Understanding date speed

[valenti_scott]

Hello-
I've been playing with a paused date speed, and I feel that I have a certain understanding of what this is doing, but not a complete understanding. Obviously tech is not advancing.

Obviously I can't use this to "game the game" and avoid maintenance costs, etc. I believe there is some kind of "game time" which I cannot quite comprehend; i.e. the passage of game time, but not the date. Maybe there's some kind of "game tick" or something.

When I look at finances, it's confusing because all the dates are the same. Is the more recent "game time" on the right or left? (I think it's on the right.) I really like the idea that you can pause or slow down the date; it makes the game seem more realistic, because now it doesn't take a month to take a train from X to Y.
-Scott

[Vimpster]

I believe the game has a budgeting system based on a normal year using the default date speed, which in the previous game was 12 minutes. I assume it is still 12 minutes in this game. So whether you slow down time or speed it up you will still get a financial statement based on a 12 minute period.

[Saint Landwalker]

The financial statement reads left to right. The far right column is the most recent one.

[lozacenz]

There's game speed, indicated by the pause/play/fast forward/faster icons. That adjusts the speed of passage of what i'm going to call simulation time, that is to say, it changes the ratio of 'time passing in game' vs 'time passing in the real world'. The individual columns in the finances window represent a fixed amount of simulation time, regardless of the amount of real world time that takes.
Each of those columns has a heading. When the date speed is set to normal (or x1), the period of time represented by one column is also equal to one calendar year.

When you adjust the date speed, it disconnects the Calendar speed (and thus tech availability and architectural style) from the Simulation speed. It does this by a fixed amount. The columns in the finance window still represent the same amount of Simulation time.
When the calendar speed is set to 1, that period of simulation time is equal to one calendar year.
When the calendar speed is set to 2, that period of simulation time is equal to 2 calendar years.
When the calendar speed is set to 1/2, that period of simulation time is equal to 6 calendar months.
When the calendar speed is set to 0 (paused), no calendar time passes at all. The date doesn't change.
Consequently, when the finance tab presents a column representing a fixed amount of Simulation time, and then checks the calendar to grab the date to put at the heading...
If the calendar speed is set to 1, it gives a year.
If the calendar speed is set to 1/2, it gives a 6 month period, Starting on the calendar day you changed the calendar speed.
If the calendar speed is set to 1/4, it gives a 3 month period in the same way.
If the calendar speed is set to 2, it will give a two year period.
And if the calendar speed is set to 0... it just tells you the date you paused the calendar on at the top of each column because, according to the calendar, it's still the same day. No calendar time has passed.

The important thing to remember is that the base unit, the thing Everything Gameplay Related is tied to, is the Simulation Speed. The calendar speed has no affect* on any of it.

Note that for all that some people claim this is 'stupid', the alternatives are Not Having headings, or having headings that give a date that has nothing in common with the date the game is otherwise telling you it is, nor with what is and isn't available to build. (or it just gives you a 'simulation time unit number X' heading, which is exactly as useful as the current system, but less aesthetically pleasing)

*Save an indirect knock on effect in that slowing the calendar down delays the point at which things become Unavailable. This can make things slightly easier in some cases (mostly in that it's a lot more possible to repay your debt before the next wave of things come out if your setup is profitable, but not so much so as it should be.). Nothing like as much so as people were trying to claim prior to the game releasing, because TpF2 works differently from 1, but unlike what I thought before hand, it's not quite zero either. On the flip side, speeding the calendar Up makes it slightly harder for exactly the same reason.

[WildDogsGaming]

Before the first patch that came out, when my game was frozen in 1920 for 30 real life hours, it told me my vehicles were 230 years old. Now, when I froze at 1970, it told me they were 20 hours old. Also, the stats page changed to reflect something similar.

I don't know what the cycle is, but I just think of every "year" as a cycle.

[valenti_scott]

This is very helpful, thanks; quite complicated, but I think I'm getting a better handle on it...

[KeC Horst]

does vehicle have a month cost when calender speed is stoped?

[valenti_scott]

Vehicles continue to have a cost even if the calendar is stopped. It's not really by the "month," since time is not "flowing" in the normal sense, but you are charged according to "simulation time" to prevent any kind of cheating.

[canophone]

Originally posted by valenti_scott:

Vehicles continue to have a cost even if the calendar is stopped. It's not really by the "month," since time is not "flowing" in the normal sense, but you are charged according to "simulation time" to prevent any kind of cheating.

There's a parameter for that (maintenance charges) in the base_config.lua, and the default is 60. 60 is the same default for the interval towns develop.

[valenti_scott]

In practice I find it is better to run at 1/4 date speed rather than a stopped date speed. In this way the financial reports make more sense. One-quarter speed is a good way to slow down the tech advancement, to give you a chance to play with the vehicles at a certain tech level.

[SoopahMan]

If anyone else lands here trying to figure out how to change the Date Speed, it's hidden in the date at bottom right. Click it and you can change the progression rate of virtual time.
https://gamesgds.com/transport-fever-2-how-to-change-game-and-date-speed/