Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site cornell.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!vax135!cornell!doug From: doug@cornell.UUCP Newsgroups: net.games.board Subject: Improved truly fair Rail Baron rules Message-ID: <1324@cornell.UUCP> Date: Tue, 3-Dec-85 23:20:26 EST Article-I.D.: cornell.1324 Posted: Tue Dec 3 23:20:26 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 5-Dec-85 07:30:57 EST Sender: doug@cornell.UUCP Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept. Lines: 104 From: doug (Douglas Campbell) After looking at my previous posting, I decided that my scheme for railroad pricing was sound, but that the Northeast rails needed a little fixing. So, I went back and made changes to Portland, Boston, and New York in the weights they give to the rails they connect to. I gave half of Portland's weight to the B&M, and a quarter each to the PA and NYC. I split Boston four equal ways, to the B&M, NYNH&H, PA, and NYC. Finally, I split New York equally between the NYC and the PA. The reasons are that Portland and Boston are effectively locked by the PA and NYC in addition to the B&M and NYNH&H, and the NYNH&H doesn't really ever help you get to New York. So, posted below are the resulting prices as a result of this fix. I also ran the algorithm for the Seattle rules, with and without the fix. Original Seattle fix no fix fix no fix 56,000 47,000 48,000 42,000 PA - Pennsylvania 40,000 31,000 34,000 28,000 NYC - New York Central 39,000 39,000 34,000 34,000 AT&SF - Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe 38,000 38,000 36,000 36,000 SP - Southern Pacific 30,000 30,000 31,000 31,000 UP - Union Pacific 26,000 26,000 18,000 18,000 B&O - Baltimore & Ohio 23,000 23,000 20,000 20,000 SAL - Seaboard Air Line 23,000 23,000 30,000 30,000 L&N - Louisville & Nashville 19,000 19,000 25,000 25,000 CRI&P - Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific 19,000 19,000 19,000 19,000 C&O - Chesapeake & Ohio 16,000 16,000 20,000 20,000 NP - Northern Pacific 15,000 15,000 18,000 18,000 WP - Western Pacific 15,000 15,000 17,000 17,000 SOU - Southern 15,000 15,000 17,000 17,000 CMSTP&P - Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pac. 15,000 15,000 16,000 16,000 CB&Q - Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy 15,000 15,000 22,000 22,000 C&NW - Chicago & NorthWestern 14,000 14,000 18,000 18,000 GN - Great Northern 13,000 13,000 11,000 11,000 ACL - Atlantic Coast Line 12,000 12,000 13,000 13,000 SLSF - St. Louis - San Fransisco 12,000 12,000 14,000 14,000 MP - Missouri Pacific 10,000 10,000 14,000 14,000 N&W - Norfolk & Western 10,000 16,000 6,000 12,000 B&M - Boston & Maine 9,000 9,000 6,000 6,000 T&P - Texas & Pacific 8,000 8,000 9,000 9,000 IC - Illinois Central 8,000 8,000 8,000 8,000 GM&O - Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio 7,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 D&RGW - Denver & Rio Grande Western 4,000 14,000 1,000 8,000 NYNH&H - New York, New Haven, & Hartford 3,000 3,000 2,000 2,000 RF&P - Richmond, Fredericksburg, & Potomac I believe that the prices with the fix are much more reasonable. Just for fun, I printed out the probabilities of going to each city under the original and the Seattle rules. Here are some highlights: (Numbers are the percent chance of going to the city) Top 10 Original Seattle 4.05 New York 2.70 New York 3.94 Los Angeles 2.55 Portland, Ore. 3.40 Chicago 2.51 Oklahoma City 2.89 Philadelphia 2.51 Kansas City 2.89 Boston 2.33 Indianapolis 2.78 Seattle 2.33 Detroit 2.78 Kansas City 2.31 Philadelphia 2.62 Portland, Ore. 2.31 Memphis 2.60 Baltimore 2.12 Spokane 2.60 Atlanta 2.12 Salt Lake City Bottom 10 Original Seattle 0.69 Tucumcari 0.77 Dallas 0.69 Reno 0.77 Chattanooga 0.69 Little Rock 0.64 Billings 0.69 Charleston 0.58 St. Paul 0.62 Pocatello 0.58 Shreveport 0.62 Casper 0.39 Tampa 0.52 Shreveport 0.39 El Paso 0.52 Chattanooga 0.39 Charleston 0.52 Charlotte 0.39 Birmingham 0.46 Fargo 0.39 Albany Other Original Seattle 2.31 San Fransisco 1.35 San Fransisco 2.08 Oakland 1.54 Oakland 1.74 Miami 1.35 Miami 1.16 Portland, Me. 1.54 Portland, Me. Where the top 10 went/came from Original Seattle 1.23 Oklahoma City 1.93 Los Angeles 1.06 Indianapolis 1.91 Seattle 2.33 Detroit 1.70 Chicago 1.22 Memphis 1.35 Atlanta 0.77 Spokane 1.16 Boston 1.39 Salt Lake City 0.96 Baltimore In conclusion, I think I will use the original rules for destinations, and the new railroad prices with the fix. This is because the rail price changes seem more effective than the probability changes (shown by the relatively small price changes in railroads under probability changes). Doug Campbell doug@cornell.{UUCP|ARPA}