Friday Facts #377 - New new rails

[Gergely]

Remember this topic from a long time ago?

[Tertius]

In the middle of the text, I was afraid that it would be explained right away why, unfortunately, there can be no change to the tracks. On the other hand, you would not have written a FFF about no change, so I could read on. I was not disappointed. Now we finally get that actually round circle. Thanks! And of course for the tracks changes as a whole that enable us to refine tracks much better if it comes to detail.

As far as I see, we can dump about every blueprint. Especially with the new best grid size of 32x32 / 64x64 that also aligns with the game chunk size.
That's great, because I look forward to update all my rail blueprints. For me, there is much satisfaction in taking some old or broken thing and improve it so it will work optimal in a new environment.

About the graphics: this is something players simply expect to work and don't see the work behind it to make something not only function correctly but also look naturally. So many thanks for making it look naturally! I know this can end up with moving parts of a picture pixel by pixel by hand and look how it merges with other layers. And no position is right, so you need to move part of some other layer pixel by pixel to make it work.

[IForgotMyName]

https://imgur.com/a/4TEh7Md
Is it just me, or should there be a place for a railway signal here?

[cbass]

Love the tweaks to the rail system. Although it was workable before, there were definitely some odd quirks to it.

Given the increase in curve size, would you mind sharing what a turnaround would look like? I would be very excited to see it become a smooth circle rather than the lumpy fella it is now.

turnaround.png (3.15 MiB) Viewed 7653 times

[madpav3l]

I don't even care what else you have in store for the new DLC or 2.0 update, this is the best thing I could ask for, I love playing with trains!
Thanks V453000 and Boskid

[WarmCat]

I'm so excited for new rails!
Love you guys.

[Serenity]

The new T-junction looks great. Nice curves to get on the other rail instead of the old straight bit

[adam_bise]

Meaning I for example spent literal weeks arranging the wooden ties bit by bit in a maddening process, but now the different rail pieces fit together really well.

LOL thanks for all you're grueling work. This is a fantastic update that will greatly benefit virtually every player.

[Shuisman]

Looks exquisite! great job! I like that it can squeeze now in between structure a little bit better

[gGeorg]

This improvement is accepted without any complains.
____________________________________________
What about add 2nd level of the map, underground. So we get tunnels ?
And of course, sneaky bugs could dig in to our base.

[Engimage]

Absolutely gorgeous rails changes.
AND chunk aligned power poles with 32 reach! Thank you guys as always!

Now the only functionality missing in train systems to make them really smart is Train Stop Skipping Conditions
Basically it is another table for a train stop with conditions that will be evaluated at the moment of departure, and if conditions are met the next stop is bypassed during the choice.
This will bring LTN-level capabilities to the core train systems allowing such things as dedicated refuel stations, request fulfilment functionality etc. While really much can already be done using train limits, there is always something to add. I'm sure this one will just complete the circle making trains godlike!

[Eternal]

Please !!! more space in train cars (wagons) ... 1 wagon = 1 box... make it 10

[Unknow0059]

Great.
Now you can finally add diagonal walls. And belts.

The new rails look brighter and less rugged than the original ones (rocks, wood, the metal device thing) please fix that

[MEOWMI]

Delicious.

[mithenea]

I've got an idea. A lot of buildings in factorio can be upgraded. Why not the rails too?
Older railroads were build with wooden railway sleepers, newer use concrete. This idea could be used in factorio too.
For example concrete railroads could be required for faster or havier trains.
Additionaly I would love to see some accual use for wood in base factorio.

BTW. I love rail this rail upgrade

[GrandMasterB]

Now you can finally add diagonal walls. And belts.

No ... I love right angles!

[Drury]

What if I woke you up from your dream since the beginning of the post and told you this is reality?

I'd be briefly surprised and then immediately skeptical whether it's actually useful since you can't fit any signals between the tracks.

I've always kinda just accepted rails being the way they were since there weren't many drawbacks to the system and I always assumed doing anything about it would be exactly the topological nightmare that you've just described. But kudos for actually pulling through, looks sick.

[Chrisdasdasd]

May I know how new rails will play with gates? Currently they are quite limited with diagonals.

[Klonan]

Love the tweaks to the rail system. Although it was workable before, there were definitely some odd quirks to it.

Given the increase in curve size, would you mind sharing what a turnaround would look like? I would be very excited to see it become a smooth circle rather than the lumpy fella it is now.

turnaround.png

As such:

factorio-run_jx79tz7l6b.jpg (600.38 KiB) Viewed 7305 times

[GrandMasterB]

As such:

It is wonderful! Thank you!

I like big Turnarounds and I can not lie!