Convoy
From Simutrans Wiki
A convoy (often written as "convoi") is the term for the Simutrans abstraction for all kinds of player-owned transport vehicles.
Forum discussions (and other texts dealing with the internals) will often use this term, but it need not appear in the game itself, instead, "vehicle" is often used (in the depot: "vehicle composition" or "vehicle assembly").
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General
For the purpose of this text, a "convoy" (compound vehicle) consists of one or more "units" (single vehicles).
A convoy is assembled/disassembled in a depot of the matching way type. It consists of at least one powered unit (e.g. a train engine), to which several powered or unpowered units may be connected. The convoy has to provide some transport capacity for at least one freight type or freight category, or it will be useless.
The pak files can impose contraints (rules for allowed combinations) for units in a convoy: what unit may or must connect to what other unit type(s) before/after it, which can enforce trains of certain structure and looks (e.g. exactly one steam engine in front, a matching tender, then waggons of the correct series following, and a panorama waggon at the end).
Outside of depots, the convoy is treated as one inseparable object (with a few exceptions). It moves according to a schedule, either assigned directly, or by making it belong to a line.
Properties of Convoys
(Note: this is from the player/user perspective; the game's internals may handle them differently.)
A convoy has certain properties (calculated from the units inside it):
- way type (including need for electrification)
- owner
- assignment to either schedule or line
- allowed maximum speed (minimum of the speed limits of all single units inside)
- effective power (in kW) (see Gear); note: the details window (as of 99.13) shows the nominal value for the total power
- tile reservations
- (movement) cost per tile/km
- profit history
For certain aspects, some properties of the single units (inside a convoy) are used:
- weight (unit+contents) for calculating the drag/friction at curves and slopes
- position (determining tiles that are occupied)
- manufacturing date and resale value
These are used/shown for both the convoy and its units.
- capacity (available/used) (per freight category or freight type)
Objects Covered by the Term Convoy
The term "convoy" can refer to
- a complete train (engine(s) and waggons); this also covers trams, monorail and maglev consists (real-world term for trains)
- a bus or a truck, including trailer
- predecessors of trams, busses and trucks that are pulled by horses (those are "engines" of type "bio")
- a ship, also a tug boat including the barges that it moves around
- an airplane
These aren't convoys:
- city cars
- pedestrians and cyclists
- vehicles and animals that are part of buildings
