Demo - Update 0.7.5

The Steam Fest is over, a few days (weeks!) have past, the dust has settled. Now I can see more clearly how the game is perceived, the good aspects and the less good ones.

First of all, I'm very happy with how the game is doing so far! Overall, Trackline Express seems to be enjoyable! People like the art direction and the concept of the game. phew! That's a huge relief!

Now, as always, there are some aspects that require some tweaking. I was lucky enough that the game was played by quite a lot of youtubers, which allowed me to see how it is being played. On the Steam community hub, players also kindly took some of their time to write valuable feedback. And also, on my discord server, people helped me with their suggestions and ideas. I'm very grateful for that! Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Today, I’m happy to present version 0.7.5 of the demo!

The focus of this update was to address the issues encountered by players, and to improve the quality of life and user experience in general.

Changes

Anticipate attacks and bonuses with the Events Wheel

A new element appeared on the screen. I call it the "Events Wheel". It displays events that are coming in advance in a rotating wheel. Nights, attacks or bonuses are shown there, allowing the player to anticipate and prepare to what's coming! It gives a 2-3 min window of upcoming events.

Carry more than one resource at a time!

That was a very popular request! I'm happy to announce that you can now carry multiple items at a time, saving you some cumbersome back and forth between two points. This also makes it much quicker to drop resources in a blueprint!

Attack with tools

It was a bit tricky to unequip a passenger with a tool before he was able to attack. Now passengers can simply use their tool to inflict damages to enemies. Note that only passengers equipped with weapons will automatically attack if they are not being controlled by the player.

Marketplaces

Now you can't sell resources at the piggy bank anymore. The piggy is just a storage place for your coins, that's all. To sell resources, tools or weapons, I've introduced the marketplace. It will appear as an upcoming event in the wheel of events 1:30 min before popping in at a random position in the range of the locomotive. It'll only stay open for a minute before disappearing. You'll have to catch the right opportunity if you want to make some extra $$.

Get a wagon from the beginning

When you start to have a few tools, and a weapon, and a second passengers, and more tools, more weapons,.. it quickly becomes harder to manage everything. With a new wagon that you can attach to the train from early on in the game, it'll make this easier. Wagons have two slots to carry tools and weapons and two slots to carry passengers. So now, before you leave a place, you can simply attach your belongings on it and enjoy the ride!

Small fixes

• Campfires don't have a maximum lifetime anymore. I don't know why I set it up like this, but now they won't disappear after a certain amount of time. - I've added a pre-built parcel and a tutorial at the beginning of the game to explain what it is.

Various UI tweaks

• I've clarified the blueprint slots by adding a “+” to differentiate them from the normal items. - The description of an item when it is a blueprint is better now. There's also the list of which resources are required. - Seeds can be piled up to facilitate the transport.

There you go! I really hope that you'll like this new version. If you have other feedback, please don't hesitate to let me know, either by adding a new topic in the community hub on Steam, or by joining the discord server!