Did you ever use the traffic light?

[Goser]

I mean seriously. I am in almost every map at the top 1% but never ever used one single traffic light

So did you?

[coenvijge]

Yes, but only in exceptional situations (i.e. to regulated a crossroad with low traffic).

[EMAPhil]

I started to use again recently as the behaviour appears to have been tweaked. still prefer roundabouts if there's room.

[🦊 Hermit]

They do have uses, but are a much lower priority than many other options. So occasionally when I'm given options for upgrades if the other option isn't useful I may pick them up, and then if I have them then I may as well use them. However the chance of me having them is very small.

[victor_jajaja]

What do you guys think it's the best option to place them? On high traffic crossroads or low ones?

[🦊 Hermit]

The ideal is to avoid intersections entirely by segregating all colours and having houses join directly on to a road, so traffic doesn't slow down when passing them. But if that isn't possible, then roundabouts are the way to go in any junction.

I use traffic lights solely for situations where roundabouts won't fit. But even there it's very situational, depending on the junction layout and traffic volume from each approaching road. For example if most of the traffic is straight through and the alternate route only triggers occasionally, then having the traffic light in there to stop the cars slowing down on approach to the junction can gain a small amount of time, which adds up in the longrun.

But if the lights are switching constantly and cars are waiting often, then it can be beneficial to remove the lights and let them sort it out themselves. The time lost from their slowing down as they approach the junction might be less than the time lost while they sit waiting for the green light.

[eram]

top 1 % are hacked scores so how do you do that legit? :)

[Goser]

Originally posted by eram:

top 1 % are hacked scores so how do you do that legit? :)

sry but that´s bull**** But of course there a some hacked scores.

I just do the maps again again and again. All i try is getting short ways and not mixing car colors. If you got a good spawn it will do the trick. Also i'm blocking spawns in the beginning for a better pattern.

[🦊 Hermit]

The top 1% actually covers quite a large range of scores. I'm pretty sure I have 1% on a couple of maps, 2 or 3% on most others, and all of my scores are in the 4-6k range. So while the very highest scores on the leaderboard may be hacked, it doesn't mean that every score which is classed as being in the top 1% is.

[victor_jajaja]

Of course roundabouts and not mixing colorurs are better (almost impossible when you reach 1500), but been trying to focus on the traffic lights effect on traffic and can't really tell if they improve it or make it even worse.

[🦊 Hermit]

They can improve it, in certain situations, yes. When approaching a junction, cars will slow down slightly as they go through it. However if it has lights on it and their path is green, they will not reduce their speed, and so will reach their destination slightly quicker. So if the layout of the junction and the frequency of cross traffic allows for this, they can over time increase efficiency a notable amount.

This is especially true where the return journey to their home can be green most of the time, for example. Since it's the return trip, all cars approaching the junction from that side will gain a speed boost not just those approaching from the one fork - they will all get back home a little bit faster, and so will be ready quicker for their next journey.

But it is also true that this benefit can turn into a negative if the road junction doesn't suit the light, or if there is too much traffic. Then the lights flicker too frequently, cars are held up waiting for their turn to go, and the delay can end up being more than what a car would lose by just approaching an unmarked junction slowly and picking their own path. So you can't really give a blanket answer of 'they help' or 'they hinder', you have to take each individual situation separately and evaluate it on the fly.

[spielerinchen]

i prefer roundabout over traffic lights but there are some good players who prefer the opposite. both will cause a chokepoint when the traffic heats up. it always depends how you play, how you block, how long you allow yourself to ponder over a situation, what your personal strategy is.
that's what makes this game so great. very simple but impactful strategic decisions are possible & necessary.
i personally will never belong to the regular top 1%, my patience is not big enough, but i know that it's my personal limitation i set & not that there are no options to improve.

i use traffic lights when a feeding house appears along the way where an unperturbed traffic was flowing, it's not optimal but it's still better than to just feed in without. & at some point in game you'll need EVERY feeding house & can't afford the luxury to just not to feed in. & a roundabout is in most cases just not possible due to its extent. & at some point you will start to wish you had at least a traffic light for some points. at other points in time, nothing can save a situation cause the flow is so choked up.

[victor_jajaja]

Yeah. Anyway, with Workshop or with developers' updates, we could have more content: crossing roads on highway or tunnels, one-way roads, better AI on the cars to know what roads the should take and not just the shorter one, ferry's and a long etcetera.

I think next update is coming on june/july.

[spielerinchen]

Originally posted by victor_jajaja:

Yeah. Anyway, with Workshop or with developers' updates, we could have more content: crossing roads on highway or tunnels, one-way roads, better AI on the cars to know what roads the should take and not just the shorter one, ferry's and a long etcetera.

I think next update is coming on june/july.

"more content" like more road options, that's extremely doubtful, since MM is not a traffic manager or any kind of city builder but an abstract strategy game reduced to a quite minimalist level. it's been that way since its beginning & the updates so far were at best only improving the performance of what already is in the game. any new addition was about maps & conditions of gameplay limitations.
regarding the cars AI, that's up to you to know how it functions, it spawns the next available, even if the road is far away. the smartness should be provided on your part & result in building smarted roads. instead of wishing for more types of roads you should come up with better solutions within the limits of the currently available.