How do you play?

[EMAPhil]

Interested to know how you guys play this game. So far I have really just followed the quests with a bit of extra track laying between. Many quests are uneconomic (ruined church) so in recent plays I have just ploughed on till I make an inevitable screw up of the network and have jams all over the place. Cue a restart.
Do you play on larger maps with denser towns and industries?

[KoJin]

not really; medium map, same density mostly for me.
u need to get some passenger lines going (2), then wood then coal and so on. I would recommend at least 2 lines for each product, so u can buy better cars, locomotives and also achive some quests.
right now, even with chain signals, it would be best to have stations which have arrival and exit tracks on seperate entrances (fastest way to arrive, unload and leave on busy stations).
dont go only for quests. they wont make you enough money.

[Ealjebij[FRL]]

I started the game with flat land. But I found it quite open / unrealistic.
Now I play with HIGH hills, here is a savegame if you are curious: ealjebij.aa.am/Hills.msa

It does not have jams at all! So perhaps you can learn something from it ;) There like 30 trains on the same track.

[EMAPhil]

Interesting inputs, thanks! I'm treating this game more a puzzle than a realistic simulation. Having fun though. Hence my interest in how other people use it.
My model railway has 12 running trains and no crashes! (Be expensive if they did and there was damage). So I ought to do better than I am in game.

[J.O.D.]

I play it as puzzle too - low settings on everything except hills and lakes (medium), and just trying to create the tracks between cities/industries i much fun.. Having started 50+ times, and never got to 3rd era and to 2nd era only twice. And I am still enjoying myself greatly:-)

[KimHr]

ObiVanDamme on youtube has been making videos of a high mountain, small map which is more challenging. I prefer a longer game so I play 512x512 map, high density hills and lakes, low density everything else. Also, 1000 starting cash, no more loan, and 10 interest. That makes starting position more important as you may not be able to make the first link between towns if you get it wrong. Some maps can't be played for that reason. But right thru the game it means you need to think strategically about locations and where to place tracks. Oh, and I limit myself to one depot because that makes it harder again - you can't just go "over here in this corner, the steelworks" without building a really long track to get trains from your depot to that corner.

By comparison the flat, dense maps are easier, the challenge there is to link up every single thing into one network, and make it work without manual management.

[Donegali]

Pretty much as has been said above. I have several different maps, small and hilly, large with low industry, medium with it pretty much terraformed flat, and any combination of the above!

Hard difficulty, one depot only, trains won't automatically turn around at station so loops are necessary, 1,000 cash, no loans etc, centralised storage station for coal and ore. The ultimate goal on all maps is to link every town and industry, which I have yet to achieve as I keep playing different maps.

[Joman]

I can not adjust the difficulty to one depot only. The option is greyed out. How do you activate this?

[Donegali]

Yeah the option isn't enabled yet, I just don't place more than 1.

[Joman]

Why do you centralize a coal and ore storage? Seems to be interesting. I allways do direct deliveries. Whats the advantage of centralization?

[[NcK]MasterShake|CM]

I play on medium maps with medium pretty much all around for settings. I've found the game to be more enjoyable with some hills. Usually go money -> wood -> coal unless the coal is much more available and I need early coal fired locomotives.

[Hracicka]

For me is the most enjoyable small map with big mountains , large lakes and lowland areas. For better fun I made my own maps with all those above and rivers.
But most of time I create or modify 3D models of locomotive,wagons and othe things.

[Helios]

Hello guys. Playing third day, in my last game i learned how to play without turning trains at stations, and how to run multiple trains at one track. I found out that i enjoyed learning and optimalization of tracks and stations more than building new ones. I spent most time at two stations lol, tried to be able deliver there as many trains as possible to few platforms without stucking. Obviously i enjoy effeciency much more than quantity.

So now im thinking about new game. I want try some central hub. I dont think its effective, but it challenging...also makes sense when im going to play 1 depo only.
So what type of map i should start? Im pretty sure i want high hills and lakes, to be forced to use one track only at each resource. Also small industry and towns, so i have to use every source available with max eff. But what about map size? I was thinking about big one, but im afraid that with these slow trains it will be great pain, especially with central hub. So i changed my mind to small one....good distances, and wont take so much time to control every resource. But isnt it too small? Should i go medium instead?

Also another question about that center hub... Is every station limited to 6 platforms? (8 with upgrade). I know stations length is limited, but i have feel like width is limited as well

[Donegali]

Originally posted by Joman:

Why do you centralize a coal and ore storage? Seems to be interesting. I allways do direct deliveries. Whats the advantage of centralization?

The main reason was that the foundry (??) was on the opposite side of the map from the mines, plus I could balance out the loads and have a constant ratio being supplied. Less 'Warehouse is full' messages.

[Strategikal]

Originally posted by Joman:

Why do you centralize a coal and ore storage? Seems to be interesting. I allways do direct deliveries. Whats the advantage of centralization?

Centralising storage seems like a great idea. I plan to do this on my next game. Would be useful for coal, iron and planks.

Iron can go to toolworks and factories.
Coal can go to toolworks, foundries and sawmills.
Planks can go to toolworks, factories, coal mines and iron ore mines!

Planks are a particular problem, trying to deliver them to many different locations can cause lots of track problems.

If they're all centralised, then for example, you could send coal there and bring planks back to the mine (e.g. 8 coal wagons, 2 plank wagons).

[Strategikal]

I tend to play it as a puzzle game too, usually on a small map trying to connect everything.

Problem is, even with the reduced industries and towns since the latest update, I'm finding that everything's too close together. I used to think that was a good thing, but once stations grow to 8x8 size I'm running out of room to place tracks in between. Which does make it a good puzzle, but it can be frustrating.

Next game I'll try a medium map with low density towns and industries to space everything out more. Longer lines will increase travel times but there'll be a lot more space to plan an efficient layout.

Oh, and I'll have high density mountains and lakes too, that'll make it a lot more interesting.

I tried that on a small map and it was very challenging. Often there was only enough room for single lines with occasional passing places.