Grouped construction tool

[baijuch]

Hello all,
While playing a lot, i quickly realized necessity to have some tool to simplify the stuff that usually falls under repetition.
I thought i should start working on it on fork, but then as many experts here, i guess it would be nice if i discuss it first to validate feasibility, and to know if its already under development.

What : A dedicated tool for replicating constructions.
Why : To simplify the repetition work. To help construct the dream world as easily as possible.
When/Where : To be used during the game.
How :
1. In preferences, we will have option to enable this feature. If enabled, then only players will be able to use it in created map. Thus this option will restrict REG and help keep existing game play for players who wanted to have. These settings will be saved in save-games.
2. In preferences, few more options will get visible once '1' is enabled, such as - a. Timed construction(default ON), b. Import/export as construction file(OFF), c. Disabled/enable included allowed components list such as airports, railway stations, bus station etc.
3. Once game started, we will have a tool, like that of 'Grouping tool'. Here user will first create a group1. This group1 probably can be listed as drop down list command. After creation(and rename) of group1, 'Start construction' button will get available.
4. Once 'Start construction' is pressed, player will select an area, the same way we select using 'Demolish' tool. Once area selected, we internally execute 'Demolish' tool, which will make that area look brown, indicating player to start working in it. Also at this same time, the internal timer will start.
5. Now, user will have to do constructions in this area as quickly as possible. The construction operations can be of landscaping type, creating railway tracks/stations and their junctions(something which is missing and repeatedly necessary to create). Once done, user will click 'End construction' button. As soon as its ended, we will stop internal timer and compute, display total spent time, total cost of construction, number of tiles etc. data.
6. Now, player will simply launch this 'group1', and place it in the map. The moment its placed, its corresponding cost will get deduced, if 'timed construction' is on, then it will consume the creation time to complete. If import/export is on, then player can import/export this 'group1' just like that of save files. An auto landscaping might also be performed at this stage.

Interestingly, i see such tool stuff in other games, but those are only available at scenario/map creation.
Of course, the drawback is, players will be able to quickly create chaos, but since this costs both time and money, so, perhaps that will not go within a blink of an eye.
Also adding more settings to customize will limit its usage, and help keep the game under control.

So, any suggestions / feedback on this ?

[jfs]

What's more commonly described as "copy-paste".

The thing is that in real-world games you're often building around the terrain and other structures, and tracks aren't perfectly straight, so building "the same" intersection or "the same" station in two places might not actually be the same thing, even if it has the same logical structure.

[LaChupacabra]

Hey baijuch!

Yes, something like this already exists and is available in the Citymania version of the game. It is a version fully compatible with the original game (you can play online with people who use the regular version; games saved in this version can be run in a regular game), with many different missing improvements, including the copy-paste function. It is not fully developed. Currently, it only allows you to copy the railway infrastructure, it doesn't save the station layout, the graphic glitches (blue backlight remaining after copying) are also a problem, but in general the function is very simple to use and very useful, especially in online games, when you want to build the largest network possible and not waste a lot of time building the same structures over and over again. I don't know if such a function would make more sense in the case of road infrastructure, but it could probably be useful in the construction of facilities, for example when you want to extend many similar stations or companies. In the case of ports and airports, this extension would not apply at present.

You can download the mentioned version of the game here. Its author and maintainer is dp. Probably the copy-paste function was also written by him, though I'm not sure.


Brief description of the mentioned function:

1. An additional icon is available on the railroad construction bar (no options available / unavailable)

2. After pressing this icon you select the infrastructure that you want to copy.

3. The selected infrastructure is highlighted in blue, the copied part appears under the cursor and is highlighted in white. By moving the cursor you can fit the structure anywhere. If the terrain or other obstacles don't allow for the construction of some elements, they are marked in red.

[LaChupacabra]

4. After clicking in the selected place, the same structure will be created there, including the selected track type, but without distinguishing between the station type. If an element was marked in red, it will not be built.



As much as I like this feature, I think it could be even more useful if you could use the familiar shortcuts Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. This would make it easier to build the copied infrastructure in the more distant part of the map. It would also be possible to duplicate the same structure multiple times.
1. Click the copy button
2. Select the area
3. Press Ctrl+C to save or click anywhere / press delete (default) to cancel and remove blue highlight
4. Press Ctrl+V to display the saved structure under the cursor
5. Click on the map to build the structure

[baijuch]

Yes, something like this already exists and is available in the Citymania version of the game.

Fantastic !
Not precisely what i wanted, but surely a must have tool. This saved my at least 50% of work!
I think its time for me to switch to this.
Thank you.

[_dp_]

As much as I like this feature, I think it could be even more useful if you could use the familiar shortcuts Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. This would make it easier to build the copied infrastructure in the more distant part of the map. It would also be possible to duplicate the same structure multiple times.

It does have railtoolbar.cm_blueprint hotkey slot that you can assign to ctrl+c or whatever in hotkeys.cfg. There is no ctrl+v though as it switches to paste immediately after copying.

Also, you didn't mention it but copied objects can be rotated with the middle mouse button (configurable with railtoolbar.cm_blueprint_rotate).

[LaChupacabra]

As much as I like this feature, I think it could be even more useful if you could use the familiar shortcuts Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. This would make it easier to build the copied infrastructure in the more distant part of the map. It would also be possible to duplicate the same structure multiple times.

It does have railtoolbar.cm_blueprint hotkey slot that you can assign to ctrl+c or whatever in hotkeys.cfg. There is no ctrl+v though as it switches to paste immediately after copying.

I believe that being able to save the pattern and duplicate it multiple times would be very useful. The function can work without "Ctrl+C" - you select the infrastructure, which copies the pattern to the clipboard, then press "Ctrl+V" in the selected part of map and you can choose the place where the pattern should be duplicated. You can repeat it many times without having to select it again and again.

This would be especially useful for some really big constructions like the one below.

ProZoneGame_13_Final.sav

(1.01 MiB) Downloaded 51 times

Personally, I cannot imagine building something like this without this function. It's a fairly old save, most likely created without it

Also, you didn't mention it but copied objects can be rotated with the middle mouse button (configurable with railtoolbar.cm_blueprint_rotate).

I didn't mention it because I didn't know about it. It would seem more intuitive to use the roller+Ctrl here. I don't remember where, but somewhere I encountered this method of rotating an object.