Daedalic Entertainment and Corbie Games have published the first major update for their historical train sim Bounty Train for PC and Mac, currently in Steam Early Access. This update combines all the feedback by players and press collected over the course of the last months; further updates on the way to the full release in the second quarter of 2016 are already scheduled.
About the update: The new day/night cycle adds a realistic touch, and the developers have tweaked the whole ingame economy to allow for smoother play. A number of new events make travelling more exciting. And players may now change the loadout of characters and customize their cabins, both features enabling them to develop a more individual play-style. Additionally countless small optimizations and bugfixes are introduced, among them a new save system.
All changes in detail:
New Save System
With update 04, manual saving has found its way into Bounty Train. No more moving files around. We know how annoying that was. Now you have complete control and can save the game whenever you want. You can also create various save games. We still consider using the old system for runs on higher difficulty, but this decision is still pending and we’ll definitely wait for your feedback on this.
Day/Night Cycle
Areas can now be accessed during day or nighttime. We plan on extending on this feature in the near future. We’ll implement day and night-dependent missions, for example, as well as other alternative options matching this theme.
Economy Adjustments
Right now, we’re not too happy with the in-game economy and thus we tweaked the price development a little. Additionally, we introduced some new goods which should be worthwhile alternatives to the present goods and encounters. In the long run, we want to have goods in the game you can process further to specialize certain areas even more and provide more in-game options for players.
New Events
One issue of the last version was the frequency of enemy encounters and subsequent combat. We want to mitigate this by implementing more events. Now, when you travel a track, you won’t just find the familiar factions, but you’ll also encounter new mini-events from time to time.
Character Adjustments
You can now switch the loadout of individual characters. You think Walter should be a grenadier? Well, you can give him grenades and let him wreak some havoc. Speaking of which, we also plan to add more shops to make respective gear more accessible. Aaand enemies will drop special items and weapons in the future.
Cabin Adjustments
One of our main goals is to provide you with the means to build your very own train that matches your playstyle. With the new system you’re no longer quite so restricted: you can customize cabins and have more control over expenses and weight of your train.We plan to unlock more custom options through shops and inventions.
Bugfixes
We could reproduce and resolve many of the issues you have submitted. For example, sudden, unexplainable vanishing of resources should no longer occur, wanted characters should appear properly and players shouldn’t get stuck in scenarios under certain circumstances anymore.
The Story:
Bounty Train takes place in the America of the 1860s, the player is the son of a Railroad Tycoon out to fulfil his dead father’s grand dream: an unbroken train line across America. But his former partners have other plans in store, and the building of the line becomes a desperate race to prevent a great evil.
The Game:
Bounty Train is a complex, tactically challenging game. The player has to keep many balls in the air – dealing with real time skirmishes with bandits, trading good for the best prices, resource management, train optimization and keeping the line (and train) in good repair. In addition, Bounty Train confronts the player with historical events, from the onset of the Civil War to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln – and depending on player choices and performance, the course of history may be changed.
Bounty Train borrows elements from many genres and uses them to build a greater whole, a new unique strategy game experience. A masterpiece for strategy fans everywhere.
Features:
•A mix of strategy, simulation and rogue-like gameplay elements
•Player gets to control a beautiful, historically accurate steam train
•Manage your train and routes, protect your train and its cargo as you steam across the American frontier
•The unique setting brings special challenges – defend your train against bandits, raiders and more
•Running a train means hiring a good crew, and that crew includes gunslingers, snipers and other dangerous types
•Player actions influence the course of history, reflected in the game by multiple endings
•No two games are ever the same, how far will you get in building your rail empire?
Title: Bounty Train
Genre: Historical Strategy/Sim/Roguelike-Hybrid
Platforms: PC, Mac
Languages: English, German, Ukrainian, more with full release
Release: Early Access since mid-2015; full release: Q2, 2016
Developer: Corbie Games Limited
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment GmbH
Available on: Steam