Review Of Age Of Steam II-Green Diamond

[wsherrick]

I humbly submit this new game to review and comment. I did a lot of testing with this before I sent it to Hawk and I hope everything flows as planned. I also hope it is enjoyed by all.

[wsherrick]

I finally played this new scenario just for fun on expert and had a difficult time. I got a bronze on expert. There might also be a problem with the oil for kickbacks event. I just discovered it, if there are any problems let me know and I'll get them fixed ASAP. Just let me know, thanks.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I just started it this morning (on Expert). I'll let you know how I fare.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I'm now 16 years into the game and doing OK. My company is Best in Class for LTD Revenue. I have a pretty extensive rail network, stretching from Little Rock and Memphis in the south, through St. Louis and up to Chicago and Green Bay in the north. Central hub is Indianapolis, with connections to Toledo/Cleveland (through Lima), and Cincinnati / Louisville / Lexington. Also connected Chicago to northern Michigan to get lumber. I have more than 50 trains with several "Express Only" trains. To keep express speeds up, I've put all service/maint. facilities on spurs off the main stations. Makes it a pain in the butt setting up routes, having to be sure to get trains to visit them on a regular basis.

I forget exactly where I stand in CBV and PNW, but I think I'm about 25% of the level needed to get Gold. Forget about trying to take over the AIs; they're pretty strong in this one, so just buy into them and go for the financial ride.

It's a wonderful scenario. I especially like the info on locos, and the choice events that pop up occasionally. I would highly recommend it to all.

[wsherrick]

Thank you very much for the compliment. It means a great deal to me when people are kind enough to take the time to give you a pat on the back or point out where you can make things better. Certain choices you make in the game have a direct effect on how it plays. There are two big rewards for express speeds- did you get them?

[Wolverine@MSU]

Yes, I got the Mail Contract and the $2M bonus early on. Do I need to worry any more about minimum speed once these have been awarded?

[wsherrick]

you've got everything in that regard, but you can be penalized if your speed gets to slow. But it's a small risk if your average has been up there for a bunch of years.

[Wolverine@MSU]

In around 1910 or 1911, I got a notice that the Mountain loco was available for purchase, but the new loco showed up as the Zephyr. I don't have the Loco-pack installed. Is that the reason, or am I missing something else, or is it just a bad event. I haven't looked at the event yet.

In regards to the Rockefeller oil deal, I declined, they got hauled into court but won their case. Haven't tried accepting their deal. Will go back after I finish and retry, this time accepting the deal.

I've got 7 years left, have CBV around $100M but PNW is only around $60M. Hope to get that up with some judicious Tycooning. Will probably finish tonight or tomorrow morning and I'll let you know how I fared.

[EPH]

I've played through about 1905 on medium. I've connected Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago. Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Toledo, Detroit, Cleveland, St Louis, Louisville, Paducah, Memphis and Little Rock... and my company book value hasn't cracked $60m yet, so gold is out of the question.

I have kept express speed above 20 but haven't seen any rewards.

With industry so expensive I've managed to buy one hotel and a textile mill (one full year's income for that). Personal net worth is capped at about $40m as all stocks have been purchased.

The game has been stuck in recession and depression for the beter part of fifteen years. Is this just luck of the draw or is it created by events?

[Wolverine@MSU]

The game has been stuck in recession and depression for the beter part of fifteen years. Is this just luck of the draw or is it created by events?

Must be just luck of the draw. I had a short (1-2yr) recession, but no depression.....YET. Most of time it's been Normal, Prosperity, or Boom.

[wsherrick]

Hi guys,
First of all let me give you a few hints. Wolverine-the Mountain Locomotive is provided for you when you download the game in its own file, you do not need to have the loco pack installed. The P-2 Mountain is a superlative locomotive. Just cut and paste the files into the loco files in the game files. Put the PK4 Beauty shot file into your user extra content. About industry. It is critical to pay for the lawyers in early 1888 to appeal the ICC's Capital Gains Tax on Industry. The case is decided in 1896. The chances are you can win the case and the Supreme Court will declare the tax unconstitutional and industry prices go way down. This event is key to the game. I've tested this a bunch of times, . If you lose you have a hard way to go. You must invest in Pullman Cars. The public wll flock to your stations. You must build hotels etc even if they are expensive. They pay off big over time. Another vital key is lumber. You must move lumber to market. If you can get a lumber mill before the ICC slaps the world with the Capital Gains Tax more the better. you can get a boost. Take advantage of the improvements in locomotive technology when they come available. These improvements are accurate to history,and will save you gobs of money over time. I hope every one is having fun and I hope I haven't given too much away and spoil the suprises. The game plays much different each time it is played. I wanted to make it interesting/challanging enough to make fun to play over many times. If it is too hard on the expert levels. I will make it easier. Again I wanted to pose a challage, not make it frustrating. Let me know. Thanks a lot guys for all of your interest.

[EPH]

I did pay for the lawyers, several times in fact. But I was told the case had gone against us and I never did get a break on industry. That would certainly have allowed me to invest my RR profits.

I did invest in Pullman cars. Built a number of hotels and wound up dynamiting them because they ran at a loss (Chicago turned a large profit every year without fail).

Moving lumber was no problem because of the large lumber mill in Madison (my first connection was Chi-Mil-Mad). How much lumber do you need to move? Don't remember seeing any info on amount.

I did purchase all loco improvements, but by the time the patent paid off there were no stocks left to buy. The money was nice, though. :o

I enjoyed the scenario, though by 1905 it would barely run. Must be a lot of events (or events frequently checked).

[wsherrick]

I have corrected the oil for kickback event and added some more cash rewards on expert. Also by request of AZ Rail Rat I have added Kankakee to the map. If anyone is having trouble with the game running slow, feel free to look at the editor and adjust the events or I'll be happy to fix them so the game runs smoother. This is becoming a great learning experience for me as well. I have sent the corrected map to Hawk, so it should be up in a little while. :D

[Hawk]

It's here! :)
Fetch it up folks.

[Wolverine@MSU]

Well, I only got the Bronze . Had well over $150M CBV but struggled with PNW. I did miss out on the Patent, which would have helped a lot. One thing I discovered, which is probably true of most scenarios: you get a much higher return on investment by running trains. I often pump a lot of cash into industries and think I'm getting a good deal if I get 15% ROI. After looking at the numbers from the finished game, I made about 14% ROI on Industry, but over 28% ROI on trains. Guess where I'm going to put my money on the next try?

[belbincolne]

Haven't posted before cos I've been playing the other new games but now seriously into this. Great scenario and the events (and info) are fabulous. If I'd entered the "Notify" button before I started I'd have read your hints but as it was I went in blind and didn't accept any of the offers except the last two - one of which paid off big in PNW - because I was running broke nearly all the time.

I'm some 20 years in and doubt I'll get anything except possibly Bronze because I can't afford industries nor will I ever be able to mount a takeover bid (?????) - most of the AI's are priced at twice their worth so I'd need to pay 4 X and that would be ridiculous. So far they've all been very profitable but in the last couple of years some have started to go downhill (but their share price hasn't dropped whilst mine does with far less cause)

Reason they're losing cash is possibly because I've connected to them all and recently have had $800k+ income from them - last year $1.6m. I've got twice the length of line as all the AIs put together - but less trains.

The other players keep buying stock in various AIs - but not mine! - why's that? I'm never going to have over 50% in an AI but have about 80% of my own. Industry - I've only 3 hotels - hadn't realised the price I was paying :( :( for them. They're now paying off after 5 years or so. Obviously as I'm running out of railing possibilities I'm going to have buy Industry to use up cash despite the poor return. Will the CBV always reflect the price Paid? I'm assumimg so. I'm only running Freight which is paying well - but I have got the Mail Contract due to an error when I ran one train on everything! Since then I've put in a few fast trains on Express but, so far, these are making little money.

Phew :D - I'm playing Version 2 - is that the latest or does the post two above mean there's now a V3?

[wsherrick]

I mangaged to get gold on Medium by 1916. The AI's are really unpredictable. Some times they make in the multi-millions and really expand, other times they don't. I had to put a leash on their growth rate or they would literally take over the whole map! Hotels judiciously placed do make $$$. I had a hotel in Knoxville where I junctioned with the Southern Railway make a million dollors in revenue in about 8 years. I took some screen shots but I don't know how to post them on the Forum. I always begin my railroad in the South, generally between Memphis and Little Rock. This is a good route especially if there is a lumber mill/paper mill in Little Rock. There is also a 30% premium paid on logs going to the lumber mill as well as the lumber itself. It pays to run some branch lines out to the logging camps and move the logs to the mill. I can't explain the AI stock buying behavior, in this last game I played Jay Gould got controlling interest in the ICRR. while I wasn't paying attention. In other games they didn't like human player stock. Other times they are little cyber-bastards. Hawk's post above is refering to a revision I made in the map and now the corrected version is available. Again, I am deeply gratified that people are enjoying the game! Thanks all

[Hawk]

To post images, see this link.
I haven't figured out how to allow direct image posting with this forum software.

[wsherrick]

Here is another shot of a Hotel making money by the bucket load. This is in Kankakee where passenger trains junction from Chicago, Peoria, St.Louis & Indianapolis.

[wsherrick]

I managed to get gold on Expert. It was close 'cause I only had 2 years to spare.