Readme for Simutran iphone app

7/29/2019 Readme for Simutran iphone app

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The most common error is the attempt to start the program withoutinstalling a graphics set. This is not possible!

*** PLEASE MAKE SURE TO HAVE INSTALLED A PAK-SET TOO! ***

Simutrans cannot start without the graphics in the pak set!

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The purpose of this document is to explain the configuration options ofSimutrans. There are currently two styles of options:

1) entries in the simuconf.tab and forrestconf.tab files2) command line options

Simuconf.tab------------

Simuconf.tab contains a rather large number of general configurationsettings for Simutrans.

Simuconf.tab can be found at several locations. First searched isconfig/simuconf.tab. Next is pak/config/simuconf.tab (or whateverpak-path your specified. Finally, simutrans/simuconf.tab in your homedirectory ("My Documents" under Windows resp. "~" under Unix).

It is a textfile and can be edited with a text editor. Each entry hasa comment explaining what the entry is good for and what values areallowed for this entry.

forrestconf.tab---------------

forrestconf.tab contains some settings that control the generationof forests during map creation.

Forrestconf.tab is either located pak/config/forestconf.tab or insimutrans/forestconf.tab in your user directory. It is a textfile andcan be edited with a text editor. Each entry has a comment explainingwhat the entry is good for and what values are allowed for this entry.

cityrules.tab-------------

cityrules.tab is either located pak/config/cityrules.tab or in

simutrans/cityrules.tab in your user directory. It is a textfile andcan be edited with a text editor.

cityrules.tab contains the set of rules which determines the extensionof towns during city growth. There are two city related settings in thetop, the minimum distance between cities (minimum_city_distance)and the step whenever a new industry will be founded(industry_increase_every). Set this to zero, if no new industry shouldbe founded during a game.


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The actual rules are of two types:house building rules and road building rules.Each rule has a probablility (house_xyz.chance) between -1 and -7 anda square with describes allowed surroundings for this house rule. Thesquare is composed by ASCII rows, with each symbol standing for:S = must not be roads = must be roadn = must be bare landH = must not be househ = must be houseT = must not be a stopt = must be a stop. = matches anything

Simutrans command line options------------------------------

1.) Choose a resolution:

1a.) Choose a 'standard' resolution

simutrans -res n

where n is one of 1,2,3,4,5

The switch -res chooses the resolution at program start:

1 = 640x4802 = 800x6003 = 1024x7684 = 1280x1024

Resolution no. 5 runs Simutrans in a window instead of fullscreen mode(Windows version only)

THIS SWITICH IS DEPRECATED AND ONLY KEPT FOR COMPATIBILITY!

Please use -screensize WxH instead (see section 1b) !

Use this switch at your own risk! Using a wrong resolution may damage yourmonitor! Up to date monitors should support all resolutions, but oldermonitors may have problems with the higher resolution settings. Don't expectall resolutions to be available with your graphics card. The program willabort the starting process if the graphics card doesn't support the chosenresolution.

The default resolution was 640x480. Simutrans version 0.78.4 and newerhave a default resolution of 800x600. Please note that bigger resolutionsslow down the game. If Simutrans runs too slowly on your system, use asmaller screen resolution. Windowed mode (-res 5 on Windows) may be

slower than fullscreen, but this depends strongly on your resolution andmachine.

1b.) Choose an arbitrary resolution

simutrans -screensize 900x400

More general the syntax is -screensize WIDTHxHEIGHTwhere width and height are integral values separated by a small x


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This format is strict. Simutrans will not tolerate spaces or otherformat elements.

I suggest only to use widths being a multiple of 16 and even heights,other may cause problems.

Full screen support by -fullscreen.

Use with care! I'm sure you can screw up things if you use values whichare not supported by your system. Use on your own risk ... i.e.using -screensize 1600x1400 might damage your monitor if the graphicscard switches to that resolution, but your monitor cannot! I giveabsolutely no warranty for any results of using that option!!!

Please note that if width is set below 640, parts of the toolbar willnot be visible and can't be used. In general setting width to less than 640and height to less than 400 will most likely cause trouble ... the programdoes not check the values! As said above, use with care, no warranties aregiven!

2.) Copy output messages into a logfile:

simutrans -log 1

This writes all messages which are output after the game switches to graphicsmode to a file named "simu.log". This file might be helpful when reportingproblems, you might consider to log a replay of the problem and send the logfile together with a problem report to [email protected]. Pleasezip (compress) large log files before sending them. Don't forget yourexplantion of the problem is much more important than the log file whenreporting problems.

The -debug switch turns on additional debug messages. The recommendedcombination is "-log 1 -debug"

3.) Run Simutrans in free playing mode (bankrupt check turned off):

simutrans -freeplay

4.) Screen refresh setting:

On slow machines even updating 640x480 pixels each frame may betoo much load for the CPU. To run Simutrans on slow machines, frameskipping can be activated. Vehicles may move less smoothly this way,but at least it is possible to run Simutrans at all. This is helpfulto run the big resolutions on standard machines, too.

simutrans -refresh n

displays every nth frame only. n=2 should result in a speedup of 25%,n=3 in a speedup of 33%You can chose n in a range from 1 to 16, where n=1 has the same effect asomitting this setting at all. n >= 4 may result in 'jumpy' vehicle movement.

Try several values to find the best setting for your hardware. Usuallyn=2 or n=3 works best on slow machines. n=16 may be a kind of slideshowmode.


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5.) Getting help (well it just says read this readme file)

simutrans -hsimutrans -?simutrans -helpsimutrans --help

All print a quick help message, which basically says"Read the readme file"

6.) Use alternative PAK files

If you have an alternative PAK file set for Simutrans, such as thewinter scenario, you can use the following command line argument:

simutrans -objects winter_pak/

"winter_pak" is the directory where the PAK files are stored. Use thename of your setup instead! The trailing slash is mandatory.

7) Turn sound and music off (as of Simutrans 0.81.23exp)

7a) Turn sound off

simutrans -nosound

7b) Turn music off

simutrans -nomidi

This also helps if Simutrans crashes on startup due to buggy orincompatible sound drivers.

8) Switch on/off multiplayer

-singleuser

Will not search for files in your home directory. Simutrans willwrite all files in its program directory, which must not be writeprotected.

9) Timeline and startyear

Example: simutrans -timeline 1 -startyear 1950

9b) Timeline

simutrans -timeline

0 = all vehicles are available from the start of the game1 = More relistic. In 1930 are only some historical vehicles

available. New vehicles will be introduced from time to time.


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Default value: setting use_timeline in simuconf.tab

9b) Start year

simutrans -startyear

Sets the starting year of the game


Default value : setting starting_year in simuconf.tab

10) load a game and do not show the initial window

simutrans -load mygame.sve

All the above mentioned options can be combined, i.e.

simutrans -res 2 -log -objects winter_pak/

runs Simutrans in test mode, writes output to "simu.log", switches toa resolution of 800x600 pixels and uses the winter pak files. Notall options are available on all platforms, i.e. -async and -net areonly supported on Linux/X-Windows.

If you run into problems, or if you have questions, please visit thefeedback forum:

http://forum.simutrans.com/

If the forum entries and community can't help, you can one of the developerby email:

[email protected]

Suggestions how to improve Simutrans are also always welcome.

If you're unsure how to report problems or change request, there aretwo example forms packaged with simutrans. Use "problem_report.txt"for problem reports and "change_request.txt" for change requestsif you send reports by email.

There are some Simutrans related web pages, you may want to visit them:

The official Simutrans home page:http://www.simutrans.com

This readme file was written by Hansjrg Malthaner, November 2000,Last update 24-Jul-2006 by Markus Pristovsek

Readme for Simutran iphone app

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