iPhone Age of Trains (by Amazing Games)

UPDATES
2010.12.30: Screenshots and info about the strategic map

2010.12.19: Screenshots and info about the historic campaigns

2010.12.14: Screenshot and historic CAMPAIGNS and Great Leaders introduced

2010.12.06: SANDBOX train simulator mode explained



Hi there,

Some of you might have heard bits and pieces of a train game called Railroad Revolution last year. Development is now nearing completion, and it has got a real name - Age of Trains - so I thought this would be a good opportunity to let you see - for the very first time - Age of Trains running on an iPad.

I have been running a small indie game studio for fifteen years now, but this is my largest project ever - I have been actively developing this game ever since the AppStore was announced some 2 1/2 years ago.

Age of Train is a) part sandbox historic train simulator and b) part lighthearted strategy with historic campaigns, exploration, research, development, management and great leaders... but to make it easy for casual players and people on the go, the game has got a very casual friendly structure. I will be happy to elaborate more on the game itself and show you more pics and movies soon, but right now - please enjoy the attached images.

Best regards,
Sven

 

Thanks for your interest. There is coming more pics later this week, but I can tell you a little bit more about the "sandbox train simulator". So...

SANDBOX TRAIN SIMULATOR

Your playground is a 1860 version of the United States. You start out with some of the east-coast States unlocked and ready to play. Additional States will be unlocked as you complete missions and campaigns in the "strategy" mode. These new States will bring add new features and opportunities, like terrain (deserts, rivers, mountains, valleys, etc), cities, etc.

You are free to build new railroads pretty much any way you want - sort of like in Sid Meier's Railroads! But unlike Sid Meier's Railroads!, the gameplay in Age of Trains is not focused on building an economic empire. Instead, it is about building the best, the coolest and the most fun railroad network you can imagine. There are almost no constrains on economics. You can build expensive bridges and tunnels - there is no economics holding you back.

Instead, you are ranked against other players in a range of other metrics - like having the longest bridge, climbing the highest mountain, connecting the most cities, transporting the highest number of passengers and goods, having the fastest route between various destinations, etc.

So, if you want to hold on the speed record coast-to-coast between New York and San Francisco, you better do some real planning to find the most efficient route on the map - since we are talking about a semi-realistic portrait of the real terrain features and these locomotives have parameters like top speed, acceleration, number of cars attached, climb-rates, etc. Should you favor a locomotive which can pull strong through the Rocky Mountains, or should you use a locomotive with high top speed on flat terrain? If you connect a large number of cities, the train will have to stop often - but you will transport more passengers and goods. If you add a bunch of locomotives to a line, it looks cool, but safety will require the locomotives to stop and wait more often - not cool if you are chasing a speed record...

So - you have all the toys at your disposal. If you have invented the telegraph, you can run more trains on a railroad line with less safety distance. If you have invented airbrakes, you can more rapidly decent and the trains can slow down closer to the stations, tunnels, curves and bridges. If you have invented the dynamite explosives, you can build long tunnels.

SO WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK, is what tech is available to you, what States you have unlocked and which locomotives you have unlocked. And to unlock these babies, you have to play the campaigns and the missions ... which brings me over to the "strategy" game play mode...

(but not now, I will get back soon about this)

Thank you for reading up about this game. It has been my baby for so long, it is kind of scary soon releasing it into the wild

 

ok... back for a quick update.

The other main game mode is the CAMPAIGN MODE (or the STRATEGY MODE).

I will get back to more details about the CAMPAIGN MODE later - right now I will just touch upon one aspect of the campaign mode - the GREAT LEADERS. The very first choice you have to make when you start a new campaign, is to choose which Great Leader you want to be your boss. There is a selection of historical characters - all of whom played different, but pivotal roles in the development of the railroad in the US in late 1800 century. All of these characters where also involved in the creation of the first transcontinental railroad across the US - which is the primary historic campaign for you to play through.



All of these Great Leaders are realized and animated in full 3D and will from time to time pop up (like in the screenshot attached) and give you helpful hints, comment on your performance, give you awards and offer additional sub-goals. Abraham Lincoln was the president who decided to build the first transcontinental railroad to unite California and the west coast with the rest of the nation. He is also a fairly balanced leader. Other leaders will give you an edge in various aspects of the game - economics, inventions, technology and military. For instance, if you chose famous sioux war chief Red Cloud to be your Great Leader, you will automatically have peace with all indian tribes, and can lay down railroad tracks anywhere you want - even close to indian camps, without the risk of starting an indian war.

...to be continued...

 

The last few posts in the iphone list where not posted by the developer, but by forum members quoting from their private conversations with the developer

But yes, you are right - the developer has been working on this game for a long time - actually more than 2 1/2 years. Some snippets might have leaked out to early, because the developer were thinking the release would be sooner rather than later. The developer were unfortunately wrong

But hey - the good thing is that the game is not going to be released before it actually is the game the developer had envisioned. "When it is done."

- the developer

 

Hi there, time for a new post and a few more screenshots...



These iPad screenshots are taken from the main HISTORIC CAMPAIGN. As you can see from the screenshot, I have decided to make Pullman one of my depots (from where new locomotives are dispatched), and feeder lines can be added. So now Pullman contains a roundhouse, and the city has been upgraded from a small frontier town to a small city with a grand central station.

Any time I see a ROUNDHOUSE in the game, I can GO INSIDE by tapping on the roundhouse, and there I have the option to BUY a new locomotive using whatever bonus I have been saving up for. Adding another locomotive is a great way to increase traffic in your network - especially if reaching certain levels of passenger and/or goods are part of your winning conditions.

I am trying to reduce the visual noise by making most options and choices CONTEXT-SENSITIVE rather than having bunch of buttons or a big fat menu. Likewise, adding a FEEDER LINE is one of the options if you tap on a station. Feeder lines are rather expensive, but keep the main line fast and tidy - which is important if you want to think about speed records.

In these screenshots you can see I have met a SCOUT (lower left corner) - one of the helpers I occasionally find in new cities. This guy decided to join me for the next 60 days and he makes exploration of new territories so much faster.

As you can see from the top of the screenshots, I have just 10 days left before I have to complete my next subgoal, which is completing the next few miles of track. This countdown is running in realtime, and make sure I always keep my focus. Whatever time left when I accomplish my subgoal is converted into a bonus I can use to buy or upgrade stuff.

Making the game accessible for casual gamers is a priority, which is why your next sub-goal is never more than 5 to 10 minutes away.

Regards,
Sven

 

Some answers...

Well, I am bit cautious about promising the world in the first release. I do have a lot of different gaming modes in the works, but not everything will be included in the first release.

What I can promise, is that the initial release will include the open SANDBOX mode and two HISTORIC CAMPAIGNS, which portraits building of the First Transcontinental Railroad across the US, 1863-69, from Omaha, Nebraska to Promontory Summit, Utah (as done by Union Pacific Railroad), and from Sacramento, California to Promontory Summit, Utah (as done by Central Pacific Railroad). Each of the two historic campaigns offer about 50 "levels" (they all take place in the same open seamless world), each of which are completed in 5 to 10 minutes. With an average of 7 minutes, each will take about 6 hours to complete. In addition, a couple of other, shorter campaigns will be included as well.

Looking a bit down the road, there will be a couple of cool additions, including persistent online storage which will let you build and play in same world on from both your iPhone, iPad, Mac and in your internet browser.

I also have a couple of multiplayer options more or less working, but these will not be made available until they have been tested enough for public release. One is a super-campaign where you battle it out, just like in the original historic setting - each side building as fast as they can to cover as much ground as possible, and no pre-definied meeting point. Another is what you request: Play with multiple friends in the same world, and be the first to meet your selection of winning criteria.

Good things come to those who wait...