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A-Train: City Simulator |OT| The Money Jungle of stations, lines, and overgrowth

lewisgone

Member
This game looks nice. Was listening to the soundtrack last night too. Not sure if I'll pick it up soon since I have a few games I'm still playing through, but my 3DS is really missing a good simulation/construction game.
 
Oh, thought it was going to be more expensive in europe. Dont like that is only english, when they will learn, but at least is not only eshop full price like other games (cough-atlus-cough).
Not to good with money this month though, but I really want a portable game and I love this kind of genre.
 
I actually played the original A-Train on a monochrome 286 and then a VGA 486 (which made my head explode)..

It was and has been pretty much unique.. I didn't even know that it had sequels though! I'll have to check out A-Train II and III..

Hasn't there been a Windows A-Train game as well lately? Like, last year or something?

EDIT: Shit, I just checked out the A-Train wikipedia page ant the A-Train game I played on DOS was actually A-Train III! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-Train
 

Xater

Member
I actually played the original A-Train on a monochrome 286 and then a VGA 486 (which made my head explode)..

It was and has been pretty much unique.. I didn't even know that it had sequels though! I'll have to check out A-Train II and III..

Hasn't there been a Windows A-Train game as well lately? Like, last year or something?

EDIT: Shit, I just checked out the A-Train wikipedia page ant the A-Train game I played on DOS was actually A-Train III! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-Train

There definitely is at least one of these games on Steam.
 
I actually played the original A-Train on a monochrome 286 and then a VGA 486 (which made my head explode)..

It was and has been pretty much unique.. I didn't even know that it had sequels though! I'll have to check out A-Train II and III..

Hasn't there been a Windows A-Train game as well lately? Like, last year or something?

EDIT: Shit, I just checked out the A-Train wikipedia page ant the A-Train game I played on DOS was actually A-Train III! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-Train

Yep, A-Train 8 and A-Train 9 are both on Steam. There's even two versions of the latter, one of which is twice the price of the other (I think because of train licensing or something?).
 

Meier

Member
Pretty sure I'd love this but $30 is a little high. Torn on this but do appreciate them localizing a game that would often be ignored. Digital only though means I'd prefer a $20 price point.
 

Aerocrane

Member
Yep, A-Train 8 and A-Train 9 are both on Steam. There's even two versions of the latter, one of which is twice the price of the other (I think because of train licensing or something?).

Unfortunately its not even the licensing. All versions lack licensed trains and the most recent version of A-Train 9 on Steam costs more because they are sold as separate products in Japan as well from what I understand. The localized Steam version has about ten generic trains (I think an update added one licensed American train to A-Train 9 3.0?) and there's no real tutorial or manual that would explain the mechanics. I wish some better publisher had the license instead of Degica, then we might actually get a version with licensed trains.
 

OuterLimits

Member
Hmm, over 2000 blocks. Sorry, Unchained Blades, I may have to delete you for a bit. I need to just order a bigger card.

Game is a bit expensive, but it looks worth it. I love the genre and playing this while traveling would be fun.
 

rdaneel72

Member
To those who say it is too expensive for a digital game, let me just say that this game is huge, packed with content and worth the money. I've played 6 hours and am still in the first tutorial/scenario. I know there are complex aspects that have not yet unlocked in my game. Plus, an entire freeform sandbox mode that let's you make the map and set the game scenarios (which can be shared with other users). A-Train delivers value for the money.

Don't let this gem go unnoticed.
 
I just checked the EU eShop for the StreetPass games and there's no front page rack to proudly display this game, which is a shame. I thought NoE's eShop team would at least recognise the heritage and importance of this release, but nope.

---

As for the game, itself, I'm really enjoying it so far, it feels like the developers poured a lot of love into it, right through to the sound effects in the interface (I love configuring my trains with the slider). I need some help though, as I'm stuck on the first scenario, 3/4 hours in. It's the bit of the tutorial where you have to start using the freight system, and I can never get my island locomotive train to turn a profit. It tends to hold up my two passenger trains in the same looped/turnback track, but I can't figure out how to deal with the unload/load schedule for all the different depots by the stations. No matter what I try and do it's still losing money, even when I set it up so my train takes freight from a station close to a material factory, then drops it off at a depot which doesn't have one.

If anyone could help me that would be hugely appreciated.
 

rdaneel72

Member
As for the game, itself, I'm really enjoying it so far, it feels like the developers poured a lot of love into it, right through to the sound effects in the interface (I love configuring my trains with the slider). I need some help though, as I'm stuck on the first scenario, 3/4 hours in. It's the bit of the tutorial where you have to start using the freight system, and I can never get my island locomotive train to turn a profit. It tends to hold up my two passenger trains in the same looped/turnback track, but I can't figure out how to deal with the unload/load schedule for all the different depots by the stations. No matter what I try and do it's still losing money, even when I set it up so my train takes freight from a station close to a material factory, then drops it off at a depot which doesn't have one.

If anyone could help me that would be hugely appreciated.


I've played longer than that and they haven't even introduced the freight system yet. I got a couple of freight trains moving back and forth along my map just for fun; one turns a profit and one doesn't, and I don't know why, but I assume once I get to that tutorial I will be able to figure out what I've done wrong.

Do you just crank up the speed of time until the next tutorial lesson? What is your in-game date right now? I just got to May 2001 (scenario 1) and I've played more than 6 hours.

I'm enjoying the game, but the tutorial seems to take forever. Maybe I should just speed up time between secretary visits. Sometimes she goes 3-4 days before popping up with a new lesson. and sometimes those lessons are dumb crap like changing train/station names or changing the departing chime! Stuff like that should be integrated into other lessons!

It is a little frustrating. I can only build stations within range of building materials. I can't move those materials to locations where I want to build a station (yet). I also can't merge tracks with switches(?) so two lines of track can intersect without the damn trains crashing. So every line has to use its own tracks, and my island is getting crowded. I know these options will unlock eventually, but it is taking a long time.

I am also anxiously anticipating the 3D camera mode so I can get down into my little world and actually ride the trains. When the hell does that option unlock?!?!?!

I am enjoying the game, though. It is a relaxing break from Monster Hunter 4U, and seems just as deep and content-packed. I love watching my little trains zoom around my map, watching the P&L numbers (slowly) tick upwards, and there is still a little thrill when I get the message that an apartment complex or petting farm(?!) has sprung up next to one of my stations.

Guess I need to speed up time to get to the good stuff!
 
I just checked the EU eShop for the StreetPass games and there's no front page rack to proudly display this game, which is a shame. I thought NoE's eShop team would at least recognise the heritage and importance of this release, but nope.

---

As for the game, I really need some help. I'm stuck on the first scenario, 3/4 hours in. It's the bit of the tutorial where you have to start using the freight system, and I can never get my island locomotive train to turn a profit.

It tends to hold up my two passenger trains in the same looped/turnback track, but I can't figure out how to deal with the unload/load schedule for all the different depots by the stations.

No matter what I try and do it's still losing money, even when I set it up so my train takes freight from a station close to a material factory, then drops it off at a depot which doesn't have one.

If anyone could help me that would be hugely appreciated.

I've only just started myself, but I didn't find it too difficult to get the freight train to turn a (very small) profit. First, is your train actually running into other trains or is it just delaying them? I found it really difficult at first to keep trains from running into each other but you unlock tools that can help with that in theory, I think (Departure Conditions and switch boxes?). I just solved it by making sure ALL my trains had the same operation schedule--I was finding my freight train would constantly run into my passenger trains when they were out of service and chilling at a station.

Second, are your trains actually picking up and dropping off materials? Watch your freight train at a slow speed and see if it's picking up and dropping off white boxes. If it's not transferring freight at all, or only at a few stations, that's your problem. Looks like you've already figured out unload/load, but there's a few more gotchas the tutorial eventually tells you about:

1) Are your stations big enough? Freight trains will only load/unload at stations with platforms big enough to take the entire train. If the platform isn't big enough, I believe the train will stop but won't do anything.

2) Are you sure the material depots are within range of the stations? This shouldn't be a problem for any of the stations the tutorial has already built or the one station it has you build on pre-owned land, but any subsequent stations you build on that map might not be in range. This happened to one of my stations, and later in the tutorial you unlock the ability to change (or move!) the freight range to fix minor placement issues. You also get the ability to build new depots, though obviously this doesn't help for creating actual material since you need factories/plants for that.

3) Is a depot you set to unload material from full, or a depot you set to load material from empty? If there's no plant nearby, it's easy for full depots to become empty, and if there's no construction demand in the area of an empty depot it's easy for that depot to become full. I don't yet know how to fix either underlying problem, but in the meantime you should at least change the loading mode for stations if depot conditions change.

Guess I need to speed up time to get to the good stuff!

YES. The only reason to not have fast forward set all the time, as far as I can tell, is a) to debug train or route-related issues, or b) because watching your train system run is fun and relaxing. If you want to actually get stuff done in the tutorial, there's no reason to wait between secretary visits any longer than you have to. I've spent 2.5 hours in the game so far and have gotten to freight--and that's AFTER restarting a bunch of times when I had my corrupted SD card issues.
 

Tiktaalik

Member
On any other service I'd buy this day one, but Nintendo's eShop is such garbage that it lowers the value enough that it's too highly priced. I hate to be "that guy" but I thought I should be a data point in case Natsume folks are looking at threads, doing market research.
 

rdaneel72

Member
YES. The only reason to not have fast forward set all the time, as far as I can tell, is a) to debug train or route-related issues, or b) because watching your train system run is fun and relaxing. If you want to actually get stuff done in the tutorial, there's no reason to wait between secretary visits any longer than you have to. I've spent 2.5 hours in the game so far and have gotten to freight--and that's AFTER restarting a bunch of times when I had my corrupted SD card issues.

Ok. Will do. Thanks for the tip. Don't know why I feel like I will speed right through something important. I usually like to take my time with games, but this is a special case.

Dreamed if tiny trains all night. Looking forward to the weekend when I can really sit and mess with this wonderful little game uninterrupted.
 
Yep, A-Train 8 and A-Train 9 are both on Steam. There's even two versions of the latter, one of which is twice the price of the other (I think because of train licensing or something?).
Artdink has priced A-Train 9 V3.0 high mainly to keep prices across both Steam and their online store (set-up and operated by Degica, importantly). This I presume is to prevent Japanese customers from getting second thoughts about buying on Steam for less; Artdink's user base for the PC A-Train games is more focused compared to the handheld games, so they must feel there's less opportunity to expand the demographic and that money can be made in keeping prices evergreen.

I wish some better publisher had the license instead of Degica, then we might actually get a version with licensed trains.
Much as I dislike the company's lack of correspondence with A-Train 9's community and for posturing about their ability to deliver on all promises, Degica's not the only group facing insurmountable licensing issues. JR Group simply won't license their rolling stock for a trifle: the developers of Train Simulator have been trying for years to get Japanese trains and have been stopped repeatedly, and I bet they've tried harder! I'd rather Degica admit it's out of their expertise to deal with it and make generic trains to replace the licensed ones instead. Players just want trains able to fulfill the specifications/roles those JR Group trains can.

For that matter, I think Degica's greenness in localizing and supporting their games (evidenced by hiring "community managers" who apparently have other things to do that conflict with schedule) is a problem. But I also hate that Artdink games keep hopping from localizer to localizer without much sense of stability. XSEED is now Falcom's anchor in the West—Artdink should have one of their own!
 
So does a-train have like a small story with your office workers (i remeber seeing something like that in the old thread)?
Im just seating here infront of the adding funds screen and dont know what to do.
 

Aerocrane

Member
Much as I dislike the company's lack of correspondence with A-Train 9's community and for posturing about their ability to deliver on all promises, Degica's not the only group facing insurmountable licensing issues. JR Group simply won't license their rolling stock for a trifle: the developers of Train Simulator have been trying for years to get Japanese trains and have been stopped repeatedly, and I bet they've tried harder! I'd rather Degica admit it's out of their expertise to deal with it and make generic trains to replace the licensed ones instead. Players just want trains able to fulfill the specifications/roles those JR Group trains can.

For that matter, I think Degica's greenness in localizing and supporting their games (evidenced by hiring "community managers" who apparently have other things to do that conflict with schedule) is a problem.

I just wish the community managers of Degica could just come out and say that they couldn't get the licensing done. I didn't know JR Group was being difficult about the licensing, I was assuming just that Degica couldn't justify the costs of licensing their trains for the international release.

Anyway, back to on topic, I'm really liking the art style of this game. Can't afford to buy it right now though, so I'll join you guys in a couple months.
 
What's odd is that the European Miiverse community does allow screenshots, while the NA one does not.

dda0Dtv.jpg


lol, well I'd like to think so, but...
 
I just wish the community managers of Degica could just come out and say that they couldn't get the licensing done. I didn't know JR Group was being difficult about the licensing, I was assuming just that Degica couldn't justify the costs of licensing their trains for the international release.
What gets me is that Blackbird, the community manager for Crimson Clover, is doing a much better job of interacting with fans and customers, not easy to do when the Shmups forum is even more critical and knowledgeable than most A-Train players. Maybe it's an easier game to update and support, but what goes for CC should go for A-Train 9 V3.0 if possible. And I find it weird that JR Group will make a deal with Artdink but refuse to extend it to non-Japanese territories for the same game; maybe the companies are working a deal right now and we just don't know it, lol.

What's odd is that the European Miiverse community does allow screenshots, while the NA one does not.
Yeah, I don't know what's going on, but this could really hurt the NA Miiverse channel for A-Train. Hopefully it gets fixed and the game develops a following over time and/or through sales.
 

lewisgone

Member
What's odd is that the European Miiverse community does allow screenshots, while the NA one does not.

Checking Twitter, it looks like Natsume don't know why that's the case, so it seems it's a glitch on the NA side.

Also, the EU Miiverse consists of about one guys posts right now, haha. I hope this game gets some more attention because it looks cool and going off impressions here, is a pretty solid game. Natsume haven't even released an official trailer for it yet (as far as I can see).

Maybe I'll pick this up sooner than I planned...I do want to support simulation games on the 3DS, and it sounds quite unique.
 

TheMoon

Member
Checking Twitter, it looks like Natsume don't know why that's the case, so it seems it's a glitch on the NA side.

Also, the EU Miiverse consists of about one guys posts right now, haha. I hope this game gets some more attention because it looks cool and going off impressions here, is a pretty solid game. Natsume haven't even released an official trailer for it yet (as far as I can see).

Maybe I'll pick this up sooner than I planned...I do want to support simulation games on the 3DS, and it sounds quite unique.

Gotta buy a new microSD card tomorrow, mine can't write data anymore for some reason. Will buy it soon (feels so weird leaving the N3DS at home, with no streetpassing while I'm out).
 
I just checked the EU eShop for the StreetPass games and there's no front page rack to proudly display this game, which is a shame. I thought NoE's eShop team would at least recognise the heritage and importance of this release, but nope.
IIRC Fantasy Zone 2 was the only release this week to get on the rack. The other 2 new release spots were DLC. The game currently is top spot on the calender so there is that I suppose.

Now I should re check the Australian eShop because IIRC A-Train: City Simulator was the only release this week outside of DLC (price btw, $A40). Yeah Australia can be a grim place when it comes to the eShop (Fantasy Zone 2 will eventually come out, something went wrong with the ratings).
Edit: Sorry for being a tad off-topic I thought I was in the Nintendo downloads thread.
 
I've played longer than that and they haven't even introduced the freight system yet. I got a couple of freight trains moving back and forth along my map just for fun; one turns a profit and one doesn't, and I don't know why, but I assume once I get to that tutorial I will be able to figure out what I've done wrong.

Do you just crank up the speed of time until the next tutorial lesson? What is your in-game date right now? I just got to May 2001 (scenario 1) and I've played more than 6 hours.

I'm enjoying the game, but the tutorial seems to take forever. Maybe I should just speed up time between secretary visits. Sometimes she goes 3-4 days before popping up with a new lesson. and sometimes those lessons are dumb crap like changing train/station names or changing the departing chime! Stuff like that should be integrated into other lessons!

It is a little frustrating. I can only build stations within range of building materials. I can't move those materials to locations where I want to build a station (yet). I also can't merge tracks with switches(?) so two lines of track can intersect without the damn trains crashing. So every line has to use its own tracks, and my island is getting crowded. I know these options will unlock eventually, but it is taking a long time.

I am also anxiously anticipating the 3D camera mode so I can get down into my little world and actually ride the trains. When the hell does that option unlock?!?!?!

I am enjoying the game, though. It is a relaxing break from Monster Hunter 4U, and seems just as deep and content-packed. I love watching my little trains zoom around my map, watching the P&L numbers (slowly) tick upwards, and there is still a little thrill when I get the message that an apartment complex or petting farm(?!) has sprung up next to one of my stations.

Guess I need to speed up time to get to the good stuff!

Ah yes, I'm currently in June at the moment on my game. Do let me know what you make of the freight system when you get to it, though based on your experiences I should probably just experiment with it all rather than try and pull off precise perfection.

I was thinking the same thing about the 3D camera mode, so I sneakily started a new game under scenario 4 just to check it out. It's pretty nifty!

I've only just started myself, but I didn't find it too difficult to get the freight train to turn a (very small) profit. First, is your train actually running into other trains or is it just delaying them? I found it really difficult at first to keep trains from running into each other but you unlock tools that can help with that in theory, I think (Departure Conditions and switch boxes?). I just solved it by making sure ALL my trains had the same operation schedule--I was finding my freight train would constantly run into my passenger trains when they were out of service and chilling at a station.

Ah, my problem tends to be both. Whenever I configure the slightest change to my rail track (especially with the turnback style ends) I end up getting a combination of the both, where the trains end up almost colliding and facing an emergency stop. With the delays, my passenger trains seem to run faster than the locomotive speed-wise, so they end up getting held up by my locomotive.

Maybe we shouldn't be worrying about this at this stage now given you mentioned unlockable tools to fix this, but it's hard to do what my secretary is telling me as is (optimise the freight train)

Second, are your trains actually picking up and dropping off materials? Watch your freight train at a slow speed and see if it's picking up and dropping off white boxes. If it's not transferring freight at all, or only at a few stations, that's your problem. Looks like you've already figured out unload/load, but there's a few more gotchas the tutorial eventually tells you about:

1) Are your stations big enough? Freight trains will only load/unload at stations with platforms big enough to take the entire train. If the platform isn't big enough, I believe the train will stop but won't do anything.

2) Are you sure the material depots are within range of the stations? This shouldn't be a problem for any of the stations the tutorial has already built or the one station it has you build on pre-owned land, but any subsequent stations you build on that map might not be in range. This happened to one of my stations, and later in the tutorial you unlock the ability to change (or move!) the freight range to fix minor placement issues. You also get the ability to build new depots, though obviously this doesn't help for creating actual material since you need factories/plants for that.

3) Is a depot you set to unload material from full, or a depot you set to load material from empty? If there's no plant nearby, it's easy for full depots to become empty, and if there's no construction demand in the area of an empty depot it's easy for that depot to become full. I don't yet know how to fix either underlying problem, but in the meantime you should at least change the loading mode for stations if depot conditions change.

Thanks so much for this -- going to play around with those options (especially the depots). Point 3 is particularly something I had been struggling with.

Just one more note -- what actually determines whether you make money from freight? Is it whenever you unload? I'm just a bit confused, as sometimes it feels like I'm unloading to stations which don't *need* the freight. I feel dumb :(
 

gillty

Banned
In tutorial 1 you are kinda hamstringed, once you finish that up you'll be able to schedule and do train signaling which gives you excellent control over the operation of traind,
 

kama

Member
Ah yes, I'm currently in June at the moment on my game. Do let me know what you make of the freight system when you get to it, though based on your experiences I should probably just experiment with it all rather than try and pull off precise perfection.

I was thinking the same thing about the 3D camera mode, so I sneakily started a new game under scenario 4 just to check it out. It's pretty nifty!



Ah, my problem tends to be both. Whenever I configure the slightest change to my rail track (especially with the turnback style ends) I end up getting a combination of the both, where the trains end up almost colliding and facing an emergency stop. With the delays, my passenger trains seem to run faster than the locomotive speed-wise, so they end up getting held up by my locomotive.

Maybe we shouldn't be worrying about this at this stage now given you mentioned unlockable tools to fix this, but it's hard to do what my secretary is telling me as is (optimise the freight train)



Thanks so much for this -- going to play around with those options (especially the depots). Point 3 is particularly something I had been struggling with.

Just one more note -- what actually determines whether you make money from freight? Is it whenever you unload? I'm just a bit confused, as sometimes it feels like I'm unloading to stations which don't *need* the freight. I feel dumb :(

You might wanna try decreasing the delivery intervals of your freight trains. I haven't checked this in the 3ds version yet,but in past games your trains only produced upkeep cost while they are moving.

Unless you want to build a separate track just for freight trains you can have them running only at night when there should be no passenger trains on the tracks anyway.
 

rdaneel72

Member
Unless you want to build a separate track just for freight trains you can have them running only at night when there should be no passenger trains on the tracks anyway.

This is what I've done. Every train has its own track at the moment, so no collisions. But, I am running out of land to lay track on, and three tracks going in basically the same direction is obviously inefficient. Once the game unlocks switches and scheduling, I'm going to have quite a mess to clean up.

Looking forward to it!
 

Mutagenic

Permanent Junior Member
I really hate that I noticed this. It looks really good, but between other games and life in general, I don't have the time for it. I'm sure I'll buy it anyways.
 

Danneee

Member
So, I bought this yesterday and played about an hour of the first tutorial. Really loving the little details and the game really eases you into it.
It's a bit like transport tycoon so if you played that you might have an easier time understanding this, at least that's how I feel so far.
Track building is a bit awkward as you need to micromanage it too much compared to other transport sims but I guess it's just something to get used to.

All in all I'm very happy with my purchase so far and I haven't even made it that far in the tutorials yet.
 
This game has its hooks in me big time.
Don't take this to work or school with you. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I still need to give it ten years, but I'm having as much fun as I have building networks in transport tycoon or riding my trains like roller coaster tycoon.
This almost seems more in depth with additional layers of complexity.

I'm still on tutorial scenario 3. Trying to go public, which is pretty challenging.

Anyway, this game is crack.
 
I'm still just 2-3 hours in, but I absolutely love this game already.

A pretty dumb question: Is it normal for your trains to loose money in the 100.000s ?

My secretary told me to drop the number of wagons to get the costs down (and the demand isn't that high), but my two trains still loose like 200-300k every quarter.

Like...I don't know if it's supposed to be that way ( my company is profitable overall though)
 

Xater

Member
I'm still just 2-3 hours in, but I absolutely love this game already.

A pretty dumb question: Is it normal for your trains to loose money in the 100.000s ?

My secretary told me to drop the number of wagons to get the costs down (and the demand isn't that high), but my two trains still loose like 200-300k every quarter.

Like...I don't know if it's supposed to be that way ( my company is profitable overall though)

Nope, you should get them to be profitable. Have you made your trains stop at night? Like let the passenger trains just run from 5AM to 1 AM.
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
I love Sim City but not generally a huge fan of more transport/train based management sims; I like the full city management side of things. From what it sounds like this is kind of inbetween the two??

Been dying for a management style game on 3DS, there's nothing else really out there other than Sim City on DS. I think I might buy this tonight... :)
 
Holy shit this game is godly, beat yesterday night the first scenario, something like 5 hours.
Its really deep and challenging at the beggining, but when you get hang of it and start makin a profit with the train, its marvelous.

I'm still just 2-3 hours in, but I absolutely love this game already.

A pretty dumb question: Is it normal for your trains to loose money in the 100.000s ?

My secretary told me to drop the number of wagons to get the costs down (and the demand isn't that high), but my two trains still loose like 200-300k every quarter.

Like...I don't know if it's supposed to be that way ( my company is profitable overall though)

Had some trains doing the same at first, that bleeds money as hell.
With 4 or 5 stations what you need to do is have 3 trains with 2 wagons each on the same circle circuit, put them to rest from 1am to 5am. Look at one of the trains and put the faster speed, if you see that train during the week (try 3 days) starting to win money (look the red number going down) stedealy, that train is going to go into black in some weeks. Repeat this with every train. If you get the stations are still full icon dont worry just yet.

After that expand your circular railway onto the west island area leaving the center untouched. Add a freight train to the line, and make 3 freight stations just near the material depots in the factories of south, west and northwest. The trick here is using the same passenger line for freight, but doing a separate track for the freight stations just next to the passenger ones, for then to enter again the normal line when it exists the station. Make the freight train have 3 transport vehicles, and make it so ONE vehicle gets loaded each time it passes one of the west part freight stations, and unload ONE vehicle each time it passes through one of the passenger east stations. This will make the west factories to have always product to send to the east neighbourhoods.
After that reapeat a second passenger line doing a similar circular curcuit but with 3 trains in reverse from the other line. Same as the other start with two vehicles for each and remeber to add stop times to the trains.
When in the end game scenario (when lots of people are moving in) you start getting full stations nearly with every stop, add a 3 wagon to each passenger train you have.
This will make you a massive profit.
 
Nope, you should get them to be profitable. Have you made your trains stop at night? Like let the passenger trains just run from 5AM to 1 AM.

I think I'm doing something horribly wrong lol
Well then.

This is how the operating hours are supposed to look...right ?
Edit:
Holy shit this game is godly, beat yesterday night the first scenario, something like 5 hours.
Its really deep and challenging at the beggining, but when you get hang of it and start makin a profit with the train, its marvelous.



Had some trains doing the same at first, that bleeds money as hell.
With 4 or 5 stations what you need to do is have 3 trains with 2 wagons each on the same circle circuit, put them to rest from 1am to 5am. Look at one of the trains and put the faster speed, if you see that train during the week (try 3 days) starting to win money (look the red number going down) stedealy, that train is going to go into black in some weeks. Repeat this with every train. If you get the stations are still full icon dont worry just yet.

After that expand your circular railway onto the west island area leaving the center untouched. Add a freight train to the line, and make 3 freight stations just near the material depots in the factories of south, west and northwest. The trick here is using the same passenger line for freight, but doing a separate track for the freight stations just next to the passenger ones, for then to enter again the normal line when it exists the station. Make the freight train have 3 transport vehicles, and make it so ONE vehicle gets loaded each time it passes one of the west part freight stations, and unload ONE vehicle each time it passes through one of the passenger east stations. This will make the west factories to have always product to send to the east neighbourhoods.
After that reapeat a second passenger line doing a similar circular curcuit but with 3 trains in reverse from the other line. Same as the other start with two vehicles for each and remeber to add stop times to the trains.
When in the end game scenario (when lots of people are moving in) you start getting full stations nearly with every stop, add a 3 wagon to each passenger train you have.
This will make you a massive profit.
Thank you so much, I'll try your approach later today...when I have more time !
 
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