Two New Train Games

[Hawk]

What ends up happening is more secondary factories and mills than sources of raw material.

Once you get a grasp on the industry dynamics, you'll see that one resource facility can supply more han one production facility with ease. That's what that guy in the video explains; the industry dynamics.

I don't quite understand. That doesn't solve the issue of adding cars or upgrading rolling stock without replacing the entire train.

You can easily replace cars by sending the train to the depot, then deleteing cars using the X above the car then add new ones. Then just assign it back to the line it was on.

Has anyone given the Flexible Train Stations mod a try? I'm always leery about using mods under continual development. It's good that they're being updated, but I'm worried about saved games breaking.

I have 3 or 4 of the mod stations installed. They work pretty good.
Some of the older mods will state that the format is deprecated but a simple edit of the lua file will fix that.

I don't have a lot to say about some of your other comments. I'm just trying to help with the game as is.

[Akarin]

Once you get a grasp on the industry dynamics, you'll see that one resource facility can supply more han one production facility with ease.

I understand that and that's the issue I have with it. Like Cash on Wheels said, it's boring when you only need one mine for one factory. Personally, I'd rather have smaller, more numerous mines.

You can easily replace cars by sending the train to the depot, then deleteing cars using the X above the car then add new ones. Then just assign it back to the line it was on.

There lies the problem. Sending the train back to the depot. The "replace now" feature avoids having to do this, but there's no way to individually replace/add/remove rolling stock or locomotives from a train without babysitting it all the way back to the depot or replacing the entire set at the next station. Even a feature that would automatically swap out, remove, or add rolling stock/locos at a scheduled depot stop would be welcomed. As it stands, I just pay the price of using the replace now function to replace the entire set. At least you get some value back so it isn't as expensive.

I'm assuming you're not using the Workshop for you mods. Is there a mod manager like Train Fever or are you just using the in-game mod manager?

[Hawk]

Sorry! I didn't know you already knew how to do this. I'll refrain from trying to help unless you specifically ask a question.

No, I do not use the Steam Workshop. I bought TPF, and TF, at GOG.

There is a Mod Manager - https://www.transportfever.net/filebase ... 785-TPFMM/ - but I don't use it. I just add mods manually then enable them in game as I need/want them.

I didn't use the Train Fever Mod Manager either. I tried it and didn't really care for it. Not when I can manage mods myself just fine.

[Hawk]

Has anyone given the Flexible Train Stations mod a try? I'm always leery about using mods under continual development. It's good that they're being updated, but I'm worried about saved games breaking.

I looked for those Flexible Stations at the German site but didn't find them. What's the modders name?

Here's a list of stations I have installed.

Truck & Train Station

Ultimate Station

Curved Train Stations - This is an Urban Games mod, required by some other station mods that enable curving.

Advanced Stations

Dresden-Neustadt Station in Germany

I will admit, the last one I've never used.

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Edit 1: I found the Flexible Stations mod at the Russian site. I'm going to give it a try.

[Akarin]

Edit 1: I found the Flexible Stations mod at the Russian site. I'm going to give it a try.

Yeah, let us know how it goes. I want to finish off my current save before diving into station mods and map building. It looks good though, I'm starting to lean towards the Urban Games version and it's subsidiaries, including all of Enzojz's stuff. By the way, what does Advanced Station give you that Ultimate Station doesn't? I may have missed something there.

[Hawk]

Advanced station is a simpler station option than the Ultimate station.
For me it just helps break the monotony of the same stations at all towns. A little variety is always good.

BTW! If you do use the online map creator, keep a copy of the heightmap you upload. You may want to use it instead of the heightmap you get back from the online creator.
I mainly use the online creator for the lua file it creates with the location of the towns and industries you place, and even then I end up editing it to clean it up a bit.

[Hawk]

The Flexible Station is similar to the Ultimate Station and the Advanced station. It just offers a couple of options not available in the others, but then the Ultimate Station has options the Flexible Station doesn't, and both have options the Advanced Station doesn't.
Neither the Flexible or the Ultimate station require the Curved Station mod from Urban Games, but the Advanced Station does.

It looks like with the Ultimate Station and the Flexible Station, I don't see a need for the Advanced Station, other than a different look.

When you get ready to start checking out mods, I would suggest enabling the No Cost mod that came with the game, and get the All Available from 1850 mod.
With these enabled you can easily test mods to see what you like.

[Hawk]

Once you get a grasp on the industry dynamics, you'll see that one resource facility can supply more han one production facility with ease.

I understand that and that's the issue I have with it. Like Cash on Wheels said, it's boring when you only need one mine for one factory. Personally, I'd rather have smaller, more numerous mines.

You could experiment with editing the base_config file to reduce industry production. This would reduce the amount of production a resource industry can do. It would also reduce the amount at the production facility though.

Open it and find

Code: Select all

game.config.enforceMainConnections = false
game.config.townGrowthFactor = 0.0					-- .0 - 2.0 (factor to control town growth behaviour)
game.config.townGrowthExponent = 0.90				-- .5 - 1.0 (exponent to attenuate late game town growth)
game.config.maxTownSize = 0							-- 0 (unlimited) or a number >= 500 (limits all land use counts)

Then add this from the TF base_config file below the enforceMainConnections line.

Code: Select all

game.config.maxIndustryProduction = 600			-- units per year

It should end up looking like this.

Code: Select all

game.config.enforceMainConnections = false
game.config.maxIndustryProduction = 600			-- units per year
game.config.townGrowthFactor = 0.0					-- .0 - 2.0 (factor to control town growth behaviour)
game.config.townGrowthExponent = 0.90				-- .5 - 1.0 (exponent to attenuate late game town growth)
game.config.maxTownSize = 0							-- 0 (unlimited) or a number >= 500 (limits all land use counts)

Then edit the 600 to something smaller.

Make sure you make a back-up of your base_config file first.

I'm using a production booster mod right now, since the map I'm playing only has one of each resource facility on it, so I can't test this, but in theory it should work.


I know I said I wouldn't offer help unless you specifically asked, but I thought this idea might interest you.


BTW! The statement Cash on Wheels made in this post isn't entirely correct (assuming - of course - that I understood correctly what he meant).

-Trains Can't drop off cargo to picked up by another train. They can pick up cargo.

If your infrastructure is set up so that you have supply (production facility or resource) and demand (town or production facility), having a station or two in between will work. Trains will drop off cargo at a station to be picked up by another train, if the ultimate destination is demanding that cargo.
He is correct in that if the demand isn't there, if your infrastructure isn't set up properly, this will not work.
What I can't say is how many stations you can have in between; if there's a limit.

This is also true for truck stations, as well as a combination of the two.

[Akarin]

You could experiment with editing the base_config file to reduce industry production. This would reduce the amount of production a resource industry can do. It would also reduce the amount at the production facility though.

I could give it whirl. Cash on Wheels said he had had changed the industrial building recipes and claimed the game is more playable. I PMed him asking to share his recipes, so I'm going to try that too if he's willing to share.

BTW! The statement Cash on Wheels made in this post isn't entirely correct (assuming - of course - that I understood correctly what he meant).

Cash on Wheels wrote: ↑
Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:52 pm
-Trains Can't drop off cargo to picked up by another train. They can pick up cargo.


If your infrastructure is set up so that you have supply (production facility or resource) and demand (town or production facility), having a station or two in between will work. Trains will drop off cargo at a station to be picked up by another train, if the ultimate destination is demanding that cargo.
He is correct in that if the demand isn't there, if your infrastructure isn't set up properly, this will not work.
What I can't say is how many stations you can have in between; if there's a limit.

I noticed this as well. Thankfully there is no longer a 20 minute rule, I've seen cargo sit on a platform for hours. The amount of stations I've seen cargo travel across blew me away at first. It really forces you to micromanage consists to avoid overlapping markets. Digging through the steam forums, I've come across a few times the theory that 30km is the hard limit distance of cargo transport, but I haven't confirmed that and I'm not sure if that is single line or not.

[Hawk]

I PMed him asking to share his recipes, so I'm going to try that too if he's willing to share.

If you hear back from him let me know. I'd like to hear what his recipe is.

If you don't hear back from him here, you might try at the German site.

https://www.transportfever.net/index.ph ... on-Wheels/