The TRAM: Questions and Answers

Thank you all so much for your interest in The TRAM!

Only a few days have passed since the announcement, but our Discord server has already gathered a large number of interesting questions. Today we will answer them so that as many people as possible can learn more details about The TRAM!

First, a few words about us:

TGR is a team that has been part of the transport games community for many years. We started with a fan site featuring mods for Cities in Motion, and over the years we grew into large modding communities for various games, including Cities: Skylines and Transport Fever.

For several years, we had been nurturing the idea of creating our own game. After considering different options, we decided to focus first and foremost on a tram simulator, since this is the most realistic option for a small team.

We want to bring a new experience to the world of tram simulators: for example, to help players understand that a tram is not an amusement ride, but a multi-ton machine that is not easy to operate and requires certain skills, while the driver bears responsibility for the safety of both the vehicle and the passengers.

Step by step, we plan to create a true immersive simulator, where the player will be able to fully experience the life of a tram driver with all the nuances of this profession.

We hope you will like the ideas behind The TRAM. And now — on to your questions!

Frequently Asked Questions

What engine is the game made on?

The Tram is being developed in Unity using DOTS (Data-Oriented Technology Stack). This approach allows us to calculate the tram’s physics, systems, and a large number of objects in the scene much more efficiently than with standard Unity.

Thanks to multithreading and better memory handling, this can provide stable performance even in demanding conditions. Potentially, this approach will allow us to process dozens of vehicles and thousands of objects (for example, people) without problems, distributing the CPU load evenly across cores.

What will the system requirements be?

Our tests are still ahead of us, so we will be able to talk about the real system requirements later. At the moment, the system requirements on the Steam page correspond to the closest comparable games, but later they will be adjusted to reflect the actual needs of the game.

As mentioned above, the technologies we use help reduce CPU load, but this does not apply to rendering and various visual enhancements. We expect that if you want, you will be able to disable all the graphical bells and whistles and enjoy only the pure physics simulator even on weaker systems. However, to get the most beautiful visuals, you will need a powerful graphics card.

Will there be other types of trams in the game?

In the first Early Access version of the game, one tram model will be available. We want to focus on a single vehicle in order to fully refine all the core mechanics that will be useful in the future.

As the game develops throughout Early Access, we plan to add several other tram models — first of all, of course, the ones most famous among transport enthusiasts. :)

Will there be a real city in the game?

The main city in the Early Access version is fictional, but inspired by various real cities.

In the very first version, we decided to focus on routes that connect outlying residential districts with industrial zones. Such routes most often run along dedicated tracks and pass through rather scenic locations. In the comments, you can try to remember which cities have tram routes like these — perhaps one of them inspired us! :)

As for real cities, we do have some plans in this regard. However, all of that will be considered later, in the event of a successful release of The TRAM.

Will there be passengers and traffic in the game?

Of course! Passengers are a very important part of The TRAM. Since the work of a tram driver is to safely move a large number of people from one point to another, you will definitely see passengers in the game.

We will start with a simplified implementation and with the very basics of the mechanics, but as development continues, we plan to improve the depth of the passenger system as well.

As for traffic, a basic version is also planned for the very first release of the game. However, since we currently do not have the resources for deep traffic behavior simulation, in the first version of the game it will be more of a decorative element.

Will the player be able to just run around the world?

Yes, the player in The TRAM is a character living in the game world. So you will be able to leave the tram and run around the world, exploring it. But since at the very beginning the world is built around the tram route, we will have to come up with some limitations :)

Modding and Steam Workshop

Since we are modders ourselves, we pay considerable attention to modding possibilities. However, because we are physically limited by the number of people working on the game, right now we are focused on making the game itself.

There are two areas of modding that we will try to implement first during Early Access:

• creating tram repaint skins

• the ability to add custom details (curtains, floor mats, posters, etc.)

As for adding your own trams and maps: we are building in the technical possibility for this. However, creating modding tools will require significant resources from our team, so for now this is not a development priority.

Will there be multiplayer?

The TRAM is being developed as a single-player game. At the moment, multiplayer is not planned, but later we will study this issue in more detail to assess the possibilities of implementation.

How will the game and the community develop?

While development is ongoing, we plan to tell you about the mechanics of The TRAM that are already finished and those currently in development. We will publish a detailed Roadmap for the game’s development during Early Access closer to the release date, when we ourselves are confident about the future plans. :)

Thank you all very much for your questions! We look forward to your new questions and discussions on our Discord server and in the Steam community.