Stokers' Corner

[Stoker]

I am making this thread to discuss, ask questions , take comments concerning, and make announcements about things relating to my personal projects in an effort to keep all this information in one place.

[nedfumpkin]

Oh. I thought the capital S was a typo. :)

[Stoker]

LOL- Nope, no "Hemp" cargos stopping at my station these days.

[Stoker]

Here's an interesting observation. Working on my current scenario using script to set production levels of some resources to zero until a trigger event , I had set Logs production -%100. I observed that the logging camps which were gong to have robust production (above the stated 2 per year) still produced the "overproduction" of .2 when setting production - %100. What happens when production level is set to a value of negative > %100 ? Also, I had read in some thread that setting production per territory was limited to territories with visible borders, but in testing I have found this not to be the case.

[Grandma Ruth]

I don't think the visibility or otherwise of borders has any function at all, it's just a graphics thing. Loads of scenarios rely on doing things to territories with invisible borders, though I must admit I hadn't thought of limiting production. Might have been a good way to do the scenario I'm working on now instead of disabling an entire industry!

[nedfumpkin]

I'm not sure because this goes back years, but I remember either figuring, reading, or both that it's not really a percentage as much as a deduction. I'll try to explain....

You start off at 100, if you lower production 50%, then it is at 50. If you lower production another 50% then you are at 0 rather than 25.

So if you lower production 100% you are at zero, but then economic factors will lower or increase production and result in some production occurring during good times because it would increase production by adding to 0, rather than multiplying by 0.

I might be wrong though. Try setting production at -200% and see if that works.

[Hawk]

I've stickyed this thread.

[Stoker]

Thanks Hawk! I have about a dozen scenarios that are all 80% complete. Getting the last bugs worked out takes a while. I am focusing on my Southern Pacific 1.06 redux , which involves inheriting a Hotel in New Orleans and some money, and some "worthless" real estate in a small unknown town in California called "Los Angeles", then building industry until you can merge with a railroad, then build a line from New Orleans LA to L.A. and bring in the materials to develop the area.I have it worked out so that you can take over a railroad within 3-5 years and most of the economy bugs worked out and am testing to get the haulage requirements set to be tough- yet possible. Should have a beta version in a day or two if anyone is interested in giving it a run thru to see if I left some "easy win" door open and give any suggestions. This isn't going to be the pinnacle of scenario design but it should be some good fun railroading!

Edit to add:These AI players are so inept in this game! In an effort to stop them from making a two town railroad and sit there sucking up industries I have increased industry purchase by 70% and decreased all rail costs- track, stations, locos, everything by 90% and they still barely expand- even with very ripe loads available in neighboring towns. Any tips to get more expansion action out of them?

[Wolverine@MSU]

Any tips to get more expansion action out of them?

Give 'em some money at the end of each year. Amount depends on how much you want them to expand; you'll have to experiment though, too much and they dominate....too little and they still just sit there. Start with maybe $1 million and see what happens. Each company will behave differently depending on the whims of their Chairman.

[Stoker]

Thanks Wolverine. I found that making industry purchase@ +70% all rail cost -90% AND rail maintenance - 90% the AIs' will finally expand at a simialr rate as a human player.

[Stoker]

Ok, my new scenario is nearly complete. I have named it LA to L.A. . and it uses all of the 1.06 cargoes, limited to 1870-1900. Gold and silver are achieved in 25 years, Bronze has same goals as Silver and is achieved in 30. I was making this scenario to be much longer time frame wise, but it was getting too clogged and boggy as this is a rally large map, so I shaved it down a bit. I have tested it playing different styles and am able to get Gold nearly every time on Normal, most of the time on Hard, and have yet to get it on Expert (I put a few curve balls in) but I think it is possible. I gave the Southern Pacific map a complete new paint job, and mellowed out some of the extreme terrain. I hope to have this scenario ready for testing by the end of the day. If you are interested in giving it a beta run through, let me know and i will send it to you.

[Stoker]

Final projects I am doing today on this scenario are adjusting the haulage requirements to meet the reduced time requirement(and testing of course) and weeding out some non-historical industries, such as providing a warehouse link to Birmingham(off screen to the east) to provide another steel and iron source and reduce non historical iron sources.I may or may not have this done today, I am heading to town (Phoenix) in a little while.

[Stoker]

Getting closer! Tested game with new goals- got my butt kicked, but I think I have hard but possible goals zeroed in now. Was close to getting goals and had around 120 trains, where with longer term goals I was getting up past 200 and game was getting boggy. New "warehouse" linking to Birmingham works well to give enough steel to meet goals.

P.S. This makes 50 posts for me- no longer a Hobo around here

[KevinL]

Send it to me, Stoker. I'd love to give another southwest map a try while I'm working on my southwest map.

[Stoker]

Sure Kevin, I will shoot you one later tonight. I can also send you a mostly finished map I made that might interest you . In it, I have scripted an "Express Point" goal system that awards points per express speed, which are required for medals. It also gives production bonus'(Increased passengers for high speed service-etc) for maintaining express speeds, and has penalties(like losing your mail contract and points) for failure. It adds a little flexibility to attaining goals as compared to straight lifetime express speed. Feel free to use that event script if you like, unfortunatley, you cannot copy events in the editor, so you must manually re-write them.

[Stoker]

Hi all, I am back from a week long trip to California, and am getting back to finishing this "LA and L.A." scenario. I encountered some crash problems associated with some events, and now have the culprits weeded out. I tested the new version yesterday, and it seems stable, and victory is possible yet not easy.

[Stoker]

OK- here's the Beta for my new scenario "LA & L.A." It is made for the 1.06 Mod. The premise of the scenario is that you inherit a Hotel business in New Orleans, some cash and some "worthless" real estate in a little town in California called "Los Angeles" . Your mission is to develop this worthless land into valuable real estate by building a railroad to there and supplying the settlers and resources needed. Please give it a run through and let me know what you think. I have tested this and can get Gold on Hard about 1/2 of the time. I have yet to get Gold on Expert, but I think it is possible. Any feedback is appreciated , and please let me know of any mistakes- Unnoticed easy wins-trigger flaws- spelling- etc. that I can fix so I can let this scenario be posted and move on to the next.

Happy Railroading!
Edit: I removed the Beta version file from here, the finished version is now available at the map download section.

[canis39]

you may want to contact hawk to see the best way of getting your beta map onto the site...

[Stoker]

Here's a few tips for playing La & L.A. :

1. You can let the AI's build track(they are set to expand fast in beginning) for a while before merging with one. But dont wait too long, or you are in danger of not meeting the 12 year connection goal. Merging after about 5 years seems to work out the best. It is possible to take over one of the weaker AI's after 1 year, and I have waited and managed to get all 6 in 11.(I dont think it is possible to merge with one the first year, but I could be wrong) I have also managed to lose a few times by getting greedy and trying for all 6 and falling short. After you merge with the first railroad, the AI's slow their expansion, and merger costs increases(in hard and expert levels the merger costs continue to increase annually).

2. Decide on your first industry carefully, as your first year income is important, as it gives you the largest bonus. Buy the most profitable existing one that you can find on the map. Usually it is a textile mill. Sometimes a furnace with good profits exists, but not always, and some of the really profitable ones are too expensive to buy the first year. A meat packing plant is sometimes a good choice, but not really the best, as they cost more to upgrade, and profits are about the same as a textile mill. The industry discount lasts 2 years and 2 months- so try to make one last buy after the new bonds are available at the start of the third year.

3. If you get a railroad early, make the L.A. to San Diego line first. It makes good money and starts the passenger haulage to L.A. right away. If you get railroad after 9 or 10 years, you usually need most of your track (purchase all you can- if you buy railroad late) to complete the LA-L.A. route in the required 12 years for Gold qualification. Also, making the connection to Bakersfield early starts the lumber count early on. Also, after you acquire a railroad, keep in mind that you must have the cash on hand ($800k for the maximum 400 sections) to purchase track at the start of each year- no cash- no track.

3. Steel is the hardest haulage quota to meet usually. Start it early.

4 Make Hotels Restaurants and Taverns a lot- they are set to make good money.

5. There are several passenger generating buildings available to build. Commercial buildings-Churches-Stadiums-etc. Putting some of these in key cities (especially in L.A.) will really help you meet the 200 passenger goal. Most are money losers- so build them and then sell them.

6. Make sure that in the years before you have a railroad, that your company has the cash on hand to pay your personal bonus.The bonus is based on a fraction of the years industry profits-using the difficulty level +1as the base # then adding 1 to the divisor each year. Example: on expert the first years bonus is 1/"4" (25%---"1+3"---3 being the # for expert level) of industry profits the second year would be 1/"5" (20%-"1+3+1") then 1/6 and so on until you acquire a railroad- on easy the first years bonus is 1/"1"(100%- "1+0"-zero being the # for easy level) then 1/2-1/3-etc. Check the Ledger, it tells you how much you have coming so you can have the cash ready at years end. Missing the bonus payment in one of the early years makes it tough to merge early.

I have tested this map quite a few times, so f I can get just a few feedbacks from you all after trying it, I will have Hawk post the finished version.

Good Luck and Happy Railroading!

[Stoker]

OK- I am rolling along on my new scenario- tentatively titled "To Build a Nation". My goal is to make a long scenario that progresses from 1829 to perhaps 1929, and utilize all of the 1.06 buildings and cargoes. I am working on a concept to create a more complex economy structure by making delivery requirements to enable production in areas. Example: start by setting iron mine production to say 10% . To raise the output level, you need to deliver x # of certain items every year to a Mining Supply Warehouse to enable the mining to proceed at a more rapid rate. In this case, the supplies needed might be Ammunition(explosives) Meat(to feed miners) Soldiers (representing the Miners themselves) and perhaps Weapons(representing Mining Equipment) to boost the out put even further. This creates a complete production "circle" wherein iron is needed to produce items, some of which are needed to produce more iron. In the "standard" RRT3 economy model, these is no circle. it is a one way street with iron being produced- goods being produced and delivered somewhere else, and the production of iron proceeds no matter whether or not the mine is supplied with things it would need to actually engage in mining. I am also working on making "production zones" in certain cities where certain industries would require a more complete supply of things to function. Example: "Foundry Center" In which Iron and Steel related production (Goods-Weapons-Ammunition) would be boosted to high levels by maintaining a supply of needed items for the industries. In this case the items needed might be Soldiers(Workers), Machinery , Crystals(Sand for casting molds), and Coal. I am experimenting with programming warehouse "factories" that include a demand/produce item of soldiers to represent workers, and of course to create the demand for items like Crystals. Using a barracks works in situations where Soldiers, Ammo, and Weapons are needed (Mining), but would screw up the demand/price picture for an area where ammo and weapons were produced(Foundry Center).