Hello to all

[mk091658]

My name is Mark and found this site when I was looking for more info on RRT3. Have been playing RRT3 for years on my Windows XP computers. Luckily can still find them on the store shelves. My wife thinks I'm nuts playing the same game over and over all the time, but just can't get enough of the game. I want to thank all the contributors who have added extra content on this site. It has added new dimensions to a fantastic game. I have 3 copies of the disc that I found before they were pulled of the shelf just to be safe. I will always keep at least 1 system running with xp.

I'm hoping that Windows 7 willl be more favorable to RRT3. I have a laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium and no matter what I do (I've done everything listed that I have found on this site), I can't get it to work. It let me download all the patches and expansion pack, but when I go to play, it gives me an error screen and my curser turns into a spinning disc. The only way to get rid of the spinning disc is to restart the computer. (It's a dell insipron notebook with AMD dual core processor, 3G of memory and 320G hard drive.) If anyone has any further suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong, at this point I will try anything. But, keep it simple please. Sometimes I feel like a dummy around computers. I drive truck and would love to take the game on the road with me.

Thanks again for a great site....

[Beancounter]

Hi Mark,

Welcome aboard!

BC

[Hawk]

aboard Mark. Make yourself at home.

As for your problem with Vista, have you tried what was suggested in this thread?

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2131

Specifically this post: viewtopic.php?p=20577#p20577

[mk091658]

I've tried all the fixes I saw so far. I saw another post about a pm problem that might be causing it. What is a PM? Don't always understand all the lingo that is used.

[Hawk]

What is a PM?

Mark - See my reply to your other post.

viewtopic.php?p=20574#p20574

As for the Vista problem; Did you download the file and try the Vista Fix in the post I linked to in my previous post?

[Sugus]

Welcome aboard, Mark. I think, you'll never regret to have "joined the family"!

[OilCan]

My wife thinks I'm nuts playing the same game over and over all the time, but just can't get enough of the game.

My wife thinks the same thing! I tell her "Hey, Honey at least I'm sitting here in the same room with you..." but that doesn't help. I even tell her that I can't think of any thing more romatic than being together and listening to distant a train whistle...even if it is coming from my laptop. She still thinks I'm crazy. And to make things worse.....RT3 has made a stock market investor out of me! I've always avoided the stock market because I never really understood it, but RT3 unravelled the mystery and emboldened me to start investing real money. Years from now, after my stock investments have mushroomed into a small fortune, I'll look back and thank RT3 for making me a mini-tycoon.

[Grandma Ruth]

Welcome, Mark! Glad to have you with us and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun but don't for goodness sake follow Oilcan in this:

...RT3 has made a stock market investor out of me! I've always avoided the stock market because I never really understood it, but RT3 unravelled the mystery and emboldened me to start investing real money. Years from now, after my stock investments have mushroomed into a small fortune, I'll look back and thank RT3 for making me a mini-tycoon.

Oilcan, are you crazy? Remember what they say "investments can go down as well as up"

[OilCan]

I'm serious about this. I've kept away from the stock market because 1. I did not understand it very well and 2. I thought it was way too risky - just another form of gambling. Then, RT3 introduced me to market cap, book value, debt/equity, dividends, share price, returns, growth and strategic investments. Once interested, I began to check out books about the stock market and about low risk ways to invest in it. So far, I've read about 20 different books.

So,.. here's my investment strategy - which may bore you to tears..
I'll always be a small investor (meaning investing less than $5K at a time), but I am a gradual, regular investor of $50 per month, sometimes $100/mo if I can afford it. I plan to keep 40% of all my investments in US gov't TIPS bonds, which are no-risk bonds that, at least, match inflation, usually do 1-2% better than inflation. The remaining 60% goes into a DRIP. DRIP mean dividend re-investment program and most large cap companies offer this (http://www.dripinvestor.com). An investor can send the company the monthy investment ($50) without having to go through a costly broker - so your return is already up 2-3%. The monthly investment buys shares in the company and the dividends are used to buy even more shares. And I plan to hold the shares for at least 10 yrs, hopefully much longer than that. I only choose solid, mature companies which have a history of making profits in rain or shine and their dividends have increased for at least the last 10 years in a row - like Procter and Gamble and utility companies. I also choose companies which do not charge any fees for DRIP. I know I'm not going to become a very wealthy man this way (because I'm starting late in life), but whatever wealth I accumulate will be protected from inflation. AND, I have my kids doing this as well and time in their side to build a nice nest egg in the stocks market. All this because of RT3 !

[Barney]

M091658 - Hello and welcome to the forum. Judging by some of the download numbers from the archive, as well as the fact that the maps are available elsewhere, you are far from being alone in the concept of being nuts or crazy. Unless I am mistaken, there are over 350 member of this site, and new maps are still being made. What ever it is, the game has something going for it. Very few games have the holding power that this one has. It is my thought, that it has to do with the game being dynamic. You can play the same map over and over and not get the same gameplay. Add to that the fact there is a fine line surrounding "Normal". Remember that normal is only what the majority projects it as. As to them actually living it, that is a different story. Since I have worked in a field where I worked in and around peoples houses, I can say for a fact, that normal is the exception and not the rule. Simply put, everyone is nuts and crazy, it is just that the Friends, Neighbors and Coworkers just have no clue. So long as you do not require playing engineer during courtin' you should be fine.

Oilcan - I think Grandma Ruth hit the nail on the head. However, it is fair to say that everyone has something, it is just that few come to terms with it. My thoughts are, "What ever works". As well it is better then popping drugs to deal with it. On your thing for the stockmarket, I had a Dutch Uncle that used to play the markets. His advice was to not invest in an industry that you do not know. His reasoning was that stockholder reports can be a show job of nothing more then cooking the books. For instance, within the next 5 years, G3 technology will eliminate LAN lines. The big boys in the field will do this to get rid of the labor costs associated with repairs. Historically, all utilities have not maintained their networks, unless you call a repair, maintenance. Installation of G3 will start in 2010. The technology has the capability of delivering 1 GB of bandwidth with nothing more then a modem and a cell tower. Currently each modem will have its own IP address and will be capable of delivering Voice, Data or Video. The point being, the plan is to spin off the data companies that supply the cell division which will also be spun off. This leaves the original telcom for the wolves, as well as little or no regulation. If you are caught with the wrong stock, you will be wiped out. Which is why you have to know the industry you invest in.

[OilCan]

** This is my last post regarding the stock market because this is an RT3 site, not an investor's site.

Barney: Exactly ! Tech companies offer a potential for high returns, but they also come with a lot of risk. I'm staying away from them for the risk reason. And you are right...the annual financial report can hide the real story. One has to look at a company from all sides before investing....and even then there is risk. I found out that you have to have a loss threshold which triggers a sale when investing into a new company and mine is if the company loses 15% in stock price in the first quarter of investment. The key is to cut losses early and admit the mistake. If you are confident that you have invested into a mature, solid company then you just ride the ups and downs - actually ivesting more when it is down. There is a difference between trading stocks and investing in stocks. Trades look for short term gains, they buy only to sell - which is OK for some but not for me. I don't like the risk and I can't afford the on-line broker, even at $4 fee for a trade because I have small investments. $4 on-line broker fee on a $50 investment is an immediate loss of 8%.

The bottomline reason for my investing in the stock market is protection against inflation - which has run about 2-4% in the last 20 years. If inflation stays the same, the purchasing power of a dollar saved today will be worth about 30 cents in 30 years - unless it can be investing in something which keeps up with inflation. If the US gov't ups its pace in printing money - to pay back the billions we owe to China, to cover war costs and *sigh* to cover the mega-billions that socialized medicine will end up costing, not to mention social security deficits in 2016 - then we wil enter into another prolonged period of hyper inflation and the purchasing power of the dollar will plummet.

[Gwizz]

within the next 5 years, G3 technology will eliminate LAN lines.

About 15 years ago we just missed being hit with a gamma injection from the sun.
Had the planet been a day slower in it orbit, we would have suffered a major loss of functionality of hi-tech electronic gear.
Most if not all satellites would have been fried and cell phones made almost useless.

15 years ago the sun spots were warming the planet. In 1997 the warming stopped. Over the last few few years we have been moving into global cooling, since the sun spots are at a minimum or not active at all at the present time, we have little risk. But when the sun becomes active again, as it cycles back, we will have some risk. Most Technology is new and hasn't been exposed long enough to this risk to have a track record. It would be a good idea to keep our phone lines in place.

I have thought about harding my computer protection for just such an event. I would loose INTERNET, but I could still play RRT.
My wife spends much of her time on the computer as I do. She enjoys gaming as I do, just different games.
No, she doesn't think I'm crazy, not yet anyway.

[Beancounter]

My wife spends much of her time on the computer as I do. She enjoys gaming as I do, just different games.
No, she doesn't think I'm crazy, not yet anyway.

Boy, I wish my wifed liked gaming.

She does mind when I play RT3 though because it's not violent.

I've lost track of the number of times I've been reprimanded for warping our son's mind with "bad" games like Civ4.

Those turn based strategy games are just so bloody and graphic..

[Barney]

Oilcan - your last paragraph says it all, and it will happen. Paying the bill, will not, since there is nothing to transfer. No Gold, or silver just name. You can not even use that for TP. Your hedge will work so long as the corp does not go under. Currently most corps are running on credit not cash balance. That is the problem. Kind of like a lamprey eel on a fish. When the eel is done, there is nothing but a shell left. I suggest you look into a 3rd form of investment, something that actually is a necessity like food and water. This will be a big problem if something like C&T shows up.

Gwizz - My comment is based on the principle that LAN service will be removed. Regardless of what the customer wants, your service will be converted. If you do not want the new service, fine, but the old reliable service will be discontinued. As for the failure of new technology, you are correct, but industry is not concerned with failure where profits are involved. The game is based on failure on the next guy's watch, so screw him, I am getting all the money I can. So long as executive pay is based solely on performance, real or imaginary, the problem will continue. Customer satisfaction is way down the list in importance, sorry to say.

[Sugus]

My wife thinks the same thing!

Think that's the really hard part for any married RT3 gamer.