FormaNeo & TS NEXT Development Blog

The world of railway simulation is remarkably diverse, while the games industry evolves at an equally rapid pace. With FormaNeo and Train Simulator NEXT, an entirely new technical foundation is taking shape—combining modern rendering technologies, engineering workflows, system architectures, and current developments from real-world railway engineering.

This blog aims to give you a look “under the hood” of both projects and to explain why their technological direction is so crucial for the future of simulation.

At the same time, it serves as my personal development journal: a place where I can later trace how the software evolved, which decisions turned out to be right, and which challenges or surprises appeared along the way. Fans of this kind of development blog will find honest insights without soft filters. And perhaps, in retrospect, there will be a moment or two to smile about the typical quirks of software development.

Railway Simulation & Modern Rail Technology — A Shared Foundation

This blog focuses heavily on building a new railway simulation and its technical components. The foundation is shaped by real-world operational procedures and engineering principles—far beyond graphics and rendering alone.

Topics include:

• Modeling of real infrastructure
• Train dynamics and physical correlations
• Technical systems and signaling or train protection
• Future developments in the railway industry
• Sensor technology, system architecture, and component communication
• Track geometry and interaction techniques

Train Simulator NEXT aims to transfer real-world technical concepts as authentically as possible—from track layouts and signals to sensor architectures and the systematic interaction of individual components.

This blog shows how such technical requirements translate into concrete development decisions and how they ultimately form a coherent piece of software.

Technical Foundation: A Custom Engine Built on DirectX 12

A substantial part of the development effort goes into the custom game engine, which is built entirely on DirectX 12. Designed from the ground up for this modern platform, it forms the technical backbone for all essential systems:

• Rendering and visualization
• User interfaces
• Data processing and workloads
• Asset management and internal tools

The engine enables:

• Modern GPU pipelines and ray tracing techniques
• Optimized rendering methods for large and open worlds
• Realistic materials through modular shader systems
• Accelerated techniques for effects such as lens flares
• Full utilization of the available hardware

In future posts, this blog will provide technical insights into the engine’s architecture, subsystems, and underlying development principles—whether related to rendering features, performance considerations, or the design of internal tools.

FormaNeo — The Extended Engineering and Content Toolchain

A central element of the entire pipeline is FormaNeo.

The software is an independent and extended editor for:

• 3D assets (models, materials, animations)
• CAD models (2D representations of technical layers)
• BIM models (combined, structured CAD and 3D data)

In addition, FormaNeo includes a package management system that allows you to archive, version, and share projects simply via files. This creates the technical bridge between engineering data and simulation.

The vision includes:

• Integration of CAD and BIM data in a unified 3D viewer
• Conversion of complex models into hardware-efficient formats
• Standardized workflows for route, object, and component development
• Long-term archiving of projects for many users
• Clear tools for data categorization, including standards and reference assignment

This makes FormaNeo a tool equally suited for content creators, modders, engineers, and designers. The combination of engineering tools and the game engine forms a consistent, realistic, and extensible simulation foundation.

Graphics, Hardware, and Technical Experiments

Many topics in this blog will focus on rendering pipelines, shader development, and modern application techniques. I’ll provide insights into:

• Graphical concepts and rendering methods
• Hardware behavior from a software engineering perspective
• Internal computer processes relevant for real-time applications

This includes not only successful integration techniques but also experiments whose results don’t turn out as planned. One example is global illumination, commonly known today as path tracing: the implementation worked flawlessly from a technical standpoint, but reached just 12 to 4 frames per second—making it unsuitable for real-time simulation.

Experiments like these are part of the daily reality of software development. They help identify where current technology reaches its limits—and where alternative solutions are needed.

Engineering, Project Organization & Business Aspects

The software is aimed not only at players but also at engineers and technically oriented professionals. Therefore, the blog also covers topics such as:

• Real-world railway engineering and infrastructure planning
• Physical models and measurement methods used in simulation
• Technical data structures from railway and engineering domains
• Current developments and emerging technologies

At the same time, I want to talk about more than just code.

No serious project exists without planning, organization, operational decisions, and business considerations.

That’s why you’ll also find insights on:

• Project organization and prioritization
• Technical and operational documentation
• Business models and customer-oriented systems
• Game distribution and product strategy
• Game design aspects, industry topics, and games policy
• Quality, scheduling, and risk management

These areas show the challenges faced by anyone aiming to build a professional or commercial software product.

Failures, Limitations, Lessons Learned — And Why They Matter

A key part of this development blog is intentional transparency—especially where things don’t go as planned or unexpected problems appear.

Failed approaches, dead ends, and discarded concepts are part of the daily reality of active software development. A significant portion of modern software consists of concepts that have proven themselves in practice. And in the context of cutting-edge technology—particularly topics like ray tracing, rendering trends, and GPU techniques—it quickly becomes evident what works in practice and what doesn’t.

To help other developers learn from my experience, I’ll write about limitations, flawed assumptions, mistakes in reasoning, and solutions that work.

These posts are especially valuable for fans and developers. They support an honest and realistic mindset within the community.

Community Involvement & Feedback

The software is meant to resonate with you—and feedback is essential to achieving that. Fans, technical enthusiasts, and future professionals will find here a source of information they can discuss further in forums and communities.

Suggestions, critiques, ideas, and technical hints help guide FormaNeo and Train Simulator NEXT in a direction that provides real value for diverse user groups. Many professionals working in the rail industry today once began as simulation fans—and that’s why it’s important to me to include as many perspectives as possible.

This blog serves as a bridge between development and community and explicitly invites you to share your thoughts on social platforms.

YouTube Channel & Outlook

In addition to this blog, I also present selected development aspects on the YouTube channel. There, you’ll find technical demonstrations, visualizations, and prototypes that complement the progress shown here.

What to expect in the future

• Development processes in both applications
• Engine architecture and rendering
• Asset and data pipelines
• Route and infrastructure modeling
• Component development and railway simulation
• Tools, workflows, and engineering-related topics
• Insights into design, management, and development processes

Thank you for your interest in FormaNeo and Train Simulator NEXT.

This blog isn’t just meant to provide insights—it aims to serve as a long-term record of the technical and conceptual development of both projects.