SMRR Start Location

[CrownVic95]

I know SMRR is not the main focus here. But I also know that there are some very knowledgeable folks here, like MaglevForever and maybe some others, who have dabbled with this game. I have not been able to find an answer anywhere else.

 

Seems every one of the RRT entries has its flaws and frustrations and one that I have with SMRR is that in the single player mode, the start location city is picked for you....and it is often a poor choice. This is very typical with the SF Bay map that is one of my favorites to play.

 

I've searched extensively and found nothing on this subject except for vague references like this one....

Remember that you will always be able to choose between several start locations. Take a closer look at the map in order to choose the most interesting city.

 

found here. http://guides.gamepressure.com/sidmeiersrailroads/guide.asp?ID=1751

 

But there is no mention of exactly how/when this choice is made and there simply is no such option in the game that I have ever seen.

 

Anyone have any insight here? Thanks

[envelope]

Well Fedykin,

I have had the same reaction to a few other scenarios, which  have already placed a depot.   In those scenarios I was doing some searching for the best option for operation, only to find that I did not have that option.   Hence I had to retrace to the point of which the scenario terrain screen was placed.   Now I check on the allotted amount of financing, to see if I get the usual  $1,000+ amount.  I don't know of any way that it can be changed in the Editor.   Or I have never tried to "bulldoze" it, and then use the "cheat" to reinstate the finances.   That might be a possibility,   otherwise, we just have to play the scenario as created. >:(

[CrownVic95]

Well Fedykin,

I have had the same reaction to a few other scenarios, which  have already placed a depot.   In those scenarios I was doing some searching for the best option for operation, only to find that I did not have that option.   Hence I had to retrace to the point of which the scenario terrain screen was placed.   Now I check on the allotted amount of financing, to see if I get the usual  $1,000+ amount.  I don't know of any way that it can be changed in the Editor.   Or I have never tried to "bulldoze" it, and then use the "cheat" to reinstate the finances.   That might be a possibility,   otherwise, we just have to play the scenario as created. >:(

 

What editor? ???

 

Have never seen an editor option in SMRR.

[MaglevForever]

Unfortunately, like you suspected, I think that link you found is erroneous information. This is evidenced by the earliest two comments below the article/guide, which remain unanswered:

 

pippo 05/01/2007 08:53

you can't choose you start location in Railroads! What game are you playing?

ClarkRailroadingInc. 01/01/2007 06:10

I think the guide is very good, but I need a bit of help, I am confused when you say pick your starting position, I have looked on the start screen, and before I click ok on the box at the beginning, but I see no way to choose your start location. If you could get back to me, my email is hpfan1441@yahoo.com, I would really appreciate it, Thanks.

 

There must be a way to edit maps in SMRR but I don't think it is an "editor" quite like RTII and RT3 have. I really don't know as I never tried to edit a map. I suspect there is an option there to choose some possible starting locations and the game then randomly picks one when you load a map. I suspect that some of the user made maps have only one possible starting location thus removing this sometimes annoying trait from the game. Like I said, I dunno for sure.

 

What I have done while playing is simply reload until I get a location I like, or try to get a challenge from starting at the less than ideal ones. Also, the link I posted for the forum with the Mexico map is working again for me. Maybe they have some information on this.

[CrownVic95]

Unfortunately, like you suspected, I think that link you found is erroneous information. This is evidenced by the earliest two comments below the article/guide, which remain unanswered:

 

pippo 05/01/2007 08:53

you can't choose you start location in Railroads! What game are you playing?

ClarkRailroadingInc. 01/01/2007 06:10

I think the guide is very good, but I need a bit of help, I am confused when you say pick your starting position, I have looked on the start screen, and before I click ok on the box at the beginning, but I see no way to choose your start location. If you could get back to me, my email is hpfan1441@yahoo.com, I would really appreciate it, Thanks.

 

There must be a way to edit maps in SMRR but I don't think it is an "editor" quite like RTII and RT3 have. I really don't know as I never tried to edit a map. I suspect there is an option there to choose some possible starting locations and the game then randomly picks one when you load a map. I suspect that some of the user made maps have only one possible starting location thus removing this sometimes annoying trait from the game. Like I said, I dunno for sure.

 

What I have done while playing is simply reload until I get a location I like, or try to get a challenge from starting at the less than ideal ones. Also, the link I posted for the forum with the Mexico map is working again for me. Maybe they have some information on this.

Yep, that is what I have done. But then I thought surely there must be a better way.

 

So I've looked at the game files and thought I had found the answer upon discovering that there is an editable "cities" file with entries that look like this....

<szName>TAG_CITY_NAME_SAN_RAFAEL</szName>

        <Type>Town</Type>

        <StartX>-146</StartX>

        <StartY>39</StartY>

        <Rotation>45.000656</Rotation>

        <bIsStartLocation>true</bIsStartLocation>

 

Basically, the towns say "true" for start location and the smaller villages say "false". So one by one I started changing all of the cities I didn't want to start at to "false" and found that just made things worse. The game began to start in villages like Livermore or Muir Beach whose info said "false", whereas it had never done that before.

 

So I changed it back to the way it was and restarted until I got the city I wanted - Redwood City. I guess that's all we can do for now, but in the meantime I'll look for more map edit info when I get time.

 

Generally speaking I like the game....and there are aspects of it that I like better than RRTII. But then there are other aspects that fall short.

 

RRTII, especially considering its earlier release date, is still probably the best of the series overall. But I simply can't stay with a mature game as it becomes tedious and pointless. And that ridiculous medal system.... ???....have hated that from day one. SMRR's career progression is much better, like it was in Sid's RRT original.

[MaglevForever]

I did a quick little search and apparently there is an editor that can be turned on with a couple of changes to a file. See instructions here: http://smrsimple.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=3802. I don't currently have SMRR installed, otherwise I would try it. There should be a way to do it in that editor.

[CrownVic95]

I did a quick little search and apparently there is an editor that can be turned on with a couple of changes to a file. See instructions here: http://smrsimple.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=3802. I don't currently have SMRR installed, otherwise I would try it. There should be a way to do it in that editor.

Thank you!

 

I put that little mod in the ini file and, sure enough, there is now a "terrain editor" option in the game menu. That's the good news. The bad news is that I don't think that is going to help with the issue at hand. It is really rather pathetic compared to the RRTII and 3 editors and I saw no way to do anything about the way the game handles start location.

 

I'll play around with it some more when I have more time, but first glance leaves me convinced that the fixed start location syndrome is built into the game engine and beyond our control.

[MaglevForever]

I found something else on this. Apparently a map needs 4 starting locations to allow for the human and AI. Take a look: http://smrsimple.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=21049#p21049.

[CrownVic95]

I found something else on this. Apparently a map needs 4 starting locations to allow for the human and AI. Take a look: http://smrsimple.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=21049#p21049.

That changing the start location to false in the XML file, suggested in that thread, doesn't work. 'Cause that was one of the first things I thought of and tried and it only made it worse by beginning to choose "false" villages for start locations. Seems inexplicable, but there must be something completely out of our hands in the game engine causing that.

 

Seems the only solution is to keep starting until you get the city you want and then save that game.