The need for survey tools

[Neon Samurai]

One of the most difficult things in this game is figuring out where to lay rail and how to do accomplish getting a train over the terrain.

With out the ability to survey the land (angles, distances, elevations, mapping) it is very difficult to decide how to do something, without having to spend a lot of time deleting and replacing rails, embankments, trestles etc. over and over again.

So can we maybe get some basic survey tools to help with this?

[coenvijge]

It's part of the game (to do it without tools). If you want some help (outside the game): Try Railroads Online! Extended. (You can find it on minizwerg.online.).

[rgx107]

I want to echo this request too, and add that historically there were surveying skills and -tools, it was only a slow process. In norwegian television there are a few documentary films showing how they spent years on surveying for a tunnel. They built reference points - large stone structures - and cabins to stay during winter. A team measured and remeasured and double checked and triple checked the numbers. Winter was probably the main season because then it was easiest to go up there in the mountains on skis. They managed to survey tunnels and drive them in from both sides of the mountain, then meeting in the middle. This was in the 19th century. A small industrial, narrow-gauge railway might not have had the same survey skills but for sure they were able to plot the path and measure heights.
Lack of survey ability is the main difficulty right now, not the track laying imo. You don't know where you are, you don't know where you're heading, you can't see around you for all the trees. You can't plot your path on a map or piece of paper, or mark it in the terrain. You can't even establish your altitude or estimate distance or gradients to points around you, other than just eyeballing them.
With all respect for the roadmap and backlog of the dev team. Just sharing my experience from playing this early access game.

[ostlandr]

Took me a LOT of time and trial & error just to get a line from the lumber mill to the smelter

One trick I use when "surveying" is to leave a line of water towers. They can generally be seen above or between the trees. Wish somebody would do a brightly colored repaint of one.

I have suggested this before- have "survey markers". Have a tool that creates a marker that displays the height in meters from map zero. Have them spawn a ghost at 100 meter intervals. So, you start with a marker at (say) 100 meters elevation. Drag the next marker 100 meters, move left or right to get the height change you want per 100 meters, then click. One meter difference = 1% change in grade. Repeat to survey a line.

Would be even cooler to have actual surveyor's tools (theodolite{surveyor's telescope} et. al.) in the game. I can see friends learning to be an actual survey crew.

Actually used a drinking straw, a level and a folding ruler to survey a short stretch of ditch once. Taped the straw to the level, and made an actual literal cross hair at the end of the straw. Put a nail in a handy tree to brace the level on, and had Granddad hold the folding ruler like a surveyor's rod at different spots so I could read the number on the ruler, and see how much to dig at each spot.

[N Quarter]

We have tools to survey. They are called "legs"

Honestly, I wouldn't really want anything that simplifies the Building by telling us Distance, Elevation yada yada. However, I would just like a simple Flag to stick in the Ground when I find a decent enough Route as you can get lost and turned around a lot in the Forest.

[lovstrom]

I am sorry but a survey tool is essential. No railroad in the world would lay track without it.
One need to plan the ground ahead giving direction. If only so easy as a marker in the ground that is also visible on the map.

[Ray]

As coenvijge mentioned above you could use minizwerg site, which has a contour map. This allows you visualise / plan a route. You potentially could draw or edit the route using that tool. However, like others this game (IMO) the trial and error nature of the build is where the fun is at. If you don't like this style there a other games where a top down plan mode may suit for game style (e.g. Mashinky or Transport Fever etc).

[Schlappspaten]

At the moment the trestle bridge seems to be closest to a surveying tool. Did a lot of routing with this bridge lately. It works as close to marking posts, level and ruler as possible. Even better: If you found a route, that suits your needs you already have a working platform to place groundwork, final bridges and track from. After finishing a piece of track you can simply delete the bridge and have your route ready to go.

But I second the idea of a surveying tool. Maybe, for starters, the devs can create something like the bridge but with posts instead of bents and a red line instead of the beams. So you can't get up on the bridge, but still get an idea of where your route is going to be.

[Deedee Megadoodoo]

I agree. Even though this game has the coolest concept, the sheer monumental difficulty of building your first rail is so difficult and un-fun, I'll refund what I thought was a game made for me.

[CMDR Sweeper]

In the Steam guides section somebody have done a height map.
You can use this to plan where the best course to take your railroad would be.