Roads

Comments: 42

• 03 Oct, '21
  jack lockwood

  Also be great to be able to get liquid concrete from the mixers and have the trucks deliver it to be poured for roads

• 30 Dec, '21
  saimons

  would be great if it just used the terraforming tools, so just give access to ability to dump gravel and asphalt.
  give trucks a speed bonus if driving on gravel, and a greater one on asphalt, so could dig out and lay down roads or entire paved areas.

• 31 Dec, '21
  Khaim

  Roads should remain optional (and probably midgame at earliest). But otherwise I agree.

• 26 Jan, '22
  Evgeny

  Yes! And also to make vehicles get stuck in the mud if it's raining!

• 03 Jun, '22
  Berethain

  I like the maintenance reduction idea! They should definitely stay optional overall though. There might need to be some form of path weighting so that you can tell your trucks to use a more optimal route to reduce travel time vs more indirect route using roads to reduce maintenance costs.

• 05 Jun, '22
  DudeDesigns

  Looking at it the roads should make traveling for the trucks faster compared to the ground/dirt. and tunnels or something for large mountains or hills. and as mentiond have waiting areas for trucks at idle and loading zones on roads maby

• 06 Jun, '22
  Mimp

  I was a bit shocked that there weren't roads yet. To expand on Evgeny's idea there could also be tow trucks that could help get trucks/equipment out of the mud but also resupply maintenance like fuel.

• 07 Jun, '22
  Eric

  I do love how the trucks create gravel "roads" on their own. That way you can nicely see where there is a lot of traffic.
  As roads would be grid based, they might look a bit unreal.
  I like the idea of a boost on roads though.
  I quickly forgot about roads, it doesn't bother me that there are none.

• 08 Jun, '22
  Darkaiser

  This could be yet another tech to research and upgrade.
  
  Starting game is as we have it now. After we can make gravel, a tech option should open up for gravel roads. After Research 2, asphalt roads made with petroleum and crushed slag. Trucks could get a speed boost on gravel roads and another speed boost AND reduction in maintenance for asphalt.

• 11 Jun, '22
  l2plur

  One more thing, roads should not be able to be obstructed e.g. cant buildconveyer ramps on them etc. I want them to be a permanent pathway for trucks no matter how much "spaghetti" is all around it

• 12 Jun, '22
  Rocket Man

  Just something to keep in mind between concrete and tarmac roads. In real life tarmac/asphalt is used because it is cheaper, but requires more upkeep in the long run. Concrete produces stronger and higher quality roads, but is ridiculously expensive in comparison to tarmac. This strength also means a lot less potholes and upkeep.

• 17 Jun, '22
  Andrew

  Speed of trucks should be a game mechanic… quality and design of roads…
  
  Would be nice to include traffic heat map similar to Sim City 4.
  
  IRL info on road speed impact on macro economics: https://blogs.imf.org/2022/06/15/where-are-the-worlds-fastest-roads/

• 23 Jun, '22
  Jimmidii

  I like the idea of roads being something that emerge naturally, like the previous comment that different surfaces have different speeds (and add in that they have different pathing costs, so that vehicles are encouraged to tend towards more efficient routes).
  
  This way the player could use the existing dumping mechanic to construct roads in a similar way to the way they're constructed in real life, without ever having to specifically build a 'road', similar to the way the existing dumping mechanic can be used to create underground pipes, without ever having to specifically build underground pipes.
  
  As an aside, I love that the existing mechanic of vehicles killing off grass and displacing sand already gives the player an excellent indication of where they should construct roads, however (if) they end up being implemented.

• 04 Jul, '22
  Garidus

  When I first thought about roads in this game. I thought about a network like housing that trucks prioritize for pathing, and the creation of semi trucks that can only drive on roads, but can move large quantities of products from one cargo depot to another cargo depot directly connected to the road network. I also thought the road network would need its own maintenance depot connected directly to the road network, that would require a different recipe for the maintenance, like iron for rebar, and concrete, and eventually need tar and things for asphalt and tarmac.

• 12 Jul, '22
  Jared

  You can also go a very basic route allowing you to lay out roads with unity. They won't improve speed or help maintenance, but they'll prevent you from building anything other than ramps on them and give a better look to your colony. Without this, what I currently do is use dumping designation on flat land and then purposely not build across it.

• 17 Jul, '22
  Anton

  Perhaps a good solution would be to take the mechanics of "linking" to roads from an old game World War III: Black Gold. It is very well implemented there. If there is a road somewhere nearby, then cars try to get on it and move mainly along it.

• 18 Jul, '22
  guillaume Merged

  builds roads to make vehicles move faster

• 24 Jul, '22
  Captain Zuff Admin

  "road construction" (suggested by guillaume on 2022-07-18), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 08 Aug, '22
  ostlandr

  I like the idea, but not necessary. T1 road, made in mixer, requires gravel, makes X tiles of roads. T2, requires gravel and heavy oil. T3, concrete and steel.
  
  As to pathing, the trucks very nicely let you know where the busiest paths are- build roads there. That doesn't require any tweaks to the pathfinder. In my game, I noticed that the heavy haul trucks were taking a long detour around the farming area because of one pipeline. Put a ramp there, and was able to pull onoe haul truck off each route.

• 11 Aug, '22
  LordSmith

  Please dont put roads in this game. I love the way it works now there is no need for roads.

• 27 Aug, '22
  FabianM

  I suppose that the use of roads and paths built by the user could significantly improve the performance of the pathfinding algorithm globally.

• 03 Sep, '22
  tigertank909

  i like it but its still not a requirement if placed the vehicles move faster and the AI would rather use it then the sand or dirt

• 28 Oct, '22
  Stephen Nicholas

  Maybe "rather" just being able to designate routes by laying down a path on a layer that can be hidden.

• 30 Oct, '22
  gurubm

  Roads would be so awesome. Optionally, yes, midgame, yes. But with a considerable speed boost, please. And I want them big with several lanes and different vehicle categories. E.g. the excavator remains slow, citizens in cars move fastest. It probably will primarily scratch that itch to get more order into the logistics.

• 26 Nov, '22
  James Smith

  Roads are a good thing. mid to late game you would spend resources on them for their upkeep and construction. As for the start of your game a tool to lay out the travel paths for the vehicles using unity as a cost for very simple roads that would late be upgraded to roads with sped up travel on them

• 09 Dec, '22
  Nickelob Ultra

  Here's another thought: what about layers of roads? Think bridges, tunnels, etc. Tunnels will require excavating and if it's made out of softer materials it'll collapse. Bridges or raised roads/highways can add layers of complexity.

• 01 Jan
  Gr8scotto

  I think the roads could be added to enhance the overall focus of the game. I read that roads were deliberately avoided for the early release, which I think was the 'right' approach for now. My suggestion would be level 1 dirt, 2 gravel, ,3 asphalt/blacktop, and 4 concrete roads. This "branch" of the roadmap (no pun intended) could include new vehicle types that would have to be developed as well: Graders, Bulldozers, perhaps even a road paving machine at research level 4. In tandem, development of asphalt having to be made in a Mixer could be added. Each tier of road (dirt, gravel, asphalt/blacktop, concrete) could provide different speed bonuses to the trucks. The roads should probably be limited to those 4 types, and limited to "simple" 2 lane roads not anything complex like 4-lanes, highways, etc. Basically the roads could "compliment" the industrial focus of the game without overwhelming it. Building roads could involve dumping the product along a game-grid path?

• 06 Jan
  Stephen Nicholas

  I really do not see why you would need roads? Yet like how the trucks AI work already, infect designing to allow for this is fun.

• 11 Jan
  Nexi

  i also like the idea of adding something from the start of the game just called "marking" or something like that. just allows the player to say where the trucks drive with no construction and the autogenerating roads just go where you want instead of spidering with truck AI

• 18 Apr
  Vladovlak

  yes, yes, yes i want it :)

• 13 May
  mathias

  i wouldn't bring roads in this game as it takes space in your blocks, so you cant build anyhthing on these roads, i find it really good that there are no roads to build, would make this game even harder with so less space to build. you dont need roads in this game

• 02 Jun
  Архаон

  Да, это просто прекрасное предложение. Оно позволит не просто улучшить внешний вид острова, а позволит структурировать на районы, участки, зоны в застройке фабрик. Так же это большое поле для новых механик, начиная с механиками постройки самих дорог, производства, хранения и доставки материалов для них, и добавляя идеи по улучшению скорости транспортных средств, уменьшения поломок.
  
  Yes, it's just a great suggestion. It will allow not only to improve the appearance of the island, but will allow structuring into districts, plots, zones in the building of factories. It's also a big field for new mechanics, starting with the mechanics of building the roads themselves, producing, storing and delivering materials for them, and adding ideas to improve the speed of vehicles, reduce breakdowns.

• 06 Jun
  Rob

  I quite like the current aspect of the road creation. Just add buffs and nerfs to the materials that have been laid, I.E +40% Movement speed on gravel, +60% Movement speed on Tarmac/ -60% Movement speed on Waste. And add tarmac to the game if not already done so :)

• 09 Jun
  RB-99

  Well, I like the idea, just going to be hard.
  as with the current truck, AI it's finding the quickest path to the location....so you have to add another array part saying that the new item(roads) has a better speed than say driving over a coal patch.
  
  plus speed isn't really an issue due to sand, dirt, and ore having the same speed stat
  and the only issue is the Grade of the incline and other factors.

• 28 Jun
  cy-one

  Considering the real world recipe, getting a dumpable material (black, yellow and white for proper road markings XD) made from gravel, sand/manufactured sand and heavy oil would be awesome!
  Personally I don't care about bonusses to speed and/or fuel usage (though it would make sense compared to driving offroad all the time), as long as the surface has a bonus _to pathfinding_ so that cars actually use roads over going offroad just because it's 5 cells shorter ;)

• 01 Jul
  PC2023

  Personally I dont want roads. It would remove one of the unique aspects of this game

• 04 Jul
  RB-99

  hi, I like the idea.
  but at the current build, the trucks make a dirt road of ways if they keep using the same path repeatedly.
  speed boosting will be cool, but at the current state, they have to account for some level of item loss as it speeds down the new road.

• 11 Jul
  Captain Amazing

  I like to use roads to help me organize my factory too. Farms in this grid. Food production over in that grid. Oil production down near the water in that grid. All neatly defined by nice looking roads. Also helps me decide where to plop bridges or dig pipe trenches. I wish there were better early game road survey tools to get things planned.

• 19 Jul
  Welkrip

  Hello! Anyway, I wanted to write something here. Many people write that buffs should be set to 40/60%, but this is terribly high. Trucks in the game, as it is now, already drive very fast, and if you underestimate their speed, then the game at the start will be very long and tedious. Increasing the speed by 60% will make the game not very realistic. BUT!
  
  1) I can allow this if I create a highway. A straight section of the road where trucks can accelerate their movement up to 60%, but this requires a sufficiently long roadbed. A truck cannot drive on a winding road at a speed of 90 km/h.
  2) The decision to reduce the wear and tear of equipment is also controversial, although this is really obvious. At the middle stage of the game, this practically does not play any role.

• 19 Jul
  Welkrip

  3) For some, creating a road by hand may not be very interesting. Perhaps, for the order of movement, it is worth creating not roads, but tracks / control points. Transport will move more orderly. It is possible to create automatic roads (but not randomly, but along tracks).
  4) If the developers still reach the stage of creating roads, they will have to create a collision of vehicles relative to each other. What will create traffic jams, etc.
  5) In general, all I wanted to say is not to focus on the roads as the main part of the game. It should be more like a nice little bonus/sequencing of movement. In particular, you must first create a PROBLEM that the roads would help to solve.

• 01 Sep
  Bram Permentier

  I would love to see a buildable road system, here are some of my ideas that go along with it.
  -make it tiered like start with sand trails and end up with highway like closed off roads with catchers on the side and lights and allow for intersections and elevated roadworks.
  -bridges that can span water.
  -make it so that you can choose to have vehicles follow the road network or not or be able to assign vehicles or vehicle groups to certain roads.
  -Add some buildings that connect to the road like gas stations and storage warehouses.
  -Trains?

• 07 Sep
  mooman860

  I would LOVE to see roads added. Even if just cosmetic, one thing I love about these types of games is decorating. I do stand by the idea that roads should NOT be necessary, but should give bonuses like vehicle move speed & reduced maintenance so you do get a benefit. If I had a choice of behavior, I would suggest something that acts like a "building" that has 0 height (basically a re-texture of the dirt) so you could still build additional buildings over them. To construct them, you drag a rectangle (similar to mining designation) & trucks would deliver to the rectangles you drew. I like the idea of adding asphalt (made in a distiller) and having tiers for roads. At least at first, I suggest there be two types of roads: gravel and asphalt (concrete is rare irl). Gravel would take just gravel and asphalt would take gravel, sand, and asphalt. For truck behavior, I wouldn't even care if they didn't prioritize roads, b/c I can always build barriers/buildings to funnel trucks to the road.