Friday Facts #378 - Trains on another level

[IhaQuer]

Absolutely brilliant idea please give it to us ... to me I have many many deaths as a result of being hit by a train hahahahaha

[Loewchen]

Is there a big use for second layer trains? I saw many maps for factorio and it seems to me that people were fine with 1 layer. City-blocks or not.

You don't need elevated train tracks, but if you look at the examples in the FFF you can see that the ability to cross paths without interfering with each other is a very useful feature.

[Diablo]

YES, YES, YES, A thousand times YES.

I'm not crying, you're crying.

Elevated rails be will one of the standalone official mods next to Quality and Space Age, so you can play a vanilla-like game with just the elevated rails for example, or other mods can just depend on Elevated rails.

Especially this.

[mmmPI]

Hello, I don't understand something.

Is there a big use for second layer trains? I saw many maps for factorio and it seems to me that people were fine with 1 layer. City-blocks or not.

Thanks to bridges, you can do junctions as highway for cars, where it's only "merge" and no crossing like for lower throughput car roads.

This means you can have 2 rail track "crossing" at max throughput, like an interchange.

Also thanks to elevated rails you can build over an existing factory or existing rail system which makes it easier/ more forgiving when you want to fit a rail somewhere.

[Adael]

This is a big improvement, i love it. You're awesome!!!

[astroshak]

Can the player enter/exit the train when it's elevated or walk on the elevated tracks?
And can elevated trains collide with anything? like a spidertron for example

Player can exit/enter elevated trains fine. (It would be quite annoying otherwise)
They only collide with few entities, as stated in the fff (Big electric poles, robport, rocket silo)

Sorry if this has been asked already, but …

What happens if the player exits the train in an elevated railway over water? Instant death?

[Serenity]

O...M...G...

Did not see that coming. The part about being a game changer in train stations when using bi-directional trains is true. Now you run into massive issues if the exit rail crosses the entry one.

I also love finally having bridges over water

[pleegwat]

I'm sure we'll hear about aquatic and/or airborne biters in a few weeks.

[juliejayne]

I have to admit, that I had hoped that the Factorio expansion would have been underground, rather than space. Shame you took the "easy" option.

That being said, then yes elevated railways are more logical than tunnels. But I am disappointed in these. They are fairground rollercoasters rather than serious elevated railways. And many of the examples you display in the FF, show by their track curvature, how little any of you understand about railways.

And even the mention of deadlocking railways... that only happens IF you design your network poorly. So just giving poor design a "get out of jail free" card by having a ridiculous ramp... oh well.

I guess I will be in the minority, and I will work with it. But still SAD.

[bombcar]

How can you exit when train is over water?
Could we deadlock the game by being on a train that runs out of fuel over water, or is it "just" a death sentence?

We also thought about this (remote) possibility, and there will be a way to solve it.

HE HAS REVEALED THE ANSWER

remote refueling is a thing, and it will be available to you before you can elevate trains

[MasterBuilder]

This is my single most wanted feature. I've been hoping for this for many years.
It's a dream come true!
Its so great I can't find the right words for it.

The only thing left on my wishlist is native electric trains.

[Shadow_Man]

[husnikadam]

HE HAS REVEALED THE ANSWER
remote refueling is a thing, and it will be available to you before you can elevate trains

My bet would be on electric trains or emergency power mode, similar like bots do

[Stargateur]

How can you exit when train is over water?
Could we deadlock the game by being on a train that runs out of fuel over water, or is it "just" a death sentence?

We also thought about this (remote) possibility, and there will be a way to solve it.

Jetpack ! Also how do we place track on water ? using a train and advance with it ? or more jetpack !

[Kingven]

How can you exit when train is over water?
Could we deadlock the game by being on a train that runs out of fuel over water, or is it "just" a death sentence?

We also thought about this (remote) possibility, and there will be a way to solve it.

HE HAS REVEALED THE ANSWER

remote refueling is a thing, and it will be available to you before you can elevate trains

Maybe Solar Panel on Train... minimun velocity to a safe spot on land...

[kovarex]

What happens if the player exits the train in an elevated railway over water? Instant death?

You just can't exit, simple as that

[SnowZyDe]

I think it would be logical to just reduce the speed of the train to 10km/h when it runs out of fuel

[aka13]

This looks fun, conveyor mechanics for rails. Also looks really good!

[Tricorius]

Oooh, and Elevated Rails, Quality and Space Age are separate official mods? So one may play a game with the Elevated Rails and Space Age mods, but not the Quality mod if one wants? This should quiet all those asking for a Quality switch (not me, I liked the Quality idea). All-in-all, incredible job!

Their level of casually dropping ground-shaking feedback fixes into FFFs is unmatched.

I noticed that as well.

[jodokus31]

Hello, I don't understand something.

Is there a big use for second layer trains? I saw many maps for factorio and it seems to me that people were fine with 1 layer. City-blocks or not.

It'll offer a lot more possibilities to increase train throughput, when bases get bigger. Also, it'll offer more possibilities overall to increase the puzzling aspect of the game, which is great