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.