Hello

Thank you for this mod. I never liked Space Age because I want to use trains, and the DLC limits that. With this mod, that problem is gone, so thank you again.

I’d like to request a balance change.

Right now there isn’t a real way to balance it. Even if you block same-surface teleportation, you can still “bounce” a train through another planet and immediately back to the original surface, which effectively restores same-surface teleporting.

I think the best fix is to force a Nauvis hub.

Make Nauvis the central hub for all train teleporting. Even on “start any planet” maps, keep the teleporter technology unlocked only on Nauvis (also helps keep the scripting simple and consistent).

Mechanic:

Every surface except Nauvis is allowed only one teleporter location. It should be double-lane: either one wider teleporter that fits two tracks, or two teleporters placed next to each other (one entry, one exit).

That surface teleporter must connect only to Nauvis. No direct surface-to-surface links. To go anywhere, you route: surface -> Nauvis -> destination surface.

Balance gate:

Make it research-gated per planet. Even if you can build teleporters on Nauvis, you can’t place the surface-side teleporter on a given planet until you research that planet’s unlock.

This keeps train networks relevant because you still can’t jump from point A to point B on the same planet. All routes are forced through Nauvis, so there’s no direct “cheat” jump. It still enables fast movement between places, without replacing normal train logistics on a planet.

And since you also included player teleport, unlocking it per planet also works as a progression marker: “we conquered this planet, so now we have free access.”

And again, thank you for this mod!!!

Hi there,

Thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful feedback! I've read your suggestions carefully, and I truly appreciate you taking the time to think deeply about the mod's balance.

Your perspective is very interesting. My core design philosophy for Rift Rail has always been to give players maximum freedom. If a player finds a way to bypass certain challenges, I see it as part of their unique playstyle. This mod was originally created for my personal games with friends in a Space Exploration environment, where we still find extensive rail networks on each surface to be essential, even with portals.

However, I understand that for different playstyles or server management, more balance options are desirable. A startup setting to enforce certain routing restrictions, like the ones you proposed, is a great idea.

While I can't commit to implementing this immediately (as my development time is limited), I will definitely give your ideas serious thought for a future update. Creating optional, server-side balance settings seems like a good direction to explore.

Please note that English is not my native language, so processing detailed feedback can take some time. If you'd like to discuss this or any other ideas further, feel free to add me on Discord (nicejacket00).

Thanks again for the excellent suggestions!

https://imgur.com/a/SbEP8YS

By the way, I added the player teleportation function during the initial debugging of the module, but I forgot to delete it when it was officially released, so it was retained.
I can't just consider limitations without considering performance. If I impose Nauvis limitations, the number of trains in my base could surge, inevitably causing lag in an already large save file.
Therefore, if this restriction must be implemented, it must be a setting that is disabled by default. Or can we consider other approaches?