Industrious Review

[Cliff]

Hi Overland -

I'm open to feedback everyone, so let me know what you think.

Very challenging start. On my first attempt, I bought one of the lumber mills for $900 -- had to sell one share of stock to come up with the $900. Anyway, the mill made mediocre profits ($125-$150 or so), but not enough to cover the track & station maintenance, so I lost money for the year.

Decided that wouldn't work, so on the 2nd (winning) attempt, I just added a couple of stations to towns that the track already ran through and started running trains. Trains hauled well, and I had no problems thereafter.

There weren't enough iron mines to support more than one steel mill, although there were dozens of coal mines. The one steel mill did very well, and supported 5-6 T&Ds. Ended up buying all the existing & newly hatched lumber mills, bought one paper mill & built one or two others. Built three furniture factories. There were already enough clothing factories (too expensive to buy). So hauling lumber, furniture, clothing, paper, goods, steel was no problem.

Late in the game I realized I could build an oil refinery to handle the output from dozens & dozens of oil wells. Well, the refinery went to max production at the get-go, but posted annual profits of only about $60 on my $2,700 investment. Guess I made a lot of money hauling oil though.

Bottom line: I had the investment profits & PNW goals met in the 17th or 18th year; hit 22 points late in the 19th year, but the gold win didn't trigger until the beginning of the 21st year, at which time I had 24 points.

Thanks much for a very enjoyable scenario; I look forward to more!

-- Cliff in Virginia

[Overland]

Hey Cliff,

Thanks for the feedback. Next time I'll have set it up to check for the winning conditions on a monthly basis instead of yearly. The oil is an unintentional source of income, good work.

[wsherrick]

I think the map is quite attractive. I am about 5 years into the game and so far I'm doing ok. You might want to check out the town of Lowland. I upgraded from a medium station to a large station and the station sinks below the earth's surface and becomes invisible. It is still there because trains stop at it, but you can't see it.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I upgraded from a medium station to a large station and the station sinks below the earth's surface and becomes invisible. It is still there because trains stop at it, but you can't see it.

I noticed the same thing. Maybe that's what happened to "Sink Hole City" on that map! I'm a few years into this one too and find it very appealing. Started like Cliff did my first time, but found you have to run some trains to cover the cost of track/station maint. Now that I'm over that hurdle, things are progressing nicely.

[wsherrick]

I finished with Gold after 25 years into the game. I used the limited funds you get at first to build stations and run trains. I bought industry carefully and when I did, I made sure my mills and factories got the raw material to make money. Like Cliff, I built an oil refinery and a steel mill. I only had two iron mines to draw from but I managed build branches to those mines and upgraded the steel mill and thus had enough steel to make goods. I found the game to be enjoyable and challenging. You should be proud of yourself and I hope to see more maps from you.

[EPH]

It is an interesting map and a fun scenario. I would suggest you add 'years elapsed' to the status report in the ledger so the player doesn't have to try to remember the start date. :)

[Overland]

You might want to check out the town of Lowland. I upgraded from a medium station to a large station and the station sinks below the earth's surface and becomes invisible.

That's why I named it Lowland! j/k The last time I played it the same thing happened to me. But I thought it was just a fluke.

I fixed the station at Lowland and I changed the Gold event to monthly, but I have a question. Since I didn't intend for oil to be a part of the senario, should I remove it in the update? It would make it more challenging, but I don't want it to be too difficult.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I didn't find it diffucult at all. Met the Gold requirements with many years to spare. I don't think I hauled any oil. Got lucky with a Steel Mill built on the south side of the map and had enough cash to buy it just as it started turning a profit. Made lots of steel to haul to T&D shops.

[Eb Zane]

Perhaps the prettiest map I have seen so far. I really like your bridge locations and river layouts. I'm only into year 2 but enjoying it...............so far. Next one please

EZ

[Overland]

Thanks Eb,

I'm currently working on "The Devil's Backbone."
I think you'll like its scenic nature, if nothing else.
Unfortunately, when it comes to Events, the devil is in the details.

Over

[Overland]

I played it again with an eye on oil production. Refineries don't come along until 15 years in, by that point I'm making enough money off of the various industries that my only real concern is earning enough points.

Wolverines comments not withstanding, I don't think it will change the difficultly. So in the spirit of maintaining the integrity of the map, Oil is out.

I just email Hawk "Industrious version 2" with the following changes:
Gold event set to monthly instead of yearly.
I made the zero view an overview of the map (an idea I took from Lama, I think it was).
The Lowland sink hole station has been replaced.
Oil has been removed.

I hope you enjoy it,
Over

[Hawk]

Overland,
Please send the map again. This worthless XP decided to hiccup and I didn't get the attachment.

[Hawk]

OK! The revised version is now available.
I think I'm going to take some time and play it, along with a couple other new maps. Wyoming Valley comes to mind.

[Cliff]

Hi Overland -

I just email Hawk "Industrious version 2" with the following changes:
Gold event set to monthly instead of yearly.
I made the zero view an overview of the map (an idea I took from Lama, I think it was).
The Lowland sink hole station has been replaced.
Oil has been removed.

I just tried your revised version; no problems on meeting the goals. Playing on expert, I was about 15 years into the game (1890 or so), was blessed with a booming economic situation for the last couple of years, had about $50M lifetime industry profits, about $17M PNW, about $5M company cash, had connected every city, doubled most of my tracks, had 19 points

-- and in late August 1850 I got a CTD

Reloaded the autosave and latest saved version about 3-4 times -- same CTD result in August.

Anyway, a bit frustrating, but I am confident that I would have pulled off a gold win within the next 14-15 years -- only needed three more measily points!

Didn't miss the oil; less clutter to deal with.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[Cliff]

Hi again -

This last time (the one just described) there were LOTS of irons, as well as coals -- don't know if that was just an extra good seed, or if you revised the basic industry. Anyway, I had two strong steel mills (each making over $1M annually), and could have had at least one more.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[Overland]

Hey Cliff,

Sorry you had a problem. Do you think it was the map?

Raising the point requirements is not a problem. I had gold set at 24 at one point and I believe my high was 28. Anybody think it should be harder?

And, are you suggesting I eliminate some of the iron and coal mines?
I usually can only keep one small steel mill in the black on this map.

I went with the point system so there would be more than one way to win. I managed a gold win without hauling any steel or goods. Maybe in order to do that I need more industries and with all active at the beginning. Any thoughts anyone?

[Cliff]

Hi Overland -

Sorry you had a problem. Do you think it was the map?

Don't know. Is there anything in particular which happens in August 1850 which might accidently trigger a CTD?

Raising the point requirements is not a problem. I had gold set at 24 at one point and I believe my high was 28. Anybody think it should be harder?

I dunno; the first time I played, I had 24 points in 20 years -- and you have 30 years to complete the scenario. The 2nd time I played, I had 19 points in 15 years. I guess it would be more challenging to raise the gold requirement to 30 points, as well as increasing the CBV & PNW requirments.

And, are you suggesting I eliminate some of the iron and coal mines? I usually can only keep one small steel mill in the black on this map.

Oh no, please don't! I love steel mills. There was only enough iron in my first game to support one steel mill, but in my 2nd game I had two strong steel mills, with enough iron & coal to support at least one more.

How about a couple of AIs? It's probably just me, but I really enjoy playing with AIs:

a. You can connect to them to generate "Miscelleneous Revenue."

b. You can buy into a strong AI company whoich pays a good dividend to help make you rich, while allowing your company to issue stocks for expansion.

c. You can buy them out, which usually increases your CBV and always adds cash to your personal account.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[Overland]

This is a really straight forward map. Other than the win/lose events, nothing is date dependent. There is nothing special about August 1850. So who knows...

I supose I could make a really difficult version of the map. Industrious-Ballbusterious.

My next map will have multiple companies.

[Cliff]

Hi Overland -

My next map will have multiple companies.

Can't wait to give it a try!

BTW -- this is probably a stupid "newbie" question -- I have never created maps: How did you get the animated river/harbor?? Is that something pretty special, or just another feature of the map editor? Anyway, it is very nicely done.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[Overland]

The animation is part of the game. You "paint" the area you want to be ocean, or lake, or river and the game does the rest.