Map Editor — Getting Started | Railway Operation Sim

🎯 Overview

The Map Editor lets you build your own station map (track layout, train schedule, departure board settings) inside the game. Finished maps can be launched from the User Maps screen on the title menu and played with the same controls as the built-in maps.

Differences from Official Maps

UGC maps you build with the editor have a few limitations compared to the bundled official maps.

Coupling and decoupling are not supported (joining or splitting train consists)
Multiple trains sharing the same platform are not supported (parallel parking on the same platform)
Only the basic signal aspects are configurable. Detailed aspect distinctions like caution-restrictive or restricted-speed-deceleration cannot be tuned
Departure buttons work on a track-number basis. The sorting-display-linked departure control used on official maps is not supported

Basic signal handling, route setting and timetabled operation can all be reproduced in UGC, so we recommend trying things out in the editor.

The relationship between editing and saving

Save often. When you press a "Register" or "Update" button in the sidebar, the change is applied only to the editor's in-memory state. Nothing is written to the CSV files on disk until you press Save (Ctrl+S) in the top right. Make a habit of pressing Ctrl+S at every checkpoint of your work.

About this article

This is the introductory article for the Map Editor. It covers where to open the editor, what the major UI areas are, and how to save and preview. Detailed instructions for each editing category (wiring, signals, operations, etc.) are split into separate guides linked at the bottom under What to read next.

🚪 Opening the Editor

The Map Editor is launched from the title screen.

Start the game and reach the title screen
Click the Map Editor button at the bottom of the screen
The editor opens with no map loaded (nothing is placed yet)

Right after launch, you need to choose between New Map and Open Map to decide what to edit. Both are accessible from the File menu in the top-left (see below).

🖥 Screen Layout

The editor screen is divided into the following areas.

① Top menu bar

Always visible at the very top of the screen.

Position	Item	Role
Far left	File ▾	Opens the menu (New Map / Open / Reload / Clear All / Return to Title, etc.)
Center	Map name display	Currently edited map (e.g. `[CustomMaps/Futtsu] Futtsu/Futtsu/DayTime`)
Right side	▶ Preview	Run the current map in playable form
Far right	Save (Ctrl+S)	Write the current state to CSV files

② Left sidebar (categories and sub-modes)

Where you pick what to edit. There are four categories.

Category	Sub-modes	Used for
Company	Train Class Master / Train Type Master	Define train class labels (colors) and train type icons
Wiring	Track Circuit / Switch / Bulk Edit / Station / Platform	Draw tracks and station premises
Equipment	Lever / Route / Signal / Departure Button	Place signal-related equipment and routes
Operation	Path Group / Train List / Diagram Row	Build the train timetable (only enabled when a scenario is loaded)

About the Operation category: the Operation sub-modes are only visible when a scenario is selected. A freshly created map has no scenario, so follow the "Create scenario?" prompt right after creating the map to enable this category.

③ Center workspace

The main editing area. What clicks do depends on the active sub-mode: draw track, draw a station rectangle, place a lever, etc. Right-click + drag to pan, and Ctrl+wheel or +/- to zoom (same controls as the main game).

④ Status / save message bar

A status message appears briefly near the top of the screen for save results, validation errors, operation warnings, and so on. Messages stay visible for about 5 seconds.

📂 File Menu

Click the File ▾ button in the top left to reveal these items.

Item	Shortcut	Action
New Map	`Ctrl`+`N`	Create a new UGC map (one-field name dialog)
Open Map	`Ctrl`+`O`	Pick an existing UGC map from the list
Recent Map	—	One-click open of the last edited map (only shown when history exists)
Reload	`F5`	Discard unsaved changes and reload the current map from disk
Clear All	—	Empty the current editing data (with confirm dialog)
Return to Title	—	Go back to the title screen (with confirm if unsaved)

🆕 Creating a New Map

Choose New Map from the File menu to open a simple one-field dialog.

Enter a map name (e.g. Futtsu)
Click Create
If a map with the same name already exists, the editor appends _2, _3, etc. automatically (e.g. Futtsu_2)
The editor switches to the new map and prompts "Create a scenario?"
Enter a scenario name and confirm — the Operation category (train list, etc.) becomes editable

Forbidden characters: \ / : * ? " < > |, a trailing period, and relative references (..) are not allowed. Spaces, hyphens, and underscores are fine.

📁 Opening an Existing Map

Choose Open Map from the File menu to list all UGC maps stored locally. Pick a map, then pick a scenario inside it.

Adding and deleting scenarios

Use the New scenario name field in the right pane and press Create to add a scenario to that map
Each scenario row has a Delete button that requires two clicks (5-second confirm window)

Maps without scenarios: Use "Open without scenario" if you want to edit only the wiring and equipment. The Operation category will be disabled, but this is handy when you want to focus on infrastructure first.

📋 Editing Workflow

We recommend working through the sidebar categories left-to-right. Company → Wiring → Equipment → Operation. Going top-down through the menu keeps dependencies in order and minimizes rework. See the linked guide for each category for the detailed steps.

① Company — Prepare train classes and train types (adding from the default bank is enough). Company guide
② Wiring — Place track circuits, switches, stations, and platforms. Track-number and station-direction masters are also handled here, inside the Station editor. Wiring guide
③ Equipment — Place levers, routes, signals, and departure buttons. Equipment guide
④ Operation — Edit path groups, train list, and diagram rows (only enabled when a scenario is loaded). Operations guide
Save and check the result with Preview

Auto-validation on save: every save runs an integrity check and warns about problems like "this route is not referenced by any track circuit" or "this train has no appearance TC set." Saving frequently helps you catch problems early.

💾 Save and Preview

Saving (write to CSV)

Use the Save (Ctrl+S) button in the top right, or press Ctrl+S.

Saving runs an integrity check, then writes the current editing state to the CSV files under CustomMaps/<map name>/.

Validation errors: if a fatal problem is detected the save is aborted, and the first few errors appear in the top message bar. Fix the indicated items, then try saving again.

Save with warnings: non-fatal issues (e.g. an Initial operation with an empty appearance TC) do not block the save; the save succeeds with a "saved with warnings" message that lists the affected train numbers. Check the train list before previewing.

Preview (live test)

The ▶ Preview button to the left of Save runs the map you are editing in playable form. Preview always launches in sandbox mode (no scoring).

While preview is running, a Return to Editor overlay appears at the top of the screen. Click it to leave preview — the editor will reload the same map you were editing.

Auto-save before preview: if there are unsaved changes, the editor saves them first when you press ▶ Preview. A validation error during this auto-save will also abort the preview attempt.

🏷 Bundle Info (Public Metadata)

Bundle info is the set of title / description / author / preview image that other players see when your UGC map is published. It shows up in the title screen's User Maps list and in the editor's "Open Map" dialog. The map plays fine without it, but if you plan to share, set at least the title, description, and preview image.

Where it's stored: bundle info lives at <mapFolder>/bundle.json, and the preview image at <mapFolder>/preview.png. Both sit directly under the map folder along with the CSV files, so sharing the folder also shares the metadata.

Coming later: this bundle info is planned to be reused as the Workshop title, description, and thumbnail when the upcoming Steam Workshop integration ships (planned for V1.7.x and later). Filling it in now means you can publish without retyping anything once Workshop lands.

Editing bundle info

Open the dialog from the menu bar: "File ▼" → "Edit Bundle Info...". You can enter:

Field	Description
Title	Large name shown in the list, independent of the folder name (e.g. "Yokohama Morning Rush"). Falls back to the folder name if empty.
Description	Map description. Multiple lines OK. Shown below the preview image on the title screen's User Maps panel. Tip: list features like "with double crossover / shunting / morning rush" so players can pick easily.
Author	Self-declared author name. SNS handles, etc.
Version	Your map's version number (e.g. 1.0.0). Bumping on updates lets recipients tell old from new.
Tags	Search keywords (comma-separated). Planned to feed Steam Workshop search.

Capturing the preview image

The preview image appears as a thumbnail in the list, and as a large image on the right pane when the row is selected. From the menu bar: "File ▼" → "Capture Preview Image..." switches to a preview-play screen with no trains spawned, so you can frame the camera.

Choose "File ▼" → "Capture Preview Image..."
You're taken to the preview-play screen (no trains; a yellow banner appears at the top)
Use mouse drag / wheel to frame the shot
Click "Capture Here" at the top to save preview.png under the map folder
To re-shoot, press the same button again to overwrite
Click "Return to Editor" to go back

Framing tips: the image is saved at 16:9. Since it's also used as a small thumbnail, aim for a frame that captures distinctive elements — switches, stations, or double crossovers. HUD windows (Diagram / Log / Departure Board) are auto-hidden during capture.

Without bundle info: the list will use the folder name as the title, the folder path as subtitle, and a gray placeholder for the thumbnail. Setting at least the title and preview image makes the listing much easier to browse.

📦 Where Maps Are Stored

UGC maps are stored as plain CSV files in the user save area on Windows.

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\DefaultCompany\RailSim260127\CustomMaps\<map name>\

Inside each map folder, Data/<company>/<map name>/ holds CSV files such as TrackCircuits.csv and Routes.csv. Scenario-specific files (TrainList.csv, etc.) live under that Data/<company>/<map name>/<scenario>/.

Backups: because the data is plain text, backups are easy. Copy the entire map folder somewhere safe and you can recover from accidental damage instantly.

Sharing: zip the entire map folder and hand it to a friend — they can drop it into the same path and play. Once Steam Workshop integration (planned for V1.7.x) ships, distribution will be much easier.

Disclaimer for sharing and distribution: The developer does not validate or provide support for user-created maps (UGC). We accept no responsibility whatsoever for malfunctions, data loss, or other troubles that arise from distributing your own maps or from installing maps obtained from third parties. Please install maps only from sources you trust, at your own risk.

📚 What to Read Next

This article was the introductory tour. For details on each category, follow the guides below (the order matches the recommended editing order).

① Company guide — train class and train type masters
② Wiring guide — track circuit, switch, station, platform, track-number and station-direction masters
③ Equipment guide — levers, routes, signals, departure buttons
④ Operations guide — path groups, train list, diagram rows
⛳ Playing user maps — how to launch finished maps from the title screen

For the core gameplay, see the help guide. Inside Preview, the controls are the same as the main game.