¢RAIL KING¢==================¢(Doc fn: DOC.004)¢¢¢RAIL KING (c) 1985 by David H. Neal. Contributed to the Public Domain for private use only.¢¢48K REQUIRED¢¢Written in compiled ACTION! from Optimized Systems Software. Use binary load from DOS to load.¢¢GAME DESCRIPTION:¢¢"Rail King" is a railroad empire building simulation for one to four players, playing either humans or the computer. The appropriate age range for this game is probably 15 and up, although precocious 12-year-olds may enjoy it. The objective of the game is to be the first to accumulate $300 million. This objective is accomplished by building track (cost) and using that track to pick up and deliver goods (costs and earnings) to markets selected from a list randomly generated by the computer. Random events inhibit operations and increase the suspense.¢¢The game alternates between the players, presenting information on a split screen. The following subscreens appear on the same screen with a United States map representing the current player's rail system and his current position:¢¢ Commands, including a message area for reporting events and errors, and to let the player enter his intentions;¢¢ a listing of valid markets for the Player,¢¢ a listing of the products to be found in each city,¢¢ and a help listing of the various command keys.¢¢The Map and the Market Listing are unique to the individual Player. The information presented on each screen is as follows:¢¢Commands -- this is the "heart" of the game system. A Command line appears at the bottom of all operating screens to allow the player to select his next action. In the case of a computer player, the human player(s) may observe the action of the computer player and advance the game by pressing any key. The commands are abbreviated to a single letter. A screen displaying a detailed listing of the commands responds to entering "H" for "Help". There are eight options available, depending on the Player's current Turn Phase (explained below):¢ G save Game¢ M view Markets listing ¢ T move Train¢ L Load train¢ U Unload train¢ B Build track¢ S view Supplier listing¢ E End turn¢¢Markets Listing -- displays 6 randomly selected cities, each with a product demand and a price to be paid on delivery. A choice to "Continue" with the game or draw a new Market List is offered. Drawing a new market list automatically terminates the player's turn.¢¢Markets -- each city potentially demands all the products that it does not supply. The price offered for a product is nominally based on the number of turns required to move from the supply city to the market city, with extra incentives added for the most distant. Market selection is a two-step process in the computer. The market city is randomly selected, then the product demanded by that city is randomly selected. In the case of the initial draw or a redraw, 6 markets are thus selected. In the case of a delivery (unloading), the satisfied demand is deleted from the list and a new market is drawn to replace it. Only markets in the Player's Market List will pay off on delivery of the specified product. Any other delivery location will just result in loss of the product. If a product is unloaded at a city not demanding it, the program will ask if the player really means to unload.¢¢Suppliers Listing -- displays the products available in each of the 10 cities. Each city offers three products representative of that region of the country. Some products are repeated for two or three cities, although most are unique to a particular city.¢¢ The product list is:¢¢CITY PRODUCT¢---- -------------------------¢ #1 fish, imports, lumber¢ #2 grain, cattle, sheep¢ #3 machinery, fruit, sugar¢ #4 cattle, coal, lead¢ #5 grain, corn, pork¢ #6 cattle, cotton, oil¢ #7 machinery, iron, cars¢ #8 lumber, fish, machinery¢ #9 coal, imports, fabrics¢ #0 tobacco, cotton, fruit¢¢¢Building Track -- All city-to-city connections are allowed except that #8 may connect directly only to #9. Track cost is nominally based on distance, whether over smooth terrain or mountains, and with a premium for crossing rivers. The line from #3 to #4 is considered to cross the Colorado River only once. The player builds track by selecting the "B" command. The program then queries him on originating city and destination city. If he lacks the funds to build the track segment, the program so informs him and cycles him back to issue a new command. The program reports the cost of the track and draws it on his map. The player's rail system appears each time his turn comes up, with his current position marked by a "sprite" locomotive.¢¢As presently written, the program does not allow the player to review the various track costs, but he should be able to get a good idea of relative costs by relative distance, the presence of mountains, etc. The text screen reports the player's total value of track in case he should want to keep track of it. Building track automatically terminates a player's turn, so he can't build track and run on it in the same turn.¢¢Events -- Five (5) random events may occur and remain in effect for one full turn. A random event is selected each time a market city is selected. There is a 1/4 chance that an event will be selected on any market draw. This does not (as might be expected) result in a lot of random events that affect the player because all but one (strikes) occur only in certain regions on the map. On the occurance of an event, the event is chosen randomly. The events are:¢¢ 1. Hurricane--no movement allowed to or from City 0.¢¢ 2. Snow in the West--trains West and north of City #4 move at 1/2 speed. The speed adjustment is made automatically.¢¢ 3. Snow in the East--trains East and north of City #5 move at 1/2 speed.¢¢ 4. Longshoreman's strike -- no loading or unloading in coastal cities. Prohibition of loading or unloading is automatic.¢¢ 5 thru 8 -- strike on the individual player's lines -- no movement for 1 turn.¢¢Train Movement -- Speed, including 1/2-speed, is controlled by the program. Speed (movement allowance) is a nominal 16 pixels per turn. Normal speed results in 2-4 turns to traverse from one city to another. When a train is en route, train movement is automatic on the selection of the "T" command. That is, the player defines his destination only once, and the destination is remembered by the program.¢¢A cost is associated with movement. This cost is reported to the player and is deducted from his cash position. If a player can't move due to lack of funds, the game is effectively over for him.¢¢The player places his train on the first move that he moves his train. From then on, the train moves from its last stop. Thus, the rail system should be "head-to-tail" since the train can't move where there is no track.¢¢The train must move to distant cities in stages when there is not a direct connection. For example, suppose the player has track from 1 to 2 to 4 to 5. His train is at 1 and he wants to go to 5. Unless he builds track from 1 to 5 he must proceed 1 to 2 to 4 to 5. The train will stop in each city (announced by "YOU HAVE ARRIVED" to avoid confusion about the train's exact position on the map), but, if the movement allowance is not used up, the player may immediately proceed to the next city in the sequence.¢¢Loading and Unloading -- the player loads a product on his train by using the "L" command. His train must be empty and in a city at the time and the product he loads must be supplied by that city -- otherwise, he gets an error message and is recycled to the command screen.¢¢A player would typically begin his train movement on his second move (his first move having been expended by building track) by loading the desired product in the chosen supply city. The program will ask "Origin City?" and "Product?", then when the player uses "T" it will ask "Destination City?". For the remainder of the game "Origin City?" will not appear, the origin for succeeding movements being the current position.¢¢The program will happily allow the player (if he insists) to load his first train in a city in which he has no track, but he won't be able to go anywhere until he builds track to that city.¢¢The player unloads his train in (hopefully) the city in his demand list that demands that product. If he attempts to unload elsewhere he is given an opportunity to change his mind.¢¢Turn Phase -- The turn consists of two phases. Train movement may occur only in Phase 1. Phase 2 may be viewed as simply the restriction that train movement can no longer occur. All other activities are possible in either phase. The market listing, supplier listing, or help listings may be viewed at any time. Loading and unloading may be done at any time that a train is in a city, either before or after train movement. Building track may be done in either phase, as may drawing a full new market list, but either of these actions automatically ends the turn.¢¢Ending the Turn -- Typically, a player will perform those actions necessary to advance the game and then terminate his turn with the "E" command. For example, if he is traveling enroute and has no desire to build new track (and he can't load and probably wouldn't want to unload), he will simply end his turn when his train completes its allowed movement.¢¢Save Game. To save the game in progress for later resumption, use the "G" command. Then, at the beginning of the next session, answer "Y" to the question "Restore Old Game?"¢¢¢PLAY OF THE GAME:¢¢BEGINNINGS: Each player begins the game with $50 million. On the first turn, a player will check his market list, build the shortest track possible to make a delivery to one of the demand cities on his list (rarely, a player may not be able to cover the cost of the track for any of the demands on his list and will have to draw a new list).¢¢On the second turn, he will issue the "L" command to load the selected product in the chosen supply city (to which he has built track), then issue the "T" command to carry that product to the chosen demand city.¢¢From then on, it's a race to see who can accumulate earnings the fastest while minimizing his track building. To use the example given above, the prudent player with track connecting 1, 2, 4, and 5 will not build track to directly connect 1 and 5. The gain in time (train movements) will be trivial and the cost will be substantial.¢¢The player should be careful not to build himself into a corner as he may lose many turns while trying to draw a market list that will allow him to break out.¢¢A typical game will begin with many new list draws and only minimum running of trains. Gradually, though, the players will build a system of track (it's interesting to see the patterns that emerge) and they will be concentrating on minimizing movements for a maximum of profits. The random events add an additional element of suspense, especially as the players approach $300 million, most especially if they are close.¢¢The game system seems very complicated on reading about it, but it is quickly learned (requiring only a few turns to master), and even things like the Supplier Listing are quickly memorized, and the program provides ample help messages. Each game is different because of the randomization.¢¢COMPUTER PLAYER: The computer plays a competent game, but is short on strategic thinking. Therefore, it is given a few advantages to even things out with the humans. A properly played game by the human should beat the computer players (although not always), and a sloppy game will almost always lose.¢
