Model Railway Easily Reviews

Look. Rule The Rail! was the original game that this was based off of, a model railroad creation maker game, made in the early 2000s. I played the original as a child. What sucks most is that, this game is pretty much in Alpha, if you can even call it that, and is unlikely to be finished any time soon. There are so many bugs and issues I ran into the second I tried to even setup a steam loco. If I had the money I'd pay the devs myself to finish the game and do the marketing for this through TikTok, and YouTube, Instagram, all platforms, because I understand how to do ads. But I honestly think these guys have given up on this game. What was once my childhood fantasy has become nothing more than a forgotten memory. I refuse to let that sit like this. Here is their crowdfunding campaign video, keep in mind this is over 4 years old now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uujUN-BGU14

I was looking for an easy to use railroad simulator when I came across Model Railway Easily. I have owned several versions of Trainz which I like for their realism but building your own route is a pretty-intensive commitment for the same reason. In my younger years I also built several model railroads and have always like the “look and feel” of them. MRE does a good job of capturing that look. First off, I would not call this a game per se. It’s more of a design tool that allows you to create a layout, populate it with buildings and props, put together a train, and set it in motion. The trains run automatically without attention. At switches trains will take the opposite side to the one used by the previous train. Trains bounce off stub ends and continue in the reverse direction. Two trains that meet on the same track will bounce off each other and travel in reverse as well. I have one layout with three trains and they constantly move around without issues. It is possible to do switching yourself and drop rail cars at various industries. It is a bit cumbersome as you cannot change the position of switches yourself. You have to observe which side the train takes and if you want the other, you have to stop the train, pull it back past the points of the switch, and then set it in motion again. Speed depends upon how hard you drag the train to get it started. A slow drag will make for a slow train. The way to stop a train is to click on it while it is moving and it will pause. Trains automatically make a brief pause at passenger depots and at stub ends. When a train is stopped, you can click on a railcar and then on an icon with vertical lines and drag them apart to decouple them. Which side decouples depends upon which way you drag. Coupling will occur as an engine moves into a railcar and as railcars move into other cars. You can double-head, triple-head, or add as many engines as you’d like if you slowly drag them together (otherwise, if you just set one in motion, they will bounce apart as they do while auto-running). I’ve now built several models of varying sizes using MRE. Overall I’m pleased with the results. It’s relatively fast and easy to build a route, populating it with track, building, trees, people, and props using a drag and drop interface. Track snaps together and by clicking on the end you can extend the track, move the track end, add a switch, or add a bumper at the stub end. There are no “straight” sections. The track will curve based on how you position the end. It does briefly snap into a straight line as it passes the midpoint but it’s easy to miss. Ending curves at an angle so the next section of track goes straight is trial-and-error as there is no angle indicator and no standard angles. If you don’t mind wavy sections this isn’t an issue but if you want more precision like in yards or around industries it’s a bit of a struggle. Overall the interface is very intuitive but I did learn some things as I went along. If you click on a track section, a number of icons pop up and you can move it but all attached track will move with it, up to the entire rail layout. If you click the end of unattached track you can extend it, move it to a new endpoint, add a switch or add a bumper. If you want to join tracks coming from opposite directions, you need to drag one end near the other track’s end yellow arrow and let it snap together. If you just drop the end on the other end, they may appear attached but might not be (hint: if you see two narrow yellow arrows, they are not attached and trains will bounce off the intersection). I could not find a way to move an already installed section of track without moving all the track, so you end up having to delete sections to be able to get to the end arrows. If a track is being built on an elevated part of the terrain, an automatic bridge will be added under portions that extend into space. So bridging rives and cliff edges is easy to do. Placement of engines and rail cars is straightforward. Drag them onto a track and place them a short distance from other cars. If part of them overlap another car or engine they will be outlined in red and disappear when you drop. If outlined in green you are good to go. Afterwards, assemble the train by dragging the engine until all cars couple. Buildings, vehicles, props, people, and trees are easy to position. They auto position on the terrains which is good and will not go below ground level (track can). In general that’s good but it’d be nice if the vertical adjuster would allow you to override that constraint. I did find an easy way to add many trees at once. Add individual trees in an area. Use the lasso tool to select them and then click on the duplicate icon. Rotate and move the tree group to a new spot. Repeat. You can quickly build a forest this way. Here’s my list of future Improvements ranked in order of what appeals to me: 1. “Snap to” for track laying so it’s easier to get straight sections and have curves end at angles such as 22.5, 30, 45, and 90 degrees. Right now it’s hit or miss if you want aligned tracks and curves. 2. Add the ability to drag an already attached section of track to a new location or angle without moving all the track. 3. Ability to throw switches and see the direction for which they are set. Right now switches auto-set: when a train passes over, the next trains goes the other direction. This is very helpful for auto-running trains but it would be really great to be able to change a switch manually by clicking on it. Right now you have to see which way the train goes, stop it, pull it back past the points, and then set it on the way again. Feasible to operate this way but very cumbersome. 4. Ability for track to rise to another level. If it’s capable of that now, I was unable to find it. 5. Aligning road sections is cumbersome as they are props and there is no snap-to or auto-snap. I’d prefer roads be built just like the track sections as that works very well but if they remain as props, some way to snap them together in place. 6. There are lots of options for tank cars but no open or closed hopper cars. A bit odd since the available industries would use many hoppers. 7. Less steep, less toy-like terrains with more space for track and buildings along the edges. Many of the available terrains have super steep hills/mountains that don’t appeal to me. These elevated areas also use up a lot of terrain so you end up with trains mostly hidden in tunnels. And since track can’t rise to a new level, all you can do is have another loop higher up in the mountains. I’m not suggesting eliminating what’s there but adding some terrains with gentler hills and valleys or adding the ability for the user to raise/lower parts of the terrain. 8. Greater variety of buildings and props are always welcome but realize we’ll never be satisfied. More people could definitely be used. Overall, I’m very pleased with this product and having fun using it. Here’s a list of images that show layout I’ve made: [url=https://postimg.cc/WDL4CnsR] 1x1 Layout [/url] [url=https://postimg.cc/dL3Dy35f] 3x4 Layout View 1[/url] [url=https://postimg.cc/v46B0jFL] 3x4 Layout View 2 [/url]

Currently all rail line runs are on a fixed single level. You can make turns and such, but say you have a flat land layout. You want to add a water feature, and build a bridge over it with a proper incline & decline. You are not able to do this currently. From looking at the message board the creators are not interested in replying to questions. I was looking for a program where I could quickly build a scratch layout plan and simulate how it runs. For the most part, this did satisfy that need, but not being able to do some basic land manipulations and not build proper raised bridges is just a bit annoying. If they could add a few needed features, then this program would be absolutely phenomenal. In it's current state it is just ok. I am hoping they add some needed features, but they really need to get involved with their community first & foremost.

Not worth 20$ and very boring. There is not enough content, and the graphics look fine, but they are not even close to 2018 graphics, more or less 2020. Not to mention there are no American rolling stocks. Also, I don't like the track laying in this game. This game lacks basic detail, like smoke, sounds, and crossing gates. The music though, it's pretty decent. I'm sorry, I will stick to a real world layout rather than some virtual one. But this game has the potential though, but I just don't see it as being much.

This seems like an alpha project. Great concept, but missing key features. It gets frustrating to play very quickly. There is no mechanic to change the direction of switches, so if you are trying to do yard work, you just end up grabbing the train and moving it back and forth ten times until the switches happen to go the way you want. Furthermore, there's no real speed control, so it's very hard to make trains not bump into each other on the mainline. You also can't double head trains, so it's single locomotive only. There is also no mechanic to unload freight or make freight trains wait at the industry. So it's passenger trains only in that regard. I'm looking forward to when this game is finished, but for now, I would save the $20.

Now looking at the game, it's straight forward NOT Railroad Tycoon, Rail Empire or any other economy related city or tycoon builder. It's Model Train Building. Check out some gameplay footage here: https://youtu.be/B0t_OI6LV44 Model Railway Easily, a railway and train modeling simulator. It allows you to build a model city of trains. It's build in Unreal engine and still in early access, but looking to be a promising game, which could consume a nice sum of hours to get it looking just right. And isn't that what Railway model building is about? Now it's still in early access and I honestly hope they will provide with modding tools, workshop access to share layouts and all that. But again, it's in early access and it's an awesome game so far. A bit more communication from the devs, who have done an awesome job at making it so smooth for a first early access release. (didn't run in to any bugs yet, which isn't common) Terraforming and more/alternative engines etc. would be nice, but inside my head that's on their working plan and will be released when it's ready. Worth it to buy? as long as you don't expect a story and or economy... ABSOLUTELY YES!

A very good simulation game. Like a relaxed version of Cities;Skylines without the pressure . It's very easy to get the hang of once you get used to the way that track and objects are moved, placed etc.. No bad points, but three things would, in my opinion, improve the game further. (1) A tool for easily joining the road sections. i.e drag & join. (2) An indicator as to which way the track switches are set. (3) A bridge or two to carry road surfaces over the water features.

Why have Redbrick released another model railway simulator before any updated content for this game The new game appears to have more features and content and I would not have purchased this game if the new one had realeased first

I'm liking it so far. I don't have the space to build a model train layout, so this is a nice alternative! I would hope they come out with more engine's, buildings, etc. in the future, but what its got for now is good. Only complaint I have is I can't figure out how to make ground level changes, like making hills or ditches. I also can't figure out how to add another square of space. I'm stuck with one right now, and that's not big enough. Help?

I wanted to post this a bit earlier than I would prefer to help bump this game. I've been waiting for this game since I saw it appear in the new releases. As of now, the only other review simply says there 'isn't much to do.' That is either true or false depending on what you want. This isn't Trainz or TSW. It isn't Machinky or Railroad Tycoon. It is model railroading (easily). If you need an economy or a story, missions or multiplayer, this isn't the game. If you like model trains because you have endless imagination and desire to build routes and watch the trains go, this could be for you. If you can create your own stories in your head about the town and train that runs through it, this could be for you. The price point is a bit high IMHO for the content as it stands now, but my hope is that we will get a few more features. What I like: - Really nice 'scale' feeling. Personally, this game feels like you're working with model trains way more than the Trainz series. - Well crafted scenery models. Simple, but also appropriate for a model train layout. Trees and rocks look nice (again, in the context of a model train table) - Good number of locomotives and rolling stock. Textures and detail really make it seem like they're from the Lionel days of yore. - Laying track is pretty easy. Switches are premade and easy to comprehend. - Nice set of premade tables with varying size, bodies of water and elevation. - Great animations on the steam train. What I don't like: - Some graphical issues on the switches with clipping textures where the two tracks merge. - No coal tender (that I can find) for the steam loco. I get that it is actually an electric toy, but toy trains have fake coal tenders too! I assume they will be adding them because the library art shows the steam loco with a coal tender. I can't ding them for false advertising because they don't show one in the promo video. - Finer controls for train speed would be nice. Maybe it is there and I haven't figured it out, but for now you can drag the train in a direction to start it and then it chugs along stopping/restarting at stations automatically. Not horrible, but a little dial like you have on a trainset would be cool. - I also don't see a way to manually edit terrain. There is a transparency map that highlights the grid, so again, I think this might be a future feature. I hope this review ages well and the devs fix the few bugs and add a few features.