Black Diamonds

[WPandP]

Depots like the Stockyard and Icing Platform were thought up by me initially to address a problem in the basic game - that of valueless coal sitting way over there, and demanding industries all the way over here. Across big distances, especially for cargo that is not directly demanded by houses, it gets really hard to move freight, when in reality this is the kind of scenario for which railroads were created and what they excel at relative to other modes even today. The economic model just takes to long to propagate all the way across the map, or even just a region.

What was needed was some way to create an artificial demand that would serve to attract loads, out in the middle of nowhere, so that the coal can "see" that it has a potential route out of those mountains. The depots establish this minor demand, just enough so that you can see the impact on the economic map, but not so much that they consume the loads that arrive (entirely). They create a relay point, as it were - you can get the loads to move to a depot, but they're not gonna get used up there, so you need to then move them on out, either to the next relay point or to the demanding industry.

In TM they are maybe more critical, since you can use them to steer loads towards the industries that you intend to serve (as there is so much overlapping of cargoes demanded by the various industries). But they are certainly useful in the basic game, when used right.

[nedfumpkin]

I will always be more infavour of the depots than the ship at a loss method. Storage isn't free, so the depots are a financial loss.

Once I get the unsurveyed sectors figure out, the depots will come in handy because a small train can shuttle between the mines and the hopper yard, and then a regular full train can roll down the mountains returning with machinery which can be shuttled back to the mines.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I've run into a couple of problems with this scenario. I seem to be getting two bills each month for insurance. Is this correct? I haven't looked at the Events closely, so it may just be the way the billing occurs.

That's a minor issue. The big one is that Coal is priced at $0 across the whole map. Even the Warehouse in "to H-something", which demands 8 Coal, shows no demand; the price is $0 there too. It makes shipping the Coal impossible; can't even use the "bait-and-switch" tactic. I haven't bought out the coal companies yet, and only just got the notice that I must do so.

Although it a minor annoyance, I don't like the idea of losing unbuilt track at the end of the month. Sometimes I don't have enough cash to use all the available track and have to go into debt to be able to "use it or lose it". I can see losing the leftover track at the end of the season, but it would be nice if it could accumulate during the building season to be used when I have the cash on hand to build.

Other than that it's a nice scenario so far. I'm pretty well established, although there are no Explosives factories. I noticed an event to place one back in the late 1840s, but I must have not done something that needed to be done in order to trigger the event (CV2 = 2).

[nedfumpkin]

Thanks for the review. I've decided to make a number of changes to the scenario for its place as a campaign, so this will help me considerable.

CV 2 deals with the connections of cities, and I was having a problem with it but I thought I fixed it. If you connect to Slocum Hollow before July 1948 then the explosives factory will be built there first. If you don't, then it gets built at Wilkesbarre first, and it comes to SH later on.

I played with both the insurance on and off, and didn't notice double dipping, but I will check that out for sure.

I have no idea why the coal is at $0. It shouldn't be unless I have a major screw up in there. If you pay for the adversting, then the other companies don't advertise. If they do, then it affects you poorly. Were you getting the adverts for Reading Coal and D&H?

The idea behind the track per month was to simulate work gang capacity. Depending on who you have as manager, the amount of track varies per month. The idea was that in a month your crews could lay x amount of track. If you didn't have the money to pay them, then they wouldn't work. When steel is available, it increases the amount you get per month, and then later on it tops out.

I wanted to put more labour issues into the map, but I was over 200 events I think, and wasn't sure if it would start bogging down. In the end I took out some events.

But the idea was to make it a challenge and make the player really plan their track laying. I found myself many times rushing to try to lay even 5k worth of track just to get it in before winter came. I even had a time when I needed about 30k of track to get a station in and had to wait until spring to do it but it wasn't until just before winter that I could afford it. Personally, I found the track system to be a lot of fun. But of course I knew the ins and outs of it so I certainly had advantage.

I think I tried to put too much into this scenario, and that is why I am going to re-do it. I am thinking of changing the track situation so that you don't have the seasons etc. Just straight track building. I am thinking that I am going to put that track concept into the next scenario in the campaign.

Next up will be the Deadwood scenario, which will be similar to Black Diamonds, and the first scenario, Birth of a Nation (about the first rr in Canada until Confederation. )

Deadwood is inspired by the HBO series about the Gold Rush in the Dakotas. Connections to Denver, Seattle, and Sacramento. Northern Pacific on the same map.

Here I could make better use of the track allotment concept and tell the story of the Chinese RR workers, etc.

So thank you very much for your comments and review. I hope the re-do will work for you better.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I played with both the insurance on and off, and didn't notice double dipping, but I will check that out for sure.

The problem is with the first payment (<= 500 miles of track); you have it as >= 500 miles. Also, some of them are checked as Dialogs rather than Game Messages.

I have no idea why the coal is at $0. It shouldn't be unless I have a major screw up in there. If you pay for the adversting, then the other companies don't advertise. If they do, then it affects you poorly. Were you getting the adverts for Reading Coal and D&H?

I'm not sure either, but it looks like a temporary offset keeps reducing coal prices by 10%. I went in and removed the coal price increases from the events that inrease it by 10% and everything seems to be working OK. Makes me wonder though, what's happening to the other price manipulations that were of temporary duration in those events.

If you have a revised version, I'ld be glad to give it a go. You can email or PM it to me.