another moderator joining

ahhh playing with airplane can dominate the game pretty easily geng >.>

that is why real men uses trains only

So when are you guys free to play? We schedule a future date, and keep our plans open for that day

This coming weekend?

pausible but not sure

hello guys.

i have problem here. hope somebody can help me. i dont know how to upload picture, so ill have to expalain it la. here goes... i have a double rail platform, but i connect 3 rail lines there. there problem is that even though there 2 platform, theres always only one train that can unload/load there. the others will have to wait until that one train leaves before it can get in the platform. any advice?

You can take screenshot in game with CTRL/ALT+G, can't remember which button la. By default it should save in PNG, don't change it.

Regarding your question, there can be a few problems.

1.Is your train too long? (I don't think this is the problem tho')
2. If you are using regular signals, or mixed up and you don't know how, I suggest learning the most basic for your platform(station).

I can currently suggest the terminus set-up. It's the most basic of all end of line stations.

http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/index.php/Image:Terminus.png

Okay, so that station doesn't have proper signalling set up. But I'll teach you how to do it here.

First of all, see the two way signals which are at the entrance/exit of the station? Change that to exit signals by CTRL-Left Clicking on the signal(exit is white). Exit signals helps notify the previous signals that it's BOOKED by the current train, and should divert to another direction. Make sure both the two way signals in the pictures are exit signals. If not it won't work.

Secondly, see the X there? It's a crossway for trains to change lanes because in the picture, it's demonstrated as one way. So, the one-way signal on the left is the way up(where the trains come in from), change that signal to pre-signal(first CTRL-Left Click, should be yellow). Pre-signal sounds like what it should be, it pre-signals the train to stop, or move into another lane if that line is being occupied.

Hope that helps.

---

Added on October 14, 2008, 2:50 pmAh, I found a simple picture which explains signals and exits. Please see this screenie

http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/images/0/0c/P...gnalstation.png

If you want to see how signals can be used fully utilized(actually, can be alot of variations depending on your creativity), see this example of a large RORO station:

http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/index.php/Adv...Another_example

This post has been edited by sihumchai: Oct 14 2008, 02:50 PM

heh. thats quite an explanation. thanx. btw im still trying to understand how the signal works actually. if u click the signal once it became a two way signal. click it again and it became one way for both direction respectively. then if u ctrl+click it it changes into several mode again. can u explain it? meanwhile ill try to experiment it to look at the effects.

Sure thing. The more you play, the more you will understand. I also quite pening with signals, but apparently the pros online all tell me it's easy

Your first signal will be two way, click it again, one way, click it again, it's still one way, but in a different direction, then back to two ways.

Now, for the special signals, you can actually simplify the method of signal selection by Configuring the Patches under interface and select 'New Signal GUI', or something along the line. So, when you click signals, a window will pop up and you can select which signal you want by just looking at the picture, altho purist will stick to CTRL-clicking, dunno, it seems fun Like one click for pre, two clicks for exit, 3 clicks for combo.

Here's how the New Signal GUI look btw:
http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/index.php/Sig...al_GUI_in_0.6.0

I'll use openttd wiki as reference, and I'll break it down to you.
_________________________________________________________________

Pre-Signals

See this situation: Two trains unloading/loading at a station. And the new train that's coming in, has decided to pick the 'easiest and fastest' path. That's what the train AI aims to do in this game due to maximum profit.

http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/index.php/Ima...pre-signals.png

Picture comments: the left train may leave first.

What if the left train leaves? The third train is still stuck behind the second train, thus, slowing down delivery process and etc. etc. To fix this, we need pre-signals.

http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/images/1/15/S...pre-signals.png

With pre-signals, the signal understands that the two exits in-front is currently occupied, therefore is goes RED, so that the train does not move ahead(you can never have signals on splitting/branched tracks)
_________________________________________________________________

Exit-Signals

Taken from wiki OpenTTD:


Like in my previous post, I mentioned that exit signals help BOOK, or CHUP the lane. I'll show you an example.



This is based on my understanding. The above picture demonstrates that exit signals, also work as if they were stations(that use exit signals). So on the left station, when the train is occupying that line, the train behind will use the free lane. The left station is an example of a one-way double track, same as the right station.

The reason why I used a double-track one-way example is because with big main lines(highways), it can get congested due to trains breaking down. When a train breaks down, it will CHUP the lane it was in, and the moving trains may use the free lane. This is especially useful with long trains, and long tracks, and big/long main lines.
________________________________________________________________

Combo Signals

Taken from OpenTTD wiki:


http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/images/b/b5/S...re-signals2.png

Basically, like the quote above, combo signals allows you build big branches of tracks. With the combination of exits, combos, and then pre-signals, it all works hand in hand to allow a smooth flow of traffic into the station.

Please see this:

http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/index.php/Adv...alling_examples

And this:

http://wiki.openttd.org/wiki/images/d/d9/S...lained_more.png


This is a LARGE RoRo station. It allows a smooth flow of traffic coming into a certain industry. Basically, the exit signals communicates to the combos, which will then communicate with the pre-signal.

If station tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4 are occupied, they are RED. Therefore telling Combo A to be RED, because it can't accept any more trains.. Therefore Combo B, tells the trains that "I'm open, come here".

I'll make another example for you This is an advanced train set-up I learned while playing with other people.



We call this load balancing as opposed to the limited terminus. Load balancing helps distribute trains in a proper manner.

In the above image, it's a 6 track station. Each divided into 3 segments, the right track in, the left track out. Usually the train will go straight, for maximum income and don't waste time. Going straight, means it's going into segment 2, therefore, when another train arrived from behind, it will go to segment 1, or 3 instead. The bridges(or tunnel variations) help trains exiting from station to not be trapped by the incoming train, as opposed to the terminus design.

One of the best, and efficient designs I have seen so far (I re-created it just to show you, and I use it aswell on good receiving industries). It is meant to handle LOTS of trains.
________________________________________________________________

Hope this helps you. Hope you enjoy my explanation as much as I enjoy explaining them to you

This post has been edited by sihumchai: Oct 14 2008, 07:05 PM

Now only I know there is such thing like pre-signal and combo signal. And I call myself a OTTD player.

But you're the veteran, I just started not long ago, with the new changes

Like you said, back when you played 2-3 years ago, OTTD was still expanding on ideas/suggestions, and still is today. Even original TTD didn't have special signals, EVEN ONE WAYS

There are things they've thrown in, and out at times, something like Path Based Signaling, where all the signals are RED by default, but trains can CHUP lanes way ahead of their vision, it's quite cool, but canned.

ok2. i got it quiet a bit. did experimenting a bit yesterday and understands how it works. so basically u need pre-signals and exit signals working together in order make it work.

now im trying to learn to use the highway since all the examples revolves around using a highway. i usually use multiple single lanes exclusively. guess not that efficient huh?

btw thanx for ur detailed explainations.

Not a problem. Let us know if you need anything

Once you start building large networks of highways, I suggest learning how to make junctions From small little 3-ways shaped like Superman's Crest, and super large spaghetti like ones.. Even round-a-bouts can be done, altho' they're not as efficient as other junction types(because some trains need to make 3/4 circle just to reach the other side, and can cause congestion/jam).

the one i play was TTDX. need DOSBox to run.

anyway, TRAINS FTW! i never liked buses. too many with too little profit.

for trains. don't skimp on making tunnels and have quality bridges.

4 Way Junction with 2 lanes dedicated for those going to north and north-west



Trucks with a little bit of creativity
Takes fruits unloaded by the train and transported to the local factory

ouhh, looks cool man.

not like mine so newbie. anyway just played it again, massive profit again. i don't know how else to spend it.

waa, sihum, u seem drag alot to play that game woh~~

Still trying to figure out what exactly combo and exit signal does. The wiki entry isn't exactly clear on this.

Pre-signal is a pretty simple concept. And neat. Wish I knew that earlier, my train wouldn't be bottlenecked last time when I started playing. LOL.

this OpenTTD is a godsend!

i mean really, I've been a TTDX fan for ages and with Windows, we always have to use DOSbox. The sound didn't always work well. Had to play on small screen size and somehow the multiplayer doesn't work well.

OpenTTD made it all BETTER! w00t!

i'm sure many of the players now, are previously TTDX enthusiasts. Nowadays people rarely play these type of games la. 10 years+++ back we played games like Simcity, Simcity 2000, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon blablablaa all with EGA / VGA monitors only and they were really cool. I still miss Civilization, good thing they made Open versions too. Some come together with Linux installation.