viewtopic.php?f=6&t=92807
evg-zhabotinsky wrote: Wed Dec 09, 2020 6:28 pmTL;DR
Train list says that empty-scheduled trains are in "Manual mode", but they really aren't until you flip the switch in GUI, and this is quite inconvenient.
What ?
When a train has empty schedule, force it to full-manual mode. Maybe even grey out the "Automatic" switch in GUI. This includes when the last temporary stop is auto-removed and there are no regular stops.
Why ?
I'm not exactly sure how a train without a schedule is treated, but that state isn't very useful. You cannot control it with WASD. Your personal roboport doesn't work if you are in it. Inserters cannot load or unload its cargo. It is as if the train is moving but not really. The list of all trains says it is in "Manual mode", but you can't honestly call it that.
As I see it, a train schedule can be empty in one of two cases:In the first case I don't see the point of switching such train to auto, and in the second you probably want to use manual controls and your personal roboport.
- It is a new train and you haven't filled the schedule yet.
- It is a "personal" train that you use to move around and carry stuff that didn't fit into your inventory.
The train already switches to "Auto" automatically when you Ctrl-click a temporary stop, so IMO it would also make sense to switch it back when it arrives, at least when there are no other stops. I feel that is especially true now when 1.1.0 lets you control the train you are in through the map instead of the train GUI.
Also, I personally often miss a little when Ctrl-clicking those temporary stops, and when the train arrives I have to manually switch to "Manual" before I can use WASD to get train's tail out of a busy intersection or whatever.
Also, maybe that is a bug, but currently trains with empty schedule in "Auto" are deadlock hazard: Given a choice between driving through an unrelated station and waiting for who knows how long for such a train to go away, another train would chose to wait forever. Just flick that switch to "Manual" and the waiting train suddenly realizes that "Oh, I could go through that station instead! The one I'm blocking the only entrance to anyway."
