V124 - Single convoy loading

[marc3141]

Dear all

Recently, Steam offered me to update Simutrans to version 124 which I did. When loading my existing savegame I quickly noted that stations are getting crowded which didn't happen before. My initial guess was that this could be related to the update as trains weren't accepting passengers even though there were thousands waiting to board. It looks like my observation is related to the following line from the changelog:

• only load goods for a destination into a single convoi. This avoids loading in parrallel of slow loading convois

The consequence is that even though there are multiple trains at a station bound for the same destination where thousands of passengers want to go only one train at a time will be loaded.

What was the intention of this change? Is it still somehow possible to have multiple trains load at the same time?

To me it seems that creating large hubs is not possible anymore. Any thoughts and observations from other players with similar savegames/setups are highly appreciated.

Thank you and kind regards

Marc

[ceeac]

I think the intention was to prevent bunching at stations where multiple convoys of the same line are waiting. Can you post a save, please?

[Matthew]

Welcome to the International Simutrans Forum, Marc!

You say that:

trains weren't accepting passengers even though there were thousands waiting to board

I just had the same symptom, also in pak192.comic. And in my case, Prissi (Simutrans project leader) kindly explained to me that the problem was that avoid_overcrowding had been turned on and I needed to turn it off:


You might want to check that.

However, Simutrans is a complex game. Similar symptoms can be caused by different 'diseases' and your problem might have a totally different cause, like the one you suggest.

While you are waiting for an answer from someone who knows more than me, it might be helpful to upload your save game so that people who know more can look at it. If the file size is less than 11MB, you can use Simutrans Germany's server to share it.  If it's bigger than that, you can use Google Drive or a similar service.

[prissi]

Only one convoi will be loaded first. Otherwise all would be depart at the same time if loading is equally, that that is certainly no desired.

But different vehicles can have different loading times. Maybe you need vehicles which load faster?

Anyway, I have not seen a map where the loading was needed to be done in parallel. But I usually see pak64 savegames, where the loading times are not that long.

[marc3141]

Dear all

Thank you for the warm welcome and your answers.

Please find the savegame here: Dropbox link

Only one convoi will be loaded first. Otherwise all would be depart at the same time if loading is equally, that that is certainly no desired.

Why would that be a problem? A track or - if using signals - block can only be used by one train at a time. Departure of one or multiple trains would be delayed but still possible.

Ever since I started playing Simutrans more than twenty years ago parallel loading was possible and I was heavily relying on parallel loading. I still don't understand why this change was introduced. What problem or issue is this change trying to solve?

I hope in future versions, parallel loading can be (de-)activated in the options. Unfortunately, I cannot go back to V123 as the savegame doesn't load. Any solutions how to make my savegame work without redesigning the whole map is much appreciated.

Thank you all for your suggestions

Marc

[prissi]

Actually, we had equal loading before. But then all ships crossed the oceans at the same time, flooding the system with nothing in between. And for buses, we ant to have spaced departures, they tend to bunch anyway.

One could also argue that in real life, people will board the trains leaving first and not every train.

[makie]

I think it's good if one vehicle is fully charged before the next one gets charged. Otherwise there will be many half-loaded vehicles at the stops and none of them can drive because they are not fully loaded. This leads to unnecessary delays in deliveries to factories and if the amount of cargo that can be on the move is limited, then delivery collapses.

When one vehicle is loaded after the others, vehicles leave the stop at regular intervals.