Hello everyone. Just downloaded RRT2 from Steam.

[RRTFan]

So hi there. I'm a huge RRT fan and when I was a kid used to play RRT2 all the time. However around 2002 I lost the disc and moved on to RRT3. However I still remembered RRT2 and was surprised to see it on Steam for just 5 bucks. So I bought it, downloaded it and will be playing it soon. I'm quite surprised there's people still making maps for this game and would like some recommendations before I start playing it again. So does anyone have any?

[MaglevForever]

Hi! and Welcome!
 
What style of play do you like? Challenging or more moderate, make your own history or definite storyline progression, small or large maps, long or short time frame, playing with or without AIs? I don't know if you used to have the Platinum edition and are familiar with those maps. If you haven't tried them, many of them are quite good.

 

My personal preference is for difficult, medium-sized maps with plenty of strategy options. One of these may not be the best re-introduction to the game though. Among my favorites are Cascadia (futuristic scenario of Oregon more difficult version), Kettle Valley Railway (British Columbia), Pilabara Iron (Western Australia), Alaska Coal Mines (fun, partly imaginary scenario based in and around a "Coal Mine"), and Morocco Rails over the Atlas (a tweaked more difficult version is here). Most of these scenarios and many more are included in loco_comotive's excellent list.

 

All the maps I mentioned should play with the Steam version. Also all those in loco_comotive's list except US History by Jeffry Fisher. After you get some great strategies figured out this is a good endurance challenge, however his modded EXE file can't be used with Steam. I have never used Steam, so don't know if it is possible to use his modded EXE along with Daemon Tools and an image file to run the game seeing you own a legitimate copy. With a little work you might get it to run, I don't know.

[RRTFan]

Personally my style has always been more of the "Empire Builder" type on larger maps. My favorite map used to be the Transcontinental campaign one. Thanks for the map list BTW.

[MaglevForever]

Many of the Platinum maps are good to build a sprawling empire on. I like to be able to compare a handful of strategies to make game decisions. When there are too many (i.e. cities everywhere), I can't process them all in a fun way so don't enjoy these maps quite as much. But, I believe Prince of Steel and The Baghdad Railway are fan favorites in this category. Happy Railroading!

[jeffryfisher]

"US History" is a campaign all by itself. It has almost 500 events, as many as all the maps in an entire campaign combined.

It'll play in platinum, so you can play it with the Steam version of the game. You just won't be able to do much about the military deliveries during the Civil War, but they're not essential. For those you need my modded EXE, and that's derived from the CD game and the last patch made for it.

The same or similar mods could be made to the Steam EXE, but I don't think anyone has tried. My spreadsheet of EXE file data-table notes exists on this site if you want to become the first.

[RRTFan]

I might be able to convince my brother to give that a try actually.

[PieLam]

RRTFan, on 09 Sept 2014 - 5:31 PM, said:

 

I'm quite surprised there's people still making maps for this game

 

I too was surprised to still see any type of activities aound RRTI! or III.  Says a lot about the quality of this game/simulation!

 

RRTII or III either one won't run on any of my current PCs. I had to load a virtual machine (using VMware's VM player) to load Win XP. Then, RRTII would run, but when I tried running the expansion pack (TSC), it wouldn't work right.  On the same PC that I play RRTII on, RTYIII, said it "couldn't find my video card".  (That PC  has a buil-in video card)  I tried opting to load the old DirectX, but that didn't do any good, so I shelved it for now.  Fortunately, RRTII runs good, I;m scared to try any of the patches.

 

 

and would like some recommendations before I start playing it again. So does anyone have any?

 

Sorry, I don't have any for ya.  But, I'm interested in this "Steam" version.  Can you tell me more about it?  (I've never heard of it)

 

 

BTW, anyone reading this...

 

I no longer have the dox and for the life of me, I can't remember how to set a waypoint for a train's route.  Can anyone tell me?  I thought I had a work around, but it only patially works.

[MaglevForever]

Hi PieLam,

 

Sorry to hear you are having trouble running the games. Personally I wouldn't be scared of trying the patches and also trying to get hold of the Platinum version. Copy the entire game folder and then try the patches on a spare copy. You should also put all game folders outside the Program Files and some other folders that Windows restricts user read/write permissions. Steam is an online game store which sells these games. It's not ideal as they add some protection that makes them harder to mod, but I believe that they sell the latest Platinum version.

 

For RT3, head over to http://hawkdawg.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=82. There is advice for different situations there. Without knowing about your operating system, it's hard to know what to suggest, but the "Vista patch" which enables the game to use software for most of the graphics may help. Find it mid-way down this page: http://hawkdawg.com/rrt/rrt3/rrt3.htm.

 

To set a waypoint the normal way: hold Ctrl while pointing the mouse over some track in the train route map window.

 

Hope you get the games working properly.

[PieLam]

 

MaglevForever, on 29 Mar 2015 - 11:42 AM, said:

Hi PieLam,

 

Sorry to hear you are having trouble running the games.

 

 

 

First of all, thank you so much for your reply!  It means a lot to me!

 

 

Personally I wouldn't be scared of trying the patches and also trying to get hold of the Platinum version.

 

I used the word "scared". but I meant more that since TSC messed up, the patches might would too.  I didn't want to go through reinstalling Win XP & RRT again. (Which is what I did after trying TSC...)

 

 

 

Copy the entire game folder and then try the patches on a spare copy. You should also put all game folders outside the Program Files and some other folders that Windows restricts user read/write permissions.

 

Great idea!  I hadn't thought of that... (I hope I have enough room in my VM for that.)

 

 

Steam is an online game store which sells these games. It's not ideal as they add some protection that makes them harder to mod, but I believe that they sell the latest Platinum version.   

 

I think i remember a little about Steam now, not a whole lot, but some.  Thanx for the insight!

 

 

 

For RT3, head over to http://hawkdawg.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=82. There is advice for different situations there. Without knowing about your operating system, it's hard to know what to suggest, but the "Vista patch" which enables the game to use software for most of the graphics may help. Find it mid-way down this page: http://hawkdawg.com/rrt/rrt3/rrt3.htm.

 

 

Thanx!! That'll be a big help...

 

This is a link to my specs:

 

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/ryfvUVwzj7HU5I180GeUgw5

 

 

To set a waypoint the normal way:

 

Is there more than one way?

 

 

hold Ctrl while pointing the mouse over some track in the train route map window.

 

AHA!  i thought I'd tried that, but since it didn't work. I thought I was doing it wrong...  

 

Just to be sure, I tried it again last night... Nope...  

 

At least I KNEW that this time I was doing it right! Thanx to you, of course!   :)

[MaglevForever]

Thanks for the detailed specs of your machine. Where did you get the patch that you are trying to install? The patches on this site (The Terminal) seem to be bugged. What version of RTII do you have? TSC is an expansion pack. I haven't seen a download online for the expansion pack. I'm no expert, but I think the patches are just bug fixes for the .exe file instead of adding new content which is probably what you want?

 

Let me know if you still have problems with RT3 once it is outside the Program Files folder and you apply the Vista/Win7 fix.

 

It's possible to set waypoints by simply clicking on long sections of track, you just need a big gap between stations. If you have an early version, maybe it doesn't support waypoints, just a guess.

[PieLam]

 

Thanks for the detailed specs of your machine.

 

You're quite welcome!   :)

 

Where did you get the patch that you are trying to install?

 

If I'm not mistaken, here.

 

What version of RTII do you have? TSC is an expansion pack. I haven't seen a download online for the expansion pack.

 

Not sure, but probably 1.0 as it's straight from the CD.  TSC had to be purchased..  Unlike RRT3 the expansion pack was an additional purchase whereas in RRT3, the expansion pack for it was a free D/L.

 

I'm no expert, but I think the patches are just bug fixes for the .exe file instead of adding new content which is probably what you want?

 

Yep, more than likely.

 

Let me know if you still have problems with RT3 once it is outside the Program Files folder and you apply the Vista/Win7 fix.

 

 

Thought you'd like to know...  RRT3 is running now in W7 on my PC.  I followed your advice of trying hawkandbadger.com and Now it's running!!!  I then followed their suggestions in a LONG thread (12 pages) that was on Installing RRT3 in W7...  

 

Thanx a bunch, I can't thank you enough!!

 

It's possible to set waypoints by simply clicking on long sections of track, you just need a big gap between stations. If you have an early version, maybe it doesn't support waypoints, just a guess.

 

 

I do have an early version and where I need to set this waypoint was a short section of track, but I tried setting it on a different long section to see if the length of track was the issue. ???  I'm cornfused now...

 

 

[MaglevForever]

Your welcome. As far as the patches, the ones from here wont work for me either. They aren't even downloading properly so I don't know what to suggest. If you want to get TSC, maybe you should purchase a disk for it or buy the game from steam.