Forum Newby saying hi and asking General Questions

[Sinophile]

Hello,
I am an American. I have played Railroads on and off since 2008. I like Railroads because it is less irritating the Civilization 4. It is also a game that isn't a child's game, but isn't violent. I can easily beat 3 CPU players on robber baron on any pre-installed map. I also used to regularly play multiplayer, however, it seems that the mulitplayer rooms are empty unless I play on a Friday or Saturday Night. Even then, it seems that Gamespy is full of hackers.
Anyway, here are my questions:
1.) Is there a secret cabal of players who still play SMR multiplayer somewhere?

2.) My game is vanilla, aside from the 3GB enabler and the 1.1 patch, are there any must-have mods I should download, such as better A.I.?

3.) I have never used any maps aside from the Christmas map. However, I am a bit overwhelmed at the availability of multiplayer maps online. My favorite "vanilla" map is Northwestern United States, because I like to grow tiny villages into Metropolises. What is the easiest way to find a map that I will enjoy?

4.) The only thing I dislike about Railroads is it's historical inaccuracy, specifically the American scenarios. Are there scenarios/mods that will allow me to force Irish and/or Chinese immigrants to work at gunpoint, or restless Native Americans who try to scalp my passengers?

[karsten]

Glad to hear that you like historical accuracy, because I always try to achieve that. For instance, my Arizona Gold V2.2 Scenario starts like this:

1871 - The Civil War has taught the nation that if it wishes to hold the Pacific Coast firmly to the Union, efficient transport will have to be provided, to limit the chance that some foreign country might annex California. Due to concerns of the Indian Reserves, construction is slow up to 1881 ...

which is of course a polite comment that the original inhabitants were not too happy to have a railroad built right through their territory, and resisted.

Universum once told me he couldn't stop laughing when Marx and Engels made a cameo appearance in my early UK scenario.

[Jancsika]

You should read this post.
http://www.smrsimple.com/forums/viewtop ... =34&t=3624
Darthroid is the master of online game and if you send him a challenge he will be happy to find somebody to play with.
Be aware he will go for the jugular
Jancsika

Welcome to the forum.

My game is vanilla, aside from the 3GB enabler and the 1.1 patch, are there any must-have mods I should download, such as better A.I.?

Not really. There are a lot of maps with new content but no mod to the AI

[keotaman]

...2.) My game is vanilla, aside from the 3GB enabler and the 1.1 patch, are there any must-have mods I should download, such as better A.I.?

No mods, but you can adjust the capabilities of the 17 AI's.
The file: RRT_Characters.xml, located at:
C:\Program Files\2K Games\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Railroads!\Assets\XML
holds image dds and values for the four skills: build, finance, operator & robber.
See the attached chart for default values.
This may make them a bit tougher, but they don't really get smart.