We’ve been following VR train simulator Derail Valley for some time now. We first played it in early 2017, when we were impressed with the game’s peaceful visuals and realistic controls. Two years on, it’s finally pulling into the Early Access station.
Derail Valley will launch in pre-release on January 18th with support for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows VR headsets. Developer Altfuture confirmed as much in a blog post last month. In the game, you travel between stations delivering cargo drops in different types of trains. You’ll need to learn how to operate your chosen locomotive, correctly attach cargo in the right order and then ride through the country without crashing. As you play you’ll earn money to buy new trains and service your existing ones.
The game packs 256 km² of open world to explore. Trains include traditional steam locomotives, which you’ll need to fuel with coal, and electric shunters. As you progress through the world you’ll move into different job areas that change your locations. Picking up cargo from a forested area, for example, will mean a delivery at the sawmill. Stopping off at the oil well? Then off to the harbor with you. Oh, and as the trailer above shows, it sure is a looker.
Over the course of Early Access Altfuture will be looking to add more types of trains, passengers and even NPC trains. Further down the line the team hopes to add co-op play, mod support and more. You can follow along with a development roadmap here. The developer hasn’t yet said when it plans to leave Early Access. We haven’t seen too many a train simulator in VR yet, so we’re looking forward to this one.
