Deadwood Dakota

Topics on how to write scenarios for TrainMaster.
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nedfumpkin
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Deadwood Dakota Unread post

I've started working on this campagin scenario. It's either CA03 or CA04. I have to look it up.

It begins in 1870, and it's on the Pacfic Northwest map. I'm making modifications though. There are 5 companies. The game requires that there be either 1. You'll have to connect east to west, and chase after gold rushes. The first being in 1876 at Deadwood.

You get limited track to begin with, and then after that you will have to hire work crews who will cost you money whether they lay track or not. Depending on the choices you make, you can hire different workers with different results. They only work from March until November.

I'm going to make it so that as you go west, settlements will grow along the rr lines. I'll either do this by connections, or by passenger traffic, which ever works best.

I'm also going to work in the Pinkertons, and a risk based system for robberies and sabotage.

Still lots more to do though.
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nedfumpkin
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

I've gotten a bit more work done on this map in case anyone is interested in trying it out.

I've put in some goals, however, I've no clue if they are possible to achieve. The ledger is keeping a count of the goal criteria so I get a sense of what is possible.

It is a scenario right now, but will become a campaign map when it is completed. Play should ideally be on hard since that is the max for campaigns, also, I might put in an event to increase the difficulty one level. Maybe.

It should be playable for at least 15 years as it is. I'm curious to see if the deal for connecting to the Black Hills works okay.

Currently robberies are set for if your average express speed is below 25 mph after you have more than 750 pieces of track laid. You can hire pinkterons for 5 grand a month. A robbery can result in a loss of either 100k or 50k.

So, something to try out if you want. Although, still lots more to do...and probably some screw ups to fix. :)
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Hawk
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

I'll try to give it a whirl tonight. :salute:
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nedfumpkin
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

I should mention that you need the cowboy engines installed for this scenario.
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

I just fired it up and saw that a really high PNW is required, so I guess that kind of kills playing this map for me.
I'm just not good enough at PNW to be able to get anywhere near the $1 bil required, even at medium game play level. Probably not even at easy. :-(
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nedfumpkin
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

Don't worry about that Hawk since I only put it in there as a possible goal. I haven't decided what the final goals are just yet.
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

Please, don't make any changes based on my lack of skills. It seems that most of the active members here (what few are actually left) like the extremely difficult maps. :salute:
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nedfumpkin
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

Yes, but I still have plans to put in challenges into the map. But since I am trying a new concept with the track building, I don't have a base point to start from. I am also not sure how much 25,000 miles of track is. I am more leaning towards that as being the main goal than the money stuff. Also, I am thinking of gold loads as well rather than a high pnw.
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

Well, I'll give a try and see how it goes. I'll even try it on Hard, but I doubt I'll try Expert. ^**lylgh
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

Surely those immigrants/vets can lay more than 25/20 sections of track in 7 months.
The problem is, if you don't lay track, you lose it. If you lay it, and it's not enough to go anywhere, you pay maintenance on it but can't run trains on it.

It makes the scenario rather slow starting, and somewhat uneventful (even a bit boring).
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nedfumpkin
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

Yes, it is a slow start, but that is 20/25 pieces of track per month for 7 months, ie 140/175 per season. It just means that if you decide to lay track then you have to keep on top of it and lay your 20/25 when it is available. In my tests, it will usually take a couple of years to connect two cities to each other. As you grow your network, you will get more pieces...took me about 5 years to get to that point.

And my secret to pnw goals is to get all of your stcok as early as possible by buying as much as you can, and having your company buy some back. On you own all of your stock, then your fortunes are tied into how big your company can get.
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

I'll give it a go too and let you know how I fare.
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

I didn't realize you got that 20/25 every month. I thought it was for the season. *!*!*!
nedfumpkin wrote:And my secret to pnw goals is to get all of your stcok as early as possible by buying as much as you can, and having your company buy some back. On you own all of your stock, then your fortunes are tied into how big your company can get.
And here I was trying to buy stock in the AI's early. *!*!*!

Edit 1: The deal to Deadwood came up and I got the track sections promised but not the additional cash promised. Sure could have used it. I don't believe I'll make it without it, then I have to pay back money I never borrowed, with interest.
For testing purposes I'll use a cheat to give the company the money it never got.

(I did look in the events and didn't see where the cash was ever set for that event, unless I completely overlooked it.)

Edit 2: Not sure exactly when it started, but once I connected to Hay Camp, I no longer got a message about hiring rail crews. I just automatically hired them. Is this intentional?
There are some years I don't want to lay track, but now it seems I have to pay their wages whether I want to or not.

Edit 3:
Dateline: Dec. 1876
Hay Camp connected to St. Paul
Click on image to view full size
Click on image to view full size
Hay Camp not connected to St. Paul! !*00*!
Investors judgement called into question!!
Click on image to view full size
Click on image to view full size
J. T. Campbell walks away in disgust!
;-) :mrgreen:
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nedfumpkin
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

As it turns out....I frogot to add the effect to give the million to the company. ...ooops...was getting late when I did that one I guess. :) ...Mind you, it has me thinking about possibly including some possible events were the actually gets screwed out of money some how. ie some dude comes by with an offer and you get suckered. :) would have to have deals that work to keep it interesting.

Also fixed the conditions for whether you get it connected or not. Should work...but it has been a long and sunny day for me.

Basically, what I am trying to do in this scenario is thwart the player's ability to pause the game, go get bonds and then lay miles and miles of track, then unpause the game. I pretty much do that when playing maps most of the time. So what happens here is you lay a month's worth of track at a time. Tedious for sure, but it creates the challenge of you having to pay attention or else time passes you by. Just like life.:)

When I am creating a map, my habit is to play it until I find an error, then go fix that before starting all over again. It takes a long time to complete maps especially if they have complicated events and variables etc.

A trick I have found with the track is you set out your task, and any track you have left over in the fall use for doubling sections at stations and maintenance spurs. I am trying to make this map focus on track planning.

PS...use the trick for doubling steel bridges where you bring the double track uo onto the first cell of the bridge, and then the whole bridge doubles at no extra charge.



A good start is to buy the textile mill at Minni, connect St. Paul to Superior, lay up for your bridge to mini, large station at St. Paul, medium at superior with the farmstead in its cache. Maintenance spur behind Superior - curve the track. Run a Standard from Superior at first, then upgrade medium station to large. Install your maintenance shed and water tower. When asked, don't lay track for your first year.

Try to buy the lumber camp east of Superior. Next year go to Minni, lay a large station. Connect Superior to your lumber camp. Drop ship lumber and pulp to Superior. Get a consolidation and run it to Minni from Superior pulling full freight cargo. Buy the lumber mill.

A second lumber camp comes up so buy it and away you go. Next you want to go to Sioux City. (I think that's it...by the river) Then the deal for deadwood should come up and go for that.

As you move westward and transport passengers to the cities and towns, they will start developing. So in some cases you bring a load of passengers and they will settle into a farmstead community. I remember doing research on some of the tonws and I think I have some accuracy in the industrial distribution as it was during this period. But don't hold me to that because I did that almost a year ago. But Industry will spawn based on the passengers you bring to the towns.

Gold rushes will be happening in various places. You don't need connected track, so you can chase some of them. The Railroad closest to you, forget...I think Northern Pacific, may connect to St. Paul. Sometimes it does, other times it doesn't. If it does, it's stock does very well, if not then it is cheap.

--------

PNW...I don't think that I've succeeded at any scenario that has a pnw goal, or last company standing goal without forst chasing all of my stock. I even considered it a loss if the AI buys any of my stock, and I will start over. So generally right out of the gate I try to get an industry that I can supply, then I work at getting all my stock by buying it, or the company buying it back. I try not to let it split too early, but once I see that it might, I buy back as much as I can, even taking out maximum bonds, until I have it all. Then it can split a kajillion times for all I care.

This makes for lean and shaky first few years, but then you get ALL the dividends to get you out of hawk (pun intended. :-D ) and you can go after the stock from other companies. Expect your credit rating to go to F if you do this, so you need good income from your first route, and regularly supplied papermills are the greatest for this. Once you have done that, you can focus entirely on building your railroad. I try to keep my bonds at 2 million max...but have gone as high as 7 million. Watch the ledger for interest payments to see how much they cost, because after you do the stock grab, you will get soaked on interest for your bonds which will slow your recovery and growth.

Just my way of doing things but works every time.

Here's the map with the deadwood deal fixed...I'm pretty sure. :)
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

I started by laying track from St. Paul to Superior, placing two large stations (I placed the maintenance facilities mid-line. I never have cared for those speed requirements so I tend to ignore them), then bought a Consolidated. I then unpaused the game.
Then when I had enough money, in the second year I believe, I took out a bond, issued stock and bought the flour mill in Minneapolis. Then when the money was right I connected to Minneapolis and added track to the Great Northern line so I could haul flour to Duluth, and to entice the AI onto my track for a few extra bucks. Then I started laying rail toward Sioux Falls.

I will confess, initially I laid rail from St. Paul to Minneapolis, then to Superior. It was only after having a peak in the editor, to check on something, did I realize I should have gone to Superior first.
Peaking in the editor was also the reason I started heading toward Sioux Falls, or else I would have taken a different route, heading over toward Port Arthur to get logs.

One thing I'm not to keen on is laying track and not using it immediately. Once laid you have to start paying maintenance on it and f you're not running trains it's a complete loss. That's what makes this map a little hard to swallow. It goes completely against my play style. Then there's the constant pausing every month from April to November. I sure wish real life was like that. There's been a lot of times I wish I could have paused life for a bit. I missed a fine Indian motorcycle one time because I couldn't pause life. ^**lylgh
I generally rarely pause a scenario. I find it more life-like that way. :mrgreen:

I'll load up this new version and see how it goes.
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nedfumpkin
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

You don't need to pause every month to lay track, I don't unless there is a tricky section of track I am trying to get right. The speed variable pertains to robberies. You don't have to worry about speed, if you hire the pinkertons. This area and time period was renown for robberies and pinkertons. So it is a choice for the player. As for the maintenance on unused track, uh uh...yep...just like real life. :)
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

That's why I pause the game every month. I'll most times lay a section of track 4 or 5 times before I get it like I want it, and a month just isn't enough time for me. ^**lylgh

As for those Pinkertons; I've found them to be pretty much a waste of money. I hire them and still get robbed. (*!grr!*) I guess I'd get robbed more without them though.
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nedfumpkin
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

Hawk wrote:That's why I pause the game every month. I'll most times lay a section of track 4 or 5 times before I get it like I want it, and a month just isn't enough time for me. ^**lylgh

As for those Pinkertons; I've found them to be pretty much a waste of money. I hire them and still get robbed. (*!grr!*) I guess I'd get robbed more without them though.
I'm going to lower their monthly cost I think. Shouldn't get robbed though...I'll fix that.
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

Hold the phone Ned. Now that I think about it, there was a year I didn't hire them. That may have been the year I got robbed.
I s'pose I should pay closer attention. ^**lylgh
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Re: Deadwood Dakota Unread post

It turns out the robberies were still occuring when the pinkertons were hired, so I think I have fixed it, but I also added an option to hire rr company police officers for security at a cost of 20% overhead increase. Although, there is a recustion in robberies, not and elimination. Perhaps insurance can be considered too....hmmm...

I also reduced the amount of track you get for the deadwood deal since I was able to connect it a year early.
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