Trains

[Tincho]

I would like to build trains.

[Joshuamonkey]

Trains would be very cool, with rails that could roam the country (not just following roads).

Trains that could take you to a station relatively far across the island! Yes yes! Moving slower than cars is fine, I just don't want to have to click onto the next town each time..Plus, trains could fit large amounts of resources and people (though so can buses). And I have a character that would be very willing to help out with making rails and trains.

[DylPickle]

Trains would be very cool, with rails that could roam the country (not just following roads).

Trains that could take you to a station relatively far across the island! Yes yes! Moving slower than cars is fine, I just don't want to have to click onto the next town each time..Plus, trains could fit large amounts of resources and people (though so can buses). And I have a character that would be very willing to help out with making rails and trains.

I would probably devote my entire (soon to be) 15 to the cause :p

[Doug R.]

Regarding blazing rail lines across new parts of the map:

Perhaps a train would have multiple parts. The first part would be a station. Each station would have a numerical identifier input by the character that starts it. You could then build another station somewhere else on the island with the same number. This would automatically link the two stations. You'd then add the rail line just like a road, with the material cost calculated by the distance. Then you need to build the train. The game would have to keep track of station numbers so you could only use a number twice. The game would also have to limit it to the same island, so you can't take a train from Noniwrok to Burgeo, for example. You could build any number of stations in any given town, and a train could freely move on any of them, so you could have rail hub, etc.

It would be nice to increase the cost a lot for rail lines that traverse lakes, swamps, or mountains, but since that's not taken into account for roads, it would be inconsistent and probably an unnecessary complication.

[Joshuamonkey]

I agree with Doug's idea. But do you think we could use one station for more than rail? Either for having a central station or to have certain stopping points all connected (but you could choose which one to go to). I'm thinking that we could have all stations have a different number, and then the train driver chooses which station number to go to (or we could allow them to give the stations names (such as the town name) from which to choose and then the game would worry about the numbers behind the scenes). So it would be like traveling to another town.
Another option could be for the stations to have the numbers of all the stations which it connects to, but then you would have to stop at each station along the way.

[berserk9779]

I agree with joshua.

I think we should have one station only in each town. Then each platform would be built inside, as a room, or as a machine.
Each town would have one single railroad-code, and each platform could connect to one other town only.

So, upon starting to work on the station, the code for it will be asked, as are names when we start a building.
Then we could operate the different platforms to connect to existing town stations.

I imagine the form something like:

Choose the destination for this rail platform:

- Klojit (rail built)
- Emerald shores (56 days, 12000g of iron, 20000g of wood to build rail)
- Leave unused for now

[Tincho]

In a railway there are intermediate stations and terminal stations.

At each end of the railway there is a terminal station, and between those terminal stations there are N intermediate stations.

From an intermediate station "k" you can only acces the railway that belong to that station. You can go in one direction (towards the station "k - 1") or in the other direction (to the station "k + 1").

From a terminal station you can access several different railways. Each connects to the station "1 " of the corresponding railway (or the station "N ").

--

If you implement the system this way, can be achieved multiple benefits. One of the first that come to my mind is that the character who runs the train could have a button to advance 1 station, 2 stations, or N stations. This will greatly improve land travel.

Another thing that comes to my mind is that the distance is the only thing that should matter to connect two places. If the sites are relatively close, then you can build the railway, regardless if there is water in the path. That is, trains and bridges implemented, 2x1.

[Joshuamonkey]

From an intermediate station "k" you can only acces the railway that belong to that station. You can go in one direction (towards the station "k - 1") or in the other direction (to the station "k + 1").

I don't see how this would be better than being able to go to any connected station, except less cost for stations. The problem is, you wouldn't be able to make intermediate stations after making the terminal stations, because towns don't line up in straight lines, so it wouldn't make sense to put an intermediate station up at a town where there isn't already rails.

[berserk9779]

Tincho's idea sounds more realistic, But also much more complex to implement.

I think that all stations should be the same, no terminal and no intermediate, just hub stations, where trains can change their course and take any available railroad.

Also, I think that the railroad should be visible on the map. Players that can see the rails from the town centre, would be able to connect to it, by building a station themselves.

There should be different kinds of rails (light rail, standard rail, express rail, bullet-train rail?) and different kinds of locomotives to go with it.

[Tincho]

From an intermediate station "k" you can only acces the railway that belong to that station. You can go in one direction (towards the station "k - 1") or in the other direction (to the station "k + 1").

I don't see how this would be better than being able to go to any connected station, except less cost for stations. The problem is, you wouldn't be able to make intermediate stations after making the terminal stations, because towns don't line up in straight lines, so it wouldn't make sense to put an intermediate station up at a town where there isn't already rails.

You are imagining the system incorrectly. In the real world the trains run like I said, and they connect cities that do not align perfectly.

The idea is like this: someone builds a terminal in a particular place, then someone else builds a station (either intermediate or terminal) on another site. Only then, from any of those places you can build railways that connect the stations.

I like this system because it allows a train to stop at the desired station or terminal station (with some human intervention).

I wouldn't like to see implemented a system in which anyone can drive a train from any point of the island to any other point on the island without any player intervention.

Worse, a train carries many passengers. Not all passengers go to the same place; some passengers leave the train before others. If there is no predefined path by which the train travels the system loses its meaning.

[DylPickle]

Just to add some tidbits.
Locomotives should require fuel, regardless. Fuel, water, sand, whatever.
The infrastructure behind it all should be expensive. (This is obvious)
And it shouldn't be implemented in a fashion where One guy can cruise the rails in his train all the time. That just seems strange to me.

[masterekat]

And in my opinion train cars shouldn't be able to be locked. Anyone who has the resources to run them should be able to.

[SumBum]

I was thinking they should not be lockable, too. It would mean you couldn't charge for its use, but would also truly be public transportation. You wouldn't have to worry about getting trapped although it could kill the idea of using it for resource transport.

[masterekat]

You could still use it for resource transport, couldn't you?

[dryn]

I like the idea of stations etc but here is a simple alternative. Railways are a road upgrade, after highway. Trains are just like any vehicle but can only travel on roads that have been upgraded to Railways. Easy!

Not as cool as a station though...

Also, how would carriages be implemented? Would the simple be an extension of the train? Otherwise how do they get attached and detached?