How to Switch to and from Pre-release Versions of Hellfire

 From time to time, prior to the release of major new features in Hellfire, these features need to be tested publicly.  This is done by offering Hellfire in a sneak preview "pre-release" version which anybody can try out.

Beware that pre-release versions contain features they may not be fully complete, and may suffer from crashes, performance loss, and lockups.  You should save your games often, and if you suffer a repeated crash or lockup then sending in the saved game will help to diagnose the problem.  Your saved game will also be fixed where possible so you will be able to continue you game.

If you want to take part in testing upcoming features then you can do this at any time.  You can also switch back to the stable version of Hellfire (but be aware that saved games or career files saved with a pre-release version may not load under the current stable version).

Switching to the current pre-release version is straightforward; launch Hellfire and select Game Settings.

Tick the option to "Allow Installation of Pre-release Versions" and then select "Check for Updates Now" (Note that you have to check for updates for the first time in this screen otherwise your preference won't be saved).

You will receive a notification that there is an update to be downloaded. Click Yes to start the download.

Hellfire will shut down, and the Hellfire Updater will start, prompting you to download the new version (just as per a normal update).

When the update has been installed, you can close the updater and restart Hellfire.

You will know you are running a pre-release build when you see the build number on the opening screen.

Should you ever want to go back to the stable version, simply uncheck the "Allow Installation of Pre-release Versions" and carry out the above steps; Hellfire will switch back to the stable channel.

How To: Update my Google Earth Hellfire Map

 This might sound like a rather strange topic for a blog post, since the map seems to update automatically.

This is true, but from time to time new features may be added, or the structure of the Hellfire Google Earth Map might change, necessitating a complete deletion and recreation of the Hellfire Map in Google Earth.

Note that performing this task will not result in you losing your route history.

You may be instructed to update your Google Earth Map when you install an update to Hellfire.  If this is the case, carry out the following steps.

1. 
   Locate the Hellfire root folder in the My Places folder.  In the above image, it is the folder highlighted in blue.  Note: it is NOT the one sitting under the Hellfire Real Time Updates folder.
2. Delete the Hellfire root folder (press the delete key)
   
   
   
3. Click OK to confirm.
4. Start the newly updated version of Hellfire and when it has finished loading, go into Game Settings
5. Select the Google Earth tab and then select Configure Local Mode.
6. If you have previously configured Google Earth (quite likely if you are now updating the map) you will already see the current location of the folder where Hellfire is writing its files for Google Earth. 
   
   
   Even if you do see the current folder location (as in the above image) you still need to click Select Local Folder.  
   
   
   
7. There is no need to change the previously selected folder.  Just hit OK to close the dialog box and the updated file will be written to the folder.
8. Just as when you set up Google Earth for the first time, double click Hellfire.kml (NOT Update.kmz) and Google Earth will load up the new map.
9. You can now start up a Hellfire Game if desired.
10. When exiting Google Earth, you will be prompted to save items from your Temporary Places folder into your My Places folder.  I recommend you do this to avoid having to find Hellfire.kml every time you want to load up the Hellfire map in Google Earth.
11. Important - once you have the Hellfire Map on your My Places folder, do NOT start up Google Earth by double-clicking Hellfire.kml again.  This will result in multiple instance of the map being loaded up into Google Earth.
12. For full details on setting up Google Earth with Hellfire, see https://railrover.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-to-enable-google-earth-integration.html

How To: Enable Google Earth Integration with Hellfire

One of the latest new features in Hellfire is the ability to integrate with Google Earth, and provide updates in (almost) real time of your current position, and show you which routes you have travelled on.

This feature is currently in beta, and the map is incomplete, but over the coming weeks it will be progressively expanded to cover the entire country.

You will also notice that where map coverage is available, a significant number of new freight lines and branches have been added.  If you are in luck, you may even be able to book on a railtour which will cover some of these new routes.

Once the entire country has been mapped, the game will be further enhanced to keep a history of routes travelled in your career file, so you can keep track (pun intended) of your Gricing (as well as Bashing) career.

To set up Google Earth integration, perform the following steps:

1. Download and install Google Earth Pro from https://www.google.com/earth/download/gep/agree.html?hl=en-GB. Google Earth Pro is free to use.
2. Start up Hellfire  and make sure you have updated to at least version 3.13.
3. Go into Game Settings and select the Google Earth tab.
4. Select Local Mode and press the Configure Local Mode Button.
5. When Hellfire is running, it will write two files for Google Earth to pick up.  See below for details about these files.  You will be prompted to select the location on your computer where you want Hellfire to write these files.  You can create a new folder if you want.
6. Click OK to leave the game settings, and the two files will be written to the location you specified.

If you navigate to the folder where you have told Hellfire to write the Google Earth files, you will see two new files.  They are as follows:

• Hellfire.kml - this file tells Google Earth how often to refresh, and whether it should automatically zoom to the latest location you have travelled to.  It also tells Google Earth which file is uses to actually load the latest update, which is.....
• Update.kmz - this file contains the latest snapshot of where you are, and what routes you have travelled over. This file gets rewritten every time you travel to a new location on the map.

Armed with this information, it is now time to fire up Google Earth.  Simply double click Hellfire.kml (NOT Update.kmz) and Google Earth Pro will launch with the Hellfire Map loaded into your Temporary Places.  (Only start Google Earth by double-clicking Hellfire.kml if you haven't yet saved the Hellfire Map to the My Places folder).

Start a new game in Hellfire, and board a train heading into the area covered by the map.  As you approach the first station in the mapped area, Google Earth will zoom to that location.  As you continue to travel around the mapped area, the routes you travel on will turn yellow (just like highlighting your Bakers Atlas!).

Feel free to experiment with the settings in Google Earth.  Here are my recommended settings, but feel free to use your own.  The forum has an area specifically for Google Earth integration, so please let us all know what works for you.

• Google Earth Layers - I keep this as uncluttered as possible, so I turn everything off  except Borders and Labels (I sometimes even turn this off as well)

 

• Auto Refresh and Update View Settings - these are accessed by expanding the Hellfire entry in your Places list, then right-clicking on Hellfire Real Time Updates.  Select Properties then select the Refresh tab.

• Fly to View on Refresh - this option is what keeps your Google Earth view focused on your current location.  If you want to explore the map without it snapping back to your location, then turn this option off.
• Time-Based Refresh - this is set to 10 seconds by default.  If you set this too short, then you will see the view 'bouncing' as it refreshes faster than the time taken for Google Earth to point its view to your new location.  Setting this time too long means that Google Earth will lag behind your current position.  You can increase the speed of travel in Google Earth and use a shorter refresh interval, but I found that it became difficult to follow where you were when the game was run at full speed.  Feel free to experiment, however.

When you exit from Google Earth, you will be asked if you want to save the items in your Temporary Places folder to your My Places folder.  I recommend that you do this because Google Earth will then always start up with the Hellfire Map loaded and ready to go.  You can always deselect the Hellfire Map if you don't want to see it.

Important - once you have the Hellfire Map on your My Places folder, do NOT start up Google Earth by double-clicking Hellfire.kml again.  This will result in multiple instance of the map being loaded up into Google Earth.

Have fun exploring this new feature in Hellfire!