DECKELEVEN'S BLOG

Here you can find out what we have been up to. Feel free to leave a comment or give your feedback!

New Sandbox System

A new sandbox system is available!

You can now create an unlimited number of sandbox maps with your preferred biomes, terrains, and terrain features: add river, lakes, seas, mesas, rifts…

Water buildings are possible:

A sandbox with a fishery

Sandboxes can have generated missions:

Generated missions

And if you have an extension package, ports, airports, and heliports can also pop in:

Airport in sandbox

Upgrade to version 4.0.1 to get the new sandbox system. I hope you’ll like it!

90 thoughts on “New Sandbox System

    1. Good question! For the first time in 4 years and a half, I don’t have any short term hard goal for this project.
      Probably some real vacation first πŸ™‚
      Then I’ll think about what’s next.

  1. Hi,

    Not sure if this is a bug, but…

    Generate a sandbox with a “rift”. Research bridges. Doesn’t seem to matter which kind. Try to run a bridge across the rift without an elevation change, i.e. so trains can cross the bridge without slowing down due to climb or drop. The piers appear for the bridge, but the track just follows the ground, diving into the rift. Trains travel on it as if it were just a track with no bridge.

    Thanks for the sandbox update. I see a lot more replay ahead for me!

    K

  2. Hello,

    Thank you a lot for these improvements ! A lot of very interesting hours of gameplay in perspective !
    If you need some ideas about what could be next : what about an ability to build tunnels ? πŸ˜‰

    1. Thanks πŸ™‚
      Tunnels are a bit trick, because they require to create “holes” in the map, but they are definitely in the todo list (not at the top though)

      1. There are already tunnel possible
        Or wharp holesπŸ™ˆ
        e.g.
        when you build a fuel drop off next to scrapyard in the final electric dream, the helicopters fly through solid rocksπŸ˜‰

        yes, i’m not serious.
        put this little bug to the to do list at the very far end

  3. hello,

    how are the limits of size for the maps? I steadily try to get a huge map, which is rather a square, but they are allways long narrow maps.

    i guess i allready mentioned it, but is there a chance that the ramps on the bridge could be optimized so that the trains don’t have to break when leaving a high tunnel bridge.

    1. Hi,
      Yeah, it’s a bug. It’s supposed to randomly create squares, rectangles or bands, but it only creates bands. I’ll fix it in version 4.0.2.
      Good catch.
      The ramp is already a tradeoff between length and slowdown. If it’s longer, the slowdown will improve, but the bridge ramp will take too much space, and potentially will fail to build too frequently

        1. Not really. The tradeoff is already made. I can’t make the ramp longer without creating other issues.
          Take it as an incentive to research and buy more powerful loco πŸ˜‰

          1. What i mean of upgrading rail bridge, is changing of existing rail bridge without dismantling like how the train stations do.

          2. Oh ok. Got it. It’s a very good idea. I’m currently investigating the possibility to create tunnels (no promises as this is very complicated…).
            Maybe the next update will be themed “Bridges & tunnels”.
            I also finally ordered some Apple equipment to test if it is possible to port the game to iOS. This should keep me busy for a few months.

          3. I know, it might be quite difficult, but is there a chance of downgrading stations and track sets.

            In the effort of reducing costs of some tasks, at the moment you must destroy a station, and reconfigure all touched trains. With downgrading there might only be a recalculating of the route, instead of re-adding and recalculating the complete tour.

          4. This is possible, but I’m afraid this one would be very far on the todo list.
            Currently we are very busy testing if porting to iOS will be feasible or not.

    2. Hi deckeleven, what do you think about the solution to simply buying technologies instead of inventing them? Possibly shorten the research time?

      1. It would definitely shorten the research time, but research time is long for a reason: it creates a gameplay pushback. That makes the player think and plan, as opposed to just react and buy.
        In my opinion, the research unlocks should be earned, or else they would not be as valuable.

        1. keep the research for the whole gameplay as it is, just switch placed of “innovation funding” and ” goverment subsidies”, cause for me at the time and price the funding is, it is nearly one of the last to research. and by this no gain of time for the other researches.

          1. Yes, good idea, Octa, I’d definitely second that suggestion. As you said, because it comes so late you don’t benefit all that much from it. There have been times when I’ve put off research I’d like to have done waiting to get the innovation funding first!

  4. Thanks for the sandbox update. Please, add options for square and rectangular maps in the next update. And make a gentle slope of the bridge, so that the speed of the train when crossing the bridge on land does not slow down. Thanks

  5. Hello,
    I have the feeling that the sandbox only generates cities with the same amount of needs : 10 passengers for all the cities on the map, or 20 for all the cities. Could it be possible to mix the needs : on the same maps, some cities with a need for 40 passengers and/or mail (or more) while some other cities only need 10 or 20. I have the feeling that it would improve the gameplay because one should not simply create a passenger line linking all the cities but create something more like a network. What do you think of this ?

    1. That’s true. The game currently has very simple rules for passengers/mail. It’s done like that to avoid impossible unbalance.
      We don’t want a situation where a city has an overwhelming demand for passengers and goods, while others require none.
      I’ll see if I can improve that and create some limited unbalance.

      1. The noun for something unbalanced is an imbalance. Unbalanced is the adjective. Sorry, it’s the didactic in me, but you know I don’t mean anything other than to be helpful. If you find it annoying, please let me know and I’ll desist, but I hope you find it useful.

  6. as mentioned for the ports, please -if possible- create fixed surroundings and distances to borders or other buildings, e.g. I now have a sandbox, where a nuclear power plant is placed right on the border of the map and the connection point for the electric grid is just faced to the border, by chance there is a corridor of nearly nothing where i can place the electric grid, to power a city to finish the box.

  7. Hello
    First of all, many thanks for the sandbox update.
    I have been playing sandbox games before the upgrade, some being quite fun challanges despite the lack of the improvements, and I have already been playing several since. I see that there has been a mention above about the matter of the passengers and mail. I think they should be 20 minimum as before. Now I often get passenger and mail trains running empty as there are hardly any “on offer”. This is sometimes affecting cities moving up to the next level when I get a good level of supply of the required goods but short on passengers and/or mail. I normally didn’t have to do this but now I have to force the passenger/mail trains to do a “full load” and wait until they are full before departing in some cases. On the other hand, needing only 10 has meant that I can serve closer cities with just one train with 4 passengers and 4 mail cars!

  8. This update made me happy, thank you very much!
    Add the ability to create and share missions that are created by players, please.

  9. Hi, you’re doing a great job with Railroad2. I’m waiting to purchase a new train package. I hope you keep improving your work for a long time.

  10. Hi,

    Does the game not support bi-directional traffic at stations? I have been encountering this issue where trains are stuck due to a signalling problem.

    1. Hi,
      Yes it does.
      The rules are the same as for any tracks: if you have a section of tracks that is used in both direction, you must protect it with a signal at each ends.
      You cannot split the bi-directional section in multiple blocks, or you’ll have trains facing each other.
      The reason is: trains can only “see” one block ahead. If a bi-directional section is composed of multiple blocks, an incoming train has no way of knowing if a train is already on the section, several blocks further.
      If you need to split a very long bi-directional section, you have to create “passing loops” on the section. Please see the railropedia for examples.

      1. If the trains only “see” one block ahead, then I think it might not be possible. I’ll try to explain what I have in mind.

        Suppose there are UP and DOWN tracks leading to and coming out of a station with 4 platforms. This means that trains should be able to enter and leave the station from both ends, and they will continue on the UP or DOWN track they used to arrive at the station.

        The issue I am facing is that when a train is routed to a specific platform from one end, another train gets routed to that platform from the other end (which was empty a moment ago). And both trains get stuck facing each other.

        I realize this can’t be solved unless the trains can “see” at least two blocks ahead right? So such a station that supports bi-directional wouldn’t be possible right?

        1. Multi-platforms stations are tricky when using bi-directional trains and when trains are going through the station, but they can work.

          You have to create a signal before each platform, but you should make sure not to add a presignal before them (to create a smaller switching section), like you would do for a roro station. The rule is to never split the bi-directional section. In this case, the switching section must be the bi-directional section.

          There is also a capacity issue. You cannot add more than N trains on your railroad if you have a station with N platforms: you should always have a free platform to allow trains to wait while the bi-directional sections are busy.

          If you add more than N trains, they may end up facing each other (no room at the station).

          PS: Making bi-directional tracks work with multiple blocks, would require that trains can reserve more that N blocks ahead. There is no limit on the number of blocks the player can create on a track, so N can be very large. This would require path-signalling instead of block-signalling: an algorithm that inspects all the possible paths and blocks ahead. This is unfortunately beyond the capability of an Android device.

  11. I’m still annoyed everytime i want to put a substation somewhere that i need to rip out the whole track because when i built the track i did not have anything researched…

    1. You can improve your game experience with a bit of planning: researching the first substation takes an engineer and half a minute, then you can use the “Upgrade station” button.

      1. well, I concur with Jona above: if you have a non-electric network and want to electrify it, you can of course upgrade all your track sections to electric. But you cannot insert a sub-station. You need to bulldoze one section or two, put the sub-station, reconnect.
        And restart, or reroute your trains.
        It would be nicer if it was possible to add a ss to an existing track section.

  12. Is there a way to lay track without spending money on a small station or something to connect it to?

      1. That was actually one of my suggestions, to allow laying tracks without the need of a stain to connect to. This would be particularly helpful on maps with steep climbs. I’ve often had to make several attempts before getting the climb right. I’m sure you have a good reason for the requirement, but would it be possible to lay unconnected tracks or is it a limitation imposed by your algorithms? I am also curious how tough managed to get the railropedia example to be so neat and straight?

  13. Here’s one: I’ve got a sandbox with a river, a power plant on one side and a city on the other. The city needs power. I can’t find a spot on the river narrow enough to cross with a power line. Is the sandbox unwinnable?

    Best game ever– I play every day!

    Kirk

    1. Hi,
      Unless there is a bug, all rivers can be crossed with a power line.
      Could you send a bug report directly from the game? I’ll check if there is an issue.
      Thanks.

  14. Is it possible make trains keep going at intersections if they are using different lanes than the train blocking it?

    1. To avoid blocking at intersection you must use flyover or improved junctions (see the railropedia for examples)

    2. You can choose to β€œignore signal”, I’d that’s what you mean, but you can’t automate that. You have to select the train that’s waiting and the option to ignore the signal comes up.

      1. Sorry, I meant β€˜if’ not β€˜I’d’. Wasn’t paying attention. Predictive text send to perversely choose β€˜I’d’ when I want β€˜if’ and vice versa! πŸ˜„

  15. Rail track drawing tools can be diversified. You can add like “drawing straight way”, “make curves more circular” and “staggered way length” options (like a Cities Skylines game). I want my railway networks to look smoother and beautiful πŸ™‚

    1. I just updated to version 4.0.4 that contains improvements for the sandboxes and many small fixes.

  16. Will there be any chance of porting this over to iOS or updating the first one?

    1. No chance unfortunately πŸ™ thanks to Apple decision to drop support to OpenGL, a cross-platform graphic API, in favor of Metal their own proprietary graphic API.

  17. Really great game, ty. I bought all campagnes and really enjoy playing. New sandbox is fine, but I was looking for the possibillity to rebuild for example all the great instructions you can find on Railropedia on an empty map (so i have enough space).
    Thanks god I’ve still an empty large Sandboxmap with nothing on it and all researches done (from the time before update took place). So I can rebuild and test any kind of constructions on this map (all researches done and still 95M left for testing).

    If i make a new sandboxmap (having all extensions) I get industry etc mixed up from all 4 campaigns.

    So great would be a combination like:
    I can choose everything like it is now BUT I can decide
    a) if I want the industry etc for example just from the “Coal as a Cucumber” extension or a mix from all 4 campagnes (like it is now).
    b) and/or how much industry I get.

    For example rebuilding the Railropedia “Hub station” in a sandbox would be easy, when I could choose like
    .. for Industry on the sandbox-map I would like 3 x coalmines, 2 x Logging camp, 1x sawmill…

    When i take a large sandboxmap I get like 20+ industry-buildings and 3 cities. That’s great and brings endless new missions to the game –
    but just for getting into the game and doing some training on sandboxmaps its a little bit overwhelming.

    So maybe that would be an option to be implemented?

    Thanks anyway for a great game.

  18. Sir When can we Expect a new update as it’s been soo long. nd didn’t not get any information or news regarding New update please let all the players know when we will have new update.. Thanks.. please provide ETA. πŸ€—

    1. Hi,
      The last update was in July. Please update to 4.0.4 if you don’t have the latest version.
      We don’t plan any new campaigns for now.

  19. The game is great, but some improvements are overdue.
    1) The numbers and dates of the last modification for the created sandboxes, so that you can easily find the one you need
    2) The location of the sandboxes is not in one, but at least in 2-3 rows on the screen.
    3) Deleting (uninteresting) generated sandboxes directly in the interface of a particular sandbox, and not through the exit to the main screen.
    4) Memorizing the player’s preferences when creating sandboxes, so as not to install them again every time.
    5) In Hardcore mode, the level of urban development should be at least 6-7, and better and more,
    6) Garbage collection from cities of level 4 and above is mandatory, otherwise the city’s population is declining (not growing), the flow of money. the traffic to these cities decreases and their development is hindered.
    7) It would be good to reduce the excess length of rails for objects where it is not needed, for example, fuel dams and power substations.

    Almost all of these changes do not require, I believe, a serious reworking of the game, but will make it even more attractive.

    1. I absolutely love this game! While I know you might be having lots of things on your to-do list, please see if this idea finds a place – adding a loco pilot cam/engine cam… something on the lines of roller coaster tycoon games where you can experience the rider’s view. It’d be such a wonderful experience to design one’s own railway route and then experience a drive through on it!😍 Anyways, cheers for your overall effort!

      1. Hi. Thanks for your kind words and idea πŸ™‚
        Unfortunately, a train cam will not be feasible. The 3D engine is designed for a top down view. A free view cam would not render correctly.

        1. Shame, that was a nice idea. Still, it’s the gameplay that’s important, whereas this would have been a bit of fun.

  20. Hello everyone!
    Finally, I was able to clearly identify the main glitch in this wonderful game, find a way to work around it and understand what is missing to eliminate it. It all comes down to routing problems and the ways that are proposed to eliminate them. Of course, while routing and the network of paths are relatively simple, these problems are not very noticeable, but with the complication of the network, they come out… necessarily. Naturally, attention was paid to these problems in the notes UNRULY TRAINS and WAITING LOOPS, WAITING BAYS AND TRAFFIC BALANCING in the blog of the game, but alas, these are all half-measures that do not fundamentally solve the problems.

    Everyone can check this glitch very easily by himself. To do this, in the SANDBOX -> NEW SANDBOX -> Game style -> Sandbox mode, you need to create a closed segment of the path, which includes a station and set several waypoints. As long as these points are set on single track segments, then the route outside the station will be the only one. The more complex the travel network, the more alternative routes are needed, and even if there is such a network, it can be difficult to achieve the appropriate routing. The problem is that waypoints are NOT routing points that are integrated only into stations and structures, whereas there is an urgent need to install them anywhere in the network.

    The only way out is to use Track Sets, which also have routing points integrated into them, but these “Sets” themselves, by and large, are completely unnecessary, and often interfere, because it can be difficult to place them in the right place. In the absence of autonomous routing points, they can be created from Track Sets by combining all its inputs and outputs. If you now set a waypoint to this Set, then all alternative routes from it to some external point are involved. In fact, the game needs an element similar to the Trask Set with a single physical segment of the path, but with an integrated router for, say, 8 virtual routes, which is probably enough for any options for building a network. Otherwise, if the number of paths turns out to be less than the number of such routes, some of the paths will not be connected.

    I really hope that the respected Author will include such an element in the composition of the game.

  21. It would be very convenient if the Train Starts window had information about the type of train cars, as well as their number: total / loaded.

    1. Hi. You’re right. That’s something I had in mind (and in the todo list) for a long time, but never found the time to complete.
      It would also be great if the stats window could show a graph of the tractive effort and drag force vs speed. We would be able to see the physics of trains and the difference between different locomotives and cargo loads.

      1. Displaying the tractive effort would be a great addition, and also take out the guesswork in buying the least expensive engine for the (gradient) job.
        For now it is lay the track, research and buy an engine and hope to goodness that it pulls!

  22. Still addicted and unpatient for new updates and tasks

    Just found an error;
    You can start research and hire engineers only after having build the HQ. After having hired engineers you can start research. Up till here everything fine. But now you can destroy the hq without any upcoming warning. Furthermore the engineers stay and research will go on.

    I would suggest a warning before destroying hq, and afterwards a stop off research and maybe the dismiss of all engineers.

      1. Unfortunately I found another little Error, but I’m not sure if it was allready mentioned.

        The Zephyr Dual Train runs in the ecology stats allways as a diesel, eventhough it’s running on electricity.

        1. As waiting for new challenges, I tried to solve the final mission, only with coal trains.
          After suceeding within 60 sec’s and a constantly green smiley in both towns, I now wanted to electrify the entire railsystem.

          And now I find an error, which I guess was allready solved in a previous update, and was again implemented by, at least the last update.

          Upgrading a station/warehouse/track set/… costs as much, as buying a new one.
          So it is cheaper to destroy a building and buy the upgrade, than just making the upgrade of the existing building.

  23. I think I’ll be playing this game until my dying days (I reckon I’ve got another 30 of years, barring any accidents), with the amazing new sandbox options there’s just so much to keep me occupied. Thank you so much.
    Sorry to repeat, as I’ve suggested this in an email, but I was wondering how anyone else feels. It would be nice if you could suspend trains without destroying part of their path, eg when you have an imbalance in the supplies, or you want to let commodity levels rise when they’ve been depleted.
    Another request was to slow small changes in positioning and angle of buildings within a limited timeframe, say two or three minutes.
    I won’t repeat my other suggestions, it’s those two I was most curious about. Thank you.

  24. Maybe update the website now? πŸ˜‰
    I still see ‘ Railroads 2 development is on track! ‘

  25. Hi! Can you add a huge warehouse in the next addition? It has become more necessary with the sandbox update.

  26. I would really love to see if there is an option to add combined natural terrains (Mountains,plains,canyons,mesas etc in single sandbox),have more than one lake,river of both etc,or 2 rivers meeting or a river originating from lake in sandox just in order to make it more challanging.

Comments are closed.