Twenty Years in Tibet

[RayofSunshine]

Might as well start a thread.
I should have a lot of fun with this one. MOUNTAINS. and MORE MOUNTAINS, and then EVEN MORE MOUNTAINS.
That aside, as a comment, the Easy doesn't have any PNW, as the Stocks are locked out.
What I did notice, is that the depot at Xining is pointed toward buildings. A real "engineer" would point it to the open terrain, to make for a better alignment of laying tracks in that direction.
With that said, I will first try the Easy, and then advance, after I get some idea of how to traverse MOUNTAINS.
Map looks great, as Tibet IS very MOUNTANOUS, and anything less of a terrain, would be out of reality.

[RayofSunshine]

First off, I must comment, that the depot at Xining is not at a disadvantage of its position, as it's direction is of benefit to lay track to the "farms" valley. Guess the "engineer" had a good idea of location/position.

Only playing the "easy" level, there wasn't any "great" problem to get the goals. Well, that is, if you don't mind the irradic "ups and downs" of the terrain, in the laying of track. Now I only used the least expensive diesel, which was sufficient to navigate such terrain. But I can remember a scenario, of which had "rolling" hills, and used "electric" engines. At those tremendous speeds, passengers would have to be "strapped" into their seats, and even "eye glasses", and any loose items "tied" down, otherwise, those articles would get thrown into the ceiling.

I liked the position of the "depots" at requirement locations, especially that at Lhasa. Just as a test, I tried to place a depot, which was possible, but there was not any great approach to them. So, with that depot, it was a good "intention" of the user creator Hogg.

Being that there is an abundance of rice farms, I build a Brewery at Xining for extra revenue for operation. Seemed to be sufficient for operation revenue, I just had some time trying to get the PNW of $50M. Will have to try a different system.

NOW, we shall see about the "HARD" level. And this time I MIGHT try using the electrics between Xining and Golmud
Also maybe in that desert area as well, but forget that for the mountains. Just too many "humps and bumps" in the terrain. Might be in reality, but not of those speeds of electric, for game play.

That said, although I have a dislike for mountainous scenarios, I find this scenario to be adequate, and I am having some fun with its challenges.

[Hawk]

I was just sent a Read Me for this map. I've added a link to it on the download page, but for those that didn't see it, I've attached it to this post.

I don't know if it will be of any help or not.

Edit 1: Attached file deleted. It's now included in the updated map zip.

[RayofSunshine]

Thanks Hawk,
For the Read Me.Txt. Something to help with the playing.

Aside from it, I back tracked, and this time, I added the Uranium Mines in the Farm Valley, to the already purchased Brewery at Xining. That extra revenue helped to obtain $56M, for the required $50M or PNW.

But that brought another problem, but being of an Easy level, there may not be the "take over" of assists by the Ministry, of the Gold. So after 22 years of play, I guess I will go on to the HARD level. Will have to see what progress I can make, first without the financial suggestions of the Read Me, and then try the 2nd company.

I only used the Class 37 Diesel until it was terminated in 2005, and then used the Class 132. Maybe it is UGLY, but has better incline capabilities than the other Diesels, and the Red Devil steam. My opinion.
Still some what amazed with the "ups and down" terrain, and did use a couple of tunnels.

[RayofSunshine]

Guess I am a little slow. First a question. There is a statement in the introduction of "Working on a BOT basis". What is a BOT?

The system is not working for me in the level of : Menu of HARD, and the scenario level of B or 2 @ HARD.
Tried to reboot the scenario 3 times, and still only get 2 Dairy Farms in the "farm valley". So, I even "save" it, and try to "reload" it a few times. Still only 2 Dairy Farms. I am missing something in the translation or suggestion.

[Hawk]

This map has been updated.
Along with some scenario changes, the zip now also includes the Read me.

Here's an excerpt from an email from Mark:

The question was:

Tried to reboot the scenario 3 times, and still only get 2 Dairy Farms in the "farm valley". So, I even "save" it, and try to "reload" it a few times. Still only 2 Dairy Farms. I am missing something in the translation or suggestion

The answer is that there don't have to be dairy farms, as long as there are rice/produce and possibly a corn farm. The short reason is size; since the scenario is hilly, if some agriculture doesn't spawn there, then there may not be enough in the game overall. However dairy farms don't need so much space so can spawn in the hilly areas.

[brunom]

Already downloaded it. At first sight the mountains are daunting - so much I just went into the editor and gave myself 100 million - that was simply to test how hard it would be to lay track.. It's doable. At least the "first half" of the journey to Lhasa requires only a couple of tunnels, some ups and downs and many "arounds". Lately, I have become accustomed with using grid view to while building track and it is very useful in this map.

Closer to Lhasa and southwards, however, the map is a little disappointing. The rivers cross peaks, not always connect right, and it looks a little done in haste. Maybe you could "carve" the map a little, at least to have the rivers more or less leveled as they flow down their valleys. I don't mean significant changes, the "map view" looks great and the colors seem right - it's just when you look closer that details become quirky.

This was my initial "look around" and sorry if it sounds a little negative. Overall, I rate this map really positively and to make a map of Tibet was a great idea. Real playing will require more time and some motivation to handle the slopes but once I get round to it, I'll post my dealings here, promise!

B

[RayofSunshine]

Have tried a few more attempts in the both "hard" of the regular menu, and "hard" in the scenario menu, and I am yet to find any "rice fields" north of Xining. Just those 2 Dairy Farms. Not much revenue to-and-from if track laid to them.
But I will try the "hard" of the regular menu, and the the "impossible" in the scenario menu. It will be of interest to see what will be "produced" in the Expert, and Impossible level.

[zerium]

Nice short fight against mountains and normal strategies.
I tried this game on expert and normal, my third attempt was succesful. First build a route from Golmud to Xining and from Xining to the region north of the city. With the bonus and loans i build my rails to Qumarleb. Its important to check the map for ressources and factories. This was my way to win the game. There are a lot of ressources and factories in the "outback".
I had five uranium mines near Xining without a nuclear power point. Take loans, build the plant nd buy the uranium mines. Money, money, money...
Thanks for the map.

(my first post here)

[0alex0]

Hello there!

I'm new here, and this is my first post. Heartwarming to see there still is a lively community for this fine game

I've tried the new 'Twenty Years in Tibet' map. Beautiful map and a nice challenge. And I have a (technnical?) question about it.

I played it on Expert/Impossible settings. Heading steady for a Gold medal (about 100M personal value), nothing happens in 2014/2015 (or 2016). No takeover and no message about winning or losing the scenario. Quite a bummer Also, I was not allowed to borrow unlimited, as stated in the briefing (the 10.000K limit applied). I did get the 5M grant on connecting Xining to Golmud within 5 years. I played with the 1.06 patch.

Any hints on what I am doing wrong? I did not resign the state company, is this necessary for the takeover?

Kinds regards,
Alex

PS. I had a simular issue earlier with the 'Netherlands' scenario (without the 1,06 patch, I should mention).

[Sugus]

No takeover and no message about winning or losing the scenario

Same experiences by me! Played it just now on normal and fulfilled the Gold conditions after 17 years, but nothing happened at all. At short inspection by means of the editor showed, that - at least - the events triggering the winning conditions have been set up the worng way! The author (hogg) should restrict them to "the player only" or "the company of the player" and - most important of all - enforce the conditions "check them against player, company" and select the corresponding radio buttons ...

Anyway, playing the scenario was fun!

[RulerofRails]

Played this scenario recently for fun. Interestingly, I was awarded a medal at the end of the year I paid back the last of my bonds. Must have triggered them in an order that "works".

I realize that the growth rate of new industries is a bit high. But, because of the terrain, long-term profitability is not guaranteed. I didn't feel the need for the second industry investment company on the expert/impossible setting, but made use of it anyway and had the 50M PNW without its value. Overall a buy cheap industry and lay the rails you need kind of scenario, but that is fun for a change sometimes. Timing the finish of the expansion phase to start paying down those bonds is fun. This time when I was earning a steady 3-4M per year I decided to expand which in hindsight made me wait a few years longer for a medal. I laid rails through Yushu down to Gorze with a connection out to the lonely conversion warehouse. I owned industry in both towns and the prices were so low that I figured to boost the industry as well as making some nice profit hauling away before the price came up. I also wanted to make some money on the Tires I had produced thanks to the secondary company. I didn't plan enough to get an Auto Plant going, next time.

Seeing the terrain is so extreme, I made the climb out of Lhasa by getting a steady 3% grade thanks to a wooden bridge I built to swing from a climb up the south side of the valley across a side valley. Then I had a couple of 10 and 12 % sections, but nothing too bad before reaching Lhari. This meant that the trains would depart Lhasa without too much effort, but feels a little like cheating as my rails are on such a high embankment even right next to Lhasa station. I used wooden bridges other places also as sometimes they are cheaper than high-grade track-laying.

I had fun with this, thanks to the creator for your efforts!

[OilCan]

This game at first seems daunting because of the terrain, but I was able to achieve gold in about 12 years. There are plenty of resources to build a prosperous company (2 actually). If you like building track in rugged mountains, then this is your dream game.

Owning two separate companies with no means to merge them (or manipulate their stocks) threw me off my normal routine for a while. I understood the intent, one was to mainly lay rail and the other was to help build PNW, but I initially struggled on how to best use them in sync. In hindsight, it was an instructive challenge that taught me a new tactic or two.

The game directions were not clear on if I lost the ‘public’ company a moment before the end of the game, and thus lost its contribution to my PNW, or if the 20-year mark was indeed the end of the game. I peeking into the editor to find that the 20-year mark is the absolute end of the game: one does not lose the public company at all, all of its wealth counts towards your ending PNW.

I decided to build the route in bits and pieces. I chose the middle degree of toughness (can’t recall its name) and bought into industry right around Xining with both companies. Adding two more stations to completely cover Xining allowed my trains to start bringing in rail profit to my public company in the first month and to show profit the rest of the game.

When the bonds became cheaper, I jumped to mid-route to join a string of close cities while buying or building industry in them. I used my ‘private’ company to help build some sections of the track – this allowed rail traffic to send regular fee payments to my private company and lower its credit rating quicker. I also used my private company to build spur lines and then run a few trains (the AI takes over your trains when returning back to your public company – this is actually became a good thing boosting profits to both companies.)

If my public company bought a lumber company, my private company bought the logging camps or built a furniture factory. Playing the two companies off each other this way really helped their profits. I found the automotive industry chain to reap high, high profits.

Lhasa was reached using RoR’s idea of a wooden bridge, although I used multiple bridges while doing my best to keep a reasonable grade. Xining was reached by punching a tunnel through the Kunlun Shaw mountain range to Golmud and then racing the rail to Xining. In all, I connected 11 of the 20 cities.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed encountering a new challenge this game gave me through managing two companies in sync. Twenty years is plenty of time to meet the goals and have fun along the way. Thanks Hogg.

[TheBonobo4]

First time I tried this map on medium, I failed but played on for a further 6 months and would have gotten silver. Problem was I couldn't pay my bonds back in time. Though I think were I to play it again I could get silver on medium, as I made a few mistakes that were dumb in hindsight. Overall though it's a fun but challenging map.