The following text is a compilation of what was salvaged from the old Gathering Forum. It contains postings from several different people.
Thanks goes out to Wolverine for putting this all together.
Hawk
Tex-Mex
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In the Tex-Mex scenario it is necessary to have an average express speed greater than 50 MPH.
Does this mean that only express trains are counted? How about trains with mixed cargo?
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Every express car is counted, wheter it is on an express train or a mixed train doesn't matter.
It's generally best to only run express trains if you know they will reach that speed.
Use cargo-only trains if the available trains are not fast enough.
Set your train route in a way that trains never have to stop for water/sand/oil with passengers abboard. Place refill/maintenance on a side line, as close to the station as possible. First empty your train at that station, run to the service arrea without cars, return to the station, pick up cargo, and off you go... It also helps if you build these service areas around the stations which are the least congested. It might be cheaper to build around the important, busy stations, but congestion-wise, it's better to build them at the not-so-busy stations.
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I usually do industry and freight until I can build a seperate line from Houston to Dallas. I make that line my only express line; one car; stations and maintenance placed to optimize speed (run-offs for water/upkeep)
There's plenty of money to be made just hauling the freight.
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Hey, what kind of tycoons are you folks ?
I didn't care for the speed in this scen (mixed trains, no side track maintenance) and made it w/o probs. The engines towards the end of the period are so powerful that the speed average (year) is 100++, so the overall value is climbing rapidly above 50.
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Yeah! The E-88 whipping along at 300 MPH tends to raise the average somewhat.
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I am playing Tex-Mex in Single Player mode and there are no oil wells on the entire map. Does anybody know why there would be no oil wells in Texas in the late 20th Century?
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They all drove SUVs instead of Honda Civics?
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Might just be the map generator; always seems to be one down by Nagadoches with more added as you play. The big strike at Beaumont is (I think) a scripted event
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No that is the same map but a different scenario. Tex-Mex is 100 years later and there is no Beaumont event, just a few oil wells at Nacogdoches. You can look at the map in the editor to find out where industries are supposed to appear. Interesting - but the region with oil in its name has none.
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You're thinking of Texas Tea. I haven't played Tex-Mex in a while, but I think that scenario is more geared to express. One of the scenario goals is to have an avg speed for express cargo. As to why the oil isn't there? Hard to say. Guess it would hinge on the scenario goals. But in Texas Tea, there are oil wells in Nacogdoches and an oil strike is announced in the papers for Beaumont. Both very nice places by the way. In real life.
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I might be wrong, but doesn't the Oil appear at Shreveport? (something like this)- North of the Port you should begin in (Houston?), and has one other town further East of it, bar the Eastermost Port and the town surrounded by rivers with a warehouse on the extreme Eastern side. (The AI never connects to that town).
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Thanks for the help. I still haven't seen any oil wells. I see oil flowing on the river from Shreevport to Beaumont but I still can't find any oil wells. Lots of refineries but no oil wells. I just wanted to take advantage of the industry profits and concentrate on increasing oil production. I have tons of cattle ranches and meat packing plants which are going nuts but the oil industry is non-existant. I just thought it was kind of funny especially since Texas is known as much for its oil as it is for its cattle.
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There is an event that places oil wells after a certain date. The oil has to be discovered first. It would be good that the oil is discovered before the auto plant becomes available otherwise the cars would have to run on cow manure.
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Would not we all have been better off? That kind of fuel will never run out. Quote:
It would be good that the oil is discovered before the auto plant becomes available otherwise the cars would have to run on cow manure.
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I finally found the oil wells. They are very hard to see because they are so small and they look like trees. I figured out the best way to locate them is by using the cargo map and zooming into the location where the oil is originating then changing back to the regular map.
I have to get out of the same mindset used in RRT2. Need to come up with new strategies.
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Out of interest, does Texas still pump a lot of Oil?
In the UK our oldest and first Oil find still produces about 4,000 barrels per day- on land (Wiltshire) and helped us British through two World War's in it's own little way.
TexMex
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RayofSunshine
- CEO
- Posts: 1288
- Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:04 pm
- Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Tex Mex
There are comments made in a different thread, but under a title of ""Getting Starte" or something to that extent. So, I decided to give a more direct comment.
This scenario is not as eacy as it looks. Terrain is basically on the level areas of Texas, but does have some rivers. Some time ago I played it in the Medium level, and do not recall having a problem for the medals. There definitely is a change in the Expert.
A player has an option of either Diesel or Electric. So the ""1st attempt"" was the Diesel, which gives a 20% discount on engine purchases, and the FP45 @ $420 is the fastest at "0" percent incline of a top 103mph to a 71 with full consist. The trick is to attain a required speed of 40mph for the Silver, and 50mph for the Gold. And with a 25 year duration, and trying for that speed, a player also needs a PNW of $25M. Toggling between full consists for the revenue for both track and engines to maintain the speed, and attain the PNW, there isn't any higher speed engine until the DDo80X 4 years prior the deadline. OH, and don't forget the Recessions and Depressions which usually pop up near the end. The end of the story? I did not get the GOLD.
The 2nd attempt was similar, but this time I made an error. I bought industries, forgetting that the profits go to the CBV, and not to the yearly revenue. SO, when I realized my error 1/2 way through the play, I then went to the Electric.
3rd attempt. Let's try the Electric, which has a 25% discount on engine purchases. This is a little better having 2 fast engines available. The E60CP has a top speed of 85 with a full consist of 62 mph @ $563 purchase price. At the same time for 2 years is the Shindansen Series O, with speeds of 130 and full consist with 84 mph, but with a purchase price of $800. So to help attain and hold a 50mph speed, I purchase "1" to back up the E60CP with full consists, and the "2nd" before it is discontinued. Things were going great, but as I added the E60CP, and the required cnn to DAL, SAT, HOU, FTW, and AUS, with full consists, that margin of speed decreased to the point that I was not getting an adequate amount for the PNW $25M requirement.
Well, live and learn and the 4th attempt did highlight success for the GOLD. Follwing the same system as used in the 3rd attempt. Mainly the E60CP and 2 Shindansens, When the speed decreased to a safe zone, I maintained the full consists of the Shinkansen, but decreased the E60CP to a consist of 5. BUT I was still short of the PNW requirement. Here was a stroke of the play. The E88 became available @ $800. Top speed of 300 with full consist of 85. Hence I replaced a E60CP, now pushing 20 years of service, and considering that i had very little "crashes", and with full consists, was able to retain the required speed, also considerting that the E88 was avg 170 mph, I could also run full consists with the complete system. The economy did come out of a Depression, and thru a Recession, and held a Normal economy for the balance of the game play. So with these changes in attempt, revenue increased, dividend increased, and thereby, the GOLD was reached, to be able and buy large stock purchases.
Hope some of this might help someone. It is an interesting scenario challenge. Not knowing that the E88 would become available may have changed a previous attempt and be able to get the GOLD. Guess it sometimes pays to play the game to the end, as a player never knows what changes may help him to reach the required goals.
This scenario is not as eacy as it looks. Terrain is basically on the level areas of Texas, but does have some rivers. Some time ago I played it in the Medium level, and do not recall having a problem for the medals. There definitely is a change in the Expert.
A player has an option of either Diesel or Electric. So the ""1st attempt"" was the Diesel, which gives a 20% discount on engine purchases, and the FP45 @ $420 is the fastest at "0" percent incline of a top 103mph to a 71 with full consist. The trick is to attain a required speed of 40mph for the Silver, and 50mph for the Gold. And with a 25 year duration, and trying for that speed, a player also needs a PNW of $25M. Toggling between full consists for the revenue for both track and engines to maintain the speed, and attain the PNW, there isn't any higher speed engine until the DDo80X 4 years prior the deadline. OH, and don't forget the Recessions and Depressions which usually pop up near the end. The end of the story? I did not get the GOLD.
The 2nd attempt was similar, but this time I made an error. I bought industries, forgetting that the profits go to the CBV, and not to the yearly revenue. SO, when I realized my error 1/2 way through the play, I then went to the Electric.
3rd attempt. Let's try the Electric, which has a 25% discount on engine purchases. This is a little better having 2 fast engines available. The E60CP has a top speed of 85 with a full consist of 62 mph @ $563 purchase price. At the same time for 2 years is the Shindansen Series O, with speeds of 130 and full consist with 84 mph, but with a purchase price of $800. So to help attain and hold a 50mph speed, I purchase "1" to back up the E60CP with full consists, and the "2nd" before it is discontinued. Things were going great, but as I added the E60CP, and the required cnn to DAL, SAT, HOU, FTW, and AUS, with full consists, that margin of speed decreased to the point that I was not getting an adequate amount for the PNW $25M requirement.
Well, live and learn and the 4th attempt did highlight success for the GOLD. Follwing the same system as used in the 3rd attempt. Mainly the E60CP and 2 Shindansens, When the speed decreased to a safe zone, I maintained the full consists of the Shinkansen, but decreased the E60CP to a consist of 5. BUT I was still short of the PNW requirement. Here was a stroke of the play. The E88 became available @ $800. Top speed of 300 with full consist of 85. Hence I replaced a E60CP, now pushing 20 years of service, and considering that i had very little "crashes", and with full consists, was able to retain the required speed, also considerting that the E88 was avg 170 mph, I could also run full consists with the complete system. The economy did come out of a Depression, and thru a Recession, and held a Normal economy for the balance of the game play. So with these changes in attempt, revenue increased, dividend increased, and thereby, the GOLD was reached, to be able and buy large stock purchases.
Hope some of this might help someone. It is an interesting scenario challenge. Not knowing that the E88 would become available may have changed a previous attempt and be able to get the GOLD. Guess it sometimes pays to play the game to the end, as a player never knows what changes may help him to reach the required goals.
Re: TexMex
Interesting scenario!
Tex-Mex - For Gold
- Connect Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Austin
- Ensure your average express speed is 50 mph
- Get your personal net worth up to 25 million
Connecting Houston with Nogodoches started giving me good money with the OIL and Fuel line. Then connecting San Antonio and Austin to Houston also generates good money. Once i had large amount of money, I connected to Dallas. The Houston-Dallas, Austin-Dallas, San Antonio-Dallas routes were generating huge money.
Dallas station was created by my AI friend, who was useless and did nothing towards the objective. I paid him 1k per trip, which was fine.
I used the CG1 Electric train initially - it is my favorite train since RRT 2 days. Great speed, Outstanding reliability. What's not to like.
Unfortunately this scenario did not like it! My average speed was 42 mph and I started wondering how to raise it to 50. Then arrives the Japanese legendary bullet train - Shinkasen and that changed everything. Spent a fortune upgraded my 10 trains to Shinkasen and slowly speed started to raise each year. I had to optimise my route as well and finally it reached 53, which was good.
Regarding the personal finance thing, it was easy. Invest in stock, jack up the dividend, Buy outstanding Shares to raise stock price and that took care of the personal net worth objective.
So i completed all my objectives, yet the Ledger said no stations were connected and i got a failure message!
After 25 years, all objectives were met. But it says the cities are not connected. WEIRD!
Stations are there. Oh well!
That was a bummer. But nevertheless, i enjoyed this scenario. Nice and fast electric trains. Always fun to manipulate the stock too!
Tex-Mex - For Gold
- Connect Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Austin
- Ensure your average express speed is 50 mph
- Get your personal net worth up to 25 million
Connecting Houston with Nogodoches started giving me good money with the OIL and Fuel line. Then connecting San Antonio and Austin to Houston also generates good money. Once i had large amount of money, I connected to Dallas. The Houston-Dallas, Austin-Dallas, San Antonio-Dallas routes were generating huge money.
Dallas station was created by my AI friend, who was useless and did nothing towards the objective. I paid him 1k per trip, which was fine.
I used the CG1 Electric train initially - it is my favorite train since RRT 2 days. Great speed, Outstanding reliability. What's not to like.
Unfortunately this scenario did not like it! My average speed was 42 mph and I started wondering how to raise it to 50. Then arrives the Japanese legendary bullet train - Shinkasen and that changed everything. Spent a fortune upgraded my 10 trains to Shinkasen and slowly speed started to raise each year. I had to optimise my route as well and finally it reached 53, which was good.
Regarding the personal finance thing, it was easy. Invest in stock, jack up the dividend, Buy outstanding Shares to raise stock price and that took care of the personal net worth objective.
So i completed all my objectives, yet the Ledger said no stations were connected and i got a failure message!
After 25 years, all objectives were met. But it says the cities are not connected. WEIRD!
Stations are there. Oh well!
That was a bummer. But nevertheless, i enjoyed this scenario. Nice and fast electric trains. Always fun to manipulate the stock too!
Re: TexMex
The only thing I can think of is that maybe you did not place the station within the footprint of the city. I had the same thing happen to me in another scenario. So, in another attempt, I made sure that the stations were placed within the footprint of the city and it worked beautiful. It is not easy to know exactly the footprint of a city. But if you use the Shift-E mode and look at the topography, it will show the footprints. I hope that is explained okay!
Re: TexMex
BTW, When checking the footprint, you need to click the "Paint Region" to see the city footprints.
Be sure to exit out of the editor screen before you move on with the game....
Be sure to exit out of the editor screen before you move on with the game....