Railroader - Coming to early access December 2023

[SurvivorSean]

A very timely and interesting update just hit this evening. Railroader has decided that the program is stable enough to release into early access since there was so much they wanted to add and accomplish.

I think this is a good decision and the latest update https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gFt_uTKg7Y is full of amazing surprises that caught me off guard. A CTC system will be included and it's probably the coolest thing I've seen in the CTC golden age. Looks and sounds like a genuine US&S CTC machine and you have a view out the window to see the trains go by.

The operations look incredible and the purpose and finances of the railroad, reputation, timely delivery, passenger service, all of it matters.

Thanks

Sean

[ngc427]

Very excited for this! Appalachian transition era railroading is something that a few sims have done, but never to the extent of Railroader. I was getting quite jealous of the dev team having fun and goofing off in what seems to be a fairly complete sim, so I'm glad they've taken the route to release an early access rather than delaying it even further, not to mention that the public will always break your game in more unexpected ways than a closed team ever would.

[SurvivorSean]

Yes I felt the same way. I tried to weasle my way onto the team, but my reputation of a very bad man probably disqualified me But honestly the developer and the team is very passionate. Can't wait to get my hands on this.

Thanks

Sean

[TrainSimJack]

Sean, thanks for posting this - I'd lost track of their development status and it's good to know they'll offer it up this year.

This will be a day one purchase for me.

[SurvivorSean]

Same here. More official videos on Railroader's YouTube page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag644hfZAfg

Latest Trailer for Steam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5frDzYyNd7I

A dedicated 40's UP video shot in Railroader on the advancement of CTC.

Thanks

Sean

[SurvivorSean]

It's official. The first tutorial video from some community streamers dropped today (many more are coming) and this will release on the 15th fully streaming on my channel. I have not been this excited for a train sim in a very long time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=briOC1oWGkA

Thanks

Sean

[eric]

The graphics are pretty cool. Love the animated grass.

[SurvivorSean]

Yeah that's cool. Part 2 is up now on his channel with part 3 coming out tomorrow morning. However he did a live stream last night. There is another content creator that also has content up (haven't got to it yet). I tried to get a key, but they are on invite only and my channel is not as big I guess
Once this releases this will likely be the main thing I play and stream on a regular basis just like I used to do with Run8.

BTW if you like scenery check out the live stream he did because the sunrise is one of the best I've seen in a railroad simulator thus far. Be curious how well it looks at night though I've seen videos before of different weather, night, etc. and it looks really good. Just can't wait to have my hands on it but it will be here before you know it.

The big selling points for me on this is the quality of life features as Kirbo put it. The AI though different from Run8's is actually interesting because it allows you as a single player to simply play conductor and they will operate the engine safely according to speed limits and obstructions. Starts out slow as you build your reputation and get more contracts. The small area also is appealing to me because if I want to relax and enjoy the scenery while my engineer runs to the next town or opearte multiple trains in single player by providing instructions, you can do that.

For those that have complained about these kind of games not being single player friendly yet really good at MP this is going to hit those boxes for you. Like I've said haven't felt this way in years about a train simulator.

Thanks

Sean

[NorthernWarrior]

The YT clips are interesting but I may wait for the initial reviews. I'm particularly interested if it's going to have decent steam physics as to me it feels more like a first person Transport Fever. Hopefully it will be okay.

[SurvivorSean]

Well the closest person I've heard in this realm is Hyce and he has complained about a few things regarding this being a train simulator. From what I've seen it's not as low as a transport fever over TSW physics but not as high as Run8. Most casual players who have played Run8 says it's very similar though. Definately appears to be the most realistic railroad simulator out there (as I usually make that distinction) and will be my simulator of choice moving forward and I'm not a steam guy. Though there is some early diesel once you unlock what is needed.

I'm not an expert on Steam or real trains for that matter on how they handle. I'm going to put that to what I would call the Run8 standard. Of course this is a preview ahead of an early access release that already has had updates and fixes and has promised to have much more specials. Already pleasantly surprised.

Thanks

Sean

[NorthernWarrior]

Someone just posted, on the DTG forum of all places, that Railroader also includes a functional CTC/DS board. Now that has definitely got my interest.

Assuming this lands at a reasonable price, I think it will be joining my collection on Thursday evening particularly as, 1. I just refunded Hmmsim as it's not up to expectations and, 2. Managed to grab a £20 Steam Wallet gift card in Sainsbury's earlier (finally back in stock).

[SurvivorSean]

It's $30 USD. I forget the price in England but it is posted on their Discord in the FAQ section.

Thanks

Sean

[NorthernWarrior]

I don't have a Discord account to view but imagine that will be between £25 and £30 with the current exchange rate and our wonderful 20% VAT factored in.

[TrainSimJack]

Note they pushed the release date earlier, it comes out tomorrow 12/7 now.

I wish I had some knowledge of industry sales numbers so I could make an accurate prediction on how well this will do.



The developers are doing all the right things - the marketing they're doing is wonderful to see - the past videos showcasing product, and giving early access to youtubers so they can get the word out, these are all things that should help bring awareness and customers to the game.

My gut tells me it is going to be very successful, to a degree we've never seen before in Train sims.

It will be interesting to watch steam charts and see if we can guess how well it's sold relative to other sims based on concurrent players, number of reviews, etc..

- Jack

Note: That Train Puzzle game I play called Train Valley 2 recently announced they had hit 1 million copies sold of Train Valley 1 & 2 over all platforms - that's an astounding number. Also it's worth remembering that MSTS sold 1 million copies. Is it possible Railroader could see the same success?

[eric]

I wish them well. I don't buy via Steam because they take between 30-50% of the selling price for themselves. Its an automatic 30% cut plus a hold back of up to 20% to account for refunds and chargeback expenses. Given how easy it is to try a game and get a refund, the seller's portion on that 20% holdback can shrink quickly.