As fast as the machine.

A train guiding game.

Client: Verkehrshaus Luzern, Siemens, intolight

Task: Development of an interactive train game

Background

Over the last 170 years, a lot has changed in the history of railway signal boxes in Switzerland. The traditional profession of a train traffic controller is now heavily automated. No longer are there people standing on the railway line to set the right switches, switch traffic lights, and close barriers.

This task is now carried out by "ILTIS," a system for the secure remote control of electronic signal boxes (ESTW) in Switzerland. Essentially, it is a standardized graphical user interface (GUI) that allows for the organization and switching of train routes and shunting routes in near-real-time. The system then ensures that the necessary electronic signal lights, switches, and railway barriers are operated and also displays their respective current statuses. It can also indicate technical faults (e.g., defects or transmission errors).

The visual system used for ILTIS is highly compact and schematic. Its main priorities are clear readability, continuous clarity, and the elimination of unnecessary distracting elements. Information is presented strictly in color codes. Historically, it has been mainly used on SXGA monitors (1280x1024), which required additional visual reduction. For a layperson, such a schema appears abstract and often incomprehensible. In addition, operating the ILTIS system requires a great deal of expertise, and the GUI is overloaded with acronyms of technical terms. In the end, the train traffic controller is offered a workplace with ILTIS in which he has precisely as much flexibility as safety allows in railway traffic. A misoperation should never lead to an accident, but it can cause sometimes dramatic delays and waiting times. The system was not designed to be intuitive!

Game Idea

The aim of the game is to measure the performance of a human against an electronic signal box, with ILTIS playing a moderating and time-keeping role. It is based on cooperative games such as Space Alert [1] or Pandemic [2], in which players compete against the game and can only win together.

In the game, trains automatically drive and shunt, and are depicted both concretely in a 3D game world on a large video screen and as green train numbers in the ILTIS system. The system automatically ensures the correct planning of train routes for all these trains, which can be considered as a game scenario. These train routes must be implemented by switching switches, signals, and railway barriers - this is where the players come in. They have only a short time to tap or switch the respective element in the ILTIS system. For every element manually operated in time, they earn a point, and every element that is not operated in time will be operated by the system.

As a game mechanic, an "Clicker Game" (see, for example, Cookie Clicker, Universal Paperclips is established, but without imitating its exponential qualities. It is essentially intended through level design that one cannot play optimally unless they play collaboratively and extremely attentively - after all, players should internalize the inhuman performance that a modern ESTW performs for us.

The Challenge

Up to 8 elements can be opened in an extra window each by tapping in the ILTIS schema. These are located on both sides of the touchscreen and are filled from bottom to top. A strictly iterative processing is, therefore, possible for solo players, while collaborative and parallel processing is advantageous. Children can play it alone, but to achieve really high scores, large players (older siblings, parents, grandparents, etc.) are also needed, who can reach the upper areas of the screen and actively participate. A variety of countdowns and time elements create a sense of constant urgency in the game.

The Reward

Each correctly activated element is accompanied by an aesthetically pleasing visual effect on the video wall in the background. After completing a game scenario, the collective performance is compared in detail. This is achieved through the use of a Hall-of-Fame mechanism. The 3D game assets were modeled and textured in Blender, and a pipeline to VVVV enables smooth and efficient gameplay.