Why such a limited choice of loading options? And why only one load/unload order per destination-order?Gameplay FRD wrote:Cargo in general can be (un)loaded in different ways. You can specify one of the following (un)loading instructions in a vehicles routing table:
- Load; Forces a vehicle to wait until it is loaded 100% of it's capacity. Be aware when mixing different cargo types, the train might wait forever to receive a cargo type not offered at this station.
- Unload; Forces a vehicle to unload all of it's cargo on the current station without receiving any pay for it.
- Halfload; Let the vehicle move on when 50% of the vehicle's full capacity is filled.
- OneTypeLoad; Wait for any one type of cargo to be filled.
- TwoTypeLoad; Wait for any two types of cargo to be filled.
(ThreeTypeLoad is unlikely to be usefull and therefor we stop at 2 type load)
- Auto (default behavior); A vehicle will (un)load whatever cargo it has/is waiting at the station and move on.
A general timer can be set per vehicle. This forces the vehicle to continue no matter how much cargo is (un)loaded.
From the Design Document:
* Load X of cargo Y - load X cars with cargo named Y
* Unload X of cargo Y - unload X cars with cargo named Y
I suggest having the following kinds of load/unload orders that can be applied in any number to a single destination-order. These can be ordered (If the order makes a difference.)
- Load M/N'ths of all cargo
- Unload M/N'ths of all cargo
- Load M/N'ths of cargo X
- Unload M/N'ths of cargo X
- Load X carriages of cargo Y
- Unload X carriages of cargo Y
The two first options adds all capacity together in a uniform way, and are satisfied when the M/N'ths of that capacity is filled. A slightly unrealistic example: A train is has a capacity of 80 passengers and 120 tonnes of coal. The total capacity of the train is 200. The train is set to load 1/4 of all cargo. This means it will leave as soon as it has any load where coal+passengers = 50, eg. just 50 passengers, just 50 coal, or maybe 25 coal and 25 passengers.
The last four options will of course only be available to vehicles that can transport more than one kind of cargo.
The last two options will only be available to vehicles that are composed of several units, eg. trains or lorries with trailers.