Fire in the hole! Coal firing as it's never been done before... | Century of Steam Devlog

This month we're looking at how coal firing works in Century of Steam!
studio346.net/
s.team/a/2517940/ - Steam Page
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/ studio346games

[@pranavghantasala6808]

For extra immersion, make the player's PC catch fire

[@Admiral_Ellis]

I'm sure mine will!

[@LateGreatTranscon]

Firing in Trainz: Press Space Bar Firing in CoS: More realistic than real life

[@Nkp757railfan]

For realism you can place a space heater infront of you at full blast 😆

[@laminatedsamurai]

Mark: "I'm going to punt this to fellow developer, Erik." Several squeaky voices in my head: "ERIK!"

[@Hyce777]

Different Eric, but yes, lol!

[@seymoarsalvage]

Those voices pop into my head everytime I hear the name, no matter who it is lol

[@catfish552]

Oh god, I'm so glad I'm not the only one! Every time that Eric shows up in a Hyce video, the squeaky voices are there.

[@flyboy98]

I've been waiting years for a simulator where you can actually fire the locomotive.

[@cowcatcherstudios5759]

Right now we have Derail Valley, but nothing like this.

[@Lemonaitor]

@@cowcatcherstudios5759 Derail Valley is good for what Derail Valley is, but this, this already feels like the real thing

[@TarisSinclair]

Q: "Will you release the game for Starfleet-compatible holodecks?" A: "Absolutely, we are planning to release a CoS Holodeck Edition in 341 years, that is sometime in Q2 of 2364."

[@Tristan_S346]

346 years would be slightly more on-brand, we'd probably wait for that :P

[@briannem.6787]

@@Tristan_S346 I think they meant to write 2346 but got the numbers mixed up a bit

[@pikablob]

I LOVE that this is catering to all skill levels and interests - I'm someone who loves trains and railroading, but in a "choochoo is cool" kinda way where I''m more into the operations side and am deeply intimidated by realistic firing etc (it's what's kept me away from Derail Valley tbh). Having the option to just run the trains, have an AI crew member help you, or do it all yourself (and having that realism setting for everything else like you've said, braking etc) is really cool to me; I'm waaaay more likely to actually try learning to fire and run realistically if I can start in full arcade mode and work up to it :)) Sorry for the long-winded comment, this is just proving to me that CoS is the railroad game I've been waiting for for YEARS

[@_Studio346]

Do not apologize for the long-winded comment! We appreciate you.

[@WasatchWind]

I think that's a fantastic point - that letting people get more familiar with a simpler option, and work up to all the complexity, it can in the end teach those people about all this to where they're confident in it.

[@WingsStrings]

I would definitely encourage giving realistic firing and/or running a try one day, even if you have to work up to it. One of our goals is that we want to educate folks and fuel their interest in how these things work to always help expand their knowledge, and that includes providing all the info you'd need for the full sim. We'd rather lift everyone up and give all the steps people need to get there and make the experience as fun as we can than push them down and insist it's too hard or too complicated.

[@lakesiderailwayco2484]

I’m personally waiting for the wheelslip portion of the dev vlogs

[@the_darkgameryt]

It’s the game we’ve ALL been waiting for!

[@157RANDOM]

Really cool to see the complexities of manual coal (or other solid fuel) firing. My background is in Marine and Power Engineering, so mostly oil firing, but in Power Engineering, we did deal with solid fuels, just with a lot more automation. Stokers in modern boilers handle most of the complex stuff automatically, with nudges from the operator here and there. I'm looking forward to learning old school coal in the hole tech.

[@OrangeJinty]

That Lionel Traintown quote at the beginning immediately gave me a smile a mile wide. :)

[@ZergSmasher]

Hopefully he puts one in whenever they talk about crashing the trains. "That's a fender bender!"

[@nononat7579]

I remember when this was first announced around half a year ago when listening to mark, one of the devs talk about this game, he mentioned the "real aspect" of running steam locomotives and how they didn't want to make the "optional hardcore mode" too painfully realistic. After hearing this anecdote I tempered my expectations a lot because I know simulating the ins and outs of these things is a really hefty feat too pull off in terms of making the software for it. I don't know whether or not that "not too painfully realistic" notion was somewhat thrown out the window at some point, because seeing this and looking at the COS discord, and what some of the plans are for the *airbrakes* alone? Make me so so incredibly happy that these guys are as insane as me when it comes to these things. So beyond thrilled that there are people out there that WANT a steam locomotive simulator to be on the same level as DCS is for flight sims. I can guarantee you that you'll not only probably end up making a big profit from this game, but you'll also change the way these machines are presented in Games/Media forever.

[@tofu-rocketry]

Tiny detail I enjoyed: 26:02 when you put the tender brake on, you can see the effect of the coupling stretching out between tender and loco. ❤

[@lightningwingdragon973]

So what I'm hearing from all this, about IRL fireman being able to not have to use the UI, is that this game is becoming the Kerbal space program of steam engine simulators. And that you could use this game to train (train lol) for the real job. Am I crazy? Maybe. Is Mark crazy? Maybe. Do I really want to play this game? Absofuckinglutely!

[@_Studio346]

Mark is, in fact, crazy. :D

[@Pentium100MHz]

From my extremely limited experience (I got some cab rides where I could shovel coal and operate the injector when told to do it) in trying to throw coal in the hole, there is one thing that a computer game will not teach you - that is being able to throw the coal hard enough for it to reach the far end of the firebox and in general being able to hit a particular spot. Also, at least on the locomotives that I got my cab rides on, when the regulator is open, the flames are so bright and tall that, that least for me, it was not possible to see the far end of the firebox. By the way, keeping my hand close to the open firebox (while trying to aim the shovel) hurts.

[@briannem.6787]

@@Pentium100MHz to be fair, I think it'd be hard to emulate that without having some button-mash quick-time-event like out of a fighting game? probably wouldn't suit the genre and could actually take away from immersion

[@Pentium100MHz]

@@briannem.6787 I completely agree. I just wanted to point out that not everything can be emulated in a game. Just like shooting a gun in real life is much different than in a game. I am also sure that real firemen very quickly learn how to throw the coal where they want to and figuring out where you need to add coal is the harder task. Similar in that moving the regulator requires force and it is not that easy to move it a little bit, but in a game like Derail Valley it is easy to just move it one notch. Again, I am sure by the time someone becomes a train driver he learns how to operate the controls properly. My perspective is as a complete noob. It looks like the game has the injectors right - move the handle a little bit to start it and then move it further to run it. If you do it too soon, you get steam coming out where it's not supposed to and doing it wrong multiple times in a row results in the fireman yelling at you.

[@robyn051]

This absolutely appears to be the KSP of train games

[@ShadMorningStar]

I can already see the chaos that's gonna come from this. This is gonna be great

[@Tristan_S346]

It's so awesome to be able to fire these things when testing out other features, it's really fun to see this come together :)

[@aldeleo2047]

When the question of a catalog came up and idea came to mind. Instead of a menu or render (railroads online), you could put a catalog book in the shop manager office in the same vein as RDR2 catalog books for purchases.

[@WasatchWind]

A lot of people have suggested this, and I hope it comes to bear - But something I also want is an in-game reference, perhaps diegetic, that let's you know how historical information on the locomotives, operating practices, inspirations for maps, etc.

[@catfish552]

How handy that *someone* has come up with a way to film the inside of a firebox for reference footage! 😄

[@NorfKhazad]

The DCS of train games.

[@kennethwhitmer4232]

Thank you for the controller support. as someone who has left wrist issues(ganglion cysts constantly forming and pinching a nerve) and cant use wasd for very long. hopefully we will be able to just jump between keyboard and mouse and control willy nilly so doing things that are easier with mouse is still an option.

[@UncleSpuddy]

I can not wait to get my hands on this, it looks like it has so much passion poured into it and I'm so down for it.

[@Frisco1355]

Fire stoker jobs are NOT for the faint of heart!

[@daverybigboyd1202]

If I had no visual and just listening to it when you reached the bridge I would assume I was listening to a real locomotive.amazing sound design

[@FuelFire]

Mark: doing a monolog The locomotive: I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TOO! *blows safety for god knows how long*

[@lightningwingdragon973]

Come join the dark side we play with fire has to be the tagline for any fire related update this game has

[@akaBoG]

I can't wait for this game - it is impressive how much effort you are putting into it!

[@_Studio346]

Cheers Matt!

[@SkorjOlafsen]

Absolutely loving the attention to making logistics present, but not annoying!

[@Viking0612]

I can't believe that I literally just downloaded that game off of an abandonware site, heard that sounds bite, and now you reference it... That is insane...

[@UmoadoGaming]

This looks amazing guys! This is certainly a first in the virtual railroading world! 1:50 This mogul is beautiful! Also I have spotted gallows turntable 3:24 yes more madness. 9:03 nice little hooter and the mogul has a nice bark 14:39 That’s amazing and super convenient!

[@captainjonna1034]

Studio 346, every time you release a video you blow me away, this coal firing system lookings fantastic, i can't wait to get hands on with it.

[@loficampingguy9664]

I just rewatched this and didn't notice the ending last time around. That got an excellent giggle out of me :D

[@xinlu2806]

Great to see you guys getting more into the gameplay. I admire your dedication to make the game fun for many kinds of gamers and hope you have success in that. Looking forward to the future development of this game!

[@SouthernRegionProductions]

“Light and bright” well that’s certainly what the guys down on the perbeck line (swanage railway) do, but on the miniature locomotives my dad owns the key for firing them is to fill them up until the coal is falling out the door, but the merchant (35006 P&O, merchant navy class) will just consume the coal as quick as you shovel it in, so it got a coal chute added, fill up the chute, open the door, shovel some more, close the door, fill up the chute ready for next time, but, at Oxford I was able to fire the Britannia for 2 and a half hours continuously with a VERY small amount of coal, like, if you put your two hands together and fill up your hands with the coal, about that much, dad said “when you run out of coal we have to go home” so i, with barely any knowledge of firing, kept it going for 2 and a half hours

[@cannonball5189]

After many years of firing and driving steam engines (for a Swedish 3ft railway).. I've lost interest in train simulation because I couldn't stop to be annoyed by things "not working realistically".. You guys brought my interest back and I literally can't wait to put my hands on this wonderful simulator. Thank you! That "FU.." at the end just killed me 😂 What an incredible work, this is going to be a new milestone for train simulation.

[@crrm]

This game will be next level!

[@SmithsMuseum]

Coal goes in the hole, Cinders go in your shoes, the Tender goes in the dirt.

[@lightningwingdragon973]

Question: is there gonna be some kind of hotbox event? Like, the wheels catch fire and you gotta go deal with it?

[@nielsleenknegt5839]

I suppose it would be the axlebox/ bearing that would catch fire? Metal doesn't burn but oil does kind of way thinking?

[@joshbernhard882]

@@nielsleenknegt5839 The bearing overheats and ignites the lubricating oil and packing pad inside the journal box. This can damage the bearing.

[@weekendrailroader]

Heh, drag a handbrake long enough and suddenly you a drop an axle and put your train all over the map. 😁

[@fresnojason]

Love the realistic firing ability you all are working on. Also noticed the injector dribble I am guessing from the lowered pressure, very nice to see as well. For those of us that play with real steam this product from you guys will be a real treat. Keep up the good work.

[@user-gw8ri8qo6v]

I have not seen a train sim that simulates firing. Very good job Mark

[@Zankoran]

I don't know if this is beyond the scope of the game but I always wanted to be a man in a signalbox pulling those colorful big levers between cups of tea.

[@woobyvr9654]

Qualified Locomotive firemen here, I'm not surprised that most sims don't tackle it properly the complexity of what's actually happening in a firebox (firebed behavour, combustion, brick arch, draft, quality of fuel, effect of water on temperature to just name a few things) makes it incredibly difficult to actually simulate properly. kudos for giving it a crack no one else has done yet. bonus points if you can make the view of the firebed through the firehole door thats part of the skill :)

[@jacobpfeifertrains1998]

Would you guys be able to add a middle option between firing and not having to fire that has it where you just shovel coal into the box similarly to what Derail Valley does. I quite enjoy that version of firing but im exited to give this a try.

[@WasatchWind]

I'd like to be actually able to hold the shovel as well, but it sounds like they aren't currently planning on that 😕

[@artchase5841]

This is excellent Mark. You guys are masking the standard.

[@Viporko-nb8rf]

Yall never fail to amaze me 346!

[@DS-tj1xf]

This game just seems too good to be true, you guys seem to be doing an amazing job!

[@michaelhayes1678]

Awesome! I love the idea of this dynamic firing! Cheers and great job folks! Really looking forward to this game!

[@PowerTrain611]

You guys are absolute Mad Lads. I love everything about this. This is the kind of thing I'm all about, and I have been waiting for someone to do this. Now I can be certain it'll be done right, too. I can't wait to try this!!!

[@Banana_Pony]

This is awesome, every aspect i ever wanted from steam locos! Keep living the train life!

[@loficampingguy9664]

Jeez y'all outdo yourselves every video! The upcoming format of devlogs sounds great, seeing Studio 346's work will aleays be a treat no matter what.

[@Josiah100x]

i just realized this is UE5, that means i can mod in VR visuals and eventually someone will mod in manual VR controls and i am loving the following of the First Rule of Great Game development, Games should be a power fantasy first real second. allowing there to be and easier and more convenient gameplay for those who want to hit the ground running and because its digital not have to deal with meniality is beautiful. and it being a choice.... gorgeous.

[@nemamnedam4960]

Awesome stuff, really looking forward to your game!

[@grit9938]

I was just getting ready to comment about how you should consider an "easy" mode for people that don't want such micro-realism, and before I could type it, you said. I was afraid you had gotten so wrapped up in make a realism simulator that you had forgotten that you're also still making a game. You continue to impress!

[@_Studio346]

We recognize that though there are many as deranged as we are, most are not - the difficulty settings are going to be very important for your experience. :)

[@TheSmokyMountain1495]

Words cannot describe how beautiful this looks. Y’all are doing gods work here

[@s16100]

This is SOOO awesome!!!! nice job

[@BeefTechnology]

Y’all never fail to amaze me, and the game is slowly but surely going in the direction of what I imagine is my dream game. Keep up the good work guys!

[@RobloxVintageCars]

you had me at whistles but this.. this is beautiful ❤

[@MikeyMechanics]

Great job guys! I am really looking forward to the game coming out. I appreciate your work, and I will try my best to support Studio 346. In fact, at this state, Century of Steam might be able to pass Derail Valley’s Steam Sim! Thank you so much for the hard work put into this game.

[@suprisex4999]

Buying this for sure!

[@pi0neer758]

I remember back in the narrow gauge days when firemen used to climb into the firebox to put coals in those corners that you just couldn't hit with a shoevel

[@TheNorthDevonOrganist]

i totally love how this is looking. Having fired mainline steam I give you top credit for trying to emulate it!

[@realQuiGon]

This is so awesom! Proper firebox simulation is something that has never been done before for a train sim I think! I'm so stoked about it! 😍

[@InevitableMe]

"Stoked", are you? Nice pun.

[@VictoryWorks]

Simply fantastic

[@jefftanner4301]

Awesome job y'all are amazing

[@ELDRGW]

Looks awesome I see Andrew's work on the Loco style sheet

[@KerboOnYT]

I have little interest in having to maintain a fire properly since I've done that IRL, but it's cool that the option is there for the people that want it. Keep up the good work team!

[@gameby1993]

this would definitely work well as a multiplayer one engineer, one fireman, and a conductor

[@BBL4004]

hey mark, I named a rooster after you. His name is Huber and he is a barnyard mix

[@nielsleenknegt5839]

Does he make the noise every morning?

[@lilbigmorgan]

I suspect he makes cockatoo noises instead.

[@jonterrell6395]

its all looking incredible😍

[@TheOklahomaHotrail]

I can feel my PC warming to 1,000 degrees already lol

[@user-gw8ri8qo6v]

I love the looks of this

[@eddingtonrailroading]

Love that hooter whistle

[@bluescrew3124]

This is so freakin cool! The Bob is smiling for sure

[@knightryder6068]

God this game looks incredible already... This will go far!!!!

[@jetpackboy9884]

Just happy to see that this is a thing can't wait to see how bad I'll be at being a fireman 'also love seeing that NCNGRR box as I worked for the model railroad thar in Nevada County'

[@longiron3773]

Looks great

[@peregrina7701]

Watching the coal dance off the grates still makes me grin a month later. What whistle was on the choo choo? I noticed it for the first time (not staring at the fire like the firebug I am for once) and it's haunting and beautiful. I have no other vaguely intelligent questions, so I'll just admire, and say bravo for your hard work!!

[@babythorgaming2166]

I cannot wait to get my hands on this

[@bupbead2731]

I am Absolutely ecstatic, Can NOT wait for this to come out! you guys have put TONS of work into this. also with all of the complexity's going on in the background how CPU intensive is the game?

[@professional_fra_violator]

We looking close to middle of 2025? I love all the things you all are implementing, everything is beautiful and hyper-realistic, but with a small crew with busy lives, the burning question of the century for railroad sim enthusiasts: "ETA on that release date?" this is going to be the game that changes railroad simulation like never seen before.

[@Stooltoad5017]

I’d be surprised if studio 346 has any idea of when the game is going to release. This kinda stuff takes a lot of time, and they probably are just doing what they can when they can. Can’t really give an ETA when they are still figuring out how many locomotives are planned for the game.

[@DAPchatt]

Awesome!

[@Travelinmatt1976]

Oh wow, this is really cool and interesting

[@timpoes2479]

in the future i'm going to be a fireman at my local museum and the shovel mechanic wil help me read the fire better. looking forward for this.

[@pinecone01]

Pinecones were mentioned, I'm obligated to reply. Also, this sim looks insane. I love it!

[@matthewsullivan9356]

Can't wait for this to be early access

[@brucethebatcat5084]

I have a suspicion that Mark from S346 and Hyce from Hyce are the same person...

[@Stooltoad5017]

How dare you concoct such blasphemy! They’re two different people! It is very obvious they are twins that sound 100% identical to each other.

[@bernaue4505]

You've given us super-realistic as an option for firing, can you give you super-realistic loading too? Not joking, would enjoy being able to do it myself sometimes.

[@vaudevillian7]

Oh god this is incredible

[@tboneisgaming]

This is looking fantastic. I hope the driving experience has the same level of complexity

[@WingsStrings]

In this video, Mark shows both the fireman's side of managing the fire, and the engineer's management of the resulting boiler pressure with the throttle and cutoff when running up and down the test track's grades. Both elements are linked, and it takes good teamwork for the fireman and engineer to balance those tasks.

[@TheSecretman82]

For those of us who don't know whistle signals but want to learn them, will there be any in-game resources to assist with that?

[@tedisakoolkat]

This is impressive. Very much looking forward to this. I hope the engineer side has the same attention to detail ;) also hope this is the start to a (future?) standard gauge 20’s-50’s version. Maybe I can rebuild the ma&pa that way ;)

[@3rdfarmer86]

For the record, when I play the Ponderosa map in definitely naming my railroad the Grand Bonanza Railroad 😉

[@Admiral_Ellis]

I love the distinction for what tools/features you have available in mutiplayer vs singleplayer, but I think it would be worth it to allow this to be a setting no matter the mode. I can only speculate as to what your projected reasonable server populations might be, but if you have two people and two trains to run, allowing the server owner to dial back the difficulty to be equivalent to singleplayer doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Just my two cents--more settings is always better!

[@railwayjade]

I LOVE this

[@steve3385]

Jeez, a lionel traintown reference at the start of this video was not something I was expecting at all and hit a particular bit of nostalgia

[@ArchAangel21]

finally, the fun part was made

[@trainsimulatordriver]

As a person who driver simulators who is an actual real life coal fireman on a narrow gauge railway I'm in two minds about this... It took me a year+ to become proficient. If this is a fully accurate simulator then it's going to take that kind of effort to learn to fire for the machine and for the route. That said if you're looking for someone to give it a try then let me know.

[@IstasPumaNevada]

Kellog's Raisin Firebox will queue you two scoops ahead. Or more if you want it. :D

[@wild_lee_coyote]

It shouldn’t be too hard to do the same for wood, just chucking logs instead of wood. The burn time and heat would be different, but the mechanics would be the same. Same if you wanted to burn pine cones. The level of detail in this game is nothing short of amazing. You are going to set the bar for train games in the future.

[@jackswallowell7790]

With the amount of realism you've shown to be present, I could see this game being used for training people on running actual steam locomotives. Thatd be great because I've not been able to find much documentation on running steam trains, and have been hoping to learn sometime. Will the game itself have tutorials on stuff like proper fuel and water usage, along with explanations of what things like dynamos do for the oblivious people such as myself who want to operate trains realistically but have no idea how?

[@C.I...]

I can recommend the "Handbook for Railway Steam Locomotive Enginemen". It is a great book, made by the British Transport Commission in the '50s, and there is a pdf scan of it on the net that's surprisingly easy to find. Since it's a UK book, be aware that terms will differ from the American ones.

[@jackswallowell7790]

@@C.I... I'll look into that, thanks for the tip

[@ericbonanno5214]

Seeing the firing mechanics gets me even more excited for this. I've been learning a lot about steam locomotives ever since I discovered Hyce's channel (which back when he first started recording with kAN) and seeing an intuitive interactive way to learn how to fire one and all the nuances that are involved seems really fun to me. I'm surprised though there wasn't a segment on how to cold fire a locomotive. Would it be make a bed of coal and light it with a lighter like Derail Valley or something a little more involved? Anyways, love the game. I might try to see if I can get it to run on Linux when it comes out cause I want to torture myself and try something new. 😅😅😅😅

[@Spook_Boi]

this is hella cool. finally a game that does the concepts of hand firing justice minus the technique cuz doing the loop with mouse to get momentum would feel kinda gimmicky and finnicky. super excited to see this project through

[@killmouseky4740]

Can’t wait