Not only because it is real, but all those traffic jams, train/bus clustering and trickety trick with proper cargo transfer synchronization,
can be solved by means of real timetable.
Real timetable is not just a table with arrival and departure times - this is final product for passengers,
and in more detailed version, for locomotive drivers.
The real timetable is in form of graph (so called string diagram), not a plain table, because dispatchers must know,
where every train is supposed to be, at any time, example:
- real string diagram from page http://www.irfp.de/deutsch/fbs/fpl.html
- rtt.png (59.13 KiB) Viewed 2778 times
No worry, it is double track line, thus trains can pass between stations. In case of single track such graph is even more important,
because trains can pass only at the stations - one must wait for another.
Now easy example of attempt to use timetable implemented in openttd.
Singe track railway line from station, let say 1, trough freight station 2 and passenger stop 3, to station 4.
Two trains - passenger going from 1 to 4 and stopping at 3, and back
and freight, going with wood from 2 to 1, unloading and loading lumber, then going to 4, unloading and back.
Station 4 have separate platforms, but station 1 have one platform, so I must schedule trains to avoid passenger train waiting, when lumber is loading.
Let say, that I cannot build additional platform (there is no place) and double track (it cost to much for handling 2 trains).
Of course, we are talking about game with "infrastructure cost" switched on, not a sandbox with 16-track and signals at each tile
- 1-2-3-4 line
- tttt.jpg (92.8 KiB) Viewed 2778 times
Second flaw - freight timetable is long, passenger - short.
OK, I can extend some waiting time to make passenger schedule 3x shorter than freight one.
Third flaw - it is very hard to figure out how to make time offset to avoid single track conflicts.
I wrote increments from openttd timetable to spreadsheet, calculate total time and plot it against station number.
Done this same for passenger, make it transparent and move up/down to place properly and check time offset.
- tt timetable graph
- ttttxls.png (13.24 KiB) Viewed 2778 times
Now suggestions.
Flaw 3. It would be great to see such graph diagram plotted automatically.
Flaw 2. absolute time, instead of relative
Flaw 1. suggested travel timings should be computed offhand instead of train tacking.
Just emulate speed of "ghost" of given locomotive with a given load along path-finded tiles with given slope and curvature.
How long does it takes for today CPUs?
In fact, real software for timetable diagrams is performing similar simulation.
I hope, that forthcoming patch would cope with above issues.
Best regards,
Mc