Hi Y'all

[Cliff]

I'm not exactly new -- have been a member of Hawk's forum for more than 15 years in fact, but haven't been here for 2-3 years. I'm enjoying playing the RT2 & RT3 campaigns and scenarios again after having forgotten how to win each scenario.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[Hawk]

Hi ya' Cliff.

Good to see ya' again. Glad you're getting back into RT3 and rejoining the community.
There's been a few new maps added to the archives over the past couple of years. Have a look around and check 'em out.

[Cliff]

There's been a few new maps added to the archives over the past couple of years. Have a look around and check 'em out.

I'll do that; right now I'm getting my a** beat soundly by EPH's Build to the Great West and his Gilded Age v2. I remember beating them both in times past when I was MUCH younger . Are any of the new maps for 1.05? I'm still using a certifiable antique rig which uses Vista.

[RulerofRails]

Good to see you back.

During the time you have been away, some of us have investigated a little closer how the game works. For example: fuel cost, reliability, engine replacement, passenger appeal, etc.. Those things can be found in the Letters to the Editor -> Rollingstock. Probably quite boring for the reading (long threads), and don't fundamentally affect standard gameplay. Although can do a recap on specific topics if you want.

Most recently I did a small test to see whether a map reloaded from the Main Menu has more resources than the first load (after launching the game). I found that the game's random seeder doesn't work properly unless you reload a map from the Main Menu. Each time we start the game, we must load a game, quit to the main menu, and then load the one we want to play. Subsequent loads will all be random.

I'm also convinced that such reload isn't an exploit as has been suggested. I think that was before this forum, but there's reference to it here. This is a good thing for re-playability. Might make going back through old scenarios (I believe the campaign is largely immune: not as likely to start a chapter from scratch when first starting the game) more interesting if you were in the habit of taking the first seeding you got. For years this had been my habit. Maybe I'm the only one?

PS. Saw your quote about Vista. I assume you use the Vista Fix. There's an alternative now: dgvoodoo2. There's no report of it working with Vista, but also no reports of it failing to work where the game didn't work from the box (Win 8, 10, Intel graphics cards). Of course, not many people have actually reported trying it. Might be worth checking out. Seems to give better graphics and frame rate. I'm fairly sure with it you could get 1.06 working, if you want.

[Hawk]

Are any of the new maps for 1.05? I'm still using a certifiable antique rig which uses Vista.

There's new maps for 1.05 and 1.06. You'll just have to pay attention to the notes for each map. If it doesn't say 1.06 is required, it will work in 1.05.

[Cliff]

I assume you use the Vista Fix. There's an alternative now: dgvoodoo2. There's no report of it working with Vista, but also no reports of it failing to work where the game didn't work from the box (Win 8, 10, Intel graphics cards). Of course, not many people have actually reported trying it. Might be worth checking out. Seems to give better graphics and frame rate. I'm fairly sure with it you could get 1.06 working, if you want.

Thanks RulerofRails. Yeah, I pretty much have to use the Vista Fix in order for the game to even start. A few days ago I was having trouble with one of the games freezing (British Miracle v.3). So I ended up doing a local files integrity check, and when it was finished the game wouldn't start -- 'caus, of course, it had reversed the Vista Fix by reapplying the original engine.cfg file; luckily I remembered the Vista Fix from a few years ago, and applied it again so that the game would play. I also fixed the Continental Co. Copenhagen station as was recommended in the British Miracle thread. So the scenario now works OK, but I still can't get a good enough start to bother continuing.

I'll let you know if I decide to check out the dgvoodoo2 fix. Probably I'll just decide to throw this old computer in the trash and buy a good one with Windows 10.