CURVED STATION

[jaimeabi]

I need curved stations, why are no curved stations?

[StarStreak2109]

There are some on transportfever.net. Unfortunately not yet on Steam. Patience, I am certain, in due time there will be some on Steam as well. :)

[Romulus]

You can make the station shorter by using the options on the box that pops up, or by deleting pieces of platform and station-track using configure option. But it still needs to be straight for some small portion. At least with a shorter station platform length you can curve sooner.

[StarStreak2109]

Making the platforms shorter reduces the total "storage" capacity (i.e. people on the platforms). While this might be more aesthetically pleasing, especially if adding fake curved platforms to the ends, it will hurt you in the end by not using the station's / line's full potential.

[Normal Paradox]

Curved stations would be handy indeed.

[genemead]

You want curved stations, you don't need curved stations.

Curved stations are easily possible and would've been done a long time ago.....IF they were "fixed" (like TF1's) and didn't need to be expandable.

[dubatc]

It is the one feature that I really miss from transport fever #1, I accept that modular stations have some advantages but a curved station led to so much flexibility fitting stations into our cities while making it look more organic. Hopefully some genius modder will figure out a solution.

[CunkFeatures]

It is a must!

Last one was done by the Devs, not sure why they didn't add it to the main game or are yet to create a mod?

Its as important a feature as length and width. I cant even see it being too hard to implement with modules. All you need is the curve, some pi and a different shaped modules for the maths to figure out.
Think of it as a brick arch, the maths is fairly simple there too, so a comp could work that out in a doddle..... Maybe its part of the "game" aka the puzzle?

One of the many features missing that makes TpF2 feel like 1.2.

[genemead]

They are NOT a must, You've done without them for a year. Carry on.
Nice to have? Sure. So's a lot of things. Mods are added every day.
Necessary? Nope.

[mrtree]

I wish the whole paradigm was changed; I wish you laid the track first, then added a station to already-laid track afterwards. Let the station take over a certain length of the track to become a platform, maybe you designate it in sorta the same manner as when you upgrade segments to become electrified.

But I realize this would be a fundamental change to the way the game works, so it's more of a wishlist for the next version.

As for what I would really want as a mod for TF2, I would like to see cargo platform variants that greatly extend the storage capacity for a given good. Like, instead of a flat platform, maybe you build a coal tipple, and that tipple can hold 2X or 3X or even 5X as much coal as a typical platform, but it only does so for coal. That way we could fit in shorter stations that don't need to be curved, and still get the ability to store up a full train's worth or more.

[Ideas Man]

Originally posted by tomtalk24:

It is a must!

Last one was done by the Devs, not sure why they didn't add it to the main game or are yet to create a mod?

Its as important a feature as length and width. I cant even see it being too hard to implement with modules. All you need is the curve, some pi and a different shaped modules for the maths to figure out.
Think of it as a brick arch, the maths is fairly simple there too, so a comp could work that out in a doddle..... Maybe its part of the "game" aka the puzzle?

One of the many features missing that makes TpF2 feel like 1.2.

You seem to think it's incredibly simple. Please, show us all the maths and a spec to implement it.

It's easy to sit there and whine about how easy it is, it's another thing entirely to fully consider the topic and implement it.

Modular stations changed everything. The modular station principle works in a constrained grid fashion to provide a degree of flexibility but it's still a rectangular grid.

The only way I can foresee being able to do it would be to completely redesign the whole principle of stations and have it so that a station isn't a building in its own right, rather, platforms are something you "attach" to railway track so that it becomes a station.

This then has its own difficulties as then you have the problem of "how do I know where to place the track to create parallel lines? (Probably easier if it snaps like parallel track does) How do I know when a curve is too tight for a platform? How do I join the the platforms together to form a single station? What is the capacity of this platform? How long is it? Will my train fit?

On the surface, they're not overly difficult questions to answer but it's how you implement them and the potentially fiddly nature of them that becomes a challenge. You'd have to have a ruler that stretches out to answer a lot of the questions as you build it (this platform is 200 metres long; it can hold 250 items, etc.).

If you could build stations like that, the game would open up far more potential than the current modular stations does, but it adds a lot more complexity to the build process. It doesn't mean you can't have "template" stations which behave similar to the current ones (Fixed width and length) but you will need to improve the build tools greatly. If done right, you could then also build stations above roads/on bridges or within tunnels.

Curved stations were probably easy because it was just bending a rectangle in a fixed and controlled way where the user couldn't meddle with the inner calculations of the building. You can't do that with modular stations as a modular station can have points and crossings within its build rectangle and the player can insert things which make the build difficult or impossible. These are much harder to cater for, especially considering the flexibility you have for developing pointwork with track in this game. A modular station doesn't necessarily also have to be one long platform; you can have two or more platforms on the same row. Again, something the old implementation didn't have to contend with.

Also keep in mind, no other railway game I can think of has curved stations, only TF1.

[lollus]

Originally posted by mrtree:

I wish the whole paradigm was changed; I wish you laid the track first, then added a station to already-laid track afterwards. Let the station take over a certain length of the track to become a platform, maybe you designate it in sorta the same manner as when you upgrade segments to become electrified.

That's what I have been doing. I still have some loose ends but it is coming out well. If UG helps a little, I can make this thing better and sooner.

[CunkFeatures]

Originally posted by Ideas Man:

You seem to think it's incredibly simple. Please, show us all the maths and a spec to implement it.

I've recently done my A level maths, and have written rather simple programs involving pi to work out angle and length in proportion to diameter. THINK about it.
Maybe its just better for modding and modelling? As simple a game as this is.

Won't read the rest as seems like babble:

Originally posted by Ideas Man:

Curved stations were probably easy

Not interested.

[EMAPhil]

Whilst I would like curved stations I think the extra work for me as a game player would take the fun away and would be turning TF2 into a CAD/CAM game.
I guess maybe some presets like 30/ 45/60 degree angles might be possible but tricky and people would still complain.

Just been planning a curved platform station for my model railway and counter intuitively the area it takes up is bigger purely due to fitting rectangular buildings onto it.

[EMAPhil]

Originally posted by Ideas Man:

Originally posted by tomtalk24:

It is a must!

Last one was done by the Devs, not sure why they didn't add it to the main game or are yet to create a mod?

Its as important a feature as length and width. I cant even see it being too hard to implement with modules. All you need is the curve, some pi and a different shaped modules for the maths to figure out.
Think of it as a brick arch, the maths is fairly simple there too, so a comp could work that out in a doddle..... Maybe its part of the "game" aka the puzzle?

One of the many features missing that makes TpF2 feel like 1.2.

You seem to think it's incredibly simple. Please, show us all the maths and a spec to implement it.

It's easy to sit there and whine about how easy it is, it's another thing entirely to fully consider the topic and implement it.

Modular stations changed everything. The modular station principle works in a constrained grid fashion to provide a degree of flexibility but it's still a rectangular grid.

The only way I can foresee being able to do it would be to completely redesign the whole principle of stations and have it so that a station isn't a building in its own right, rather, platforms are something you "attach" to railway track so that it becomes a station.

This then has its own difficulties as then you have the problem of "how do I know where to place the track to create parallel lines? (Probably easier if it snaps like parallel track does) How do I know when a curve is too tight for a platform? How do I join the the platforms together to form a single station? What is the capacity of this platform? How long is it? Will my train fit?

On the surface, they're not overly difficult questions to answer but it's how you implement them and the potentially fiddly nature of them that becomes a challenge. You'd have to have a ruler that stretches out to answer a lot of the questions as you build it (this platform is 200 metres long; it can hold 250 items, etc.).

If you could build stations like that, the game would open up far more potential than the current modular stations does, but it adds a lot more complexity to the build process. It doesn't mean you can't have "template" stations which behave similar to the current ones (Fixed width and length) but you will need to improve the build tools greatly. If done right, you could then also build stations above roads/on bridges or within tunnels.

Curved stations were probably easy because it was just bending a rectangle in a fixed and controlled way where the user couldn't meddle with the inner calculations of the building. You can't do that with modular stations as a modular station can have points and crossings within its build rectangle and the player can insert things which make the build difficult or impossible. These are much harder to cater for, especially considering the flexibility you have for developing pointwork with track in this game. A modular station doesn't necessarily also have to be one long platform; you can have two or more platforms on the same row. Again, something the old implementation didn't have to contend with.

Also keep in mind, no other railway game I can think of has curved stations, only TF1.

Very well reasoned response which I agree with. I also see the old adage of hiring a teenager whist they still know everything holds true!

[StarStreak2109]

While the modular station approach is an awesome idea, we know that the "old" system of configurable stations like in TpF1 also works. Hence any curvy station need NOT to be modular! Furthermore, I think enzojz has demonstrated with his underground station, his compact tunnel entry and the overpass that modular AND curvy infrastructure IS possible, albeit finicky and obviously hard to mod.

Having said this, WRT to necessity of curvy stations, I just have to say that NO, they are not a must, since NOTHING in this game is a must. Every train, every asset, every game play enhancement is NICE TO HAVE, thanks to the hard (and mostly unpaid) work of the modders.

However, for those of us, wanting to play the game not only for the game itself, but also for the visuals, say like a virtual model train set, curvy stations would be much appreciated, to enable to fit stations into tight spots without having to bulldoze half of a city. And looking at real life, you find that virtually no station is perfectly straight!