Unbunching Trains … Please!

[Yeol]

Dear developers,

I have more the 500+ hours of Train Fever, and still playing. I like the game a lot, even with it’s often peculiar UI (placing track, bridges,.. you know). But one fix would make me tremendously happy: *unbunching trains!*

I love to build integrated networks, long lines with a multitude of stops and a lot of trains servicing them. But unfortunately trains keep bunching up! Please look for a solution to keep trains spaced out. No matter if it’s a time table, an automatic time or space counter, or a waiting system… As long as train keep spaced out, it would make my day.

Please consider this option… please.

Best regards, and thank you for this great game.

[admin]

Hi Yeol!

Thank you for your feedback! As we are currently working on a new game and we are constantly looking for input on what to improve. More fluent traffic on the tracks is one of the things we want to improve!

Best regards,
Tom

[SanditeChief]

I think what he’s trying to say is that he would like to see it fixed in the current game, not the new one, although that would be good too 🙂 I occasionally experience this problem too. I can’t wait to hear about your new game! You have until Mar 31st like you promised “..reveal in Q1” 😉

[ErstO]

I hate jumping in on a topic where my experiences don’t match the authors,  but I do have a tendency to toss in my two cents,  most of the time when it’s not needed 😉

I am getting very close to the 500 hour mark myself,  and do enjoy long lines with lots of stops and lots of trains, and have experience watching trains bunch up around choke points.

What I came up with is, its just as bad having too many signals on a given line, as not having enough.  It’s better leaving a passenger train sitting in a station, or a fright train sitting at a merging switch, for a few seconds longer then adding additional signals on the main line.

I use the main line as a spacer, one signal in the middle,  two if its long, three if its really long,  but regardless I move these signals as needed to keep space and distance between trains and avoid having too many trains trying to move into the same space.  Much like real railroads in the early days did before computer controls allowed strict speed and access control to main lines to efficiently bunch up trains.

Train Fever’s signals may not be perfect, but then it’s easer then having to set time delays on every signal.  That could lead to a having a train waiting to move into a section of track thats completely empty.

If your looking for train game that allows rigid timing of what happens when, take a look at Railroad X,  it allows rigid timing controls,  there are lots of mods, but it has a huge learning curve,  I have it, but it’s not really my cup of tea.  More of a model builder then a game.

Train Fever is a casual game, and part of fun of casual tycoon style games like this is trying to figure out how to get a desired result with the tools the programers give us.

Myself I find loops work best,  A-B-C-D then back to A,  depending on map size and terrain I may have two or up to four loops with trains running clock wise and counter clock wise, and some lucky city in the middle getting hit by all the loops.  My frights are point to point and only jump on the main line if convenient. I make money and it’s fun to watch.

 
I apologize if my rambling doesn’t address your concerns,  but after two too many dark beers I tend to stick my nose where it’s not needed 😉

[Yeol]

Tom, was that a very nice and polite way to say “no”?  🙂 I hoped you still would work on Train Fever to improve certain aspects. The game is still played en enjoyed by many. But now you tell me to buy another game that is not yet released? 🙂

ErtO, I also played with these techniques to space out trains, but it only works when you dedicate a track per line. I love to create arteries, where many lines converge, to get that busy traffic stuff and to enjoy the train spotting. And in that case, spacing out signals is not the way to go, because it creates bottlenecks and huge delays. Economy would crumble.

But many thanks for your replies. Your replies prove that I’m not alone fighting the “beast of bunching trains”. I really hope, with a patch, to see a fix for this problem. One can only hope…

[admin]

Yeol, to be more direct: It is true I´m still keeping a list of possible improvements for Train Fever. But unfortunately it is not my decision if there will be (and if yes, when) another patch. So I just can´t make any promises.

I play a lot of Train Fever myself (obviously?!) and I occasionally run into this problem too, but I was always able to solve it somehow. Mostly by avoiding too terminal stations with too many lines as departing trains will often block arriving trains. I think ErstO does the same?

Btw: My playstyle is also to pack as many lines on as little as tracks as possible 😉

I would be very interested to see an example, why and how train bunch up in your case! This would help to avoid this in the future. Maybe you want to show us some screenshots or even provide a savegame?

[Yeol]

These are screenshots from a previous game where trains bunched up. You notice the ring lines (red lines) going around the small map, hitting 6 cities. One line per clock-sense. You’ll notice that one side of the map has huge numbers of waiting passengers, and at the other side are all trains packed together. I run 3 trains on these ring lines, but since they run all one after the other, the first train looses half its passengers on route, and the last train runs empty.

I do’nt know if spreading out trains, I would make less losses, but it sure is enerving. 🙂

 

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Yeol.

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