There's been some confusion about how to manually update the traffic in the game so I've decided to post this step-by-step guide. Hopefully, this alleviates the traffic and gridlock issues for some and give Collosal Order a little more time to fix the problem.
Step 1: Download, unpack and run the GS File Viewer
Step 2: Extract the metro.gs file
Step 3: Fixing traffic
Good luck!
NullCharacter
UPDATE 2/24/11: pdguru created a thread that simplifies this process a bit. He followed the instructions here, modified the necessary file and packaged it all up to make the process easier for the masses. Go here if you want to skip the steps I've outlined below and just download the modified files: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?523291-Traffic-Reduction
Step 1: Download, unpack and run the GS File Viewer
Download Liechti's excellent utility here, make sure you get the latest version: http://www.citiesinmotion.net/download/index.php?page=EntryFiles&entryID=5
Once downloaded, create a folder on your computer and unpack the contents of the downloaded zip file to that folder. I simply created a folder on my desktop and unpacked the files to it.
You should now have a folder with a bunch of files in it. Look for an application called "GSFileViewer" (GSFileViewer.exe). It'll have a blue icon that resembles a barrel. Run that program.
Once downloaded, create a folder on your computer and unpack the contents of the downloaded zip file to that folder. I simply created a folder on my desktop and unpacked the files to it.
You should now have a folder with a bunch of files in it. Look for an application called "GSFileViewer" (GSFileViewer.exe). It'll have a blue icon that resembles a barrel. Run that program.
Step 2: Extract the metro.gs file
In GS File Viewer press the "Open GS file..." button. Next, navigate to your Cities in Motion folder and select the metro.gs file. Press "Open". If you did this correctly, you should now see a collection of folders with each one containing more files and folders:
Press the "Extract whole GS file to folder..." button. Navigate to your Cities in Motion folder and select it. Make sure it is highlighted and press the "Make New Folder" button towards the bottom. It'll make a new folder and allow you to name it. It is very important that you name it "metro". After you've named it, make sure it is selected and press "OK". The GS File Viewer will now extract all of the files inside metro.gs into your new "metro" folder.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When the Cities in Motion game starts up it'll check for the existence of the "metro" folder. If it sees it, it'll ignore the metro.gs file and use the files in the metro folder instead. Be aware that any patches you apply to your game will only update the "metro.gs" file and not any files in your metro folder. Therefore, you must remember to delete your metro folder after installing a patch or else some of the changes made by the developers will be ignored.
Press the "Extract whole GS file to folder..." button. Navigate to your Cities in Motion folder and select it. Make sure it is highlighted and press the "Make New Folder" button towards the bottom. It'll make a new folder and allow you to name it. It is very important that you name it "metro". After you've named it, make sure it is selected and press "OK". The GS File Viewer will now extract all of the files inside metro.gs into your new "metro" folder.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When the Cities in Motion game starts up it'll check for the existence of the "metro" folder. If it sees it, it'll ignore the metro.gs file and use the files in the metro folder instead. Be aware that any patches you apply to your game will only update the "metro.gs" file and not any files in your metro folder. Therefore, you must remember to delete your metro folder after installing a patch or else some of the changes made by the developers will be ignored.
Step 3: Fixing traffic
Navigate to your "Cities in Motion\metro\scripts" folder. Open the "game.script" file with a text editor like Notepad. Scroll down until you see the following lines (around line 80 approx.):
These values control how often a citizen moves about the city. After arriving at their destination a citizen will not move again for at least 300 seconds but is guaranteed to be moving again within 600 seconds.
If you revise these values upwards you will reduce the number of citizens moving around at any given time and therefore, reduce the amount of traffic on the streets. However, you will also reduce the number of citizens looking to use your public transport.
I've set these to 450 and 900 respectively and am very happy with the results so far.
Code:
// time in seconds after the citizen can move again
$grid.citizens.minCycleDuration = 300;
$grid.citizens.maxCycleDuration = 600;
These values control how often a citizen moves about the city. After arriving at their destination a citizen will not move again for at least 300 seconds but is guaranteed to be moving again within 600 seconds.
If you revise these values upwards you will reduce the number of citizens moving around at any given time and therefore, reduce the amount of traffic on the streets. However, you will also reduce the number of citizens looking to use your public transport.
I've set these to 450 and 900 respectively and am very happy with the results so far.
Good luck!
NullCharacter
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