LSD Docs/LSD Docs.iso/FILEZ/lsd39.dms/lsd39.adf/A-TrainConstruction.doc.pp/A-TrainConstruction.doc

Text File | 1978-01-07 | 27KB | 605 lines

                             SKID ROW

                             presents

                     A-TRAIN CONSTRUCTION SET

              System Information and Manual Addendum

HARDWARE REQUIRED

Amiga A500, A600, A1000, A1200, A2000, A2500, A3000, A4000 in NTSC, PAL
or VGA.  Requires 1 MB RAM for low-resolution: 1.5 MB RAM (1 MB of that
Graphics RAM) for high-resolution.  Two floppy drives; hard drive
recommended.  Printer option.

SOFTWARE REQUIRED

Requires Workbench 1.3 or later.  Release 2.0/3.0 compatible.

INSTALLING AMIGA CONSTRUCTION SET

Double-click on the "Install Construction Set" icon on Disk 1.  The
installation program gives you three choices - Novice, Intermediate,
and Expert.  Novice provides a fully automated default installation
on your hard drive, Intermediate allows you to direct the application's
storage, and Expert gives you full control over every step of file
creation and storage.  See the Installer Help screens for more details.

To install a printer driver on a floppy, double-click on "Install Printer"
in the Utilities drawer on Disk 1.  The Construction Set must be installed
into the A-Train drawer.

If you intend to print the Construction Set map landscapes, be sure to
correctly set up your machine's Preferences for printing.  Under
Kickstart 1.3 or earlier, you must use the Preferences program for
setup.  Under Release 2.0 or later, you must use both the Printer and
PrinterGfx Preferences programs found in the Prefs drawer.  You can
get clarification of these procedures by reading "Using the System
Software" in your Amiga manual.

To run the Construction Set from a floppy, insert Disk 1 into your
machine and boot your computer.  The example games must be installed
onto a formatted blank floppy.  To install, double-click on the "Install
Example Games" icon.  The installation utility will ask you where to
install the examples.  Insert the formatted floppy, select it, and then
select Proceed.

AMIGA KEYBOARD COMMANDS

Command               Action

Arrow Keys            Scroll Map, Scroll a List
Shifted Arrow Keys    Scroll Map or List One Page
Esc/Space Bar         Abort Track Laying
"-" (minus sign);
+,- (keypad)          Scroll Open Windows Up or Down
Open/Close Bracket    Shift Satellite View
S                     Show Satellite View
H                     Hide Satellite View
T                     Trains Running

A-TRAIN CONSTRUCTION SET

USER MANUAL FOR THE AMIGA

After all, anybody is as their land and air is.
                                              - Gertrude Stein

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the A-Train Construction Set, where you can carve every detail
of your trains' terrain.  With the Construction Set, you can take any
of A-Train's existing landscapes and mold it to your pleasure- sculpt
massive mountains, plant tiny trees, place offices on islands- until
your map is precisely the way you want it to be.  You can even completely
obliterate every detail of a map- like a wheat farm after a locust swarm-
and build everything from the ground up.  Allocate the cash reserve
you think you deserve, put in an additional railroad or two, and load
your new map into A-Train.

You can customize the challenges that different maps present in an
intriguing way: research the original New Orleans streetcar system (if you
desire), get looped in Chicago- even design a map after your hometown!
The Construction Set lets you draft landforms and cities to experiment
with form and function, or just for the sheer creative pleasure of it.
Exchange maps with other users, design different difficulty scales,
or just experiment with random elements: the Construction Set not only
lets you be the master of all you survey, but you get to do the
surveying, too.

The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this:
that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a
thing created is loved before it exists.
                                       - G. K. Chesterton

MAP OUT YOUR PLANS, PLAN OUT YOUR MAP

If you spend a little time before you begin considering what you want
your final map to look like, you probably will save yourself some
frustration and false starts (although a vote for an anarchic map can
be a compelling vote as well).  Map-making is a challenge, and the
Construction Set has enough complexity and flexibility to complement
many approaches to the cartographer's art.

Consider in advance your basic look: flat, gently sloping, mountainous;
consider how water can shape and define land.  Do you want dominant
black holes of urban sprawl or wide-open grasslands with scattered
farms?  You could try a map with a tiny amount of money and the same map
with a huge amount of money to see how the territory challenges your
bank account.  You could fill a barren terrain with scads of running
railroads and few people or have a teeming population getting around
only on skateboards- it's a map of your mind as well.  However you
design your map, keep in mind that the integration of the total territory,
from corner to corner, and off the screen as well (remember those trains,
planes and boats).  Oh yeah- have some fun, too.

STARTING THE CONSTRUCTION SET

Please refer to your machine-specific addendum for system requirements
and installation information for the program.

After you load in the Construction Set, you are presented with a
dialog box that has a list of example games and all of your saved A-Train
maps.  The example games are explained under "Included Scenarios."  For
now, double-click on one of your saved games.  On the Amiga, click on
a saved game and then on OK; we'll take a gander at the Construction Set
landscape.  (See "Game Window (Amiga)" for the Amiga opening screen.)

If you think it looks suspiciously like an A-Train screen, we'll hand
you your hardhat now, but don't start hammering until you note the
new commands at the end of the Toolbar: all of the Financial and Report
window buttons have been replaced by map editing buttons that activate
the terrain building and destroying functions.  There are no Financial
or Report windows in the Construction Set.

Light, God's eldest daughter, is the principal beauty in a building.
                                                         - Thomas Fuller

When any of the Map Edit command buttons are clicked, a window with
images of the chosen landscaping or building units will appear.  The
individual editing commands can then be chosen with your mouse;
they will have a highlighted box around them to indicate their
activation.  (The CASH item works somewhat differently; see below.)

You can then use your mouse cursor to select the map area you want to
transform.  As in A-Train, you will be given grief by all manner of
message window advisors should you attempt wayward construction efforts.

To jaunt around the terrain on the Amiga, you can use the keyboard
arrows, or, shades of A-Train, move the cursor to any of the screen's
borders and it will change into an arrow pointing in the direction your
screen will scroll when you click or click and hold on your left mouse
button.

As in Amiga A-Train, you can see more of your landscape by making any
active command windows disappear by hitting your right mouse button
or the plus or minus keys on the number pad; you can still use
the Map Edit and Subsidiaries commands with their windows hidden.
Most of the Amiga windows are closed by hitting Return, which will
activate the EXIT button.

GAME WINDOW (AMIGA)

The Game Window opens automatically at startup.  The submenus and windows
opened by the Game Window commands cannot be moved around onscreen.  The
example maps are explained under "Included Scenarios" at the end of this
manual.  You can access A-Train's original landscapes by opening them in
A-Train and saving them under a different name.

LOAD SCENARIO is the default button selected when you load the program,
presenting you with a scrollable list of example games and saved A-Train
games, if they are in the current drawer.  The current drawer and path
are found below this list.  You can search for other stored maps on other
available drives by clicking on DRIVES.  Clicking on PARENT brings you
up one level in the file-saving hierarchy.

Clicking on a file name in the scrolling list will highlight it and place
its name in the Drives ribbon at the bottom of the window.  Click on OK
to bring up the desired map onscreen or on EXIT to leave the window.
The Load Scenario window will disappear after the file is loaded,
but can be accessed at any time- as well as all System commands-
by clicking on GAME on the toolbar.

SAVE SCENARIO brings up the Save Scenario window, which displays
the current path, names of already saved maps, and a scrollable list
of available drives (through the DRIVES button) for map saving.  You can
type in a new name for an example map or a previously saved map in the
File ribbon at the window's bottom in order to preserve your new map's
changes and retain the old map as well.  Click on OK to fix the changes
to disk or EXIT to leave the window without any changes.

Who built the seven gates of Thebes?  In the books are listed the names
of kings.  Did the kings heave up the building blocks?
                                                     - Bertolt Brecht

GAMES OPTIONS displays a window with settings to customize your use of
the Construction Set.  GAME SPEED gives you the chance to fine-tune
the speed at which your game clock (and thus your train operation) runs.
You can choose to hear rhythmic ditties of the train's passage by clicking
on SOUND ON or you can keep the peace by choosing SOUND OFF.  DAY/NIGHT
CYCLE ON/OFF switches between landscape lighting reflecting light's journey
into night or consistent sunshine.

All of these options are moot unless you click on TRAINS ON, which will
energize your empire, letting you test the track placement and operation
of your trains, which go through their paces of pickup and delivery.
You can see if the map under construction is suitable for actual play.
The game clock will run, as well as any trains, planes or boats.

Letting your trains loose automatically brings the Satellite window
down and also displays the Train Registry.  You can toggle the position
of the Satellite window by hitting the right and left bracket keys on
the keyboard, and you can zero in on a particular train by clicking
on its number on the registry.

The financial operations of A-Train do not function in the Construction
Set, so you will not gain any profits or incur any losses.  Consider
this a chance to go sightseeing on your map.  (Map Edit commands will
not operate when the trains are "on.")

PRINT MAP will give you a suitable-for-framing hard copy of your
Construction Set map.  See your Amiga addendum for details.

CREDITS will bring up the names of the noble souls who toiled for God,
Country, and the Construction Set.

QUIT quits the Construction Set.  You must use the SAVE SCENARIO command
to save any changes to disk, or they will be lost.  You can cancel the
operation by hitting EXIT.

TRAINS AND SUBSIDIARIES MENUS

TRAINS and SUBSIDIARIES have a set of commands and functions that perform
essentially the same as their counterparts in A-Train.  You can lay
tracks, buy and place trains and stations, set schedules, and arrange
trunk lines to cities outside the map for export and import.  The trains
will not run until you exercise that command option.  You cannot make
alterations to the map while in the "trains on" mode, though you can
scroll.

The Construction Set lets you be a true Robber Baron of the old school:
all of the train purchases are free!  However, you will be taxed for
your rail assets once the game is loaded into A-Train.  You can even
buy and place two extra trains, #26 and #27, as long as their railroad
lines are designed as trunk lines going off the map at two edges.  The
trains on these lines cannot be purchased, sold, placed, or removed
while playing A-Train, nor can their schedules be set.  These are the
trains found in the original A-Train maps that couldn't be scheduled
or tampered with.  The Construction Set gives you much more control
over their placement and paths.

SUBSIDIARIES commands allow you to buy and place (or remove) as many
properties as you please (well, 18 apiece, actually) so that you can
begin a game without having paid the pretty pennies of today's real
estate market.  After you choose the type of subsidiary on the Amiga,
its command window allows you to designate if you want the buildings
to be owned by you or the simulator by clicking on YOURS or SIMULATOR
(Computer).  The familiar "owner's box" will appear on top of your
buildings.

Assets designated as yours are added to your net worth and become
part of your A-Train Balance Sheet figures.

MAP EDIT MENUS AND FUNCTIONS

PAINT LAND gives you six choices of terrain types that can either be
placed as a single unit by double-clicking on the designated block
or "painted" on the landscape by clicking on a block and moving the
mouse to define the new terrain placement.

Place the cursor in the middle of a block, click, and move the mouse
in any direction to highlight "strips" of blocks, or drag on a
diagonal for larger squares of territory.  The highlighted rectangle
that results from this represents the area that will be replaced by
the new, selected terrain after you click the mouse again.

The terrain types are:

Level Land - terrain that is completely cleared of any growth or
             development.  (You can use this command to erase mistakes
             and begin anew.)
Sea - a broad swath of water
Uptown - mixed residential with small offices and shops
Downtown - combines Uptown with larger commercial buildings
Mixed Woods - land irregularly interspersed with clumps of trees
Woods - heavily forested terrain
Mixed Fields - grassy plots and bushes mixed with cleared areas
Fields - grassy areas mixed with cultivated land, orchards and clearings

Some elements cannot be painted over, such as mountains and existing
tracks and stations.  For example, if you place a band of water over
a station with some large commercial developments nearby, you will end
up with "peninsulas" of track surrounded by water, with the big buildings
on "islands" of land.  Actually, it can look rather picturesque.

MOUNTAIN makes you king (or queen) of the hill by allowing you to build
towering slopes or gentle rises (or tear them down in a fit of pique).
You are given two development choices, Small or Large, and two options,
Build or Remove.  Selecting Small and then clicking on a block will
result in a 2x2 square of raised land; Large produces a 3x3 plot.  Both
Small and Large mounts can be developed if you click several times in
succession on the slopes, raising the height of the hills while only
slightly spreading the hillsides laterally.

Selecting Remove lets you contour new or existing slopes; you can click
on the peaks to slice out sections so that the mountain's apex appears
to have imploded, ala Oregon's Crater Lake, or you can just carve out
crags.  Ski buffs can make every valley heavenly.  Other Paint Land
command choices have no effect on mountainous areas.  You can place
mountains right up to the edge of buildings for a dramatic cityscape;
mountains cannot be placed on water.

TILE lets you place structural elements of the map block by block.
just click once on the tile of your choosing and click on a site on the
map to place it.  The 64 block choices include a range of farmland and
field units (including ranch houses and land with cows), woods thick
with trees or with lone stragglers, ponds, various types of residences
and small offices, larger offices, construction materials, roads, and
even crossroads.

You can "paint" tile elements in the manner of the Paint Land commands
by selecting a tile and drawing the cursor with the mouse button depressed
across the area you want to transform.  Broad bands of tile images can
be placed on the landscape.  If you release the mouse while laying the
tiles, the painting will cease.  You cannot paint tiles over mountains,
tracks and certain buildings.

You can cycle through the 4 sets of 16 tiles by clicking on the Page Up or
Page Down bars at the top of the block choices window.  This command
allows you a nice degree of whimsy in your choices: you can place a
block of construction materials in the middle of a lake, a mound of
trees in the sea, or some nice condos in a pond.  Plow a road into the
sea.  Make some developments in league with the Devil- who's to stop you?

RIVER places rivers, lakes or islands.  Click on any of the three choices
to activate them.  Using River, you can drag the cursor individual blocks
to place small stretches of water or cross the map with a serpentine
Nile.  When you move the mouse over the proposed riverbed, its highlight
appears as a straight line, identical to that of the track-laying
highlight, but when the river is placed, its curves and irregularities
reflect its natural brethren.  The rivers will fork and break in some
spots.

Putting a river into a larger body of water will sometimes result in an
unnatural looking "wedge" of water surrounded by strips of land at the
water's joint.  You can create a more smooth juncture at the river's
mouth by painting that spot with the Sea choice in the PAINT LAND menu
or shape some irregular shorelines with the Island and Lake commands.

If you choose Lake, you can place a 3x3 block of water surrounded by
a small amount of cleared land.  You can place a succession of contiguous
lakes for larger bodies of water.  Islands can only be placed in lakes
large enough to accommodate them.  Placing one in a small lake will divide
it into small strips of water with land in-between.  Placing an island
over other types of terrain will result in a 3x3 square of cleared
terrain.

If you placed an island on the edge of a body of water, you can sculpt
the shore for an interesting eroded look.  Rivers and lakes can be
placed over smaller buildings and residences, but not over large commercial
properties or through or over mountains.  You can design your rivers
so that they easily accommodate bridges; laying a river over existing
track splits the river in two.

PORTS places seaports and airports.  Selecting PORTS brings up a two-
choice display of an airport and a seaport, accompanied by a Build and
Remove command.  You can even build a seaport in a lake, but you won't
make many shipping profits off a few trout- no boats will float.  The
buildings on the seaport must be aligned close to at least one block
of land (not necessarily touching- just align the preplaced port's
highlight with at least one block of land before placement).  Removing
a seaport replaces it with blocks of cleared land.

If you try to place water over a seaport, the port remains, but any
attached land sinks beneath the surface of the waves (a good place to
start looking for Atlantis).  When you attempt to place an airport or
seaport, the cursor will display a highlight of the port's size and
alignment, but only a single highlighted block when you click on the
Remove command.  You can't place TILE objects on airports.  You are
restricted to one airport and one seaport per map.

If the seaport is built in waters open to the map's edge, a freighter
will enter.  The freighter will proceed straight from the bottom edge
towards the right edge of the map, but it won't be able to avoid
obstacles, so design a smooth passage if you want to utilize a shipping
route.  You can place an airport in water but you won't thrill your
passengers- no planes will arrive.  It does look pretty at night,
though.  First, put down two parallel strips of land an airport's
length (nine blocks), and then place the building.  You can delete
the remaining empty blocks for a clean look.  Neither type of
port can be placed over mountains, certain types of buildings, or tracks.

CASH allows you to configure your cash reserves with which to begin
a game.  The + and - keys work much like the Bank Loan keys in A-Train.
You can increase the total in increments of either 1,000,000 or 100,000
dollars up to 9,000,000 dollars- enough to put those silver cuspidors
in every sleeper.  This window will reveal the type and size of your
city, reflective of your new development.

CLEAR lets you cut selections from the map.  You can selectively
remove all of the trains, railroads, and mountains from your map.
If you select All Trains, all of the trains you have placed or purchased
will be erased.  All Railroads will erase all the railroads in addition
to all of the trains.  However, the trains are merely removed from view
in this instance- they are "stored," as when you use A-Train's Remove
Train command, and you can place them later.

The Clear All command gives you a fresh, clean map of flat land to work
with- a blank canvas upon which to paint a mapping masterpiece.  This
also erases all purchased trains, placed or not.  This is the command
you should choose first if you want to construct a completely original
map.

HELP!  The button with the question mark will remain one of life's
little mysteries- I couldn't possibly be induced to reveal its secrets
... Oh, all right!  Click on the question mark and you will see a
window with icons of all game buttons, which, when clicked, will give you
sage advice on the use of that tool or command within A-Train and the
Construction Set.

BITING THE BULLET

One of A-Train's significant pleasures is making the Bullet Train
appear by successfully developing your city.  However, the Construction
Set gives you the chance to alter your maps so profoundly that not even
the mighty Bullet can penetrate your borders.  Do not completely
surround your city by mountains if you want the Shinkansen to come-
keep at least one side of the city open.

INCLUDED SCENARIOS

The Construction Set provides you with six example scenarios that
demonstrate a range of map-making options and concepts.  You can use some
of them as a basis for actual gameplay, or just as prototypes of design
possibilities.  Some of the maps have limited playability; consider
them candy for the eye.

Example 5 is a sort of terrain sculpture garden, a paint-by-numbers
combination maze/miniature golf course/labyrinth with a start and a
finish, but don't ask us how to play.  Example 6 is a train ballet:
a visual marvel of synchronicity and timing.  The trains have an easy,
organic quality, almost a neural network of the brain at leisure-
this might scan well after a Long Island Iced Tea or two.  (Hint:
Don't try to set any schedules with this one.)  Take the inspiration
of these examples and make tracks!

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND

The A-Train Construction Set gives you the ticket to ride- on the terrain
of your own making.  Every design decision is yours: Tilt your train's
travel over perilous mountain passes carved by your cursor.  Brighten
up a drab landscape with an alpine lake, rustic ranchland, columns of
condos.  Make subtle additions or subtractions- set a doctor's office in
the foothills, angle an airport to your whim, remove a length of
unsightly roadway- you control the horizontal, you control the vertical.

The prospects are infinite: water worlds, gardens of greenery, urban
blankets of scorched earths- build the Land of 27 Trains or a towering
Himalaya no locomotive could traverse.  You've got the tools; make your
mouse earn its cheese.

The created world is but a small parenthesis in eternity.
                                                        - Thomas Browne

TRAIN CATALOG

KIHA 40 - a diesel passenger train used on a local line in cold places.
Coaches: 2
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 400
Price: 33,000 dollars
Passing stations: incapable

201 - a commuter train with a large seating capacity.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 600
Price: 50,000 dollars
Passing stations: incapable

415 - a commuter train with a stainless-steel body.  More suitable for
      suburban travel than a 201 model train.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 580
Price: 53,000 dollars
Passing stations: incapable

205 - a commuter train used in a metropolitan city.
Coaches: 2
Speed: 3 blocks/hour
Seats: 440
Price: 46,000 dollars
Passing stations: incapable

211 - a stainless-steel suburban commuter train.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 3 blocks/hour
Seats: 640
Price: 70,000 dollars
Passing stations: incapable

AR - an electric commuter train with the largest seating capacity.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 3 blocks/hour
Seats: 700
Price: 80,000 dollars
Passing stations: incapable

KIHA 82 - a super-express diesel passenger train.
Coaches: 2
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 420
Price: 53,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

113 - a direct-current electrical train used in suburban lines running
      by the sea.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 640
Price: 80,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

FP 45 - a stylish suburban diesel express train.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 580
Price: 90,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

381 - a super-express passenger train designed especially for running
      on curved lines.
Coaches: 2
Speed: 3 blocks/hour
Seats: 470
Price: 98,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

EF 65-24 - a long-distance night passenger train that has a small seating
           capacity and high ticket fares.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 3 blocks/hour
Seats: 470
Price: 180,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

AR III - the most expensive but profitable passenger train.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 3 blocks/hour
Seats: 600
Price: 250,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

KIN 30000 - a super-express passenger train with double deck coaches.
Coaches: 2
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 460
Price: 50,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

NISHI 5000 - a super-express passenger train.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 600
Price: 80,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

MEI 7000 - an express passenger train used for tourism.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Seats: 560
Price: 90,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

DD 51 - a freight train.
Coaches: 2
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Materials: 2
Price: 46,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

EF 62 - a freight train.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 2 blocks/hour
Materials: 4
Price: 76,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

ED 76 - a freight train.
Coaches: 2
Speed: 3 blocks/hour
Materials: 2
Price: 73,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

GP 40 - a freight train.
Coaches: 3
Speed: 3 blocks/hour
Materials: 4
Price: 116,000 dollars
Passing stations: capable

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