[Update/DLC/Mod Request] Vehicle Spacing

[AshleyAngelic]

Hi there.

I don't post much here and I'm not sure whether or not this'll be accepted/considered/whatnot.

I love CiM. Been playing since it came out. I was looking for something to succeed Traffic Giant and the second I saw news of this, I grabbed it up on Steam. I've come to notice, however, a severe issue in making things profitable when buses and trams stack up on one another due to traffic or stop length times. I'm wondering if there's a mod already, one coming, an update of some sort, or a DLC-included feature that'll allow you to space vehicles out on your line by perhaps a specific number of stops or even distance between each vehicle on the line. It would be handy, it'd be profitable, and it'd be a lot better than three buses tailgating one another. Actually, I jumped into a game right after posting this. The first thing I noticed was people leaving stops and me losing ratings simply because my vehicles weren't spaced out so they couldn't cover the line effectively.

 

[giladteller]

In one word: No.
You can do it manually by adding vehicles to the line one by one. Divide the number of stops in the line by the number of vehicles (10 stops, 3 vehicles will give you ~3.33), now you need to add a vehicle, wait for it to pass the third stop, and then add the second vehicle, and then do the same thing for the third vehicle.

 

[TH1]

i'm using a faster solution. If I want 3 vehicles on a line, then i buy some older model in between the ones i want to use. So let's say i want 3 Vagabondo trams (V) on the line, then the list of assigned vehicles will look like this:
V, L(Livingstone), L, V, L, L, L, V, L...If the line is not stopped, i stop it, wait until there are no cars in most stops and then start it. If everything goes well, the Vagabondos will be distributed more or less evenly. Now i just sell the Livingstones and voilá, you have your trams distributed. This works perfectly on metro lines, on bus and tram lines, the cars in the stops sometimes mess with it, but it's usually "good enough" at least and i don't have to waste a long time with vehicle distribution.

 

[giladteller]

That's a good idea, but it can work only if you have enough cash. It isn't very helpful in the early stages of the game (remember that even if you sell a brand new vehicle, you still get only part of the money back).

 

[slornie]

I can't say i pay too much attention to vehicle distribution. Normally i just decide how many vehicles i want for the line (usually working to the 1 vehicle every 2 stops systems) and set the line running - no staggered adding of vehicles or anything. Eventually they seem to even out across the whole line, with only the odd bit of bunching caused by traffic, jams and breakdowns.

 

[TH1]

It isn't very helpful in the early stages of the game (remember that even if you sell a brand new vehicle, you still get only part of the money back).

At early stages of the game it does not really matter. This causes more problems when you have many many lines and don't want to spend too much time just on one to distribute the vehicles.

 

[TH1]

Ah and considering how much i loose with using the replace/repair vehicle mod, compared to selling and buying new vehicles, this is not a big loss actually.

 

[douglasrac]

I can't say i pay too much attention to vehicle distribution. Normally i just decide how many vehicles i want for the line (usually working to the 1 vehicle every 2 stops systems) and set the line running - no staggered adding of vehicles or anything. Eventually they seem to even out across the whole line, with only the odd bit of bunching caused by traffic, jams and breakdowns.

Really? For me the vehicle distribution is top priority. Without it my routes would have horrible service and cost too much. And what I see is that with time they tend to unbalance instead of balance. Needs to keep a close eye on each line to keep it running well.

A vehicles distributing system would be great addition to the game. And it can be done in stations.

 

[AshleyAngelic]

Really? For me the vehicle distribution is top priority. Without it my routes would have horrible service and cost too much. And what I see is that with time they tend to unbalance instead of balance. Needs to keep a close eye on each line to keep it running well.

A vehicles distributing system would be great addition to the game. And it can be done in stations.

Exactly. Like. "Vehicles wait for the one ahead to be (number) stations ahead before leaving their current station" kinda thing.

 

[giladteller]

Exactly. Like. "Vehicles wait for the one ahead to be (number) stations ahead before leaving their current station" kinda thing.

This is already implemented in some way. A vehicle will not leave the station if another vehicle is too close.

 

[AshleyAngelic]

This is already implemented in some way. A vehicle will not leave the station if another vehicle is too close.

When I play, the only things that don't leave the stations immediately are metros. Busses and teams will follow right behind one another and I admittedly don't use water-taxi's and helicopters enough to know how it affects them.

 

[douglasrac]

When I play, the only things that don't leave the stations immediately are metros. Busses and teams will follow right behind one another and I admittedly don't use water-taxi's and helicopters enough to know how it affects them.

What Gilad said is right. But the system is very shy, not enough to balance an entire route. The waiting is almost unnoticeable but it exists.
The problem is that if a bus stay at the station for long time trying to balance a route, it will create a huge traffic jam. Bus bays are necessary.