What would improve Railroads! ?
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thegrindre
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:20 am
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Daidoji Kaneda
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:49 pm
And it would allow anyone to have a train blocking the track to prevent a competitor from going to his own station...jturie wrote:
The only reason I thought of sharing competitor's track is to allow you to get to a new town or resource without having to build overpasses or extensive bypass track. Given the small map scale, I think it would start getting busy. I don't want you to be able to go into a competitor's station, just use stretches of their track. It would be a bear to implement within the restrictions of the track laying and routing logic in the software...
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Daidoji Kaneda
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:49 pm
I want (no order):
- Station to keep unwanted goods so I can reroute them...
- Longer games (both in map size and duration)
- a simple box to tick to have trains return to their start location stopping at all selected cities (have them do D-C-B-A when I set A-B-C-D)
- Trains to suffer from time (in good old RRT, your train could break apart if it was not well maintained) which leads to:
- ability to choose the maintenance level
- as mentioned before: upgrades to stations]
- have crossing tracks (not only bridges)
- company and personal cash to be separated (so that you don't loose if you get bought unless you have no personal money). you would earn a yearly rent from the railroads you have shares in.
- create any industry anywhere (esp. basic ones - livestock, mines, an so on) so that I don't have to rout fish (or any other) from one end of the map to the other.
In fact I want RRT REVAMPED...
- Station to keep unwanted goods so I can reroute them...
- Longer games (both in map size and duration)
- a simple box to tick to have trains return to their start location stopping at all selected cities (have them do D-C-B-A when I set A-B-C-D)
- Trains to suffer from time (in good old RRT, your train could break apart if it was not well maintained) which leads to:
- ability to choose the maintenance level
- as mentioned before: upgrades to stations]
- have crossing tracks (not only bridges)
- company and personal cash to be separated (so that you don't loose if you get bought unless you have no personal money). you would earn a yearly rent from the railroads you have shares in.
- create any industry anywhere (esp. basic ones - livestock, mines, an so on) so that I don't have to rout fish (or any other) from one end of the map to the other.
In fact I want RRT REVAMPED...
I noticed that people have listed reroutable goods -- how about a 'yard' that can be placed outside a city after it gets so big. It could be IDed by a 'yard' symble and running the curser on it gives a list of what is there.
Also there is that thumbnail map..... make it work in the following ways -
1) If you only have one monitor, click on it and it enlarges to full screen.
2) If you have 2 monitors, make it full size in the second screen.
Another thing that would be nice is an SW unit for short runs to a mine and back. Hooking up a full sized GP to haul 2 cars 2 or 3 miles doesn't look right.
Also there is that thumbnail map..... make it work in the following ways -
1) If you only have one monitor, click on it and it enlarges to full screen.
2) If you have 2 monitors, make it full size in the second screen.
Another thing that would be nice is an SW unit for short runs to a mine and back. Hooking up a full sized GP to haul 2 cars 2 or 3 miles doesn't look right.
Longer Trains and more
Aside from all the already mentioned improvements I've a couple of things on my wish list.
First:
Any consumer of goods will accept ALL of the goods at the first stop. Producers and converters (grain to food for example) always show how many carloads they can supply but no matter what the train route, ALL of the goods are gone at the first stop. Consumers should have set requirements based on their size or a consumption rate so that unused cars can be moved down the rail to another consumer.
Second:
It's not possible to set up a realistic supply/demand route with just eight carloads of goods. The number of cars an engine can pull should be limited only by the engines capacity to haul them when they're all fully loaded. Even that limitation should be left to the player to decide.
This is without a doubt the most bug ridden game I've owned ever, and I go all the way back to PONG! I'm hooked on this game though and I've been an avid tabletop engineer for years so I'm looking forward to some major repairs to bugs and improved gameplay as time passes.
There are some very good posts here, most of which I agree and I do hope Firaxis is watching these posts to that we're not just venting.
First:
Any consumer of goods will accept ALL of the goods at the first stop. Producers and converters (grain to food for example) always show how many carloads they can supply but no matter what the train route, ALL of the goods are gone at the first stop. Consumers should have set requirements based on their size or a consumption rate so that unused cars can be moved down the rail to another consumer.
Second:
It's not possible to set up a realistic supply/demand route with just eight carloads of goods. The number of cars an engine can pull should be limited only by the engines capacity to haul them when they're all fully loaded. Even that limitation should be left to the player to decide.
This is without a doubt the most bug ridden game I've owned ever, and I go all the way back to PONG! I'm hooked on this game though and I've been an avid tabletop engineer for years so I'm looking forward to some major repairs to bugs and improved gameplay as time passes.
There are some very good posts here, most of which I agree and I do hope Firaxis is watching these posts to that we're not just venting.
Game improvements
Hi all, first off I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with SMR!, it's not that it's a bad game, it's just that it lacks the standards of other SM / Firaxis games 
All these crash bugs are unacceptable.
Big beef to make the game better: Map usage
Next time you play a game, scroll around to various corners and edges of the map, you'll see huge gaps with no resources, no cities, just a big waste of space making the map even smaller. For example, check out the Great Britan map, the SW corner of the map is usually nothing more than empty space. Last game I played there wasn't a single resource down there.
Another request (related to first)
Scatter resources about, sure, that makes sense, but at least put some common sense in when puting in the manufacturing facilities. Think about NW America map with Canneries in the NE corner and the only fish supply in the SW of the map.
Third request
Better placement of starting terminal and/or track layout. Starting on the edge of a map with tracks coming in perpendicular to the edge, at least put the track placement parallel so you can use both sides of your station. I have also had to restart games because even after selling shares of stock you can't build a money-making set of connections. NW America is extra bad at this, I have started out at Spokane with a village (no mail or people) and had to spend all my money to build to a supply spot for income. Bad game design!
After having played every single RRT game ever (heck, while waiting for this to be released I found my RRT3 disk and played that) I have to say this is a big let-down. So many good things in the past games that are missing from here, while I can understand it being simplier to play, I think it has been simplified down too much. The game is all about the early build, then put on fast forward, upgrade trains and buy out opponents. Mid-game and late-game just simply don't exist, there's not enough room to build and even if there was you can't see anything to build if you wanted! I was able to finish all goals on the Midwest America map (steel in Pittsburg, etc) before the second "era" was finished, I bought the last opponent out very early in the 3rd era (playing on medium routing, second hardest difficulty setting, have since moved to Tycoon difficulty)
All these crash bugs are unacceptable.Big beef to make the game better: Map usage
Next time you play a game, scroll around to various corners and edges of the map, you'll see huge gaps with no resources, no cities, just a big waste of space making the map even smaller. For example, check out the Great Britan map, the SW corner of the map is usually nothing more than empty space. Last game I played there wasn't a single resource down there.
Another request (related to first)
Scatter resources about, sure, that makes sense, but at least put some common sense in when puting in the manufacturing facilities. Think about NW America map with Canneries in the NE corner and the only fish supply in the SW of the map.
Third request
Better placement of starting terminal and/or track layout. Starting on the edge of a map with tracks coming in perpendicular to the edge, at least put the track placement parallel so you can use both sides of your station. I have also had to restart games because even after selling shares of stock you can't build a money-making set of connections. NW America is extra bad at this, I have started out at Spokane with a village (no mail or people) and had to spend all my money to build to a supply spot for income. Bad game design!
After having played every single RRT game ever (heck, while waiting for this to be released I found my RRT3 disk and played that) I have to say this is a big let-down. So many good things in the past games that are missing from here, while I can understand it being simplier to play, I think it has been simplified down too much. The game is all about the early build, then put on fast forward, upgrade trains and buy out opponents. Mid-game and late-game just simply don't exist, there's not enough room to build and even if there was you can't see anything to build if you wanted! I was able to finish all goals on the Midwest America map (steel in Pittsburg, etc) before the second "era" was finished, I bought the last opponent out very early in the 3rd era (playing on medium routing, second hardest difficulty setting, have since moved to Tycoon difficulty)
Another needed improvement
While the "efficiency report" showing how much time is spent waiting / loading is nice, where's the info showing you how much of your train cars are used? If you have a train loading up 3 passenger cars but the city only has enough for 1 car, you could use hauling power to take along something else.
Speaking of the waiting / loading info, how's about clicking on it to see *where* the waiting time is coming from.
The more and more I play this the less I like it. This is not what I have in mind when I hear "Sid Meier's" name on _anything_. I have nothing but the highest respect for Mr Meier and his creations have whiled away hundreds, if not thousands of my hours, this is not up to his usual par.
Speaking of the waiting / loading info, how's about clicking on it to see *where* the waiting time is coming from.
The more and more I play this the less I like it. This is not what I have in mind when I hear "Sid Meier's" name on _anything_. I have nothing but the highest respect for Mr Meier and his creations have whiled away hundreds, if not thousands of my hours, this is not up to his usual par.
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rsuttles58
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:47 pm
It seems to me the majority of opinion I have read are in my camp. The difference being those who want Civ4 in a locomotives skin and those who just want to play with toy trains.
If I really wanted to split hairs I would start talking about how deisels can MU together with more then 1 engine per train so they can haul longer trains and still maintain they're speed and that kind of thing.
If I really wanted to split hairs I would start talking about how deisels can MU together with more then 1 engine per train so they can haul longer trains and still maintain they're speed and that kind of thing.
Toy trains with a bit of simulation/strategy appears to be the design so, in my opinion, that's the direction it should take. There are too many limitations to allow even a good tabletop set-up. A good table-top simulation with the added ability to handle supply/demand can be fun fun fun but the restrictions in this game just make it a chore. I have to admit I play without any AI competition for the pure pleasure of setting up passenger circuits and freight trains trying to route supplies where needed. Aside from the crashes and glitches that we all expect to be fixed in the first (and maybe not the last) patch, most of the suggestions posted here could make it much more playable.It seems to me the majority of opinion I have read are in my camp. The difference being those who want Civ4 in a locomotives skin and those who just want to play with toy trains.
It probably won't ever happen but I'd love to see the simulation of the trains and layout expanded with less emphasis on financial competition.
So I'd still wish for:
1) More cars/train
2) Rescale maps so cities are smaller
3) More stops on the routing system
4) Depots with switchyards to assemble trains and transfer cars
6) Slower passage of time (not just slowing down the whole game)
7) Consumers with carload demands
Unlimited playThat's what I spent my forty bucks for.
What I'd really like is double crossings; let's hope that ASCII shows what I mean:
=== - track
*** - placeholder
==============
********\**/******
*********X*******
********/**\******
==============
Well, okay, my diagram sucks
Anyway, what I mean is the option to have one crossings that allows trains to switch tracks both ways. Due to the proximity of most cities and ressources, it is often nearly impossible to install switches between stations without trains having to slow down to a crawl because the turns get too tight. It would also make it easier to allow a train coming in from a single spur to switch to different tracks on the main line.
=== - track
*** - placeholder
==============
********\**/******
*********X*******
********/**\******
==============
Well, okay, my diagram sucks
Anyway, what I mean is the option to have one crossings that allows trains to switch tracks both ways. Due to the proximity of most cities and ressources, it is often nearly impossible to install switches between stations without trains having to slow down to a crawl because the turns get too tight. It would also make it easier to allow a train coming in from a single spur to switch to different tracks on the main line.
I just want to be able to play for a full match without it freezing / CTD / or just hanging up in general.
... and that's playing by myself. Forget about playing with a computer opponent.
I'm not that far from Fireaxis' office... I wonder what they'd do if I drove up there and asked for a refund on the game.
... and that's playing by myself. Forget about playing with a computer opponent.
I'm not that far from Fireaxis' office... I wonder what they'd do if I drove up there and asked for a refund on the game.