So I recently found out that railroad crossings in the US are extremely problematic... We've all gotten caught at a crossing and had to wait for a train that stops on the tracks briefly. But apparently in towns near freight depots, sometimes a freight train can stop and block a railroad crossing for hours or even DAYS at a time. This can sometimes competely cut off a neighborhood, sometimes preventing folks from running errands, sometimes preventing them from getting to work, and worst of all, sometimes making it impossible for emergency services to get in! And of course, this is most common in poor or minority neighborhoods... Unfortunately, freight companies have a TON of money and lobbying power in the US, and there ends up being lockups and snarls between local and federal legislators, so this is unlikely to change anytime soon. Especially because it's happening in poor neighborhoods, who don't often have as much voice in government (because they don't have the money to buy politicians...). I just do NOT understand how you can legally block EMERGENCY SERVICES for hours or days. That's literally putting people's lives on the line. If a car or truck did that, they'd be towed, fined, maybe even arrested! Yet freight companies suffer no consequences. That's so incredibly unfair. Sorry for the rant, this addition of railroad crossings just reminded me, and I feel more people should know about all this.
To note, there is also dark mode option on both games, at least on pc version, which helps with eye strain and possibly also makes it easier to see things and notice when things change.
These games are simultaneously chill and SO stressful. I really appreciate that you can edit while paused, and edit while cars/carriages are in route. It would be so much more chaotic otherwise!
Hi Dan! You're correct that roundabouts are generally smoother for cars than traffic lights or uncontrolled junctions. They especially excel at distribution of cars from one source to a few destinations (like connecting a small neighborhood of houses to a single business). Traffic lights will outperform roundabouts when two heavy streams of traffic need to cross each other without mixing - just make sure that there's adequate space to handle the tailbacks while each stream waits for the other.
28:36 It took me a second to realize what Carrie had pop up in the corner. It's a PokéMon named "Bidoof". Get it? Like Dan's "but oof" except it's adorable. I love this channel.
26:07 Oh no! Dan is those annoying mobile game ads that make you say, "why would you do that! I could do that easily!" 🤣 Also, 28:36 thank you, Carrie, that was adorable :)
Is *that* what those ads are saying? I just think “ugh the fail states of these games make me feel awful. Why would I choose to spend my time that way?”
@Nortarachanges the tactic is "man the puzzle was barely existent and this moron still managed to [insert over the top game over scene here]! Give me that, I know I can do better than you, clever advertising man!" It probably works on some folks. Probably those that have few "wins" IRL. It's not that sophisticated, and probably has a low success rate, but they look and probably are, cheaply made apps. They don't need a lot of hits to get what they're after.
Been thinking of getting this for a while, and watching you play makes me want to see how well I can do. Picked them both up since they're on sale for half off! Well worth the purchase already
I'm watching the Mumbai level and all I'm thinking about is that Hitman also has a level set in Mumbai with an active commuter train that is very entertaining and destructive to utilize.
6:05: Oh, it is _way_ too long and windy. I would have made that into loops _long_ ago. 13:00: Yes. They have two big advantages in my eyes: 1. Loops are more efficient. Going from one end of a four-stop line to the other and back again requires stopping at six stations, versus four for a loop, and that difference keeps growing as you add more stations. (That nine-station ao line is sixteen versus nine.) Maybe that's not bad if you have a five-station line and want to keep running trains by the middle station, but that's pretty niche. 2. If all your trains on the loop are running in the same direction, passengers will always board the next train that passes. (Unless it's a station with multiple lines connecting to it, of course.) Lines (or sloppier loops) will see passengers wait for a train heading in the "right" direction, such as a circle in two stations instead of three. Again, there are probably contexts where this is a bad thing, but IMHO it's usually a good idea to get passengers out of stations and into transit. Especially if the next train heading the right direction could be multiple minutes away because you have a nine-station line.
Point to point lines do have a niche - connecting loops while also cutting them in half. Say you got the dreaded "oops all circles" station spread minimetro likes to toss, in that case make a loop collecting passengers will likely result in overcrowding, as the field of circles is not letting you mix in a lot of other shapes. So you do your best, but still get some 3 circle chains - enter the point to point line. Cut that nasty loop with all its nasty circles in half, connecting two stations per loop, into most loops. What this does is make 2 stations per loop where passengers will gather for shapes not present on the loop. As passengers will avoid transfers when possible, the only people getting off these stations either want to go to the hub station or a special shape. This allows you to "dump" passengers you know you won't be able to drop off for a long time, freeing space in your trains for more local traffic. This does put a lot of pressure on the point to point line, so it's best to basically connect special stations, and maybe the rarest "regular" shapes on the map (usually square) to further optimize the load.
Nice little gag with that Bidoof, Editor Carrie. I kind of want them to join Pichu over on the Twitch channel, but maybe they just aren't sassy enough.
Dan, I love you. I do indeed want to hip check you out of the chair and fix it. Also I was certain I'd be terrible at this, and then you showed me how it works. Thank you!
