As soon the player wants to transfer items between zones it is required to use either the conveyor belts or the courier system.
To use the courier system, the player needs the bld_courier_pallet01
The courier system is earlier available and also more flexible than the conveyor belts but has compared to the conveyor belts a lower frequency. If the player wants to transport more significant amounts of items between two pallets with the courier system it is required to reserve enough space on both pallets to ensure the material flow works out.
The courier system can be access through the button in the HUD or with the hotkey
At first glance, the courier system can be quite overwhelming, but we can split the single parts to make it better understandable.
This is the view of a specific route with a selected pallet.
On the left side, we have a list of all pallets on a route with an overview of all inputs & outputs. New pallets can be added by pressing the "Add courier pallet" button.
On the bottom left, we can see all employees on the route with quick actions. Pressing "Add Employee" will add an employee without a job to the route, or hire a new one in case there is no employee available. Each employee can take care of the transportation of up to 4 different items.
In the middle is the map of your company. Work zones are marked in colour given by you. Each pallet is symbolized with a icon. By clicking on one of it, it will open the pallet view on the right side.
To have items transported between two work zones, the player needs to make sure that place from where the courier should get an item has an output amount set, and the target pallet has an input amount set. Those pallet configurations affect all routes connected to this specific pallet.
Every time a rule gets added to a pallet, the system will set the input/output to a specific default, depending on the situation within the work zone. The defaulting does not know about other zones, that sometimes means the player will need to adjust the configurations.
What is essential is two now the system works with thresholds. An input fills up the reserved pallet until n% of the maximum fill stand is reached. The output is even a bit more complicated. An output amount set to 80% will transport away everything but the first 20% of the maximum stock.
Example: The pallet has 40 of 50 rods in stock, and the output is set to 80%. The next courier will see:
Leave 20% of the max.: 50 * 20% -> 10
Take the remaining: 40 - 10 -> 30
Pallet Defaults:
Buying counts as produced, selling counts as consumed!
In the overview of routes, we can see basic details about it. Such as the items transported, amount of pallets and hired employees. If any problem arises on a route, there will be a warning at this place.
For a route to work, it needs to contain at least two pallets and one employee. Currently, there are no more settings to routes than the connected pallets.
By clicking on "Add Courier Pallet", the player can add pallets to a route. Every added route always gets at the end, but positions can be changed by pressing on the arrows up and down.
It is also possible to add a pallet twice, but the same pallet can't be placed twice in a row, and that defacto makes it impossible to add the pallet twice that is at the begin of a route.
On each entry, the player can see what a pallet provides and requests, but there is not an option yet to say what a route should transport and whatnot. Currently, everything possible for that route gets added.