by Robn Kester
A few years ago gaming legend Sid Meier hit it big with the release of Railroad Tycoon. Although it wasn't as big a hit as Meier next game, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon nonetheless put Sid Meier on the map. And overtime it would become widely known as one of the best game ever created. A somewhat buggy Mac version was eventually released and Mac users were ecstatic to see this sim on the Mac, bugs and all.
A few years have passed since Railroad Tycoon, but the fascination with this sim hasn't dwindled. Up and coming developer PopTop Software last year licensed Railroad Tycoon from Microprose to create a sequel. Many had doubts PopTop could create a sequel worthy of the original, but from the looks of it, Railroad Tycoon 2 is a winner and is much more than a sequel, it's practically a whole new game with incredible graphics and gameplay.
IMG recently had the chance to give a beta of Railroad Tycoon 2 a run for its money. Released a few months ago on the PC, Railroad Tycoon is a railroad building simulation with strategy aspects as well. While the game is still in beta, things are shaping up nicely for this excellent sim title.
Overall, this title offers up quite a gaming experience. New players and old fans of the original Railroad Tycoon will find themselves spending many hours building up their railways, connecting to different cities, and watching their budgets carefully. There's something here for everyone.
The Premise
Starting around 1829, you must start and manage a railroad company, keeping any eye on your finances, your company, and of course, your railway. Along the way, you will have to deal with civil war, robberies, and more. It's not as easy as it sounds, but the challenge is part of the fun.
Gameplay
Billed as strategy simulation, RT2 gives you the chance to establish yourself in a wide variety of towns and build your railway to connect these towns. The process itself is where the gameplay really lies. A tutorial is offered, giving beginners and experts alike the chance to try their hand at building a railroad with a little help. Even with the tutorial, it takes the player a while to get a handle on the depth of control and the multitudes of items that must be monitored constantly for things to go smoothly. The tutorial helps the player establish a simple railway between 2 towns, explaining how to meet each towns needs as well as keeping the company afloat.
Learning how to play RT2 is really quite simple. The interface is mostly point-and-click, allowing for quick and easy access to the main game controls. After starting a scenario for the first time, you place at least 2 stations by purchasing the one you want and placing it preferably near a town. Then you lay your track between the 2 towns through simple drag-clicking. The fun part is picking out your first engine, remember it will have to pull all sorts of cars and should last you a few years, so choose wisely.
Once you've gotten an engine picked out, your train will now happily run between the two stations. As you add more stations, you can tell each train which stops to make, and what types of cars to pull along with it. There are quite a variety of types of cars to choose from, each with its own type of use, including passenger cars, cattle cars, steel cars, and produce cars. The type of cars you are hauling will determine if you will make money or lose money while making each trip.
Time during gameplay can be sped up or slowed down as you please to control the time it takes for trains to make their run and for time in general to go by. As time passes, new types of engines will be introduced, allowing you to upgrade or add to your current line. Before you know it you will have more trains than you know what to do with, all needing your attention. But, there are moments when you can sit back and enjoy the view for a while.
Now that you've got the hang of how to build and maintain your own railway, you will find yourself ready to tackle the standard 18 scenario campaign. This will take you across America in both time and place, reaching across the land through its early beginnings. And when you've finished that, you can always build your own new scenarios with the scenario editor.
With features such as 34 types of cargo and 59 different train engines from around the world and the chance to work within 30 industries including textiles and steel, the player has so many options available to them. Of course, you also have to watch out for train robbers, traffic jams, and other unknown obstacles -- if you wish to succeed.
The Graphics
RT2 offers the player gorgeous 3D graphics available in 2 screen resolutions, 800x600 and 1024x768. While the latter is preferred, both are quite crisp and clear. PopTop's own proprietary S3D engine allows for detailed models and fast on-screen rendering, enabling players to scroll around the map, rotate the viewpoint to get a better angle and even to zoom in and out to see that railway better. To keep the game true to its PC counterpart, Westlake has worked hard to make sure that what you see is just as visually stunning and accurate on both platforms.
Multiplayer
RT2 offers multiplayer support to expand the gaming experience even further, with TCP/IP support for internet play, and Appletalk support for local network play. The average multi-player game should take around an hour. Plenty of time to crush your friends corporate empire and take over their railways before lunch break is over.
The Editor
Just when you thought your RT2 experience was over, the scenario editor comes into play. Allowing you to build your own scenarios using all the same goodies that were available during the supplied scenarios, the player can finally master the land. The scenario editor is styled after the games own interface, so it feels pretty much at home if you've already spent time playing through the game itself. Using that familiar click-drag, you select items like trees and place them where ever you wish. You can adjust the elevation both up and down to get the desired terrain and then populate it with your own landscape. When you are happy with what you have built, you save it and can now play it, to see how well you did.
Just for the Mac
Along with the slew of outstanding features available in the original PC version of RT2, there are also some Mac only features. These include built in support for speech and 3 new single player scenarios. This on top of what is already a perfect port from the PC version.
Overall Impressions
They say the devil is in the details and Railroad Tycoon 2 has that and more. From choosing an engine and the types of cars you will pull, building your iron rail empire and managing your finances, to creating your own scenarios or the endless multiplayer aspects, this is one title that gamers will find themselves deeply enthralled in. It takes a while to learn how to accomplish your goals for the campaign, but the thriving railway you eventually end up with is the greatest reward.
Railroad Tycoon 2 is scheduled to be released in late April or early May. PopTop has hinted that if Railroad Tycoon II for the Mac does well, they will eventually publish a scenario CD entitled Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century that will feature a challenging eighteen scenario campaign containing modern trains and engines, new stand-alone maps (multiplayer and single player), new industries, gorgeous geographical features, and all new music and video. Players begin in the post-Depression years of the 1930s and establish transportation, industry and financial empires through 2042.
Mark Adams of Westlake Interactive recently told IMG that a demo of Railroad Tycoon II is in the works and should be released when the game goes GM. The only downside is that the demo will be about 50 MB compressed. If you're an IMG subscriber, you'll find the demo on a future issue of IMG!
Clear your schedule and make tracks, because this is one fun way to spend your day.
