Metra Type Scenario Help Needed.

[alexender00]

Hi, I'm an avid RT2P player. So far, with a little help and some perseverance, I've succeeded all the previous scenarios with gold. This include all of the first campaign.

But now I've hit a snag... I can't for the life of me make head or tails of the Seattle Metra (and I guess the Munich Metra) scenarios. It seem that what I've learned with the more "traditional" scenarios don't apply here.

Therefore, I would like to ask for some general tips with the Metra type scenarios and also specifics tips relating to the Seattle and/or Munich Metra Scenarios.

I admit the it might be because those maps are so busy (so much infrastructures) that I fail at them or maybe because I like clean railroad system or that everything is so intertwined (Residance provide Commerce and Industry which in turn provide Residance). I don't know how to start those maps. I mean I know I should start at residences but do I create a nexus of medium/large stations in these area to connect them to a nexus in the commercial/industrial sectors?

As you can see I'm pretty confused.

Any help would be welcome.

P.S.: That's when I start missing the Cargo overlay of RRT3. I still prefer the game play of RRT2P but I have to admit that I prefer the information providers of RRT3. (By that I mean the overlay which show how much of cargo is where. Not the "What is produced where" overlay)

[Gwizz]

Metra maps are normally smaller.  Gameplay is different.  Building densities are much higher.

I often did a lot of bulldozing to make room for a RR.  Costs are higher; but, so are revenues.

There are 4 classes of buildings.  So, there are 4 types of commuter cars.

Yellow for residential,  green for commercial,  red for industrial and blue for airport.

Automatic cargo type.  to start only a car with a grey strip is available to you. 

All commuters will ride this car as long as there is a place for them to get off.

Commuters will not get on a car if it is not going where they want to get off.

routing is important.  Think where do the commutes need to go and is there demand at the destination.

If there is no demand at the other end the commuters will not get on.

Commuters do want speedy service.  They won't wait on you for long.

[djf01]

All commuters will ride this car as long as there is a place for them to get off.

By that I think it's meant there needs to be some *demand* for that type of commuter somewhere on the route of the train.  I *think* (I need to test this, as it has stratgegy implication) even though the commercial and industrial buildings will convert as many commuters to residential commuters as you can deliver, the trains won't deliver commuters if demand for them is zero.  (The implication is that a second station covering much the same area will have an independent demand calculator).

I found the best way to build in the Metra maps was with point to point routes, trying to connect large residential areas with large employment centres.  The routes can share track, but it's generally counter productive for them to share stations, unless they are particularly unbalanced.

When you get enough revenue, the airport can be added, and trains can run a triangle route res-employment_centre-airport.

Quite frankly, I hate the Metra maps.  They have *some* of the ideas of RRT3 in them, but not really enough IMHO.  It's sort of more realistic than regular RT2, but in other ways it's not.  Optimal commuter systems for the game are nothing like they would be in real life.  Also, a lot of the decision making power is taken away from the player, and it all seems to happen automatically.

I'll have to have a crack at Simutrans, which looks a lot like OpenTT supposedly has a sophisticated comuter supply demand model and routing scheme.