v0.7.1

Download

You play on	Get this one file
Windows (Steam, game build 35924)	TpF2Multiplayer-Launcher-Windows-Setup.exe -- install it, then Update & play
Linux / Steam Deck (the native game or Proton)	TpF2Multiplayer-Launcher-Linux.AppImage -- make it executable, run it, then Update & play

The launcher installs this version and keeps it up to date. Or install this version directly:

You play on	Get this one file
Windows	TpF2Multiplayer.msi -- close the game, run it
Linux / Steam Deck, the Windows game under Proton	install_proton.sh -- run it with sh; it fetches the rest itself
Linux, the native game	tpf2mp-linux-0.7.1-native.run -- close the game, bash tpf2mp-linux-0.7.1-native.run
A dedicated server on Linux or a VPS	TpF2Multiplayer-Server-Linux.tar.gz -- unpack it, sudo sh tpf2mp-server/setup_vps.sh; the guide: HOSTING_A_SERVER.md. A Windows server is the MSI above

The files zip, the Linux .tar.gz, install_proton.py and the checksums are in the update files. The two Source code archives at the bottom are the repository, not the mod. Everyone in a session needs the same version.

0.7.1 - faster dedicated servers, shorter autosaves, Sandbox towns, a Multiplayer button

Feature update based on 0.7.0.7, for Windows, Proton and the native Linux game. Everyone in a session, including the dedicated server, must update to 0.7.1.

Changes

• Dedicated servers run at full speed. A Linux server's simulation had been running at about half speed: every road vehicle entering a road segment cost around 1,000 system calls. It now costs a few, and the engine is back on its normal 200 ms step. The simulation thread went from 82% to 22% of a core on the project's server, with the same results.
• Shorter autosave and join pauses. A save's compression now runs on worker threads instead of the simulation thread, on Windows, Proton and native Linux. On the project's server a 1.2 GB world saves in 3 seconds instead of 7-9, so everyone waits less at every autosave and every hot join. The saved file is unchanged in format and loads as before. save_threads=0 in tpf2_menu_flags.txt turns it off.
• Big maps load faster on Linux. New terrain was being set up in a way that interrupted every CPU core for each page written; the slowest loading step (at 70%) went from 1-4 minutes to under a minute.
• Less wasted work while loading and on headless servers. The game's Steam status thread no longer spins at full speed during a load (Windows and Linux; steam_poll_ms=0 turns the change off). A dedicated server that draws nothing no longer re-creates its graphics buffers every frame (dedicated_recycle_sets=0 turns that off).
• Sandbox mode's town tool works in multiplayer. A town placed with it is built on every player's game. Before, only the placing player got it, which caused a desync and then a resync that threw the town away.
• A Multiplayer button in the main toolbar, next to the minimap's. It shows and hides the Multiplayer window, the same as Ctrl+Shift+D.
• The New Game map preview no longer regenerates endlessly. With Big Maps installed (0.7.0.7), the preview threw its map away and started again forever, on every generator and map size.
• Big Maps minimap: it has its own toolbar button, M opens it (except while typing), and its colours follow the map's climate, so dry maps are no longer green.
• A host leaving no longer strands the other player at a quarter speed. In a two-player game where the host left, the remaining player stayed at the slowest speed until they restarted.
• Large saves no longer fail to transfer after 120 seconds over the master server's pipe; they used to fall back to the slower path.
• Fences compatibility can no longer stop the game script: if its file fails to load, multiplayer turns off with a message, as other modules do.

Update

Use the launcher: Update & play (Windows and Linux), or install directly: the MSI on Windows, install_proton.sh under Proton, the native .run on Linux. A Linux dedicated server: tpf2server stop, tpf2server install, tpf2server configure, tpf2server start. All participants need the same version.

Known limitations

• A cargo filter set while creating a new line (before its first save) is not carried; set it on the line once it exists.

Validation

Measured on the project's dedicated server (Linux, 8 vCPU, a 37,000-tile Big Maps world): simulation step, per-thread CPU, system calls and load phases before and after each change; a multithreaded save checked with zstd -t and a full decompress, then loaded by a joining game and by the server itself. Tests: the page-batched reads and the road sort's batched names against the one-at-a-time path (test_movement_linux, test_train_order_linux); the descriptor recycler against a fake driver (test_descriptor_recycle); the save stream routing against a fake that behaves like multithreaded zstd, and a real round trip in boost's call pattern (test_save_zstd on Linux; save_zstd_win_test and an in-process self-test before patching on Windows); the served generator copy's times (test_generator_memory); the terrain pager's zero fill (test_pager). The Linux libraries are built and tested in the pinned Steam Runtime soldier SDK; the Windows DLLs are built with MSVC.

Full Changelog: 0.7.0.7...v0.7.1