CO setup?

[Bermag]

I am going to start using construction offices in a non-realistic game (to learn the mechanics and also save money). But also asking for when I start a new game with realistic settigns from start.

What is your recommended setup?

- Number of CO?
- Which vehicles in each? Specialization?
- How far from building area ?
- Storage setup ? Near CO or building area?

[Fekin]

As I've only come back to the game a couple of weeks back, I'm still learning what works best for me.

I'll build the free open storage and aggregate storage within around 400 meters from my main planned area to develop with distribution offices close to the border to fill the storage's.

I build the 7 free construction offices side by side relatively close to the storage's which have space for 4 vehicles each somewhere between the border and the planned development area.

I tend to have roughly the following 28 vehicles between them all. I don't specialise them.

3 cement mixers
5 or 6 open hull trucks
1 closed hull truck
3 bulldozers
2 or 3 excavators
3 busses for workers
3 or 4 cranes (road and tower versions)
4 or 5 dumper trucks

I believe now that construction offices can be selected manually to build anything beyond the 3500 meter range so placement isn't as vital as it was a couple of years ago (I think).

Once I've got the first main area built I'll then build large construction offices to replace the 7 small free ones to have even more building scope, and upgrade the storage's too.

[MrKrabs]

I would put a few busses with street cranes in an extra one with autosearch off.
ThanI you can send personal only to those constructions where material has been delivered already.

This way you won't waist any workforce especially when they are from abroad.

[ulzgoroth]

I've found that smaller COs have painfully little room to work with if they're trying to cover all bases, so I'd be tempted to only build big ones except when intentionally specializing.

(Or, presumably, using the free ones.)

A particularly obvious specialization option is a road-building CO with bulldozers/pavers/rollers, lots of dump trucks, and just a couple flatbeds and 1-2 small buses. (Have not done this.)

[Bermag]

Specialize by type of construction (and/or construction phase) or by mechanisms used? Or does it not matter at all (i.e. having all in one large CO is just as good). Is it more efficient with several smaller CO compared to fewer large ones?

I guess separating depending on if workers are required might be a starting point so you don't send workers out when you can use mechanisms only. But not so sure whoich kind of construction works require workers or not (finish buildings?)

[Bermag]

I played around with it a bit. I had one CO with bus/cranes (and covered for those cases you need street lamps etc) and one 24 spot CO for rest. I found out this didn't work so well. For example excavators got sent to road work.

Having a dedicated road CO seems to be a good choice. Also maybe having a dedicated material transport (dumpers/open hulls) CO which is close to sources is maybe a good idea.

[Grimnir]

What I learned is that the free construction offices has one goal only: to build some proper construction offices. Either you can go straight for the large one with 24 slots, or you can go for one with 16 slots and one with 6 slots.

Personally I go for the later, this is because I like to have 4 excavators and two open hull trucks in the 6 slot CO. This CO's only purpose is to ferry the excavators to their construction site, so I don't set any resource sources there.

In the CO with 16 slots I put dumpers, open hull, closed hull, contrecte trucks, road cranes and busses.

These two CO's will never do road work or foot paths.

Recently I have also storted building a small gravel industry and a concrete plant, this is to minimize traffic at border.

The free CO's I keep for a while but only for roads.

[noirdelire]

Originally posted by Bermag:

I am going to start using construction offices in a non-realistic game (to learn the mechanics and also save money). But also asking for when I start a new game with realistic settigns from start.

What is your recommended setup?

- Number of CO?
- Which vehicles in each? Specialization?
- How far from building area ?
- Storage setup ? Near CO or building area?

Well...

Everyone its solution, but I use few non specialized big COs. Typicaly, I build just one 24 CO near my futur city, and I help with 6 free COs for the starting process. If needed, I also call COs from neightbor town to boost some heavy stuffs.

I put 4 speedy tiny busses, 4 big dumpers, 4 small road cranes, 2 excavators, 2 ciment mixers, 5 open hull trucks, 1 medium covered truck, 1 paver and 1 roller. All of this with decent top speed and the most powerfull engine I can raisonably pay.

For the rest, I adapt to the situation. I put my storage in connection with the trains, and my main concern about the train/truck hub is to optimize the delivery for factories and citizens.

Also COs don't polutes, so I use them as buffers between home and factories.

[Galuan]

For me free CO works well. I have 3 specialisations, 1st is for 40 people buses, 2nd for 8 people buses, 3d for rest. First, I assign the 3rd group to the construction site. When they bring all the materials and complete the ground work, I send the 1st or 2nd group.

I carry out all construction with free CO. I am building a permanent one only to service the constructed buildings.

The number of trucks for materials depends not only on the distance from the loading site to the construction site, but also on the number of loading spaces. Once I saw a queue of 10 dump trucks loading crushed stone. After that, I attach additional loading spaces to the crushed stone storage areas.

[Stele]

Certainly keep one group for roads with bulldozers and roadcranes and second group for large buildings with excavators and tower cranes.
I'm also separating by size. Small CO with roadcranes, microbuses and trucks with 4-5t load dedicated for odd jobs like substations to not waste large trucsk running almost empty.