Central Argentina

[Wolverine@MSU]

This scenario by Arop was a delight to play. On Expert I completed all of the requirements by the turn of the century. Since buying on margin and selling short on stocks is disabled, it took a long time to accumulate the $50M PNW goal. Not being allowed to issue stock slowed my company's growth. I used my usual strategy of "industry only" for the first few years to generate steady cash flow. When the economy was ripe I issued lots of bonds and started hauling. Had the maximum number of opponents and bought into them as they started to go under. Had to sell some of my shares, but more than made up for it by paying the maximum to buy them out. That allowed me to transfer some company money into my own pockets. Later on, I bumped my company's dividends and used them to buy more shares of my own company.

I would suggest cutting back on the cargo density at the start if the goal is to make the game last until 1960. It was pretty easy to meet the requirements by 1900. The only unconventional thing I had to do was use the "bait-and-switch" method to get coal from Buenos Aires to a stell mill I bought in the northwest corner of the map (in Laval I think). It would also spice up the game a little to have some historical events built into the scenario, even if only newspapers to announce them.

The last goal ($300M CBV) is set to trigger in 1960, but should be changed to trigger when all the goals have been met, even if it's before 1960. I didn't look closely at the events but it would be easy to do with a company variable keeping track of the individual goals. I also like to see the victory video when the medal is awarded. For some reason I like to see the old man walk out and greet the throng of enthusiastic supporters.

[belbincolne]

I know I played the original some time ago but noticing that it had been updated I tried it again. To be honest the scenarios far too easy and (on Normal) I'd met all the requirements except CBV after less than 30 years. I played on just to see how long it took to get Gold but then in 1900 (?) when the town connection requirement came up and I was just short of CBV I was told I hadn't connected and was fined $10m. As I'd connected every town on the map - plus other places - and had been told I'd met the connection requirements before 10 years were up I was so disgusted that I just packed it in

[ChrisW]

I'm wondering what Wolverine meant by the "bait-and-switch" method.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I'm wondering what Wolverine meant by the "bait-and-switch" method.

That's where a cargo you need delivered somewhere won't load on a train because the price at the destination is lower than the price at the source. The idea is to have a "temporary" destination city in the itinerary right after the source city where the price is higher than the source, and followed by the true destination city. You let the train load, and after it's headed off toward the "temporary" destination city, you reroute it to the desired destination city by clicking on the city in the list.

This tactic is no longer needed with the 1.06 beta patch, because with custom consists, you can "ship at a loss", where the cargo will load even if the destination city price is lower than the source city.

[JayEff]

Industry on this map is disproportionately low. The ratio of houses to industry is about 4:1. To have the number of industries required to meet all the demands you would typically need a house:building ratio of about 2.5:1. And the demand would affect the price, and the price affects industry profitability.

One way to increase coal demand at a steel mill is to increase the demand for steel. Haul it to the place on the map with the highest prices. Or build an industry right next to it that demands steel.

[ChrisW]

That's where a cargo you need delivered somewhere won't load on a train because the price at the destination is lower than the price at the source. The idea is to have a "temporary" destination city in the itinerary right after the source city where the price is higher than the source, and followed by the true destination city. You let the train load, and after it's headed off toward the "temporary" destination city, you reroute it to the desired destination city by clicking on the city in the list.

Aha, sneaky. I'll have to remember that one.

This tactic is no longer needed with the 1.06 beta patch, because with custom consists, you can "ship at a loss", where the cargo will load even if the destination city price is lower than the source city.

Good! But I'm holding off on 1.06 until it's finalized, so I'll still need this technique for a while.

[Hawk]

My guess is the 1.06 patch-final version is right around the corner.

[ChrisW]

Oh, good. It sounds like a lot of fun! I'm just nervous about beta versions ever since a disastrous experience with the Internet Exploder 6.0 beta a few years ago...

[Hawk]

I can certainly understand that.

[milo]

Yeah... trying to squeeze one final little thing into 1.06 before release. Schedule isn't playing nice.

[UncleJR]

Hmm, something must be goofy here.

I played this, got all the cities connected early, got my bonus, and yet when the deadline came, I was told that I HADN'T connected the cities and was out $10M.

Something wrong here?

[belbincolne]

Same here - see 2nd entry above