Idea for a Scenario Campaign

[Blackhawk]

I was looking over some of the old Rail Mogul threads and came across Ned's post on the idea of a campaign, where your prior railroad becomes an AI competitor and was thinking about how it could work. And I don't know If the AI can even be sustainable in the more complicated TM industrial supply chain.

My idea would be to do an Eastern US campaign. However, I'd have to first figure out how to get a heightmap/basemap of the Northeast, and East of the US from St.Louis/Columbia Missouri to the East coast (most likely including all the way down to Florida) Unfortunately at the time I tried making my Juice Train map I didn't look into figuring out how to make a heightmap and ended up using the entire map of the US which was likely unneeded.

Here are my potential thoughts of how the "Campaign" could be broken down. If you have any suggestions for the years each scenario should be played at, or scenario goals etc feel free to comment.

Scenario 1:
Build the New York Central - it runs along the water ways and was a flatter more level railroad so it should be the easiest to start with. (1831/1853-1968) [Potentially there could be an even earlier scenario as an early railroad in NY, then ends up merging to become the NY Central]

Scenario 2: (??? -- ??? no later than 1960) maybe 1930-1960 - possibly deal with the electrification of the railroad.
Build up the Pennsylvania Railroad while potentially competing for resources with the NY Central. [Penn RR existence - 1846–1968]

Scenario 3: (1960-1972/76ish)
Build up the Erie Lackawanna, but then leave the Erie Lackawanna to become the manager of the Penn RR again and merge with the NY Central to become the Pennsylvania Central. (1968 merger)

Scenario 4: 1976-1999 (1987) or longer depending on goals.
Hurricane Agnes hit the US damaging part of the railroads. The bankrupt Erie and Penn Central are taken under government control and become Conrail. Here you must build up another railroad, possibly the Norfolk Southern or CSX, and eventually buy out Conrail and upgrade it's tracks and make it profitable again.

[nedfumpkin]

Actually, something I am thinking about doing is a scenario starting in 1922 with the creation of the CNR. It will be on a maximum size map, and be a long map with a lot of connections.

Then, I am either going to take my completed scenario, or perhaps have a contest of sorts, and then that completed map will form the basis for the final campaign map which will be to create a high speed rail system alongside the AI, which will be the CNR and track layout that is saved.

Of course, it will be a while before I get this done.

[El Moichi]

@ Blackhawk:

I went to my TM "saved games" folder, then copied and pasted an older "Juice Train" gamesave file to the "maps" folder and then re-named the file extension (from *.gms to*.gmp).

Now, I am able to start TM, select "new scenario" and the "map" loads properly. So, I am able to start a "new" game as from the former point of game saving...

Now, the quest would be how to move fixed events into distinct challenging base maps, and how to simultaneously change (or convert) a former player company into an AI company.

For I can´t regard myself as a database specialist ( ) and just don´t know much about the RRT3 editor. Perhaps anyone here knows more about.

[nedfumpkin]

I'm generally of the opinion that if I make enough back ups, disregard every computer expert, and fumble along, I am usually able to get close to what I am trying to achieve. :)

The way I figure on doing it is to play the first game to completion. Then load the save game, as you said, then create a new player, then switch to that one. Should be doable.

[Blackhawk]

Interesting... I didn't think of reusing the a completed scenario or anything like that, it'll be awhile before I can attempt this scenario. Initially, I had just thought of maybe using a map of New York to start, then a map of the Northeast US, then finally a map of the Eastern Half of the U.S. Rather than use a player's actual rail lines from a prior scenario, I was thinking of just laying some generic rail lines that would likely have been played in the previous scenario.

I suppose alternatively instead of several scenarios, it might be able to be made into just one scenario that lasts a long time, and is extremely large in size. Although if I do it that way, I might put it off for awhile until I'm better acquainted with the editor. I'd also need to switch back to my newer laptop (which seems to have a hard drive about to die) as the laptop I've been currently using does not like very big and complicated maps.

[AZ Rail Rat]

Well Blacky, I did something very similar in both my Arizona and Northern Arizona Railroad maps. In AZRR, you start as the Southern Pacific, quit it and start up the Phoenix Street Trolley, quit it and get the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix going, quit it and open the Arizona and California, then start the Magma/Copper Basin and finally the Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend before breaking loose with free play starting still another, connecting commuter rail all over the southern part of the state in the 21st century.

I controlled what the left companies would be able to do in two ways: First, by limiting territory access. Second, I always kept controlling share in all of them and periodically went back, take control and "straighten things out" if need be.

[Blackhawk]

Well Blacky, I did something very similar in both my Arizona and Northern Arizona Railroad maps. In AZRR, you start as the Southern Pacific, quit it and start up the Phoenix Street Trolley, quit it and get the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix going, quit it and open the Arizona and California, then start the Magma/Copper Basin and finally the Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend before breaking loose with free play starting still another, connecting commuter rail all over the southern part of the state in the 21st century.

I controlled what the left companies would be able to do in two ways: First, by limiting territory access. Second, I always kept controlling share in all of them and periodically went back, take control and "straighten things out" if need be.

Thanks AZ Rail Rat. I'll have to check our those maps and see first hand how they worked for you.