Caravan Speed

[TiberianSun371AlexW]

What is the relationship between caravan speed in planning mode and actual speed? For example, if I get 18 tiles per day as speed of my caravan, does that mean I travel 90% as fast as planning speed? That would mean something that plans to be 27 days in planning mode means 30 days of actual travel and need 30 days of food. I wish there was some formula I could apply.

[vzoxz0]

It depends on a lot of factors, including illness events... you have to assume you're going to need more food than the journey needs regardless

[Limdood]

yup, a leg scar or food poisoning will impact travel speed.

so will a pregnant pack animal, mental break

[TiberianSun371AlexW]

I know a lot of things will impact caravan speed. That's not the point. Currently for me planning mode is completely useless. Three times in several games I arrived at the advertised time. I know many conditions affect travel. One time I arrived using TRIPLE the advertised time. More frequently, 7 days of advertised time is 8 days of actual travel, but the problem is that it varies.

When I make a caravan, it lists a speed. So a caravan traveling at 20 tiles per day is faster than one formed with pack animals traveling at 18 tiles per day. Makes sense. I am trying to figure out a relationship between planning time and actual time besides "uh, planning mode is wrong." If I knew the exact speed planning mode assumes, I could calculate it with algebra. In other words, I am trying to figure out what speed would make a caravan travel at planning speed.

So I should just use planning mode to go from A to B until it takes 24 hours and count the tiles right? Wrong. Planning mode is smart enough to take weather and roads into considereation. So even if I mark a dummy planning mode that moves say... 20 tiles in 24 hours, it doesn't mean that if I form a caravan that moves at 20 tiles per day will move at the same speed a planning mode one will do.
So what speed is planning mdoe at? 20 tiles? 25? 18?

[Limdood]

In case you didn't know (if you did, check the next paragraph), caravan travel time changes with the seasons, but it changes gradually....the "winter" travel time is the time in the center of winter....but as fall deepens and winter starts, the travel time gradually gets longer and longer (and the opposite at the end of winter).

I don't think planning mode takes seasonal FUTURE travel time into account....so if you leave in early winter, planning mode (probably) checks each tile's time-to-cross at THAT day, not figuring that the next day travel will be slower, and the day after that even slower, etc....so if you have a long journey, and winter is deepening, it'll be significantly wrong, with the journey taking far longer than predicted.  Conversely, if it's the end of winter and spring is approaching, you may get there quite a bit sooner...i think travel time will be right or fairly close in late spring to early fall though.  That's my best guess as to why planning and actual time fluctuates so greatly

[TiberianSun371AlexW]

That wasn't my point. My point was that if I knew the planning speed, I could get a better ballpark of how fast caravans traveled. if my caravan had 90% of the planning speed, then I could get a better approximation than right now which is just "crapshoot."

Does anyone know what the planning speed assumes your caravan travels???

[TiberianSun371AlexW]

When you form a caravan it says "X tiles/day." Choosing injured colonists or brining the slowest animals make X the smallest.

What I want to know is what planning mode assumes X is.

[fritzgryphon]

It should be the current (ideal) speed of the caravan, given the current pawns, their health and condition, weight carried, season, and travel difficulty of each tile on the path.  For example, if you add a peg-leg colonist or pregnant muffalo to your caravan, the ETA does increase.

So assuming none of those variables change during the journey, you would get there as planned, more or less.  I never see any discrepancy with travel time for an uneventful journey (maybe 5-10%). 

Of course, at least some variables will change (injury, disease, hunger, mental break, season, eclipse etc) and you have to estimate that yourself.  No system can anticipate the changes (except maybe season, as mentioned before).  Also, the time estimate doesn't include the packing phase before the caravan leaves, which can take much of a day.

edit:  in A1.0/B19

[TiberianSun371AlexW]

OK, I see where this is. "planning mode" is crapshoot.

But if you form a caravan, select pawns, and chose a route, the timing is right as long as nothing changes (like weight or weather... well weight is almost a constant when carrying a loooot of cargo rather than food).

I'm still curious what planning mode speed is, but I guess it's less important to know now.

[fritzgryphon]

Ok I found a case where the estimate will be wrong.

The ETA estimate takes illnesses into account, but it presumes that all sick colonists will be walking (not being carried).

Colonists default to being carried when sick. To get the correct speed you have to uncheck that option.  I guess colonists gain immunity slower while walking.

[TiberianSun371AlexW]

Actually I had a different problem. In world mode above the date and time there is a "planning mode" button. You don't select pawns, just destinations. The ETA here was nearly always wrong

I also noticed when you form a caravan, it gives a speed. Unless I could figure out the relationship between this stated speed and "planning mode" speed, the latter was useless unless I knew the default speed.

By forming a caravan, chosing a route, but NOT accepting I could get accurate times. I'm still slightly curious what planning mode speed is, but it is less important.