Time for the 2020 Rolling Line Halloween event!
The "Hallowed Cove" is a new small map set in a spooky water-logged coastal town, with shipwrecks, fog, barnacle-covered wharfs and old shanty town buildings.
...And a ghostly variant of the Berkshire called the "Sunken Berk"
Plus this update also announces a two week Halloween/horror themed layout competition!
(more info on that later in this news post)
Firstly,
The map!
During the Halloween event the main menu is replaced with the Hallowed Cove!
You can also load the map and play it from the main menu (New Game -> Hallowed Cove).
During this event the skybox has also changed from the usual day/night sky to this custom special skybox! You can turn this on/off in the time & weather menu (Time & Weather -> Advanced -> Halloween sky).
The "Halloween sky" will automatically turn back on when you reload the game, but if you want to disable it permanently then you can add a launch tag on steam "-nohalloween".
The Sunken Berk
Part of this update is a new variant of the Berkshire called the "Sunken Berk".
This is a spooky water-logged version with kelp and rope dripping from it, like it was dragged out of the sea. You can find this inside the "Misc -> Unlocks" drawer:
Here is a high-resolution screenshot of the Sunken Berk:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2262020849
New sail ships
To fit the ghostly port town theme of the Hallowed Cove, this update adds some new boats!
Specifically two new large sail ships, as well as some row boats:
New props
In order to make this map, some new props have been added!
These are:
- snappable wharf sections
- life buoys
- rope
- dock bollards
- shanty houses
You can find these in the "Props -> Wharf" drawer:
The competition!
As well as the Hallowed Cove itself, there is a layout competition happening from now till just after Halloween!
You can submit any layout that fits within a horror/Halloween/spooky theme, and you can definitely make other things like mods, liveries or even trains to go with your map!
This competition is open to everyone, and runs from October 20th to November 2nd.
Just make sure to tick the "Hallowed Cove comp entry" tick-box when uploading your workshop item!
At the end of the competition the winner will have their layout featured in the much-awaited 6th issue of the Rolling Line magazine! (which will be coming out before the end of the year!)
Previous Halloween events
While 2020 is all about the Hallowed Cove, you can still access all of the previous years Halloween events (2018 and 2019). They are found within their respective drawers in the "Misc" category:
For example, last year there were these Halloween pumpkins which you can open to get candy and special prizes (like golden trains and ghost trains!)
It's amazing to think that Rolling Line is old enough to have had 3 Halloween events, this game is growing so much!
As mentioned in the last couple of news posts, I am moving house over the next few days (specifically the 22nd) so I'll be incredibly busy while this competition is going on. I'll still be keeping up with the new workshop uploads and trying everything out!
Updates will go back to normal after I'm moved in and the competition is over.
This also means that this update is the last update I'll post from my home in Blenheim, after living there for 3+ years... I'll miss it. Rolling Line's whole development took place while i was in Blenheim.
As a final goodbye the cherry blossoms were all in bloom on my street!
(Full resolution photo here: https://imgur.com/cFPxb3c)
Now I'm off to Wellington city!
A very different place to the quiet suburbs of Blenheim.
It's going to be fun ːsteamhappyː
And that's all for now!
I hope you enjoy the Hallowed Cove, and have a go at making your own layout for the competition!