Locomotive Specifications

[SD45]

For Jeffery Fisher,

 

How does one make sense of the locomotive specifications in the .exe? I'm looking for horsepower and such, but looking at your spreadsheet, it doesn't make sense to me.

 

Could I get a little clarification in that regard? I'd really like to adjust and improve some of the locomotives. Mainly making the SD units more useful.

 

If it's also not too hard, could I get the respective values for reliability and acceleration too?

[jeffryfisher]

You need to find the start of the engine data table late in the EXE. If you have the CD platinum edition, then the address given in my spreadsheet will be useful in a hex editor. However, if you have the steam edition (or gold), then the location is probably different. In that case, you need to search for familiar numbers and the tell-tale pattern of fixed-length records. There my spreadsheet tells you the record length for the loco table.

 

Perhaps the most useful number to find is '07', which in the high-byte of a 2-byte integer equates to decimal 1792. It's important because it's the high byte for all dates in the game (e.g. 07 08 = 1792+8 = 1800). If you find a series of regularly spaced dates, and if the dates equal the intro years for the engines in the game, then you've found the engine table.

[SD45]

I have Platuium. Let me go get the hex editor....

 

My problem isn't really how those numbers are compiled in hex. What I'm looking for is how the numbers in hex translate into hard data, such as HP. Or am I asking the same question?

[MaglevForever]

My 2 cents on this is that reliability should be improved. There is a map called US at the Crossroads that has AI companies that use and need these locos to be profitable. Problem is they always crash. This map has some other small issues as well, but the crashes are enough to only allow me to get near a win on Expert while in huge amounts of debt and losing lots of money. (My hat is off to anyone who won that scenario.) It was bad enough that I have given up on that one a few times.

 

On the real topic, I don't know of an exact formula for converting game data to HP. Comparison is probably the best tool to get an idea of the relative power of the locos. Because train lengths are limited to 6 cars, my guess is HP differences would be exaggerated to try to give some strategic value to the locos.

[SD45]

My 2 cents on this is that reliability should be improved. There is a map called US at the Crossroads that has AI companies that use and need these locos to be profitable. Problem is they always crash. This map has some other small issues as well, but the crashes are enough to only allow me to get near a win on Expert while in huge amounts of debt and losing lots of money. (My hat is off to anyone who won that scenario.) It was bad enough that I have given up on that one a few times.

 

On the real topic, I don't know of an exact formula for converting game data to HP. Comparison is probably the best tool to get an idea of the relative power of the locos. Because train lengths are limited to 6 cars, my guess is HP differences would be exaggerated to try to give some strategic value to the locos.

Reailbility is a major issue too in my mind. Getting back to the SDP40 and SD45, the 645 engine is one of the most reliablie engines in the world. Sure, the SD45 had some problems with it's crankshaft issues. But the SDP40 had none of those issues. Their reliabities should be raised to at least good or above. The dates may need to be shifted around too. I'm gonna say that the SD45 is a analog for the SD40-2, which still means it's reablitiy needs to be raised.

 

Same problem with a lot of steam engnies. What's up with the Ten Wheeler and the Mastadon? Sure, the 4-8-0 wasn't partiucallry popular, but the Ten-Wheeler was. And both were pretty reliable, with N&W using tons of 4-8-0s for pretty much everything. I tend to avoid using both engines for those reasons.

 

And this wouldn't be a complete dicussion without mentioing the Pacific. I think Jeffery's mod fixes this, and I haven't had one blow up on me, but I read that Pacifics are not dependable in the game. The Pacific in the real world was basicly the Mikado's Passenger Cousin. Mid-powered and reliable. That should be fixed. Anyway, time to start breaking my EXE.

[damrankomran]

Is it game about trains?

[MaglevForever]

Yes, damrankomran, Railroad Tycoon II is a train game. It has simulation, stock market, and business and train management aspects as well. In every game you are in charge of a railroad company and its success and expansion over a map made with real world (or fictional) cities and terrain. (For example a map of Great Britain.) A map will also have some specific tasks you need to complete to get a medal (ranked bronze/silver/gold). Your chairman can get rich through the stock market and mergers with the AI companies that are your competition. Strategy is very important to game play. Railways are efficient, and intricate, efficient strategies are what I find success with. This site has the biggest collection (hundreds) of fan made maps. We love the game here, why not try the trial version? It and screenshots are readily available online. If you like it, try to get hold of the Platinum version (it's the best).

[jeffryfisher]

I have Platinum. Let me go get the hex editor....

 

My problem isn't really how those numbers are compiled in hex. What I'm looking for is how the numbers in hex translate into hard data, such as HP. Or am I asking the same question?

If strict hexidecimal confuses you, then use a "hex" editor that displays decimal values. Most of the engine numbers that appear in game also appear in table unchanged. My recollection is that fuel consumption and acceleration were strange, but you can fiddle with them to learn how they work.

My spreadsheet tells which bytes contain what values.

[damrankomran]

So we are building railroads or using single train company in exixting railroads in this game?

[MaglevForever]

So we are building railroads or using single train company in exixting railroads in this game?

Mostly building, but a few games start with pre-built railroads. Track-laying is an important aspect. I forgot to mention it.

 

PS. I am happy to try to answer questions. However, this thread is about how to change the train engines as a sort of mod for the game. If you have more questions, please start a new thread for this purpose. Thank-you kindly.

[jeffryfisher]

How does one make sense of the locomotive specifications in the .exe? I'm looking for horsepower and such, but looking at your spreadsheet, it doesn't make sense to me.

I guess I should say a little more about the spreadsheet ("EXE_Data.ods"). Firstly, it is an open-doc written in Libre-Office. I can upload an MS-Word version if needed.

Secondly, the upper-left corner (cell A1) of each sheet has a hexidecimal number. That is the starting byte number (in platinum patched to v1.56) of the table in that sheet. I think that all other numbers in each sheet have been tranlated into decimal.

A2 is the number of bytes in the fixed-length records in that table. To the right of the record length are the byte-widths of the "columns" in the table. If a sheet column has no column width, that is because it is one byte of a multi-byte value whose composite value (and total width) appear in a purple column to the right of the component bytes.

Row 3 is my guesses to the data types of the table values. Int is signed, and uint is unsigned integer. Flags are 0 or 1.

In the locos sheet, there is no HP. Instead, each engine's power is given as a top-speed and two modifiers: "2%-drop" and "free weight". The "2% drop" is mountain climbing (and cornering); high values mean good climbing. "Free weight" is how well the engine handles load; high value means speed is less affected by heavy load.

There are still some loco columns that I can't decypher. If anyone knows the meaning of what I labeled "tog" and "trine" (almost rotating values), please explain. I've stared at them for... too long without seeing anything.

Engines are also cars, so they have other values in the cars table, but some may not be used.

[damrankomran]

Its look awesome game, ive herd about it years ago but never tryed it because i think its kind of rollercoaster tycoon. But ill try it.