Testing release (for -devel builds only) 0.8.4

[dannyman]

Yes, I like the idea of reducing the platform capacities.  I also puzzled over the concrete-vs-wood platforms for a bit then figured out wood is cheaper to build but more expensive to maintain.  Nice trade-off!


IMHO, I wouldn't set the platforms to zero.  A train platform ought to be able to accommodate at least as many passengers as, say, a simple bus shelter.  I do like the idea that a covered platform can accommodate more people . . . perhaps some day we'll have a "comfort" system whereby the pax prefer to take their transfers at a nice station hall with cafes versus an uncovered platform out in the rain.


Another possibility: bare platforms are ~0 passengers, but you could build an uncovered segment with some benches ...


I will look at compiling the dev pakset to run with my dev experimental.  Is there any interest in providing nightly Linux builds for -Exp and Britain-Exp?  I would be happy to set something up on my server . . .


Also, the goods siding is the cheapest zero-capacity "platform" ... :>  That SHOULD be zero, yeah, and cheap, but if I have to plunk down for a passenger platform, I want a few people to stand there.


Cheers,
-danny

[jamespetts]

Hmm - if not zero, than how would you set them? The basic idea is to prevent players from trading off platform length against capacity. Platform length should respond to the length of trains, not the number of people able to wait there, which should correspond with the amount of building space. This is Pak128.Britain, don't forget, and in Britain it rains a great deal. Passenger accommodation for waiting only counts if it's suitable for the rain - benches on open platforms aren't suitable for the rain. Even the smallest stations in the UK have some sort of covered building and shelter area. Also, remember that, until the very recent advent of automatic ticket machines (which still need some sort of covered area to prevent them from getting wet), every station needed a ticket office.

As to Linux builds - there are Linux builds for the executable, and the pakset is cross-platform in any event. By "nightly" do you mean other than from the master branch...?

[wlindley]

Umbrellas seem to have been acceptable in England in the late 1700s (wikipedia), so it is not unthinkable that a segment of platform should accommodate a small number of hardy passengers, perhaps 4 -- half what would wait in a sheltered Underground station.

[jamespetts]

The only people rich enough to have umbrellas until the middle of the 20th century or later would have been the very sort of people who would never have dreamt of standing on an open platform in the rain waiting for a train.

[waerth]

Any news on when this version goes official? Or gets superceded by 0.8.5 ?

[jamespetts]

Thank you for your interest! The plan is not for this version to become official, as it contains some inconsistencies, especially relating to road and railway bridges, but, after the release of 10.12, it can be played with the latest release versions of Simutrans-Experimental.

The next official release will be 0.9.0, but there is quite a bit of work that has to be finished before that can be done, including re-balancing the physics of all steam and biological vehicles other than water craft, recalibrating the congestion settings, recalibrating the bridges, recalibrating the weights and top speeds of railway tracks (and ensuring that there is a graphical differentiation between each type), implementing the factory boost parameters and adding all the new boats and canals.

If you would like to help with any of these things to expedite the release, you would be most welcome to do so.

[dannyman]

Sorry for the late response, but on the rainy platform question ... I'm no historian, but I believe our friends in the 19th and early 20th centuries were really big on wearing hats.  Personally, I HATE umbrellas because I am tall and the pointy spokes tend to be at eye-level for me.  During our Northern California winter I spend plenty of time wearing an overcoat and a good, old-fashioned fedora, which keeps me dry in the drizzling cold rain, as I wait for the local bus / light rail.


When I was a youngun, I spent a lot of time waiting outdoors in the Chicago winter, at bus stops and on old wooden elevated train platforms.  We bundled up against the cold so it was irrelevant if there was snow, except on days when there was a driving cold wind, in which case one sought solace near any wall which could break the wind.  There was a train station where we could wait for the bus indoors, where it was a few degrees warmer.



Which is just a wordy way of repeating my earlier suggestion that an covered platforms does offer some pedestrian capacity.


Anyway, thank you gentlemen for your fine work!


-danny