kamchow

ok, thank you for that info. i'm not going into the arcane world of code disassembly! so, i'll just make sure the stock rises or drops by more than, say, $10 which should give me enough margin to make a profit.

am playing through another dry run. here are the numbers... cash at start $71. AI stock $67. i buy, price rises to $74. have -$4 cash left. train 1 pulls into station. stock hits $84. train 2 pulls into station. stock hits $97. i sell stock, it falls to $89. cash left is $81. so, if my above workings is correct, then $74 to $89 is $15. takeaway fees ($3 for selling and $2 for buying) of $5. leaving $10 profit. from my initial $71, i end with $81. ok so far but... cash now at $83 (i assume it is interest that gave me the extra $2). AI stock at $85. i buy and it goes up to 94. cash left -$13. (err, is this right? $94 + $3 (fee) = $97. $83 cash to $97 is -$14!) train 1 pulls into station. stock rises to $102. train 2 pulls into station. prices rises to $112. i sell, stock falls to $102. cash left $85. now, $94 (buying price) to $102 (selling price) is $8. $8 minus $5 (brokers fee) = $3. so, from my initial $83, add another $3 and i should have $86 left. yet i see only $85! this is what is puzzling me. is there an exact formula being used or is it another "feature" of the game?

i'm messing about with rrt tsc to see how it works (as far as my simple mind can comprehend such things!) i'm having a bit of a problem understanding how stock buying and selling works. let me explain... i have player cash of $390. the AI stock i want to buy is priced at $69. i buy 1000. the stock price has risen to $77. i have $310 cash left. next, the AI train pulls into a station. the stock goes up to $86. i sell the 1000 stock i have. the stock price falls to $78. i have $386 cash. so, what i'd like to know is, what price am i buying and selling the stocks at? did i buy the stocks at $69? at $77? or something in between? did i sell the stocks at $86? at $78? or something in between? is there a broker's fee for buying and selling? if so, is it a fixed amount or does it vary? if i assume that i bought the stock at $77, then there is a $3k fee being charged. workings: $390 - $310 = $80 (original cash minus what is left after buying stock) $80 - $77 = $3 (cash spent on buying stock minus cost of stock, remainder is broker fee?) if i assume i sold the stock at $78, then there is a $2k fee being charged. workings: $386 - $310 = $76 (cash i end with after selling stock minus cash i had after buying stock) $78 - $76 = $2 (stock price at selling point minus cash i made from selling stock, remainder is broker fee?) so, i made $1 on the stock going from $77 to $78 but lost $5 on broker's fees. hence, $390 + $1 - $5 = $386 have i got that right? or is there something else going on? i did look at the manual and i did a number of internet searches for information regarding stock trading but i did not find anything giving exact workings/details. if it has already been explained, please just point me towards that site and i'll digest the information there. thank you for your help.

i was offered the same manager (Billings) that i had already hired! see the attached picture. surely, this is a bug? for experimentation, i hired Billings and... other than losing money on hiring him, nothing else happened! anyone else have the same thing happen?

maglev, once again thanks for your helpful tips. i need to get my head around how to work a profitable route. if i simply run a loco between a sheep farm (carrying 2 cargoes per year) and a textile mill, i will be losing a lot of money due to the high fuel and maintenance costs. so then, i need to take the textile goods to a town/city to make it profitable. however, if i run too many trains into a station, it will simply get clogged up. at the same time, i don't have enough money in the early years to have lots of stations and locos all over the map. so, it is something i have to work on and fine tune. anyway, i played the mission for the zillionth time and i finally got gold! hoorah! as you said, Herbert Garratt's 40% fuel costs savings was a big help. and by luck i had wool + milk + grain + industries near the passenger line at Johannesburg so i could get food and goods rolling near the very start. i've already finished mission Remember America. so, only Antarctica Rising left. i'm sure that mission will also be a killer! :) again, thanks for your help.

hi, i'm playing the "island of hope" mission, on hard mode, and i'm finding it impossible to get gold. i hope one of you have strategies to help me get gold. i start by playing the mission with -15% fuel costs. during the mission, if i get the chance, i used a manager (like wootten) to further reduce fuel costs. initially, i lay a line between johannesburg and dutlwe. i then expand to windhoek so as to get the 20% fuel costs savings mini-goal. i use the DB18 201 for its speed and make sure to micro-manage it. i know the fuel costs are very high for this loco and that is why i use the above fuel costs strategies. i find other locos are too slow and do not give me any benefit (other than lower fuel costs but take longer to deliver cargo). sometimes, i run a line between new yaounde and kinshasa if new yaounde has 2 ports from which i can get 2 goods cargoes. however, no matter how many times i play, i simply do not get enough goods and food to get gold. there aren't enough sheep farms, cotton farms, cattle, grain fields etc to give me 125 food and 170 goods to get gold. so, have i missed a trick? do any of you know of a strategy to get gold on this mission? thanks.

maglev, all very good advice. some things, like straight tracks, i did without really taking notice of how critical bends are, ie a bend is like a 2% grade. i think i was spoilt by RRT II which is more forgiving. so, i became lazy about everything, track laying, micromanaging etc. then on RRT II TSC, on hard mode, things can be fairly brutal. it has taken me some time to get my head around the game. yes, i have bulldozed some things in some scenarios. again, i used to do so without really paying attention to tracks and grades etc. thanks to you and others, i've learnt some of the nuances of the game. virtual beers all round!

ok, did a quick run on this mission. i placed electric track between benghazi and cairo. for 6 pax cargo, i only get around $500k-to-$550k. i've attached my saved game.it is just prior to buying a loco for the benghazi->cairo run. ignore the track layout. i simply plonked that it any which way just to test things out. if you have time and are bothered, please check things from my saved game to make sure i'm not doing anything stupid or seeing things! as a pure guess, i think if the game is played as a campaign and the more gold medals you get, the AI makes things more and more difficult? from what i can see, from the game/mission i have, things are very very difficult. sometimes, it is simply not worth playing as it is too frustrating. i mean, how many times can i replay the mission, each time for hours on end, and then find i only get bronze? anyway, in the end it doesn't matter as i've already played the mission and achieved gold. i'm now having difficult in the next mission (island of hope)! :D elbow room.rar

maglev, all very handy pointers. i too use the E111s. everything else seems to be expensive to run and/or don't have the engine power to pull 4/5/6 carriages over the higher grades. you get $1m on the first run between benghazi and cairo? hmm, i'll replay the mission and check this out for myself. i haul 4 carriages and get about $300k. i was scared about pulling 6 carriages due to the grades. but, i'll give it a shot and see if 6 carriages does give me $1m. again, thanks for your help.

hmm, i see. ok, i'll take on board all you've said and try it out for myself. thanks for all the tips.

maglev, yes i have read the "last hand stock" thread. that was the tactic i was using in the attached mp4 file. i have played the elbow room mission without this particular type of manipulation. i did exactly as you said, buying/selling into the AI, usually the company run by Donald Smith (Strathconda) or James Hill. after 2 years, i sell the shares, start a new company and have around $5m in the kitty. however, even with such a large amount of money, in hard mode, it is a very difficult mission to complete and get gold. electric tracks cost a lot of money. locomotives cost a lot of money to buy and run. on top of that, you won't get much money for whatever you haul. for example, i had a connection between benghazi and cairo. hauling 3 pax + dining (which i believe gives more profits?) might net me only $200k or $300k. take away running costs and you have hardly anything left in the profit margin. then the AI throws in robberies + breakdowns + crashes + recessions etc and you simply will find it impossible to get gold. to top all that, there are scarce resources and even if you haul grain->wool->goods or grain->cattle->food you won't get much profits. getting 100 chemicals to GCP is a doddle. getting enough profits to enable buying $12m worth of industry is quite tough. getting $45m personal net worth is very tough. hard mode should be challenging but should not be impossible. it becomes too frustrating and then becomes boring to replay the mission for the umpteenth time. i did play and get gold on hard mode... eventually. i'm curious, did you actually get gold on hard mode?

ahhh, ok, that makes sense. i will replay the game and buy/sell according to those rules. thanks for your help.

hi guys, sorry to trouble you but i'm seeing what i think is weird behaviour. i'm hoping one of you with more knowledge about RRT SC could explain the mechanics to me. let me set the scene. i've manipulated the stock market in the first two years to get a lot of cash. then, in the third year, when i buy up stock, the share price actually falls! call me old fashioned, but i thought stock prices rise when it is bought. i've attached a mp4 file to show you what is happening. is this another bug/feature of RRT SC or is there a logical explanation? thanks in advance. railroad tycoon ii the second century unexpected shares behaviour.rar

hey people, don't worry, i found a way. i manipulated the stock market more aggressively and managed to get $6m by year 3. and the map gave me more industries to make money from. phew, it was hard work but i got there in the end.

i'm playing the "elbow room" mission on hard difficulty. i'm getting nowhere near the $45m worth target. i start a new company. i don't construct anything. i let the company die. then, i start buying the AI company - usually the one run by Strathconda. after about 4 years, i dump Strathconda's shares and have about $1m in cash. next, i resign from my company and then set up a new one and get investments of about $3m. now, even with $4m in hand, i simply cannot seem to run a profitable business. construction and running trains costs are very high and finishes my $4m easily. and i don't get enough from pax nor from wool, cattle etc from the remaining 18 years to be able to truly expand. so, anyone here know of successful tactics to get to $45m? thanks in advance.