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RobS

Fremen
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  1. On the North America map, the town of North Platte (between Omaha and Denver) frequently produces a large number of cattle yards, upward of a half-dozen and I've seen as many as nine or 10. With that much cattle, the issue becomes where to find suitable meat packing plants to send them to.
  2. Increased maintenance costs and decreased reliability go hand in hand, as far as I'm concerned. I should have said that locomotive aging, and its associated effects, is really the only reason to replace them.
  3. OK, got it this time. I'll see how it works next time I'm in the mood to mes around with it. Amazing that I've been playing this game for a decade-and-a-half without ever messing with the flag settings. Thanks for your explanation.
  4. Of course, maintenance costs is really the only reason to replace a loc (assuming a player does not want to change to a different loc for some reason). If maintenance costs never increased, there would be no incentive to ever replace a loc. However, comparing the maintenance costs of an older loc to that of a new one is not the only consideration. Another important consideration, and many times an even more important one than comparing old versus new maintenance costs, is the price of a new loc. Granted, the game usually makes the decision for me. That is, if I have the money to replace my older locs, I will replace them. If I don't have the money, I'm usually looking at going bankrupt. So the decision often isn't mine to make, but there are fairly rare occasions where I'm in a position to have to chose between spending money buying new locs, or spending money doing something else (usually expanding my network to prevent the AI opponents from grabbing nearby cities). My point is, are you really saving money in the long run by replacing locs that are only 10-15 years old, considering the price of a new loc? Again, the correct answer probably lies in what type of scenario you're playing, although frankly, looking at the victory conditions of most scenarios and their relatively short duration, I'm doubtful whether loc maintenance costs plays a large role in winning or losing. I could very well be wrong. What I do know is that once I reach a certain point in sandbox mode, where that cashier's bells rings almost continuously, maintenance costs seem to mean very little. Of course, if I'm running 200 trains all over North America and were to let them all age to 50-75 years, I would probably start to feel the pinch, but I'm guessing the constant breakdowns that would happen would pretty much preclude such a scenario in any case. I should mention here that I never play scenarios. I only play sandbox mode, usually until I've bought out all other companies and own the entire map. Even if it started out as a scenario, I never pay attention to the victory conditions and simply "Continue Playing". I do play the advanced settings, at maximum difficulty, and usually end up around 203% difficulty. That's my "sweet spot" which I enjoy playing.
  5. jeffryfisher, with all due respect, but your explanation is not only hopelessly confusing to me, but also self-contradicting. You start by saying that whenever a cargo is in demand at a station, it will be sold, regardless of the flag settings. Yet, immediately after that, in your #1, you state that the default setting "force-sells" cargoes unless they are demanded at a later station, which contradicts your opening statement. Your #2 makes sense. Your #3 is ambiguous, mostly because I don't understand the difference between "sell" and "force-sell". Your #4, again as I stated in my OP, seems identical to the default (#1). While Silverback's wool example makes sense, the Stria example has me hopelessly lost. I suppose I'll just need to do some testing to find out for myself.
  6. I happened to come across the issue of train replacement in the manual yesterday and as I remember it said 15-20 years would be a good lifespan for a loc. I run mine longer, typically 20-25 for steams, 25-30 for diesels and 30-35 for electrics. In reality though, both the steams and diesels typically get upgraded to better models earlier. Once I get to the E111 though, it's every 30-35 years, depending on when I happen to remember to scroll through the list of trains. By that time, money usually is no object. I figure that's about how long they run in real life.
  7. OK, the example with the wool explains it. I can see how this could be useful. Thanks.
  8. Despite having played this great game for many years now, I still don't understand two of the four delivery and pickup options: The manual says: Default – This is the same method as was used in RT2. If a cargo is not demanded at the current station but is demanded at a later station, it stays on the train, otherwise it is delivered at the current station. Store – Undemanded cargoes are stored at the current station, and can be picked up by any train. Note, even the train that dropped them off can pick them up, so be sure to change your train's consist at this station or else you'll immediately pick up what you've just dropped off. Deliver – Undemanded cargoes are delivered at the current station. You won't receive much money, though. Leave on Train – Undemanded cargoes stay on the train, presumably for delivery or storage at a later station. Note, if you have this option set at all your stops, an undemanded cargo will stay on your train indefinitely. Store and Deliver are obvious enough, but I don't understand the difference between Default and Leave on Train. Can someone explain this to me, preferably with an example?
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