![!DUH! *!*!*!](./images/smilies/smilie120.gif)
Anyway, events. For the next beta I've decided on:
1/ 20% reduction in all Latvian cargo production at game start, increasing by 5% per year until it reaches 100% (IOW, normal after four years). Percentages can easily be tweaked if necessary.
2/ Have reinstated the ability to do unlimited multiple companies, but...
3/ ...the catch is that every time you start an extra one (not counting your first one) access cost for Russia increases by $1.5 million. So you can robber baron and/or cash cow to your heart's content if you want to, but if you do that you'll be up for a whole lot of money to get into Russia, and you need Russia for Gold. Creating a total of three companies will put Russian access cost at $6 million. If that's still too exploitable I'll add some extra devious nasties, but I thought it was worth trying the option for extra fun and games (we are supposed to be having fun here).
4/ The requirement for Estonian pax haulage has been increased from 20 loads to 25 per year to avoid a penalty. Penalty for <25 loads is the same as before ($200k company, $40k player).
5/ Bonus for 25+ loads has been halved ($100k company, $20k player) but there are now additional higher bonuses for 50+ loads ($200k company, $40k player, or the same as previously) and 75+ loads ($300k company, $60k player) and 100+ loads ($400k company, $80k player). Since Estonian pax haulage is a thing I thought I might as well encourage it some more. You can haul a lot of them if you decide to really go for it, but if you don't want to you don't have to.
6/ The Latvia-Estonia alliance early in the game no longer gives a reduction in access cost to Estonia. Instead, it now gives cheaper track laying in Estonia.
7/ Russia now has a 30% reduction on all cargo production. Can easily be tweaked if necessary.
8/ Requirement to haul Automobiles to Pskov has been removed.
9/ Instead, Gold now requires personal cash to be 0 or greater. (IOW, no personal debt. May change this to a modest PNW requirement. Will see how it goes.)
10/ Lithuanian offer of assistance no longer gives the option of increased pulling power. It's not needed on this map, and was playing havoc with express/freight loco balance with the new cargo car scale (which I am using, even though it's not compulsory or necessary). Instead, you get the option of a further 10% reduction in water and oil usage, for an additional increase in range. This will increase locomotive effectiveness, so is pretty much as good as extra pulling power but without the balance problems.
This has all been coded and is ready to rumble (assuming I haven't made any mistakes). The only other significant changes are the swamps, which will require a bit more thought given to track laying in some areas but won't make things painful, and the extra river (ditto).
Ok, swamps are done now, or at least as far as water patches go. I may add swampy sounds to them just as a bit of a warning, as they can be hard to spot. I'll also check them to make sure none of them really knacker anything important in the way of routes, but they seem ok for that.
If you think this is bad, it's nowhere near as bad as the real deal. This is just representative of the area, to the limits of my patience.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)