Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uwm.edu!linac!att!cbnewsm!jonesie
From: jonesie@cbnewsm.att.com (charles.e.jones)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Railroad Tycoon bugs?
Keywords: Railroad Tycoon
Message-ID: <1991Jun26.171746.14013@cbnewsm.att.com>
Date: 26 Jun 91 17:17:46 GMT
References: <1991Jun25.143143.3957@athena.mit.edu>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 68

In article <1991Jun25.143143.3957@athena.mit.edu> ylsul@athena.mit.edu (Young Sul) writes:

>	-After several years, I no longer get reviewed. I don't know
>	 how many miles of track my opponents have, and I don't
>	 know how happy/sad my investors are.

	[I'm sure this is in the manual somewhere, but I missed too.]

	Sounds like you've set the 'Game Speed' to 'Turbo.'  The only
difference between 'Fast' and 'Turbo' seems to be that the 'Turbo'
setting suppresses *ANY AND ALL* informational dialogs.  (Turbo seems
to be the 'walk away' setting - the diaglogs suspend the game until
acknowledged, so the 'Turbo' mode suppresses them and keeps rolling.) 

	First time I realized this was when I wasn't getting any
information about a rate-war - first thing I knew about the outcome was
when I was presented with a "zoom" of the station with the other
railroad gone, accompanied by the "happy music."

	I am left wondering what happens when a bridge goes out while
the program is set to 'Turbo.'

>	-I can advance to the "Captain" level, but even after 40 or
>	 so years, I can't progress any further.

	Well, the game gives you 100 years, so you aren't even half way
there. ;-)

	Work harder to raise the net value of your railroad.  Also, you
may not be able to reach higher levels without raising the difficulty
level.  (I've made it to 'Congressman' at 50% difficulty after 100 years.)

>	-Sometimes I am unable to remove track, but I will note
>	 (what I think to be) the appropriate deduction from my
>	 funds.

	Sometimes (switches, etc.) the section of track must be removed
from both directions.  (Sometimes even when it doesn't make sense.)

>	-In the most basic level, I can watch trains go through
>	 each other on single track, rather than one stopping
>	 to let the other pass....so what good is doubling track?

	It's not worth as much with the 'no collision' option in
effect, but if the track were doubled, the train would not have
stopped.


	Now, for a bug I've come across.
	
	Try removing a station from the middle of your network.

	It seemed to *really* confuse the train routing for me.  All
the stations in the routing window claimed to be some other city,
though I could still schedule after a fashion.  And the distance
between stations became just as confused as the routing.  (A 'Pacific'
powered three-car passenger train set a speed record of 280 mph!)

	(I suspect that if you 'patch' around the station with track,
*then* remove it, keeping your network intact, you may not have this
problem, but haven't both ways with the same set-up.)


				Chuck Jones
				cej@ccsitn.att.com
				
	(Hey, I thought it was two shorts *and* one long when passing
		through a station without stopping!)