infuriating

[ciel]

i have almost 70 hours and i still can't get any of the 2000 trips achievements. i have some reliable strategies. i understand arterial and collector. but nothing really results in a strong enough road system. the amount of roads i'm given, even choosing only 30 road tile upgrades, the random placement of destinations always ends up doing something that feels incredibly spiteful. and i usually like dramatically random elements in games. randomness that's not making me think "if this happens, i can respond this way," it makes me think "i really hope this doesnt happen" my cars will never live in peace.

[The Queen Salis]

here's some help for you. There is an auto-save feature in the game, but you need to forcefully exit the game (clicking the X on the window) to go a bit back in time as you "continue" on launch. Going to Main Menu overwrites the save so you can use it as manual save.

You can try preventing certain placements by blocking some ways with the spare roads.

Try playing the map challenges, some of them are actually much easier for 2000, some are harder, but try each at least once.

[🦊 Hermit]

Segregate everything. Keep colours completely separate as much as possible, and even separate multiple destinations of the same colour if you are able. On the double destinations, have one colour coming in one end and the other on the other end, so they interact and block each other as little as possible. And if you absolutely have no other option than to cross colours, use a roundabout to do it if at all you can, as that's the most efficient junction type.

Cars will slow down when they approach a junction with another road, but they won't slow if they pass the driveway of another house which connects directly onto the road they're travelling on. So where possible, try to have just a single road with all the houses connecting directly onto it in a line, rather than multiple 'clumps' of houses with roads coming from each and intersecting. Even if you have to wind the road a little rather than going direct, it can be worth it, as all those tiny slow points can add up over the course of a long game (wind within reason though - if you're using 10+ extra tiles that may be a bit much).

Don't be afraid to spawn block, but be wary of doing it all over the place, because if the game can't find a place to spawn an industry when it tries, it'll just increase demand at one of the already existing industries instead. I find it useful to block the edges of lakes and rivers so you always have access to put a bridge over the water if required. When blocking long thin areas, just use a dotted line of roads - - - - as that uses less tiles. And if blocking a large open area, try to stagger the roads diagonally so you block any possible '6 tile' spawn area for industries, but use the minimum amount of roads doing so. Like this:

\ / \ / \ /

\ / \ / \ /

\ / \ / \ /

Also if you do block, remember that houses and other industries will never spawn within 1 block all around an already spawned industry. So you don't need to use up tiles blocking off those spaces directly adjacent. In fact, it can be handy to route your roads around industries at 1 tile distance just as a matter of course, because this simultaneously blocks spawns and also enables other cars to reach destinations, making the most efficient use of that area. If you ever have a long stretch of road with empty space to one or either side of it, try putting blocking roads every three spaces along it's length to prevent an industry spawning directly connected to the road and messing up your spacing/segregation.

Just a few things I've learned from my playing, hope they might help a little.

[The Queen Salis]

I usually leave rectangles for Destinations, just do that where I WANT them to go.

[🦊 Hermit]

That can work at times, but I often find if you try to micromanage too much the game will just ignore you and end up killing your run. For example, it may spawn a house in the rectangle you left instead of a destination, meaning that it then can't find any spot to spawn said destination because all else is blocked, so it just starts upping demand at one of the already existing spots to the point where it's impossible to keep up and the game ends prematurely.

While I will sometimes try to make the game do more specifically what I want it to, I find I usually have more success if I just block off the most problematic spawns and leave the rest to develop more organically, trying to work around the game's choices as it makes them.

[The Queen Salis]

Originally posted by 🦊 Hermit:

That can work at times, but I often find if you try to micromanage too much the game will just ignore you and end up killing your run. For example, it may spawn a house in the rectangle you left instead of a destination, meaning that it then can't find any spot to spawn said destination because all else is blocked, so it just starts upping demand at one of the already existing spots to the point where it's impossible to keep up and the game ends prematurely.

While I will sometimes try to make the game do more specifically what I want it to, I find I usually have more success if I just block off the most problematic spawns and leave the rest to develop more organically, trying to work around the game's choices as it makes them.

Well I just despise my cities to not be on a strict grid so it's more for personal reasons XD

[🦊 Hermit]

lol well if that's how you prefer to play then far be it from me to judge