hi crunchybiscuit,
first of all, if i came across a bit harsh then i’m truly sorry, i was in a hurry and didn’t think ernough!
i guess we all need to learn how things work in this game, its a complex game and one can’t expect to have perfect results without experimenting a bit first, especially if you are used to another system in openttd.
in my opinion it is better for the trains not to choose alternative platforms, because it would mean that a problem on one line could bring the whole network to a standstill. because the game engine can’t know in what circumstance we would actually like the trains to go to an alternative track and in which situations we absolutely would not want them to do that.
what we really need though is waypoints, so that we can decide which lines go to which platforms. at the moment we have to build the trackwork and signals in such a way, that a line can only go to the platform that we intend it to do, if we want it to go to a specific platform.
i can only suggest that generally you should not place too many signals, and only place them in positions where it would be realistic to have a signal. for example only place signals directly before switches, never directly behind them. signals are different than in openttd, in my opinion more realistic, but signals cannot replace a human dispatcher obviously and for absolutely prototypical signal placement the game would need to calculate some way in advance to avoid any gridlocks.