Shifting the focus from bookkeeping to strategic thinking.
Welcome to Rails Evolution. Originally branching from the dormant Rails-18xx repository, this project represents a massive 6-month, 100,000+ line architectural rewrite.
The core objective is a "Dual Mandate":
- Upgrade the engine from a static, manual ledger into a dynamic, living ecosystem capable of supporting synchronous, championship-level competitive play.
- Act as the definitive, modernized "Rails 2.0" engine to support and preserve the entire legacy catalog of 18xx titles.
By drastically reducing cognitive load and visual strain, a full championship game can now be played in two hours instead of three—with absolute stability and zero UI jitter.
📺 See the Engine, UI, and AI in action on YouTube: Rails Evolution 18xx
Rails Evolution supports a wide array of 18xx titles, categorized by their current stability and testing status in the new engine.
These titles have been thoroughly stress-tested and optimized for competitive tournament play.
- 1835 (Includes Standard, Clemens, and Snake variants)
- 1817 (Native implementation with short selling, liquidations, and mergers)
These legacy titles are fully integrated into the new architecture using their original logic, but require community playtesting to guarantee 100% stability.
- 1830: Railways & Robber Barons
- 1837 (Austria)
- 18Chesapeake
- 1889: History of Shikoku Railways
- 1825, 1826, 1851, 1862, 1880
- 18AL, 18EU, 18GA, 18Kaas, 18Lummer, 18NL, 18Scan, 18TN, 18VA
- Steam over Holland
Titles currently being ported or awaiting UI/UX modernization.
- 1870
- 1856: Railroading in Upper Canada
The interface has been completely overhauled to create a rock-steady environment. There is now a single source of truth for all information, eliminating duplicated and cluttered text.
- Railcards & Animation: The tactile board game experience is back. Certificates are physical-looking beige "Railcards." When transferred, they physically animate across the screen to ensure all players can track the flow of equity on a shared screen.
- The Linear OR Panel: The old, cluttered OR panel is replaced by a strict, top-to-bottom linear sequence (Build > Marker > Revenue > Buy > Special). Inactive steps are grayed out.
- Synchronous Play Tools: Integrated chess clocks display active thinking time. A massive gray "Game Paused" overlay ensures tournament integrity.
- Bulletproof Corrections: Standardized
Cmd+Z/Cmd+Yhandles seamless undo/redo, supported by completely rebuilt correction managers.
The decision logic has been completely decoupled to build an autonomous "brain." This is a hybrid engine designed for human interaction, AI building assistance, and headless dry-run simulations.
- Data-Driven "Opening Books": The AI loads external JSON strategy files to guide draft picks and opening moves based on historical performance.
- Dry-Run Simulations: Utilizes the
RevenueAdapterto spin up parallel network graphs, allowing the AI to simulate and score potential tile lays before committing. - AI Building Assistant: In-game, the AI can be invoked to instantly calculate and build the tile that maximizes current train income.
Rails Evolution is an open-source project. We are actively seeking Java developers to help migrate the Alpha catalog into the Beta phase and veterans to stress-test the engine.