A bus that doesn't stop doesn't cause delay to vehicles behind the bus. But mostly the advantage would be optical, resulting in an advantage of knowing quite quickly whether a stop is being used frequently or not.
Maybe I've been searching in the wrong place, but talking about the final version, where can I download this?
I searched on the forums, but the links to the German forums are at least a year old, Sourceforge has pak192 available, but they seem old(er) versions as well, with the most recent date being 2010-01-04.
Looking at this thread, it seems the final version appeared after April. Where to find this version?
Looks nice on the forums. But if you want one to test it in-game, then please upload the pak files. Alternatively, you can add images together with dat files, so paks can be created manually. Just png files are just images, but cannot be used in the game as is.
With new multicore CPUs from Intel single cores can be boosted when the other cores are hibernated with a sort of turbo function resulting in much faster processing compared to older CPUs with similar advertised core speeds...
There's pingtest.net now, it measures the stability of the connection as well as the response time. Some say this is even more important than speed for gaming online.
German nodel is the best for drivers, i can't get why it isn't replicated in other countries as well...
During my study as traffic planner/engineer I asked that question as well. Basically, it's due to a mix of reasons.
1: Laws. It needs some changes in law to allow Red-Yellow.
2: Education: In case a country changes, it requires a change in educational books, trainings, courses, and so on. That's costly.
3: Safety. Every crossing is different. On every crossing it takes different times before a crossing is cleared. That could be the time it takes for a car to cross a traffic light and get beyond the crossing, but also buses and trucks need to be taken into account. A controlled crossing can not let certain traffic flows cross each other. So a traffic light needs to stay Red until another flow has cleared and is stopped by a Red light.
A given is that some drivers will start driving when a light is Red-Yellow, but some will wait. If Red-Yellow appears, the other flows that might obstruct must have been stopped by a Red light and cleared at that time already. When most countries go Red to Green, countries like Germany will go Red-Yellow instead of Green, not instead of keeping Red longer.
Example on a simplified 1 minute cycle: Germany: Red 25s, Red-Yellow 2s, Green 28, Yellow 5s. Common: Red 25s, Green 30s, Yellow 5s.
Bonus : Some countries, like Belgium, use a "German" system for public transport, since trams and buses take longer to accelerate. For regular road traffic, they use a "Common" system.
When it comes to efficiency, there is not much difference, more efficiency can be reached by setting the cycles and it's timings well.
edit:
The Dutch Yellow blinking is to warm drivers about an "off-line" controlled crossing. Normal priority rules apply. In other countries it is also used during quieter moments. In Belgium there's even a difference between a Yellow blinking light on the middle (yellow) position and the Yellow blinking on the lower (green) position. In the latter case that light can be green (solid) or yellow (blinking). As some might expect, that's achieved with a yellow filter with a blue and a white light bulb and instead of a green filter with a white bulb. But the functions too far off-topic to explain.
I've still been studying on some programming languages, I am not done yet, so if it solely depends on me, it might take a while, but I really want to make it happen. The dat file is useful, until a certain extent, as it only points to basic information like introduction date, which rotation to use when, and that it is in fact a signal. In the source files, there are more settings like what kind of signal it is. That's I guess where to work needs to be done. Any help, would still be very useful.
[...] Je hebt het over parking lots. Zijn dat die gele vierkanten met een P erin? Werkt dat een beetje? Ik heb er geen ervaring mee. [...]
Ja, dat zijn die gele vierkanten met auto's er op. Sommige spelers vinden dit een soort van valsspelen, terwijl anderen er wel gebruik van maken. Ze zijn goedkoper dan veel andere haltes en zeker perrons, maar worden in de regel anders ingezet. Als je een station hebt met net te weinig dekking, dan plaats je er een parkeerplaats naast en is je dekking vergroot. Om de hele stad er mee te bedekken zodat de hele stad gedekt wordt door 1 station is ergens niet zo handig. Je kan daar namelijk ook inkomsten genereren door een bus te laten rijden, waar al snel geld mee verdiend kan worden, ondanks dat de bushaltes en de bus zelf duurder zijn dan alleen parkeerplaatsen.
When I saw those tiny houses, I wanted to click on them to see them full scale, not realising that it was full scale already. 32px would be better. I read that EA Games has a special version of Spore on facebook... maybe Simutrans 32px could have a start there too... accessible by millions of players one mouse-click away...
Since this topic has been silent, another related question. Can someone provide me with a dat file for a random rail signal? I really want to put effort in achieving what I want, but I sense some unwillingness since my question about signals and how to code a signal by myself. At least, if it's really not possible, let it be a waste of my own time. But I need to know where to start, and a good start would be a dat file of a random rail signal or a push in the right direction... Anyone?
Ik had eens een gokje gewaagd en alle steden op het vaste land met elkaar verbonden met treintjes, zonder industrie, maar met die 2 steden onderin. Elke stad 1 station van 4 tiles (sorry, ben het woord in het Nederlands vergeten) en de dekking met parking lots uitgebreid. Ik kreeg geen positieve balans. Wat mij wel opviel, is dat de steden relatief snel groeien als ze goed bediend worden. Maar zonder bankroet te gaan is dit een moeilijke map!
Het is een goede map. Leuk ook dat Vilvoh Nederlands probeert te lezen/schrijven, hetzij met een online translator. Erg goed dat er initiatieven zijn in het Nederlands, als je kijkt naar andere talen op het forum zie je dat deze veel actiever zijn... zou dat komen omdat Nederlands sprekenden zich gewoon makkelijker aanp****en en uitdrukken in een andere taal?
Would it be easier to keep the block reservation check like it is now, i.e. only a few tiles before a signal, but expand the check to the 2nd and 3rd block, and places a reservation if possible, but does not stop a train if the reservation on the 2nd and 3rd block fails? I'm willing to learn some programming. Basically, it would be a pre-signal but with an optional reservation rather than stopping a train until a whole 2 block reservation is made... By the way, I can't find a pre-signal in Pak96.comic, is that my bad?
Thanks for your replies. But still, I'm not totally satisfied. What I would like to know, is whether my proposal is technically possible using Simutrans' current source code? Now I'm asking anyways, can all code for this kind of signal be put in a dat+img=pak file (like vehicles) or do we need a full patch? And what language do I need to master to create a signal like this? Thanks in advance.
thanks for clarifying. Basically it's a mix between a presignal and a regular signal. A train stops in front of a presignal if the 2 following blocks cannot be reserved. The proposed signal will reservate the block until the next signal, and will reservate the 2nd following block but a train will not stop if it cannot be reservated inmediately, but continues and reserves the 2nd block as soon as the 2nd block becomes available...[color]
Concerns: Train/tram transportation. Issue: On intersections or where tracks merge it could be very useful if trains on a track get priority over a side track preventing delays on the main tracks. Idea: Long block signals could be recoded or a new kind of priority signal could be implemented to set priority on tracks. Current signals: Right now a signal checks and reserves a stretch of track until the next signal (or station). Signals that reserve 2 blocks ahead exist already, but the train stops until there are 2 blocks ahead available causing the train to stop too early. Solution: To create a priority signal that checks 2 blocks ahead, tries to reserve 2 blocks ahead, but if there is just 1 block available, then still allows proceeding until next signal. Optional: A check for the second block (with immediate reservation) regularly during the trip from the priority signal until the next signal. this is strongly preferred but may cause Simutrans to slow down severely... (coders, any feedback on this?)
Please feel free to discuss this further. I believe this is easier to implement than setting priorities to train/tram lines.
Maybe there can be taxis that have 0 running cost, can only carry 4 p****engers and could be coded as a bus. In that way it cannot be a full substitute for buses because if you have to substitute 40 p****engers/bus you'll need to have 10 taxis running... but for remote areas where buses are just not profitable it could work......
Matching reality is not always what's good for a game. Nobody would play games where it takes 12 hours in real life to see a plane fly 10,000km. It's always been solved by using multiple scales. When it comes to differences in traction and acceleration between steam engines and other engines, I think Simutrans Exp. is a great platform to give it a try!
Vehicles (esp. trains and a bit of planes) and management. And of course, it matches my previous studies. Also very important, the forums: a nice way to stay in touch with those obsessed with the same subjects as I am.
With the current range and charging times, I expect this system might only be usable on short distance-high capacity lines, like airports and such. When using on longer lines, it basically takes a charging station on every bus stop, quickly rising the cost of investments to be made to an extend where it's just not economical anymore.
That's the one yeah! I've got that one in my background folder somewhere on my hdd. But yours looks great! I don't want to take this too far off-topic, but how did you make this? I never got further than melting other pics together with some erasing and adding...
What I am curious about is where the last wallpaper has been found or whether it's been home-made. I may be wrong, but I have seen it before. Maybe it was on the ST forums itself, but still, I am curious.
I'm still leeching around here, but I'm starting to feel I need to PM again... Thanks! 
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Nederlands (Dutch) / Re: Angsthaas - challenge