18xx
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tobymao
Suggestion: Auto run and payout function
What's your idea?
It would be nice to have an "auto run and pay out" function. There are definitely times in games where everyone is just running and paying out to drain the bank because we've all agreed there's nothing left to do track-wise.
Once activated, the game could automatically skip tiles, tokens, etc, submit the previous route, and pay out, much like the present auto-actions in the Stock round. Assuming it's implemented on a per-company basis, you could have it disable if the route gets token blocked.
This is a feature I've often thought about, but implementing it is a bit beyond my current skill set.
Are there related ideas?
Other contributors may be working on something similar, check out the list of open feature requests to see if there's opportunity to collaborate.
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Another case for this is companies in receivership etc, where they may only run/withhold
Absolutely, great point. The national in 1861 would also be a good example.
The national in 1861 requires new route finding each operation, probably also most cases for receivership companies. I think you should restrict this request to a simple "accept the last run without checking routing".
A problem with this feature is going to be defining when this is allowed. What is preventing someone from using this option after they buy the P1 in 1830. then this button makes the log generate 2400 sets of SRs/ORs to break the 12k bank. Or maybe that is okay? Probably scenarios can be constructed that run indefinitely.
I have a WIP a branch from a while back where I was trying to do this, IIRC it was getting tripped up when consecutive companies wanted to do it.
Anyone who wants to take this on feel free to check it out and take anything that might be useful: https://github.com/tobymao/18xx/compare/master...michaeljb:18xx.games:run-and-pay
A problem with this feature is going to be defining when this is allowed. What is preventing someone from using this option after they buy the P1 in 1830. then this button makes the log generate 2400 sets of SRs/ORs to break the 12k bank. Or maybe that is okay? Probably scenarios can be constructed that run indefinitely.
On my branch linked in my previous comment, my approach was to have the UI for this on the auto tab, like with auto-buying shares, but you can only activate it for companies of which you are the President.