A question regarding Freight Trucks

[CahosRahneVeloza 385]

I just found several vehicular traffic control lots that bar specific vehicular traffic from going through road networks. I love the mechanics behind these lots as they can add additional measures to decrease congestion in a lot of areas in a city.

I just want to ask something concerning Freight Trucks. I've read that for the most part freight trucks have a basic route starting from the factories they come from to road networks that lead off to neighbor cities. My question is, does this hold true for every freight truck in the game?

Let's say Democity is your classic SIMCity city where there are equal amounts of RES, COM & IND zones as opposed to SIMCity 4's versatile specific "function" city tile system. Does every freight truck in Democity only deliver goods to Democity's neighboring city tiles or do they also deliver goods to Democity's own stores & other COM services buildings?

I'm only asking this because if freight trucks only travel to neighboring cities then I can simple block off freight truck traffic from my RES & COM areas to add a way to alleviate traffic congestion Oh & I do notice that freight trucks do travel along RES & COM areas, I just don't know if they're dropping off goods there or just passing through.

  Edited May 8, 2011 by CahosRahneVeloza  

[Mikeaut1 261]

After zoning industry in my city and watching it develop, I often query each of those factories/facilities just to see where the trucks are headed. I would have to agree with you, it appears that all freight traffic does end up in a neighboring city. This doesn't particularly make sense to me either. But good point!! I usually leave my industrial areas far away from the residential and CBD areas of my cities. Often there is one major thoroughfare connecting the industrial neighborhood to a major highway, so all freight traffic ends up on the highway and out of the map - away from the R & C.

If you want a more easy way out to avoid traffic congestion with trucks, I believe on the STEX there is a mod that eliminates all trucks in your city, yet the industry is still functional. I believe it is called "No Trucks Mod" or something along those lines. This thread here may contain the link for it if you're interested.

[Unassigned 23]

Freight trucks go either off-tile or to a freight yard (railway) , with an off-tile rail connection. Then they offload, end of story. Trucks will take the shortest (or fastest) route.

Dunno about garbage trucks though, if they are only eyecandy or they need access to res & comm areas.

Edit: forgot about seaports, see A. N. Moose's post below. I stand korrekted.

  Edited May 8, 2011 by Unassigned  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Freight is a distraction in the program. It is always dead-ended at a data sink. It either goes to a seaport or the edge of the city, where is vanishes into the big bit bucket in the sky.

It would require a revision of the .exe, and therefore an expansion pack, to include freight in the consideration of the network other than an element of congestion for roads and rail. It would be nice if an expansion pack were produced called SimCity 4 Distributed that added some new objects:

1. An in town depot where freight moved onto delivery trucks.

2. Differentiation of factories that made things (discrete manufacturing) as opposed to stuff (continuous manufacturing) and the continuous factories could deliver stuff to discrete manufacturers who could deliver things to the depots. Pipelines could be an option. Tank farms could be added as end points and origins for tank trucks and trains.

3. Shipping across boundaries with arrival in the next city or further. This means freight-lines. Freighters could deliver cargo to a port in another city.

4. Seaport freighters could also carry a limited number of passengers, which is a RL thing. If a ship disappeared over the game horizon, it would be gone, but the game could generate them incoming from outside the region, with the appropriate unloading action at a port.

5. Delivery trucks could be seen to deliver to commercial establishments. Produce markets become a possibility for freight trucks from farms which could either go to a wholesale depot or direct to a market.

6. While getting to and from work would be important, daily activity would be introduced, and the work day recognized by having some plants on one, two, or three shifts, with appropriate traffic to reflect this through the day's hours. You might even be able to set the shifts in the plants. In effect, simulate the entire day and not just the Rush Hour. This is getting ever closer to the Sims sort of simulation. Machines are fast enough now to withstand the extra animation, but multi-core boxes would be better. I have a feeling that the display would take an entire processor.

Of such trivia are games improved.

  Edited May 8, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[z1 566]

Dunno about garbage trucks though, if they are only eyecandy or they need access to res & comm areas.

Garbage trucks need access to a garbage dump, a waste-to-energy plant or something similar, or the edge of a neighboring tile where there's a garbage business deal.

[CahosRahneVeloza 385]

Thanks for the replies guys, I really appreciate it

It's a bit of a shame that the game's freight system mechanics work the way it does because if all goods are sent elsewhere (neighboring cities) then where do the population in a particular city get their goods, from another city?

A Nonny Moose's post sounds interesting if it did occur, especially if you could add an element of commercial goods trading deals between cities. Say City A specializes in produce (a farming community city tile) & City B specializes in heavy industrial equipment like farm tractors. The two cities could then cut a neighbor business deal where the cost of goods between the two cities could be agreed upon at a cheaper price than buying goods from other further cities. This in turn could further develop the game's already in place adjoining cities co-dependency system & would force players to setup cities with more specific functions & not just fulfilling the need for one of the three core zones.

  Edited May 8, 2011 by CahosRahneVeloza  

[Cob92 360]

Thanks for the replies guys, I really appreciate it

It's a bit of a shame that the game's freight system mechanics work the way it does because if all goods are sent elsewhere (neighboring cities) then where do the population in a particular city get their goods, from another city?

A Nonny Moose's post sounds interesting if it did occur, especially if you could add an element of commercial goods trading deals between cities. Say City A specializes in produce (a farming community city tile) & City B specializes in heavy industrial equipment like farm tractors. The two cities could then cut a neighbor business deal where the cost of goods between the two cities could be agreed upon at a cheaper price than buying goods from other further cities. This in turn could further develop the game's already in place adjoining cities co-dependency system & would force players to setup cities with more specific functions & not just fulfilling the need for one of the three core zones.

That would be something like what Cities XL did, where cities have to import certain resources to keep functioning and all trade in the game is based on that (it also means that farming communities are not only encouraged, but absolutely necessary to the gameplay). You actually have freight trucks coming into the cities in CXL and going to the various factories and stores to deliver imported goods, as well as shipping goods out of the city. And how much your city can import and export is a function of your inter-city transport capabilities, so you actually have to build more highway connections and ports in order to move more goods.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Must give CXL a whirl sometime. It actually sounds interesting from the point of view of trade. Does that mean you have to start up with two balanced cities as a minimum?

[Cob92 360]

Must give CXL a whirl sometime. It actually sounds interesting from the point of view of trade. Does that mean you have to start up with two balanced cities as a minimum?

Well, there is an AI corporation that acts as a resource pool when you're first starting out, but the idea is to have a whole bunch of different specialized cities. The AI corporation charges ridiculous prices for any resource so it's really not a substitute for trading between cities unless you mod the game.

[MN121MN 11]

Must give CXL a whirl sometime. It actually sounds interesting from the point of view of trade. Does that mean you have to start up with two balanced cities as a minimum?

Well, there is an AI corporation that acts as a resource pool when you're first starting out, but the idea is to have a whole bunch of different specialized cities. The AI corporation charges ridiculous prices for any resource so it's really not a substitute for trading between cities unless you mod the game.

Who can't argue? The CXL corporation pays little for my city products, though over the years I've manage without buying anything from that ridiculous extorter....

[CahosRahneVeloza 385]

I wish my computer was beefy enough to run CitiesXL

That along with SIMCity Societies & The SIMs 3 are my top three PC Life simulation must have games.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I wish my computer was beefy enough to run CitiesXL

That along with SIMCity Societies & The SIMs 3 are my top three PC Life simulation must have games.

Forget Societies. It is a waste of money.