West Africa 1975-2010

[belbincolne]

I've got W Africa 61 2nd beta and W Africa 75 - 2010. Are they the same and 2nd Beta can go? or is 75-10 a totally different scenario?

[brunom]

Is that W Africa 75-2010 the file that was available on the first download?

All the files posted here were beta versions of the same scenario, so I deleted them when I sent the final version to Hawk. Problem is that I forgot which extra engines I was using in this scenario and the only way to find out was if I had included them in any of the zips I deleted his morning. I keep a quite big number of intermediate versions in my folders, but I deleted all the zip-packaged versions I sent to this forum (unfortunately).

Unless any of the stuff you have has the locos in it as well, (in which case, please tell me which locos I included before) you can delete them all and download the final version, now up there in the archives.

B

[belbincolne]

2nd Beta appears to be 1 Nov and 75-10 9th Dec although I suppose that could be date I downloaded them.

[brunom]

The second one (9/December) will be the definitive one, no need to download it again.

The original zip was replaced by another one, which is a pack with the extra locos, a readme file, etc - but the .gmp file is the same.

B

[belbincolne]

Thanks Brunom

[RayofSunshine]

This scenario is very challenging. Have played each of the betas, with very little success, although the "testing" went without any problems, which is the reason for the beta testing.

Now with the final version, I still have not gotten much accomplished either. All was going well to the 7th year, at which time I merged to get access to Ouagoldou. It was heavily "bonded", and took a number of years to deplete them. At this time, for some reason, for a few years, an AI territory Oil Refinery was really loosing money, so, I sold it, and thereby my revenue just continued to drop to nothing, as well as the economy dropping to a Depression. Didn't get any where after that.

Hence started another attempt. This time purchased a lumber mill. Ran into some real problems, similar to the previous attempt. Was able to pay off the bonds of the same merge Rwy, and the economy being Booming, bought another liquidated Rwy. Their bonds were even worse, but thought that i could repeat paying them off. Well, it was going well, but again, the economy went down hill, and eventually I got a notice to that of getting "fired".

Didn't stick around, considering the bond debt and revenue going down hill as well.

Even though I have not been able to pin down a strategy, I like the concept of this scenario. Good imagination with its challenges, as well as the historical additions. It appears to me to be in one of the top of the best ones.

[joost]

This is a great scenario, thanks a lot. Everything works smoothly.
It was very doable I guess, since I got gold in 2007, but I kept worrying until quite late in the game, which is one of the main things that makes a scenario great. You need a very flexible strategy, with a long time to prepare takeovers and enough cash in hand to seize sudden opportunities. In the end the strategy is the same as always I guess: make sure you keep buying industries and make 'm thrive. It's the only way to keep a company healthy, especially if you have to issue an awful lot of stock, which is the case here. You simply can't manage it just by running trains smartly.
cheers,

ps. One question, why did you disable tire factories? Practical joke? I kept waiting for them to appear, with 40 loads of rubber hauled up in Monrovia, ready to last... They're still there for all I know;-)

[brunom]

Thanks for the kind review joost.

As for tire factories. If I allow tire factories, then rubber wouldn't be such an export for countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone or Cote d'Ivoire... and that's the economic reality. This scenario is strictly real (or as real as possible for a rrt3 1.05 simulation)

Glad you liked it and it's good to know someone managed Gold on it - care to share a little of your gameplay?

B

[RayofSunshine]

Well, 3 times and out. Everyihing was going fine until 2005. Then not only did Liberia have some uprising, which shut down the territory, but Cote d 'Ivire was put on an embargo list. I had cnn to depots at Bamako, and others in Seirra Leone, and Mali, but it doesn't matter considering that my hub was Abidjan. So my whole system was shut down until 2007 when Liberia made peace, and 2010 when the embargoes were lifted for Cote d 'Ivire. By this time I was $3M in debt.

2 of the Rwys were in liquidation, but I didn't touch them, as previous checking had them deeply buried in bonds, plus -$2M negative cash on hand.

A real good challenge, and recommended for you aggresive "tycoons". Beginners beware, as although it is a very well created scenario, it gives you no mercy. However, I did enjoy playing it concept.

[joost]

Hi There,
well yes, of course. I'll have to be quick since I'm in a hurry, but a few pointers:
- invest all start capital in industries in the C'dIv/Mali zone, don't run trains until profits are booming and buy as much of your own shares as you can.
- Get into Benin first, I made Benin rail my pet project, meaning I obtained 2/3 of the shares and then connected it to the Mali rail network and just let it run wild. Those profits allowed me to buy majority shares in the other companies.
- Meanwhile, get rid of the stock in your own company and then issue shares like crazy, whenever you can. At the end, shares were worth about half the book value.
- Keep leaning heavily on industries and make sure they provide roughly 2/3 of company income, this is the only way to make serious profit without having to micromanage trains all the time, which is undoable in such a vast network. Also, if it goes wrong at the end, you can just sell of your industries to free up capital to do your last takeover. Buit that will be the end of profitability, so make sure it's a last resort.
Then I did the takeovers: 1) Nigeria, 2) Cote d'Ivoire, 3) Ghana, 4) Benin and 5) Senegal/Mali. This can of course vary, depending on the economic cycle and personal preferences.

cheers,
Joost

ps. I get your point about tire factories, on the other hand, look at the railway network and tell me how real it is;-) trains from Dakar to Bamako actually run. I can assure you they don't in the real 2011:-))))

[belbincolne]

Still havent managed to get Gold on Sao M so went back to this one and used Joosts technique of Industry base. For some reason I'd not tried this before. Got Gold on Normal in 2003. Twice was on the verge of personal bankruptcy but attempted the takeover when I got the call. Once had just got 51% but the other time only about 40% so had to give 100% mark-up which I could just afford. Only thing I'd really add to Joost's comments is that railroading can be profitable provided you use trains sparsly and connect only the important towns with goods. And of course change most of the AIs trains to sensible routes when you take them over which is a pain but you only have to do it once and not micro manage thereafter. Didnt have to sell off any industries incidentally and only time I reached $10m bonds was after a takeover - it is vital to see that you have enough cash not just for the takeover but to repay any high interest bonds which some of the AIs had - fortunately the worst went bankrupt so picked it up for peanuts. Nice playing it again

[joost]

Only thing I'd really add to Joost's comments is that railroading can be profitable provided you use trains sparsly and connect only the important towns with goods. And of course change most of the AIs trains to sensible routes when you take them over which is a pain but you only have to do it once and not micro manage thereafter.

Oh absolutely, you need trains. It's a precondition to make industries thrive, and of course, if you end up with all this track it makes no sense not to run trains. I ran about 25 of them, and like Belbincolne said, with sensible routes you can make a lot of profit. What I menat to say is that it's very hard work to beat the AIs on railroading. It's what they do best. (for example, i was pretty please with my network, but when I resigned at the end of he game, the AI quadrupled the railroading income in two years) You need industries to make the difference and get on top, that goes for most of the scenario's imho.
Ouch, a 100% markup must have hurt. Maybe good to add that if you're not sure you have enough money to get a solid majority in every firm, there's always one or two you can safely leave alone for the moment while you concentrate on the other ones. You need to tackle the best and worst perfomers first, because their huge profits or debts will make in impossible to get to them if you wait too long. The ones who just languish and keep themselves alive without expanding can wait until you've consolidated other takeovers and have cash again.
Another handy trick is to watch the other investors. They all operate by pretty simple parameters on buying and selling. Especially if you can manipulate a big shareholder into a massive selloff by dumping a few shares it can be very helpful.
good luck all.

[brunom]

A short message to celebrate 1500 downloads!!

Makes me proud.. I'm glad you fellas enjoy this one!
B

[Hawk]

You forgot the 28 downloads prior to the update.

[brunom]

I assumed 28 of the 1500 are just "updates",

but I can also celebrate the 1528 downloads,

[joost]

It's one of the best scenario's I know, Brunom. Congratulations!

[brunom]

Thanks joost!

It's one of my favorites as well, and I still play it.

I've been wondering though, what makes it such a nice one. Comparing to others I created, it has more downloads and seems overall more enjoyable, so what's the "secret" in your view?
(everyone else is invited to chip in, obviously! If I knew, I wouldn't ask...)

B

[RayofSunshine]

The number of downloads are great. There is a problem with getting more comments on its creativity. It is a 1.05 agenda. Most of us only play the 1.06 version. And for some reason, the 1.06 does not override the 1.05, so that such versions cannot be played. Well, as least from my viewpoint, as I thought that I had played some 1.05 versions with a 1.06 patch. I have made a special "1.05 map file", as a time that I may start playing them.
But keep up the good creations. As the downloads indicate, there has to be a lot of members playing the 1.05.

[RayofSunshine]

Well, this is screwy. After the previous post, I thought that it was very familiar in the challenges. Hence I went back in the threads, and sure enough, I had played the betas. SO, the question now. Why was I able to play the betas, and yet now, I cannot get it to display the "title/map" in the menu to "single player - new scenario"?

[Hawk]

Most of us only play the 1.06 version.

Actually, a lot of us have 3 different installs of RT3. A 1.05 install, a 1.06 install, and a TM install.
That way we can play any map in the version it was intended for.