[Help Needed] Steelmill Won't Ship Steel?

[MittenMarauder]

1. Connected Iron Ore
   
2. Connected Coal
   
3. Produced Steel
   
4. Steelmill won't load on Ferry?

• Harbor highlights Steelmill.
  
• Trucks are obviously delivering to.
  
• Ferry is set to Steel.

Yet nothing is loading. I've skipped maybe 5-10 years just waiting for it to connect. What is going on? Is it me, or is it the game?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=848909082

As you can see, I've even tried making trucks deliver to the Harbor with a second truck stop. This setup works just fine for the Sawmill down the river.

[Kobe18883]

Have you completed the production chain? Steel to machine/goods factory, machine/goods to city?

[MittenMarauder]

Originally posted by Kobe18883:

Have you completed the production chain? Steel to machine/goods factory, machine/goods to city?

I've got a truck taking Tools (only) to the city (from the lumber chain) so I'd say yes?

[BuffHamster]

When you select the Harbor, does the Steelmill indicate that it is within it's catchment area? Not the Truck Station as cargo will not hop over from the Steelmill to the Harbor that way.

If the Harbor's catchment is not within the Steelmill's range it will not put it there. For that to work, you would need two Truck Stations (pickov and dropov) taking steel to the Harbor.

The Steel must have a destination as well, a Machine Facory or Goods Factory, then those Factories in turn need a destination for their products.

[MittenMarauder]

Originally posted by BuffHamster:

When you select the Harbor, does the Steelmill indicate that it is within it's catchment area? Not the Truck Station as cargo will not hop over from the Steelmill to the Harbor that way.

If the Harbor's catchment is not within the Steelmill's range it will not put it there. For that to work, you would need two Truck Stations (pickov and dropov) taking steel to the Harbor.

The Steel must have a destination as well, a Machine Facory or Goods Factory, then those Factories in turn need a destination for their products.

Just checked. Yes the Harbor is in the catchment area, even with 2 truck stations in the middle it doesn't do anything at all. Yes, there's a route with a truck too.

The supply line to the city with all steps in between is set too, as the receiving harbor to the same destination works just fine, and the city is getting materials from the factory.

The steel though, everything has been there for 20 years, and not moved 1 piece of cargo, despite there being 43 steel at the mill.

[BuffHamster]

And the ship has the ability to carry steel? The one pictured is for Passengers only. In 1904, only the Klondike (a paddlewheeler) is able to transport steel.

[MittenMarauder]

Originally posted by BuffHamster:

And the ship has the ability to carry steel? The one pictured is for Passengers only. In 1904, only the Klondike (a paddlewheeler) is able to transport steel.

Wilhelm I has been carrying cargo (logs) since it was available, and it lets me set it to Steel so I'd assume so.

EDIT: I assume you are referring to the Rigi which is passengers only, but the Wilhem I is. However, that class (Wilhem I) is no longer available for purchase so I can't put them side by side.

EDIT 2: Screenshot them from the purchase screen, and while in the shipyard.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=848971436

EDIT 3: Went to an older save just to check, and it lists Steel as an option.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=848973933

[BuffHamster]

Where is the Steel supposed to go? After it is delivered to the Factory, where do the finished products go? The Machine Factory needs Planks and Steel, or Steel and Plastic to make Tools and Machines. The Goods Factory needs Planks and Steel, or Steel and Plastic to make Goods. Those products in turn need to be delivered to the Town's Commercial and Industrial zones or their respective storage areas fill up and demand falls to zero.

Do you have a screenshot of the Line? or a screenshot of the Production chain?

I don't use the ships very much at all, as they are 1) mostly 'riverboats' and 2) from what I've read, a bit buggy.

To fix the problem you may need to create another route for the Steel with Trucks or Trains then switch back to the boats, ... I think. Expensive, but then again, the 'ships' also appear somewhat unreliable due to the Line frequency mechanic.

These topics have more about the issue (ships not transporting cargo):
http://steamcommunity.com/app/446800/discussions/0/154643085272063557/

http://steamcommunity.com/app/446800/discussions/0/143388132201002809/

http://steamcommunity.com/app/446800/discussions/0/154642321535695904/

http://steamcommunity.com/app/446800/discussions/0/154641879456776604/

As you can see, it isn't just Steel that has the problem, but 'ships' in general.

[MittenMarauder]

Hm, well I've made a few million over the time I've been waiting for this ferry to work, so I probably have enough money to build a train line.

I also tend to not use the boats, so was trying to force myself out of my comfort zone. It's weird it is totally fine with the logs though, with nearly an identical setup. At any rate, thanks for those links. It means I'm not going totally crazy.

[MittenMarauder]

So, just for giggles I made another ferry. I made ZERO changes, and now I have a Ferry running Steel.

[BuffHamster]

Originally posted by LeatherNeck2382:

So, just for giggles I made another ferry. I made ZERO changes, and now I have a Ferry running Steel.

Awesome, still a bit quirky though. Works one time, then it doesn't, then it does. Hopefully this will be fixed with the next update, not sure when that will be as it also appears that UG is looking for another Software Engineer: http://www.transportfever.com/about/urban-games/

[Maxik]

Just courious. How many ships you had before/now - what frequency you have/had? In my current hard game im using ships for 2 longish chains of fuel and ConMats (1880 - same ship as you). And had to lower frequency under 18-20 minutes to activate lines at all... Now i have 15 ships on each line, but with net profit ~800k/year each :)

Tried also one very long ship line, but that was not working even with 10min frequency. Ships are maybe little buggy....

[MittenMarauder]

Originally posted by Maxik:

Just courious. How many ships you had before/now - what frequency you have/had? In my current hard game im using ships for 2 longish chains of fuel and ConMats (1880 - same ship as you). And had to lower frequency under 18-20 minutes to activate lines at all... Now i have 15 ships on each line, but with net profit ~800k/year each :)

Tried also one very long ship line, but that was not working even with 10min frequency. Ships are maybe little buggy....

To answer your question, I had just one ship per line. When it started working for no reason, it was also just one ship. The ferry that was working from the start was doing roughly 1/3 of a large map, only when full.

The Steel line was a bit longer, and was maybe 1.5-2x the distance, also only when full. I literally had the original setup, and just saved before getting ready to exit the game. I figured I'd waste money on a new ship and away it went. I still have the save, so when I start the game up again, I'm gonna test the old ship vs a new one.

The only thing I can think of that makes a difference is the ship's maximum speed. There's only a 3 km/h difference between the new ship and the old. I don't think it makes that big of a difference, but maybe because of the distance it does?

EDIT: After some tests, it only works with the new ship. Very peculiar.

[BuffHamster]

Line Frequency is playing a major role then. That 3 km/h might be just a bit over the threshold to make it work.

[Maxik]

Eh, finaly reached 1898 in my current map (Large 1:5)... and remembered that Leather solved his problem with new ship... Well i kinda extended my working ship line for ConMats twice (to little more than 1/2 of map) and it stoped working... My new line had 18 old Wilhelm I ships (20km/h) and frequency 9min and it did not worked (quary refused to ship anything)... changed ships to 11 Klondikes (23km/h) got frequency up to 12min and it started to work :/

Its not only about frequency, it realy seems that Wilhelm have some hardcoded max distance or its a bug :o

[MittenMarauder]

Honestly, that would probably be my biggest gripe about the game. If there was more information, and/or tools available to predict production needs, things like this would be less problematic.

There is simply no way of knowing if something is too far, or too slow other than if it works or not. Sure, there's messages to increase line frequency, but that doesn't really tell you where the problem is. Are my trucks backed up? The ferry too slow? All of these things cost money, and recovering the money (especially early game with minimal or no loans) is futile.