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Newcomer greetings and questions

Started by SirTurtleton, November 24, 2016, 06:19:39 AM

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SirTurtleton

Hello all,
I am new to Simutrans Standard and Experimental. I played a bit of the former but decided to switch to the latter as it offers more challenges. I have some experience with OTTD but I find that it doesn't apply to much n this game. While configuring out the game's mechanics and good way to set up passenger and goods lines, I saw the " Base profit per km" on details window of train's cars. It differs in each type of car so I wonder what it means and how it fits in the profit calcultion. Also, for details of locomotives, is there any tutorial or guide to calculate tractive effort, power,etc in order to find suitable and efficient machine for different convoys and tasks?
Also, I find it a bit difficult to calculate distance between stations/stops . I play on Britain pak so I presume that 1 tile= 125m but the pricing of roads and tracks seem to be off. For example, n 1850, wrought iron track 7t 85 km/h is listed at 320$ per km but when I tested it on 1km (8 tiles), it costs 464$. Did I do something wrong? Also, how do I calculate distance with curved ways? or it's better to build the track, create a line, buy a cheap vehicle and let the computer figures it out?
So far, I find Simutrans Experimental satisfying and a true simulation. I thank you for the game!

jamespetts

Hello! Welcome to the forums and Simutrans. I am glad that you are finding the game interesting. I answer your questions under subheadings below.

Base profit per km

Because the revenue in Simutrans-Experimental varies depending on the speed, and, for passengers, the comfort, and because the extent to which each of those two things affect the revenue is in turn affected by the distance travelled or journey time (passengers are less willing to pay extra for luxury on a 5 minute 'bus ride than a 4 hour flight, for example), it is not possible to give a single total figure for profit. The base profit figure is therefore what the vehicle would earn if it were travelling at what is calculated to be a neutral speed and if (in so far as passengers are concerned) it had the tolerable comfort level for the distance in question.

Tractive effort and power of locomotives

There is not a tutorial for calculating to which tasks that any given locomotive is best suited. However, the physical parameters and performance of the locomotives are as closely based on their real life counterparts as possible. You might thus find it helpful to use Wikipedia to look up what they were actually used for.

In very general terms, power determines the weight that a locomotive can haul at any given speed and tractive effort determines how long that it takes to accelerate to that speed (and whether it can start at all with any given load). The exact relationship between power and tractive effort, however, is different for steam locomotives than other types of locomotives because steam locomotives are constant force machines whereas others are constant power machines. See here for more information on the difference.

Distance and cost of building ways

Distance is indeed 125 meters per tile at default settings. However, the cost of building ways is made up of three separate components: (1) the cost of the land; (2) the forge cost (i.e., the cost of building the track or road bed, minor earthworks, drainage, etc.); and (3) the cost of laying the way itself. When building a new way, all three costs are payable (unless you already own the land). When upgrading one way to another of the same type, only the last cost is payable. This last cost is the cost shown in the toolstrip.

As to corners, each tile of diagonal way is deemed to be 1.414 times as long as each tile of straight way, and travelling time and costs computed accordingly.
Download Simutrans-Extended.

Want to help with development? See here for things to do for coding, and here for information on how to make graphics/objects.

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SirTurtleton

Thank you James for your prompt and very clear response. Currently, I still struggle to find a good initial line while tempering with various signals ingame, so basically, fun stuff. It seems to me that it's better to start small as infrastructure maintenance cost is enormous compared to what I earn back in transferring goods.

jamespetts

Download Simutrans-Extended.

Want to help with development? See here for things to do for coding, and here for information on how to make graphics/objects.

Follow Simutrans-Extended on Facebook.

accord2

Hi, I don't know if I can post here my questions too.
In the line management menu there is an Regional and Private Operator option, what do they do?
Son of a railroad man,  growing up in train stations, lover of trains

Rollmaterial

Quote from: accord2 on January 26, 2017, 05:22:52 PM
Hi, I don't know if I can post here my questions too.
In the line management menu there is an Regional and Private Operator option, what do they do?
These are liveries. You appear to be in some early years and I don't recall if any vehicle uses them at that point. More liveries appear later on, mainly for trains. They work most reliably when assigned to lines.