Transport Fever 3 Beginner Guide — Climates, Cargo & First Build
Beginner Guide
Quick answer: this page covers the five systems a new player has to understand first — climate zones, your first build, warehouses, cargo and delivery timing, and contracts. Everything below is either officially sourced or explicitly marked TBD. Transport Fever 3 is not out until September 29, so no step-by-step walkthrough is invented here; the parts Urban Games has not published are gaps, not guesses.
1. Climates — the four zones
Officially documented by Urban Games' Lead Product Engineer in Dev Blog Episode 1: Environment, under the heading "Four Climates - Plenty of Challenges". The post also confirms: "In all four climate zones, the balance between the different biomes can be adjusted when creating maps".
| Zone | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Temperate | "large mountain ranges, green meadows, dense mixed forests, hilly terrain, and inland lakes" |
| Tropical | "scattered islands of various sizes instead of a large landmass" — land-to-water ratio is adjustable |
| Dry | "significantly less water and is dominated by classic deserts, chains of hills, and mesa plateaus" — no seas, no dense forests; rivers cut "steep-sided, impossible-to-climb gorges" |
| Subarctic | New to the series — "fjord landscapes and swamps, extensive pine forests, tundra, and mountain ranges" |
Why this matters before you place a single track: climate decides which industries can exist. Dev Blog Episode 2 gives the concrete example — "In arid zones, for example, no fish farms exist, so canned food can only be produced with meat." In subarctic zones "both meat and fish are available, giving players an additional option."
Related: Maps · Map Editor · Map Size
2. Your first build
No official step-by-step opening guide has been published. What is official about the early game:
- The map starts sparse. "At game start only the required industries exist on the map," and later "The industries needed to produce these multi-stage products appear dynamically on the map as demand arises" (Dev Blog Episode 2).
- Every delivery feeds town growth. Towns "grow through distinct town levels, starting as a small hamlet eventually becoming a sprawling metropolis", and passenger and freight deliveries "directly fuel that expansion" (First Look Episode 4).
- Progression is measured in world population. "Starting as a junior, the player must develop the world and is measured by how much they grow the world population", rising "up to the ultimate level of Tycoon" (Dev Blog Episode 4).
- Difficulty is porous. "Predefined difficulty levels and individual settings for many mechanics" can be adjusted — or switched off — before you start (Dev Blog Episode 4).
TBD — not published: the opening objective sequence, the starting year, starting money, and the loan system. Treat any pre-launch "first build" walkthrough, including this one, as unverified until the release build is playable. This section gets filled in from the release build after September 29.
Related: Tips · Tycoon & Progression
3. Warehouses
Warehousing is confirmed as a player tool in First Look Episode 2: "Warehousing, industry boosters, and specialised loading facilities are all available." It lets you buffer goods between production stages instead of running every route hand-to-mouth.
Dev Blog Episode 2 explains that storage and loading follow the cargo category:
| Category | Examples | Storage | Loading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid | oil, fuel | Tanks or barrels | Tankers |
| Bulk | sand, grain | Silos or heaps | Open wagons and trucks |
| Flatbed | logs, steel | Stored openly | Cranes, flat vehicles |
| Goods | canned food, glass | Freight sheds | Closed vehicles |
TBD: the cost, capacity and unlock point of each warehouse building.
Related: Industries · Cargo List · Stations
4. Cargo & delivery timing
The cargo layer was rebuilt, and the headline numbers are official:
- 37 cargo types in four categories — "With a total of 37 cargo types, it's more important than ever to keep track of which vehicles support which" (Dev Blog Episode 2).
- Town demand grows with the town — "As towns grow, so do their needs: larger quantities of basic cargo, as well as up to six complex end products."
- Complex goods are multi-stage — canned food "always require[s] tinplate as a base component", and players "can choose between meat, fish, or a mix of both".
- Boosters raise output — "industries can now be boosted by supplying workers from nearby towns", and resource industries go further: "farms with fertilizer, mines with tools or machine parts".
- Efficiency is the point — First Look Episode 2 frames the whole system around it: "efficiency is crucial."
TBD — reported but not yet in a written official source: that each cargo carries its own delivery deadline, with perishable goods needing faster delivery than bulk goods, and that cargo value scales with timeliness. Tycoon & Progression reports the value-scaling side from First Look Episode 5 coverage; neither is confirmed in writing yet.
5. Contracts & subsidies
Reported from First Look Episode 5 coverage (PC Games): optional contracts and subsidies you can accept for money, reputation and town experience, sitting alongside the main growth loop.
Status: reported, not yet stated on a written official page. TBD: how contracts are offered, how many are available, and their payouts and deadlines.
Related: Tycoon & Progression
Still TBD before launch
Everything on this list is unconfirmed. It gets filled in from the release build, not guessed:
| Topic | Status |
|---|---|
| Starting year | TBD — no official source states it |
| Loan system | TBD — no official source documents it |
| Per-industry inputs and outputs | TBD — at launch |
| Full list of 37 cargo names | TBD — official count known, names not |
| Per-vehicle stats | TBD — at launch |
| Warehouse cost, capacity, unlock point | TBD — at launch |
| Contract counts, payouts, deadlines | TBD — at launch |
| Per-cargo delivery deadline mechanic | TBD — reported only |
Sources & Verification
| Data point | Status | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four climate zones + their terrain | Official | Dev Blog Episode 1 | 2026-09-24 |
| Climate limits which industries exist | Official | Dev Blog Episode 2 | 2026-09-24 |
| Warehousing, boosters, loading facilities | Official | First Look Episode 2 | 2026-09-24 |
| 37 cargo types in four categories | Official | Dev Blog Episode 2 | 2026-09-24 |
| Towns demand up to six complex end products | Official | Dev Blog Episode 2 | 2026-09-24 |
| Town levels and population-based progression | Official | First Look Episode 4 · Dev Blog Episode 4 | 2026-09-24 |
| Contracts and subsidies | Reported | PC Games | 2026-09-24 |
| Starting year / loans | Not published | — | — |
Related: Industries · Cargo List · Tycoon & Progression · Wiki Hub