Questions about gameplay and newgrfs

[goodgame]

I'm new, and genuinely have no clue what a good title for this post would be so if the one I have isn't good then that's why.

Every time I've set up a transit network these questions have bugged me: How many vehicles should I use? If it's a train route, how long should each train be? How much time should I put into each part of a timetable? I know these can be answered through trial and error or the complex math found on the wiki to find out exact values for these, but if there are simpler equations or general ideas here then I'd like to know. If it's relevant, I try to play this game in a kinda realistic way as in I don't want to really overbuild everything or do too much absurd stuff.

I don't like that cargo generation is dependent on station rating, forcing me to have a vehicle sitting in the station loading near 24/7 to keep the industry from lowering production. Is there a newgrf that makes cargo generation independent of station rating? Or at least one that makes it so that coal can wait a few minutes for a train regularly without production dropping at the mine? I know about the feeder service option, but I just find that too absurd. I'm aware of patches and patch packs, but I want a mostly vanilla experience for now, it's just this I want to change.

(please answer in terms someone new to the community would understand, I have no idea what I'm reading half the time on the wiki)

[Eddi]

FIRS has a setting to make the station rating always 100%. (except passengers/mail)

[skc]

FIRS has a setting to make the station rating always 100%. (except passengers/mail)

You sure about that Eddi???

FIRS options.png (49.49 KiB) Viewed 1843 times

I searched for 'station rating' in the Online Content section and I get "Easy Station Rating Override" NewGRF that seems to do what you're suggesting, forcing station ratings to 100%.

[LaChupacabra]

FIRS has a setting to make the station rating always 100%. (except passengers/mail)

You sure about that Eddi???

When Eddi wrote FIRS, he meant FIRS 1 - the first edition that used to not have a number assigned to it. It's gone in later versions, but it's still present in SPI.

...always 100%. (except passengers/mail)

No exceptions

I searched for 'station rating' in the Online Content section and I get "Easy Station Rating Override" NewGRF that seems to do what you're suggesting, forcing station ratings to 100%.

Yes, Easy Station Rating Override is the best solution. This is a NewGRF add-on that you can download through the "Check online content" interface of the game. After downloading, you select it in the "NewGRF Settings" window. Most add-ons have various additional settings and these are also included in the mentioned add-on. Yes, here these settings look very technical. If you want stations to always have a 100% rating, set all settings the same (one click to the right). These IDs refer to the cargoes IDs. Passengers usually have ID00 and post ID02, the rest can vary depending on the industry set add-on. Checking this and configuring it can be a bit of a nightmare, so the easiest way is to set everything the same. But if you want, you can also specify that the 100% rating applies only when there is no more than a certain amount of cargo at the station, e.g. 1000 passengers (ID00 = 500). Yes, you need to enter 500 to get 1000.

Easy Station Rating Override.png (209.32 KiB) Viewed 1757 times

Just in case...
FIRS and SPI are NewGRF add-ons with an expanded list of enterprises and slightly different production mechanics.

[goodgame]

How did you get to that window? I can't figure out how to use the rating override newgrf.

And can someone please address my other questions? Are there simple rules I can follow for things like vehicle number and train length and timetabling or do I have to choose between complex math and going in blind?

[kamnet]

How did you get to that window? I can't figure out how to use the rating override newgrf.

1. Add the NewGRF to your active list
2. Click and highlight the name of the NewGRF in your active list
3. Click the "Set Paramaters" button, new window appears.

And can someone please address my other questions? Are there simple rules I can follow for things like vehicle number and train length and timetabling or do I have to choose between complex math and going in blind?

OpenTTD is a wide-open sandbox game. You mostly set your own rules and decide for yourself what works best. And what works for one person's style of playing the game may not work for somebody else who has different ideas of how it should be played.

[jfs]

I usually build trains with a capacity around 1.5x times the monthly production they're going to serve, and then add more clones of that train to the route until I always have one waiting to load full, without a long line forming outside the station.

[odisseus]

How many vehicles should I use? If it's a train route, how long should each train be? How much time should I put into each part of a timetable?

The optimal number of vehicles on a particular route is not set in stone; it depends on several factors that are changing over the course of the game. Therefore, you will need to check the route every now and then, and adjust its fleet if needed.

If your station rating is lower than 60%, or the stockpile of waiting cargo is steadily growing, add some more vehicles. If your vehicles are running less than 50% full, or there is a queue of vehicles waiting for full load, take some of them off the route.

Keep in mind that every route, with the exception of waterways, has a limited capacity for vehicles. When that limit is exceeded, your route will jam and its throughput will plummet. It can be very difficult to restart a congested train network.

Regarding the train length, there is no universal answer either. Shorter trains bring a significant boost to the station ratings (by virtue of departing more frequently), whereas longer trains allow you to save on infrastructure costs (and engines too). If you want a simple answer though, the length of 5 tiles (i. e. the engine and 9 wagons) is adequate for most situations.

As for the timetables, they don't work too well with trains, and in most cases you don't need them anyway. It is much easier to control train frequency by issuing full load orders. If you still want to use the timetables, the re is a decent tutorial in the Wiki (at least it was there last time I checked it).

[goodgame]

I tried the station rating override newgrf, and I just can't get it to work. I set the parameters, all to 100%, and then I play the game and the station rating drops whenever there's not a train there like it normally does.

[LaChupacabra]

These NewGRF settings are a bit tricky... Sometimes the order of add-ons can be important. The ones at the bottom overwrite the ones above. This sometimes means that if an add-on is at the top, it may not have an effect.

It would be best if you could post your save game. Then it would be easier to tell what is the cause.

[Eddi]

due to the way station ratings work, the station rating newgrf probably counts as an industry newgrf, and thus cannot be combined with other industry newgrfs

[goodgame]

due to the way station ratings work, the station rating newgrf probably counts as an industry newgrf, and thus cannot be combined with other industry newgrfs

I don't think generic tram set is an industry newgrf, and that's the only other one I have active.

[Captain Rand]

I'm playing JGR's Patch Pack.
There's a setting in the cheat menu that lets you set station ratings to 100%.
Not sure if that's available in the vanilla game.

Pete.

[dol422]

I'm playing JGR's Patch Pack.
There's a setting in the cheat menu that lets you set station ratings to 100%.
Not sure if that's available in the vanilla game.

Pete.

No, it isn't

[Captain Rand]

No, it isn't

Thanks, I wasn't sure. I haven't played vanilla in over a decade.

@goodgame. Are you new to the game or just the forum? If it's the game, you might find JGR's Patch Pack a bit overwhelming. Worth taking a look though. viewtopic.php?t=73469

Pete.

[goodgame]

I'm new to the forum, slightly less new to the game. I know how to play, mostly from videos partly from game experience. I'm going for a minimalist network, don't want to overbuild or anything, and from what I can tell it seems like the game wants you to overbuild as cargo generation goes down unless there's a vehicle loading like every few irl seconds.

[jfs]

Cargo generation will drop if you heavily under-serve an industry, like leave thousands of cargo sitting at the station. As long as you don't leave cargo piling up on the stations, but also don't have trains waiting all the time, it will generally hit steady state. If the industry served raises production, you can ignore it: The station will get cargo piling up, but eventually the station rating will drop and you get less cargo until it again reaches steady state. Possibly the industry will lower its production again.

As long as you don't massively under-serve an industry, your transport will generally keep working.