Trains: Load at edges, unload at edges

[Nemoricus]

People who've played with trains for a while have likely noticed that, while inserters load objects into a train at its edges, inserters that are unloading it reach all the way to the center of the wagon. This seems very strange, for a number of reasons.

First, it's a marked asymmetry in how inserters handle trains, which ends up looking odd. More significantly, it creates an asymmetry in load/unload time, as a train can be loaded significantly faster than it can be unloaded due to the added time the inserters need for extension.

Second, while realism is not and should not be a primary goal of the game, it should try to make sense. I look at how these inserters are behaving and find myself wondering why they can do things that they can't do otherwise. These inserters unloading a train reach much further and at angles they can't be made to use under other circumstances, and I think it's inconsistent that they can do so here.

(Yes, I know they do something similar when unloading assemblers, but the effect is much less pronounced. What they do with trains just looks bizarre.)

It also makes me wonder why they have to reach all the way to the center when unloading, when they can load just fine at the edges. There doesn't seem to be any good reason for it, so it breaks the game's plausibility a little.

So, I propose that, when loading and unloading trains, inserters always work at the edge of the train, whether loading or unloading it.

[Choumiko]

I'm all for it, i even did test this about 2 weeks ago and forgot to post it

unloading.jpg (194.32 KiB) Viewed 2506 times

Results (to the right) are for the time it took to move 50 items from chest to chest (no stacksize bonus) if i remember correctly.
The behaviour makes sense for assemblers i guess, as it's reasonable that they only have one output but many inputs, for cargo wagons, as you already said, not so much

[ssilk]

I think they should work identical for loading/unloading. Either they work into the center of the wagon or not. Both makes sense in some way.

[Nemoricus]

I think they should work identical for loading/unloading. Either they work into the center of the wagon or not. Both makes sense in some way.

Since loading/unloading at the center leads to questions about why the inserters can extend and turn in ways they normally can't, I'm strongly in favor of working at the edge.

[ssilk]

Sorry, but watch inserters exactly: They are turning always in some unusual directions. For example: An inserter at an edge of an assembly is faster, than in the center. This is because he needs not to turn that far (perhaps only 160 instead of 180 degrees). There are many other such situations.
The difference is sometimes quite important.

[Nemoricus]

Sorry, but watch inserters exactly: They are turning always in some unusual directions. For example: An inserter at an edge of an assembly is faster, than in the center. This is because he needs not to turn that far (perhaps only 160 instead of 180 degrees). There are many other such situations.
The difference is sometimes quite important.

I know this, but for the most part the difference is subtle and presents interesting opportunities for optimization. What inserters do with trains is just flat out nonsensical. In some cases, the inserters are reaching more than four tiles away from their position, at an angle close to 90 degrees.

[ssilk]

I agree, that it don't makes sense, that every inserter needs to grab into the center of a wagon. It would be enough to grab at a thought line over 2/3 of the center of a wagon. But the more I think about it, the more I think the current behavior is a bug, cause the devs normally make not such compromises.