AI using articulated locos confuses train length

[krtaylor]

The latest Patches allow the AI to use steam locos with tenders, and multi-piece articulated locos. This makes it lots better to play with the AI and the new sets.

However, there's still a bug. The AI doesn't appear to realize that the locomotives are extra long when buying traincars.

In one game, the AI bought a Cab-Forward to pull a passenger train (an odd choice in itself.) Normally, an AI passenger train would be one locomotive, one mail car, and two passenger cars for a total of four. In this case, the Cab-Forward took up three slots (two loco, one tender) leaving it pulling just one lonely passenger car! Odd.

Would it be possible for the AI to know how many cars it was intending to buy in the first place, put them on with the loco regardless of how long it was, and then determine the station lengths? I think it decides on the loco before it builds the track, right? Or maybe have it consider how many cars it wants, and the station length, before it picks a loco? Or last but not least, simply make it build all stations one square longer than it would otherwise have done, and put the right number of cars on regardless of loco length? Since we don't have any locos longer than 3, that would work fine.

The AI is very close to being able to usefully use the new locos, but I think this glitch can be surmounted. Somehow...

[Patchman]

The AI always builds the station first, then connects the tracks, and only then does it build wagons and the loco. So by that time it's too late...

However, it should be possible to stop it from buying long locos on routes with short stations.

[krtaylor]

The AI always builds the station first, then connects the tracks, and only then does it build wagons and the loco. So by that time it's too late...

Makes sense. There must be a control somewhere for how long it builds the stations, and maybe you could increment that by 1?

However, it should be possible to stop it from buying long locos on routes with short stations.

That would help, but would be a handicap in the beginning of the US set where everything has two pieces.

[Mek]

The AI always builds the station first, then connects the tracks, and only then does it build wagons and the loco. So by that time it's too late...

Makes sense. There must be a control somewhere for how long it builds the stations, and maybe you could increment that by 1?

The AI doesn't really design it's layouts... it just uses a array of hard-coded station layouts... it wouldn't be very difficult to change this array (in fact i've done it once to make the ai build roro-stations (wich just causes much more crasy railways)), but im not sure if this would be very effective, since you can only make all stations longer.
Also with larger stations the chance that the AI can find a suitable place to build a station (especialy in mountainous areas) will be significantly lower (i guess that's why cs made the AI build such tiny stations in the first place).
If i someday have too much spare time, i might continue working on a better AI, but for now i think you'll have to live with this...

[krtaylor]

Then the don't-build-very-long-locos is the best solution. Mostly the AI doesn't make trains long enough to need them anyway.