This update is quite an unusual one, it's all about bringing interactivity to maps!
It adds things like keys, locked doors, train triggers, player teleporters, something called a "remote trigger activator" and more.

With these new tools you can make things like puzzle maps, exploration challenges, more advanced train automation and even complex circuits.
From simple actions like making a bunch of lights turn on when you flick a switch, or opening doors with the correct keys, all the way to fully automated train dispatching in a complex yard.

These tools are quite simple at their core, but can get quite confusing and complicated once you get ambitious with them. I've made a full guide on how to use everything added in this update:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3020861020

You can find all of these new tools in the "Room -> Automation" drawer:

Keys & doors

Firstly, there are now props for keys and a bunch of different kinds of doors.
Both the keys and doors have a "password" which you can set, and if the passwords match then that key will be able to open the corresponding door.



You can use these to make all kinds of exploration puzzles (like maps where sections are locked off until you can find a key to progress).
I've made a maze puzzle example already to show these tools in action:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3021839949

Levers & triggers

The next part of this automation system is "triggers", these are props which send out a trigger signal when activated. This can be either a lever that you click, a sensor for when the player is near, or a sensor for when a train is passing overhead.

The "password" you set for a trigger will mean that any other objects that share the same password will be "activated" when the trigger is set off.
This can be used to make a lever open a door, or a train passing by switching a turnout, etc.

Remote trigger activators

These are a bit more complex. Basically a "remote trigger activator" is a prop which can "click" on other objects around it when it receives a signal.
This "click" effect is exactly the same as the player clicking a button, so it can be used for all kinds of interesting things like turning on lights, toggling turnouts, decoupling wagons, pressing menu buttons, etc.

Please read the guide mentioned earlier for more info on these, and even a step-by-step example of how to use them.

Range extenders

This is another complicated one. These "range extenders" are used to repeat a remote trigger activators "click" effect range further. Meaning that if a remote trigger activator clicks on a range extender, then the range extender will repeat the same "click" effect within its range.

Like in this example, the remote trigger activator on the left tries to "click" the range extender, and the range extender repeats the "click" so that the lever on the right is clicked:



As you can imagine, you can do all kinds of complex stuff with these. Please read the guide mentioned earlier for more info on these as it is quite a lot of information which doesn't need to be repeated in this news post.



Combining all these tools together you can make some pretty interesting stuff!
For example, I've made a quick map which uses these logic tools to create a puzzle where you need to activate the 3 different power sources in order to start a generator engine, which is required to open a door and progress. I would love to see this kind of idea expanded into a proper adventure map!



https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3021340468

I'm planning to run an "adventure map jam" quite soon which will involve making maps that make use of all the interactive features, like being able to walk around in miniature and the new automation tools in this update!

New modding features

Another big part of this update is new features for prop modding! Continuing with the "adventure map" theme, you can now create some interesting kinds of items as prop mods, like hand-held torches:





And even using a combination of particles, sounds and lights for some fun effects:



This is now possible due to these new additions to prop modding:

• Particles - you can now add particle systems to prop mods, just like the steam effects for train mods
  
• Lights - you can add light sources to prop mods
  
• Light flicker effect - just like how you can make lights flash on/off, you can now also make them flicker for a nice fire/spark effect. You can also change the fade speed for when they are turned on/off
  
• Infinite render distance - prop mods can now be set to always render no matter how far away they are. This is great for making terrain or backdrop scenery using prop mods
  
• "on click" control - you can make it so that effects like lights, particles, animations and audio can be triggered when the player clicks while holding the object in their hand.
  
• toggle on click - control can also be changed so that effects are toggled on/off on click, which is perfect for making a hand-held torch.
  

In addition to these, you can also now set exactly what visual angle a prop mod appears when it is held by the player, which is great for doing things like this:



As shown in the above example, you can also make props "spawn copy on click" when they are placed on the ground. This is prefect for making items pickupable on an adventure map, like notes for the player to read, or items for them to grab and hold.

Texture filtering options for mods

You can now set texture filtering options for individual textures on any mod. Next to any texture asset is an "options" icon which you can click to open this menu:



"Hard pixel filtering" will make pixelated textures appear sharp-edged instead of smooth. This is perfect for if you want to make retro style pixel art.

"Tiled repeating texture" means that the texture will use the standard UV mapping technique where the texture is infinitely repeated in all directions.

Custom sky colors

You can now fully customize the skybox color, sun color, fog color and the shadow strength. You can find these options in the "time and weather -> advanced -> custom values -> custom sky colors":



This is amazing for creating unique atmospheres for your maps!





There are also now a couple of new weather presets:

"full dark" - which disables all skybox features and leaves your map completely pitch black, aside from any light sources you have made. This is great for if you want to fully control lighting youself using prop lights, or for any map idea where you want pitch-black darkness.



"no skybox" - this option disables the skybox but instead shows the rest of the room just as if you were in large scale.

Guide links in-game

You can now find links to the official guides (on the Steam Community page) in-game. These are in the "tutorials" menu, and in some drawers (e.g. the roads drawer has a link to the roads guide).
Simply click these and the guide will open in your web browser.

Better decoupling controls

This is a really simple change that makes things so much easier, couplers are now linked so that clicking on one will highlight both of them, and decouple in both directions:

Corrugated iron sheet props

A bunch of new snappable corrugated iron props have been added:

Other fixes & features

This update also includes an absolute ton of other minor features, these are:

• You can now access train mods from within the "trains" category of drawers, instead of needing to go to the "mods" category. You can find the train mods drawer in both locations now
  
• There is now a message popup when toggling snapping with the function shortcut keys, as well as an on-screen message to show when it is disabled. You can choose to disable these visual effects in the settings if you prefer
  
• Fixed a bug where you could still equip items while in the main menu
  
• Blocked using the "." character in save file names
  
• Typing an empty name for a mod will exit out the menu without creating a new mod, effectively acting like clicking cancel
  
• fixed collision on boats
  
• fixed collision on fence prop
  
• fixed collision on all legacy tunnel props, and tunnel portals
  
• fixed the lid on the pumpkin prop
  
• fixed the "use inventory in miniature" setting so that it also blocks the ability to pickup editable objects
  
• adjusted the range for the vignette setting so that it is no longer possible to make your whole screen black
  
• fixed a bug where trains would lurch a bit when entering the cab
  
• fixed bug where wagons would not derail if the track was removed from underneath them
  
• fixed bug where the item highlight effect would break briefly after uploading a workshop item
  

And that's everything!
This update really ballooned out of control, I wasn't planning to spend this long on these "adeventure map" features but they just ended up being so fun and interetsing that I had to keep digging deeper. I still have some more ideas which will be added before the next update, but the goal is to run a map jam themed around creating these cool kinds of interactive maps.
With a combination of prop modding, automated systems, interaction and player physics the potential is very exciting! There will be more news aboud this adventure map jam event coming soon!