German East Africa - new Version 1.2

[karsten]

Can't say, to be honest. Perhaps Warll can give you some advice.
I think extra memory is pretty low priced these days, might be worth it .

[karsten]

Can't say, to be honest. Perhaps Warll can give you some advice.
I think extra memory is pretty low priced these days, might be worth it .

[Warll]

If you're running XP then you likely are not on a computer with DDR3 so RAM will actually be very expensive. There is no benefit or cost if the /3GB switch in xp is not set.

[keotaman]

… Well, I tried the 3GB switch, but unfortunately it didn't solve the problem for me. …

#7 in the CRASHING-Cheklist!!!! It worked well for me on XP, and it's the only thing that did. Seems to be the "static" part that does the trick!
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=4247

[karsten]

So by today, German East Africa - new Version 1.2, has been downloaded 200 times from this thread alone, that's great!

But from the absence of comments here I guess people may have problems making progress with the map. If you would like a few tips and tricks to help you succeed, let me know. I will be pleased to post some clues here.

[ilclifford72]

Tips!

Firstly I must say what an excellent map and challenging, for me at least, even in Investor mode.

Having played the map starting location seems to be key since the first goals are the hardest as you say and Dar-es-Salaam seems to be the best start.

My difficulty is the 0/200 passenger requirement for three cities in the final era, any tips?

[ilclifford72]

Tips!

Firstly I must say what an excellent map and challenging, for me at least, even in Investor mode.

Having played the map starting location seems to be key since the first goals are the hardest as you say and Dar-es-Salaam seems to be the best start.

My difficulty is the 0/200 passenger requirement for three cities in the final era, any tips?

[karsten]

Minotaur says: "It seems that it’s impossible to complete 1st era goals as Robber Baron if you start at Uvinza or Kigoma."

True. And yet, here is how to succeed from the most unpromising starting location, Kigoma: Sequence a money machine.
1. Deliver wood to Uvinza.
2. Deliver wool to Kaliula.
3. Deliver textiles to Kigoma, then to Uvinza, passengers and mail back.
4. Shuttle passengers and mail between Kigoma and Uvinza.

After reaching Ruvu, double-track Ruvu=Dar es Salaam. Once Ruvu finally starts accepting passengers, shuttle two trains with 2 passenger waggons to and fro and just scrape in with 10 passengers before era 1 runs out!

A bit of luck is probably needed. My first random mayoral order was to deliver 7 wool to Kaliula. On completion, that netted me an additional $100, which provided crucial early support. Don't connect Kaliula before the first order is issued, otherwise you will get a useless order for another unconnected town!

[karsten]

My difficulty is the 0/200 passenger requirement for three cities in the final era, any tips?

Hi ilclifford72! Thanks for the encouragement. You are right, there is no way Dar es Salaam can generate 600 full passenger loads during the game. The way out is that partial passenger loads count fully, ie four half-full cars count as 4 deliveries, not 2!
Thus, we again apply the shuttle solution, with lots of trains taking out one or two passenger waggons. To avoid too much costly overhead, these trains should be transporting profitable goods as well.
Let us continue the map discussed in the previous post into era 2. With the Kigoma-Uvinza money machine by now running at full blast, money should be pouring in. Expand the dual rail from Ruvu to Dodoma.
Now, we know from experience that it is impossible to run 3 or more trains on a dual track without SMR getting them snarled up quite quickly. We need a loop, on which the trains are forced left on the first journey from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, and left again onto the second rail on the way back from Dodoma to Dar es Salaam. In this way, we can later smoothly run even 10 or 16 trains on a dual track between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma, without any of them getting stuck! To be continued...

[ilclifford72]

Thanks for the comprehensive post Karsten, it was very helpful though as someone new to the game I'm not up to the Robber Baron level yet.

One thing I find extremely frustrating is the lack of routing control, no depots as per RRT3.

I have completed the goals on Financier, used the starting points described but also ripping and relaying track to ensure that Dodoma, Kigoma, and Tanga all had dedicated tracks into Dar-es-Salaam for passenger delivery thus keeping them off the freight network.

Out of interest where do you route the Nitrates to for the medicine delivery to Dar-es-Salaam?

[karsten]

where do you route the Nitrates to for the medicine delivery to Dar-es-Salaam?

Here is the answer (screenshot): the nitrates are part of the passenger transport to Kigoma. Kigoma has a medicine facility that generates medicine for Dar-es-Salaam.

Note how the loop works. On the outward leg of the journey, the sheep farm is connected only to the north track, forcing the train to keep right when leaving Dar-es-Salaam. Then, in Kigoma, it is forced right again on the return leg of the trip, because the grain farm is connected only to the south rail.
In this way, you can have 10 or more trains circulating peacefully without blocking each other!

Note that to complete Era 2 with the starting conditions of Kigoma and Robber Baron, you will need to get the cheap maintenance patent early in Era 2 at the latest. Otherwise, I don't think its possible to attain the net worth goal of Era 2, since the low Robber Baron earnings are eaten up either by maintenance or engine replacement costs.

The second most difficult goal in Era 2 is the delivery of the emergency goods to Tanga. With really good planning, it is possible. After that, millions of dollars accumulate quickly, meaning that your money worries are over.

[tiresharkdb]

wow... this one is a doozy... i think it's the first map i havent been able to beat on robber baron. has anyone ever beat this on robber baron before?

i was able to complete the first era goals on robber baron (and without train maintenance patent), but nowhere close on the 2nd era. i restarted probably 20 times until i got a train maintenance patent first, and finally got one early at like 1849. even then, i still couldnt hit the 2nd era goals. best i could do was like 17 million, and 30 of the tanga shipment... dont think i made the mail requirement either.

i usually play with 2 AI, because it helps complete the first era by having ruvu/uvinza built up by the computer by the time you get enough money to connect them... but that makes it really hard later in the game. i tried it a few times solo, and with an early train patent... but still couldnt make it.

so before i spend a ton more time on this, im just curious if anyone has beaten it on RB... heh.

[tiresharkdb]

welp, i spoke too soon i guess . the first game i started after i made this post i got pretty much all the good patents early in the first era. been working on it for a few hours, but i think i will be able to complete the 2nd era... will have to see how it pans out.

oh, and im on RB difficulty and no AI.

[karsten]

wow... so before i spend a ton more time on this, im just curious if anyone has beaten it on RB... heh.

Not that I know of... so go for it. Good luck and good planning!

[tiresharkdb]

whew... ok i finally beat it on RB solo. i dont think its possible to beat it with AI, especially since it costs so much to cross one of their tracks.

anyway, i got the maintenance patent early in the first era and that helped me make it. completing the first era required the most strategy... after that the map yielded a lot of money. it was very difficult to finish the passenger requirements of the last era... but there was so much money that i just laid 6 or 7 tracks across the map, and as the trains delivered the passengers, i would delete the old trains and start new ones.... went through probably 100 or more trains like that. for example: i had 6 lines from Del to Kigoma, with about 75 years left... i ran 2 car trains, deleted them as they arrived, and sent new ones... and still barely made the deadline.

its a good map, but i think it could be tweaked a little, so it isnt as difficult... and so there is a little more balance between money and goals (in other words, requires less train/track buying, and more strategy/planning).

i think the first era is perfect... it's difficult, but doable on RB even with AI. it would actually be a great map on its own IMO... or perhaps on its own with a few more challenges to round it out.

2nd era i would suggest dropping the cash requirement to 10-15 million, tanga manufactured goods to 20-40, and mail to 25.

3rd era maybe reduce oil to 50-75... i had to do the same thing here, had 2 tracks and deleted trains as they arrived.

4th era maybe reduce passenger requirements to 50-100, and maybe reduce arms to 100.

just some suggestions for making it more RB friendly... dont know how balanced it is for other levels. anyway, nice work on the map. Thanks!