Sid Meyer's Railroads

[tycho102]

What the hell? You don't see Jordan Mechner's Karateka, or Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia, or John Romero's Daikatana, or Warren Spector's Deus Ex.

On the topic of trains:

I have played Railroad Tycoon 2 and 3. That's the extent of my computer railroad experience. I enjoyed both those games to a tremendous extent. RT3 had a different economic balance than RT2, and took some adjusting, but it worked for the game.

SMR (Sid Meyer's Railroads) is more "arcade-like" than the Tycoon series. That doesn't make it juvenile in comparison, but the interface and play balance attempt to make the game more fun than serious.

For example, the stock market is extremely minimal. Your company cannot issue more stock -- the amount of stock is fixed at the beginning of the company. You can't resign and start another company, and you are required to micromanage your trains and route. All rail must be connected, and the city buildings "move" to make room for whatever you do -- with an associated "moving" cost depending on what has to be moved.

The "learning curve" is very gradual for a beginner. The game is easy to pickup and start playing. There is no set grid -- like in the Tycoon series -- to put objects and rail, so laying track is simple. You have to lay the track within a green "circle of influence", but that is the only requirement for towns and resources.

I like the auctions (you can buy factories). I like the route planning, which is very similar to RT2/3. I like the graphics.

I like being required to connection-plan my track. You have to make manual connections between double or triple rails, and the connections are direction oriented. If a train could not physically make a turn, then it won't make that turn and you will see towns and resources that are unreachable until you make the right curves and connections with your tracks. For example, when you merge perpendicular rails, you'd better make a left and right turn onto the perpendicular track, or you won't be able to send a train in both directions (or from both directions).

However, I have a list of things that I do not like about it.

There is no "double track" option. You must lay single track, and then you can lay a line on either side of that one using the addon tool. This makes for some serious planning issues. I'd like a double-track option so that I don't have to go through and lay another line next to the original one -- sometimes there are issues with the second track, with bridging or tunneling or overpass, and it turns into an unecessary nightmare.

I don't like the fixed view distance. I want to be able to zoom out.

There's more, which I'll add later.

[snowsub]

If you're after a simulator rather than a game, I'd be looking at:

Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006
http://www.auran.com/TRS2006/index.php

or

Microsoft's Train Simulator
http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsimulator/

Now I don't know much about MSTS but I own Auran's TRS2006 (& 2004) and I know that it's made primarily for railroad companies as a training simulator (like Steelbeats Pro in that there's a commercial product and a "lite" version released to the public).

In TRS2006 you have a few routes that come with the game but it's mainly about building your own via the terrain builder, then once the layout is made and you have buildings making and requiring products then it's up to you to meet their demands, you can have AI engineers to do runs also.

There is a plethora of user made add-ons via Auran's community website (everything from textures, trackside items, trains to new products and you can also get payware & freeware routes on the net.

The game interface comes in 2 version that you can switch to before you begin, and easy version whick just has a dial you manipulate to move the trains or the full simulation where you have to use the levers & dials in the loco.

The game have everything from steam through diesel & electric upto the magnetic types & monorails (included in the 2006 version) and you can have gradiant (tilted) tracks.

How complex and big you make the tracks is up you, FPS can be an issue if you have too many tree's/building etc but on most maps you'd make it'll be fine (I only had major slows on a horizon to horizon 360deg map with forests and suburbia, most make routes that the map only is a little larger that the track, basically one grid os about 720m sq and if you're going to play it in cabin you'll not need more that 2-3 grids wide along a straight piece of track).




If you're the type of person who likes model trains just think of it as the same but on the computer





So if you want a simulator I'd be taking a look at both and see what piques your fancy.
My recommendation is Trainz but have a look and see what you like.

[Sailor Steve]

Sid Meyer is famous for the creation of Pirates and Silent Service back in the '80s. He is legendary for the Civilization series.

Having his name on the box guarantees sales.

[NeonSamurai]

Personaly for this style of game i still dont think he has outdone the old classic Transport Tycoon Deluxe with the mods available.

[sonar732]

My wife and I are looking at buying a house soon and moving out of this small duplex. Once that happens, I'll get a model railroad started. The problem is that it's been so long since I've played with model railroads...20 years...that I'm at a loss for starting one from scratch, not from a box either. My wife complains about the time spent on this computer...just wait until the railroad is built. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Do y'all know what software programs I can utilize to build one from scratch instead of buying all those books from a hobby store?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by sonar732

...just wait until the railroad is built. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Many years ago I worked at a hobby shop. The saying I was taught then was "A good model railroad is NEVER finished." I hope your wife has patience.

As to the 'net versus books, I would recommend finding a good railroad hobby shop and making friends. Then you'll get first-hand advice from people who are doing it all the time. They'll recommend books, perhaps even loan them to you. I don't do trains at all, but I still love reading Model Railroader magazine.

[Bort]

I've been playing with the Demo and this game is way cool!
Great graphics, great interface, and great gameplay.
I've never relly been a big fan of Sid Meier games, but this one is definately on my X-mas list!

[scrapser]

Well, I've played a few rounds and the maps are definitely too small. On top of this, the proportion of cities and resources is too large, making the maps seem even smaller. Perhaps this is to cater to the eye candy crowd but I don't like it as a default view.

In addition, the passage of time is too fast. Over a year passes while a single train moves from Trenton to New York. You barely get started building when the next generation engine appears, making the first train almost pointless. I do hope they make some changes in these areas so people can tweak the sim to their taste.

scrapser

[tycho102]

You need to pause the simulation while you're building, same as you do with RT2/3.

It takes quite a bit of strategy to effectively micromanage your trains. The instruction manual doesn't list the mass-to-speed ratings like the Tycoon series does. As you put more cars on your trains, they will slow down. And, when they go uphill, they slow down even more. The really good cargo engines aren't as fast as the good passenger engines, but they can take grades under load without losing nearly as much speed as the passenger engines.

So you have absolutely got to look at your inclines between stations, and either limit the number of cars or pick a more suitable engine.

I'd tell you good picks, but I'm so distracted right now, I can hardly remember. I'll post some kind of simple guide later.

[Tikigod]

I agree Railroad Tycoon 3 is much better than sid's railroads!....if you like the model trainset style game play....RRT3 has the day to night transitions as well as different types of weather....track laying is much easier, and overall 3-d world looks alot nicer when you can zoom in at eye level.

sid's might become something in a following series...but, for now Tycoon series has much better gameplay and has more options available with its interface....sid's has neat loading animations for the cargo and buildings/structures thats about it....not to mention its in need of a patch for its unstable multiplayer connectivity.

I prefer Trainz for more simulation style of gameplay...you can run trainz like a model railroad or as a 1st person sim....the campaign and economy is a bit more complicated because you might be tied to a passengers schedule or a the needs of a facility like a powerplant that might shut down if you dont ship coal or oil in time to keep it running, etc.

Two different games, both very fun.

[Kresge]

I just found RT3 at Target for $10!!! I can't wait to get going on this one. I had the demo of the game and had really enjoyed playing, but for some reason I had never bought it. Must have came out the same time as another game on my list. I get easily distracted by bright shiny graphics sometimes