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"Mirror Schedule", "Alternate Directions", "Reverse Route" issues

Started by Guvnor, January 13, 2012, 10:27:47 PM

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Guvnor

Hello,

I have some suggestions regarding these three check boxes.  This is not a bug report as each of these features works perfectly when checked on its own.  The confusion arises when multiple boxes are checked at once:

- I believe that "Alternate directions" is irrelevant when "Mirror schedule" is checked and should therefore be grayed out when "Mirror schedule" is active.

- I've observed that the game self-manages the "Reverse route" check box when "Mirror schedule" is active.  I would suggest that "Reverse route" be grayed when "Mirror schedule" is active.  At present, I can modify the "Reverse route" setting even though the game is managing it.  It causes confusion a moment later when I examine the check box again and see that it has been changed behind my back.

Regards,

Dave


ӔO

'alternate directions' was made for loop lines where you may want convoys going in both directions instead of just one way.
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various projects rolled up: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17111233/Roll_up.rar

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Guvnor

AEO,

Agreed that "Alternate directions" has some usefulness on its own, but it becomes irrelevant when "Mirror schedule" is checked.  Consider the following route:

A---->B---->C---->D

With no options checked, a vehicle follows this path (three iterations of the schedule):
ABCDABCDABCD

With "Mirror schedule" checked you get this:
ABCDCBABCDCBA

Now check "Alternate directions" and "Mirror schedule":
DCBABCDCBABCD

Look carefully at the last two, I will align them:
ABCDCBABCDCBA
      DCBABCDCBABCD

They are identical, that's why I am suggesting that "Mirror schedule" really overrides "Alternate directions."

Dave

ӔO

yep, they aren't meant to be used together.
maybe something that will disallow use of both will work?
My Sketchup open project sources
various projects rolled up: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17111233/Roll_up.rar

Colour safe chart:

wlindley

The settings are not redundant:

       
  • Create a new Line, with stops A, B, C
  • make B the first (selected) stop on the line
  • select Mirror Schedule
  • select Alternate directions
Now build several vehicles on that line.  Half the vehicles will start headed for A, the other half headed for B.  This is useful when building bus routes in crowded cities.

jamespetts

WLindley is correct - the purpose of "alternate directions" is to distribute the vehicles evenly amongst the schedule when they are all set off at once: their ultimate schedules are the same, but they start at opposite points of the schedule so as to make it more even.

"Reverse route" should not be greyed out when "mirror schedule" is selected, since, although it is managed automatically, players might want to over-ride that automatic management in some cases manually.
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AP

One further observation if I may: when making a route using "mirror schedule", the route lists the stops once only - it works down the list then back up, which is fine.

If however, I want to manually change a vehicle's next destination (perhaps to make it avoid an area I'm doing work to), when I pick the new destination, there appears to be no way to destinguish whether I now want it to go down the list or up the list (or indeed what it's currently doing). Or if there is, I couldn't see it...

wlindley

Click on the convoy itself to get the dialog which includes its "Follow Me" window and button -- and you will see a check box, Reverse Route.  If checked, it is going up the schedule; otherwise down.

AP

Thanks, I hadn't found it there. Further to other discussions about UI-friendliness occurring today, I suggest that perhaps it might be more intuitive to have it (or a duplicate) actually in the schedule dialogue.