Vehicle Modes Guide: Dump Truck, Loader, Mixer, Tractor, Grader, and Fire Truck

Marble Sorting's vehicle modes turn the classic pipe source into a live roadside supply system. A Dump Truck, Loader, Concrete Mixer, Tractor, Grader, or Fire Truck enters from the left, stops at a useful colored pile, unloads real reserve stock, and leaves to the right. Your objective does not change: choose the right color at the right time, release balls onto the track, and complete every tray.

The basic vehicle-mode rules

Single-color roadside piles replace the pipes. Tapping a pile releases the displayed group toward the chute and rotating track. Vehicles do not send balls directly into trays; they only replenish the piles you can use. Reading track space and active tray colors remains more important than simply watching the animation.

1. Identify shortages in visible, unlocked trays.
2. Check the colors and current-stock badges on the roadside piles.
3. Compare the next-release badge with available track space.
4. Tap only a pile that serves a real need.
5. When a pile is empty, watch the hourglass or advance another useful color.

Badges and the waiting state

The colored stock badge shows how many balls are currently available in a pile. The second badge shows the group released by the next tap. When stock reaches zero, an hourglass can replace the number. This does not mean the game has frozen; that source is waiting for a useful vehicle delivery.

Deliveries never multiply the level's total ball count. Part of the real stock begins in the pile and the rest remains in reserve. Each vehicle transfers balls from that reserve into a pile, keeping the visible animation and the actual game total synchronized.

Dump Truck mode

The truck reaches the target pile, raises its tipper, unloads onto the pile, lowers the bed, and continues forward. It only serves useful targets ahead and never reverses to a pile it has already passed. Engine, tipper, and unloading sounds follow the animation stages.

Loader mode

The loader raises its arm and tips the bucket downward to drop balls onto the top of the pile. Balls are not displayed permanently inside the bucket; the load appears only during the real release. The bucket closes and the arm returns to road height before the loader leaves.

Concrete Mixer mode

The mixer drum keeps rotating while the vehicle travels. At the target, its discharge chute deploys toward the pile, balls flow through it, and the chute closes safely afterward. Drum movement, engine audio, and discharge animation work as one sequence.

Tractor mode

The tractor and attached trailer form a longer vehicle. As the trailer rises, balls begin flowing once it reaches a useful angle instead of waiting for the bed to become fully raised. After unloading, the trailer lowers and the tractor continues without breaking convoy order.

Grader mode

The grader carries balls against the front face of its center blade. At the target pile, the blade begins lifting and releases the balls onto the mound. Its long chassis, tandem rear wheels, and blade position require a different service alignment from the other vehicles.

Fire Truck mode

The fire truck enters with flashing beacons and a position-aware siren. At the target, its hose assembly deploys, balls leave through the nozzle, and the assembly closes afterward. The siren becomes clearer as the truck approaches and fades as it disappears to the right.

How the gear system works

The gear control on the left raises vehicle flow from 1 to 5. A higher gear increases travel speed and dispatch frequency. It does not:

• Create balls or increase the level total.
• Release balls onto the track without a player tap.
• Undo a release made from the wrong color.
• Go beyond Gear 5; a normal-level upgrade may use Gold.

Challenges keep the source mode, level configuration, and gear identical for both players. The gear control is locked during the attempt to preserve fairness.

Recheck piles after a color change

The supply system watches shortages in visible and upcoming trays. When the current pile color is no longer useful and another color is needed more, a vehicle may deliver a new color and prepare the pile as a single-color source. After a dust pulse or badge-color change, read the source again before tapping.

Practical strategy for vehicle stages

• In move-limited levels, do not tap an empty or unhelpful pile; every valid release counts as a move.
• When the track is crowded, create space before increasing gear. Gear speeds supply, not consumption.
• When one pile empties, advance another active tray color instead of waiting on only one source.
• If a multiplier source is active, compare the displayed release amount with track capacity.
• Use engine, tipper, bucket, trailer, blade, and siren cues to anticipate incoming deliveries.

Cloud mode uses the same decision logic

Cloud mode has no road traffic, but source reading remains the same. Tapping a cloud releases its visible color group toward the chute through lightning and rain animation. Whether the source is a pipe, cloud, or vehicle-supplied pile, the correct move still comes from combining active targets, track space, and the displayed release group.