TRM: Vehicle Costs

=== PART OF TRANSPORT REWORK MOD ===

What a vehicle costs to buy and to run follows from what it is, not from its speed and capacity alone.

In the base game a diesel and an electric bus of the same size cost the same to run, a 600 kW truck runs for the price of a 200 kW one, a heavy-lift helicopter is cheaper per unit than a slow aeroplane, every purchase is six years of upkeep whatever the technology, and nothing gets dearer with age. This mod keeps the game's formula as the base and adds what it ignores. A diesel vehicle of typical size and power keeps its base game price and running cost; everything else moves relative to it.

=== FEATURES ===

• Engine type. Steam costs more to run and less to buy, electric the reverse, horses are cheap to buy, battery buses and trucks run cheaper and carry a price premium that falls from twice a diesel in 2010 to a fifth more in 2040. Combustion engines burn more per kilowatt before 1900 and less after 2030.
• Power per unit. A share of the running cost follows the installed power per seat or unit of cargo compared with a typical vehicle of the carrier, so overpowered vehicles run dearer and underpowered ones cheaper. Trains keep the base game's own power term.
• Crew share. Part of the running cost is a fixed amount per powered vehicle, so small vehicles pay more per seat and big ones less. Wagons, coaches and trailers have no crew.
• Quiet, clean and comfortable. Up to 10% more to buy for a vehicle rated quiet and clean for its era, up to 10% less for the dirtiest, and the same for the comfort of passenger vehicles.
• Aeroplanes. About twice the base game's price and running cost; the base formula charges a jet for a fifth of its top speed, which long routes leave far behind. Helicopters are rated among themselves.
• Lifespans. One value per kind, or one per vehicle from the working life of its real counterpart, instead of values that differ between bodies of the same truck.
• Aging costs. A monthly surcharge on the running cost that grows with each vehicle's age, strong for road vehicles and aircraft, small for wagons.

=== SETTINGS ===

• Vehicle Costs ("Base Game", "Rebalanced", default "Rebalanced"). The master switch for prices and running costs. With "Base Game" the three effects below have no effect; "Aging Costs" and "Vehicle Lifespans" work either way.
• Engine Type Effect ("Off", "Low", "Normal", "High", default "Normal"). At "Normal" steam runs 25% dearer and buys 10% cheaper than diesel, electric runs 25% cheaper and buys 25% dearer, horses buy 30% cheaper, helicopters run 35% to 50% dearer than aeroplanes. "Low" halves the differences, "High" raises them by half.
• Power Effect ("Off", "Low", "Normal", "High", default "Normal"). 40% of a road vehicle's running cost, 30% of a tram's and 50% of a ship's or aircraft's follow the power per unit compared with the typical vehicle; a truck with three times the typical power runs about 30% dearer at "Normal".
• Crew Costs ("Off", "Low", "Normal", "High", default "Normal"). A fixed share per powered vehicle: 30% of a typical road vehicle's cost, 25% tram, 20% ship and aircraft, 10% locomotive. On roads half the typical size or smaller runs at most 30% dearer per seat, twice the size about 15% cheaper.
• Aging Costs ("Off", "Low", "Normal", "High", default "Normal"). At "Normal" a bus, truck or aircraft costs 18% more at half its lifespan and 50% more at the end, a locomotive 14% and 40%, a tram or ship 11% and 30%, a wagon or coach 4% and 10%, growing further beyond the lifespan. Booked under "Running Costs Vehicles"; the vehicle window shows the base running cost. Vehicles in a depot pay nothing.
• Vehicle Lifespans ("Base Game", "Per Type", "Per Vehicle", default "Per Vehicle"). "Per Type": buses and trucks 15 years, trams 30, steam and diesel locomotives 30, electric locomotives, multiple units, coaches and wagons 35, ships 30, hovercraft 20, aeroplanes 25, helicopters 20. "Per Vehicle": each vehicle from its real counterpart, 10 to 45 years; vehicles from other mods use the "Per Type" value.

=== INGAME EXAMPLES ===

• Mercedes-Benz Citaro G1: the base game's price, running cost 15% lower (a big bus, small crew share per seat).
• Mercedes-Benz eCitaro: price 60% lower than the base game's hand-set premium, running cost 29% lower than a diesel.
• Prussian T 3: running cost 37% higher, price 10% lower.
• German Class 185: running cost 25% lower, price 25% higher; the purchase pays back over ten years of upkeep instead of six.
• Boeing 737-700: about 1.8 times the base running cost and 2.4 times the price.

=== COMPATIBILITY ===

Prices, running costs and lifespans are set when the game is loaded; vehicles already in service take the new running cost and lifespan at the next load. The age surcharge is a game script that books a journal entry each game month and starts a month after the mod is added; removing the mod stops it. The game's Vehicle Costs and Vehicle Maintenance settings and the vehicle maintenance effect apply on top. Load the mod after "TRM: Vehicle Emissions" (so the rebalanced noise and pollution ratings set the premium) and after "TRM: Cargo Capacity" (so prices follow the rescaled capacities). Vehicles from other mods and DLCs are priced by the same rules. Option changes take effect at the next load.