map in making: Lx Suburban

[RayofSunshine]

I have not been able to do much expanding Brunon,
As I had from 8-10 years of Recession and Depression. All I could do to attain the passenger requirement, was to micromanage/monitor every "unloading", click on the depot, to see which city had the highest demand.
There were a number of "engine crashes", and was able to keep a very marginal edge, to be able to replace the A1s with the Diesel200. This gave a better availabilith to keep the coal requirement to the Villa, which also was helping to get the $250K "bonus".
Since the 20th year, when the economy inched its way into the 1st "boom", I was able to get bonds at 5%, which was enabled by adequate revenue to pay off 4 of the 11-13% bonds.
Oh, I did manage to get the "expanded bridge" constucted, but to this, the 25th year, have not been able, have rather decided to just try to attain good revenue, so as not to need any micromanaging for a time, as well as expend to a couple other cities.
Right now, I have good operations with coal, passengers, and speed, but that could change when the Boom gets faded out. A little anxious to see the purpose of the bridge, considering up to this point, the requirement has been to expand the services to and from, and within Lisbon.
Oh, and to see what other "tricks" you have incorporated.

[RayofSunshine]

Completed into the 36th year Brunom,

But have made a questionaire in a PM to you. Then after your reply, I will make some comments to this thread.

[brunom]

Well Ray

From your report in the PM there seems that there are a few bugs still to sort.

There is no hidden "you will never get the medal" surprise - that's just ill-programming on my part

As for stuff happening after "the bridge". I will list them here, so you can check with me if those happened or if, by some reason, they didn't fire.

- 2 Steel Mills pop-up in south bank, a short time later, military will either finance that you connected them to iron sources or reward you for having done so already.

- 1974 - socialist revolution, the new government will strip you of practically any profit at the end of the year for a few years straight.

- 1985 - GOLD medal should fire-up.

By the amount of time you put to testing it by now, this will (Hawk permitting :) ) be a joint-creation with your name in it.

Cheers
B

[brunom]

I will just add this picture:

My initial motivation for this scenario was to replicate the construction of this beautiful bridge.. but RRT3 engineers need many more pillars than real-life ones.

[RayofSunshine]

Hey Brunom,

I checked the complete map for the steel mills and only found 1 in Qeiras.

Now the only mention ""that I can recall"" pertaining to the bridge, indicated something to the affect of Sexil, and believe that it was to that of a steel mill. However, Not being of interest at the time, I did not check, and there are only a 'munitions plant' and a 'tool and die' industry there.

Oh, I did get some financial assistance of some $2M for the bridge construction, although I didn't connect any cities to it until maybe 1983.

Don't recall any 'socialist problem' in 1974, although I did have some time duration of yers in a Recession. Had to do a lot of micromanaging to get the required passenger count.

To get steel, it would be a long haul, as the iron and coal are on the far side of the "southern" portion of the map at Zambujiel-iron and Sexil for coal.

Although I made connections to all the Lisbon area cities, and those of "Lum-Ador-Ages" I did not make any connection to the cities you made in reference for Sintas-Cascair, but did finally cnn Loures.

As I don't usually have an adequate amount of "revenue", I didn't buy any city amenities, or industries.

Okay, I got a little confusion in my thinking. I was expecting the Gold when the completion of the 35th year was accredited in the ledger book. That would be 1978. Now I have only completed to the "end of 1984". So this is the reason of no Gold. With the deadline of 1987, a player has the chance of not completing no more than 2 years, and still get the Gold with the required 35 points. Will have to advize you after I complete the year of 1987 regarding the Gold.

You have my authorization to use my membership name "Ray of Sunshine" if you want me to be credited for helping to test your scenario. It will be appreciated and an honor to be connected with your creation, although I believe I enjoyed in its testing as much as you derived in its creation.

[RayofSunshine]

A little confusion again, Brunom,

It was that I played the operation until 1987 to see if it would trigger the Gold, priorly. So that is where the testing ended without the Gold. And I don't know if you wanted to have a notice for a player to accept the Silver on completion of the 20 points, which didn't happen.

Now, I just finished the time duration from 1984 thru 1986. No Gold.

But considering Bronum, that you have test played the senario a few times without a problem, what is the next step?

[brunom]

I'm confused as well here, Ray

can it be that we are talking about different versions?

The one before "complete_beta" still didn't have some the later events programmed. And win conditions were also miscoded.

Now that I think of it, I reckon this is what happened to you. You got to Bronze, then the game made it "game-over" awarding you the medal and asking if you wanted to continue. After that, all events pertaining winning or loosing are ignored, since you won bronze.
This was before I completed the coding - it doesn't happen on complete_beta.

B

[RayofSunshine]

Okay Brunom,

Your last post got me to wondering, so I checked 2 different places. I downloaded the LX_completeBeta to a temporary file, of which also has your other versions, or at least the LX_2Beta. But to make sure that I had been playing the LX_completeBeta, I checked the RRT3 Maps list, and found only the LX_completeBeta. It is also the only scenario which appears on the Menu of Maps viewer, which a player makes their option as to which map they want "loaded".

Now as to that BZ indicator, this may not have happened in the LX_completeBeta, and that my memory just remembered seeing it, in maybe a previous verstion. So the question? Is the LX_completeBeta programmed to the extent for a player to have an option to take either the BZ or Silver medals?

That said, although I could reload the LX_completeBETA from the posted thread again, delete or overright the one in the RRT3 Maps, and start from scratch again. And especially if you didn't have a problem getting the GOLD of your attempts. I could also watch for the different triggers for events which you have incorporated, now that I know for what to expect.

The ball is in Your corner.

[brunom]

First of all, the posting of the revised version:
---- ATTACHMENT REMOVED -----

Secondly, the issue of bronze/silver/gold

I went and reviewed 2 things before posting this version. First, a little more help on the financial side of things - increased fundings a bit and reduced a couple of penalties. I also checked the medals process.
Here's how it works (or is supposed to):

- once you complete year 12, a newspaper pops saying you got bronze. For the game, however, it isn't a bronze yet.
- once you complete year 20, same happens for silver.
- Bronze happens when any of the "walk the line" events trigger between these two dates.
Say you miss to deliver coal 4 times in the first 12 years - it's loose, you miss the 4th delivery between 12th and 20th year, it's a bronze, you miss it after the 20th year, it's silver.
- And the same goes for the other events - passenger quota or avg. express speed limit.

I will test it all again this afternoon, but I decided to post the updated/reviewed version, and delete the previous ones.

[RayofSunshine]

That might be the problem, or part of it Brunom,

The last download that I show is that of "LX_completeBETA.zip" This is the first time that I have seen the LX_completeBETA_2.zip.

Hence I will download it, and try to get it run through today, but have a few other projects which have to be done. Hope that is the reason for our differences of results.

[brunom]

Just spent some time playing. Lost after the third "insufficient average express speed", kind of on purpose, but after year 12. That resulted in getting Bronze.

All worked as supposed.

I tried to play as if I didn't know what as coming, and I gotta say it was fun - hard, but fun.
Curious about your go, Ray, as well as input from others. I read on another thread that Wolverine had a go at it, which made me curious about how many of you tried playing this already...

[RayofSunshine]

Having a number of problems with this version Brunom,

I am still initiating the A1 the start. I do require stopping for water btw coal dock and Villa, but side track it on the return for maint.

There is a Steel Mill at Oeirus right from the game start.

I find a number of changes from other versions.
passengers from 24 to 28, and then there were those of 30 to 36 and now 33.
find more engine crashes @ about every other year. Maybe 2-3 years apart.
Seems more flexible economy with less duration of time in a Recession for years.

I did get the Bridge built, and used a 1/2 loop just West of Alcantara, but only got BZ on 1 attempt as you should know the reason why.

A number of attempts to get by 1975. Either short on pass count or engine speed.
I had 11 cities within Lisbon area, and 10 outside. At this time I had run a full 8 car train, which I cut to 5, which still did not comply with the requirements. Although I was able to get the 33 pass count by some minor micromanging, the speed fell short.Then, keeping the 5 car consist, and switching 8 of the 10 A1s to V200s, that didn't work either, and actually was worse. I did fall short 1 time for the coal requirement, so started to run the 2nd.

Now I don't know for definite, but the V200 only had a max speed of 87. When I had switched to the V200s in the previous version, I believe the speed was in the 90s.

Any way, I have tried at least 6 attempts with engines, short consist, and minor micromanageing, but don't seem to find the alternative at this point to get every thing in a sincronized fashion, and running out of idea.

You used the electric, but they have less speed capability than any of the steam or diesel

I did get the BZ medal to appear, so that is working. Oh, and the Steel Mill did appear in Sexiel, but only 1.

Well Brunom, from watching all the forum counters, there are a considerable number of those who "view", but don't necessarily post any comments. As yet, and seeing that this is the 1st time I have seen your post with the LX_completeBETA_02, there were maybe only 6 downloads. Just takes time, and this one will take some time to get the GOLD. LOL

[RayofSunshine]

Okay Bunom,

I have cataracts which are getting too cloudly, so will stop for the night. But here are a few updates.

There are at least 3 different stages of which are programmed. And I don't know how any of them are programmed at "random" of however. 2 of them have 2 ports at Scanara, but this last one only has 1, and none at Alges. OH, after 6 attempts with the 2nd stage, so rebooted up a different one, or at least the 3rd stage. This stage also does not have a steel mill at Oeirus.

Now I have played this stage thru 12 points to get the notice of a BZ medal. The notice of building a bridge, as well as some financial help was also given, but I am waiting until tomorrow for its construction. OH, and seeing that the "suspension bridge" was initiated in 1895, it is available right from the start. SO, that bridge could be built at any time, but not with any assistance. I intend to be more realistic with the approach. Being so close to the water, any direct attempt ends with a sharp "V" in the track to accommodate both the "thru" traffic and also some of the "approach" to the bridge. Hence just West of Alhandra, I will initiate a loop, which will carry the approach over the rail following the water. In reality, the thru engine would crash into the approach, but in this programming, the train goes thru the concrete approach. No tunnel.

There is a change in the engine speeds. Well, at least that of the E18 Electric. Previous stages were based on 87mph, so was not much help for the high speed requirement, but this stage gives a player top speeds of 95 mph, which is a help.

Don't know why the difference with this stage, as I am using the A1, and not having the difficulty with the 29mph speed factor, with the same speed of 93mph at previous. I did lay electric track btw Scanara/Villa with the E18 to help keep the mph at a higher level. I am running 9 A1s, and making them all go to a side track for sand/water/maint
and at the end of a destination even though they operate short distances needing them.

And at the notice of a steel mill being constructed at Sexiel, and on checking, there was only 1 at that time.

So far so good, and hope that I will be able to not run into problems tomorrow to the GOLD.
(And excuse the incorrect spelling of the cities)

[brunom]

Glad you are so keen Ray

You've got PM addressing most of the issues (all of them I think).

We do need to learn about how hard/easy the requirements are looking. And for that we need the opinion of a few more experts. Has anyone else tried this latest version already?

B

[RayofSunshine]

To answer your question Brunom,

Your post of LX_completeBETA_02 was posted on the 28th, with only 2 downloads, 1 of which would be mine. I didn't check to see how many viewers had checked out the post Guess it will just take time. I have left a PM report of the final years to get the GoLD, to help in your decision to make a final map disclosure for Hawk.

Glad to have been of help, and although I had my moments, this is a very interesting and challenging scenario, with great talent, time, and the concept of your imagination. I am looking forward to more of your creations in the future.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I had started with the original beta and only got Bronze (missed PAX hauls too many years). I had two ports near Sacovem giving coal, so it was pretty easy to keep the 2 loads/yr req. Taking what I learned, I restarted with beta2 and despite many reseedings, could only get one port giving coal at 2/yr near Sacovem. It seems that with this kind of seeding it will be difficult to make the 2/yr, especially if the economy goes sour and production drops; you have to capture ALL the coal that's made, monitor the train sitting there and send it on it's way as soon as you have 2 full loads. Then you need another train sitting there for a year to fill up for the next run. I'm giving it a go though just to see what happens but an extra port in Marvila or Santa Apolonia would be helpful.

In the first play with beta, I also had 3 or 4 Rice Farms near Vila Franca that made the return trip to Sacovem profitable. The beta2 doesn't seem to have nearly as many in the area, although it usually has a Cattle Ranch or two, sometimes with a Meat Processor in Vila.

Finally, it's hard to route track through the Lisbon territory because of all the buildings, but that seems to be variable from seed to seed.

I'll report on my progress as I work through it.

[brunom]

Let us know your dealings with it, Wolverine, once you get GOLD (or sacked).

In the meanwhile, our tests with the scenario don't find bugs in programming or typos anymore. Hence, we will give it a week or two to listen to the community (so we can tweak whatever and adjust for better gameplay) before we clean up, rename it and forward it to Hawk for publishing.

[Wolverine@MSU]

Let us know your dealings with it, Wolverine, once you get GOLD (or sacked).

Will do. I connected to Alcantera and can now easily get more coal to Sacovem for shipment north. I'm at the point of connecting the three cities and building the "Urban Electrified Railway" system to get my PAX quotas. I see you give a little more annual payout in beta2, which is helpful. Managing to keep my head above water and will keep you updated. So far no glitches or typos.

[RayofSunshine]

Well I am a little disappointed. There are 314 views, 37 replies, but only 2 downloads.

Any way, too any players, and yet in a test mode, there are a goodly number of events or requirements. Hence, don't spend too much time for each new goals, and they could get piled up.

The only other suggestion, which is not necessary for real good Tycoons, is to watch for the ""fastest"" engine available, as they are part of the game.

Good Luck, enjoy, and have fun. hic

[Wolverine@MSU]

Well, I survived 35 years, only missing the coal haul requirement once. The posted strategy seems to work OK: build a line to deliver coal and run a diesel (or two) to service it. I built an oil/sand spur about halfway as well as spurs at each end, and had the loco stop for service while running between the two cities as well as after offloading at each end. Metro area was electric with several "shuttle" trains carrying Express (4 loads max, 0 loads min. and highest priority). Several key stations had maint. spurs and I just had the trains (electric) run from city to city with an occasional empty run to get service. With about 6 of them I was able to easily make the PAX haul quotas and kept my speed in the upper 30's or more. When the PAX load minimum went up, I just added a few more trains. Double tracked the heavy usage areas, eventually having double track throughout the area.

As for the bridge, it's a little confusing about how to get credit for the connection. At first, I put one up by Vila Franca to gather cheap Rice for shipment south. Newspapers noted the accomplishment, so I thought nothing more of it, only to be sideswiped by the "Walking Man". I looked at the Event in the Editor and saw that I needed to connect to South Shore. This wasn't stated anywhere, all that was said was that a suspension bridge needed to be built across the Tagus. Although my bridge was just a steel girder bridge, it apparantly counted to trigger the newspaper. I had to back up a few years and was able to build a suspension bridge from around Almada to the middle of the Lisbon area. It was a real chore though because the terrain is not conducive to suspension bridge placement because of the long approaches needed.

Once I got the Iron deliveries going, I bought the Steel Mill and nearby Munitions Factory, which turned into real cash cows. As demand for Ammo developed, there was the bug of isolated pockets of VERY high demand, so I was able to exploit that one for several years, running trains of Ammo from here to there at close to $800K per run. At that point, the game became somewhat boring, as there aren't many events to keep you interested, or further goals to pursue. I was awash in cash and making $5-$10 million in yearly profits (for which I was taxed quite rightly). The increase in PAX loads to 50/yr was easy to meet by just adding a few more shuttle trains in the urban area. I did have to add a few longer haul PAX trains to keep my average speed up there though.

I was able to expand out to Rio de Mouro for lumber and eventually up to Ericeira. Outside the urban area, most track was non-electric and I just ran diesels. I was surprised at how fast the reliability V200 and Deltic deteriorated. Even though I serviced them frequently, after as little as 4 or 5 years, the reliability bar was halfway of more, even with more than 50% oil left. As time went on, I reverted back to the F3, just to keep breakdowns to a minimum, and eventually upgraded to the newer diesel when it was available late in the game.

I only found one typo, and that was in the April 25, 1974 coup event. The wording should be "Surrounded BY popular enthusiasm......" not "Surrounded OF popular......", and at the end, "town" should be "down".

It was a challenging scenario, especially trying to build track in the hilly and cluttered urban area. Meeting the PAX hauls was easy once the lines and trains were set up, and I always had more than enough, except it was close a couple of times during bad economic times. A little more "action" toward the end of the scenario, would keep the interest going right up until the very end. Good job Brunom!