Release: Railroad Tycoon 3 Multiplayer Lobby

[FlorianF]

Fortunately I have not forgotten about this project!

Having recently finished my study, the nostalgic feelings of Railroad Tycoon 3 are still calling me, together with all the fun times I've had with friends playing the multiplayer.

Unfortunately the first matchmaker (or lobby) did not work as good as intended, which was mostly caused by the poor design choice of using Java for both the server and client. Being frustrated about having to rewrite the whole thing, I abondened/forget about the project.

But here we are, 5 years later (I hope there are people that are still playing this game), and I started working again on this multiplayer lobby from scratch. I just need to get Railroad Tycoon 3 multiplayer working again to finally find peace..

This new version I am working on will be easy to install and will support the Original, GOG and Steam versions of the game. Right now I am putting the client together, and almost all basic functionality is completed. Very soon I will release the first version, but in the meantime check my teaser website at http://railty3.herokuapp.com/. Feel free to join the Discord as well to keep updated about the progress and find people to play with!

[Gumboots]

...using Java for both the server and client.

That sounds seriously evil.

But here we are, 5 years later (I hope there are people that are still playing this game)...

There seem to be. I tend to haul it out for intermittent binges, which I suspect is what everyone else does. Fired it up last night for the first time this year, and discovered I still like it.

This new version I am working on will be easy to install and will support the Original, GOG and Steam versions of the game. Right now I am putting the client together, and almost all basic functionality is completed. Very soon I will release the first version, but in the meantime check my teaser website at http://railty3.herokuapp.com/. Feel free to join the Discord as well to keep updated about the progress and find people to play with!

Sounds like quite the project.

[RulerofRails]

Sorry. How could I know you were about to re-appear? Anyway, good to see you're back.

[RulerofRails]

A little off-topic, but I remembered that you are editing the exe for this?

I really wish that someone who knows a little programming would try to fix the price bug. What happens is that anytime an event raises cargo prices (all, or any specific freight type/s), that breaks the formula that increases price at an active station (a train is hauling plenty of product away). That formula increases price more than the new maximum on the map. This breaks the cargo economy (stations not industries are the points of maximum price) and causes crazy prices.

Less important to me, the events for train acceleration and fuel cost don't do anything. Maybe that's a simple fix?

If you want to give hunting these bugs a go, I can provide more details/examples if it's helpful.

[FlorianF]

There seem to be. I tend to haul it out for intermittent binges, which I suspect is what everyone else does. Fired it up last night for the first time this year, and discovered I still like it.

That's good to hear!

A little off-topic, but I remembered that you are editing the exe for this?

I really wish that someone who knows a little programming would try to fix the price bug. What happens is that anytime an event raises cargo prices (all, or any specific freight type/s), that breaks the formula that increases price at an active station (a train is hauling plenty of product away). That formula increases price more than the new maximum on the map. This breaks the cargo economy (stations not industries are the points of maximum price) and causes crazy prices.

Less important to me, the events for train acceleration and fuel cost don't do anything. Maybe that's a simple fix?

If you want to give hunting these bugs a go, I can provide more details/examples if it's helpful.

I will try to look into it at some point! Finding these particular parts of the code (which is not code anymore, but compiled machine language) is really a painstakingly long process unfortunately.

An update on the multiplayer lobby, the interface is pretty much done, and almost ready for release!

[RulerofRails]

I will try to look into it at some point! Finding these particular parts of the code (which is not code anymore, but compiled machine language) is really a painstakingly long process unfortunately.

Thanks for the willingness to try. In making patch 1.06 milo managed to disable one system in the program (cash on wheels gives location here)that helps equalize station prices. I.e. outbreaks in 1.06 are more severe. The Chile map for 1.06 gets break-outs pretty reliably when you build catchment stations mid-way down the initial mineral run in the north of the map. Couple screenshots around this part of Chile thread.

Ok I wont derail your thread anymore. If you want some more details/examples, put a new thread or send a PM. Some of Lama's maps might be interesting to check-out in multiplayer mode. Will watch for when you release.

ETA: Have you seen the thread about dgVoodoo2 being a better replacement for Vista Fix on current operating systems? Since a good while I am using this solution as it's clearly superior.

[Gumboots]

That interface looks promising. I'd be willing to do some testing once you have it workable.
The game's .exe has several bugs in it, so if you can find any of them in the code that would be great, but I quite understand if it's not going to be possible. Milo did leave some notes, but unfortunately they don't make a lot of sense to the average mug. Not sure if they'd be helpful to you or not. Have you read them?

[Gumboots]

In making patch 1.06 milo managed to disable one system in the program (cash on wheels gives location here)that helps equalize station prices. I.e. outbreaks in 1.06 are more severe.

I just thought of something. It happens.

We're not being smart enough. If a scenario requires something like the Chile scenario, with the price of Crystals (or anything else) boosted massively, all that is necessary to stabilise things is one simple edit to a drop-in replacement .cty file for that cargo. That way the price can be set to anything you want, and breakouts won't be a problem.

Another option: tie price to economic state. It could be +100% in Prosperity and +200% in Booming, dropping back to +0% in Normal, with price in a Recession or Depression set to whatever is appropriate. Given the short timeframes for each economic state, and the changing prices, this might disrupt the breakouts to the point where they're not a significant problem.

Lateral thinking.

Edit: Another idea, and this one is really a no-brainer. We know for a fact that certain events are broken (fuel cost, etc). It would be simple to not only make a list of these, but to also make an edited RT3.lng file that denotes these as broken when using the editor interface. For example, these strings:

Code: Select all

	2384 "Engine Fuel Cost"
	2385 "Steam Engine Fuel Cost"
	2386 "Diesel Engine Fuel Cost"
	2387 "Electric Engine Fuel Cost"

Could be changed to something like this:

Code: Select all

	2384 "Broken - Fuel Cost"
	2385 "Broken - Steam Fuel Cost"
	2386 "Broken - Diesel Fuel Cost"
	2387 "Broken - Electric Fuel Cost"

That way anyone writing a scenario would not be tricked by the interface into attempting an event which won't work anyway.

[RulerofRails]

At one time I did setup an install with doubled cty prices and starting the game with a map-wide -50% reduction. The drawback there is that the 3 year simulation period runs without the reduction (no events apply) so it's changing the feel of the existing maps, maturing them a lot more (cargo is produced and moves faster). So it's more like you start at year 2 or 3 of the game (such as after an industry start). I suppose it could be taken further by also reducing production rates in base files to only boost them at game start, but this will result in incorrect readouts during the game.

[Gumboots]

Ok, but if you're only applying the price boost to selected cargoes, and particularly if you're not doubling prices, presumably the overall effects wouldn't be as severe. There's also the possibility of using a sparser initial seeding to compensate. That could be combined with a higher growth rate in the first few years, and/or with some use of seeding by event if necessary. It's probably possible to come up with a useful mixture.

[FlorianF]

I will look into those bugs later Gumboots and RulerofRails! Would be a nice challenge to fix them, and furthermore; I will try to get some of the bugfixes from Milo's patch in my modified RT3_MP.exe as well, but in order to do so I have to extensively test whether the fixes are not breaking multiplayer elements. Fortunately Milo was so kind to send me his complete list of notes of modifications in the EXE file, so I can go through them one by one.
If someone is willing to try, you can get the first version of the RT3 Multiplayer here:

https://mega.nz/#!ZagTmChD!u5GB4A6DPKGJ ... wDggDLhnVM.

Instructions:
Unpack the RT3Multiplayer-win32-ia32 folder anywhere on your computer.
Run the RT3Multiplayer.exe (this will prompt for admin rights, which is needed in order to write the modified exe to your RT3 folder; don't worry it will use it's own EXE file, so none of your mods/patches/edits will be overwritten in the process).
If you want to host, make sure you have your UDP port 9000 opened in your router/modem settings (Instructions how to: https://www.wikihow.com/Open-Ports).
It has been designed to work both on LAN and on online mode (due to the EXE modifications), just make sure you have your Railroad Tycoon 3 installed anywhere in C:/Program Files (x86).

Finally:
If you find any bugs or whatever please let me know! I tested successfully on multiple systems and only had one minor accident where BitDefender blocked the RT3Multiplayer.exe (due to it extracting my custom EXE file and running it, which is flagged as suspicious, as it should).

Soon I will release a version on a dedicated website which will automatically update, but for now; I would really appreciate if you guys would test my beta version and let me know if there are any bugs!

[Gumboots]

I can't host it myself, and don't have a LAN handy. I'd need someone else to set up a server to run this beast.

[RulerofRails]

I can't host either, don't control a router. I installed anyway just to look around. The game was running at resolution 800x600. So I went to increase that. While there I turned off the switch for Disable Hardware T&L because I have dgVoodo2 installed. I naively assumed that it would also apply here. Now I can't start it anymore, obviously dgVoodoo2 isn't working with this (when I start RT3.exe normally it works fine). Tried to re-install without success.


If you didn't know about dgVoodoo2, here's the way that I have been using it. Also, a list of multiplayer maps earlier in that thread.
viewtopic.php?p=45380#p45380

Please note the GoG version needs a little something extra to work with dgVoodoo2. Also in this post: screenshots to illustrate a little the quality difference when running the game with Disable Hardware T&L off.
viewtopic.php?p=43925#p43925

[FlorianF]

I can't host either, don't control a router. I installed anyway just to look around. The game was running at resolution 800x600. So I went to increase that. While there I turned off the switch for Disable Hardware T&L because I have dgVoodo2 installed. I naively assumed that it would also apply here. Now I can't start it anymore, obviously dgVoodoo2 isn't working with this (when I start RT3.exe normally it works fine). Tried to re-install without success.


If you didn't know about dgVoodoo2, here's the way that I have been using it. Also, a list of multiplayer maps earlier in that thread.
viewtopic.php?p=45380#p45380

Please note the GoG version needs a little something extra to work with dgVoodoo2. Also in this post: screenshots to illustrate a little the quality difference when running the game with Disable Hardware T&L off.
viewtopic.php?p=43925#p43925

I installed and setup dgVoodoo2 just as explained in your manual, and it does work with the modified exe file as well (see attachment).
Maybe it found another folder with RT3.exe, where the D3D8.dll is missing? If you run the program and type in the chatbox /reset, your config file will reset. If you restart the program it will search for Railroad Tycoon 3 again. Could you check if it finds the correct folder?
You can also see the found folder in the config file: %appdata%/railty3client/config.json.

[RulerofRails]

I talked to Florian already in the lobby, but just for general information, my issue was that it found my completely stock GoG install in the folder C:\GoG games\ instead of the one I thought I was using (new copy to "Program Files(x86)"). It's not a problem with dgVoodoo2.

[FlorianF]

The final one can be downloade here btw, https://github.com/FlorianFFF/RT3Multip ... player.exe, it automatically updates as well.
I'll still have to edit the website to provide additional instructions, and maybe then it could be nice to put a link on http://hawkdawg.com again as well?