using the old system you still get the new 3D item icons and full 9 slots, but the controls behave like before where you press the 1,2,3...9 keys to swap items in and out of your equip slots.
The item in your hand is separate from the toolbar, which means you can hold 9 items in your equip slots + 1 more in your hand.
Major fix to loading times on slow PC's
Turns out there was a huge mistake in the way I was handling the recent asynchronous loading system in previous updates. Some people have experienced very slow load times because of this, but I've tracked down the cause!
It has now been fully fixed, and load times should be much more consistent now for those people who were experiencing it.
Other features
- Part of this update involved finally converting the edit tool and locomotive controller into actual "props" which means they can be included in save files and interacted with like props.
- Train collisions on diamond crossings (where two trains collide side-on) now works as intended. Locomotives will always win over wagons, and the train that is currently being driven will win over all other trains. If a moving wagon hits another moving wagon then both of them will be derailed:
- Fixed the smoke effect positions on the KA.
- Sped up the acceleration and break speeds for vehicles.
- Fixed collision box for bikes.
- Fixed bug where loading a map with foggy weather would create a color flash during the end of the loading screen.
- Moved some things around in the "PC Options" menu to clean things up.
- There is a setting now to disable velocity-based throwing of objects.
- Fixed the item throwing physics for PC players.
- Fixed bug where ballast would show up in the road generator when generating multi-lane roads.
- There is a setting to adjust the inventory UI scale in the "PC Options -> Interface" menu.
- Fixed a minor alignment issue on the NR custom livery.
- Fixed bug where some signal controls could not be used when in large scale.
- Fixed issue with grouped track caused by overlapping IDs.
- Fixed the rotation of the text label prop when in hand.
- The Flexytrack gap-fill range has been greatly increased.
After the last couple of months being focused on the National Park map, this updated served as a quick change of pace to work on something I've been keen to do for a long time.
The old PC equip slots interface was meant to be a temporary solution to the problem of "How do I get a physical VR belt to work on the PC interface", but turns out it took 5 years to finally do something about that!
It's great to give the PC controls some love, since easily 95% or more of players are on PC instead of VR, including me (I make all the official maps entirely on PC).
I have lots of future plans for things involving items & inventories... (hint hint, loadable wagons) So this update brings the game one step closer to that!