trains getting lost

[webbhost]

Hi all,

I was playing OpenTTD some time ago and want to start over.. however I had a rather irritating problem when I stopped playing so interested to know if it's a common problem, or if there is a fix for it.

I was on a large map, and probably had close towards 400 trains by the end of it. I stopped playing because a load of my trains started getting "lost".... however there really was not any "faults" in the lines such as dead ends, or incorrect signals.. I had to start adding check-points all over the place to clarify direction and try to stop them getting lost.. but eventually the problem just got too big in the end that I gave up trying to fix it.

Is this a common or known problem in the past, and has it been fixed or is there any reasonable work-around?

Thanks

[jfs]

I think this depends on multiple factors.

When you say "large map", how large do you really mean? (512x? 1024x? 2048x? 4096x?)

Which pathfinder did you have set for trains? (NPF or YAPF)

How long did trains run for between stations, in in-game time? (Days? Months? Years?)

[Eddi]

There's multiple ways this could happen, and unless you provide us with a savegame, we can't tell you why it happens for you. there is almost certainly an easy workaround.

[Expresso]

If I remember correctly, the game assumes a vehicle is lost if it did not encounter one of its orders in over a year. Perhaps you have this situation?

[webbhost]

thanks for the replies everyone... I will revisit the game shortly and upload a savegame so you can see the issue. Hopefully this resolves issue so that I can start over and prevent it happening next time.

I seem to remember it being a 2048 map... however I don't see it practical that orders would have taken more than a year as it was all mono-rail / very fast moving trains.

No idea which path finder was set - however perhaps something worth me looking at... which was the "correct" / best one to use.. or whats the difference between the 2?

[jfs]

Generally you want to use YAPF, I think the main reason the older pathfinders are still included is to make sure old games made before the newer ones were introduced won't have vehicles going "the wrong way" because the new pf determines another route is better.