Build 95 - New steam loco, water towers, VRAM optimizations & more!

Hi everyone!

The new update is out, introducing a brand new steam locomotive to Derail Valley, as well as many bug fixes and improvements!

S060

Due to its small size, the new locomotive has very different characteristics from S282, making it quite a unique new experience. In terms of hauling capacity it sits somewhere between DE2 and DM3, and can sometimes be found in small industries, such as forests. The new locomotive can be accessed in sandbox mode without unlocking too.

Steam post image

Besides the new locomotive, there are many other notable improvements made in this update, such as updates to coal firing and economy, many new water towers, VRAM optimizations and more. Check out the changelog below for more information.

Changelog

Stability

• VRAM optimization

  • Reduced VRAM footprint of dynamically generated textures

  • Reduced VRAM footprint of some large assets

  • We’re working on texture streaming, to drastically reduce VRAM usage

    • It’s currently in the testing phase. To enable it use console command:

    • Graphics.StreamingMipmaps.Active 1

    • This is still in development and may not be flawless

• Fixed career progress corruption bug

  • Hardcore sessions were able to pull in saves from other sessions when auto-saving on game exit. It was possible for this to ruin one’s career progression

• Fixed small memory leak caused by the window droplets system

• Improved lag-spike optimization when printing out papers

• Fixed brake sound getting stuck when stopped (introduced in #94)

• Fixed shadows cast by terrain disappearing when turning around (introduced in #94)

Train Simulation

• Added S060 locomotive

  • Small steam shunter, great visibility, high torque and medium range

  • Similarly to DM3, it’s more likely to spawn in smaller industries, like forests

• Simulated efficient coal management during accelerated steam engine startup

  • Halves the amount consumed

• Made partial shovel unloading possible

• Reduced cost of coal by 75%

• Reduced DM3 mechanical powertrain damage from engine running by 40%

• Fixed cylinder cock steam particles being out of sync with the piston cycle on S282

• Fixed reverser changing headlights orientation if the paired remote is off or in inventory

• Made some tweaks to Auto Headlights logic when using the “Direction” setting

• Removed accumulation of water in cylinders when the steam vehicle is in motion

  • IRL the tiny amount of condensing water gets expelled with each piston cycle

• Fixed S282 fire not going out when coal is exhausted

• Fixed firebox temperature not returning to boiler water temperature when fire is out

• Adjusted S282 so it doesn’t go over 120 km/h

• Reduced price of S282A/B subsystems (and thus repair costs)

• Added a new, heavier, wheel rolling sound for locomotives

• Fixed water in cylinders being audible at large distances

• Lowered dynamos sound volume

• Fixed exploded S282 retaining red valves and labels

• Added numbers to S282 sand gauge

• Allowed adding coal to firebox via the driving UI when the firebox doors are closed

Misc

• Added 9 new water towers to the map

  • Pass-through in FF, OWC, FM, GF, MF, FRC, FRS, MB

  • Non-pass-through in CSW

  • Maps have not been updated with new tower locations yet

• Made improvements to coal/water towers

  • Added alert sounds indicating steam vehicle alignment with chutes/faucets

  • Improved sound placement and volume, when using the towers

  • Fixed the water jet effect clipping through vehicles and taking too long to end

• Reduced intensity of cab lights in locomotives

• Fixed locomotives being able to despawn if coupled to an active order

• Fixed steam engine controls not resetting when paying fees (fire, injector, blower, etc.)

• Fixed text on comms radio sometimes getting stuck until put in inventory (introd. in #94)

• Aiming at locked vehicles in sandbox now notes that they need to be unlocked in career

• Tweaked audio mixing so the sound is less bassy in cabs

• Fixed hotbar mousewheel scroll direction being inverted

• Fixed main menu build badge button not leading to the news link on click

VR

• Fixed some inconsistencies with Trigger/Grip usage (introduced in #94)

• Fixed Vive wands not using Trigger to interact with buttons (introduced in #94)

• Fixed held items being offset in left hand on some devices (introduced in #94)

• Fixed log getting spammed on some devices (introduced in #94)

• Improved interaction with rotary switches, notably the S282 exterior valves

• Removed recenter button in main menu, should only appear in-game

• Fixed carabiner slots resetting rotation on game load

Tutorials

• Fixed “vehicle must be stationary” false-positives when auto-starting quick tutorials

• Fixed vehicles attempting to start quick tutorials when the player isn’t licensed for them

• Fixed multiple softlock issues around the coupling phase of career tutorial

• Fixed multiple softlock points involving picking up money in the wrong moment

• Fixed tutorial not recognizing movement and rotation in VR for some devices

• Added the career tutorial step teaching how to crouch before coupling

We hope you'll enjoy this update. Thank you and see you soon with another!

-Your DV team