Derail Valley

Challenging but rewarding at the same time. It's a simulator that stands out in a way that scratches the itch of enthusiasts and casual fans of simulator titles like myself, and you'll never notice how much time you spent simply hauling cars around in a station you've never been to. It runs well, looks great, and plays even better. Works amazingly if you just want to pass the time or relax during your off. Highly recommend getting this during a sale. Note: it's not for everyone. Those that prefer more arcade-y or fast-paced gameplay will find this gem off-putting due to its technical and hands-on approach.

I recommend this game for people who enjoy trains and train simulators. Easily an 8/10 with room for improvement if devs can stick to their roadmap. I'm very curious what the new USA map will look like. First the positives: Great physical interactivity model. You click and drag/scroll to move levers and dials, even hooking up wagons/locomotives. You also walk around as a person (no player model). This is light-years ahead of what I remember from my time with the other mainstream train simulator offerings, which typically provide you a set of 5 or 6 different camera angles to choose from while operating your single train, and if you want to swap vehicles you need to exit to the main menu and start the simulation again. On the other hand in this game, you're able to manage multiple stacks of wagons by physically hopping to different vehicles in different places with different handling stats. As a VR accommodation (I did not try the VR build due to lack of room), the devs let you teleport around in about 50 yard jumps. This makes getting around yards (and outrunning trains to check signals further down the line) very easy. Good weather model. It really feels like handling changes significantly in rain/thunderstorms, and they also have fog. I haven't seen snow or ice. Remarkably stable even over multiple hour long play sessions. I cannot understate how impressive it is that performance remains steady and there are no crashes or other bugs that seriously disrupt the session. So many games these days don't address this during development at all, and this is a great example of what it looks like when done right. Paper printouts in-game for maps, receipts, and job briefings. This is definitely far slower than giving the user a sortable list view, but very immersive and charming. You can drop maps on counters in the trains and glance at them in transit easily, or hold on to a map to view it close up and peek around the edges out the windows occasionally for speed advisory signs. Maybe I missed it, but the devs could definitely add a purchasable PDA that would allow you the option to view written data more intuitively without shuffling paper around on a table/in your inventory. Customizable difficulty. I wish more games were like this by exposing all the parameters to the player for tweaking that the developers have access to. Simulations in particular benefit from allowing the player to choose a more forgiving physics/economy model. There's a good deal of customization options available. You can attach things like lights to the exterior of the train and then wire them up to internal control surfaces. I haven't done much of this. And the cons (which are mostly minor, given how strong the rest of the game is): The update schedule is very slow. I don't want to rush or demoralize the devs, but some gamers might be unable to demonstrate this patience. The manual could use some improvement. It needs more pictures and details about idiosyncratic locomotive features (the DM3 as an example uses a manual gearbox and has a vastly different train brake system than the starter vehicle). I had to pause a couple of times to do Internet searches. The terrain and scenery are very repetitive. Lots of European mountains and rivers. I live somewhere with lots of ecological and geologic diversity, so it's a little sad to just see the same couple of trees and boulders everywhere. Some erratic terrain vertices cause weird terrain clipping, especially around tunnels. The vegetation also has a tendency to completely obscure the rail lines, which is unfortunate. There are also a few props which are only visible from one track direction due to backface culling. The environments are also pretty sterile. The only other living creatures you will see are a few stray cats near the stations. Strangely, there are ambient civilization sound effects in the station towns, which confused me greatly after noticing them for the first time. Apparently, CPU controlled trains are in the development plans, but I would imagine a great deal of work needs to be done adapting the existing map for this, as right now all routes are single tracked with no passing lanes. Very minor terminology/translation issues. I think there are a few in the manual, but the only one that really stuck out to me was the misnaming of the insurance deductible as a "copay." Copays you pay every time, a deductible you pay down and then are granted the insurance coverage. A few other notes: They do still let you control the train in an exterior view with a UI panel that exposes all of the train's internal controls. I wish the map was a little bigger. I think a map editor would be a great addition if the devs can manage it (I'm surely not the only one who spent more time in MS Train Simulator's map editor messing around than driving trains). No achievements yet.

Fun and relaxing - atmospheric lightning.

I am train.

♥

Amazing game. Engine Sounds are therapeutic. Dont get distracted for to long or you might crash. This game has heart. I love details liek the raido that can paly actual radio and even cuts out in tunnels. or customization and restauration of locomotivs. Would be nice tho if we could own more then one of the same. If you like Powerful Machines and relaxing games try it.