Railway Empire from Kalypso?

Started by WallysWorld, March 21, 2017, 02:43:19 PM

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Gusington

Hmm so city/town building is a little more detailed than I first thought.


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Greybriar

#31
Quote from: OJsDad on November 27, 2017, 07:20:33 PM
GB, its in my wishlist. Keep us uptodate on your thoughts and how its going.

I should have responded to your post as soon as the NDA for beta testers was lifted, but I somehow missed the announcement. :-[ Here's a few thoughts of mine about Railway Empire:

To begin with, I prefer the way Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon (and its successors) handle buildings--they are inside the railroad station and don't take up any room on the map.

Space on the map is at such a premium that some cities were left off the maps because there wasn't enough room for them. So say goodbye to your dream of building a Transcontinental Railroad across the United States...at least for now.

One of the new concepts RE has introduced is that of warehouses. Trains gather things and drop them off in a warehouse where other trains can pick them up and take them somewhere where there is a demand for them. I've had mixed luck with the concept; it can and does work well to a point but it also adds to the map clutter.

The signals in RE are unlike those in the Railroad Tycoon games. It is my understanding that since the trains in Railway Empire are programmed to take the shortest routes, if you have more than one train on a track, you are forced into using signals and sidings. I got around that by building a track for each train--but that really doesn't fix the problem as one can't haul much freight or many passengers and mail with but a single train. So let's hope the developers come up with something.

A player can do much in Railway Empire if s/he can figure out the way to do it. Here are a couple of posts from the beta forum to give you an idea of what I'm writing about:

Quote from: Outlaw Trucker
Quote from: Doc Savage
Also, when you run trains to NY, go into the consist editor (where the four platforms and all the available cargo is shown) and click on the Dresses so they have a Green Arrow. That tells any train headed to NY to take Dresses above all else first, then fill in the rest of the train. It isn't uncommon to see 8 cars of dresses on the line.
I'm pretty much a noob but I can't seem to find the consist editor you speak of. How do I access it?

Quote from: Doc SavageIt's buried, because it's important...
   
Click a track, then a train on the right.   
Then click the map icon on the left in the top of the bubble, it's the 2nd one.   
Then click one of the stations on the right... Here you need to click on NYC.
THEN you'll get the menu that matters.
   
You should see 4 platforms on top of the bubble, and the freight along the middle.
   
From this bubble you can tell a train to use a specific platform and in this case you can click the Dresses to make them a priority.
   
Cheers..!

I suppose after a while one could learn where all the little ins and outs are hidden away at. But I just don't have the patience. I want a USER FRIENDLY interface and not one I have to dig around in to find things.

At first glance, building tracks appears practically effortless. The process reminds me of the way it's done in Sid Meier's Railroads!. You stretch a length of track from one point to another, are given an opportunity to adjust it, and then hit the button to confirm. It's a lot faster and easier than in other railroad games I have played. But getting the line just right can really be a problem. On rough terrain I've clicked the wastebasket to get rid of a stretch of track that was giving me fits more frequently than I've hit the confirm button.

There is a limit of three industries in each city as well as one slot for an attraction. One would expect the starting industry in a town or small city to be one that has raw materials nearby. Not so! For example, since beer is in demand in most starting towns/cities, a brewery will often appear and there will be no grain anywhere close. But there will usually be some type of raw material nearby that has to be hauled partway across the map to another town/city. I really, really believe this should be changed and starting industries should be appropriate for nearby raw materials.

In most railroad simulation games I have played, there is a "Go To" button the player can use to find a city on the map. None exists in Railway Empire. I very strongly feel there SHOULD be a similar button in RE.

Similarly, a player can hop from one train to another using an arrow button in the RE interface. But there isn't a similar button to hop from one station to another. I feel there should be. This has been implemented.

I have no problem with seeing cartoony looking AI characters. Their appearance on some of the game screens doesn't bother me at all.

Furthermore, I don't really mind what evils the AI characters do. They seem to think causing me trouble is to hire one of my employees, steal an invention from me, or get a newspaper to print something unflattering about me. That's more petty than anything. Now if they would attempt to take over my railroad company by buying up my stock or hire saboteurs to blow up my railroad bridges, that would be more likely to get my attention.

Railway Empire has the potential to be a true "spiritual successor" to the original Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon that I played in 1990 (and still play occasionally). It is with that hope that I purchased  RE and became one of its beta testers. May it succeed!
Regardless of how good a PC game may be it will always have its detractors and no matter how bad a PC game may be it will always have its fans.

OJsDad

'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

Greybriar

Quote from: OJsDad on January 23, 2018, 07:53:34 AM
Thanks GB.

You're welcome. My only regret is that I did not honor your request earlier. Sorry about that.
Regardless of how good a PC game may be it will always have its detractors and no matter how bad a PC game may be it will always have its fans.

OJsDad

Quote from: Greybriar on January 23, 2018, 11:02:13 AM
Quote from: OJsDad on January 23, 2018, 07:53:34 AM
Thanks GB.

You're welcome. My only regret is that I did not honor your request earlier. Sorry about that.

I'm not in a hurry to buy, so not an issue. 
'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

airboy


Geezer

QuoteRelease Changlog 0.0.1-17479
Changes/Additions (since latest Beta-Version)
Added Linux support
Added ability to modify scenario data
Added: Signal direction will always be shown as long as a signal is selected
Added: Option to delete all tracks when buying a competitor
Added: A button to set depot values to max
Rebalanced some technology bonuses
Rebalanced some locomotives

Fixes (since latest Beta-Version)
Fixed placement when building multiple signals
Fixed several issues which spawned random buffers on tracks
Fixed a bug in chapter two which caused the cloth factory in Baltimore to dwindle
Fixed a bug in chapter two which caused the timeline to get stuck
Fixed a bug which caused trains to get stuck for no specific reason
Fixed: when switching trains in train details dialog, special wagons are updated properly
Fixed a bug which caused the game to freeze at the end of a scenario
Fixed: Trains are now centered every time the player selects them
Fixed several localization issues
Visual interface improvements


Known issues
i-Button in HUD has no functionality (yet)
-> But will get following functionality:
- There will be an additional view mode added as an indicator for the supply status of a city.
- There will be an additional view mode added as an indicator for which trains could

Note that they cut off the last sentence, not me.   ;)
We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.  George Bernard Shaw

joram

Quote from: Greybriar on January 23, 2018, 11:02:13 AM
Quote from: OJsDad on January 23, 2018, 07:53:34 AM
Thanks GB.

You're welcome. My only regret is that I did not honor your request earlier. Sorry about that.

I like these kind of games but your synopsis doesn't inspire me to buy this one.

Greybriar

Quote from: joram on January 26, 2018, 03:57:01 PM
Quote from: Greybriar on January 23, 2018, 11:02:13 AM
Quote from: OJsDad on January 23, 2018, 07:53:34 AM
Thanks GB.

You're welcome. My only regret is that I did not honor your request earlier. Sorry about that.

I like these kind of games but your synopsis doesn't inspire me to buy this one.

Then perhaps this video will:

Regardless of how good a PC game may be it will always have its detractors and no matter how bad a PC game may be it will always have its fans.

fran

I see this is now available on Steam, anybody playing it at the moment.

At the moment not willing to pay the full asking price.

Grim.Reaper

Quote from: fran on January 27, 2018, 04:03:00 AM
I see this is now available on Steam, anybody playing it at the moment.

At the moment not willing to pay the full asking price.

then don't, pay $32 instead:)

https://www.cdkeys.com/pc/games/railway-empire-pc-steam-cd-key

fran

Thanks, good link @£23 it sounds a lot more tempting.

Reviews seem positive....mmm Railway Empire vs Nantucket

bbmike

Quote from: fran on January 27, 2018, 06:16:49 AM
Thanks, good link @£23 it sounds a lot more tempting.

Reviews seem positive....mmm Railway Empire vs Nantucket

Or Mashinky.
"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
-Sherlock Holmes

"You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets."
-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

"There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!"
-The Doctor

"Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth."
-Clifford D. Simak

OJsDad

Mashinky is the other one I'm watching. 
'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

Geezer

I read that Mashinky has no AI and none is planned.  That is a game breaker for me.  YMMV.
We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.  George Bernard Shaw