Derail Valley

I've never been interested in train games because I've always felt they're either a) built for hardcore trainspotters/model railway enthusiasts (which I'm not) or b) not really about trains, just using trains as theme over something else, like management or puzzle mechanics. Derail valley is actually about trains. Not passenger manifests, not timetables, not anything else other than you and a well physicalised train. Every locomotive feels different in tangible ways that are interestingly different from a gameplay perspective and all just feel very hands-on like you're actually operating the machine instead of controlling it from an electronic control panel. Each trip is surprisingly engaging, with switches and speed limits and inclination/declination to deal with, plus generous soft time limits, so you don't really 'switch off' while travelling. Between stops you can service your train, plan your next route, shop, and hunt for museum locomotives or secrets. Failure is rewarded with fun physics-based derailing and explosions! You can play a casual session over lunch and there's a great sense of long-term progression. The game looks nice (the deliberate post-Soviet inspired artistic theme perhaps notwithstanding), runs on a potato, and I haven't encountered any bugs yet. It supports VR natively - with everything designed to work in VR as a first-class citizen - and there's a multiplayer mod. All for a fixed price without individual DLC for each train and station. Overall, a real gem. If you like the idea of driving around in a train without studying to become a real-life train driver, this is a trivially easy recommend. As a bonus, the game is well-supported and has a continuous roadmap spanning beyond 2027.

[h1] One of the best train sims on the market at the moment. [/h1] [u] Bottom line up front: Despite being in early access, the game feels feature-complete as-is and is worth the asking price. Additionally, it serves as a great entry point into the train sim genre with better pricing than most. [/u] Derail Valley to me feels like an honest attempt to peel back the sterile environment most train sims provide, where failure feels more like a slap on the wrist instead of a genuine setback with financial consequences. Compared to other sims, it feels a lot more freeform - more focused on player-imposed goals and less on completing dev-intended modules. [h1] Consequences? In my train sim? You bet. [/h1] In most other sims I played, failure to abide by track rules is left unpunished at worst and barely punished at best. You'll maybe get a few points deducted here, or the game might yell at you through a text box telling you that you didn't obey track rules, but in the end it doesn't really amount to much. Here, however, your failure to abide by standard operating procedures actually carries a tangible weight and financial burden. If you ignore track signage while hauling cargo, you WILL derail 9 times out of 10, and from then on it's your responsibility to pick up the pieces. If the cargo is salvageable, then you can go ahead and finish the job to recoup some of your losses, but if you destroy a locomotive or, even worse, derail with hazardous (even potentially explosive) materials in tow, this can set you back for a very long time. [h1] But it doesn't have to be this way [/h1] The game offers a save-load system if you think that this punishment is a bit too harsh along with an option to limit these saves if you think the game's not being draconian enough. Moreover, the entire experience is customizable, right down to being able to disable derailing if you so desire. Want to wait longer for your brake reservoir to fill? What about cutting your job payments down to pennies and skyrocketing the cost of damage fees? You can do that, and much more. The game really does allow for you to make it as casual as you want, all the way down to your choice of locomotive. [h1] Big trains, little trains, steam trains [/h1] The basic locomotive you start in is one that practically anyone (even without sim knowledge) could drive around. While it does help, you don't need to know much about the inner workings diesel electric to drive it around the yard and do a few basic jobs here and there, but after getting a few jobs under your belt, your choices can broaden a bit. From a single diesel-hydraulic with similar but distinct handling characteristics to your starting diesel electric all the way to 20th century steam trains which could very well stand alone in their own game, there's a lot of variety in the game's small handful of locomotives, and they each feel like their own playable character in a sense - even the endgame diesel electric has distinct mechanics from the one your start in. [h1] Unfortunately, there are some problems, though not many.[/h1] For one, if you want to run any of these locomotives in the game's sandbox mode, you have to have a save wherein they're unlocked in career mode. Additionally, due to the game still being in early access, there's a fair bit of terrain clipping and odd geometry dotted throughout the map (track ballasts floating in mid air, trees clipping through tracks, stretched textures on some cliffs, etc). Additionally, there's the odd rendering error with certain game assets not appearing while remaining functional (though, this primarily exists with brake hoses, so it's nothing too game-breaking) [h1] Verdict [/h1] If you're curious about the train sim genre, this serves as an excellent entry point compared to the more timetable-focused games in the genre, and if you're acclimated to the genre, then the career-based structure of the game provides a novel experience you can't really find in other sims. It rarely goes on sale, so the price you see it at right now is more than likely the price you will always pay for it.

Status meines Kontos: Insolvenzverfahren läuft. Psychischer Zustand: Ich kriege Schweißausbrüche, wenn ich eine Modelleisenbahn sehe. Nach knapp 70 Stunden in Derail Valley habe ich eine wichtige Erkenntnis gewonnen: Ich bin kein professioneller Lokführer. Ich bin ein wandelndes Sicherheitsrisiko für die gesamte Infrastruktur mit einem sehr teuren Hang zu Kesselexplosionen. Meine Bilanz nach unzähligen Kilometern auf den Schienen: 25 Stunden: Verzweifeltes Suchen nach der Bremse (während die Tachonadel sich im Kreis dreht und der Bahnhof, in den ich eigentlich reinfahren sollte, am Horizont bereits in Flammen aufsteht). 15 Stunden: Manuelles Umlegen von Weichen. Ich bin in diesem Spiel mehr zu Fuß durch den Schlamm gerannt als in jedem Survival-Game, nur um festzustellen, dass ich die Weiche trotzdem falsch gestellt habe und mein Zug rückwärts in ein Öllager rast. 10 Stunden: Das Lesen von Handbüchern, während die Lok im Hintergrund bereits Geräusche macht, die verdächtig nach einer thermonuklearen Detonation klingen. 20 Stunden: Tatsächliches Gameplay, in dem ich versucht habe, eine Ladung Atommüll unfallfrei über eine Brücke zu transportieren, nur um am Ende festzustellen, dass 90 km/h in einer 30er-Zone physikalisch doch nicht machbar sind. Warum ich nach 70 Stunden immer noch hier bin? Ganz ehrlich: Ich weiß es auch nicht. Vielleicht ist es die Tatsache, dass das Versicherungssystem des Spiels mich inzwischen als seinen persönlichen Erzfeind ansieht. Oder das Gefühl, wenn man nach zwei Stunden Millimeterarbeit endlich am Ziel ankommt, nur um beim Abkuppeln die Handbremse zu vergessen, woraufhin der gesamte Zug rückwärts den Berg runterrollt und die nächste Kleinstadt ausradiert. Es ist diese perfekte Mischung aus „wunderschöner Eisenbahn-Idylle“, „absoluter Panik vor der nächsten Kurve“ und dem „die Ladung schaffe ich noch“-Gefühl, während meine Bremsen glühen wie die Oberfläche der Sonne. Fazit: Die Physik ist gnadenlos, die Schulden sind ein Verbrechen gegen mein virtuelles Bankkonto und ich verbringe mein halbes Leben damit, Loks aus Seen zu bergen. 10/10 – Ich habe gerade den nächsten Großauftrag mit hochexplosivem Flüssiggas angenommen. Wir sehen uns im Tal (ich bin der, der mit brennendem Zug und ohne Bremsen auf dein Stellwerk zurast).

buy game, skip tutorial, pick contract, get train, connect waggons, set motion, red break light starts flashing, ignore, get near destination, its downhill, train fast, apply independent break, train no slow down, apply service break, train still no slow down, apply handbreak, it fails, train too fast, there is a curve, train starts making strange sounds, become concerned, train derail, epic crash, repeat 5 more times in a span of 2 hours, 10/10 game would recomend

Als jemand, der fast 600 Stunden in Hearts of Iron IV versenkt hat, war ich fest davon überzeugt, dass mich kaum ein Spiel dieser Welt noch geistig brechen könnte. Dann habe ich Derail Valley gestartet. Innerhalb von fünf Minuten wurde ich vom angehenden Lokführer zum Mechaniker, Elektriker und durfte nebenbei noch Schienenpläne studieren. In dem Moment, als ich die Weichenübersicht gesehen habe, kam mein verdrängtes Physik-Trauma aus dem Thema Schaltpläne mit Vollgas zurück. Nach mehreren Ehrenrunden durchs komplette Bahngelände habe ich meine Waggons schließlich gefunden. Ein kleiner Sieg... der ungefähr drei Sekunden anhielt, bis ich beim Anfahren fast den Motor gegrillt hätte, weil Überhitzung offenbar kein Vorschlag, sondern eine Lebenseinstellung ist. Also los Richtung Zielbahnhof. Nach ein paar Minuten stand ich an einem völlig anderen Bahnhof und dachte mir: „Wie freundlich von den Entwicklern! Bestimmt gibt's am Anfang eine kostenlose Schnellreise inklusive Zug und Ladung, damit Neulinge nicht komplett verzweifeln.“ Spoiler: Die Schnellreise war tatsächlich kostenlos. Meine Waggons allerdings nicht. Meine Lok stand fröhlich am Ziel. Meine Waggons hatten sich dagegen offenbar gedacht: „Mit dem Typen fahren wir keinen Meter mehr.“ Also wieder zurück per Schnellreise. Nach zehn Minuten Suchaktion musste ich akzeptieren, dass meine Fracht sich vermutlich aufgrund meines bisherigen Fahrstils kollektiv von mir getrennt hatte. Wahrscheinlich hatten die Waggons inzwischen eine Gewerkschaft gegründet, einen neuen Lokführer gewählt und waren wirtschaftlich erfolgreicher als meine Firma. Auf der Fahrt zu diesem komplett falschen Bahnhof lernte ich außerdem, dass Kurvenschilder offenbar keine unverbindlichen Empfehlungen sind. Vielleicht war ich *minimal* zu schnell unterwegs. Die Geräusche, die Zug und Schienen dabei von sich gegeben haben, haben in mir mehr Angstschweiß ausgelöst als die Worte: „So, wir schreiben jetzt einen unangekündigten Test.“ Dieses Spiel erklärt dir nicht, wie dumm du bist. Es lässt dich das völlig eigenständig herausfinden. Fazit: 10/10. Ich habe selten so viel Spaß daran gehabt, der größte Feind meiner eigenen Lokomotive zu sein und meine eigene Firma so effizient entgleisen zu lassen. Absolute Kaufempfehlung.

This game is basically just autism simulator and i love it

I've been playing Derail Valley for two, maybe three years at this point. I recall playing it back when it was still called Overhauled before the Simulator update. The game has come a long way. It's now genuinely one of my favorite sims, full stop. The thing that sets it apart from the usual suspects like Train Sim World and SimRail is how much more alive it feels. You pick your own freight contracts, hook up the cars yourself (with actual simulated couplings), and deliver under time pressure. Going overspeed is a legitimate strategy. You actually get rewarded for working under pressure. Games like Train Sim World miss this kind of fun entirely. They're realistic, sure (that's the whole point of them) but you can't crash into another train, and you definitely can't control every switch on the map. The AI dispatcher handles all of that. In Derail Valley, you throw the switches, you maintain your engine, and you try really hard not to plow into a tanker full of explosive gas. And if you do? There go your hard-earned earnings. The game runs well overall, though the engine does have its moments:levers misaligning or stuttering, text and bars on the radio shunting remote occasionally vanishing. Hopefully the next major version (name still unannounced) is getting an engine upgrade, which would help. The quality-of-life additions since Overhauled are great too. The amp limiter is a godsend if you don't feel like babysitting your traction motors: simply cap the output and just focus on speed, no blown engines, no extra maintenance bills. There's also a driver alertness device that'll slam on the emergency brakes if you don't tap a button every few seconds Upgrades, people. Upgrades. Overall: 100/10, genuinely fun, would absolutely buy at full price..

чучух чучух, пожалуй лучший способ отдохнуть от суеты этого мира, прокатится по довольно интересному миру железных дорог, спокойствие и умиротворение вот что подарит это игра

Former Auran TRAINZ player here. This game takes me right back to those days, but is way better in that Derail Valley makes it so that there's actually a point to making the deliveries. Start off small, earn money, buy licenses so that you can do bigger jobs that make you more money... What's not to love? I also like that not everything is easy. Making sure your consist is hooked up properly, planning your route so that you don't have to fight a hill in the small starter loco with 4 cars of freight and 0 traction... My request to the devs would be to please, please ensure that this game will always be playable WITHOUT a VR headset. Most of us don't want one, and it would be a shame and a half to lose this game.