Railway Operations at Scale
Map Enhancer replaces vanilla Railroader's static map graphics with an analytical, multi-layer telemetry platform built directly into Unity's rendering pipeline.
The 5 Map Overlay Modes
Toggleable on-the-fly via the in-game 'ME' map toolbar
Functional Routes
Visualizes the track network by operational purpose using our multi-tier detection engine. Traces continuous through-mainline corridors across dark territory, separates passing sidings, isolates MOW and industrial areas, and highlights passenger stations.
Active Legend Swatches
Track Grade (%)
Dynamically bands track gradient into 5 operational steepness ranges. Essential for tonnage planning, brake management, and spotting runaway-risk track sections.
Active Legend Swatches
FRA Track Class
Direct integration with Railroader 0.6 Maintenance of Way track condition standards (US 49 CFR § 213.9). Visualizes track safety classes and enforceable speed ceilings.
Active Legend Swatches
Track Condition
Heatmap of physical track degradation. Tracks wear from heavy train movements and weather. Identifies sections requiring MOW tamper and ballast crews before slow orders occur.
Active Legend Swatches
Right-of-Way Clearing
Monitors foliage encroachment and right-of-way overgrowth across the valley. Tracks where brush cutters and clearing gangs are needed to maintain sightlines.
Active Legend Swatches
Core Engineering Subsystems
Deep integration into Railroader's track graph, timetable, and MOW systems
Multi-Tier Mainline Engine
Topology-Aware Route Classification
Eliminates naive CTC shortcuts and dark territory gaps using Timetable corridor pathfinding with switch-turn penalties (+50m). Automatically separates passing loops from through-tangents.
- •Timetable Branch 'Main' station-to-station corridor tracing
- •Seamless classification across dark territory (Sylva–Whittier, Bryson–Andrews)
- •Automated siding chord and passing loop exclusion
- •Custom and modded map fallback traversal
Analytical SDF Quad Renderer
Razor-Sharp Zoom Down to 59m
Transpiled signed distance field shader pipeline with white atlas clearing and 0.5-texel UV insets. Eliminates low-zoom ghost dotted artifacts and seam tearing across all zoom levels.
- •No low-zoom ghost artifacts or dotted parallel lines
- •0.5-texel UV inset clamping with 1.0m safety margin
- •Opaque alpha channel quad geometry for performance
- •Logarithmic zoom readout from 0% (11.7km) to 100% (59m)
Passenger & Station Intelligence
Directional Passenger Tooltips & Depot Interaction
Custom vector station markers with live directional passenger counts ('Up: 12 towards Andrews', 'Down: 8 towards Sylva'). 1-click on depot markers opens native Station Agent windows.
- •Custom 128x128 gold-rimmed bundled depot marker asset
- •Live directional passenger breakdown and destination counts
- •1-click depot interaction opening Station Agent window
- •Consistent upper-left HUD positioning without transient cursor drift
Rolling Stock HOPA Alerts
Lateral Visual Alert Badges
Displays real-time equipment warning badges along the right lateral flank of cars: Hotbox (H), Low Journal Oil (O), Handbrake Applied (P), and Air Leak (A). Screen-upright rotation guarantees readability.
- •Lateral flank anchoring eliminating overlap between coupled cars
- •Screen-upright rotation (always readable regardless of track curve)
- •Independent toggle controls in settings for H, O, P, and A
- •Handbrake (P) separated from critical failure warning counts
Turntables & Road Crossings
Active Facilities Tracking
Visualizes active turntables with dynamic alignment heading, bridge raycasting, and 31+ clustered road crossing markers across the entire route network.
- •Live turntable bridge orientation synchronized with map
- •Road crossing markers clustered from 380+ track points
- •Floating-origin and world shift compensation
- •Configurable marker scale and visibility toggles
Precision Switch Telemetry
Apex-Aligned Junction Chevrons
Junction indicator chevrons anchored directly to track apex geometry rather than ground stand offsets, providing instant visual confirmation of switch alignments across all yards.
- •Centerline apex anchoring aligned with point rail lead
- •Dynamic switch alignment colors (Green straight, Yellow diverging)
- •Clear visual indication for spring switches and CTC interlockings
- •Instant clickable interaction for remote switch throwing
Engineered for 60+ FPS
All track geometry, gradient calculations, and classification lookups are computed once during world load or switch state changes and cached in O(1) hash structures.
Non-Destructive Overlays
Map Enhancer operates strictly as a visual and diagnostic presentation layer. It never alters your world save files, track layouts, vehicle rosters, or progression locks.
Smooth Multi-Scale Zoom
Signed distance field shaders render crisp vector track lines with dynamic anti-aliasing whether viewing the entire 11.7km valley or inspecting a switch at 59m zoom.