This is by far the best video I have found about signals, especially path signals. I had spent hours searching TH-cam and watching multiple videos from other channels to try to understand path signals but was always just as confused and disappointed. After this video I finally "get it". The graphics, examples and clear explanations were outstanding!
The only video among many that could ACTUALLY TELL ME HOW PATH SIGNALS WORK IN DETAIL. I spent hours and hours trying to figure out what the heck they do, and how to properly use them. THANK YOU FOR ENDING MY SUFFERING. Thank you for drawing it out, like that was the help I needed.
This video was the best one I’ve seen, thank you very much. My rail system is finally running completely automated and I can now focus on adding more complexity. This video helped me to see my rail network in Computer science terms; using block signals and path signals was like partitioning memory and implementing Semaphores to create a mutex or conditional release on that memory. Thanks man
Dude, you have no idea how many videos I watch over the years attempting to figure out train signals. I swear I thought I watched them all. I had to work around making tracks intersect because no video helped me. I watched your video, and while I understood what was said, that did little to help me on others videos. I attempted to fix my current rail intersection after watching this and got it fixed on the first attempt! I was so excited I stayed up for hours playing! Thank you so much.
Yes the problem I had with other YT or written explanations is they didn't explain as clearly :) I will watch and re-watch. I just found I can have a 1 way track split into a fork with a left,right, and straight thru.
I struggled for days trying to figure out path signals. Your tutorial nailed it clearly and makes an obscure concept accessible. Thanks for taking the time to make this (especially with the expensive graphics). 10/10
Best explanation I've seen, nobody else seemed to really bother to explain the differences between the two signal types and where/why to place them in more complicated arrangements.
So glad it helped! 🙂 I found my previous knowledge in signaling really helped me get a good foundation on how these ones work! Thanks for the comment! 😀
Thanks for a very good description on how to solve the T-section. I was trying to do this with just block signals, but allways ended up with getting a deadlock after a few hours. Corrected with your guide and now it works!
After 10 videos on the topic this is the best explained one ! really good jobs and the colored graphics/blocs helped SOOOO much to understand this Shennanigans
This was the best video yet at explaining path signals, and I'm still too dense to understand them even slightly. Block signals are easy; path signals are completely incomprehensible. Satisfactory just got too hard for me. Damn it I hate being stupid.
Appreciate the comment! #feelsgood I get it though. Signals and pathing can be confusing, but that doesn't make you stupid! I have just spent many hours digging into how they work and trying to break them in order to figure out what does what so far. More advanced video coming, but my recommendation is to simply go break some trains and see what happens when you move signals around! Build some of the stuff I did, then move signals and see what happens. Again, thanks for the compliment about the video and have a SATISFACTORY DAY! ;-)
Nice Video It's especially very funny at 11:22 when you say that everything is working without any errors and on the right there's a Signal blinking yellow XD
Lol. The ones that matter regarding the intersection were working. The end one is going to complain no matter what until I close the track! I chuckled when I saw it while making the video too! Glad you got a laugh out of it! 😆👍
10:48 This is something that I've been struggling with in setting up junctions in Satisfactory. Thank you for saying this as it was incredibly educational. (regarding: All signals must be of the same type for a junction, you can't mixed path and block signals in a junction.)
@@Parkinwad Thanks for the additional clarification. I guess I still hadn't fully understood. This pathing is nothing like Factorio, which was intuitive, and after watching your advanced video with resolutions for edge case designs, I'm even more confused by the pathing logic than I was before I started. (That is to say, before I watched your video I was less confused by a misunderstanding-- I'm more confused now by the observed behavior.) Thank you for trying to make sense of it!
This helped a bunch. Had issues when signaling a wye. It's such a hard subject to get your head around, then having to adapt to a more simplistic version in the game adds to the confusion. You were able to visualize it well with good explanation. I imagine the devs would be hard pressed to come up with a better video on the subject.
At first glance, I thought it was my dad commenting on this video! Lol. Same first name, but we have the Parkinson last name. Thanks for the comment. Glad the video helped! 😀
Thank you for this video it does help. but I have a question on connecting the track to track ie: making "T" junctions or "4-way". I am having trouble even though I give the 3 blocks that you have suggested in the video. As a note this is my first play through and I don't have the hover pack unlock yet. I will confess I have a mouse with DPI adjustments that I try to use all the time, but forget a lot about that.
I'm assuming you are using a single track Junction? If you are, you may want to check out all 3 of my signal videos first to get a better understanding of signals in general. Thank you for the kind words, and I hope that helps! 😀👍
This video really helped me. Thank you so much. I'm still struggling with a 2 lane 4 way T junction that allows the trains to go straight through or turn . Going to play around with it some more or tear it down and move the turns slightly apart for a single T junction. Are there any web sights that have made images for common signalling junction. Maybe I'll make one if I get it to work without any hiccups. Sorry for the rant. Thanks again for the great video .
No worries about the rant! Easy to do sometimes! Check my other 2 videos. They are on a playlist on my channel, and add more complexity to this video. Might answer all the questions you have. :-) th-cam.com/video/q0_Lu_bJpQo/w-d-xo.html
I’ve been curious about station programming. I haven’t set up any advanced trains but I want to. Could you have a train with say 5 cars, and have a single station and one liquid or freight station on a route as a pit stop. Can it be programmed to pickup/load a specified car? Let’s say car #3 is caterium ore. Do I still need to arrange the station with empty platforms on cars #1-2-4-5? Or will it just load the 3rd car only and keep going?
I would say that empty platforms are what I use when I have a single car situated in a specific sequence in my trains, but train stations that are set to load, but have nothing in them, do the same thing as an empty platform, so if it's the aesthetic of a "full station" you are going for, then do that. Entirely up to you. I haven't delved into the new station load/unload programmable side of things as there are still some bugs, but may go into it in a video in the future as I see the need and things get fixed. :-)
@@Parkinwad I’m just trying to minimize the size of smaller remote stations across the map and wondering if they can pick up a single item to a specified car regardless of their order on the train
@SATISFACTORY INC Not really. The car's position from the train station (and hence the locomotive) determines which freight station will be loading it. We can use smart or programmable splitters to separate items coming off of a freight car though, so if it's a low-volume item, it could be worth it to just add it to another freight car. The problem is that we are usually hauling raw resources from the remote stations you are talking about, so belt speeds can become an issue after a while. I personally have 2 MkV's that run from 5 stations at a sorting and storage station I have, and it's rapidly becoming saturated.
So once I put down a single block signal, it creates two halves of my entire connected train network. Once I put down ANY signals, I have to do the whole thing… Did I get that right?
Very well done video, love the quality animations. I am confused about the very last comment though. You say the train reserves the block after your last exit signal, but my understanding is it won't look past a block signal to reserve path. It only reserves the path between the path signal and the next block signal.
That, I believe, is where I'm talking about path signals, so the train reserves the path through the path signal once the block after the last path signal is clear. I think I said that right just now. Lol.
@@Parkinwad Okay, so is that the same as saying, every path signal "chained" together needs to be clear & reserved, terminating at a block signal. I'm confused if a path signal needs to be able to see a clear track after the terminating block signal.
@@Draemn It's either terminating at a block signal, or terminating at the block that starts with the first block signal after all the chained path signals. Recommend just building a short test track to confirm, because I'm away, and can't remember off the top of my head.
@@Parkinwad yeah tis super confusing to wrap my head around just starting. So I was having the problem where I had a block > path > block. Block signal said "yep, block is clear, go. Path signal said "there is a train after the block signal, cannot proceed." Now I just need to test that out with multiple path signals between blocks
@@Parkinwad Well thanks for taking the time to respond on a 1 year old video and help me out. It was immensely helpful to learn that path signals require the terminating block signal to be green. I don't think any other video explained this concept.
It's actually easier to follow these rules: 1. Path Signals start a Path. 2. Block Signals End a Path. 3. Put a Block Signal at every Station Entrance and Exit. 4. Put a Path Signal only at every Junction Entrance (splitting rails). 5. Put a Block Signal at every Junction Exit in the direction that you want trains to go (merging rails). If you don't want trains going right in an intersection, don't put a block signal after the intersection in that direction. 6. The cul-de-sacs at each Branch End simply loop back to the Branch from which it came. I like to lay only 1 track for long distances. I do not do 2-lane highways. I have one central intersection where currently 4 legs branch off. North Branch goes to Bauxite Facility. West Branch goes to Oil Facility. East Branch goes to Black Powder & Compressed Coal Facility. (same recipe, so same building) Compressed Coal goes to the Oil Facility to produce Power (Currently at 2GW Production) and Black Powder goes to Oil Facility to produce Smokeless Powder. South Branch goes to both the Main Hub (Where I have a receiving depot that can only empty the trains on a Sushi Conveyer with 115 smart splitters into 115 Industrial Storages and overflows into a Sink) and the Iron Facility Hub which picks up every item that is produced using Iron (most recipes need iron, it's a busy facility that overflows into a Sink once the train depot is 100% full by using only dumb splitters so I get random items sent to Hub to ensure those storage bins fill). At this intersection, a Path Signal from each Branch at every rail split and a block signal at every rail merge. At the end of each Branch, the facility Train Stations, both a receiving station (with 4 cargo car depots because 1 engine pulls 4 cars, 2 engines can pull 8 cars) and a Shipping station. Each station has block signal at immediate entrance and immediate exit. Each rail intersection (whether merging or splitting) has a path signal at the split and block signal at the merge, from only the directions that the train is allowed (my cul-de-sacs are 1-way only). This method, in my instance, with 2 stations on the North Branch, 2 stations on the East Branch, 2 stations on the West Branch, and 3 stations on the South Branch (Hub + Iron Receiving & Shipping); can harbor a max of 24 trains (because there are 25 viable blocks of track [a couple sections are too short to hold an entire 5 (4 cars + 1 engine) length train]). I currently have only 1 cargo train and 1 engine that I can hop in to ride myself as needed and to prove concept that the signals are functioning. It works very well as I finish my hub to accommodate every Part (leaves, wood, iron ore, steel plate, motor, rotor, stator... you know. I'm being overly descriptive because of whiskey, it's Sunday. Get off my lawn!) I do hope this helps though. I'd make a video about it if my ancient pc could handle it. It can't. I have to play in a 800x600 windowed game on absolute lowest graphics settings because my GPU is a NVIDIA GT 620 and I am happy getting 12fps instead of the usual 7.
I think you should get published! 😉 (due to being the longest comment I've ever received). Sounds like you have a great handle on signals! 😀👍 Couldn't imagine trying to play at those framerates. 😥 I am very blessed indeed to have 60+ most of the time! Thank you much for your comment and insights! 😎
Thank you for your tutorial, it helps me understand a little bit more of the using of signals. But my main station is too complex and i can't figure how to fix it with update 5.
Unfortunately, path signals aren't the be-all end-all for every situation. You wouldn't be the first person to have to redesign a section of track site to update 5. Glad the video helped somewhat at least! 😀👍
That's a good video, i really need to understand better the way of these signals works, cause even i had a single railroad (wich connect a big part of the map), some stations are on the main line, some others are on dead ends or lateral as you show as advice, so for me the struggling is how to set the direction of the arrow of the train station, wich is really few clear in my opinion as game design.
I agree. The arrows can be confusing. Check out all 3 of my videos for more detailed info on the trains and signaling. Feel free to message here with any direct questions you have, and I'll do my best to answer them. 🙂👍
Hey Man, glad you made this video, it helped me really a lot! Thanks! I just have a follow up question, if you dont mind: At the trainstation you talk about at 13:30 , how do trains apporaching from the left reach the station? Or is this meant to be a head station just for trains apporaching from the right? Thanks again!
Without double checking the video, I'm fairly certain that station to which you are referring is only accessible from the right based on the video perspective as I have it currently set up. Thank you for the comment and I'm glad the video helped you! 🙂👍
@@Revenge1908 Yes. I have an area that trains can turn around fairly close to there just down the line, but I don't have any trains stop at that station coming from the other direction as that station is only outgoing raw materials for my purposes. 😀👍
@@Revenge1908 I'm not sure if there is any way to do it through reddit, but I'm there under the same name, or if you would like, I can give you the link to my Discord channel, and you could share it on there. 🙂
Can Multiple Stations Share Names like eg. All copper mine Stations called "Copper Mine". And the train goes for the first one available acting as a sort of Interface for Copper mines? That'd be handy!
@@Parkinwad Yep, that's true, in my fab i have Copper Mine A, Copper Mine B, and so on. But they produce very little and for my case its much more interesting the route Copper Mine > Fab > Copper Mine so using multiple trains is such an overblow solution as for train traffic, but having to add manually all the stations in the timetable looks very like its not supposed to be done like that... There must be some mod that does exactly that, and if not someone will create it, as it is so common to be done in factorio 😎👌
Still having trouble understanding how these signals interact and affect eachother and how to place and make them work properly. I just wanna have a single track bi directional railway that has a split in the middle, so 3 main blocks, if the block is occupied the train will go onto the split track and wait for the train coming from it’s destination to pass before it proceeds.
The following video of mine shows exactly that. Jump to 4:25 to see exactly that setup, but I think you'll enjoy the whole video. It's all about setups and more advanced signals! Thanks for the comment, and hope that helps. Also, it can be path or block signals for the setup I show. If you add more blocks in between though, you'll need path signals. 😀👍 th-cam.com/video/IOhRw8uDkFQ/w-d-xo.html
If you have 2 pads in the same direction. And 1 pad is full its not possible to let the train choose an alternative pad right? Because it always took the shortest.
That is correct. Trains only take the shortest route currently. I'm hoping that they will add some more dynamic pathfinding for trains in the future, but for now, passing sidings don't do anything unless the train has a station on that siding that it is pathed to. I'm making a second video right now with some more advanced signaling tips, so keep an eye out for that. Subscribe and hit the bell to get notified when it releases. :) Thanks for your comment!
im having issues with 4 trains on 2 tracks with a duel spiral, one spiral goes up other down, but signal issues make it sometimes break and nothing moves any tips?
14:50 im trying to replicate this in my world to no avail, can you clarify how its signaled? my signals keep complaining about signal types and looping into themselves
I could definitely have explained it slightly better or more in-depth, so apologies for that. The big thing to remember is path signals before an intersection, block signals to exit the intersection. Also, add a block signal at each end of the station in the correct direction of travel for the station. That should be all this needs. Check out the advanced signal video I made, if you haven't yet, in order to understand a bit better how to troubleshoot the error you're getting. Hope that helps.
Oh no! Check all your connections. I've had issues with track that looks connected not actually being connected. Test by driving a locomotive through everything from every direction. Then you can at least eliminate that potential cause. 🙂
I have a problem where one of my trains wanna use a station to turn to get back to it's own station. This cause problems because another train is on that station it wants to turn into, and it jams up the lines, however, this train is not ment to go into this station. I've tryied every type of signal combination, however, the train only choose the occupide station, in stead of the 2 other round abouts on the line...
If the roundabouts are farther away, it will always try to use shorter track unfortunately. If they are closer, double check your signal directions, especially on the roundabout. Hope you figure it out. 🙂👍
LOL I really didn't believe you that you couldn't build a holding area, as it seemed given the logic, that making a forked track and leading into it with a path signal, then making each tine of the fork a block would have to work. Imagine my shock when it just throws an incomprehensible error and refuses to work at all! LOL
Really well-explained video and I loved your fancy/expensive graphics package to create the direction lines :o) (have you considered a career in graphic design??) Watch, pause, rewind, watch, pause, rewind Sub earned, thank you so much.
If you only run one train, then no. But the likelihood that you only run one train is very slim, so then, yes, you will need signals to tell trains when it is clear to take a section of track without colliding.
Trying a reverse Y junction (2 lines merging) and cannot get it to work. According to the explanation, it should be P =======\ =============B P =======/ P: path signal; B: block signal, travel direction left --> right. But all trains stop and path signals have "waiting for path reservation". I use one-directional lines that create loops near the train stations. Cannot get the signals to work :(. It seems the only fool-proof mode of transportation are drones.
I don't have any diagrams that I have made up, no. But there are quite a few reddit posts that show things like that. Also, if you haven't yet, definitely experiment in game with different placements, and see what changes, what works etc.
Hey! I'd love to help. Let's find a time soon. I'll send you a link to my Discord channel. I can join you in a multiplayer game and check out your set up in order to see if we can sort it out. 🙂👍
Start out by just messing around with it. Some people learn faster by doing than by listening. I know that is often the case with me! Try building some of the things you see in tutorials, then change them a tiny bit and see if anything changes or breaks. You might be surprised at how much you learn! 😀 Best of luck!
def need your help setting up my hub. Have 8 stations underneath my hub all going back out onto the main lines but can't figure the signalling for it, you have discord?
Two hours of trying to figure out train signals solved by this video. Thanks very much!
Awesome! 👍 That's what I like to hear! 😀
This is by far the best video I have found about signals, especially path signals. I had spent hours searching TH-cam and watching multiple videos from other channels to try to understand path signals but was always just as confused and disappointed. After this video I finally "get it". The graphics, examples and clear explanations were outstanding!
Hey! Love the comment! Thanks for the encouragement, and I'm glad that the info helped! 🙂👍
The only video among many that could ACTUALLY TELL ME HOW PATH SIGNALS WORK IN DETAIL. I spent hours and hours trying to figure out what the heck they do, and how to properly use them. THANK YOU FOR ENDING MY SUFFERING. Thank you for drawing it out, like that was the help I needed.
Awesome! That's why I did them! Glad it helped!
This video was the best one I’ve seen, thank you very much. My rail system is finally running completely automated and I can now focus on adding more complexity. This video helped me to see my rail network in Computer science terms; using block signals and path signals was like partitioning memory and implementing Semaphores to create a mutex or conditional release on that memory.
Thanks man
Glad it helped you! 😀
Dude, you have no idea how many videos I watch over the years attempting to figure out train signals. I swear I thought I watched them all. I had to work around making tracks intersect because no video helped me. I watched your video, and while I understood what was said, that did little to help me on others videos. I attempted to fix my current rail intersection after watching this and got it fixed on the first attempt! I was so excited I stayed up for hours playing! Thank you so much.
Glad it helped! Thanks for reaching out! 🙂👍
This is a fantastic tutorial! Super clear and great examples
Glad it was helpful! Also thanks for the sub!
Yes the problem I had with other YT or written explanations is they didn't explain as clearly :) I will watch and re-watch. I just found I can have a 1 way track split into a fork with a left,right, and straight thru.
I struggled for days trying to figure out path signals. Your tutorial nailed it clearly and makes an obscure concept accessible. Thanks for taking the time to make this (especially with the expensive graphics). 10/10
Thanks a lot Mike! Appreciate the kind comment! Happy to hear you have a better grasp on it now! 😀👍
Best explanation I've seen, nobody else seemed to really bother to explain the differences between the two signal types and where/why to place them in more complicated arrangements.
So glad it helped! 🙂 I found my previous knowledge in signaling really helped me get a good foundation on how these ones work! Thanks for the comment! 😀
This was a way better explanation than from TotalXclipse. Thank you a lot. Everything is working fine now with my cross sections :D
Awesome! Happy to hear it! 😀👍
also the totalxclipse one messes with my brain with him changing to left handed driving, this one should be in the wiki page
true true
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I spent hours trying to figure out and watching other TH-camrs trying to explain it. You've earned my sub!
Thank you so much! Glad it helped!
I will second that! Excellent explanation with examples to help make it more clear.
Thank you so much, i finally understand, how this pathsignal is supposed to work after hours watching different tutorials .
Glad to hear it helped! 😀
Thanks for a very good description on how to solve the T-section. I was trying to do this with just block signals, but allways ended up with getting a deadlock after a few hours. Corrected with your guide and now it works!
Awesome to hear! Glad it helped you out, and thanks for commenting! 😁👍
This is the BEST tutorial for pathing of trains after 10 other videos! just so detailed .. thanks for such good examples
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Just adding to the thank yous. This video explained pathing signals better than any other video I've found
Super glad it helped! Thanks! 🙂
After 10 videos on the topic this is the best explained one ! really good jobs and the colored graphics/blocs helped SOOOO much to understand this Shennanigans
Thank you for the kind compliment! I'm really happy it helped! 😀👍
This was the best video yet at explaining path signals, and I'm still too dense to understand them even slightly. Block signals are easy; path signals are completely incomprehensible. Satisfactory just got too hard for me. Damn it I hate being stupid.
Appreciate the comment! #feelsgood I get it though. Signals and pathing can be confusing, but that doesn't make you stupid! I have just spent many hours digging into how they work and trying to break them in order to figure out what does what so far. More advanced video coming, but my recommendation is to simply go break some trains and see what happens when you move signals around! Build some of the stuff I did, then move signals and see what happens. Again, thanks for the compliment about the video and have a SATISFACTORY DAY! ;-)
"just follow my expensive animated graphics" xDDDD Awesome dude! you made my morning >.
Glad it made ya laugh! 🙂 If you can't make fun of yourself, what's the point?! Thanks for the comment!
Nice Video
It's especially very funny at 11:22 when you say that everything is working without any errors and on the right there's a Signal blinking yellow XD
Lol. The ones that matter regarding the intersection were working. The end one is going to complain no matter what until I close the track! I chuckled when I saw it while making the video too! Glad you got a laugh out of it! 😆👍
10:48 This is something that I've been struggling with in setting up junctions in Satisfactory. Thank you for saying this as it was incredibly educational. (regarding: All signals must be of the same type for a junction, you can't mixed path and block signals in a junction.)
More specifically, you can't mix path and block signals entering a junction, but glad you understood, and it helped! 😀 Thanks for the comment! 🙂👍
@@Parkinwad Thanks for the additional clarification. I guess I still hadn't fully understood. This pathing is nothing like Factorio, which was intuitive, and after watching your advanced video with resolutions for edge case designs, I'm even more confused by the pathing logic than I was before I started. (That is to say, before I watched your video I was less confused by a misunderstanding-- I'm more confused now by the observed behavior.) Thank you for trying to make sense of it!
Such a high quality for 300 subs. I hope this channel explodes in no time, man. Thanks for the tutorial
You're welcome. And I feel there is a lot I can still improve on! 🙂 Thanks a bunch!
One of the best tutorials on signals so far
Much appreciated! 🙂
This helped a bunch. Had issues when signaling a wye. It's such a hard subject to get your head around, then having to adapt to a more simplistic version in the game adds to the confusion. You were able to visualize it well with good explanation. I imagine the devs would be hard pressed to come up with a better video on the subject.
Thanks so much for that! 🙂 I'm happy it's helped so many people! 👍
Simple, intuitive, concise. Well done.
Thanks. 😀👍
Best tutorial on signals that I've seen. Thank you.
Very much appreciated! Sincerely! 😀 You are very welcome!
Nice thanks! Very helpful
Just because it doesn't hurt to hear it again, AMAZING content! really well made and easy to understand! Thanks :)
Of course it doesn't hurt to hear it again! 😉 Thank you very much; glad you enjoyed it!
Jeez i'm glad that i've played factorio before this game so i can use the same logic since it is working the same way
not only this video is very helpful, yout voice also sounds like asmr
Wow, thanks! Very much appreciate the compliment! 🙂👍
Yeah, I wasn't getting it until this vid, great tutorial!
Thank you!
Overall quality is so good for a small channel (yet), keep it up ! (Love your animations btw)
Thanks! I'm working on growing it. 😉
Very useful information. Thank you so much.
At first glance, I thought it was my dad commenting on this video! Lol. Same first name, but we have the Parkinson last name. Thanks for the comment. Glad the video helped! 😀
Awesome tutorial, much clearer than others I have seen.
Thank you!🙂
Thank you for this video it does help. but I have a question on connecting the track to track ie: making "T" junctions or "4-way". I am having trouble even though I give the 3 blocks that you have suggested in the video. As a note this is my first play through and I don't have the hover pack unlock yet. I will confess I have a mouse with DPI adjustments that I try to use all the time, but forget a lot about that.
I'm assuming you are using a single track Junction? If you are, you may want to check out all 3 of my signal videos first to get a better understanding of signals in general. Thank you for the kind words, and I hope that helps! 😀👍
Very informative. Thank you!
Glad it helped. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
This video really helped me. Thank you so much. I'm still struggling with a 2 lane 4 way T junction that allows the trains to go straight through or turn . Going to play around with it some more or tear it down and move the turns slightly apart for a single T junction. Are there any web sights that have made images for common signalling junction. Maybe I'll make one if I get it to work without any hiccups. Sorry for the rant. Thanks again for the great video .
No worries about the rant! Easy to do sometimes! Check my other 2 videos. They are on a playlist on my channel, and add more complexity to this video. Might answer all the questions you have. :-)
th-cam.com/video/q0_Lu_bJpQo/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for your clear tutorial, it helped me a lot on my save
Thank you for the response! Glad to hear it helped! 🙂
I’ve been curious about station programming. I haven’t set up any advanced trains but I want to. Could you have a train with say 5 cars, and have a single station and one liquid or freight station on a route as a pit stop. Can it be programmed to pickup/load a specified car? Let’s say car #3 is caterium ore. Do I still need to arrange the station with empty platforms on cars #1-2-4-5? Or will it just load the 3rd car only and keep going?
I would say that empty platforms are what I use when I have a single car situated in a specific sequence in my trains, but train stations that are set to load, but have nothing in them, do the same thing as an empty platform, so if it's the aesthetic of a "full station" you are going for, then do that. Entirely up to you. I haven't delved into the new station load/unload programmable side of things as there are still some bugs, but may go into it in a video in the future as I see the need and things get fixed. :-)
@@Parkinwad I’m just trying to minimize the size of smaller remote stations across the map and wondering if they can pick up a single item to a specified car regardless of their order on the train
@SATISFACTORY INC Not really. The car's position from the train station (and hence the locomotive) determines which freight station will be loading it. We can use smart or programmable splitters to separate items coming off of a freight car though, so if it's a low-volume item, it could be worth it to just add it to another freight car. The problem is that we are usually hauling raw resources from the remote stations you are talking about, so belt speeds can become an issue after a while. I personally have 2 MkV's that run from 5 stations at a sorting and storage station I have, and it's rapidly becoming saturated.
Totally great tutorial. Saved, liked. Subbed.
Thank you! 🙂
So once I put down a single block signal, it creates two halves of my entire connected train network. Once I put down ANY signals, I have to do the whole thing…
Did I get that right?
You got it! 😀👍
Very well done video, love the quality animations. I am confused about the very last comment though. You say the train reserves the block after your last exit signal, but my understanding is it won't look past a block signal to reserve path. It only reserves the path between the path signal and the next block signal.
That, I believe, is where I'm talking about path signals, so the train reserves the path through the path signal once the block after the last path signal is clear. I think I said that right just now. Lol.
@@Parkinwad Okay, so is that the same as saying, every path signal "chained" together needs to be clear & reserved, terminating at a block signal. I'm confused if a path signal needs to be able to see a clear track after the terminating block signal.
@@Draemn It's either terminating at a block signal, or terminating at the block that starts with the first block signal after all the chained path signals. Recommend just building a short test track to confirm, because I'm away, and can't remember off the top of my head.
@@Parkinwad yeah tis super confusing to wrap my head around just starting. So I was having the problem where I had a block > path > block. Block signal said "yep, block is clear, go. Path signal said "there is a train after the block signal, cannot proceed." Now I just need to test that out with multiple path signals between blocks
@@Parkinwad Well thanks for taking the time to respond on a 1 year old video and help me out. It was immensely helpful to learn that path signals require the terminating block signal to be green. I don't think any other video explained this concept.
Really great and instructive video thank you so much!
Thanks Tim!
Thank you, thank you, thank you and this a great video btw if you couldn't tell!
It seems to be well liked, yes! Thanks a ton, and you're welcome!
i love this video. God Bless you
He certainly has! Thank you for the kind words! 🙂
It's actually easier to follow these rules:
1. Path Signals start a Path.
2. Block Signals End a Path.
3. Put a Block Signal at every Station Entrance and Exit.
4. Put a Path Signal only at every Junction Entrance (splitting rails).
5. Put a Block Signal at every Junction Exit in the direction that you want trains to go (merging rails). If you don't want trains going right in an intersection, don't put a block signal after the intersection in that direction.
6. The cul-de-sacs at each Branch End simply loop back to the Branch from which it came.
I like to lay only 1 track for long distances. I do not do 2-lane highways. I have one central intersection where currently 4 legs branch off.
North Branch goes to Bauxite Facility.
West Branch goes to Oil Facility.
East Branch goes to Black Powder & Compressed Coal Facility. (same recipe, so same building) Compressed Coal goes to the Oil Facility to produce Power (Currently at 2GW Production) and Black Powder goes to Oil Facility to produce Smokeless Powder.
South Branch goes to both the Main Hub (Where I have a receiving depot that can only empty the trains on a Sushi Conveyer with 115 smart splitters into 115 Industrial Storages and overflows into a Sink) and the Iron Facility Hub which picks up every item that is produced using Iron (most recipes need iron, it's a busy facility that overflows into a Sink once the train depot is 100% full by using only dumb splitters so I get random items sent to Hub to ensure those storage bins fill).
At this intersection, a Path Signal from each Branch at every rail split and a block signal at every rail merge.
At the end of each Branch, the facility Train Stations, both a receiving station (with 4 cargo car depots because 1 engine pulls 4 cars, 2 engines can pull 8 cars) and a Shipping station.
Each station has block signal at immediate entrance and immediate exit.
Each rail intersection (whether merging or splitting) has a path signal at the split and block signal at the merge, from only the directions that the train is allowed (my cul-de-sacs are 1-way only).
This method, in my instance, with 2 stations on the North Branch, 2 stations on the East Branch, 2 stations on the West Branch, and 3 stations on the South Branch (Hub + Iron Receiving & Shipping); can harbor a max of 24 trains (because there are 25 viable blocks of track [a couple sections are too short to hold an entire 5 (4 cars + 1 engine) length train]).
I currently have only 1 cargo train and 1 engine that I can hop in to ride myself as needed and to prove concept that the signals are functioning. It works very well as I finish my hub to accommodate every Part (leaves, wood, iron ore, steel plate, motor, rotor, stator... you know. I'm being overly descriptive because of whiskey, it's Sunday. Get off my lawn!)
I do hope this helps though. I'd make a video about it if my ancient pc could handle it. It can't. I have to play in a 800x600 windowed game on absolute lowest graphics settings because my GPU is a NVIDIA GT 620 and I am happy getting 12fps instead of the usual 7.
I think you should get published! 😉 (due to being the longest comment I've ever received). Sounds like you have a great handle on signals! 😀👍 Couldn't imagine trying to play at those framerates. 😥 I am very blessed indeed to have 60+ most of the time! Thank you much for your comment and insights! 😎
Thank you for your tutorial, it helps me understand a little bit more of the using of signals. But my main station is too complex and i can't figure how to fix it with update 5.
Unfortunately, path signals aren't the be-all end-all for every situation. You wouldn't be the first person to have to redesign a section of track site to update 5. Glad the video helped somewhat at least! 😀👍
That's a good video, i really need to understand better the way of these signals works, cause even i had a single railroad (wich connect a big part of the map), some stations are on the main line, some others are on dead ends or lateral as you show as advice, so for me the struggling is how to set the direction of the arrow of the train station, wich is really few clear in my opinion as game design.
I agree. The arrows can be confusing. Check out all 3 of my videos for more detailed info on the trains and signaling. Feel free to message here with any direct questions you have, and I'll do my best to answer them. 🙂👍
@@Parkinwad I will gladly and thank you for the kind offer :), i do really like your contents and the way you create, keep on the good job!
Thanks, that was really helpfull.
Glad to hear it! 😀
Hey Man, glad you made this video, it helped me really a lot! Thanks! I just have a follow up question, if you dont mind: At the trainstation you talk about at 13:30 , how do trains apporaching from the left reach the station? Or is this meant to be a head station just for trains apporaching from the right? Thanks again!
Without double checking the video, I'm fairly certain that station to which you are referring is only accessible from the right based on the video perspective as I have it currently set up. Thank you for the comment and I'm glad the video helped you! 🙂👍
@@Parkinwad okay, then I need to build in another turn-back possibility for trains. Coming from the left side :)
@@Revenge1908 Yes. I have an area that trains can turn around fairly close to there just down the line, but I don't have any trains stop at that station coming from the other direction as that station is only outgoing raw materials for my purposes. 😀👍
@@Parkinwad id love to show you the station I built, don’t know how though
@@Revenge1908 I'm not sure if there is any way to do it through reddit, but I'm there under the same name, or if you would like, I can give you the link to my Discord channel, and you could share it on there. 🙂
I keep thinking in Factorio ways with how Chain Signals work but it seems Path signals are slightly different in behavior.
That could be. I never played Factorio, so I'm not sure what they would be.
Can Multiple Stations Share Names like eg. All copper mine Stations called "Copper Mine". And the train goes for the first one available acting as a sort of Interface for Copper mines? That'd be handy!
No, but you could add a numbering sequence to it to differentiate between them. 🙂
@@Parkinwad Yep, that's true, in my fab i have Copper Mine A, Copper Mine B, and so on.
But they produce very little and for my case its much more interesting the route Copper Mine > Fab > Copper Mine so using multiple trains is such an overblow solution as for train traffic, but having to add manually all the stations in the timetable looks very like its not supposed to be done like that...
There must be some mod that does exactly that, and if not someone will create it, as it is so common to be done in factorio 😎👌
Great video brother
Thank you.🙂
Still having trouble understanding how these signals interact and affect eachother and how to place and make them work properly. I just wanna have a single track bi directional railway that has a split in the middle, so 3 main blocks, if the block is occupied the train will go onto the split track and wait for the train coming from it’s destination to pass before it proceeds.
The following video of mine shows exactly that. Jump to 4:25 to see exactly that setup, but I think you'll enjoy the whole video. It's all about setups and more advanced signals! Thanks for the comment, and hope that helps. Also, it can be path or block signals for the setup I show. If you add more blocks in between though, you'll need path signals. 😀👍 th-cam.com/video/IOhRw8uDkFQ/w-d-xo.html
If you have 2 pads in the same direction. And 1 pad is full its not possible to let the train choose an alternative pad right? Because it always took the shortest.
That is correct. Trains only take the shortest route currently. I'm hoping that they will add some more dynamic pathfinding for trains in the future, but for now, passing sidings don't do anything unless the train has a station on that siding that it is pathed to. I'm making a second video right now with some more advanced signaling tips, so keep an eye out for that. Subscribe and hit the bell to get notified when it releases. :) Thanks for your comment!
im having issues with 4 trains on 2 tracks with a duel spiral, one spiral goes up other down, but signal issues make it sometimes break and nothing moves
any tips?
Try a signal in the middle of each spiral. Sometimes blocks are just too big and it can create bottleneck areas. Let me know if that fixes! 😀👍
Great tutorial! One note however: The adaptive volume music/voice over was way too aggressive to my liking - it actually was a distraction
I appreciate the feedback! I found the same thing eventually, and removed it in the second video I did. Thank you for the constructive criticism. 🙂
14:50 im trying to replicate this in my world to no avail, can you clarify how its signaled? my signals keep complaining
about signal types and looping into themselves
I could definitely have explained it slightly better or more in-depth, so apologies for that. The big thing to remember is path signals before an intersection, block signals to exit the intersection. Also, add a block signal at each end of the station in the correct direction of travel for the station. That should be all this needs. Check out the advanced signal video I made, if you haven't yet, in order to understand a bit better how to troubleshoot the error you're getting. Hope that helps.
@@Parkinwad thanks for the quick reply, that fixed my issue!
My signal still telling me to go to hell, even after watching this video
Oh no! Check all your connections. I've had issues with track that looks connected not actually being connected. Test by driving a locomotive through everything from every direction. Then you can at least eliminate that potential cause. 🙂
I have a problem where one of my trains wanna use a station to turn to get back to it's own station. This cause problems because another train is on that station it wants to turn into, and it jams up the lines, however, this train is not ment to go into this station. I've tryied every type of signal combination, however, the train only choose the occupide station, in stead of the 2 other round abouts on the line...
If the roundabouts are farther away, it will always try to use shorter track unfortunately. If they are closer, double check your signal directions, especially on the roundabout. Hope you figure it out. 🙂👍
Nice! Thank you!
No problem, and thank you! I just posted the follow up video if your brain can handle any more confusion for one day!
LOL I really didn't believe you that you couldn't build a holding area, as it seemed given the logic, that making a forked track and leading into it with a path signal, then making each tine of the fork a block would have to work.
Imagine my shock when it just throws an incomprehensible error and refuses to work at all! LOL
Lol. Kinda sucks, I know, but it may be a feature that is able to be built in with logic eventually if enough people request it. 🙂
Really well-explained video and I loved your fancy/expensive graphics package to create the direction lines :o) (have you considered a career in graphic design??)
Watch, pause, rewind, watch, pause, rewind
Sub earned, thank you so much.
Happy to hear it helped! 😀👍
I have to spread signal on all my railroad network to make the signals to work properly?
If you only run one train, then no. But the likelihood that you only run one train is very slim, so then, yes, you will need signals to tell trains when it is clear to take a section of track without colliding.
Trying a reverse Y junction (2 lines merging) and cannot get it to work. According to the explanation, it should be
P =======\
=============B
P =======/
P: path signal; B: block signal, travel direction left --> right.
But all trains stop and path signals have "waiting for path reservation".
I use one-directional lines that create loops near the train stations. Cannot get the signals to work :(.
It seems the only fool-proof mode of transportation are drones.
Not sure what is leading up to this, and it looks like it should work, but I believe all you need here should be all block signals. 🙂
I'm still confused. Have any diagrams (not screenshots) of these?
I don't have any diagrams that I have made up, no. But there are quite a few reddit posts that show things like that. Also, if you haven't yet, definitely experiment in game with different placements, and see what changes, what works etc.
What about a train hub with 5 lines combining into 1 exit line?
That is actually a great idea for a video! Thanks! 😀 You may see that in the near future.
Bro, my buddy and I have watched you and still doesn't manage to get it right, would you mind PM me when you got time? Love the video either way!
Hey! I'd love to help. Let's find a time soon. I'll send you a link to my Discord channel. I can join you in a multiplayer game and check out your set up in order to see if we can sort it out. 🙂👍
discord.gg/uWjvBQsy.
That is my Discord. Join there. I'm on every few days, normally in the evenings Eastern Standard time.
❤
Time to look for a mod that disables train collisions
It was called update 4. Lol. 😉
Now if there only was a burning ball of fire in the sky.
Not enough info on pathing.
I have several other videos on my channel that go deeper into path signals and the like. Look for the playlist on my channel. 🙂
I thought i was a smart person,
but then cs added signals to trains 😭
I feel like i'm losing my damn mind. This is the 5th video i've watched and i still don't understand a single thing being said.
Start out by just messing around with it. Some people learn faster by doing than by listening. I know that is often the case with me! Try building some of the things you see in tutorials, then change them a tiny bit and see if anything changes or breaks. You might be surprised at how much you learn! 😀 Best of luck!
Path signal going in, block signal going out, path signal going in, block signal going out.
Repeat after me.
Lol! Love that! 😁 Should be a chant or something!
the background music makes it hard for me to pay attention to what you say
Yeah. Sorry about that. The ducking was more aggressive than it should have been. The rest of the videos I fixed that in. 👍
such a moronic system for such a basic idea, amazing ..
Lol. I agree. We do it because we can! 🤣
def need your help setting up my hub. Have 8 stations underneath my hub all going back out onto the main lines but can't figure the signalling for it, you have discord?
Yes. Shoot me your username, and I'll DM you there.