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 Railroad Tycoon |
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Railroad Tycoon II PopTop software/Gathering of developers, 1998 PC game (Mac and Wintel) The Railroad Tycoon is one of those simulation games where you have to build a business empire. With the Railroad Tycoon, it’s a railroad you have to build. The game has two sides: first, you have to build your railroads and let your trains roll, second, you have to trade on the stock market. Is it a steampunk game? To be honest: no, it isn’t. It does of course have steam engines you can use to pull the trains, and some designs do have a steampunk/Victorian feel, but on the whole, it’s got not really something to do with steampunk ideas like intrigues, weird inventions and playing the gentleman. But there are some nice features in the game that might interest some steampunkers, which is why I put the review up here. Stock Exchange I’ll start with this one. I know nothing about the stock market, I’m not interested in it, and I am a lousy player for the Railroad Tycoon. I loose every game because I just don’t get the hang of the stock market. The interfaces to the stock market look very cool, though (click the whistle). I think that -especially in multi-player mode- working on the stock market is very interesting for those who care about it. There are a lot of possibilities to run the railroad company you own. Building the railroads There are two ways of building railroads. One is in the game, where you have to keep an eye on the scenario you are playing. The other one is in “sandbox mode” where you can lay tracks just as you like with an unlimited amount of money. The idea of building tracks is not that difficult and in a jiffy you will see how the trains cross the scenery. It’s not only building tracks, it’s also about trade, you can see all kinds of factories, farms and such in the landscape. You can build stations in several styles (colonial, Victorian, etc). And there are the engines you can chose. There is a wide variety, ranging from the old ones like the Trevithick and the Rocket to the high speed modern and even future trains. The oldies are well presented, and about 50% of the engines runs on steam. By zooming in you see them puff their way through the mountains and across the continent. By choosing the right scenario, or putting the sandbox in the right modus, you can start playing in the early nineteenth century, with appropriate rolling stock and industry.
The game comes with a map editor. This way, you can build your own world and then let the trains move into it. It’s also possible to use an existing map and work that up to a map to use with the game. It’s not easy to make your own map, because the game parameters are difficult to understand. On the other hand, the resulting maps (in “bird view”) look very nice and are a joy to look at, both from a distance as in close-up. User manual The user manual is very neat. There is gaming information in it, but - and I think many steampunkers like this - there is also a lot of background information on railroad history and the important people in that history. This absolutely gives the game something extra. © Yaghish 2004, 2005 |
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