Australia stand-alone - ever get Gold?

[Superchief]

Has anyone every gotten gold on the standalone Aussie map? I have tried and tried but I cannot see how to connect the whole country in 20 years.

On a second note - who owns the Terminal website? I want to upload a map for RT2 but no one ever got back to me!

[loco_motive]

Gobalopper used to be the bossman here and I see he's made posts recently so maybe he'll see this thread and check his E-mail and/or let you (us) know if he is still taking uploads for the map pages.

Alternatively, you could post your map in a topic in the Maps Forum, just below this Forum, like Gwizz and I have done recently.

As far as the stand-alone map called Australia is concerned, my notes indicate I last played it in 1/04 and got gold in 5 yr 4 mo. That would have been on Expert, and probably with max # of opponents. I have it marked as one of the easier scenarios.

[Hawk]

Superchief-You could also upload the map to my RRT2 archive, as well as here.

You'll need to register on my forum to get the details about the Anonymous FTP.

[Superchief]

Ok, Hawk.  I will do so. Thanks.

The map is about the Illinois Central. It is using one of the blank maps that Steve Lorenz had started but never did anything with.

[Gwizz]

Hi Superchief.

Sorry your e-mail went unanswered.  I was able to read e-mails and move maps around.  But, when I moved I lost my administrator pass word and my normal password.  Jesse owns the site and stops by occationally.  He has been moving the attached maps from the RT2 map forum postings when the forum's size limit is reached.  RT2 maps are smaller than RT3 maps so it takes more RT2 maps to reach the sites limit.

Go ahead and attach your map here and also do so at Hawks site.  This gives us a back up should one site have a problem.  Jesse said he plans to keep this site running for some time.  New RT2 maps still seem to get over 100 takers here so there are still those like us,

playing RT2.

[Superchief]

Cool!  I am just about to start playing the game...

I was thinking of playing RT3 again but so far the experience has not been rewarding.

RT2 is so much easier to move passengers and merchandice... RT3 still has me confused.

This post has my map attached. Hopefully you who download it find some enjoyment in it!

Mainline_of_Mid-America.zip

[Gobalopper]

I've just been super busy lately. I do update the site but I try to do a few maps together. So in the meantime as Gwizz mentioned the best way is to upload it here on the forums.

[Superchief]

OK.  If I have any more I will post them here.

Thanks!

[loco_motive]

...in a relevantly named thread perhaps?

So Gobalopper or Gwizz, can we access the archived files, or is that really a euphamism for garbage can? I would certainly like to see Heartland Heaven make it to the map pages when the time comes.

[Superchief]

In regarding to the Aussie stand alone map - how can I beat it? I never seem to get very far...

[Gwizz]

Steve,

When Gobalopper (the expert on this site) moves the maps from the forum they normally go to the map archive pages.  If one of us goofed let us know.

Uploading maps to the forum seems to work quite well since it puts a new map below any comments the map maker wishes to make. 

The RT2 map pages are:

http://theterminal.dune2k.com/?p=rrt2-files-maps

The RT3 map pages are:

http://theterminal.dune2k.com/?p=rrt3-files-maps.

Superchief I started playing your map last night.  After 2 years, I've connected Cairo to St. Louis and now to Chicago.  I started my runs between Chicago and St. Louis.  Looked for a Steel Plant and realized I had none on the map.  But Chicago does take coal and I can ship iron on the haul back.

The heartland area is a fun area for building maps.

[Hawk]

I started it too. I had 2 steel plants. One in Hammond and one in Hennipen. The AI beat me to Hammond.  :(

[Superchief]

Cool!  Thanks for trying it out.

I think Chicago, Hammond, and Hennepin will be the only places steel mills show up (Hennepin is where an old LTV steel plant was located). I can't remember if I put it there because of that fact or if there was on historically at that site in the 19th century...

I am not sure how you all feel about only laying track that is connected to your current track but I felt that if I left that out then it would be too easy to fullfill the goals...

[Hawk]

I am not sure how you all feel about only laying track that is connected to your current track but I felt that if I left that out then it would be too easy to fullfill the goals...

That's fine. It does make it more of a challenge.  ;D

[loco_motive]

Superchief, I'll take a look at Australia some time soon and see if I can offer some hints.

It would be better if you could post a saved game. That would allow the best constructive criticism and allow you to modify your playstyle a bit rather than change it entirely.

Are you Superchief of California from way back in the early days, or was that someone else?

[loco_motive]

I d/l'd "Mainline of Mid-America" from Hawk's site and took a quick look.

As to gameplay, unlike others, I did the obvious start. I didn't find connected track made the scenario any harder. I have played through 7 years so far.

I shipped iron to a T&D and didn't even look for a steel mill. My industry profits so far, aside from Chicago ports and the T&D, come from converting grain, cattle, wool and cotton into feed, food and textiles. I have a log and pulp industry started but not yet buyable.

Superchief, I suggest you revise the scenario somewhat and post it in its own thread, if you want readers not interested in Australia to find it. I'll PM you some "playtester" remarks on win/lose events, reserve squares, etc.

[Superchief]

Superchief to California....  But I think I my screen name has always been shorten to just Superchief.

I can't honestly remember if my screen name was that long.

But I also don't remember anyone else using a similar name so it is hard to claim to be that person....

[Superchief]

I think I have two stations connected in that Aussie map but I can post here tonight.

[loco_motive]

Two stations connected isn't really anything to analyse. Wait until you've got a game with many years of play and much development in it?

I know the way these things work. That game you're working on tonight will be your winning game. ;D

[Superchief]

Yeah - I just started a new game.

But all of my other attempts have been worthless - 20 years comes and goes....

[loco_motive]

Australia isn't a good scenario to be used to analyse play skills, so I'll give a bit of a walk through of a quick game.

I played on Expert with 3 opponents and started by checking my manager, selling my shares, issuing shares and a bond, connecting Newcastle and Brisbane with single non-electric track, plus I think I was able to buy sand for one of them. Think I had a 10% discount station manager, whom I subsequently traded for Trevithick, for 15% engine discount.

Sent out an Alco from each station for Jan 1 delivery. In the meantime I bought a share each in 2 of the 3 AI companies. Picked the wrong 2 but so what. In Jan, I sold the AI shares and bought as much of my own as I could. Then I delivered the cargos and started loads back for the next Jan 1. Think I sold more than half of my shares and went back into AI's. Next Jan, back out of AI shares and into my co'y (can't remember if I gained anything-I hope I did) and then delivered 1 train, bought as much passenger amenities as I could for the other station, then delivered there. From then on I didn't delay any deliveries.

I think I could get a bond then and another shortly after, so finished all passenger and mail and services upgrades in both stations and then doubled the track a quickly as possible.

In 4/64, I did a save and took a look at things and saw that I could increase from 2 to 10 bonds, for about $4700K cash for an expansion or whatever. My shareholdings were 13/42, 2/40, 2/40, 0/20 in the 4 companies at that time.

I decided to just finish the game at that point. So my company bought back while I sold shares, then I used all the remaining company funds to build track out of Alice Springs. I was able to buy into and do the same thing one at a time with the 3 AI companies to form a complete track route with some to spare. THen I started a new company, laid a little bit of electric track, built stations in each of the 7 cities, and got gold at the end of the month.

Does that help you?  :D

[Superchief]

Yes it does except for one small thing:

I never used the stop the trains trick.

Maybe that's the problem why the game was never "old hat" to me - I don't use that "trick" to beat the game (although I do use the much hated electric track laying method).

[loco_motive]

I guess the point of my play was to show a start with a good choice of far-apart, large, reasonably balanced cities that gives you the option in a few years of either expanding, starting a new company that's possibly even all electric, or taking over the AI's.

If you want to stay in your own company throughout, then don't delay trains at the start any longer than is necessary to get 2 full consists. With just 2 trains its always a good idea to have them leaving at the same time just for balance, full or not depending on the balance between the 2 cities.

You get a good passenger and mail income because the stations are far apart, improved with hotels, etc, and not saturated with cargo. Delaying train arrivals definitely has a cost. If you don't delay the trains, you will make money more quickly and should be able to get up to the 10 bonds at least a year earlier.

Just as an aside, this not the way the AI plays. It would start with 2 close-together cities and expand from there with connected track. Also with 4 cities connected in a line it would haul between them willy-nilly or maybe based partly on how much there was to pick up. It would not have the sense to haul pass and mail between 1 & 3, 2 & 4, depending on relative sizes, etc. The AI is bound to do poorly. The only thing that would be even worse than the AI would be to haul pass & mail from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4.

The most important thing in this case is to play intensively, issue stock every year, take out bonds, optimize your deliveries, play with unconnected track. Play for the money and worry about the connections later. Don't necessarily nibble away at the bonds, wait a year, get a better interest rate and do big expansions instead of small ones.

You can nibble away at purchases of company stock though, in case you just might want to start a new company some time near the end.

A full 2-year delay of arrivals works with this scenario, even with no AI's, and you don't need to start loading the trains until perhaps March of the next year to minimize cargo rot losses. This would allow 100% ownership of your company, for whatever reason you might want that, It would also put your company 2 years behind in development and is only recommended if you are going to start a 2nd company a year or two thereafter.

[Superchief]

After connecting from Alice Springs to Darwin I decided to try your method. I built a line from Newcastle to Brisbane (single track-non electric) with a station at that small town along the way.

I then bought two FP45's and sent them on their way. Right before the reached their destination I stopped them.  When Jan 1 came around I un-stopped them and found a VERY nice raise in my cash flow!

From their I bought a SDP40 & a Deltic (sp?). I made sure to stop in the fall and resume them in Jan. Their funds allowed me to connect to all of the cities but I lost out on gold because I couldn't pay off my last bond fast enough.

But stop the trains worked! I'll have to try that again....