While City Video games has been onerous at work on the second follow-up to its Transport Fever franchise, the studio’s group supervisor Sam Bennett was form sufficient to reply just a few of our questions. Topics we bought a solution on vary from a few of the new options we will anticipate from Transport Fever 3, to extra concerned ones, akin to how agent-based citizenry impacts gameplay and the distinctive challenges provided by the sport’s varied environments.
What are a few of the large new options that we are going to see in Transport Fever 3 when in comparison with its predecessors?
How about day/evening cycle, helicopters, warehousing, landmarks, contracts, participant status…
Greater than particular person options, it makes extra sense to suppose by way of the general evolution of the sport. Up to now the tycoon side of the sport has been the realm most in want of a big improve. We’ve had this nice transport constructing recreation, but it surely’s by no means fairly labored as a difficult tycoon. To create a significant and enjoyable tycoon expertise you must lean into decision-making: making one alternative may profit your income, but it surely’s going to harm you in different methods.
“We’ve had this nice transport constructing recreation, but it surely’s by no means fairly labored as a difficult tycoon.”
To that finish, from a gameplay perspective we’ve made the tycoon expertise our major goal. That mentioned, we don’t need present gamers to overlook out on what they love doing, so all of the mod-support, customization, inventive construct choices proceed within the recreation, they usually’ve all been given consideration as nicely.
The sport has by no means appeared higher, and we consider with this newest model it’s by no means performed higher both.
How will a few of the environments supply distinctive challenges for gamers by way of logistics and planning out routes?
Terrain and atmosphere are main areas of focus within the new recreation. Traditionally, our map generator did a very good job at making totally different environments, however there have been very clear similarities between them.
This got here out of the map generator being *engineered*. For Transport Fever 3 we made a philosophical change right here – and that’s a recurring theme, altering the best way we’ve thought in regards to the methods within the recreation. As an alternative of map era being led by the engineering workforce, it’s been reworked by our designers.
Surroundings era now pays shut consideration to how geography works in actuality. Temperate environments realistically transition from mountain ranges taller than any we’ve beforehand had, down towards open fields and forests as they get nearer to sea-level, with rivers and lakes following rule of topographical actuality. In a dry atmosphere the character of abrasion results in the identical elementary options – mountains and rivers – being dealt with very in a different way as a result of erosion works in a different way in actuality.
The upshot is that every atmosphere performs very in a different way. Navigating lowland swamps is a really totally different problem to working a riverside passenger line, could be very totally different to hauling an enormous freight prepare excessive of a canyon.
Moreover, the best way wherein every atmosphere is seeded alters the combo of sub-biomes in a pure manner making the outcome much less predictable. So, three totally different sub-arctic maps can have three very totally different feels to them. All of this actually provides to the vary of gameplay problem gamers will expertise.
“The upshot is that every atmosphere performs very in a different way.”
How will the brand new agent-based citizenry play into total gameplay in Transport Fever 3?
We’ve at all times constructed our worlds with some stage of agent expertise within the recreation’s inhabitants, however we’ve enhanced this method to simulate a believable world by way of the motivation for a citizen to maneuver from one place to a different. If the participant doesn’t present a wanted technique of transport, the citizen will discover one for themselves. Whereas settlements are small this will likely result in gentle visitors that has no affect on the world, however as populations develop visitors volumes improve resulting in settlements stagnating of their development. If a participant desires to construct megacities, they’re going to should work very onerous to maintain these cities’ populations transferring successfully.
How will totally different areas and biomes have an effect on issues like transport route upkeep?
Upkeep ranges are one thing we’ve at all times modelled however solely within the sense of how a lot a car prices to run, and what its outward look is like. We’ve elevated the affect within the new recreation by giving efficiency penalties to autos whose upkeep is missing. This could possibly be a discount in capability, pulling energy, high velocity, loading velocity – nothing good! The location of upkeep services then turns into essential as a result of they’re not cheap. On more difficult landscapes the issues come by way of your logistical planning greater than the atmosphere itself. Relatively than a selected biome creating the necessity for extra upkeep, what’s extra possible is that upkeep is tougher to carry out successfully in numerous environments.
What varieties of recent industries will we get to see in Transport Fever 3?
We’ve launched offshore industries for the primary time. These not solely have a requirement for transport to move the merchandise again to land, however to get the very best from them you’ll need to carry employees out to these industries – fishing farms, sand excavators, and oil platforms. You then want to contemplate the consequences of time-criticality on the products you’re bringing in. Up to now you’ve been capable of enable mountains of products to construct up at transit interchanges, however not any extra. Warehousing will assist to some extent, however you’ll have to basically change your pondering with a purpose to transfer merchandise to their last vacation spot in a well timed vogue.
We’ve additionally added many extra industries to the sport that settlements will demand as they develop bigger, and that too can be dictated by the totally different environmental settings. You’ll have totally different industries relying in your map, and plenty of received’t be based till demand for them exists.
The results of that is that there’s a important have to evolve your plans because the world modifications, it very a lot modifications the best way you’ll take into consideration the sport over the long run.
“We’ve launched offshore industries for the primary time.”
How have the instruments to place down routes like routes or rail traces advanced over the course of the franchise?
Very a lot so. Our main driving thought is to scale back friction in gameplay. Our purpose is for gamers to grasp an goal, then plan and deal with that goal with out the instruments ever getting in the best way. You may need to construct a passenger specific prepare service between two cities, for instance. You understand you’ll want stations at each ends, observe linking them collectively, capability for as many providers as you need, upkeep for all these providers… the problem ought to come from the planning side of pulling all this collectively, not in combating tracklaying or signalling, or creating junctions, parallel traces, or creating house for later enlargement. The instruments ought to at all times be an extension of your thought course of as a participant, not a hindrance. We have been profitable in creating a set of instruments to permit all this performance with the unique recreation within the collection, so since then we’ve labored to make them extra versatile and, for individuals who need it, less complicated to make use of. We’ve added steady tracklaying within the new recreation, making two click on routes potential, however that isn’t for everybody, so we’ve launched it alongside the choices and granularity that present gamers are aware of.
We’ve additionally prolonged what is feasible when working with roads. Much more alternative now exists that ought to drastically support visitors administration – a should within the later recreation – and light-weight rail has been prolonged additional to supply a larger choice choices for methods to deal with these planning aims.
What decision and fps will the sport run on PS5, PS5 Professional, Xbox Sequence S and X?
We’re nonetheless in alpha at current and as such we will’t give finalised numbers, however we’re launching on console and PC concurrently, so optimisation is certainly on our schedule earlier than launch.
