New update tonight!

Hmm, what is that?
A new perfume?
Fresh flowers in springtime?
A puppy's fresh breath?
A bakery's morning batch?
Grateful Dead fans celebrating early?
No!

It's that new TFE update smell!

What's up, in update 5:

Game Changes

Track
- Level track placement button added (A Button)
- Track section height can now be adjusted
- Track height variation increased
- At grade track geometry altered
- Underground tunnel track added
- Floating bridge track added (it's magic)
- Track placement arrow visible behind objects
- Track can now be placed at water level
- Sloping track will no longer alter terrain at great heights

Terrain
- Terrain near tracks is no longer locked
- Terrain LOD optimized

Train
- Train derailing more gradual
- Train will now tilt when in danger of derailing on curves
- Active braking now alleviates chances of derailment (spark control)
- Horn can now be blasted in short to long bursts
- Improved thruster vibration feedback
- Joystick can now control track turnout switches
- Driveable vehicles earned by picking up trackside bonuses
- Trackside bonuses reduced in frequency
- Trackside bonuses appear on side of track (not on it)
- Trackside bonuses only appear when driving train continuously

Prop Builder
- Props now viewable while scrolling
- Props category scrolling improved

Fly Cam Mode
- Now able to turn off the ghostly green placement train in fly mode
- Must activate train placement before activating a train
- Train placement distance reduced
- No longer able to walk while train is active
- Camera no longer faces outdated directions when exiting train
- Fly cam can raise and lower using trigger buttons
- Fly cam right shoulder button will targer player train/online players
- Fly cam left shoulder button will teleport player train/online players
- Vehicle driving mode added
- Player avatar visible in walk mode

Maps
- Auto residential neighborhood builder tool added
- Auto downtown city builder tool added
- Auto street builder tool added
- Map rating added
- Map original creator credit added
- Device selector button added to maps screen (L Trigger)
- Max map slots increased to 96 (+4 auto save slots)

Profile
- Auto profile save file added
- Profile settings added (volume/invert axis)
- Train layout saved in profile (previously in map)
- Badges saved per profile (previously in map)
- Increased badge difficulty

Multiplayer
- Collision is now a per player permission (host has all options enabled)
- Derailment only affects other collision enabled players
- Full list of game XBL sessions now scrollable
- Players tags now visible above players (pressing Y)
- Finding sessions no longer causes delay

Misc
- Fog and rain occurs less frequently
- Autosave screen no longer appears
- Autosave save interval changed to 5 minutes
- In-game menu can now be exited with Back button

Trains

- Steam Duck Green Locomotive and Tender
- Steam Duck Red Locomotive and Tender
- Steam Duck Blue Locomotive and Tender
- TFE A-1 Maroon Locomotive and B-Unit
- TFE Double-5 Black Locomotive
- TFE Double-5 Maroon Locomotive
- TFE Double-5 Blue Gray Locomotive
- "The Dash" Orange Locomotive
- "The Dash" Light Blue Locomotive

Props

- Improved grass
- Improved LOD for props

Train Cars
- Grain Car Red
- Grain Car Green
- Grain Car Orange

Vehicle
- Double Decker Bus
- Silver Camper
- 50s Taxi
- 50s Hot Rod

Signs
- Level Crossing No Barrier
- Level Crossing w/ Barrier
- Give Way Sign
- No Stopping Sign
- No Waiting Sign
- Halt Sign
- No Entry Sign
- No Monsters Sign

Building
- Train Shed
- Cobblestone Tunnel Entrance
- 4-way Intersection Plain

Bug fixes
- Leaky cabin roof fixed
- Creating lakes under tracks improved
- Train on train collision radius refined
- Certain props can no longer be built on top of eachother
- Track bridge shadow in terrain artifact reduced
- Train no longer derails on steep inclines at slow speeds
- Train will now fire sparks on left or right sides individually
- Default yellow diesel now renders properly at odd angles
- World sound no longer freaks out in game menu
- Derailed trains falling from low heights now explode appropriately
- Glowing transparent objects no longer turn black in certain instances
- Joining game clears old network session list
- Overhead mode now displays small objects properly

Another little winter update...

Is it really 2013 already? We've been busy all year, working, surviving apocalypses, curing deadly diseases, solving poverty, the usual. But we're close, real close, to bringing you what you really want, a TFE update. When will the update be out? That is still unknown, even to us. The universe is mysterious is like that.

A little winter update...

Get ready for some new trains, some new snow props, and a brand new weather system. We're still quite busy, so getting a larger update out wasn't feasible. This won't be our last update, so stay tuned.

- Eric

Update 1.03 is out, cautiously optimistic

The update is out, and was a bit rushed because we wanted to get the bug fix to you ASAP. Go ahead and check out our change list again to see what was added. Let us know how your experience with the new update is going on our social sites or in the comments section.

We hope you enjoy the new props added to the game. Expect at least one more giant update full of goodies in the future!

TFE update is out, but has a multiplayer issue!

The 1.02 update is out, changes here.

This was suppose to be a medium update which fixes a lot of problems. Unfortunately a bug in the public session select screen (a new feature) may crash the game. It's advised that you invite friends to a private game in the meantime.

While we do have a fix for it, we can't update the game due to XBLIG restrictions. Please be patient, the update should be available by late next week.

Thank you,
Eric

IT'S HERE!

THE WHISTLE GOES WOOO WOOO!

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Train-Frontier-Express/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025855094e!

Train Frontier Express coming later tonight!

Get ready for it!

We're also preparing a game update after release, here's a sneak peak at some visual enhancements:

UI Development Progression

A slideshow gif showing our milestones in UI development:



Seems so long ago...

Explosive Trailer

New Trailer is up! Remember, Aug 31st!

Release date finalized!

We're releasing August 31st!

Check out the other release dates of the Summer Uprising on joystiq.

While you're waiting, check out our cab view mode. There's also passenger views!

Multiplayer TFE

Multiplayer is in TFE!

What you will be able to do:
- Join a friend's game
- Download their custom map
- Relax with a slow ride, side by side
- Roleplay an operating session
- Avoid high speed collisions
- Crash a train through their award winning topiary garden
- Save the map for yourself

Future plans:
- Co-op map creation.

One more reason to download the game in a couple of weeks. See you online!
-Eric

Teaser Video and Summer Uprising

Our promotional teaser was released for the Indie Games Summer Uprising community promotion:


Hi-Def is on the youtube page.

It's paid off: we've been voted into the winning 8 of the Summer Uprising! This means we'll nail down a release date before the end of the August.

We've hit all original feature goals we set out to do when we first envisioned the game so long ago. It's been quite a journey, way longer than expected. Along the way we added much more to the game -- we wanted to give our players something valuable, and when you get to play it for yourselves, I hope all the hidden work that went into it brings some joy to our conductors.

Thank you for the emails, likes, follows, and all the continued community support!

We've been derailed...

But now were back on track. HAHA.

Train wrecks are in the game, and it is a fun visual! You can also see the particle system which was added quite awhile ago while we were away.




The deeper saturation is actually more representative of what the game looks like on a television set, but looks may vary.

The game is being polished, so expect a bit more frequent updates.
- Eric

XNA Content Hotloading Overview

This is a long winded post, so lets start off with an informative image:


A collaborative comic by Team Train Frontier.
If you're a beginning or intermediate game developer, you might not have worked with or even heard of the term "hotloading". Simply put, hotloading allows you to dynamically change data and have it appear immediately in-game. Good hotloaders work automatically in the background -- just like magic.

Modeling a Train Simulator

A simulation's job is to simulate reality, right?

Rail enthusiasts are a serious and dedicated community, with a healthy segment interested in railroad simulators.

Train sims may require detailed knowledge and extensive training to use, and often are developed for desktop computers. Sims are also typically based on real routes and engines. It's easy to see why train sims appeal mainly to an older adult niche of rail fans.




However, despite emphasized realism being the norm for train simulators, Team Train Frontier took a decidedly different route.