The Evolution and Creative Inspirations Behind Train Valley, out Today on Xbox

I’ve been interested in railroads and train games since I was a kid. The DOS game was one of my first sources of inspiration. The ShortLine. It was already a puzzle game which was very interesting to play on my friends’ computer.

Railway ValleyThis Flash game was one of our first Flash creations at Flazm. However, we had significant difficulties with our sprite cars and locomotives that needed to rotate and be colored. When we made this game with Unity3D it became obvious that 3D was required.

The game was initially called Railway Valley 3D, but it wasn’t the most successful naming, and we renamed it Train Valley. Although Train Valley has many basic mechanics of its predecessor, it’s more advanced in every way.

The importance of listening to your community’s suggestions and initial reception

The community has been a blessing. The players we have ranged in age from four to eighty-plus years. Most of the feedback that we received was positive, constructive, and kind. We quickly learned from our participants that it is difficult to play the game for people with colorblindness and created the colorblind mode. Another interesting request was for a sandbox option that allowed you to interact with children and not feel the need for money or time. Our players were the ones who created this mode.

During development, technical challenges

There were quite a few challenges since this was our first “big” PC game on Unity. In the beginning videos, you will see how we tried a lot to use flexible path guidance, which required a lot of mathematics. However, it was eventually dropped in favour of tile-based guidance. The Unity terrain adds many restrictions to level design and we had some trouble with it. But we’re happy with what the game ended up being.

The Game’s Three Favorite Levels and Why.

The volcano level in the European season is my favorite. There, the “tightness” of the track construction is a full participant in the game for the first time. Next, most of the Japanese season because it’s wonderful (we tried to capture the charm of the sakura, Mount Fuji, and the first shinkansen). And, of course, the rocket launch at Baikonur Cosmodrome – we specially made slow train mechanics with rocket parts for it, and it’s tough to pass.

These are the Main Lessons from Team Developing Train Valley. I’m prouder of these achievements in hindsight.

While working on the game, the most valuable lesson we have learned was the importance of keeping in touch with players and being thoughtful about their feedback. It is great to have train lovers who are willing to help each other! We’re very grateful for your input and advice, and we’re glad we have each other!

We hope you enjoy Train ValleyAs much as you do. It’s available today on Xbox!

Train Valley: Console Edition

BlitWorks

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$11.99

In order to link cities, tunnels, and bridges with each other, railroads are built. Railways that are laid over bare ground can be inexpensive, but they can become costly if there is destruction of forests and villages.
Construct switches, sidings, and spurs to increase traffic so multiple trains run simultaneously without any delays.
Keep your train safe by using pause to plan (you can still build and schedule railways while you are on pause).
Play through 5 seasons: Europe (1830–1980), America (1840–1960), USSR (1880–1980), Japan (1900–2020) and Germany (1830-2020).
Completion of story mode featuring real-life events like the Gold Rush of 1849 and the building of Florida Overseas Railroad. World War II.
Explore the game in different game modes: in story mode (5-10 minutes), in random mode (15-20 minutes – the level looks and develops differently every time you launch) or in sandbox-like regime (can be turned on for both story and random modes. You can play the game without spending any money or time.
Discover 30 types of trains – from early steam-powered locomotives to modern high-speed trains, driving 18 types of cars – from old-time passenger cars to hoppers and cisterns and to military-use tank and gun platforms.