JayEff

If you have one of the first two maps, I made the warehouses produce toys instead of demanding them. That was the problem. If you change everything to demand, it will run better. I have built plastic factories in the tar sands, made toys then shipped them to McMurray. In other tests, I set up my factories in Fort Saskatchewan or Westlock. As for the ai they are meant to have a rough time. The Northern Alberta was an amalgamation of little railways across the north. You can merge with them if the book value is favourable, and it might make your company stronger. If you own nearly all the stock in the ai and not so much in your company your company can merge at a premium and you will make some good cash. I am glad you like the map. I would appreciate suggestions to make it the kind of map people would enjoy. I have very few events, and haven't really decided whether to leave it alone or add some events, and what date range I should choose.

http://theterminal.dune2k.com/?p=rrt3-files-maps&id=491 Somehow this author managed to get an 8 lane rr going. I don't know how. It was in the editor, so it could have been a lot of trial and error. As for managing traffic in-game - I have never needed more than two stations for busy hubs. If you run less traffic, the locos will choose the most profitable cargoes. Three ways to handle them (I use #2 the most often): 1) Connect them in line, say east to west. Traffic coming from the west stops at the western station, turns and leaves; same on the east. There is no through traffic. There are maintenance buildings at the eastern and western city limits, no closer. The service buildings are as far away as is possible, relieving congestion. 2) Make a cross. One station handles east and west traffic. The other handles north and south traffic, and overpasses the other track. 3) Be like a European city. Make a ring road.

I went thru the first campaign scenarios a little while ago. More train crashes, no game crashes ;D

On hard I tried starting with rail only, adding the logging industry chains later. After 15 years I had Baltimore, the li'l town to the north, Annapolis and Havre de Grace connected and a wopping 4 trains in operation. ;) I'll try it another way next time...

Edit June 27: [Removed thickheaded assertion that I have fixed the warehouses in the second beta.] As you can see at the top, I am uploaded beta03 with warehouses fixed ??? The map is a bit easier now, but here are a few hints on getting going: - You can make a lot of money buying or building industries along the CPR and CNR. - Connect the mainlines to nearby decent sized cities like Fort Saskatchewan and Camrose. Personally I like to use Fort Saskatchewan as my launching pad for heading north. - Leech income from small AI by connecting them to the mainlines. They will run along your track, and you have tremendous income potential there. When they go bust you can pick up their lines, and begin service with your own locos. - Make sure meat is getting to the Calgary warehouse so that you can exchange for tiires to make weapons. There is a lot of demand for weapons but little supply. The weapons chain is one of the weakest, and I should probably strengthen it somehow. Remember also that there is rubber available from the western warehouses. - To meet your revenue requirement serving to the tar sands, you can earn some money just hauling cargo from one part to another. You can pick one part of the field to build an oil refinery, another to build a plastic factory and move the product to Fort McMurray to be redistributed out of the area. - Build steel mills in various parts of the map. Because of topography, they don't seed easily. Steel can be used to build goods, weapons, ammunition and autos.

The new map is there, the old one is not. I just downloaded it to check. They both had the same file name.

:-[ The warehouses in Fort St. John and Fort McMurray, toys4us, is supposed to demand everything, especially toys, supply nothing. Error: it was programmed to supply toys. so I have uploaded again with corrections.

A beta. I have a bit more painting of lakes and muskeg to do yet, but here is what I have so far. Edit: Beta03 uploaded June 27.[attachment deleted by admin]

You could try shorter trains, all stone bridges, sending only one train with one mail or passenger load, late in the scenario with a modern loco, shipping espress cargoes only on long flat routes.

- The shipping lanes are pretty cheap. Most of the track was built with -100% track construction cost. It seemed each joint cost $1k, plus some edits were made later at full track cost. Check again on your cost structure. It may be that you are burning too much fuel hauling loads too far or something like that. - I think in later versions. I will prevent weather events from occurring in the first five years. Also in a later version I am considering using the Orca

I only read part of one book on the Ottomans, and my memory is already confuzzed. I believe baksheesh started as a way the sultan paid for a standing army, but it evolved into a caste that lived off the sultan and did little else. I forget the name of this caste, but they are a key to Ottoman history. They were stout defenders of the status quo, inertia. The sultan would have to pay the army again if they had to actually fight to defend the sultan or the realm. They were fiercely opposed to technology, especially in the military. They preferred swords over muskets. A sultan who attempted to reform the army would find his life in jeopardy. They would certainly have opposed the introduction of a railway. You could create a sort of mission to help the sultan secretly move weapons or soldiers about, to quell some impending insurrection against the railway. If you are successful, you get a boost in troop production (the army has successfully modernized). If you fail, the old warrior caste has killed all the sultan`s men, and razed the barracks to the ground (production -100%)... Not baksheesh, but it`s about the same sort of people. As for bribes track could be good, or load / unload times reflecting their ability to be officious when it suits their purpose. I wonder if there was a black market for coffee or alcohol.... Also, you can check out Modern Heart of Africa, which is replete with bribery events.

Here`s a trick: place your lumber and steel mills in depressions so that raw materials arrive easily of their own accord, but the product doesn`t wander off without boarding your train. I played about half a game - all seemed to work well, and it was good fun. Good one Lars! One possible improvement: what is Ottoman without a baksheesh plot???

Just my answer to those mapmakers who push the boundaries - Steve`s Chunnel, Gwizz` Wagon Strike, PJay`s Risk, and Kraellin`s, well, everything he does ;) I am really happy with the way the ice territories worked out. I used them to randomly assign industry ownership and create disasters, and I think the event programming makes a good example that mapmakers can refer to.

CONCEPTION BAY - 1862 There's a new sort of ship moored at the wharf, and now, after a lucky night's gambling, it's yours: the first steamship ever to participate in the Newfoundland seal hunt. You and your family hurriedly prepare it for the hectic months to come. There are plentiful harvests of fish, seals and whales to be had, but you know it will not last. Sooner or later, you must diversify, and your neighbours will have to make a living some other way. Investors from 'round the bay and in St. John's put their hopes in you to make them prosperous. ***** This scenario was first posted and tested on Cyberail, and seems to be quite well balanced. And it`s a unique scenario with its emphasis on ice and water, best played after a couple of belts of strong rum. JayEff joe_fitzpatrick at telus.net[attachment archived by Gobalopper]

I use the plateau tool a lot, and am very pleased with the results I get. However if in real life the rivers are rebellious, I leave them be.

I just downloaded it and will give a try. It's great to see a player made scenario so soon.