I've been waiting a full year for this, but at long last Derail Valley has gone into Early Access on Steam. I played the free demo when I first got my Rift and immediately blessed it as the best use of VR to date. With the Early Access version having undergone another full year of expansion, it should easily regain that title, although it never really relinquished in in my mind.
In their words, here's what you get:
Derail Valley is a highly immersive train driving simulator, letting you truly be in a train cab and operate controls with your own hands! Choose jobs and deliver a variety of cargo between industries in a vast open world, using a diesel-electric shunter or a heavy steam locomotive. Explore the beautiful landscape of 256 km² filled with railways, industries and maybe even some secrets!
Freely choose step-by-step jobs found in offices of every industry. They include (un)loading, shunting and hauling, involving dozens of cargo types modeled after a realistic industry chain. Use the hard-earned money to refuel and service locomotives, or even buy new ones! Finally, try to stay on the tracks!
Derail Valley Early Access is a major upgrade to the award-winning demo from 2016, being developed by a small team. Features:
For players who are not in position to use VR, we include rudimentary controls for playing on a regular flat-screen PC, using keyboard and mouse. For the best experience however, we highly recommend using a supported VR headset.
My copy of the Early Release version is downloading as we speak. The Early Access price is currently $19.99, but will increase as major functionality is added over the next few months.
