There is just 1 problem I'd like to sort out as well and that is : WHY after clicking the start date, the bus order doesn't follow the order the bus was created?? It would be so much simpler if after I click start date, bus 1 will be the first bus to go, bus 2 will be the 2nd, and so on. Instead, the 1st bus will be the 1st, then bus number 6 will be 2nd, bus 5 3rd, bus 4 4th, it's BACKWARD!!! EVERYTIME!! So if you could help me sort this out (perhaps there is something I do wrong, etc), that would be much appreciated.So to my understanding this is the only proper way to do timetable and this order is important plus if you follow this, you will get the synchronize movement from the buses (each buses arrive at the station at the same time) :
1. Create bus stations in each city. Let's say you want to connect city A - B - C
IMPORTANT : Type of station AND how many platforms in 1 station.
The type of station is important, now I don't know the proper term, so excuse the mistake. I'll just call it drive-through station (placed on streets) and the non-drive-through.
The drive-through station WON'T be able to REARRANGE your buses should the buses get in the wrong order (bus B is on time, bus A is exactly behind B and is LATE, it won't be able to overtake B on the road because they both move max speed, and bus A won't be able to overtake in the drive-through station because THE GAME DOESN'T ALLOW IT). The non-drive through station IS ABLE to REARRANGE your bus order because the buses actually park and can move freely (bus B will wait sometime because it's not late, while bus A will depart earlier because it's behind schedule and hence "overtake" B).
Important number 2 is how many platforms you create when creating the station. We all know that 1 station platform has only 2 parking lots. If you join 2 platforms, you will have 4 parking lots, 3 platforms = 6 lots, etc. Now to synchronize the movement of buses, we need this formula : number of cities x 2. So I want to connect A B C, that's 3x2 you need 6 buses. Now you want to create 1 station with 6 parking lots ONLY in your starting city which has a NON DRIVE THROUGH station, very important guys, we want to park these buses!! And don't worry, after all of the buses go, you can delete these platforms and just leave 1 platform.
So your setup should be like this:
City A 1 big stations with 3 platforms, supporting for 6 parking lots HAS TO BE NON DRIVE THROUGH STATION
City B 1 station 1 platform (both platform types work, I prefer non drive through type)
City C 1 station 1 platform (both platform types work, I prefer non drive through type)
Notice I tend to avoid using drive-through stations. I don't see the point of it. The game has plenty of empty fields as is. It's not like I need to save every single grid and use a drive-through station. Besides, it clogs the road as well. Vehicles can't overtake here.
2. Create 1 bus, and place the order as follows : Notice there are 3 cities. In order to synchronize you need to use formula from number 1. That way when synchronized, you will get, in city A, 2 buses come, 1 goes to B, 1 goes to C, city B 2 buses come 1 goes to A, 1 goes to C, city C 2 buses come 1 goes to A, another goes to B. All 6 at the same time!! :D
Go non stop to A
Go non stop to B
Go non stop to C
Go non stop to B
3. Tell the bus to move and wait for it to COMPLETE the cycle. Yes, COMPLETE!! You want the bus to go to A - B - C then arrive again to A AND FINISH ITS ORDER at A. At this point the bus will start moving to city B (very important). If you don't do this, your date will generate BACKWARD, yes backward, this game is weird (though it's fun)!! Who in the world can travel back in time!! This is not a time machine game guys. It's like you go to work, you go to your boss, boss gives you an assignment and then he tells you you have a deadline 3 MONTHS AGOOO!!! :shock: :? :lol: :mrgreen: Yes yes, it makes sense. LOL!! Well, is this backward timetable a problem, technically, no, because the buses will catch up if you give it proper slack, but it could take years to catch up, and that's annoying.
4. Stop the bus from moving further, Pause the game, Edit the TimeTable as follow:
You will see something like this:
Go non stop to A and stay for 1 day
Travel for 15 days
Go non stop to B and stay for 1 day
Travel for 20 days
Go non stop to C and stay for 1 day
Travel for 21 days
Go non stop to B and stay for 2 days
Travel for 22 days
So at this point we know that the distance from A to B is 15 days. B to C is 20 days. Now what happened here? A B C stay for 1 day? B 2 days? What's the driver doing?? First time journeys the bus doesn't have any passengers, so it doesn't load unloading, while in B 2nd time, we get some passengers so it took 2 days to load them up. Why C to B takes longer? This might be because the bus took another road which is longer. And B to A 22 days?? What?? Previously it took 15 days. In this case the bus broke down and took additional 7 days to repair itself on the journey.
So you edit like this:
Go non stop to A and stay for 4 day (normally I do 4, but you could give it 5, greater slack)
Travel for 20 days (I add additional 5 days for the slack)
Go non stop to B and stay for 4 day
Travel for 26 days (again, additional 5 days counting from the longest route taken 21+5=26)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------mirror
Go non stop to C and stay for 4 day
Travel for 26 days
Go non stop to B and stay for 4 days
Travel for 20 days
Very important to create some kind of mirroring timetable like this to get the synchronized timing.
The slack helps the buses when they break down. How many days is the right slack?? Depends, experiment and observe. Check regularly. Too much slack and the buses get lazy, wait too long at stations. Too few slack and the bus won't be able to catch up to the schedule should they break down.
5. Unpause the game. Go to your nearest depot. Click the Clone Vehicle button, then HOLD CTRL. <- Important. And clone your first bus by clicking on it. (still holding CTRL) Create 5 additional buses, so you have 6 buses in total.
6. THIS IS IMPORTANT. You do remember that your bus currently wants to go to B don't you? Now, go back to your Order page and Click "SKIP" several times and tell your bus to go to station A again. And don't forget to click the "force vehicle to turn around button" to make it turn around quickly and go back to station A. DO THESE STEPS BEFORE STEP 7.
7. Go to your TimeTable again, then HOLD CTRL. Click the Start Date button. At this point you can just click Set Date. No need to adjust the date as your bus 1 is literally near station A anyway.
8. Then just tell your buses to depart. :D
9. Then finally from your Depot, all of the other 7 buses should go to station A and park there, at station A waiting for their own schedule. (Bus 1 is departing to city B, he's on time). They won't move to B until their schedule tells them so. You will see 1 by 1, IN THE RIGHT ORDER, they will go to B, automatically spacing themselves. And finally you could delete those additional platforms at station A, leaving just 1 platform. They have served their purpose.
***Additional step.
10. Now If you didn't create 6 parking lots, then you will just have to manually tell the buses to move from your Depot. Now this is VERRRYYYY FRUSTATTTINNGG as the buses won't be in the correct date order. It means, your bus 1 is the earliest to go. Then funny enough, bus no 6 will be the second to go (backward).
So if there are not enough parking lots, then you will have to manually tell bus 6 to go 2nd, wait for bus 1 and 6 clear the parking lot, then bus 5 and 4, wait again, then parking lot is free, bus 3 and 2. Very time consuming and too many unnecessary macros!!! You might ask me, "dude, it's just 6 buses..." Well, trust me, it gets boring and tiring doing it more than 100x 
.***Additional notes.
What if you want to create additional buses to this A B C B line? In that case, you will need to create additional platforms for each city. Technically, 1 platform (to each city, 3 cities) can support more than 6 buses in 1 line, but it gets tricky, if you for example, share this station for other line as well (line 1 ABC, line 2 DBE, B gets 2 visits!!!), or 2nd case, from A to B is very near, <10 days journey. It tends to clog up, so it's safer to say: 1 platform (to each city, 3 cities) can only support 6 buses going back and forth in sync. 2 platforms can support 12 buses, etc. Notice you can of course create 2 platforms and just fill it with 9 buses, but then they won't get the synchronized movement.
***Additional tips.
You could change the settings, so you could buy buses when paused. This will get rid of the unnecessary paused unpaused steps. And you can clone your buses while it's paused which is super time saver for me. Go to settings - search for "pause" - when paused allow : All actions. (not sure about multiplayer rules though)
***Adding more vehicles at a later date
If you decide you want to add more vehicles to your line, you just simply find a vehicle moving towards city A (from B) (doesn't need to be bus no 1). Wait for it to be near station A, then clone the vehicle as many as you want. then set the date again (don't forget to hold CTRL). Then lose the additional buses. It's funny though, as you DON'T have to do something similar to point 6. Thank goodness :x !!
My question is.
CAN I SOMEHOW MAKE THESE STEPS I DID MORE EFFICIENT? PERHAPS I OVERLOOKED SOMETHING? OPEN FOR SUGGESTION.
IS THERE ANYTHING I COULD DO, TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN I SET DATE, BUS #1 WILL BE THE 1ST, BUS #2 WILL GET THE SECOND WAVE, EXACTLY FOLLOWING THE BUS NAME?? OR BETTER YET, THE BUSES GO EXACTLY FOLLOWING THE TIMETABLE SCHEDULE IN THE EXACT ORDER WITHOUT MANUAL INPUT FROM ME PLUS I DON'T HAVE TO BUILD SUPPER MASSIVE STATION JUST SO I COULD PARK ALL MY BUSES THERE AT THE BEGINNING STATION WAITING FOR THEIR OWN SCHEDULE??
FAQ:
1. My timetable generates backward dates? You didn't wait for the 1st bus to complete the cycle. And finish it's order at station A. (point 3)
2. Timetable doesn't get shared? You forgot to HOLD CTRL while cloning buses and HOLD CTRL again while setting timetable date. (point 5 & 7)
3. Late buses can't overtake on time buses? You need at least 1 city containing only non drive through stations. (point 1)
4. Buses don't sync and are getting later and later? Simple, not enough slack.
5. Buses have a lot of slack, I have non drive through the station, but it's not in sync? Check my formula (point 1) and make sure your TimeTable mirrors. (point 4)
6. Buses won't wait at station A. They depart as soon as they reach station A? You got the backward date bug!! They're being late, that's why they won't park there. Eventually they will catch up, but it could take years! (point 3)
