Cheet Sheets 1995 August/CHEET43.ZIP/3-TYCOON.TXT

Text File | 1995-08-07 | 11.2 KB | 268 lines

~Transport Tycoon


A mini tutorial for beginners to the game  -  By Simon Burrows



`If you're  finding it tricky getting into this neat sim game from
`Microprose, why  not  play  through  this  short  tutorial  which
`introduces you  to all the important aspect of the game including
`the four types of transport link: road, rail, air and sea?



~`Step 1  -  Configuring your first game
~`──────────────────────────────────────


`Before you  can get  to the  nitty gritty  of laying  your  first
`sleepers and  buffet cars,  you must first set some options which
`will allow  you a safe and easy passage through your first voyage
`into the cut-throat game-play which is Transport Tycoon!

`First of  all, the  most important  setting of  all: competition.
`Since we're  just getting to grips with how to make an empire, we
`don't want  Mr Jones from a rival empire ripping up our lines and
`leaving wet  leaves on the track, so set the competition level to
`'none' to alleviate that problem.

`Of course  money is  of great  use, and, of course, there's never
`enough of  it!  Your best bet is to set yourself up with the full
`$1,000,000 which  will  allow  a  bit  of  leeway  for  fruitless
`investments or  the down right mismanagement of your empire.  The
`other option,  of course, is to use a cheat, saved-game editor or
`trainer to boost your money.  However, if you're going to do that
`the rest  of this  guide might  just as  well be  ignored for the
`amount of  good it'll  do you:  no matter  how  many  badly  laid
`tracks, fatal  train collisions  and  unused  stations  you  use,
`you'll still end up with $100,000,000 at the end of the financial
`year!
`
`Obviously, the  only way  you're going  to keep  yourself in  the
`black without  cheating is to get plenty of paying customers.  By
`setting both  the town  and industry levels to high you will give
`yourself the best chance of obtaining this.
`
`Do not  change the  interest rates  for your  first few goes; let
`them remain  at 2%.  Also, ensure that your vehicle running costs
`are set  at low  and that  there  should  be  no  breakdowns.  In
`addition to this, modify the subsidy multiplier to times four.

`In terms  of what  land you  should start  your empire on, select
`flat terrain  with medium lakes.  Finally a steady economy should
`be selected  to minimize financial problems and you should ensure
`that trains  will reverse  if/when they reach the end of the line
`or a station.
`
`When all of this is set then it's time to personalise your game a
`little bit.  To do this, first click on the "New Game" option and
`you will open the owner's window.  Here you can type in your name
`and assign yourself a relevant face and colour.  When that's done
`click on the disk icon near  the top-left  corner of  your screen
`and save your game.




~`Step 2  -  Choosing a starting point
~`────────────────────────────────────


`Right, now  the game's  configured we  need to  choose an area to
`start our business.

`Close the  owners info  windows, then  click on  the grid icon to
`bring up  a map  view of  your world.   This is a little small so
`click in the top right-hand corner of the window to maximize it.

`Find the  city enclosed  by yellow  corner brackets.  This is the
`city you  start in.   Click  on these  brackets and you can see a
`close up  view which  can then  be zoomed  in  and  out  from  by
`clicking on the zoom modifiers on that close-up.
`
`When you've grown accustomed to that city and the control system,
`its time  to explore  the map.  As with the bracketed town, click
`on parts  of the  map you wish to look at in more detail with the
`mouse.   To get  population info  about the various cities on the
`landscape, click on their names.  Take your time looking around.
`
`What exactly  am I  looking for?,  I hear  you ask.  Well, two or
`more cities  which have  relatively flat  land between them, and,
`thus, can easily be connected by rail.  Make sure they have good-
`sized  populations   to  provide   your  railroad   with   enough
`passengers.   Also, make  sure  that  there  is  scope  for  road
`connections to farms, industries and other cities etc.
`
`When you  have decided  from where you will launch your transport
`empire, quit  and reload the saved game we created earlier!  Yes,
`that's right   -   if you want to be successful you're gonna have
`to do a lot of this because while you were looking around the map
`the clock  would have  been ticking  away and you would have lost
`valuable time  when no  profit was  being made.   By  loading the
`saved game you basically start the game again, but this time with
`the advantage  of knowledge of the land and a good starting point
`for your  empire which  means you'll  be able  to start  building
`right away.




~`Step 3  -  Your first rail link
~`───────────────────────────────


`You now have two cities to connect by rail, I hope.  To make this
`connection, click  on the  rails icon.   This  will  bring  up  a
`construction menu  with options  like bulldozing land and raising
`or lowering land to flatten it.
`
`First, the  basics.  To have a working railroad you need at least
`one track  connecting at  least two  stations with  at least  one
`depot behind each one.  This lot can only be placed on flat land,
`and you'll only be allowed to place it if they are each facing in
`the proper  direction.   This will take a bit of experimenting to
`get right.

`Your first rail-line should be simple, but have scope for upgrade
`later on.   Do  this by  taking the  two-track option,  but  only
`having one  track and  only one  depot for each station.  You can
`then build  another track  and the  other two  depots  later  on.
`Remember that  you are  not limited  to only  one train just 'cos
`you've got  only one track  -  by using stop signals you can have
`two with ease.
`
`Now you  have your  line, station  and depots  its time  for some
`trains.   To select  what in  the way of trains you want, double-
`click on  one of  the depots.  It's best to start very simple: an
`engine, a mail car and a passenger car.  When you have made these
`selections, up will pop yet another menu.  On here is more icons,
`the most  important of  which has some arrows on it.  Use this to
`get your  train moving   (you will notice that, at the moment, it
`is stopped).   First  click on  this icon,  then on  one of  your
`stations, then  on the icon again, and then on the other station.
`You have now told the train where to go, so it's just a matter of
`telling it  start, to  see some  action.    Click  on  the  label
`'stopped' for  that train  and it  will go!   The  label will now
`change according  to what  that train  is doing at one particular
`time.

`Great!   Now we  are really motoring.  Trouble is, the screen's a
`bit of  a mess.   To  solve this close any windows down which you
`won't be immediately using, or don't need to know the information
`which is on them.

`You now have the start of a good empire.  To find out information
`about your  stations, click  on them.   You can find out how many
`people are  waiting there  and how much they are charging quickly
`and easily  this way.   Remember  to keep track of your finances.
`Clicking on  the gold  coins icon gives you detailed information,
`and, for  every-day use,  there is  the  date  and  your  current
`balance always listed at the top-left of the screen.




~`Step 4  -  Road links
~`─────────────────────


`The line  you've just built is all very well  -  its got you into
`the game,  its successful on a minor scale, and should make you a
`bit of  money to  help you  continue to expand.  However, the big
`money is  to be  made with  more, faster  railroads,  or,  better
`still, road networks for busses and trucks.

`To go  down this  road  (hmmmmm, no pun intended there!!!), click
`on the road icon.  This will bring up the road construction menu.
`Again, this has option to bulldoze, raise or lower land, together
`with three  other icons:   one  for a motor pool  (which is where
`busses and  truck are  built and  maintained); one  for  the  bus
`stations; and the other for truck stations.
`
`As before,  you will  need one  bus station  on either end of the
`line.   The open  end of  these must  face directly onto the road
`which the  busses are  going to  drive along.  Build a motor pool
`alongside your line somewhere between the two stations.
`
`Concerning trucks:  build truck  stations alongside the buildings
`which are  going to  need the  truck's services.   This  could be
`farms, industry, train stations, or airports.

`When dealing  with farms  remember that  they  can  produce  both
`livestock and grain, and you will obviously need a different type
`of truck  to distribute  each.   When you  have the right type of
`lorry, truck  the material  to a station close to a factory which
`will accept  this material.   The  factory will then turn it into
`goods which  you can then truck, with a goods truck, to a station
`which accepts these goods.  Simple really!!




~`Step 5  -  Links by air
~`──────────────────────-


`When you  have some  real money, and want to make even more of it
`very quickly,  you might  think about  building some airports and
`buying some  planes.  To make best use of this transport mode you
`will need two very large cities which are far apart.

`It is  very simple  to make  an air  link:   Click on the icon to
`bring up  the airport  construction menu,  lay your  two airports
`(these will  need six  squares of  flat land each),  click on the
`hanger to  buy a  plane, then  use the usual method of telling it
`where to go!!




~`Step 6  -  Ways on water
~`────────────────────────


`If you have all these aspects in your game you are nearly all the
`way to  a diverse,  profit-making  (hopefully)  transport empire.
`All you  need to  do now  is build  a water link with the help of
`some ferries and ports.

`To build  a water link, again, bring up the relevant construction
`menu.   You will notice that, as with the road networks, you will
`need a  motor pool to buy from and repair ships.  Place two docks
`a way  away from  each other  on the  coastline.    At  an  equal
`distance between  these, place you motor pool.  Then, buy a ferry
`and set it to work between the two.

`To bring  people into  your docks, attach them to humanity with a
`road going to the water's edge.




~`       *                       *                        *




`There it  is then folks.  If you have successfully made it to the
`end of my tutorial you should have a damn good little  (or pretty
`big, actually)   transport  network.   You can now set to work at
`expanding with  more of  each type of link in the search for ever
`more money.

`If only work in real life could be so easy!



`                            ═════════════
~`By                          Simon Burrows
`                            ═════════════



`────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
~`    THIS DOCUMENT: COPYRIGHT (c) 1995 EUROWAVE LEISURE Ltd.
~`                    COURTESY OF SIMON BURROWS
`────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────