Cheated Stations?

chrissicom · Post by **chrissicom** » 14 Apr 2007 19:31

I've just joined one of my server and saw a few stations which I think are pretty strange to say the least. I would even consider this layout cheating. See the attached graphic. How is it actually possible that the two single station tiles are joined together with this big station?

Maedhros · Post by **Maedhros** » 14 Apr 2007 19:52

Umm, I can't see anything strange about that picture, and your second arrow doesn't point at a station at all...

chrissicom · Post by **chrissicom** » 14 Apr 2007 20:05

What I mean is, you see this huge 4 track station at the bottom of the picture. That's Fruntfingford Station. And the two single track pieces which I marked in red are this station as well, but they are not even closely connected so the catchment area of this huge station at the bottom is basically the whole city.

I made a second screenshot making it a little more clear I hope.

CMircea · Post by **CMircea** » 14 Apr 2007 20:19

With the station length set high enough, you can blow the buildings to a place in the middle of a town, put a platform the gap, remove the unnecessary parts and wait for the town to reconstruct. That's it!

BBoy Symm · Post by **BBoy Symm** » 14 Apr 2007 20:42

I wouldnt say its a cheat, but a nice trick. Thats actually a nice way to get more passengers IMO..

Post by **Dave** » 14 Apr 2007 20:52

It's exploiting a feature in the game. Hmm... Some would call it cheating. Of course remember that a lot of amenities are (were) owned by stations.

Great Western owning a ton of hotels?

Just think of the single station platform as a hotel.. At least until NewStations

CMircea · Post by **CMircea** » 15 Apr 2007 06:54

NewStations support is in OTTD for a long time, and it has a big support in 0.5.0.

sc79 · Post by **sc79** » 15 Apr 2007 09:10

I would even consider this layout cheating.

It's exploiting a feature in the game.

Depends on your point of view. There are plenty of instances where people "exploit" features to make up for the limitations of the game.

You could argue that a station of that size should have a much larger catchment area than the 4 tile radius, and 'walking' the platform simply simulates people traveling from any part of a city to catch a long distance train (which mimics real life much more anyway).

Post by **Dave** » 15 Apr 2007 15:37

Yes I have to agree there. The question is of course whether you like mainpulating these for the benefit of realism or playability or whether you like to work to the limitations that the game still sets.

Ailure · Post by **Ailure** » 15 Apr 2007 17:48

Heh, almost want me to look into implenting civilian traffic like Simcity 4 does it, where the walking distance is rather short... but they can take a car to the train station if there's parking nearby. Or they can take a bus to it, but this is already in the game in the form of a transfer system.

Maybe catchment should be larger but gradual. Such as that it only takes up 100% for a few tiles, then maybe stepping down to 75%, 50%, 25%, 10% as the distance increases from the station.

H · Post by H » 15 Apr 2007 19:48

I use it all the time.

Come to think of it, why should an internationl airport has such a large coverage, while a 4x10 station only covers 5 squares in every direction ? Coverage radius should be computed from the area of the station .. Size < 10 : 5 Size <20 :6 <30 :7 .. etc

phil88 · Post by **phil88** » 15 Apr 2007 22:04

H wrote:I use it all the time.

Come to think of it, why should an internationl airport has such a large coverage, while a 4x10 station only covers 5 squares in every direction ? Coverage radius should be computed from the area of the station .. Size < 10 : 5 Size <20 :6 <30 :7 .. etc

I think it should be calculated from how often the station has trains in it. I mean, in real life, you could have the biggest station right next to your house, but if it only has 1 train a day going to it, you'd probably go to the small, but more popular station on the other side of town.

Ben_K · Post by **Ben_K** » 16 Apr 2007 10:11

H wrote:...why should an internationl airport has such a large coverage...

I guess you need to think about how far most people travel to catch a plane compared to how far most people go to catch a train! I think that is what its meant to simulate.

DeletedUser21 · Post by **DeletedUser21** » 16 Apr 2007 10:46

I agree with Ben_K here.
If I have to catch a train (and there isn't a railway stop in my place) then I have to travel (each day) to the neighbouring town approx. 3km away. However, if I want to catch a plane I have to go to the airport approx. 30km away. And some people travel even further because of their distance to the next airport or for an alternative airport.

boekabart · Post by **boekabart** » 16 Apr 2007 11:07

It's true what is remarked above. Difference is, that usually you will use a train or bus to get to the airport or trainstation. So, the actual catchment area is still small. Actually should be 0 for an airport? No-one walks to an airport.

Passengers with destination could be an option, but each passenger would need to do a route-finding to figure out how to get from A to B as fast as possible.

mpettitt · Post by **mpettitt** » 16 Apr 2007 18:47

But lots of people drive to them, hence huge carparks by them... And all cars in OTTD are Aston Martin Vanishes

Open Addict · Post by **Open Addict** » 17 Apr 2007 00:22

chrissicom wrote:How is it actually possible that the two single station tiles are joined together with this big station?

example of how to do is build a station 1 tile long with about 10 tracks. then click on the station icon to build a station then click on the bulldozer then click on the parts of the train station that you wish to remove.

it is handy feature when you want to create huge stations with multiple entries and exits and using many trains.

JamieLei · Post by **JamieLei** » 20 Apr 2007 11:31

i tend to prefer feeder services - theyre much more realistic and give you more control of your catchment area. it also avoids having to demolish half the city

DannyA · Post by **DannyA** » 21 Apr 2007 12:07

The station was one of my contraptions. It and most of the road was built around the town when it was small, and the town grew like you see it. Four such cities were connected with a one way track around the map which was filled almost to capacity with the long trains transporting the mail and passengers ~4000/month per city. Busses feeding a station are too fiddly and struggle to carry the large volumes I find, plus the amont you can load to busses from one station is tiny due to limitations the current loading algorithm. If I could remember what server it was, I might try one with busses next time for you:)

chrissicom · Post by **chrissicom** » 22 Apr 2007 07:38

Thanks for the input Dan

I have also tried this tactics in a game now and it works pretty well with some patience. Maybe I've been too fast for calling it a cheated station as it's just a very smart planning ahead

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