beta map: VicRail 20th C

[pbenn]

New scenario, requires interested computers for temporary residence ... Victorian Railways: 20th Century

This uses the same map as the previous Victorian Railways, but updated and with completely new scenario.

A lot has changed since the gold rush days; lots of mining boom towns have dwindled away, and agriculture and manufacturing have developed. New towns have appeared to service the growing population and new areas of the state have been opened up.

This scenario runs in phases of a few years, at the end of each of which you can scarper with your medal (if any!) or keep going - the goals change each time. Potentially you can run right into the 21st century, although by then my old computer (1.1GHz, 512MB) is gasping and wheezing with the number of trains and stations.

I would be grateful for some constructive comment. I hope you enjoy it.

Peter

VicRail_-_20th_century_beta.zip

[belbincolne]

Played this quickly on Normal/no extra players. Built a textile mill up North and that was it! Waste of time railing (although I did). Got Gold before end Phase1 so why play on? Got a point for profit every year except first (and if I hadn't railed I'd have got it that year) and a point for being debt free.

Initial target therefore needs to be a lot harder (or have less money so you have to borrow to build industry).

Also the profit at end of year is different on each of the three sources - Ledger (it's the current year - ie a minus figure), Advise - I think this is correct, and in the Income statement of Company Overview - which certainly ought to be correct.

Hope this helps.

[pbenn]

Thanks - will fix. (This is what betas are for. It never occurred to me that anyone would not build track!) Perhaps you could play on and see what happens?

Peter

[belbincolne]

O/K went to Expert and solely Industried for a while so got Gold quickly. Played on and connected two of three towns so was still Gold at next stage. The war however seemed impossible to negotiate - No troops anywhere on map and places supplying weapons and ammo had nil stock - likewise alcohol. 

There's umpteen breweries on the map but few grain farms so only one could produce alcohol and by the time I'd been able to connect it to the farms & Melbourne without bonds the war was over.  I hadn't cash to try to run steel etc to any weapons and ammo factories but weapons needed rubber and there's none on the map. Consequently I don't know how anyone can get through this stage although I have to admit that my worst skill in RT3 is getting connecting industries going i.e. to get coal and iron to steel mills and thence on to weapons/auto factories. Similiarly rubber to tyre mfr and then on to auto and so on. Never seem to be any good at this because it takes so long to set up the supply lines (and usely they're ludicrously unprofitable) that I've lost interest and (as in this case) by the time the supply has worked through the demand has passed anyway.

Connecting to Sydney. Made it in last year but no idea whether I got any points for it as the Almanac always changes at end of last year (should be one year(actually month) later) and during this period the Ledger gives out no info anyway.  Now trying to create electricity - there's two established steel mills in the area and they grab most of the coal so cant get anywhere near enough power to get any points even though I built a second plant way out west to use Mt Gambier coal with lines solely running coal to it.

Two points.  (1) I think theres too many trains and you should reduce the number available and (2) Historical Intro - no rails in Vic. If I remember correctly every Aussie State used its own gauge until standardisation. Why not alter to all rails have to be rebuilt to standard gauge and place a station in Melbourne so the scenario's more historically accurate. Mind you I cant remember which year standardisation came in and suspect that it was all the other states had to come in line with Vic but then!

[pbenn]

This scenario is intended to be about running a railway (as opposed to being a tycoon) so it's mostly about transporting loads to enable industries to work, so it might not suit your style, belbincone! The phase goals depend on building up a rail network as the game progresses, so if you've concentrated on industry early you'll have a good profit flow but not the wherewithal to carry things. So I suggest building track from the start.

Historical accuracy is a tricky thing. By 1930 the Victorian network was almost at its peak, so if we're starting from scratch we're down a different trouser-leg from the start; and NSW and South Australia had their own networks, too, and weren't sitting about waiting for Victorians to do it for them. So it was more a case of 'what if...' based on real geography. The gauge thing is something I haven't figured out how to simulate effectively - didn't bother about it for this one. There are lots of loco types because VR bought from all over the place as the fancy took them (until diesel, that is, when they went totally GM).

As for raw materials - I think you'll find that everything you need is there somewhere! Rubber arrives at ports, and grain for alcohol has to be sourced from the northern plains. The phases intentionally have competing demands (because life ain't meant to be easy, and because I wanted a scenario that was going to be interesting to play more than once). Troops won't move unless the barracks is covered by a station (like passengers & mail) and thence connected to another. War materials, as you say, have to be running for a year or 2 to be producing, and they have to be connected to demand to run well ... getting steel going is critical.

The briefing obviously needs to be a bit clearer so the nature of the scenario is plain - no good players getting frustrated because it's not plain what needs to be done. Getting another angle is very useful, so thanks for your comments!