Transport Tycoon Forums

Hi All

I have tried searching for any answer for this in the forum but couldn't find it specifically, so apologies if it has been asked before.

I have just rationalised some of my oil rail network since upgrading to monorail. Part of this sees a 4 platform station next to (and within the catchment area) of the oil refinery. The platforms are shared by a mixture of trains arriving to drop off oil (which is working fine) and trains coming to collect goods (the latter has their settings set to wait for a full load).

There are frequently 3 cargo trains waiting in the platforms loading, and yet the station rating for goods remains stubbornly at 32% (there is no goods waiting to be loaded).

Any ideas on what may be causing this would be much appreciated. If relevant, all trains are new, they fit in the platforms and have valid destinations and loading instructions).

Cheers

Part of your station rating is based on how long it takes for cargo to be transported to its final destination. If you have trains which are waiting a long time to load, that can hurt your rating. Try reducing the number of train cars in each train so that the cargo isn't waiting as long before it leaves the station and your visit frequency increases.

Thanks for your reply Kamnet

They are indeed hanging around for a while. Whilst there is a steady flow of oil trains arriving and depositing, the output from the refinery is very low.

Would 'pushing' the trains manually for a while before they are fully loaded have the same effect?

Forgot to say in previous post that I am using the default TTD download - so no patches or anything else running in the background.

Thanks again.

It probably would, but that's a lot of time spent micromanaging your trains.

Jriver1976 wrote:Thanks for your reply Kamnet

They are indeed hanging around for a while. Whilst there is a steady flow of oil trains arriving and depositing, the output from the refinery is very low.

Would 'pushing' the trains manually for a while before they are fully loaded have the same effect?

Forgot to say in previous post that I am using the default TTD download - so no patches or anything else running in the background.

Thanks again.

If loading time for your train is a problem, then use shorter trains. Much easier than manually managing the trains.

kamnet wrote:Part of your station rating is based on how long it takes for cargo to be transported to its final destination.

Does that mean that a station will penalize a long trip even if there are prompt loadings & departures for trains taking that long trip?

Baldy's Boss wrote:

kamnet wrote:Part of your station rating is based on how long it takes for cargo to be transported to its final destination.

Does that mean that a station will penalize a long trip even if there are prompt loadings & departures for trains taking that long trip?

I believe it's based on the cargo decay rate, which starts as soon as the vehicle loads the cargo.

i don't think it works like you think it does...

once upon a time there was an idea that the cargo rating gets reduced, if lots of cargo is waiting in intermediate stations (e.g. transfers, cargodist), but i don't know if that made it into the game.

Hi All

I thought I would give you an update. I tied shorter trains, and 'pushed' them manually for a couple of months but no effect.

Then I built a new station for goods pick up so it was segregated from the oil drop off. Things started OK, then rapidly dropped back down to 32% despite no waiting goods and manually enforced quick turn arounds.

I gave up in the end, built a new station near a town, and now have passenger trains running on the old alignment!

Could you post a save?

Hi Kamnet

Unfortunately I saved the game after converting it to a passenger line, so don't have it anymore.

Hi Jriver

You may still have a previous save game, depends on your settings, look in 'Autosave'

Goto 'Load Game' from start screen or the 'Save' file wherever you have the OTTD on your computer.

If it can help, here are the details on how stations ratings are calculated: https://wiki.openttd.org/Game_mechanics#Station_rating

Eddi wrote:once upon a time there was an idea that the cargo rating gets reduced, if lots of cargo is waiting in intermediate stations (e.g. transfers, cargodist), but i don't know if that made it into the game.

There actually is some weird hack in the game that does it. IIRC it's cargodist sometimes adding fake cargo to upstream stations.

As for station rating there are some patches that give detailed explanations on it. CityMania client has one and it's compatible with vanilla openttd so you can just open your game there and hover the station rating to see details. Though it's not very clear in that particular cargodist case I mentioned you can still see that fake cargo being added occasionally.

arikover wrote:If it can help, here are the details on how stations ratings are calculated: https://wiki.openttd.org/Game_mechanics#Station_rating

Yes, and the most important takeaway from that description is that up to 41% of the possible rating is lost if you don't have a vehicle visiting the station every 7.5 days or more frequently. The only reliable way to achieve that is really to make sure a vehicle is always waiting for load at the station.

kamnet wrote:Part of your station rating is based on how long it takes for cargo to be transported to its final destination. If you have trains which are waiting a long time to load, that can hurt your rating. Try reducing the number of train cars in each train so that the cargo isn't waiting as long before it leaves the station and your visit frequency increases.

And this is false. Travel time to destination does not matter for station rating, only for cargo payments and vehicle profitability.

Inevitably diminishing back to a paltry 32% approval rating does make my own customary 17% to 18% ratings seem abominable..other than that difference, your experience with #%*!^@$ oil refiners mystifies me just as much own experience.

Hi Trainrover. In a new game, I've had exactly the same thing happen with a factory taking in grain/livestock. No problems for 'years' in the game, then suddenly plummeted to 33%. Advertising campaign gets this back to 100% almost instantly, but it drops through the floor back to 33% very quickly. I even tried bribing the local authority to get an outstanding rating but no difference. The only goods I have not had trouble with to date is with a sawmill (touch wood - you saw that one coming didn't you _!_)

hmm, guys that link explain how to achieve the best ratings possible : https://wiki.openttd.org/Game_mechanics#Station_rating

And since you seems to have tried that already, i suspect that you guys are playing with Cargodist or at least some transfers.

If you transfer the cargo to another station, instead of delivering it. The cargo will sit in another station. That cargo you have transfered in another station WILL hurt the rating of the Source station if it stays there too long (probably in the same way lots of waiting cargo in source station hurt rating)

It s a way to make sure player don t take all the cargo and let it sit in another station without really delivering it.