[MOD 0.15] SmartTrains 2.0.5

[jockeril]

Excuse my ignorance: what is the advantage of this mod over what I can do in vanilla? I read the description and this thread, but I'm somewhat puzzled:

The refuelling is a neat feature where the train adds a refueling station to the end of its schedule automatically if it's fuel levels drop below a level you can set, it's even smart enough that you can have different refueling stations for different trains formats and it will automatically go to the correct one.

Another feature is that at the train stop it reads more information about the train than vanilla does. Number of locomotives, number of wagons, remaining fuel in MJ, number of players present, position of train stop in the schedule OR assigned number to the train stop and as the train leaves it will give a 1 tick signal to indicate which station it is going to.

The feature I use the most is where you can tell a train which train stop in its schedule to go to, a thing you can't reasonable do in vanilla. I use this to dynamically assign trains to pickup resources and drop the of at the builds that need them. A basic example would be a train that first stops at a sorting station before moving to the correct unloading station of a build.

As Optera mentioned other people have done this as well, I wasn't aware and developed mine in parallel. Currently I'm on version 3 of my train controller and each version used a order of magnitude less of combinators. Having combinators be a significant power drain on your network really isn't healthy

Of course SmartTrains used to be a musthave back in the good ol' days before 0.15 when the only wait condition trains had was time passed and if you wanted any other condition you praised Choumiko for this awesome mod and the ability to save lines since copy pasting settings wasn't a thing either.

I must confess that I too have this thought - how much better is it then vanilla if I don't want to use a lot of circuit mechanics as I'm not good at it ?

the refueling part is present in other train control mods and the FAT controller, I believe, manages lines - so why use smarttrains mod ?

That said, since I've installed it, I've managed to find an issue with its compatibility with temporary stops ( introduced in 0.17 I think) and another mod (train construction)

[Choumiko]

how much better is it then vanilla if I don't want to use a lot of circuit mechanics as I'm not good at it ?

the refueling part is present in other train control mods and the FAT controller, I believe, manages lines - so why use smarttrains mod ?

That said, since I've installed it, I've managed to find an issue with its compatibility with temporary stops ( introduced in 0.17 I think) and another mod (train construction)

If you don't want to get into combinators then there is little use to it, since then you mostly have the refueling part left, which is handled by several other mods. Not sure about other mods offering something similar like trainlines (FAT controller doesn't do it)
It's really turned into a mod for "hardcore" combinator guys, since it offers really little additional behavior without using combinators. Even the refueling feature could be replaced with combinators, since my train stops output the minimum fuel value via the constant combinator. (Note to self: think about that for the rewrite )

The temporary station issue should be fixed (at least the one you reported). Train construction: https://mods.factorio.com/mod/trainConstructionSite ?

[jockeril]

how much better is it then vanilla if I don't want to use a lot of circuit mechanics as I'm not good at it ?

the refueling part is present in other train control mods and the FAT controller, I believe, manages lines - so why use smarttrains mod ?

That said, since I've installed it, I've managed to find an issue with its compatibility with temporary stops ( introduced in 0.17 I think) and another mod (train construction)

If you don't want to get into combinators then there is little use to it, since then you mostly have the refueling part left, which is handled by several other mods. Not sure about other mods offering something similar like trainlines (FAT controller doesn't do it)
It's really turned into a mod for "hardcore" combinator guys, since it offers really little additional behavior without using combinators. Even the refueling feature could be replaced with combinators, since my train stops output the minimum fuel value via the constant combinator. (Note to self: think about that for the rewrite )

The temporary station issue should be fixed (at least the one you reported). Train construction: https://mods.factorio.com/mod/trainConstructionSite ?

I realized that so I switched to LTN and now I have what I need. thank you for making this mod, it is amazing, just like all you're other mods and it was the inspiration to at least two mods that simplify it for those that circuit networks are a mystery to

[MisterFister]

Can someone please help me out by explaining the differences between this mod and LTN?

Dynamic load assignments based on ongoing supply and demand seems to be roughly equivalent in those two mods. Whereas LTN solves train fueling through the use of Depot parking lots that all trains always get sent to after completing a dropoff of their cargo, this mod seems to operate on a signal value reflecting the train's fuel level in MJ.

I'm wondering if using both mods is a redundancy? Is the benefit of this mod simply the fact that it seems to be less intensive on signal-wiring and combinator usage whereas LTN uses at least one or two combinators at every stop?

[jockeril]

Can someone please help me out by explaining the differences between this mod and LTN?

Dynamic load assignments based on ongoing supply and demand seems to be roughly equivalent in those two mods. Whereas LTN solves train fueling through the use of Depot parking lots that all trains always get sent to after completing a dropoff of their cargo, this mod seems to operate on a signal value reflecting the train's fuel level in MJ.

I'm wondering if using both mods is a redundancy? Is the benefit of this mod simply the fact that it seems to be less intensive on signal-wiring and combinator usage whereas LTN uses at least one or two combinators at every stop?

Actually, this mod requires more combinator usage and logic building more then LTN and the second fact is that it was initially built to solve things missing from the game in previous versions when circuit network didn't provide what this mod offers (like the various conditions in stations) but it has some interesting functions that combined with logic can make automating train schedules easier like managing lines.

Where LTN works on requests like a logistic network this mod works on preset schedules (lines) - it was sending my trains to the same location and I had to shut a station manually (with logic) when, for instance, it didn't have enough for a full train - this got my rail network jammed when ever more trains then another outpost could handle went there (to the second outpost),

Like I were before - adding fueling to the schedule was the only advantage of this mod for me and it wasn't enough

[0570]

How do I disable a station once a train is present? In the past, before Smarter Trains I used this system: https://imgur.com/a/2n6Gh

I've got a minimum of station names, for example I've got 10 'provider' stations all named 'Iron Plate Loading', there are 10 trains running Iron plates so that's a bay for each one, no issues there.
Spread across the factory are about 20 'Iron Plate Unloader' stations. Currently all trains are queueing up at the closest unload station, causing a massive gridlock across the railsways. I would like to be able to use Smarter Trains to disable an occupied station so any en-route trains will divert to one of the other 19 vacant ones.

Perhaps this is already possible using Smarter Trains but I've been unable to find this option.

[Hoefnix]

You don't need to use SmartTrains functionality for that. Simply make sure there is a logic wire attached to the stop and set it to "read stopped train". This will output a unique ID per train, but you can use that same signal to disable the train stop when it is present.
For example if you read the ID using the "T" virtual signal, simpy set the stop to enable when "T = 0"

[0570]

You don't need to use SmartTrains functionality for that. Simply make sure there is a logic wire attached to the stop and set it to "read stopped train". This will output a unique ID per train, but you can use that same signal to disable the train stop when it is present.
For example if you read the ID using the "T" virtual signal, simpy set the stop to enable when "T = 0"

I'm not very familiar with the logic of making such things in Factorio, could you please take a screenshot of such a construction/setting? I mean, adding one wire to a basic train stop is no problem, but what/where do I connect the other end of the wire to?

[Hoefnix]

Just connect it to the nearest power pole, it doesn't matter where it goes, it's just there so you can use the circuit conditions on the train stop. The train stop will output to and read from the same wire, thus seeing its own output.