Trains / Minecarts

[D3nnis3n]

I was wondering how cool would be to have train tracks and train carts that could be automated to transport ores. I do visualize a equipment that would be connected to the stockpile... which would load automaticaly a mine train cart that would go back and forward loading and unloading the ores. With that we could automate the way the mines works. We could focus on extract the ores and have the mine train cart to take care of bring the ores to the surface.

(With added automation)

https://github.com/StrangeLoopGames/EcoSuggestions/issues/1545

[D3nnis3n]

So I find it tiring on the long hauls with trucks back to my main town going back and forth and takes many loads and I know that we can build steel and iron and you already have steam engines so I was just wondering how hard it would be to add the ablilty to lay track and build a steam engine train and cars? on my Facebook group I've talked it over with the others that play eco and we all would like to see something like a steam train and cars thank you for your time hope you find this as exciting as I did! (picture for effect)

https://github.com/StrangeLoopGames/EcoSuggestions/issues/1331

[D3nnis3n]

From @fillion07 on November 13, 2017 17:33

Is adding trains into Eco could be something that will add value to the game?

Credit: http://traincraft-mod.com/ Credit: http://traincraft-mod.com/

Copied from original issue: StrangeLoopGames/EcoIssues#2812

https://github.com/StrangeLoopGames/EcoSuggestions/issues/345

[D3nnis3n]

From @GophTheGreat on April 18, 2018 21:32

From the support queue:

"I love your game eco. I like it realy but I would like it if you can add for example trains. Maybe they can work like moveable stockpiles. That would be awesome I hope you like this idear and maybe you can add thi in one of the next patches. "

Copied from original issue: StrangeLoopGames/EcoIssues#7282

https://github.com/StrangeLoopGames/EcoSuggestions/issues/132

[D3nnis3n]

From @ShaydenMac on April 25, 2018 19:46

From Forum User: http://ecoforum.strangeloopgames.com/topic/4430/will-mine-cart-rail-systems-be-a-thing-for-this-game

"Will "mine cart" rail systems be a thing for this game

Razorflare posted 13 days ago 1 Like the title says. Will mine cart and rail line be added in the future. It would be neat to have a rail system in place that could cross the entire globe, with road intersection, so those that just want to load a mine cart/ rail car with their goods, rather then using a small cart/road buggy to transport items to shared stockpiles.

Powered carts could be steam, combustion, electrical, and "handcar" ppl power car.

Rail stations could be used to store, setup, and manage carts. advanced versions could have an automated system for distribution of items.

just some thoughts"

Copied from original issue: StrangeLoopGames/EcoIssues#7398

From @Elliander on April 25, 2018 23:28

I'd really like to see this as well. Maybe it could have multiple improvements as well. For example, the simple mine cart that is powered by mechanical energy - you stand on it and pump, and if someone else pumps with you it can go twice as fast. It could have a place to load up stockpile resources in the center:

or even a simple vehicle:

This could be the simplest version that can be of use early in a world without technology improvements.

Then maybe you could add powered objects, like coal powered trains, before eventually getting into electricity where you could run a cable like you get in street cars like so:

and of course a way to shift lanes:

If it's done right, it would create an incentive for someone to actually build the infrastructure. Tracks could be owned objects with a fee to use, and instead of power being automatically distributed to all nearby objects, it could allow someone to create an electrical power company to sell power to the rail operator.

The highest build could be a monorail system with the tracks themselves being powered, and really high speeds.

The only real problem I see is how to go about ownership. In my experience, for a sufficiently wide highway, I'd need two side by side parcels claimed per short length and I'd run out very quickly. A random troll could then claim the middle of the track and close the borders shutting down the entire system.

For that, I think we'd need a mineral rights system where one player can own the land below a point or above a point, as I suggested here:

StrangeLoopGames/EcoIssues#7269

Maybe we could have an option for using properly claim flags, where they are worth a larger area if the player choose to either claim just the surface or just the minerals. In that case, when building a rail system or underground highway I could claim just what I need and purchase surface rights only where I will need to go above ground. I could then purchase from land owners rights to dig under their land, and likewise someone only interested in building on the surface could claim a larger area while ignoring the underground such as in a low skill point world where only miners would really be the ones digging like mole men.

https://github.com/StrangeLoopGames/EcoSuggestions/issues/101

[D3nnis3n]

I write this knowing very well what the developer's current stance on trains is. My hope is that this may prove useful in the future when trains become relevant (I'm surprised they aren't now, considering they are #1 voted on roadmap).

I understand that minecarts are also a part of the entire idea that had been discussed before, but I'm going to focus on suggestions pertaining to standard trains.

Before going on to the suggestions regarding trains, I'd like to point out their particular utility in eco. Are they worth it when there are roads and trucks? Yes they are when the world size is equal to or greater than 1km. While trucks are able to haul reasonable loads at high speeds across great distances, they struggle when it comes to hauling heavy material such as ore. Players are notorious for mining massive amounts of ore, and with the new 8.0 biome patch, their mine could be on the other side of the world.

Yes they could build a road, but trucks will still only be able to haul a small amount each trip. These trips can add up quickly. A train on the other hand, could haul several stockpiles worth of ore in a single trip. In fact, there could be transport contracts for several miners in an area wanting their ore moved. This would make centralized areas where people place their blast furnaces a more viable option and would work well with the new water system, rather then trying to run a potentially 100m-200m pipe out to the location of each mine.

The changes to movement allowing underbrush to slow players down has made trains a viable choice for mere transportation over long distances. Yes there are steam trucks and possibly roads, but not everyone can afford one to start. For players that don't have a vehicle, or for new players, trains are an easy way to travel between important locations where business is conducted on the map.

There ideally should be three locomotive vehicles: Steam, Diesel, and Electric. The width of train track is probably best 2 or 3 blocks wide ( standard rails are 4' 8.5" irl ) if it is to keep scale with the current vehicles in game.

The steam locomotive is the obvious first choice that players could build, and would require massive amounts of coal or wood and would also require water towers powered by the new pipe system to keep the trains running on steam. Slow and not very efficient, the steam locomotive is the heavy transport alternative to the steam truck and could be available around the same period.

I only see a need for a single rail-car of each type to be used through the whole game. A hopper car, a flatbed car, a boxcar, and an oil tanker car. The hopper car is for materials such as dirt, clay, stone, and ore. The flatbed car is for logs and other items that fit the theme. A boxcar is for goods that normally render as boxes in a stockpile and don't need to be visible during transport. The oil tanker car could come available at a later date when oil drilling is active, it probably would only be used when pipelines are too long and expensive to consider.

The diesel locomotive would be the successor to the steam locomotive and would probably become buildable after robotic assembly lines are actively in use. Advantages would be the ability to pull more rail-cars, is not reliant on water towers, higher speed, and uses petroleum.

The electric locomotive would require players to upgrade train tracks with overhead catenary lines and provide a large amount of electricity. These trains would be faster then diesel locomotives but would have equal or lesser rail-car counts. The reason for this is that the electrification of the rail system is meant to be an expensive and long term project for players to work on in the end game, possibly even after the meteor has already been destroyed. An electric train system's main benefit is that it is reliant on electricity instead of petroleum, which could be powered by clean energy.

I don't expect all of this to make it into the eventual future patch that adds trains, but I hope this suggestion gives some great ideas for the possible implementation and progression of such a system.

Great writeup! What do you think about a passenger car? I'd image players would have there houses closer to shops if there was a quicker way to get to and from the mines. Having a train to both move people and goods could see train stations turn into small communities.

We could keep the complexity down and have the flatbed car be used for all non-fluid items, which would also allow the crane to push and pull items out quickly. Then the box car could instead be a passenger car.

https://github.com/StrangeLoopGames/EcoSuggestions/issues/780

[StallEF]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViVVgjqf2XA

[varna]

1. Carpenters and engineers can make rail tracks, handcars, and carts from wood.
2. Miners need a lot of wood, parts, food etc. You can make a town between the forestry industry and the mine.
3. You can move carts by pushing, dragging, and paddling (with legs or hands). You can use animals, slaves, or workers for these tasks. P.S. You could still find horse trams in cities in the 20th century in Eastern Europe.
4. Rail is not some sort of industrial or futuristic technology. If you can make a cart for a dirt road, you can make a cart for a rail. Actually, Eco doesn't have domesticated animals, so roads are the inferior choice of transportation to the rail in the early game until steam trucks are invented. I feel stupid to drive around a truck in mine when I could make a simple funicular.
5. You can start your mine business with wooded infrastructure until you procure enough metal to upgrade. And you will probably upgrade anyways because of the abundance of metals in the mine.

I think rails are crucial to Eco for early and mid-game. If you disagree, at least let us have a funicular that works like an elevator on the slope with two carts attached to balance the weight.

Instead of magic transfers from one storage to another, you can add a couple of machines:

1. Droppers for tillings - a vertical two gate system, where only one gate is open. Between gates, it has the same capacity as the cart, to not overfill it. When the cart pushes under the dropper, it opens up the bottom gate, tillings fall into the cart. The cart starts moving down because of mass. Bottom gate closes, top gates opens up and fills dropped with another set of tillings for the next drop.
2. Tilting rail - a rail above the ground, which matches with parts on the top of the cart. When reaching the unloading area, the top wheels join with the upper rail to force the cart to start tilting to one side (unloading pit)

I don't want to make any more highways underground 😢

And using wooden carts to dig clay and sand? Are you stupid? Have you ever tried that in the real world? I have, that is total nonsense. Wooden or metal wheels are useless on sand and clay. People used rails in mines and conveyer belts in factories. Have you ever seen a cement factory? I don't even want to imagine that without rails.

[varna]

Also, to do turns with any kind of cart, you need an axle (so that the wheels don't break down on turns). Straight rail can avoid this problem. So making carts for the funicular is easier than making current wood carts in the game.

Also, if you made boats, you probably created mechanics for placing boats on a special surface called water, and they can't leave the water, so maybe we could reuse that for a special surface of tracks for rail transport.

Maybe making a simple mod with two items would be a great test:

• Wooden Rail Ramp: Copy Dirt Ramp class. Crafted by an Engineer. Uses Hewn Tag and Crushed Rock Tag to craft.
• Miners Cart: Copy Wood Cart class. Can't turn. Placeable only on Mine Ramp. Snaps as furniture. Tilted by default (to match the Ramp). Can't leave Mine Ramp.

This would be a great MVP for a playtest. You could start going further with additional stuff bit by bit, like:

• Rail Track block that only goes straight
• Rail Car that has no storage
• Rail Cart that can connect to another Rail Cart or Rail Car (need to invent type for this)
• Cable and Cable Engine that can be connected to a mechanical power source
• Droppers that work like hatches above the rail line
• Dumping mechanism that tilts a cart to unload to the side of the rail
• Metal Tracks that with parts for turns and Metal Carts that can make turns.
• Steam-powered rail cars in mines sound like CO2 poisoning, so idk about this idea 💀