Help mission 3

[MaglevForever]

Replying to Florian: Congratulations! I am glad you won.  8)

 

The stock market is a complex part of the game. I could write many pages about it. Please understand that there are many ways to play it. None of them are wrong as long as you don't get wiped out (margin call).

 

I will give you a few tips for this scenario: Choose the 20% higher stock price option when you start. Take out a bond and connect to St Louis. Buy two trains one starting at each station. Hire manager Ginery Twitchell who gives a 15% cheaper share price. Buy 1,000 shares in your company. Then go into your company window and buy back as many shares as you can. When the first train comes in buy back another thousand shares with company money. Then the last thousand shares with player cash. You will then be on the road to greatness.

 

Watch out for robberies in this mission. I don't do long hauls as the risk increases. While you are learning, I would ignore the other companies at the start of the game. They are seldom a good investment.

 

The way to make your player rich quickly through shares is to own a large percentage of the company. Then expand the company. As long as the company is growing (more profit than last year) the share price will go up and increase your player's net worth. The only setback is the economic level can be downgraded. Then your player risks a margin call if he used most of his margin recently. (Please note that the current year's profit needs to be higher than the last for the price to rise. This can take most of the year.)

 

 

[thechattmen]

I think I've inderstand, a little.. ^^ But I noticed something so I want to ask you : how to prevent shares' number growing up ? Cause I make benefits, etc.. And sometimes when I want to buy back with company's money, total of shares grown up to 400.000 and more, and by viewing the price of each thousand, I ll never be able to buy back a lot faster than their total grows..

So do you have something about it ? Thanks a lot for tips, I'll try them soon ! :D

[MaglevForever]

In answer to your question: that is a futile goal. You can do some things like selling or issuing stock near year end to keep price below $100. Also, not paying dividends. These things don't work very well and actual decrease your wealth most of the time. I don't even try when I am playing.

 

To grow your player's net worth it is necessary to have stock splits. If your shares stay the same price your player will only receive his salary and that wont be enough to make 20 million any time soon.

 

This is why it is important to lay a small, cheap but money-making railroad at the start and then buy back all stock as fast as possible. Once your player owns all the shares any stock splits and growth help you to your goal instead of being a bother!

[Gwizz]

I'm posting this here because of the related discussion in this thread.

 

I'm playing my remake of the Oregon Map by Bennett / Locomotive.  An excellent Map.

 

This map has many turns and up and downs although I have done a lot of leveling and coloring to lighten the terrain. 

Running the DB 18 201 steamer on the mainline.  And the 1020 electric on the spurs. 

The DB does not like short hauls,  hills or many curves.

So far I can't get the speed over 75 MPH.  That is about 1/2 rated speed. 

I'm running only 9 locomotives.  My newest DB has a brake down rating of 12.3 and the next to the oldest has a breakdown rate of 6.3

All others are below 2.5    Of the 9 locomotives one is stopped to load. the only train not making a 100% profit is my milk train about 70% profitable.  I might have missed placing the important sand or water stop???  (whoops)

Two trains are earning about 300% of their costs.  These trains running on mostly straight track are making the most profit.  Those running on flat track with numerous curves are still making about 200% profit. 

 

Of my competitors, most were not part of the original Oregon map, 

 

They are running on my track about 50% or less of the time. 

The AI RRs pay the expenses and pay my company for using my track.  They also paid for all electric rail.

They helped me build much of the track using the checker board method of planting every other square.  A true tycoon ploy.  The US government did that for the railroads.

 

There are 13 AI companies owning 110 locomotives.  About 90 locomotives are in use with the rest bought and waiting for me to merge their bankrupted company.   Of course I was the tycoon that affected almost all of them in a very negative way.   (Without bulldozing except after stitching to level the terrain for the track.  A waste of track cells)

 

I have left most of locomotive's math as it was, including the second and third railroads, as they may be connected to the coding.  The fourth through the seventh locomotive companies can lay track and were pre-started.  

The rest can do anything except lay track when they start up.  I may adjust that a little if it does not foul up the code.

 

I've only played to the end of the third year.  Then I go back to the editor for adjustments.  Then I restart a new game.

 

 

The only thing I would like to add would be politics, so I can get some of that stimulus money that wealthy businesses don't have to pay back.    

[MaglevForever]

Gwizz, I am glad you are enjoying your plays. I love the original "Cascadia" map so much that I am a little uneasy that you would "modify" it so much. The balance in the original scenario is great. I love that it was made so that even the better players still take most of the time to complete it. (I believe that almost all players can do it if they choose +25% revenue). The way that engine availability and track building limits are applied gives me the feeling I am an building an empire. The industry chain is also great.

 

That being said. You are free to do whatever with it. If that gives you the feeling of being a tycoon and running a railroad, good for you. I must say you are doing well to make 300% profit with a DB18 201! I wonder what is wrong with your speed. If you don't have a long enough straight track, did you try having one accelerate in the station while waiting for some loads?

 

On another note, do you think there will be the current state of stimulus that far in the future? I have my doubts.

[Gwizz]

You are probably right to doubt.

 

As long as the government (Federal Reserve) is allowed to print money and the world excepts and continues to use our deflated currency, I believe the government  will continue to fund the very wealthy and will continue to make promises to increase the dole for the poor souls that can't seem to support themselves. 

The government is really not keeping promises and with such a high National debt they may not honor old promises without upsetting world support for US policy.

 

Easy credit always seems to manifest problems. 

 

Student loans allowed the colleges to greatly increase their fees.   Now students leave college with huge debt and few jobs that offer a way to pay down their debt.

That leads to defaults and bankruptcies.  On average, I doubt the poor as a group will ever become more wealthy then they are now.  

Especially since we are now headed for a rerun of the housing debacle.  The false statements that the government is producing that we are again headed for boom times, may find the old path now revolving into a repeating cycle (that is barely short of causing  a world disaster)  This will continue to pull the US down.

 

I hope the people who believed that debt will set them free, who bought houses that they could not afford, are hopefully wiser in their economic dealings.       

 

But, I doubt it. 

 

 

Now what can I do to put the above conditions into a map???????

 

Some interesting results:

I discovered why my milk train was not returning a profit.  I had increased its' speed to full throttle.  Which gave me a 72.0 % chance for a crash.

I reduced the throttle to normal and chance of a crash dropped, reading 4.7 %  

 

 

At the end of the 12th month of the first year.   I bought all  unowned remaining stock from all 12 RR companies.  When my stock split  (92 : 1)  

I had roughly doubled net worth and purchasing power.  I still owed about 30 million. ( and about 2 million in cash)   I didn't look to see if I exceeded the loan limit.

In one month by the end of January, with so many AI trains running on my rails.  As chairman I had almost 10 million in cash.

I stopped hauling passengers and mail, letting the AI trains do that.  I'm concentrating on the goal requirements.

I now have 9 DBs.   With enough dollars to add a shout cut from the center to the bottom of the map, I will use the AI 1020s that are waiting for a route.  

 

My goal is to see how early I can win gold using the Stock Market method.

 

I've had a problem getting the map balanced without changing too much.    I may just change the maps name plus give credits to others.

I have named 4 of the AI railroads after Bennett:  Bennett's Oil RR ;    Bennett's Mining RR ;   Bennett's lumber RR   ; Bennett's Short line.

I may name another one     Locomotive's sales & Design RR.                          :)