New timescale makes all the difference

[Falconer]

After having had a very busy December, I finally got around to play the game again. Barely managed to make the time to play it when it first came out, so you can imagine that it was almost like starting over.

First thing I did was 'fix' the timescale. I slowed it down to a quarter of the original and for the first time, I felt the pace of the game actually -fit- the game. It actually gave me some control/influence over my in-game future.

Instead of just madly and blindly putting down stations and buying trains, I could form a strategy, find the good source materials, set up a deliberate production line starting with minerals, ending with cars and more.

I played everything on the hardest difficulty (which is a bit challenging early on, but not extreme) and got a bit of a shock when one of my competitors bought out the other one when the first reached about 15M net worth (I played with 2 AI players). I was feeling a little exposed with all of my own stocks sold to get my production going.

But then I skyrocketed. By the time he reached 20M, I had gathered around 30M, owned all my stocks and some of his. I started attacking his income by mirroring his own routes.

There is something immensely gratifying in seeing your competitor, one you feared would buy you out at some point, starts going down in net worth. Now I'm worth 220M and he's down to -300k). What a blast!

Alas, nothing much left to do now, other than replace my trains every now and then. I've maxed out every opportunity out there, and then some.

Fun!

[intisol]

First thing I did was 'fix' the timescale. I slowed it down to a quarter of the original and for the first time, I felt the pace of the game actually -fit- the game.

Would be nice some more explanation about how to do and how it works this trick!

Thanks

[Falconer]

It's already been explained elsewhere in the forum, but this is a good moment to put it in the Wiki:

http://www.hookedgamers.com/wiki/Sid_Me ... :Interface

[intisol]

very well done!

It's quite tricky to find things in the forum (and not always infos are complete and organic).

Would be also nice if the next patch would allow this setting in the scenario setup screen.

[Falconer]

Yup, it would. I was actually wondering why it -wasn't- part of the normal interface yet...

[intisol]

I have the suspect that in this way (turns=64) the game becomes much easier!

[ux-3]

Doesn't this more or less boil down to this: You are extending the time you have to fullfill the scenario objectives? In that sense, it would make the game a lot easier.

[d53642]

Pretty much but this option was only added because it was requested and I don't think the game needed alot of coding to to add it.

If you are playing Scenarios I would just leave it to default since they were made before this option was added.

Daryl

[Falconer]

Correct, it's not easier as in that it changes the difficulty settings, but it does change how much time you have to 'process' your ideas/strategy.

A couple of things to consider:
> A first person shooter becomes more difficult when they throw 50 enemies at you at the same time. It can mask the low quality of the AI that way.
> Technically speaking, setting the speed very high gives YOU a handicap over the AI players. They can make their decisions as fast as you can, but they can IMPLEMENT the decisions MUCH faster. Is that a fair handicap?

I was able to easily win at the normal speed at the highest settings so for me the challenge is not so much to win but to set up a successful line at my own pace. It all depends on what you want to do.

[snoopy55]

The slowing down also gives you an ability that the AIs have that you don't - they are able to change a trains consist based on what is available at each stop. When you have 10 trains going it's hard if not impossible to make those changes at the original settings. One less passenger carrige or grab that one available steel load can make all the difference in the world. And the fact that if you take one of them over their trains continue to do this, unless you touch them, is a big advantage. Unless it's dumping goods at a annex, I tend to leave them alone. Just adjust trackage.

All that aside,(sorry bout that) more time can mean fewer empty cars and more money.

[intisol]

After playing at the more difficult levels I have to say that slowing the time scale doesn't make it easier: if you are playing with 3 AI the problem is actually make enough money to buy them out before they do buy you! You have more time, but also they have it.

Anyway the game is full of various kind of bugs, I'm not a very hard player (RRT II, civ2 & 3, simcity 1-2-3-4) but this is the first time I've found so many bugs in a game, they do not only affect the graphics (flying bees, missing tunnels, floods, etc), but also game play (unselectable tracks, unconnectible tracks if not after various try from different views, one time is also happened that the game make me buy out the last opponent without my click on the buy button - I didn't even had enough money - thank you very much!).

[Cliff Barney]

First thing I did was 'fix' the timescale. I slowed it down to a quarter of the original and for the first time, I felt the pace of the game actually -fit- the game. It actually gave me some control/influence over my in-game future.

I don't see the point. Doesn't hitting the half-speed button at the top-right of the screen accomplish the same thing?? And you can always pause the game to think through your strategy. With the 1.10 patch you can even lay track while the game is paused.

Just finished my first game after downloading the 1.10 patch this morning (had maxed out points (highest was 550 on the Europe scenario) a couple of months ago on all the scenarios, playing at the "Tycoon" level, but got tired of all the problems -- so went and played Pirates! for a few weeks).

Had so much fun this morning on the SE US scenario (the easiest), which I played at the new hardest "Robber Baron" level, that after I had won (200+ points) I reloaded the start and played the whole thing again, finishing slightly higher (241 points). Of course, I should mention that I got a super-easy start -- Los Angeles! Have had a little difficulty in the past when starting in Bullhead City or some such.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[TheProgrammingGuy]

Doesn't hitting the half-speed button at the top-right of the screen accomplish the same thing?? And you can always pause the game to think through your strategy. With the 1.10 patch you can even lay track while the game is paused.

Actually, no it doesn't. The "speed" button changes both the rate at which time passes and the game engine speed (affects the speed of trains/resource generation). Changing the newly-added timescale adjusts the speed at which in-game time is passing, not how fast trains move. Increasing the timescale effectively gives you more time to complete goals, decreasing it would give you less time (though I don't think anybody wanted it for that).

I have recently been playing the Alaska map with a timescale of 64 (finding out this is probably too much, I'll most likely play at 32 from now on). Since the map has no goals and I'm not playing with any AI, it's just me and laying track. The timescale here has mainly affected when new trains are available. So in the beginning, you're stuck with low end trains for quite some time, while you attempt to expand or keep routes profitable. It's actually been a lot of fun being able to take my time and create efficient routes or rebuilding my infrastructure.

You could pause, but it adds a kind of unnatural-ness to the game. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe you could lay track while paused pre-1.10.