Derail Valley

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Derail Valley

Postby JasonM » Sat Jan 26, 2019 4:06 pm

Derail Valley Early Access is now out on Steam or Oculus store.
I have not got a VR headset yet so am using keyboard and mouse.
I am enjoying it and it simulates very well, I have only driven the diesel engine but steam is available.
You select jobs to do then carry them out by delivering freight to the different industries, the map is big and some nice scenery to look at.
I found out a few times why it is called Derail Valley, took a facing point slighty too quick and my loco and 3 flatbed's ended up in the dirt.
It is not perfect but bearing in mind it is early access the future looks good for this game.
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Re: Derail Valley

Postby JamesLit » Tue Feb 05, 2019 12:23 am

Several bugs with derailing now fixed so it's much more lenient (as was supposed to be).

It's a great game, coming on very well and very fast, with a great bunch of developers. Hoping to work with them this year.
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Re: Derail Valley

Postby BigVern » Wed Feb 06, 2019 1:45 pm

I also just bought this, on Jason's recommendation :D

Has great potential, kind of ATS or ETS2 on rails, but I hope they give equal attention to the non-VR side of things. Just had a look on Curry's at how much an Oculus costs and nearly fell off my chair - more than I paid for my new GPU and UHD monitor put together!

As regards gameplay only had a quick look so far and there is great potential. Have posted a few suggestions on their FB page and Steam forum - mainly:

Enable key commands for the loco controls as you need to be able to observe where you are when applying the brakes etc.

Consider some sort of despatcher board (like Run 8) to set the route up ahead rather than having to stop Trainz style at each set of points to check if you are correctly routed.

More space or a different system for the inventory. I shouldn't have to drop (and forget where!) items just to pick up my job card. Things like key commands or maps should just be accessed via a Help screen.

Agree with comments that speed restrictions together with advance warnings need to be posted. Perhaps some sort of mini-HUD similar to what DTG TS has on the bottom of the screen.

Ultimately have a fully signalled network with passing loops on the single line so we can also have AI trains going about their business.

Bigger diesel locos - perhaps a Class 37 to represent the UK or a GM SD40 or similar for America. Maybe a DB294 for Germany.

Is anyone we know involved with this, or are they all new people without any connection to the established "Big 3"?
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Re: Derail Valley

Postby JamesLit » Wed Feb 06, 2019 7:40 pm

They are a totally new studio in Serbia I believe.
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Re: Derail Valley

Postby BigVern » Wed Feb 06, 2019 11:25 pm

Well it's pretty good if a little tricky. I managed to derail only doing 20 km/h on the downhill stretch from the Forest to the Sawmill. Tried it the second time at 15 km/h and just made it through. Either they need to tone down the derailment side a bit or introduce the ability to recover your train, with maybe a small time penalty.

Arriving at the Sawmill, apart from shunting jobs the only delivery runs are estimated at 70 mins +, so until we get a save game, I'll just have to run light to another location and see what's there.
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Re: Derail Valley

Postby JamesLit » Thu Feb 07, 2019 8:35 pm

A lot of the derailing issues have been sorted in the most recent patches, so have a play again if you haven't done so since then. The issue you mention Vern sounds like the sort of thing that would have happened before the patch - I hope I'm right, or they've more work to do!

You can save, too - it doesn't save the job in progress, or the positions of locos and stock, but if you're not seeing any jobs you want at the place you're at you can quit and go back in. It'll refresh all the stock in the yard and all the jobs, and might give you something more appealing.
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Re: Derail Valley

Postby BigVern » Mon Feb 11, 2019 9:17 am

Good news: Quite a few updates including the horn now works on the diesel shunter - I haven't bothered with the steam loco yet - and keyboard commands for brake and throttle allowing finer control.

Bad news: Spurious derailments seem to be back with a vengeance, two attempted runs last night both ended in frustrating derailments. The first hauling a consist uphill under medium power at ~50 km/h when a coupler broke. The second after a very gentle brake application starting to run downhill, whole train started to bang into the loco, almost as if there is no train braking just the straight (loco) break.

Reported via the Steam forum, will maybe leave it a couple of days to see if any further updates are forthcoming.
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Re: Derail Valley

Postby BigVern » Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:32 am

The steam loco is a bit frustrating. I couldn't spawn the loco and tender next to each other so had to use a diesel to push them together. Got the fire lit and steam up (in about 10 secs!) but once under way unless you use the lean keys there is no forward view to speak of and the boiler and fire seem to require constant attention. Running at no more than 25 km/h I then had a derailment for absolutely no obvious reason so just frustrating really.

IMHO the developers really need to either tone down the derailment algorithm or provide an option to disable it in all but the most severe circumstances. The emphasis needs to be on shifting the cargo, perhaps making up a long train out of the several loads at your start point then running round the map and dropping off, maybe even shunting and picking up additional traffic. Could be a really fascinating and absorbing game but not when it derails you on a whim.
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Re: Derail Valley

Postby BigVern » Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:51 pm

The game has come a long way since last posting with many improvements.

Pleased to say I finally got the "beast" - big DE6 road diesel. I have to say the devs have done a great job - eat your hearts out DTG! Looks and souns superb especially with the cab door open. Just walked away with 8 loaded oil tanks up the hill from the Harbour - train simming at its finest!

DE6.jpg


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Re: Derail Valley

Postby BigVern » Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:23 pm

My longest train yet, carefully descending the river gorge between Food Factory and City SW...

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