SID MEIER'S RAILROADS!

'''Sid Meier's Railroads!''' is an economic simulation game developed by Sid Meier on the Gamebryo game engine that was released in October 2006 and is the sequel to ''Railroad Tycoon 3''. Although Sid Meier created the original ''Railroad Tycoon'', subsequent versions were developed by PopTop Software. After a visit to Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany, Sid Meier was inspired to reinvent his original creation.^[1]

Contents

Overview

Scenarios

Trains

1828–1840

1830–1880

1881-1930

1931-1970

1835–1870

1841–1922

1923-1947

1842–1870

1871–1922

1921–1980

Critical reception

Criticism

References

External links

Overview

''Railroads!'' is fully three-dimensional and geared more toward head to head real time strategy than the previous versions.^[2] The terrain is also more compressed in this game; there are few areas where players are allowed a long, straight run of track, meaning that more "interesting" parts, such as hills, mountains, rivers, and inlets, play a much more important role in the game.
The game is heavily focused on economics – players have to build and sustain entire industries using the railroads they develop. Gameplay changes from previous editions of ''Railroad Tycoon'' include a system where new technology is first auctioned to the highest bidder. This gives the player a ten-year exclusive use of that technology. Similarly, whole industries are also put up for auction amongst players.^[3] Tracklaying is automated and much easier than other editions of ''Railroad Tycoon''.^[4] When combined with the more "compressed" terrain, it allows for tactical placement of track to obstruct and frustrate opponents.
The game also allows head-to-head play over a LAN or the Internet, supporting up to four players per game, either human or artificial intelligence.^[5]

Scenarios

Like the previous versions, ''Railroads!'' offers various historical scenarios, in regions such as the Southwestern United States, the Pacific Northwest, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. In these scenarios (fifteen in all), the game allows the user to take on the role of various famous railway tycoons from the past. These include:^[6]

★ Jay Gould

★ Jay Cooke

★ Cornelius Vanderbilt

★ J. Pierpont Morgan

★ George Hudson

★ Isambard Kingdom Brunel

★ George Stephenson

★ Baron Rothschild

★ Charles de Gaulle

★ Napoleon III

★ Otto von Bismarck

★ Helmuth von Moltke

★ Czar Nicholas II

★ Jim Hill

★ Jim Fisk

Trains

Trains available in the game include:^[7]

1828–1840

★ 2-2-0 Planet

★ 2-2-2 Patentee

1830–1880

★ 0-4-0 Grasshopper

★ 4-2-0 Norris

★ 4-4-0 American

★ 2-6-0 Mogul

★ 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler

★ 2-8-0 Consolidation

1881-1930

★ 4-6-2 Pacific

★ 2-8-2 Mikado

★ Class P5a

★ 4-8-4 Golden State

1931-1970

★ F-Series Diesel

★ GP-Series Diesel

1835–1870

★ 2-2-2 Adler

★ 2-2-2 Beuth

★ 2-4-0 Médoc

1841–1922

★ 4-2-2 Iron Duke

★ 0-6-0 Dx Goods

★ 4-2-2 Stirling

★ 4-2-2 Johnson Midland Spinner

★ 4-4-0 Claud Hamilton

★ 0-8-0 Webb Compound

★ ES1

★ 4-6-2 A1

1923-1947

★ 4-6-2 A4

★ Class 40 1-Co-Co-1 Diesel

1842–1870

★ 4-2-0 Crampton

1871–1922

★ 2-4-2 Class 121

★ 2-8-2 Class 141

★ 4-4-2 de Glehn Atlantic

★ 4-4-0 Class S3

★ 4-6-0 Class P8

★ Ge 6/6 Crocodile Electric

1921–1980

★ 4-6-2 Class 01

★ 1-Do-1 Class E18 Electric

★ V200 Diesel

★ Re 6/6 Bo-Bo-Bo

★ 4-6-2 Nord Pacific

★ TGV

Critical reception

Some of the review scores that Raildroads! received include; GameSpot awarded it 8.1 out of 10, while Game Informer gave it 8 out of 10. ''PC Zone'' magazine gave it 8.0, saying "there's a silo full of deep fun to be had here".^[8]

Criticism

Upon release, game players identified many problems with the game,^[9] some of which were subsequently patched by Firaxis' 1.01 version patch.^[10] A second patch was released in December,^[11] which fixes a few glitches and improves the gameplay.^[12] Railroads! is also criticized for common and usually unexpected game crashes in Windows Vista, though there are reports that they can be resolved rather easily. Besides a new "Holiday" scenario, the 1.1 patch allowed users to create their own maps. This spawned a new generation of fan-created maps, most of which are available at the fan site www.hookedforums.com This site also contains discussion threads about strategies and map making, among other topics.
In addition to bugs which still lead to crashes, other complaints include:

★ Automatic Train Routing is far from perfect. Trains frequently choose bad tracks and/or get trapped in a back-and-forth pattern.

★ Dislike of the bright/'cartoonish' style of the graphics.

★ The limited camera angles available - unlike RRT3, players can't rotate the camera to view the sky, or zoom right down to track level, nor are they able to zoom out very far.

★ Graphics are very demanding on computer systems, slowing down especially towards the latter stages of the game.

★ The game has fewer locomotives and cargo types than RRT3.

★ Maps in Sid Meier's Railroads are generally much smaller than maps in RRT3.

★ Cargo system has returned to the more simple system of RRT and RRT2, abandoning the "automatic cargo chooser" and other means of transport features in RRT3.

★ Some parts of the cargo system were simplified even compared to the original, like for example plants demanding & accepting only one type of cargo.

★ Sid Meier's Railroads covers a much shorter period of history than RRT3, with few modern engines.

★ Sid Meier's Railroads also has considerably fewer maps/scenarios than RRT3, although more than the original RRT.

★ Simplified economic and stock market system which removed earlier titles' ability to raise cash by issuing bonds, and other nuances such as stock splits and margin calls.

★ Steam locomotives do not have tenders, unrealistic graphics.

★ No need to upgrade to overhead wires for electric trains.

★ Unrealistic animations such as dairy cows in the 1830s on a beef farm grazing among round bales that weren't invented until the 1970s. The lumber mill also shows a whole tree being felled and processed at the loading dock.

★ Another anachronism is that cars (automobiles) are available as a cargo right from 1830 onwards while the modern car was invented roughly 50 years later.
Note that fans' complaints are subjective, with some missing features being more important for some users than others—such as the case of the cargo and economic systems, which were intentionally changed reflecting the developers' attitude that "it's all about the trains".^[13]

References

1. Interview with Sid Meier
2. Sid Meier's Railroads!
3. Sid Meier's Railroads!
4. Sid Meier's Railroads!
5. Sid Meier's Railroads!
6. Full Barons List
7. Full Train List
8. Sid Meier's Railroads!
9. Bugs or Glitches? – Civilization Fanatics' Forums
10. Firaxis Games: Sid Meier's Railroads! Downloads
11. Sid Meier's Railroads! Patch 1.1
12. Sid Meier's Railroads! Patch 1.1 Release Notes
13. Sid Meier's Railroads! – Official Site

External links

★ Sid Meier's Railroads! Official Homepage

★

★ Hooked on Railroads! A Sid Meier's Railroads! fan forum with a very active modding community

★ Sid Meier's Railroads! Wiki

★ Sid Meier's Railroads! Reviews at Metacritic.com

★ Official trailer & walkthrough for the game

★ Miniatur Wunderland, inspiration for the game (German)