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Bridgewater-Brunel game no. 3

Started by jamespetts, May 16, 2020, 01:17:19 AM

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jamespetts


Please do not post bug reports in this thread - please post bug reports in their own thread (i.e., strictly one thread per reported bug) in the Simutrans-Extended development forum. Thank you.
The Bridgewater-Brunel server is now running its third long-term game, started in May 2020.
This game has now finished as of June 2021. It had reached the in-game year of 2059. Here is the archived saved game of the end status of this game.

Here is a screenshot of the map:



This map provides two large land-masses separated by a large sea with mostly uninhabited islands in the middle. The map has many industries and small towns, and a few large towns in various places. There is a mix of lush lowlands with many towns and rugged highlands with a much sparser population. Towns tend to be built on lower areas near rivers or the coast, and industries tend to be built in or near towns, so transport opportunities will initially be focussed on the areas of denser population.

As players' transport empires expand, players will be able to link distant areas by sea and, for inland regions (especially the large  land mass to the west, much of which is inaccessible by sea), canals. Road transport in the early years is likely to require improvements to be made to the existing bridleways to allow stagecoaches and carts, but the island nature of this land and the slowness of road transport in the early years will require water based transport for many purposes.

When railways come to be invented, new transport possibilities will emerge, although the long sea crossing will still need to be undertaken by boat. Players may find themselves competing to establish the most profitable ports and routes across the central sea for passengers, mail and cargo: shipping lines linking the large towns on both sides of the map, especially if those towns be linked to neighbouring towns by good land transport, are likely to be lucrative.

Come the 20th century and the invention of the aeroplane and motor car and players may have to rethink transport strategies that had been dominant for over a century. Will new fast road networks make railways unprofitable, or will rail operators be able to stay competitive as roads become congested? Will aircraft take over from ships, or will air travel be affordable only by a wealthy few? We only have about 200 years to wait before we find out. In the meantime, let the transport lead industrial revolution commence!




Details

Dimensions (tiles): 8192x2560
Dimensions (km):  1,024x320
Starting date: January 1750
Towns: 274
Large towns: 18
Starting population: 468,816
Starting industries: 3,429

Please see here for rules and guidance for playing on this server. Please see here for guidance on how to choose a realistic, era-appropriate company name. Although doing so is not strictly compulsory, it is strongly encouraged.

Tips and notes for those new to playing Simutrans-Extended online

       
  • To join the game, just select the Bridgewater-Brunel server from the network games dialogue in the game (press the "n" key).
  • In case of a problem with the listing server, join the game either by typing bridgewater-brunel.me.uk into the network game dialogue, or type net:bridgewater-brunel.me.uk into the load game dialogue.
  • Remember to set a password: do this by going to the "players" dialogue and clicking the green box. If you do not do this, other players will be able to play your company and even lock you out
  • Do not use the same password for this as you use for anything else. The password encryption is not strong.
  • The game will be paused when no players are connected.
  • Bridges over public rights of way, including navigable rivers, need to be at least two tiles high.
  • The "Board of Trade" (later "Ministry of Transport" and later still "Department for Transport") player is the in-game government. It is run by the server administrator
  • Most towns will be connected by bridleways at the start of the game. These cannot be passed by wheeled vehicles. Roads can be upgraded at a lower cost than building a new road.
  • It is not possible to delete public rights of way, but it is possible to divert them slightly. To do this, build the diversion before deleting the old way. The diverted route will become a public right of way itself even if you paid to build it.
  • Anyone whose company is unused after 10 years will have their password automatically reset.
  • Anyone whose company has never built anything will have their password automatically reset after 2 years.
  • Please report any bugs with the game or pakset or balance issues on the appropriate boards (one thread per bug, please), not in this thread.
  • As the game develops, it will become more demanding on computational resources. Slower computers might not be able to keep up. Those with slower computers might want to try a smaller server.
  • Stagecoaches require two pairs of horses to travel at a sensible speed
  • Players will not be able to rename towns and industries, as this is not appropriate for a multi-player game
  • Canals and rivers are important in the early game: see here for a video tutorial on the subject:

Notes for players familiar with previous Simutrans-Extended online games

       
  • The road network starts more comprehensively than in previous games, and all the roads are public rights of way. Towns, industries and attractions on the same land-mass are mostly connected by road.
  • There are significantly more industries in proportion to towns than in previous online games
  • Industries are now much more widely linked than in previous saved games owing to a bug fixed in early 2020. This should make freight transport significantly more viable from the beginning of the game
  • The code relating to town growth has changed since most other online games were started, meaning that smaller towns will grow more slowly than before (the town size thresholds for different growth rates are now relative rather than absolute).
  • The forge cost for some types of way has been reduced a little since previous games were created, so building new roads and canals is likely to be more economic
  • The tolls that private cars (including early horse carts) pay for using player built or player upgraded roads is very significantly higher (15 times higher) than previously, so there may be cases (especially after the invention of the motor car) when it is commercially viable to build a road just for private vehicles (player vehicles from other companies will also pay tolls)
  • This map is much less dense than previous maps as towns are placed significantly farther apart
  • Towns are more closely concentrated in clusters than in previous online games
  • The aspect ratio of this map is somewhat narrower than the previous Bridgewater-Brunel game, allowing longer linear journeys
  • The terrain on this map is rougher than that on the previous Bridgewater-Brunel saved game
  • There are significantly fewer towns than the previous Bridgewater-Brunel saved game (274 instead of 768), and the smaller of those towns will grow more slowly, with the result that there should be significantly less slow-down in the later game and the transport networks should be more manageable even though the geographical size is roughly the same as the previous Bridgewater-Brunel game
  • The computational load of private car route finding has been deliberately reduced by splitting the map into multiple separate islands separated by bodies of water
Edit: Added (above) some new tips for new players regarding waterways and stagecoaches.
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Ves

#1
James, could you perhaps manually link, and maybe also build them if needed, some fishing waters to the fisheries? There are quite alot on the server that cannot be served.

Edit:
Server resettet O.o
Here are coordinates on some of the ones I found, but there are probably more:

(5791,1729)
(6060,2266)
(6397,1333)
(5946,2224)

jamespetts

Fisheries fixed, except for the one in excessively shallow water, which has been closed by order of the Board of Trade.
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Ves

Quote from: jamespetts on May 28, 2020, 10:11:23 PM
Fisheries fixed, except for the one in excessively shallow water, which has been closed by order of the Board of Trade.

Thanks! Poor guys in that closed fishery, they where true optimists...

Mariculous

I noticed further "Crazy fishing port"s, that cannot reach catch any fishes, most of them on the Western continent
(1670, 2076)
(313, 1976)
(15, 1922)
(2540, 2372)
(2368, 2437)
(971, 2113)
(7826, 1909)

A few of them can be fixed with a short canal but most of them can not.

Ves

The server seems down, and is also mismatched.

Mariculous

This is a typical symptom when the nightly could not be built and in fact, I could not build the latest master.

Edit: latest working commit is e977162, aka one commit before line-dialogue-improvement was merged in.

Ranran

Quote from: Freahk on May 29, 2020, 11:11:16 AMline-dialogue-improvement
It looks like a mix with james' experimental branch, unlike the name.
I have little knowledge of Linux. I have successfully built it on windows.
Regarding mismatch, I think it is a new parameter of the vehicle added by James.

Mariculous

#8
Sorry, I was not about to blame anyone. Just wanted to point out which commit was meant as the commit hash is rather hidden in some git viewers, whilst the comment is not.

Anyways, I am currently retrying using the bundled makefile, maybe something changed so my CMakeLists is not correct anymore.

The issue is with headless aka COLOR_DEPTH=0 build
Quote
/usr/lib64/gcc/x86_64-suse-linux/7/../../../../x86_64-suse-linux/bin/ld: build/default/gui/components/gui_convoiinfo.o: in function `gui_convoiinfo_t::draw(scr_coord)':
gui_convoiinfo.cc:(.text+0x1a3): undefined reference to `display_color_img_with_tooltip(unsigned int, short, short, signed char, int, int, char const*, signed char)'
/usr/lib64/gcc/x86_64-suse-linux/7/../../../../x86_64-suse-linux/bin/ld: gui_convoiinfo.cc:(.text+0x265): undefined reference to `display_color_img_with_tooltip(unsigned int, short, short, signed char, int, int, char const*, signed char)'
/usr/lib64/gcc/x86_64-suse-linux/7/../../../../x86_64-suse-linux/bin/ld: gui_convoiinfo.cc:(.text+0x7a7): undefined reference to `display_color_img_with_tooltip(unsigned int, short, short, signed char, int, int, char const*, signed char)'
/usr/lib64/gcc/x86_64-suse-linux/7/../../../../x86_64-suse-linux/bin/ld: build/default/gui/curiositylist_stats_t.o: in function `curiositylist_stats_t::draw(scr_coord)':
curiositylist_stats_t.cc:(.text+0x1585): undefined reference to `display_color_img_with_tooltip(unsigned int, short, short, signed char, int, int, char const*, signed char)'
/usr/lib64/gcc/x86_64-suse-linux/7/../../../../x86_64-suse-linux/bin/ld: build/default/gui/schedule_list.o: in function `schedule_list_gui_t::display(scr_coord)':
schedule_list.cc:(.text+0x1886): undefined reference to `display_color_img_with_tooltip(unsigned int, short, short, signed char, int, int, char const*, signed char)'
/usr/lib64/gcc/x86_64-suse-linux/7/../../../../x86_64-suse-linux/bin/ld: build/default/gui/schedule_list.o:schedule_list.cc:(.text+0x1c30): more undefined references to `display_color_img_with_tooltip(unsigned int, short, short, signed char, int, int, char const*, signed char)' follow

jamespetts

There was a problem with command line server compilation which I have now fixed - I have now restarted the server with this new version, and it should be running very soon (if it is not already).
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jamespetts

I have noticed that some of the posts here were placed in the wrong topic, for the old Bridgewater-Brunel saved game, so I have moved them to this topic. I think that I have either connected or deleted the affected fishing ports now.
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Mariculous

Seems to be much better now.

May I ask you to check (2368, 2437), (1670,2076), (580,1244) and (259,2244) again?

It seems like you had deleted the most suitable Fishery (on Lake greeninghill) in the first case, might have mised to link industries in the second case and entirely missed the remaining two.

Ves

Hi,
due to the recent bug on the server, everyone is loosing lots of lots of money. I grabbed a save from it right now, which appear to be 5 months after the nightly update, and I would ask James if he could reinstate that save instead of letting the exisitng run its course. My company is in the minus already, and the timing of this is just really bad  :-|

The save is in the link I provided in this bugreport: https://forum.simutrans.com/index.php/topic,19979.0.html

freddyhayward

Quote from: Ves on June 06, 2020, 12:13:59 PM
Hi,
due to the recent bug on the server, everyone is loosing lots of lots of money. I grabbed a save from it right now, which appear to be 5 months after the nightly update, and I would ask James if he could reinstate that save instead of letting the exisitng run its course. My company is in the minus already, and the timing of this is just really bad  :-|

The save is in the link I provided in this bugreport: https://forum.simutrans.com/index.php/topic,19979.0.html
I second this. Revenue for most players is near zero, mine is negative (before maintenance etc.) due to refunds paid out to passengers who can't reach their destinations.

Mariculous

I'd prefer the nightly backup, if you store those. Otherwise Ves save.

AP

There's something weird going on with stagecoach routes scheduling, skipping stops etc. I only have one line so I can't interrogate it but I ntoed others chatting about it too, they may be able to shed more light on it.

What I'm seeing is timed waits being ignored totally, and vehicles going from stop 1 to stop 12 on a schedule ignoring the stops and waypoints in between. I'm also seeing weight limit errors being reported when the roads seem fine.

Mariculous


jamespetts

My apologies for the difficulty; I will look into reinstating one of the saves once we have confirmation to-morrow that the bug is entirely fixed.

I should note that the backups are not nightly, but rotating hourly (but only rotating if anything changes) with an archive of about 6.
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jamespetts

I see that players have managed to restore themselves to profitability and all those who were previously solvent remain solvent, so I shall omit reverting the saved game on this occasion. Apologies again for the difficulties related to yesterday's bug.
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Mariculous

Oh well, two years of hard earned acount balance gone, not including the loss of profit :/

AP


jamespetts

It seems to have been down transiently earlier this afternoon but has restored itself before I was able to investigate.
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freddyhayward

AP, for the Southern Mail line, you seem to be using a 'wait for time' order of once every ~6 hours combined with a 'maximum wait time' order of ~1.5 hours. The good thing about this is that your horses will 'only' wait at stops for a maximum of ~1.5 hours rather than the full ~6. Luckily. since the subsequent convoys cannot wait for more than ~1.5 hours, they do not wait at all, although this is probably not what you intended. Please, as I have suggested, remove all waiting orders within cities and instead wait at terminals (composed of many adjacent stops and a choose sign) just outside the cities on the two ends of your route. On my end at Bickcaster, I have already built a terminal which you are welcome to use. This will ensure that you do not disrupt other players' routes.

AP

Freddy - The use of giant out-of-town terminals is rather out of character with the c18th setting of the game. I think it's fine as it is, if the lines' vehicles are well spaced out - ensured by wait orders at many of the stops - then any given vehicle is unlikely to ever need to use the wait order, since no vehicle will have previously called at any given stop for quite some time. The stop at Bickcaster has a wait time due to the adjacent depot, as is always a good idea so as to smooth the entry of new vehicles onto a line if required.

freddyhayward

Quote from: AP on June 10, 2020, 07:31:56 AM
I think it's fine as it is, if the lines' vehicles are well spaced out - ensured by wait orders at many of the stops - then any given vehicle is unlikely to ever need to use the wait order, since no vehicle will have previously called at any given stop for quite some time. The stop at Bickcaster has a wait time due to the adjacent depot, as is always a good idea so as to smooth the entry of new vehicles onto a line if required.
Even the best-case scenario when convoys are evenly spaced would not prevent a vehicle arriving from ~4:50:00 onwards to wait up to 1.5 hours until the start of the next month, delaying up to 3 of my twice-hourly coach services. In fact, this has already happened a few times, usually lasting about 1 hour, and so I have had to divert my route to avoid being stuck. I'm not sure how your system helps to spread out convoys either, since it makes the first one wait but allows the subsequent ones to catch up and follow closely behind it

AP

Freddie- I%u2019m offline now (working) but that line doesn%u2019t have a max wait (It%u2019s unlimited). Only a spacing time. So if two vehicles arrive at once for some reason (e.g. a local problem), they should depart correctly spaced. The timing stops are all through the route however.

I%u2019ve tweaked the times to account for more vehicles now present, balancing is clearly trial and error.

The only caveat is the bug causing scheduling to go awry, which I can%u2019t get my head around. It%u2019s a nuisance.

I doubt the company will remain solvent much longer so I wouldn%u2019t worry unduly, the game%u2019s pretty unplayable right now.

freddyhayward

Quote from: AP on June 10, 2020, 08:48:27 AM
Freddie- I%u2019m offline now (working) but that line doesn%u2019t have a max wait (It%u2019s unlimited). Only a spacing time. So if two vehicles arrive at once for some reason (e.g. a local problem), they should depart correctly spaced. The timing stops are all through the route however.

I%u2019ve tweaked the times to account for more vehicles now present, balancing is clearly trial and error.

The only caveat is the bug causing scheduling to go awry, which I can%u2019t get my head around. It%u2019s a nuisance.

I doubt the company will remain solvent much longer so I wouldn%u2019t worry unduly, the game%u2019s pretty unplayable right now.
The line is set up completely differently to what you're saying, either by mistake or because of the bug. On my end, there is clearly a maximum wait time of 1:36:00, and a fixed wait for time order set for 6:24:00 (i.e. 0:00:00) once a month, though this is effectively negated by the maximum wait time. I believe the only way to set up a relative spacing system in simutrans-extended is to use a minimum load of 100%, but even that has a high potential to block other lines.

freddyhayward

#27
After I acquired player 11 (AP's company), everyone's profits, including my own, rose dramatically. Does anyone know the cause of this? I did make some changes to the mail lines that reduced their throughput, but they were not very profitable to begin with, and this doesn't explain the 10s of thousands in increased profits for players all over the map.
Edit: there was a massive spike in global passenger numbers in 1786, but I don't know what caused that either.

jamespetts

Quote from: freddyhayward on June 17, 2020, 11:27:35 PM
After I acquired player 11 (AP's company), everyone's profits, including my own, rose dramatically. Does anyone know the cause of this? I did make some changes to the mail lines that reduced their throughput, but they were not very profitable to begin with, and this doesn't explain the 10s of thousands in increased profits for players all over the map.

Profits do not increase on their own: if profits increase, it will be because something in the game is happening differently such that you are earning more in the way of profit. The most common thing that increases profit is transporting more. You can check the amount being transported in the finance window graphs.
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freddyhayward

Quote from: jamespetts on June 17, 2020, 11:48:42 PM
Profits do not increase on their own: if profits increase, it will be because something in the game is happening differently such that you are earning more in the way of profit. The most common thing that increases profit is transporting more. You can check the amount being transported in the finance window graphs.
You might have posted this right after my edit: there was a global increase in total passengers from 29,000,000 in 1785 to 36,000,000 in 1786.

AP

Quote from: freddyhayward on June 17, 2020, 11:27:35 PM
After I acquired player 11 (AP's company), everyone's profits, including my own, rose dramatically. Does anyone know the cause of this? I did make some changes to the mail lines that reduced their throughput, but they were not very profitable to begin with, and this doesn't explain the 10s of thousands in increased profits for players all over the map.

Interesting! 🤨



I trust you saw the incomplete mail line to the east- I didn't have the funds to build the short length of road required to finish it.

freddyhayward

Quote from: AP on June 18, 2020, 05:40:38 AMI trust you saw the incomplete mail line to the east- I didn't have the funds to build the short length of road required to finish it.
Hmm, I didn't notice that. I was more concerned that there were private road signs only allowing the Timo Trawling company, causing the mail coaches to be rerouted over 300km to reach their destinations. Hopefully that was a bug and not a genius trolling attempt. In any case, you'll be pleased to know that the Southern Mail line coaches now enjoy the Bickcaster terminal as well as the new Bewchester Megaterminal ;p

AP

There were private road signs on the roads I actually built. None on the roads which were public rights of way obviously. But they were set to admit my own coaches of course. My economics were so fragile I didn't want competing routes using my roads through the mountains (since they cost so much of my capital to build, and since it would have screwed up trying to figure out how to optimise them).

AP

Did  you guys ever figure out why taking over my company increased everyones profits?

freddyhayward

Quote from: AP on June 20, 2020, 07:25:10 PM
Did  you guys ever figure out why taking over my company increased everyones profits?
I think that was a coincidence; the global number of passengers (ie people attempting to make trips) increased drastically, although I still don't know why.