Connecting cities question

[Rikki]

In scenarios where you have to connect to a certain city by a certain year, does it matter if you are the one who builds the station in that city?  I seem to recall that in some scenarios I have connected to a station built by a rival railroad and got credit for it, while other times I didn't. 

Interestingly, in a recent game of the Southern Pacific scenario (this one is even harder than Mexico!) I DID get credit for connecting LA with Wichita, even though the final third of the distance was all AI track.  Well, the newspaper headline gave me the credit, at least. I ran out of time on one of my other victory conditions so I can't say I got the credit for sure.

I guess what I'm asking is, how does the game define the word "connect" in the victory conditions?

Rikki

[Gwizz]

Normally if you can run a train to the connect city on any track that has a station that is connected to the city, you are connected. 

BUT,

It depends upon how the events are written.  If the event says you must have track or a station in that cities territory then it could affect your connection if you don't own track or a station there, etc. 

Some map builders can get very creative with events.

[JayEff]

In scenarios where you have to connect to a certain city by a certain year, does it matter if you are the one who builds the station in that city?  I seem to recall that in some scenarios I have connected to a station built by a rival railroad and got credit for it, while other times I didn't.

The answer is in your question. But the truth depends on the scenario builder's ability to write clearly to make events. If you look, about half the time connection instructions and the event coding are not in perfect agreement.

When I write 'You must...' I mean you and the company that you control. Or 'your company must...', same thing. It means your station at each end, but the game programming does not care along which track, and it doesn't matter whether you have rights along the same route.

Or I will write 'A connection must exist between X and Y', which means any station at X, any station at Y. along any track.

When in doubt, peek at the coding ^[or be like me and peek at every new map]. Then decide whether you like the directions or the coding better, then change the other to fit. Also check the details of the event coding as it may have a mistake in it. I saw an event that checked at the end of the year for whether gamemonth=3. Well of course, the event would never trigger unless you change it to checking monthly. ;D

By the way, for some reason, the Mississippi (also Germantown) map seems buggy about acknowledging connections. I am working on a fix for Mississippi.

[Rikki]

Um, okay, thanks for those great responses, but please bear with me as I am not a programmer (I am challenged enough by my microwave oven :) ), nor have I investigated the map building feature yet so I don't know what's involved with that.  So let me play back what I've learned and please correct me if I've gone astray.

I take it the word "event" is a programming term and that the people who create scenarios use this word as part of a standardized syntax.  Makes sense, however I would have expected some consistency in the "factory" scenarios and therefore also in the programming.  But it seems the people who contributed the original maps/scenarios often had a different code of conduct (if you'll pardon the pun), which would explain my frustration about getting different/unexpected game results.  (Hmm, come to think of it, I did notice a distinctive writing style with a few of the briefs that were unlike the others.)

Anyway, to work around the inconsistency issue you say I can peek at the code beforehand, but how do us mortal laymen do that?  Is there a feature of the game that allows this, or do I have to use another program like a text editor?  I don't have the manual handy but I don't recall reading anything about this.

While I'm on the subject, I've seen the words "map" and "scenario" used interchangeably. Are all player-created maps also scenarios?  Or can one create just the map and let the people who download it figure out what the rules are and write the "scenario?"

Again, I appreciate everybody's patience and explanations.

Rikki

[nedfumpkin]

An event is exactly that. They are programmed events that occur when certain conditions are met. They can be constructed different ways based on the conditions that are set, and often when the conditions are met there is an effect.

Every dialogue box, choice, and even your annual report are events that were programmed.

To toggle to the map editor, shift E during the game.

[JayEff]

Press [shift]-E to toggle between playing a map and the editor.

Click on 'Control Panel'.

Click on 'Events'.

What you now see are what mapmakers call events.

They are composed of the following:

- Name: a short name for the event

- Dialog: how information is communicated to the player. There are four - Dialog, Newspaper, Choice and Game Message.

- Dialog Text: what you are told, or what is in the newspaper headline.

- Time: when the program will test the event. It may be start of scenario; start or end of week, month or year; when track or station is placed; when a company is started; after an event choice; or status (appears on the status page in the ledger).

- One time only: check box if it happens only once.

- Conditions: what has to happen to trigger the event. Conditions also state what is tested - territories, human, computer or all players and companies; and whether the event applies to single player, multi-player or both types of games.

- Effects: what happens when the event is triggered.

To me, a map is a map, complete with topography, water, regions, cities, territories and paint. It may or may not include events.

A scenario is a designed game which includes the map and a specific set of events. Example:

PopTop made a map of Central Canada and made a scenario which they in their infinite knowledge of Canadian geography, called Eastern Canada. There are three scenarios on this map, Eastern Canada (PopTop), Warming Trend (JayEff) and War Profiteers (nedfumpkin).

[Rikki]

Cool, I didn't know I could do that!  (The shift-E thing). 

I understand "events" now, too, so the earlier responses make more sense to me.  Thanks.

And the words "map" and "scenario" mean what I would have expected them to mean.  Somehow I got the sense people were saying "map" but meaning "scenario."  My mistake.

Now, given my new understanding, and after playing the South Pacific scenario again last night, it still seems to me the way the events are written doesn't jive with the brief, since I am "connecting" to Wichita as required but still end up a penniless hobo.  (It was frustrating enough to have the medal conditions changed right when I thought I was about to walk away with the bronze!)  Anyone else run into this?

Rikki