Review Of Age Of Steam II-Green Diamond

[wsherrick]

EPH, your point is valid and will be taken into serious consideration. I guess that is what beta testing is for. If everyone can stand another revision, I will do one, but before it is done, let's see if we can come to a general consensus (did I spell that right?) on the matter.

[Wolverine@MSU]

And, sorry, Wolverine but your stats aint right either. The odds are 9:1 against every time. One of the most common myths is if that you've lost the toss 10 times the odds must be in your favour next throw. Tthey're not, they're still evens.

That is true on any SINGLE toss (10% chance of winning). By your logic, the odds of getting 100 tails in a row is 50-50. But you have to look at the overall odds of winning given multiple tosses. To take the coin toss example, while it's true that the odds of getting a heads on any SINGLE toss is 50-50, the odds on getting a heads in "n" tosses is 1 - 0.5^n ( 1 minus (0.5 raised to the n power)). Check your stats textbook!

I agree with EPH that a random event should not virtually preclude a win. Perhaps some compensating event could help out the player and still make a win possible with skillful play. In the several times I've played without the case going in my favor I get very near the PNW goal, but can only manage a little over $100M in CBV.

wsherrick: to determine how to set the number for the random check, decide what you want the odds of getting a favorable decision to be in 1 year and take the 12th root of (1 - the probability of losing). For instance, if you wanted a 90% chance of winning in 12 tries, the correct number would be the 1 minus the 12th root of 0.1, or approximately 0.18, so the event would be: Random 100 <= 18. This would give a 91% chance of winning in 12 tries.

[wsherrick]

I am thinking about some unique events to get around the Government's messing around with the economy. How about the, Great Western Land Bank & Trust Co.-Purveyors of fine properties? The possibilities are many to benefit CBV and PBV if you choose to buy into it. The goal being to provide a realistic & legal way to subvert a tax-just like in real life

[belbincolne]

Sounds o/k

[EPH]

Or possibly a political contribution that improves the rates you can charge for certain types of freight (or express) cars? Just brainstorming.

[wsherrick]

I have been working feverishly on a unique way to get around the Supreme Court Case if you lose it. The way it's looking it might be even more fun if you lose the case.

[belbincolne]

Well I've still never won the case so it was just a Bronze on my last try. And you still CAN take over the chairmanship of another railroad - I did and took out maximum bonds bought loads of industry (there were no shares left to buy back) just to keep the AI profitable after I (immediately) switched back and thus keep its shares up in value during the crash in the last 10 years - our two were the only ones with a profit consistently over those years so it seemed a good strategy - I was heading for Gold standard in PNW but the $5m tax did that and, in any case, I couldn't make enough to get the CBV above Bronze.

[wsherrick]

I have sent yet another revision of the game to Hawk to put up. There is a great way to play the game if the court case doesn't go your way. It balances everything out so with good strategy, Gold on Expert is well within grasp. Again I'm sorry about so many revisions, but it is better to have a well designed game for everyone's enjoyment. Hawk should have it up shortly. Please let me know about how the changes work out for you. I must take a moment to thank Wolverine for his huge contribution to Green Diamond. He deserves as much credit for it as I do. He assisted me in testing and going over the scenario with a fine tooth comb. :D

[canis39]

Sounds good...I've been putting off playing this one because it always seemed like another revision was on its way. Can I start it now? :)

[wsherrick]

Yes, I'm pretty sure this will be the last revision. But, don't download until Hawk lets us know that he has put it up.

[wsherrick]

The new revision will be up soon so please be patient. :)

[Hawk]

Sorry it's taken so long, but the new revision is available for download, in the usual place.
This ****** XP is 'bout whipping me. I'm beginning to think I'll never get used to it, although I sure like the new rig. :D

[belbincolne]

Played it twice and found it harder than previous version - despite winning court case both times - previously after about 20 years(?) there was an extremely profitable period and then a slump in all the AIs profitability. Neither of these things happened in my two tries. Lumber wasn't as profitable either. And in both tries the logs had moved from north-west to south-west which is where they were in my original tries. My most successful attempts have always been when the seeding puts them in the N-W.

One thing (for which I was grateful!) is that in every version there is a statement just before case that $500k is needed to go to Supreme Court but it isn't deducted.

I aslo have another snag - which is my usual problem - that iron loads to steel mills didn't get counted so I wasted a lot of cash running track to the mines and hauling a lot of loads (tho probably not 100) and I was still getting a Nil figure - I don't suppose anyone else will have this problem.

[wsherrick]

I am positive that the iron hauling event works. I removed the dialog pop ups that keep you informed of your progress and placed all of that in your yearly status report so it would make the game more tidy. So take a look there to check your load hauling stats. The game play is greatly effected by the ecomomy seeding. The best places for me to start building, I've found, is in the southwestern part of the country. Arkansas and Missouri seem to always have a great store of raw materials.

[canis39]

Well, I downloaded the latest version of this map...but I also started a new project - I'm replaying the Campaigns. I never did play all the way straight through, so I'm going to give it a shot.

[acorn_farmer_84]

With your permission i would like to upload this scenario to my site,
http://www.rt3.reddingogames.liway.com/

could you reply here, or pm me is this is ok, thanks :)

ok, its now uploaded onto my site too :)

i just played this scenario, and got silver on expert,
really nice scenario, :)

[wsherrick]

One item about electrification. I thought about not allowing electric engines in the game since it is the, "Age Of Steam," but instead made it realistic in a way. If one chooses to go electric. Your track costs become outrageous and a large chunk of your company cash gets taken to build power plants, relay stations etc. Electric railroads are almost unknown in the USA except in the northeast. The reason was that when the big improvements to steam power came about after 1900, those gains in efficiency outweighed the benefits of electric power to a great extent AND most railroads couldn't justify the overwhelming costs involved with building electric infrastructure.

[wsherrick]

Thank you very much. I am glad so many are enjoying it. It has been a long, long time since I worked on something so hard and had so much encouragement and help from others. :D

[jerseyjunior]

i just finished the baghdad railway after countless unsuccessful attempts. just curious for the people who have played baghdad railway, which scenario is harder?

anyway, i will download this tonight and give it a looksee. seems to have generated a lot of interest.

[jerseyjunior]

as a new player of this green diamond i have to report that the extra download folders that you talk about in your .readme file are missing from the download. probably a result of uploading improved editions multiple times. the r-2 mountain train and logo packs - the train and folder you are requested to move into your UserExtraContent file - i cant seem to find them.

can i acquire these elsewhere on the website? thanks!