The latest version of Rail Nation will now be installed on all servers and it includes some great improvements. Initially, we will update two servers for each scenario, with all other servers being updated a week later. Servers still using the old client are not affected. They will be updated when their rounds restart.

Extensive update in for different areas of the game

A new home for your engines

This is eye candy for all train lovers! Rail Nation’s 3D artists have done a great job completely overhauling the engine purchase screen over recent months. Trains and engines now shine in a brand-new light. Each of the six eras now has its own look matching its period. Just like the eras, trains and cities, the engine purchase screen now evolves from a steam-filled engine house to a well-lit hall with a glass roof. By changing the proportions, the difference in engine sizes is now even more realistic.

New messaging system

The messaging system in the new client has often been a hotly discussed topic in the community. We listened to your feedback and developed a clearer messaging system.
In the messenger, private chats with other players, system messages and the forums are now distinctly separated. This guarantees a better overview of the events in the game world, the connected cities and the association.
In the city, association and regional windows, you can now once again find direct links to the relevant forum.
You can now also easily favourite a topic or disable certain notifications. A completely new feature for the messages are the settings that allow every player to personalise their messaging system according to their needs.
Overall, the messaging system is now much clearer, simplifying communication for the players.

Special association slot for newbies

Recently, we introduced the mentoring programme and the pre-registration for the next round. With Update 4.8.0, we now present the ‘newbie slot’.
This feature allows new players, who aren’t yet part of an association, to join one. The advantage for the association is a new player who can help out, while all existing members can of course keep their place in the association. The advantage for the new player is that they can now play with, instead of against, experienced players, allowing them to learn the game faster and discover more facets of the game more quickly.
The requirement for using the newbie slot is career level 1 at the point of joining an association. Should the new player reach higher career ranks over the course of the game round, they can remain in the association nonetheless. If at the end of the round all association members (i.e. 25+1) decide to pre-register for the next round, all members will keep their space in the association.
This allows all players to benefit and new players can become loyal association members.

Trainspotter balancing adjustment

Now that our trainspotters have been taking pictures of your trains for a couple of weeks, allowing you to collect them, we have decided to adjust the feature in a way that all 25 trainspotters can be found more quickly.
Following the update, duplicate trainspotters will no longer appear. Of the last ten generated trainspotters near your tracks, each trainspotter can only appear once and not multiple times as before.

On top of that, we also made some other adjustments:

• Brand-new medals for watching videos
• Top-level switches in the options Fully turn on/off categories like audio settings or notifications
• Changes made to the option settings are now saved in the user’s system for each server. The options don’t need to be readjusted in each new round.
• All players now start in expert mode, which means all features are available right from the start.
• During the tutorial, you no longer have to vote for a president/mayor (Steam over Europe)

We wish you lots of fun with the new and improved features in Rail Nation and hopefully a successful game!
Your Rail Nation Team