Cam

loco, Thanks for the great (and very challenging) map. I'm 14 years into my first game ... that is to say the first game I got 'off the ground' in the first few years, which in itself was a puzzle. I was stumped for ages in how to get past February in Year 3, the relief hit me like a wave when I finally broke through. I'm conceding that a Gold will be well and truly out of my reach (actually any medal!), in that while a game is never unsalvagable with enough time and expertise, of which I'm low on both :-[, I guess I can't quite see enough growth potential on my particular map to quickly link up sufficient resources with industries (lumber and beef aside, everything else seems too remote). I rather stupidly created a monster AI company (Aberdeen - Minneapolis) that's regularly outperforming my own! And I can't see Mr. Hill getting his booze too soon either. ;) For what it's worth, I started with some Prairies (Detroit - Fort Wayne - Indianapolis) before going electric in Year 4 and switching over to Class 1045s. I always seemed too broke to pay for GG1s. Thanks once again ... I'll stick at it, and having run through one game, I'll be better armed for a more methodical rematch ... maybe ... :-\

Loco, ... on the default2.lng file ... fantastic! Thanks a ton! ... on Tasmania, I'm surprised it's seen as a particularly difficult scenario - Steve M (Mr. Mathy) hit the objectives considerably earlier than the finishing date, and since then I have always been concerned that it was too easy. ... and I'm looking forward to getting in to 'Heartland Heaven'! (119 GG1s!) :O

maddog, I do think that there would be interest in another well thought out and tested map, although the 'RRT2 fan base' is pretty thin these days. With that said, like many people, I have come back to playing the game after letting it collect dust during the last couple of years and am once again enjoying it thoroughly. I guess we've all seen a lot of disappointing maps that; just haven't had enough effort put in, too buggy, outrageously easy or conversely near-impossible medal targets, no events, etc etc. As a scenario author, it's quite a challange to find the right balance of difficulty (given RRT2's proneness to exploits), do so in a bug-free way, create a unique gameplay environment, without overwhelming the player with excessive and/or convoluted tasks. With a vast array of designed scenarios under my belt ... well one actually ... I should say that I got tremendous input from having a couple of people 'beta test' mine, which helped redefine the medal goals, the start-up conditions, and the way blank squares were set out. I'd recommend that if you do go ahead with developing a new map, that you try to get some willing soul(s) to play it through as a test run, so they can not only identify any glitches, but also provide some new thoughts on how to possibly build further on your efforts. When creating my Tasmania scenario (plug plug ;) ), I tried to find ways to force the player to build widely across the map, not become overly reliant on a small number of resource sites (in that in this instance you had to draw produce from lots of orchards to achieve Bronze), to encourage some share market activity without a PNW goal dominating the game (where the exploits really do start to get used), provide bonuses for players that developed other industries beyond those in the game's objectives (being produce and canned food), provide some choices to the player in terms of which bonuses they wanted, whether they wanted to take early delivery of desirable locomotives, and so forth. I'm not suggesting that it's the greatest scenario ever made, but I hope that it would sit comfortably amongst other scenarios that a player might try once in a while. Anyway ... I think in answer to your question, I would say 'yes'. There are a few RRT2 die-hards, but there are also many who will pick up the game and play it for a couple of months, and a fresh new challenge I think would be well received if you're prepared to put in the time and effort. Hawk, Many thanks for hosting my scenario! ;D You have a great collection there.

Nothing quite like responding to a question posted nearly a year ago ::) however I agree with chief's recommendation to "start electric and stay electric". I've used a different tactic to Chicago to Detroit, instead linking Knocksville and Nashville in a straight line, and then moving as soon a practicable on to Memphis. Financially it's tight for the first five or so years, where you may need to take out a ton of bonds and in the meantime micro-manage your passenger and mail loads. Build industrial runs where cheap and practical, and from there, expand and head west to Wichita, and then a straight(ish) line north to Aberdeen and Winnipeg. Long and straight passenger runs with station upgrades, a passenger-bonus manager, with a fleet of GG1s (available at six months into the game) can underpin your success. I'm sure there are plenty of other successful approaches. (And I didn't get into RRT3 either!) :-\