Cargo Delivery profit model revamped

Got an idea for OpenTTD? Post it here!

Moderator: OpenTTD Developers

Post Reply
stinkyfax
Engineer
Engineer
Posts: 28
Joined: 28 Mar 2013 20:12

Cargo Delivery profit model revamped

Post by stinkyfax »

An interesting NewGRX suggestion which would completely change the gameplay and is aimed to game more realistic.

The idea of this post is to find a developer who is highly excited of the idea to code it.

Current abstract profit model: Distance traveled * Amount of Cargo / time taken * type of cargo.

Which makes point and everyone is well known to it, though there is one thing I hate:
Drive a coal from one side map to another to earn millions.

Question: Why would power station pay millions for a coal when there is a another Coal Mine 15 tiles away?

Proposed abstract profit model: Nearest Source of Cargo * Amount of Cargo / time taken * type of cargo.
Outcome: Now we are a transport company which helps neighbor industries to get connected, rather than pick the furthest available industries to maximize profit.

Exceptions: Passengers, Mail, and maybe some other.


That is in no way a finished model, but you must have an idea of what is proposed and how drastically will it change our behavior in a game (adding more sense).


Please give me your thoughts of the idea.
User avatar
keoz
Transport Coordinator
Transport Coordinator
Posts: 321
Joined: 16 Jul 2009 10:04

Re: Cargo Delivery profit model revamped

Post by keoz »

I'm not sure this would really be more "realistic". It would be even less as the actual model, actually.

Anyway, in the game, you don't have to haul coal from a side of the map to the other. I don't do it systematically, only when there is a good reason.
Patch - Let's timetable depot waiting time with the Wait in depot patch.
GameScript - Searching a new way to make your cities growing ? Try the Renewed City Growth GameScript.
My screenshots thread.
Robbedem
Engineer
Engineer
Posts: 111
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 18:08

Re: Cargo Delivery profit model revamped

Post by Robbedem »

stinkyfax wrote:Proposed abstract profit model: Nearest Source of Cargo * Amount of Cargo / time taken * type of cargo.
Outcome: Now we are a transport company which helps neighbor industries to get connected, rather than pick the furthest available industries to maximize profit.

Exceptions: Passengers, Mail, and maybe some other.
I am not a coder, but I can tell you that this would require a lot of work. This proposal would make prices different for every industry/station. Meaning every industry/station has to know where the accepted goods are being produced and keep that in memory and re-evaluate every time a knew industry for that product is constructed.

Also more important, this is not very practical gamplay-wise. If you have more producing buildings than accepting buildings, one producing building will always be further away. If the distance is large, it is possible that no profitable route can be achieved. This really becomes a problem when industries are generated by the computer (default setting). You would start with a profitable route between for example a coal mine and a power station. If then a new coal mine appears on the other side of the power station, you will make less profit or even start losing money. If realism is the intention, this is not very realistic.

I think a better solution would be to:
- change the existing cargo payment rates to start lower and go down quicker (like in FIRS and ECS)
- increase the running costs of vehicles, but with lower costs when standing still (like 2cc train set and other popular sets)
- put a maximum on the payment per cargo. ( distance / time < Cargo max payment ) This is a lot easier to code :-)
Eddi
Tycoon
Tycoon
Posts: 8258
Joined: 17 Jan 2007 00:14

Re: Cargo Delivery profit model revamped

Post by Eddi »

stinkyfax wrote:Question: Why would power station pay millions for a coal when there is a another Coal Mine 15 tiles away?
you can actually find this question being discussed plenty of times in this forum.

one possible answer: because the transport price may be very low compared to the production price the mine is charging. or the amount or quality may be too low. things that are not modelled in this game, but may very well be occuring "realistically".

why do we ship clothings from Bangladesh to Europe when we can produce them right in Europe as well?

why do we ship oil from Saudi Arabia to the USA when there is oil in the USA or Canada as well?
User avatar
YSH
Engineer
Engineer
Posts: 101
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 15:05

Re: Cargo Delivery profit model revamped

Post by YSH »

If you use a version with cargodist and set it to have destinations for non-express cargo, that would go a long way to the desired outcome.
stinkyfax
Engineer
Engineer
Posts: 28
Joined: 28 Mar 2013 20:12

Re: Cargo Delivery profit model revamped

Post by stinkyfax »

YSH wrote:If you use a version with cargodist and set it to have destinations for non-express cargo, that would go a long way to the desired outcome.
Okay, thank you for the feedback, reasonable arguments and available partial solutions.
Post Reply

Return to “OpenTTD Suggestions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Semrush [Bot] and 6 guests