Is there a way to automate loading cargo

[alexwiseman49]

I love this game, and I've played it for a while now. The only problem I find is after a while it becomes more of a crane clicker game than a train driving game which gets old. My question is, has anyone thought of a way to better automate this process like a macro or something? I want to enjoy playing again but the constant crane clicking for each individual unit is really holding this game back for me (don't even get me started on loading box cars with tools)

[LokiSOB]

It is planned in the roadmap that at some point there will be a possibility with automatic cranes.

[Knsgf]

Speaking of being realistic, train crews didn't load their wagons - workers at industry did.

[Ghost666]

Originally posted by Knsgf:

Speaking of being realistic, train crews didn't load their wagons - workers at industry did.

Originally posted by Wingnut:

Yeah, but manually loading yourself is more realistic than it being automated or as it is done now.

If the loading was automated then players will want it done instantly, so they arent standing around with nothing to do. How realistic would that be?
Whereas manually doing the loading yourself will give the player something to do rather than just click and will take time. Win/win in my book :)

actually no, clicking on the crane once and have it load 3 or 6 of whatever it is you are loading would be more realistic, as it would simulate the "workers" of the industries

[DishDoggie]

I like the Idea of 2 A.I. Railroad Workers standing by the Crane's for my First 2 empty cars to pull up and start being loaded automatic. Turn it ON/OFF in the Menu if you play Multiplayer if you desire. I like the Idea of Automatic Unloading the same way. Why do we always have to be forced to play like the Realism is the Holy Grail of all game play and we must all play as the One Party One Rule Purest Demand we play the only way is their way or be run out of town on a Rail. lol funny but true. A game can have OPTIONS and not ruin The way you want to play.

[Paul Simnel]

There is a potential problem with automatic loading (and in some cases unloading), in that sometimes (in the same game session) you might want autoloading and sometimes not. For example, if you pull your train up to the sawmill to load Beams, you don't want it to automatically load lumber as the cars go past, you'd at least want to be able to turn the setting off in the same session (i.e. not just a game session option). So it might be the case that you'd have to turn on the auto loading on the crane(s) you want to do the loading when you arrive.

SnowRunner has both one click and manual crane control to load cargo, controlling the crane is interesting the first couple of times, but you don't want to have to do it 12 times in a row to load a full train. The only reason I still use the crane in that game is for the logistics of having to have the crane there, those occasions when you are transferring or recovering cargo away from a loading dock, and the one click loading cost in game money. Another thing is that in SnowRunner the number of loads is much smaller (in terms of the number of items to load) and the time to traverse the map is often much longer relative to the loading times, and still the novelty of manually controlling cranes wears off pretty quickly.

For RRO, I agree with Ghost666 that the best way to speed up loading (considering the current state of the game) and not have it take up a disproportionate amount of play time is to have it so the cranes can be upgraded to load more than one item at a time. The loading process is still represented (represented rather than simulated), the process is sped up for the player, without having the cranes have to move faster (which would be visually jarring (I didn't say unrealistic because we aren't really dealing with realism here, more gameplay and feel/experience)). For the tools other option(s) would be (i) definitely two loading points (ii) replace the cranes with a conveyer that you pull down, animated crates (non-physical items) move along, and physical crates drop off the end into the car (like the balls/blocks of iron ore/coal drop off the chute at the mines), so you can get a faster rate (1 every 2 or 3 seconds) without faster cranes. There might need to be a way to set the number of items to load per crane action, since the capacity of all cars doesn't always divide by 2, 3 or 4 into an integer, and other car might have different capacities.

As for manually controlled cranes in RO, (in my opinion) HELL NO (not to be offensive, I respect the opinion of others, just to emphasise that it is my strong opinion). That's for a different game. Some representation of loading is fine, but otherwise let's get on with running trains on the tracks we built to the industries. It could be an option, but options take development time and I don't think that's the best way to spend the development resources, since most players seam to want the loading process sped up (even at the expense of realism), not be more interactive and time consuming. Maybe it could be added for the 10th anniversary gold edition, celebrating 10 years since RRO v1.0 was released (the rest of us being on v3.2 or RRO by then), but that's about where I'd put manual loading in the priority list. Loading multiple items with the current (but upgraded) cranes would also need some development, but it's still based on the current game mechanics, not a new mechanic so I'm assuming (could be wrong) wouldn't be as much development effort as a mechanism for controllable cranes.

Just my opinion, I acknowledge that others have different opinions and different features they want to see, which are equally valid for the way they want to play. I am willing to consider them, but ultimately it's up to the developers on the feedback they want to take into account, and the direction they take.

[Paul Simnel]

Originally posted by Wingnut:

That isnt realistic at all.
1. You dont load 3 or 6 of 'whatever' at a time, you load 'one' at a time even with cranes.

Also, if you search for "crane loading pipes" on google, and you'll see plenty of images of single pipe loads on cranes, but also plenty of images of bundles of multiple pipes in the same crane load, including modern images. So a single crane load of more than one item/rigid body at a time is realistic. There can be issues with it as you pointed out, but it was and is still done. The units of cordwood in RRO are already a bundle of multiple small logs.

[Samueras]

I would prefere it to have it click only once. Because that way, i could alreay go back to the engine and move it. It would save a lot of time. But i agree in that it isn't the best solution. I'm just surprised that nobody has written a mod that does something like that.

[Troz]

check out the cranes K used in his original RR game, those are sweet ;)

[Flare]

Originally posted by Troz:

check out the cranes K used in his original RR game, those are sweet ;)

Are you talking about the standard gauge version of American Railroads, or the narrow gauge version?

[alexwiseman49]

So what I'm seeing from this conversation is, nobody has currently modded or macroed or otherwise found a way around the single unit click cranes, and we're all just waiting for a distant future update.

[Troz]

@Flare: I have not played either but i had seen videos on American Railroads store page on Steam showing really sweet steam powered crane cars. It looked like loading flat cars was even more involved(slower) than now, not very practical maybe, but i thought they looked awesome.
Personally, i don't mind the loading with cranes, gives a good break from driving. With 2 on a train in mp it is way easier and is actually fun. That said, i suppose it would be ok to have auto loading optional on the server side. For now i'd just like performance fixed ;)

[Akari_Enderwolf]

I'd rather upgrade to have it either load more than one at a time to "simulate" the workers, or otherwise just let me upgrade to have the workers who can load faster than me, because I'd rather stay in the locomotive while loading and just pull forward as needed to continue loading.

I should note, I'm playing this solo because I'm the only one in my friend group who actually has the game. Upgrades like that would benefit solo players, and could be something that can be turned on or off if playing multiplayer. It gives options, and having options is a good thing in game design.

[Akari_Enderwolf]

Originally posted by Wingnut:

Personally speaking one of the major selling points of this game is being able to get out of the cab and do other things, unlike most train simulators where you are stuck in the cab all the time droning from station to station ie train simulator X. That i find boring.
Loading cargo is one of the reasons you have to get out of the cab and interact with something else beside the loco controls.
A variety of things to do is what makes a good game imo, while just doing the same thing all the time is boring.
Having to manually load cargo (more than just a click) would improve the gameplay and reduce the boredom of just driving all the time. If all you did was operate cranes then it would be boring but as a part of a gameplay loop i dont think it would be boring.

For those who think such manual loading would just be a waste of time and want the loading to be done instantly i would say: 'its a game, there is no rush. Especially if youre driving a Shay :)'

Variety is the spice of life.

And this brings up an adjacent point. I think the speed with which the industries produce and process goods is far too quick. Eg the logging camp produces logs as quickly as they can be load, kind of crazy level of production especially for late 1800s. Seems like everything and everybody is in such a rush.
I think player control options for industries would be a good thing to add.

Just my opinion

Nobody is saying that you yourself have to use the upgrades, as you said "Variety is the spice of life" just because you enjoy doing the loading, doesn't mean everyone does, and something that can make loading easier for solo players like me is a good thing.

Just because a system is in a game doesn't mean you are required to use it. I would personally be annoyed if the production was slowed down on most of the industries, maybe not the logging camp, that one can be slower, but the rest I think are fine as is.

Either way, more options for how to play are just that, OPTIONS, you don't see people saying that 7 Days to Die is bad for having a Difficulty system where you can adjust various aspects individually, usually it's other reasons if someone says that game is bad. If Railroads Online were to implement something like that, I'd be fine with it, like letting people adjust the speed of loading as a difficulty config.

[Akari_Enderwolf]

Originally posted by Wingnut:

And as an option it would be nice to have proper manual loading (as an operate the crane like in Stormworks) so players can decide how realistic and immersive they want the game to be.

I mean, for me it's immersive enough without that, but yea, having that as an option for people who want it would be good.

[Flare]

Originally posted by Troz:

@Flare: I have not played either but i had seen videos on American Railroads store page on Steam showing really sweet steam powered crane cars. It looked like loading flat cars was even more involved(slower) than now, not very practical maybe, but i thought they looked awesome.
Personally, i don't mind the loading with cranes, gives a good break from driving. With 2 on a train in mp it is way easier and is actually fun. That said, i suppose it would be ok to have auto loading optional on the server side. For now i'd just like performance fixed ;)

The Log Loader in American Railroads is an experience for sure, and I agree that I'd like this game's bugs stomped out before new content arrives.