Long-term motivation?

[eXeZ|Gamer433]

Hey there!

Before I buy this game:
I often played such kind of games and they have all the same kind of problem: Your first route is tricky, but when money rolls, you just build, build, build without any money problems or challengings.

What about this game? Do this game works on same way?
There isnt even a multiplayer for competition. What is the long-term motivation?

Honest questions, no badmouthing.

[numbat]

My first aim in every map I start is to get every product being produced and being shipped to every town that requires it, in good quantity. The first time you do this you will earn the EPEC badge so that is an achievement. This is not as easy as it sounds, and figuring out how to handle cargo right across the map and deliver to the towns takes some planning.

My second aim in every map is to get every town growing with at least 400% growth, or more depending on the map and the number of towns. Again, not so easy to do.

You are right, that once the money starts rolling in there is no inherent challenge, but setting your own personal goals gives you those.

I have also, more recently, started spending time making my maps look good. I never used to worry, but there is some satisfaction in having a really good and busy looking cargo freight hub, for instance.

There is also a bit of a challenge keeping the rolling stock up to date. As you progress through the era's, more trains/wagons become available, and the increased speed can often produce other challenges within the game.

Cheers,
Chris.

[Tsubame ⭐]

Yes, once money starts rolling in, it is a non-factor.

As for objectives, it really depends on the map and set objectives you gave yourself.

"For profit" playthroughs, I tend to focus on EPEC.

Sandbox map usually have individualized objectives, i.e. city building, network recreation, etc.

Decorating is a thing.

In one map alone I have 1k+ hours played.

[larry_roberts]

I just enjoy building railways, but you reach a point when you can build no more, and the only thing to do is start a new map and go through the dreary process of making money again.

[RadiKyle]

Hi, if you crank up the difficulty setting to Very Hard and combine it with certain industry mods, early game is definitely a lot harder and more likely to go bankrupt. But it's only "numerically harder" with slimmer margins, meaning it just takes longer until you reach the "winning" point, but the underlying mechanics are still the same. Once you reach that point the financial challenge is gone again (unless you do something really stupid lol...).

Much of the challenge is actually technical/construction/logistics... It's challenging to get the full volume of traffic in/out of stations and thru your network to meet full city demands, because of available space and traffic congestion, especially for rail. Moreso if you're also trying to make it look realistic/good.

[eXeZ|Gamer433]

Thank you all for your answers.

There are a lot transport games out there and every single one of them has the same problem: You go rich very early and the challengings are only this, you imagine yourself.

I dont want to complain, I really dont want, because, I even dont know, how to change this. Its just the core mechanic of those games.

The only thing what keeps me playing, is to complete with other players (without lame sabotage, for sure). But this game has no multiplayer (no blame!).
In the end, its just a game like the all other transport games, I fear.

Thanks again and have fun!

[Ozzie_Reaper]

With these types of games, thats how it will always be but transport fever does offer hundreds of hours per save, like you said "Your first route is tricky, but when money rolls, you just build, build, build without any money problems or challengings."
the game gets more challenging as you expand, as as your traffic and demand increases you have to try and manage otherwise you could have congestion that bottlenecks everything else. if your infrastructure cant handle it you either rebuild or try to upgrade it. similar to factorio if you ever play it.
i always play 1-3 map with 6 demand for citys as its the most expansive play style i find. yes money wont be an issue late game but that's dependent on how successful your lines (routes) are. your careful planning is what makes you success because if just make lines everywhere you will have a spaghetti mess of stuff making it very hard to expand or upgrade.

[Abbittibbi]

Whilst it's easy to get a few lines going, making a profit, the long term goal is fixed by the company owner, and he's it's own competition, no need for other parasites on a map to go against. This is not a multiplayer and for one, I sure wish it will never be, not even VS stupid AI.

It is a very challenging thing to get a real efficient network, delivering every product and passenger to every town. It's easy to make a spaghetti network, it is very hard to get it all sorted in a aesthetic manner. For train, each of my company has 2 totally different networks: one for passenger and the other, much more complicated for cargo. The cargo is the challenge, once there is a few main lines, here comes all the secondary connections, then the lines to all the town, added to one or two cargo hub, where everything transit, now we're talking. All of this with up to date vehicles, and not letting them deteriorate and increase maintenance.

You want a challenge, try having 36 train cargo lines(or more) coming in and out to one cargo hub. Try having 400+ trains running at once supported by 3000+ land vehicles, not counting ships and planes to complete it. Try connecting 45-50 towns(or more) on a megalomaniac size islands map. Once that's done, you can ask your question again. And upmost, try not to make a spaghetti...

If that is not enough, try to get a network where no track cross another, with all the splitting and merging coming in on the right side of the track, with tunnels or rail bridges. Try to have zero level crossing, with zero traffic jam and zero loan after the initial loan is paid back.

To me, planning is everything in this game, I think of it when the game is not running.

[eXeZ|Gamer433]

Originally posted by Abbittibbi:

[...]

Yah! And when you tie your hands on your back and you have to click your mouse with your feet, whilst your eyes are covered, this is challenge!

Sorry, dont get me wrong. Surely you can try to play your game as perfect as possible (achievements can also be a good motivation), but everything you said, was imagined challenges you choosed and made yourself.

I mentioned it before: I understand WHY those games work like this. I dont even have an idea to make it better.
I'm playing since 35 years now and I played those games really often. If you play a TTD from 1994, a Transport Giant from 2004 or this Transport Fever 2 from 2019, the concept is always the same. But unfortunately, all have the same "problem": You went rich very early and everything you do is just to make more money and more.
I respect those games, really I do and I love them. But when you played so many of them, you get bored one day. I really want to play a good one again, but I know, it dont need much time, when it crashs in the same boringness, like always.

I really don't want to badmouth the game, i bet its really fun. But I think, you understood my point.

[Tsubame ⭐]

I get what you are saying, unfortunately for you, the vast majority of games with broadly similar mechanics have this issue.

The game has different difficulty levels; higher difficulty levels reduce the amount of revenue. Plus some mods that increase maintenance.

These may postpone the time at which you have so much cash nothing matters, in one way or another, as lines that are viable in easier difficulties will not be on harder ones.

[eXeZ|Gamer433]

Originally posted by Tsubame ⭐:

I get what you are saying, unfortunately for you, the vast majority of games with broadly similar mechanics have this issue.

The game has different difficulty levels; higher difficulty levels reduce the amount of revenue. Plus some mods that increase maintenance.

These may postpone the time at which you have so much cash nothing matters, in one way or another, as lines that are viable in easier difficulties will not be on harder ones.

Yes, thats true.
I took some time and thought more about this and maybe I have some ideas to bring new wind in this genre:

- You need materials for building rails and factories. But you can buy not much materials per month (to avoid total standstill and also to avoid that you can buy everything with money). The most materials you need, you have to produce yourself (maybe additionally, you need materials for maintanance your routes?).

- Employees (educated and not so educated) for productions. You have to build and support schools/high schools and every city can have potential employees. So its important to connect every city/town on the map.

- Contracts with better or not that good conditions. These contracts are for 1-4 years, then you need to subscribe new ones.

- You can choose if you want to sell your products in the destination town or give them for free (for poor people) to help the town growing faster. Also transporting passengers for free could have similar effect.

- Build and support nature projects to compensate damages you do to the nature with all of your trains, factories and so on. A counter could calculate every produced CO² you did from the beginning of your company and when year xxx is reached, it becomes an important topic and you have to compensate your damages from the past (and the current ones, of course).

- All the electricity you need (for factories and trains who drives with electricity) you have to produce yourself and there are different ways for that. (Supply them with materials and its a important part of the CO²-thing).

Yes, maybe some of you would say, that this become way too micro-managing and surely its true, but I think its an interesting twist for this dusty concept.

What do you think?

[Abbittibbi]

I think that what you said last exist(or close to it); it's called workers and resources soviet republic. There is no Co2 things, but it is very challenging to start with nothing but a few imported(foreign workers) hands until you can built them shelter, and provide food, water, sewage, electricity, education, vodka and much more. It has rails, cars or trucks, machinery, planes, mines, schools, hospitals, police, courts, prisons, pretty much everything but military stuff.

I don't really want to make a sales pitch for it, but once more it has all of what you list and much much more, it is very challenging.

[eXeZ|Gamer433]

Originally posted by Abbittibbi:

I think that what you said last exist(or close to it); it's called workers and resources soviet republic. There is no Co2 things, but it is very challenging to start with nothing but a few imported(foreign workers) hands until you can built them shelter, and provide food, water, sewage, electricity, education, vodka and much more. It has rails, cars or trucks, machinery, planes, mines, schools, hospitals, police, courts, prisons, pretty much everything but military stuff.

I don't really want to make a sales pitch for it, but once more it has all of what you list and much much more, it is very challenging.

Thank you for the detailled information. The funny thing is, that I own this game already, but I never played it before.
Now you gave me a good reason ,to check this out soon. Thanks!

[N0P3]

Figuring out the game basics takes you ~5-10h on your own without guides.

Doing all achievements takes you ~30-40h

Afterwards: just your avarge city painter game where you can make your own little diorama.