Income lower than expect from very long journey

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Income lower than expect from very long journey

May 09, 2009, 04:29:22 pm

Hi

Its 1806 in PAK64 so I'm limited to horse and carts with speeds of 20/25kph

It always seemed profitable to haul over ever increasing distances. Why take wood to a nearby sawmill when I could haul it across the map to a distant station then back again. But my latest route, and longest, is hardly making any money. The wagons are loaded 100% and no hold ups. The route is shaped like a giant 'C', with no stops.

Looking at the income earned when opening the schedule of various vehicles at different points of the route shows that income peaks about half way along the route then declines slowly..even though the wagons have travelled further towards their destination.

So my question. Is the income calculation based on the difference between starting and ending coordinates rather than actual tiles travelled?

Re: Income lower than expect from very long journey

Reply #1 – May 09, 2009, 06:24:05 pm

You have precisely figured it out. The most profitable route will be shaped like an uppercase L or I, as the distance between the starting and ending factories is used (not diagonally, but the offset for X and Y are added together).

The good news for where you're playing is that it shouldn't hurt to route through cities at this point - the convois won't exactly slow down... ;-) Although if you're routing around mountains, you may wish to consider tunnels and other options - which are, of course, expensive.

Re: Income lower than expect from very long journey

Reply #2 – May 09, 2009, 10:53:56 pm

Thank you Isaac.Eiland-Hal for confirming this.

I decided to keep my route and returned it to profitability by adding a station halfway. This broke the 'C' in half creating two journeys each roughly 'L' shaped and each calculated separately.

Checked all vehicles for profitability. The best were all on the same line, and similar lines were the best,: Dead straight, no waiting, full loads both ways (wood and planks)

Re: Income lower than expect from very long journey

Reply #3 – May 10, 2009, 12:55:33 am

Some consider this cheating -- I don't. It's a game to play however you like. (I usually play with -freeplay, anyway, as I don't care about money)

(The only reason I mention this is in case you ever get involved in one of the rare contests or cooperative games that sometimes happen...)

Glad I could help.