The strategy genre is large and varied. There are many subgenres in it – military, economic, indirect control, real-time and turn-based, in a historical or fantasy setting… If you dig into the very depths of such a classification, you can find such an amazing beast as a railway tycoon simulator.
All these years the genre has not stood still, but has developed and evolved. Developers are no longer limited to just one railway – now the most popular games of this type are “tycoons”, covering the entire range of vehicles, including cars and aircraft.
But there are those who remember how it all began. Railway Empire from Gaming Minds Studios (this German studio had a hand in such series as Patrician And Port Royale) – a classic railway simulator in the no less classic setting of the railway boom in North America of the 19th century.
Go West, young man
Do not confuse railway tycoon simulators with rolling stock simulators. In the latter case, the player takes on the role of a train driver and his task is to deliver cargo or passengers from point A to point B on time and without critical consequences. Reliable placement of rivets on the boiler of some Rocket (one of the first English steam locomotives) and a realistic control system with the need to follow all traffic rules – to your taste.
"Taycoon" is completely different. Here you have to think at a strategic level, and trains and railways themselves are just a tool for making money. Moreover, there are other ways to replenish your bank account: playing on the stock exchange, purchasing and developing your own industrial enterprises. Railway Empire – exactly about this.
The time and location of the game were not chosen by chance – in the USA of the 19th century, the railway played a huge role in the development of new possessions of the West Coast. Aviation and cars were not yet in sight, and horse-drawn and water vehicles could not fully satisfy the growing transport demands of the young state. Moreover, compared with Europe, the North American continent did not yet have a developed road system, so any trip to the West was a real challenge (by the way, one of the first video games in history is dedicated to such expeditions) The Oregon Trail).
The creation of a railway network could become (and became – a little later, in the second half of the 19th century) a real salvation for the logistics of the entire country. As it should be in a capitalist society, the development of a new type of transport was left to private business. The state assisted in every possible way those enthusiasts who decided to take up the construction of the railway: for example, land at a distance of 10 miles from the tracks was given ownership to the owner of the roads, and targeted loans and credits were very, very profitable.
Again, as it should be in a capitalist society, especially thoughtful guys did not fail to take advantage of such preferences. For the sake of those very lands and subsidies (issued based on the length of the road), they tried to make the roads as long and winding as possible, sometimes deliberately ignoring the shorter route (in some cases, the authorities had to force such roads to be “straightened”). The very important question for the local population of which city the road would pass through was often resolved with the help of considerable bribes to the owner of the railway company.
From time to time https://jabibetcasino.co.uk/ we are shown newspapers that reflect both gaming and various historical events.
And then the Civil War arrived, during which trains played an important role. The ability to quickly transport troops and resources was very important, which also influenced the development of this type of transport. There were also some interesting episodes related to the railways in this war: here were the first armored trains. and the Great Locomotive Race. Finally, in 1869, the creation of the first transcontinental railroad was completed, connecting the West Coast with the central and eastern regions of the country, which provided a huge boost to the economy of the entire state.
In short, it was a fun time. Oddly enough, the spirit of this great era is fully felt in the game, despite the rather specific genre that is not conducive to such immersion. It can be seen that cities grow and decline precisely thanks to the actions of the player and his computer opponents; for the sake of profit, company owners can do anything, and the creation of an effective transport system means a lot for the economy of the entire country. This is especially noticeable during the campaign, which is also a training in the basics of the game.
Debit and credit
In addition to the campaign (very short, it must be said – only five chapters), there are separate scenarios, free mode and sandbox. In the latter there is no need to earn money; all opportunities for building your own railway network are available from the very start. In the scenarios, certain goals must be achieved to successfully complete the mission; sometimes the tasks given are quite non-trivial.
But the main mode in such strategies is, of course, a free game where you can build a railway empire for your own pleasure. Looking ahead, I will say that in our case there is still a list of tasks: in order to get the highest score at the end of the game, you need to achieve certain indicators in 20 years.
You can switch the camera to the view from the train. Looks beautiful if you don’t pay attention to the disproportionate scale.
The developers didn’t plan for the whole of America, so the country is divided into five parts, each of which is a separate map. They differ not only in the location of the cities, but also in the topography – for example, in the west the area is quite deserted, and the coastal cities are located behind a mountain range through which it is simply impossible to stretch rails. In addition to the map, you can determine the year the game started: there is a choice from 1830 to 1910 – half a dozen options are released at intervals of 20 years. Finally, we decide where to start and who will run the company. The latter determines what bonus the player will receive: for example, a fraudster spends 20% less money when buying locomotives and during auctions, and a retired general can build tracks at a decent discount.
The main task of the player will be to earn money – of course, it should be high and stable. Profit, as expected, consists of the balance between income and expenses. Income can be received in several ways: cargo transportation performed by our company, delivery of mail and passengers, and so on. Expenses, in addition to the purchase of steam locomotives, the construction of stations and tracks, consist of train maintenance, staff salaries and interest payments on loans.
Economy in Railway Empire is not static, but develops depending on the state of the railway system in the country. In addition to cities, various farms, mines, oil production stations and other sources of resources are scattered across the map. These same resources must be delivered to cities, each of which has a demand for certain goods. For example, if there is a brewery in the settlement, then wheat is needed to successfully produce the drink. Beer, in turn, can be a source of demand in another city – supply chains have to be built to ensure the greatest profit.
When demand is satisfied by more than 60%, the urban population begins to grow. The more residents, the more businesses can be built within the city and the more potential passengers and recipients of correspondence and parcels. In addition, in developed cities there is a higher demand for more goods. It turns out to be mutually beneficial cooperation between the railway and the residents of the surrounding area: we get money for providing goods and resources, they get money for economic development and satisfaction of all needs.
"The blue carriage is running and swaying"
Putting a station in the right place and connecting it with rails to the city is not enough – you need to purchase a locomotive and determine its route. In addition to banal transportation between two points, you can fine-tune the waybill: what cargo to unload and receive at each station, determine the priority of loading and the order of visiting stations. Different models of steam locomotives become available gradually, depending on progress along the research tree. The latter is very extensive here and is not limited only to rolling stock. But if you look closely, the difference between the improvements is not so great: behind the different descriptions are hidden platitudes such as an increase in profit from transporting cargo by n%.
As soon as the number of trains on one track becomes more than one, the player will encounter one very unpleasant feature Railway Empire. The fact is that there is either a completely buggy or very difficult to understand system of arrows and semaphores – and most likely, both. Even if you try to separate the two tracks for opposite directions according to the instructions, trains can still get stuck against a stop signal, although the rails ahead are completely clear. At the same time, there is no need to make any complex interchanges to rearrange trains at the station – the train itself will “turn over” on the tracks and calmly go in the opposite direction. There is no point in flirting with realism – the wasted nerves are not worth it. It is much easier to enable a simplified track mode in the settings, in which trains pass through each other when driving on the same road. Computer opponents, by the way, have this mode turned on all the time – they, apparently, also have problems with the semaphore system.
The opponents themselves, in theory, should encourage the player to fight for the dominance of his company on the map. But there are not enough tools for this. You can, for example, send a spy or provocateur to your opponent (or find someone like him in yours), but these guys don’t make a difference. Yes, there are auctions, but there is no particular logic in how rivals participate in them. In addition, there are certain suspicions that the AI is cheating a little – sometimes the assets of one of the competitors begin to grow too sharply for no apparent reason.
It is unlikely that it will be possible to check or influence this – among other things, the interface and functionality of statistical data are extremely uninformative for the genre. The more stations and active tracks, the more difficult it is to understand what is going on. Railway Empire, Of course, it does not pretend to be a serious simulator, but this does not mean that we should forget about banal convenience.
In addition, the game has a fairly large layer of mechanics that have little effect on what is happening. For example, personnel – there are office workers, there are locomotive crews, various support level employees (the same spies or security guards). But if you don’t pay enough attention to them (that’s microcontrol), then nothing particularly terrible will happen – it’s quite possible to build a successful business without fussing with every driver or conductor.
Railway Empire turned out to be very “casual”, as if specially designed only for beginners. At the same time, the unfriendly interface, bugs and toothless opponents lead to the fact that once you get a little familiar with what’s happening on the screen, boredom sets in. Much could be forgiven if the game had multiplayer. But, as you understand, he is not there. And, judging by information from the developers, there are no plans at all. You can go through the campaign and scenarios, play a couple of times in free mode… and that’s it – that’s where interest in the strategy fades away. A verdict for a representative of a genre where replayability is incredibly important.
Pros: The spirit of the era of the exploration of the Wild West is perfectly conveyed; the game will be a good start for those who want to get acquainted with the genre.
Cons: strange implementation of arrows and semaphores; lack of online play; simplification in everything; inconvenient interface; meager statistics.