Disasters in Alaska

[Hawk]

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

Disasters in Alaska
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I finally finished an Alaskan map, enough to have it played for any input.
It's posted at Cyberail .
Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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Just got through getting trounced. -10 in 2015 so an unstated in the breif loss.
My observations. Nice map in that is nice to actually turn some profits on a modern scenario since most of these have rediculous profits for the price of engines. I doubt you would redo it but following Mobious trick for preplacing some houses in cities to "lock" the terrain would be nice. I hate having to build rollercoaster in building deformed cities.
There seemed to be to many ways to make negative points and not enough to make positives. I only showed a negative profit the first 2 years since I did invest a bit in some industry to insure I would be profitable from then on. My biggest problem was getting clothing to Nome/Taylor. What little there was was completly across the map. I started at Whitehorse going east so I already had some of my needed line in place. However connecting to everywhere with a clothing output besides Valdez I was unable to get enough there every year. I had my haul trains set to express. I did not check but I suspect the journey across the map takes more than a year. I latter doubled up on these but it stil was not enough.
It would be nice to have the loads hauled show up in the ledger as a means of tracking these within the year. It is hard to manage haulage trains more or less blind.
Just some observations from my first go. I do like a challenge and it is that but it may need a bit of toning down or some more ways to make a poaitive point or two early on.
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Getting positive profits is the easiest part of it. There are, that I know of, at least 3 industries that can be purchased in the first year that will ensure positive profits prior to building any rail. I won't post them publicly so that I won't give anything away to those that are reading and don't want the information.
You must've had the quake disaster occur first. This is the hardest one of the lot, even if you have rail already established. However, I was able to get it done for a few years (more than half of the years that the disaster was in effect). There is a warehouse that will provide clothing and cotton, a port that will provide clothing, and depending on spawn, one or two sheep farms. The hardest part of transporting either raw materials or the finished product, clothing, is that you need to use another company's line to get the goods to the textile mill or/and Nome/Taylor. So, your trains are constantly waiting for track to clear. This disaster is easier when it comes up later in the game though.
Originally, I wanted the YTD haulage to show up on the ledger but the ledger actually shows itself at the beginning of the year, which means the YTD totals are reset back to zero. That is why I have the YTD haulage show up as a dialog at year-end prior to the ledger.
As for preplacing some houses to level terrain, I think that is worth the time to do. There is something else I wanted to do so I'll take care of it on the next release.
This scenario is easy to lose but it's also easy to 'win' in the sense that you don't get the Lose screen. The actual 'Gold' win is very hard to get. I doubt that anyone will get it (everyone can take that as a challenge ) but it is numerically possible.
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Quote: Originally, I wanted the YTD haulage to show up on the ledger but the ledger actually shows itself at the beginning of the year, which means the YTD totals are reset back to zero. That is why I have the YTD haulage show up as a dialog at year-end prior to the ledger.

the ledger will show last year's ytd stuff. have a look at some of the other scenarios around.
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Looks good. I played just a couple of years so far, with a few industries and a little RR crossing the T at Fairbanks. Here are my thoughts so far:
Like:
- accurate tree line
- accurate existing RR
- AI actually serves a purpose, unlike many scenarios
- pipeline explosion - it gives you plausible reason to get into the oil biz
- scale is suitable for the subject matter - you need that large scale to make mountain maps good.
- I like the mission objective - basically be profitable, but occasionally be of service to humanity.
Dislike:
- "eminent" should be "imminent"
- rivers should be landscaped so they flow downhill and the junctions need work. It is difficult to describe technique in written form, so I will just recommend that you look at other maps to see what works.
- With each mission you are offered a choice but it is a choice you can't refuse, so why bother? Just present the mission.
- Cassiar has been dead as a doornail for at least ten years, and it only ever was a support community for an asbestos mine. In the early '90s it was a telephone booth, but now I think even that is gone.
Suggestions:
- It is tough to include oil in the scenario because most of it goes into a pipeline. What you can do though, is have some demand warehouses or military depots representing the equipment and supplies the oil companies would need. You can't ship parkas in a pipeline. Oil field equipment needs diesel and electricity to operate. Weapons or autos could represent heavy equipment, goods or ammo could be tools ...
- Watson Lake is an important staging area for oil exploration in the Yukon. There should be such a warehouse or military depot there.
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For some unknown reason I can't get those YTD totals to work in the ledger. I don't think it's anything I'm doing since it's pretty straight forward to paste in the ledger. In fact, Mobius posted the same problem on this issue in the map-making forum.
I agree the rivers need to look a little better. They are frustrating to paint in mountainous areas. Even in flat terrain they never seem to flow the way I want them to. Also, thanks for the info on Cassiar & Watson Lake and catching my spelling.
On mission refusal, you can refuse and still change your mind and make points. Course, if someone is going to refuse more than one mission why play the scenario.
Oil is in the scenario because of the pipeline explosion. With a section of the pipeline destroyed, oil still needs to get to the oil terminal in Valdez. Your suggestions about other industries dependent on the oil industry would work in that disaster and also as a seperate event.
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One more word in the opening. transportation
Rivers are hard and just about the most time consuming part of the map making process.
You might want to consider preplacing most of the housing in some of the narrow valley cities. You can choose where to terraform rather than have the game do it. And you can pack houses together leaving room for stations and tracks.
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ytd doesnt work? hmmm, maybe i was thinking of ltd. i'll have to take a look again.
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The Annual Report while it comes out after the books have closed, seem to include many things as they are on Jan. 1. Thus most YTD things are for Jan 1. counts.
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cute.
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Just played all the way through and wound up with 10 this time. Clothing was till a pain and occasioanally I would miss a year which really hurts. I never did see any connection bonouses so either I didn't do things right are that is not working. It would be nice to generate more than 1 positive point a year since otherwise loose six points and the gold is gone.
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I'm in the process of making a few changes to this scenario.
First, there is a problem with the scoring of the quake disaster. Even though conditions are met the score wasn't getting incremented. I'm pretty sure I solved this a couple of hours ago, but I want to replay it to make sure.
Second, I've changed resources a little bit so that the quake conditions are a little easier to meet. Usually, the problem is with clothing and not milk. Milk is normally supplied by the port at Kotzebue and a couple of diary farms near Fort Yukon or Sourdough. It sounds like you had a hard time with the resource spawn.
Third, I've decreased the score needed to get Gold. I didn't decrease it to much so it's still going to be tough to get.
Fourth, I've edited the terrain a little. In addition to fixing rivers so that they flow in the right direction and merge a little better, I've smoothed some of the rougher terrain. This will make it easier to lay track and bridges near cities like Valdez, Sitka, and Juneau. I've also flattened areas near these cities so that it's easier to build the station.
I should have this new version available soon, in the next day or two. Thanks everyone for your feedback.
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I just posted the updated map of Alaska at Cyberail. Look for the thread titled "NEW: Diasasters in Alaska v1.0"
This version has all the items this thread has discussed, plus some adjustments on the milk, and clothing issue.
I also added the possibility of a R&D department. Any payoff is dependent on your investment decision.
Stock buying/selling on margin is allowed.
As always, feedback is welcome.
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I've posted on this before but obviously in another forum!! Anyway I've played it several times since and I'm still nowhere. Even though I know what could happen and have built accordingly I still cant win. Anyway a few points - I'm playing on expert by the way. Dont know what difference this makes. I'm also unsure whether I'm playing on version one or two.
1. The Industry method doesn't work because although I can make a ton of cash this way there isn't enough available when the first disaster strikes.
2. 50/50 industry/rail is equally bad so my last few tries have been all rail.
3. Penultimate game Oil was 1st diaster and it took 6(?) years to be able to get a line to the only available supply in the North and to Valdez and just as I did it (a) the 2nd disaster occurred and (b) I was to all intents bankrupt.
4. Last game I took a chance and built to Valdez and north as far as I could from Fairbanks and ran a couple of profitable trains. I was lucky and Oil was again the 1st disaster. Borrowing all I could I just made the Northern Oil supply although I had to divert a train cos I'd nothing left to buy another. It took nearly a year to get to Valdez with 6 loads of oil and
then the Almanac came up and said I'd not carried any! I carried on for another couple of years - diverting a second train and carried another 11 loads, and $2m in the red, finished with a score of -6 with none of my carrying recognised. And my station in Valdez definitely was connected.
Any ideas?
A side issue. I usually download from The Terminal but I cant get into it - says I'm not authorised to enter the site. You know more about these things than I. Any ideas?

[RayofSunshine]

WOW, but this is a very interesting scenaio, as well as a great map.

I like the concept of the challenge, although I am not too keen on playing scenarios which have ranges of mountains, a lot of raviens/gullies, which basically need a lot of bridges, provided that a player is able to get them constructed.

But reading the rest of the threads , I can see the reason for me not being able to not only not to get the GOLD, but also of finding it very difficult to accomplish the goals or points which the scenario requires in the challenges.

As I built my system on the "west" flatter expane, I did not have a problem with the "profits" agenda. And being able to lay unconnected track was a boon to get to the areas for disaster relief. My problem with the (-) negative points, was to be able to have the 'supply' to fulfill the requirements. And in some cases, to use an AI trackage to get to a disaster destination, or be penalized, if not accepting the challenge, OR not being able to get the 'supplies' to the point of disaster each year.

And although this is a great creation in imagination and talent, I have joined the players of previous attempts, to only have my play attempts to end short of medals, and in a negative ending.

A great set of engines, as they are needed for all those inclines of the terrain.

But "hats off" for the creation, and hope other players will have better success.