Every person and cargo item in the game is simulated individually. People have a fixed routine with their individual home. Depending on the availability of transportation and their move preference they will also pick a shopping facility and work place and travel there and back home by food, car, or public transport. Cargo is produced and consumed in an industry outside the town or in commercial or industry building in a town.
Click on person in the game world or at a person symbol in residential building to open the person window. There you can see where that specific person lives, works, and goes shopping. And further you can see the persons appropriate move mode.
Below, its indicated whether the person owns a car, and which move preference the person has. If a person is a car owner, the amount of time and money used when going by public transport is also compared against the car. The move preference determines the maximum amount of time and money, a person is willing to spend when using public transport. When the player offers more or better connections, people might also change their shopping or working place.
The cargo simulation is demand driven. Industries will only ship cargo, when there is a demand for their product and a valid line is set up by the player – e.g. connecting a forest to a sawmill. The last link in a cargo chain is always a commercial or an industrial building in one of the towns. Find out more about the demand of these buildings on the towns page.
Per default a day in the game lasts 2 seconds. On single speed, all objects in the game move at a realistic speed in relation to the game world. Changing the game speed will provide a time lapse function by shorting the length of a day and at the same time accelerating the movement of objects in the game.
The length of a day can be adjusted via modding. The amount of produced and consumed cargo is automatically adjusted to ensure proper game balancing. For example: If a day is configured to last twice as long, the monthly production and demand industries will double.