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Derail Valley, the train simulator for VR and PC, launched into Early Access last year, giving locomotive fans their very own trains to drive through a vast, open world. Now indie studio Altfuture says one of its biggest updates is coming to the game next month, which is said to fix many of the game’s bugs, overhaul many of its existing systems, and add new content and features.

Update (April 22nd, 2020): Derails Valley’s ‘Overhaul’ update is said to arrive on May 21st. Altfuture has been closed beta testing its new features, however due to the current pandemic the release has been pushed back some. More info is still yet to come detailing the update, however we’re keeping our eyes on the game’s Steam news page for more info in the coming weeks. The studio also says it will soon be rebranding to Delay Very sometime in the near future. Derail Valley is available through Steam (Vive, Rift, Index, etc) and the Oculus Store (Rift) for $20. Check out the new trailer below:

Original Article (January 19th, 2019): Created by indie studio Altfuture, Derail Valley is slated to release on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows VR headsets on January 25th. The game will also include rudimentary controls for playing on standard monitors, including support for keyboard and mouse.

The delay, the studio say in a Steam news post, was due to “last minute changes that made it impossible to test essential features (savegame, non-VR controls, railways, tutorial, license unlocking). Some critical problems became apparent literally 30 minutes ago, hence the late news of the postponement.”

The game, which lets you drive trains with your own two hands using VR motion controllers, is set in an open world full of places to deliver your cargo. Derail Valley is also touted for its ability to let you earn money and spend it on at least one extra locomotive to begin with, an old-timey steam train.

“Already in its first version it will offer countless hours of gameplay,” the studio says on the game’s Steam page. “Derail Valley is in a fully playable beta state, offering hundreds of hours of play time. Some optimizations, polish and features remain to be done.”

Altfuture says Derail Valley is the result of two years of development, making the 25th a big day for the five-person team.

The game is said to take place in a 256 km² (~99 sq mi) open world. For the sake of comparison, that’s about the size of the island of Malta (not including Gozo).

According to the studio, your locomotive can take damage, requiring constant maintenance. And yes, apparently you can also derail thanks to what the studio is calling ‘derailment physics’.

A free demo is available on Steam, although Altfuture warns that it’s from mid-2017, so it’s “no longer representative of the full game.”

It should give you a nice taste of what’s to come when the game drops on Friday, although if you’ve heard of this game already chances are you’ve played the demo to your wit’s end waiting for what promises to be a realistic (and immersive) train simulator.