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A-Train cheats / A-Train hints / A-Train faqs / A-Train solutions A-Train faqs and solutions ON BOARD TUTORING The following tutorial will get you up and running your trains and provide the groundwork for understanding some of the financial intricacies of the game. You'll find detailed explanations of menus, commands, investment suggestions and general game play advice in the Reference section of the manual. The tutorial assumes that you have a mouse. The left button is the default mouse button for selecting actions and commands, unless otherwise stated. If you're playing without a mouse, see the Addendum for keyboard procedures. Please refer to your Addendum for procedures to install and start A-Train. Once the program is running, you are ready to begin your training. After the title screen and credits for the game have been displayed, the SYSTEM menu will open. When the SYSTEM menu is opened, the game clock stops. The menu has a number of commands, but for tutorial purposes, just click on NEW GAME. A submenu will open. The six numbers represent the choices of map landscapes upon which you can build your train empire. Click on #1 and then click on LOAD. You will now see the lovely map of your new railroad operation, surrounded by the "picture frame" of menu choices. The running clock in the upper-right corner indicates the fiscal term (from April 1 to the present), and the month, day and hour. The clock is the measure for train scheduling, which will be discussed later in this Tutorial. The passing of time is illustrated by the changing patterns of light as day fades and night falls (VGA only). The light changes can be turned off if you wish; see your Addendum for details. There will also be seasonal changes, such as the appearance of winter snow, as the game progresses. All of the maps provide you with at least one operating railroad, and some amount of cash. See the Cities chapter in the Reference section for amplification on the challenges each map presents. Map One is one of the most open and undeveloped of the six scenarios, providing space for experimentation and risk. One of the goals will be to develop the "bedroom community" of its new town. Take a few moments to "mouse around" on the map to get a sense of your territory. You can make incremental movements by clicking in the arrow boxes on the right side of the frame, which will cause the map to scroll a small amount in the direction of the arrow. You can orient yourself to the overall map boundaries by clicking on SATELLITE (on the right edge of the frame), which will display a small image of your complete map. (All picture frame menus will highlight when the mouse pointer is positioned on the menu title. and they then can be opened with a mouse click. ). The rectangle on the Satellite map captures the current territory displayed on the large map. You can drag the box on the Satellite map to any area and click, and the corresponding terrain will be displayed on the big map. Take careful note of the hills, rivers and lakes; terrain plays a significant part in your rail setup. The land is divided into small squares that we'll refer to as "blocks." The block is the measure for a number of A-Train procedures. Use the Satellite rectangle to return to the existing train station on the map, then leave the window by clicking on EXIT. There is both a freight and a passenger operation on your established lines, both running on the same track, both going off the map. Note that the freight train returns from its excursions outside laden with materials, which are deposited in the large pile at the station ;if the storage place is full, it will pick up materials to be sold to the outside. Those are the construction materials from which commercial properties and other holdings are developed. Their placement and train transport play an integral part in your city development. And city development is one of your goals. Click on REPORT 4--the Urban Growth chart--and note the statistics on your city's status, particularly the population total. It is wise to periodically check these facts to see how rapidly your city is evolving. These figures give you quick feedback on how your moves affect the city scale. Click on EXIT to leave the report window. Track laying can be a trifle tricky at first, so we'll experiment a bit. Scroll to one of the undeveloped areas on the map, so that you can put down and remove some track without destroying existing development.Open the TRAlNS menu. This menu provides you with the functions you'll need to build and schedule your railroad. Click the LAY TRACKS command. Make sure that LAY is highlighted. Click the mouse and you will see a terrain block highlight; these blocks are the units of measure in the survey of your terrain. Drag the mouse in any direction and you will see a highlighted line follow your movements. The highlight will reflect any curves when you deviate from a straight line. You can see that by slight manuvering with the mouse,the display of your proposed line will change its angle and course. Drag a straight line from left to right about six blocks and then click. A strip of track will be put down in place of the highlight. Click on REMOVE (in the LAY TRACKS submenu), and click on either end of the track and drag to its other end. The beginning block will highlight, just as when you place track. Click again and the track will be removed and replaced by cleared land. You can see that the figure in the COST box changes with each block over which you lay track. This number reflects the purchase price of the land, and the track laying/removing charges. You will still own any land from which you remove track. Hint: If you are trying to put down some lines and your track tactics don't result in the desired direction, you can cancel the LAY command by clicking the right mouse button. Then try to lay the railroad by clicking first the destination point and then the beginning point. The railroad should turn to the opposite direction. For curved track, if you can't achieve the desired angle with a single drag of the mouse, you can lay piecewise segments of straight track, connect the curved joint, and then connect additional segments. Of course, it's more expensive if you mistakenly put some down, only to remove it later. THROWING YOUR TRACK A CURVE Curving track can require some wily maneuvering,but it's a skill that will serve you well in future track laying.Try running a line from east to west and then have it veer sharply up or down. Also try a few wide, looping curves. If you haven't established a practical line position, you'll get a nasty message from the track layer or construction manager. You can see that controlling the curve isn't always easy, but small mouse motions can usually establish the desired angle in a highlighted planned line. If you have difficulty getting a curved length properly positioned, do it inshortone or two-blocksegments. Try removing curved track as well. Hint. When trying to place a line segment, its easier to get a block to highlight if you click directly in its center. If a track removal path won't follow any curves that might be on your line, you will have to remove piecemeal sections. It is expensive to rip track, so in the real game, plan carefully before you lay your line. Experiment with curved and straight track laying and removal until you have a more natural feel for it. GETTING BACK ON TRACK When you've untangled this track-tying rope, scroll the map so that your original station is near the top and center of your screen. We're going to run a new line from here to the east and then south, so that we can use the existing commercial market of the town, without having to schedule trains around the existing lines. We'll establish two new lines on a connected track near the established lines. These will provide us with a small passenger market, and let us acquire some construction materials to spur development around our new lines. The schedules and routes of the original line are fixed and can't be adjusted, but any additional trains can be laid down separately or integrated and controlled. Click at a spot a couple of blocks below and a couple blocks to the right of the station. Move the highlighted planned line from west to east about five or six blocks, and click to place the line. You can add to existing track by clicking the mouse at track end (the initial block will be highlighted), and dragging. Click at the eastern end of your line and move it east a block or two and then draw it down, straight south, to a few blocks from the bottom of the screen. The curve southward should be indicated in the highlighted planned line. You might have to do some wiggling to place it so that it "sets," but when you have positioned the line to your satisfaction, click at its end. This will establish the track (or you will get a message informing you if you have laid a line in an unsuitable position). When you are laying track you often have to make many adjust- ments for geography--avoid hills and try to use fairly straight segments, since curves are more costly. You can click the right mouse button to cancel a planned line if you haven't yet clicked the left button and placed it. Look at your new track in the Satellite view to see it in relation to the original map. (You must exit the LAY TRACKS submenu to use the Satellite view.) Let's lay a second line that connects on a spur from the first. It is actually easier at the beginning of games to lay two close-but- separate lines, freight and passenger, so that you don't have to be concerned with switches, but we'll get your switchin' feet wet early, so you won't be fearful of those complex waters later on. Connecting track must be first established on a diagonal line from existing track. Position your mouse so that it is about two-thirds of the way down the first section of your track.Highlight the first block and drag the mouse down so that your second line runs parallel and one or two blocks to the west of your first track. Drag until you reach the terminus of your first line and click to set your dual line. The result should look like the Second New Line diagram; minor var- iations in placement aren't important. TRAINING YOUR FIRST TRAIN There are a number of approaches you can take to or- ganizing your initial railroad, such as buying and plac- ing the stations first and then arranging your trains, but we'll get a train up and chugging right away so you'll have something to brag about. Exit the LAY TRACKS menu and click the BUY TRAIN command in the TRAINS menu. You will see a Rolling Stock Market display of all the available train models, a chart detailing the statistics of the chosen train, and a train registry showing what trains are already in oper- ation. Other maps that you develop will show all your purchased trains by their highlighting on the calendar chart,but you cannot adjust Map One's existing trains, and thus the entire chart is open. To buy a train for your new line you must first choose an unused train number from the registry(#1 has a lovely ring) by clicking on it, and then assign the number to a particular train chosen from the train chart.As you click on the various small pictures of the trains,a larger picture of the selected train will appear at the bottom of the window along with its vital statistics (model, capacity, cost, etc.). Your first line should be a freight line. We recommend the dashing GP 40, the bottom unit in the second column, with the crisp Maxis Lines logo. (You may want to start with a cheaper, lower-capacity freight in a real game. ) Once you have chosen a train, make sure the BUY command is highlighted and then click CONFIRM. The train is now yours, registered by its number, which is highlighted and underlined on the registry chart. Click EXIT to close the Rolling Stock Market. Then click the PLACE TRAIN command from TRAINS menu. You'll find that the new train number has already been chosen in the calendar chart, with its train stats displayed. (From this menu you can click other numbers if you want to make changes to future existing trains.) Make sure that #1 is highlighted and then place the train near the bottom edge of your eastern line by positioning the pointer over a spot on the track, which will display the highlighted box. The train will appear on the place clicked. If the place isn't appropriate, a message box will appear to scold you. The new train will have two arrows, one in front of the train and one at the back. The white arrow represents the train's direction. You can click on these arrows to toggle the direction; for now, point its travel up the line towards the original railway. The train starts moving after you click on EXIT. You got yourself a railroad! Hint: Whenexpanding fufure lines, it might be convenient for you to place Several trains at one time--multiple track placements--using the SATELLlTE view scrolling, which lets you move around the map very quickly. GIVE YOUR TRAIN A HOME You'll see your train making its merry path from north to south without relent, on the outside line. Let's give it a place to pull over and stretch its wheels. and also pick up some business in the meantime. All maps will start you with a least one station on a line. One solid approach for a line with only one station is to establish another on the same line some distance(at least 15 or 20 blocks)awaypreferably near some development--if there is any--so as to provide both materials transport and some passenger income. (Passenger fare increases with distance traveled.) We're dealing with freight right now, but we're going to put a passenger line down as well. There isn't a preset ideal" distance between stations for running passengers. Dependent on development factors, set the stations close early in the game to reduce track laying expenses, and when there is more passenger traffic, remove close stations to get the increased fare received for longer trips. There are many strategic gambits concerning station development; refer to the Trains chapter in your Reference section for details. For simplicity's sake. Iet's establish a station at the southeast end of our new line. You can add additional stations to your original line later. The large stations, the ones with tall buildings attached, are more expensive, but their larger passenger processings provoke the simulation into faster city and urban road development. Scroll to the the southern end of your line and click on the BUILD STATION command on the TRAINS menu. Trains will stop running when this menu is opened. You are given a choice of four small and four large stations in various orientations. Click on a small station that will face the tracks from the west and then position the mouse at the southernmost edge of the track. (Station orientation is a factor in city development; see the Crossroads section in Reference.) Stations can only be placed on diagonal segments of track with no curves. You'll see the station outline in highlight, which will occupy at least three blocks. Click when the position is right, and the building will settle nicely into place. When lines are this close, they can share a single station. It's necessary to immediately make an area for materials storage near the station,so that your can pave your kingdom.You need to buy some land adjacent to your station for this storage. It's actually a very sound move to buy up a lot of land around your stations quite early in the game, because this land's value skyrockets in relation to later development. If you truly have an eye for the long-term, buy land in areas where you might concentrate development later; it's sure to bulge your future wallet.You prohably shouldn't spend too much too soon, though. because startup rail costs are high. Open the subsidaries menu. This menu provides the commands to buy and place your land, income properties and commercial developments. Click on REAL ESTATE. A submenu will open with buy and sell I commands. a figure revealing your current holdings and a cost figure that will tally the price of prospective land buys.The prices for the individual blocks of land will be revealed when you move your pointer over them. Land without buildings on it is cheaper; buy accordingly. Click the Bl IY command; the mouse pointer will become a highlighted block. Click on several blocks of land in a line near your western station.You can buy more later if the traffic's hopping. You can also buy property in the general periphery of the station. Leave any residences and buildings be.You can see that when you purchase the land,its surface is cleared. Cleared land with a black highlight around it is owned by another company. Exit the subsidaries menus. Scroll (if necessary) up north near the map's original station and open the BUILD STATION menu. Place a station at the northern end of your line, which should be just a few blocks below, parallel to, and a touch east of your original station.You will have to build over some existing buildings. This station's placement allows you to feed" off of some of the existing materials brought in from the outside and to transport them down to your southern stations for city develop- ment. Buy some land near this station for materials storage. Now your train's all dressed up with a place to go, but you need to tell it where and when. Exit the build STATION menu. DON'T FIGHT; SWITCH! Go back to the TRAINS menu and click on SChedule. You will see the calendar chart with your highlighted train number and a route map that displays the operating trains. their tracks and stations in miniature. Clicking on the number of each purchased train will highlight its image at its current position in a small white box on the route map. Info on the selected train is underneath this map. This map can he a particular asset when you have many trains running and their respective numbers are not so fresh in your mind. We'll set schedules when we place your passenger train,so ignore the DEPARTURE TIME command; click on SWITCH. A small diagram of a switch will be shown in the box below the command. Move the mouse so that the pointer is near the junction of your southwest line and click.A highlighted box appears on the map at the switch's location and the switch display shows its current position. Click on CHANGE SWITCH to direct your freight to your southwest track. The switch will be redirected on the route display and the game map. Click on the TEST RIJN command and you will see the altered route on your route map, with your train represent- ed by a swiftly moving dot. You must click on END TEST to halt the manic pace of the test demonstration. Exit the SCHEDULE window and watch the movement of your train. You'll see that it will soon start transporting materials to your southern storage place, or dependent on availability of materials near your original station-- taking them away.You can redirect the course of your train through the PLACE TRAINS menu. Clicking on its number will scroll the screen to your train. which will display its directional arrows.Sometimes materials won't be available and your freight will begin to take materials away from your southern stations. You can use the arrows to send your freight back to deposit materials it was going to take away. Switches, scheduling and all their intrigues are discussed in more detail in the Trains chapter in the Reference section. You will need to become a competent switchmaster and scheduler when you place your passenger train. For now, let #l run freely, as long as it is depositing construction materials at your southern station. Those blocks are the flagstones on your road to fortune. This part of the tutorial will guide you through the basics of the building trade in A-Train. There are many stratagems regarding development around your stations and subsequent city expansion. All situations are variable according to the existing level of map development, your cash resources, and your approach to growth, be it devil-may-care or cautious. For tutorial purposes, we'll just give you some fundamentals on property development, its effect on the population, and how the simulation responds to your decisions. All of these matters, including a chart of development expenses for each subsidiary, are expounded upon in the Cities chapter of the Reference section. Of critical need now are those construction materials, the stuff your dreams--and buildings--are made of. Construction materials are the "flour and water" from which all buildings are constructed and from which the simulation builds. You will see them start piling up near your station not long after it's built(as long as your outside lines are bringing them in). The pile will shrink and grow dependent upon the movement of your new freight line and the materials use of your initial trains. When you've built up a storehold of materials you can do some property development. Of course, you can rather cleverly relieve some of these materials anxieties by making some of your own. Why not build a factory nearby to produce the little devils for you? ( It is better early on to rel ony materials brought in from the outside and not to build an expensive, high-maintenance factory, but we'll do it here to demonstrate how they work.) Open the SUBSIDIARIES menu and click on FACTORY. A submenu will open that displays an image of the factory and BUILD and REMOVE commands. Click on BUILD and position your pointer in the territory south of your northern station, but within about eight blocks of the track. You will see the land costs change as you move your mouse. Click when you've found a spot to your liking. You can't utilize these materials unless they are first transported by your freights to your storage place, so keep that in mind--the direction of utilization is towards your southern stations. You can, however, use materials directly from the factory if you build within 10 blocks of the factory storage place. You can remove the factory when you have sufficient materials; the maintenance costs are high, and are charged to you even when the factory isn't producing. Factories do, however, also provide employment for your citizens. If there are placement problems for any property development, you might have to face the Construction Manager, who will inform you of difficulties in a message window. Change the site selection if you can't immediately place the factory. It takes 20 materials to build a factory, but that sacrifice is softened by your realizing that all A-Train factories are non-polluting. Right now, the only things your train is picking up are construction materials and flies, so let's do some developing-- environmentally conscious, of course--with your passenger train in mind. Open the APARTMENTS submenu. There are no differences in operating expense or income among the three styles, but their initial purchase increases inexpense from left to right. Choose one,and find a good site on the map near a station to house some hard-working families. All of your initial property developments should be close to the station, since it increases their value, surrounding property values, and centralizes initial development. You might want to place your first apartments near your eastern track, if you don't want them to have to see the factory out their front window. Click on a block to place their new homes. You will get advisory messages from the simulation if your placement is unsuit- able or if you don't have enough construction materials. (Apartments require eight materials.) Building apartments indirectly 'primes" the simulation to develop other buildings around yours. Early rapid buying and selling of apartment houses does not in itself provoke more rapid development by the simulation, though you can parlay the income from sales to buy more companies and land, which brings up population totals, which does provoke the simulation to build. Build a few apartment complexes near the station. You can see from the SUBSIDIARIES menu that you can truly fill the landscape with properties galore, but all these decisions must be made in the shrewd light of company benefit and profit, so don't go hog-wild. You should put down some commercial or rental property nearby so your residents will have someplace to work.Avoid building or buying land directly behind your station without later selling it, because that is where the simulation will build roads when your city expansion is really cooking (if you have built with large stations). Now that you have acquainted yourself with all of the TRAINS and SUBSIDIARIES menu functions, you can open the SYSTEM menu and click on QUICK MENU. This will display the icons for all of those menu functions without the large title windows, so that the display area is larger. Clicking on any of the icons will open the submenus you have already seen. You can toggle the QUICK MENU on and off through the SYSTEM menu. ESTATES AND THEIR REELINGS The simulation will produce additional residences as soon as you reach a certain developmental scale; you might see the program clear some land first, and then fill it with houses after a materials deposit. You can make this happen more rapidly by buying real estate near your stations and then selling it not long after. Clearing land by purchasing it removes one step in the simulation building process by making it easier for the program to build after you sell the land. The program can also be kick-started by selling all old subsidiaries and buying new, but don't buy anything like golf courses or sta- diums until you have an urban base. However, constant speculation in subsidiaries will eventually result in a "There are no buyers" message. Check the "Look At Your Report Card" section below for details on buying and selling assets. You might have to take an initial loss on these sales, but once you have developed the area around your station a bit, and there are available materials, the program will start popping out houses and small commercial buildings, often where you've just made a transaction, and you'll have that warm glow only a mother knows. You can't expect your new residents to walk to work, and what about when Grandma wants to visit from the Great Beyond outside the map's borders? It's time to be a prime mover in the ecologically conscious (and hopefully, logically profitable) world of mass transit. We'll place a train on the outer ribbon of your existing line so that your passenger train enjoys the same rights (and rites) of passage as your freight. Open the BUY TRAIN command and buy one of those sleek little numbers you've always coveted. The AR 111, fourth from the top in the third column, is recommended for its efficiency, but it might be a touch expensive now, so you may want to buy a cheaper, lower capacity train (perhaps the handsome CF Lines FP 45 right above it) while your town's still in its infancy. You can always replace existing trains with faster, higher-capacity ones when the going's good. Anyway, risk some dough: name your risk #2, buy it, and place it on its line. Make sure the switch directs it down the eastern route. Now that you have two trains with a shared line, scheduling becomes a bit more dicey. Periodically check the number of passengers in the Satellite view by train number once your train is running. (The display will center on the selected train.) TIME AND CHANCE One of the central profit maxims of A-Train is that your departure time must be set at 8:00AM in the residential areas and at 6:00PM (18:00) in the urban areas in order to suck up -I those happy commuters and their happy dollars. As you can see from this map, it isn't exactly a bustling urban community yet, but let's plan for your future. Exit the PLACE TRAIN menu and click on SCHEDULE. Click on #2 in the chart and select DEPARTURE TIME under MODE. A chart of times will be displayed. Move the mouse toward the image of the southern station. Cross-hairs will converge near the station. Click to establish this as the initial departure site. Click on 8:00AM. Click on #1 and set your freight's southern departure time for 18:00. For now, leave the northern station at one-hour stops for both. These settings will make your trains travel to these stations, wait until the designated time (picking up or dropping off passengers and freight and not using expensive fuel for those down times) and then push their cargoes. Were you to run separate lines, it wouldn't be necessary to set a schedule for your freight, since it can perform constant pickup and drop off without losses in profitability. You might have to remove and replace your trains several times or set their directions differently so that the schedules are synchronized. You may experience a few collisions at first, but they only result in frozen trains and a delay in service, with nary an injury to worry about. Later, you can adjust schedules for more map-specific events, such as increased development in one area, which hikes passenger totals (or make the switch to a larger-capacity train). Check on running passenger totals in the train stats boxes in the Satellite window; you'll probably see many more passengers from your northern station if you also set it at 8:00 am, but you'll have to fuss with your freight's schedule in order to coordinate both. For now, this schedule just keeps the trains out of each other's way. Also, if your construction materials just begin piling up and you haven't the funds for much building, replace your freight train with another passenger train to try and pick up some extra passenger profit. Test different schedules and periodically check each train's capacity in the Satellite view at different station times to collar the biggest payload. Later, you can boost profits by increasing track length and adding another station on the line (larger stations stimulate greater urban expansion), and by pushing sound commercial development. Build a factory near your southern stations if materials movement is too slow and those houses aren't hatching. You must, of course, wait until your territory and budget can support pushing your frontiers. It's time to start attending to profits, Iosses, and that eternal bugaboo, the bottom line. A-Train has a host of financial chartings and investment possibilities: let's look at your rail operation and maybe even manipulate some markets. The "fine print" of all these money managings and manglings can he found in the Money And Its Management chapter in the Reference section; we'll just look at the elementary aspects here. As mentioned before, it's nice and useful--to know what the population of your city is and how rapidly it is growing before you even touch those nastier numbers. Click on REPORT 4 and you'll see a window that displays some city statistics, a graph of population change over time, and a radar" chart that reveals the industrial orientation of your city. The Primary Business is your rail operation, the Secondary is your city's main income subsidiaries (factories,buildings for rent), Other Business refers to things like amusement parks and hotels, and Residence is the ratio of your city area taken up by your residents. It is wise policy to check the population tally frequently to determine the pulse of development. You can see how the erection of certain buildings affects residential numbers, and how much internal build- ing by the simulation boosts these figures. Your city's successful expansion is how you win" in A-Train, so keep fiddling with your properties and trains--go West (and East, North and South), young engineer. THE RHYTHM OF THE RAILS You can get a station-to-station broadcast" of your railroad's fiscal health by clicking on REPORT I. The report's first level shows your cash on hand, your total debt and the estimated taxes (after March 31) for your company. Clicking again brings up the report's second level. which displays the first figures and the constantly updated rail sales and suhsidiaries income numbers for the day. the month and the fiscal term. The costs for these periods are calculated onscreen also, as well as the profit loss figures for those times. These costs include initial train purchases and initial track laying costs. which call he quite dear. Click yet again and you can see all this plus your station, switch. cars and track length totals, as well as a graph showing your money (vertical axis) over time (horizontal axis). You will undoubtedly see a negative ' spike"--the dreaded red--for your initial months. because of your operation's developmental costs. Naturally!, you want to try to keep those money lines a healthy black color. but it's typical not to see a profit in your daily operation for some time. Exit REPORT 1 and click on REPORT 2. This chart reflects your overall holdings: rail, subsidiaries, stocks, and real estate, and also provides you with the values of these properties and their associated taxes. There is a revenue column for all these holdings that includes market dividends and taxes on all the incomes. Your expenditures for all your holdings, including commission paid on real estate deals and interest on your loans, are found in the second column. There are two income tax figures, one the taxes on your assets, and the second a tax on your profits. Refer to the income tax infor- mation in the Money And Its Management chapter in the Reference section for the maneuverings to escape the pinch of those prongs. You should refer to this chart periodically to get a fix on the areas of weakness in your empire, to decide whether you should dump subsidiaries if they are unprofitable or buy them up to avoid heavy profit taxes, and in a general way to oversee your real estate investments. There is a more detailed breakdown of this Balance Sheet in the Money section. From this window you can buy and sell these assets. If you click on APARTMENTS and then on SELL, a window will emerge that pro- vides the stats on the term sales, profit/loss and market value of all of your apartments, plus the commission charged you for their sale. Click on one of the lines of information and the Apartment Manager will appear, giving you the opportunity to proceed by clicking on the YES or NO button. Select one of your apartments and sell it.You will see your cash figure rise and the ownership figures update. Selling and buying new subsidiaries increases population and employment opportunities, creating competition to propel development. The selling off of subsidiaries is also one of the game's best fundraisers for quick cash infusions.After you exit this menu, note that the properties that were once yours no longer have the little box on their roofs. This indicates that your company no longer owns them. (This is also one of the ways you can verify that new commercial properties have been built by the simulation.) Click on STOCK MARKET--open only from 9-5 and you will see a graph charting the fortunes of a selected stock over the past 30 weeks, along with the stock board, which can be scrolled to display the 24 stock | brands. The two numbers after the company name represent its trading value and the amount by which it has dropped or risen since the day before. In addition, you'll often see a window with a securities advisor who will inform you about the current market conditions. You probably have a little spare time, since you're merely a CEO, engineer, property developer, and city planner--why not dabble in the market a bit? It's not necessary to do any stock trading to develop your city, but it is a means to diversify your holdings, give your income an occasional kick, and remind yourself of what a genius you are. When you click on any of the stocks, the graph will update to display that stock's trends. For now, search the board for a stock that seems to have a fairly consistent rising trend, but that currently is in a flat or lull state. Click on BUY and you'll see a chart that identifies the stock, its price per units chosen and the brokerage fee for the sale. You can increase or decrease your totals in units of 1,10 or 100 by clicking on those buttons and using the plus or minus signs. Buy 100 units of your selection. You can return to your train operation, but be sure to periodically check the board for your stock's performance. If it shoots the moon, sell, or if you have a canny touch, wait out your hunches (but don't say I didn't warn you). When you click on the SELL command, your portfolio will appear, showing your stock type, number, original purchase price and current market value. Click again on SELL and your investment advisor will ask you to verify the transaction. Be advised that slumps can occur where the value of some stocks will bottom out rapidly, no matter how well the rest of the economy is doing.Stay on top of your stocks; you can make some pretty coin this way,but you can also look like an absolute lunkhead at nosedive time. Stock investment is also a good means to channel your profits when the taxman comes around. Check the Money section in the Reference chapter for specifics about stock types and investment. BANK ON IT You might find that your visions of sugarplums will remain blurry unless you can do some developing right away, but every time you want to place a property or buy something nice, that sour old Accounting Officer pops up to tell you you can't afford it. There is a way to escape his tight fists: credit! Go to the BANK menu and click. You will see a window that reveals your credit limit and the current term rates from 1-3 years. Your limit is 30% of the company assets. You can adjust your loan amount by units of 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 by clicking on the plus or minus signs. Decide what amount would satisfy you and click on BORROW. You will see the CASH figure tally your fresh funds. Debts have an interest charge if they are not paid by the end of the loan term; the longer the term, the higher the interest. The management chief will warn you that your debt is due two weeks in advance. Debts are automatically deducted from your company funds on the appointed dates; you can go bankrupt if you don't have the cash on hand. Click on DEBT TOTAL to see your loan list and the repayment dates. Be sure to shop for the best interest rates. If you plan to take out a sizable loan, these charges can kill you over time. But then again, living dangerously can be rather stimulating. Now you are armed with the whys and wherefores to make your mark on a map. However,these procedures are but a single scamper- ing of your mouse across a room, barely looking at the furniture. The A-Train landscapes are fertile soil for many plantings--go dig in the Reference chapter for a while to get a sense of the program's depth, particularly the fiscal model, and then try to take over a territory. Or just jump right in and wing it. Each map has a thousand success stories waiting to happen. (Or a thousand bankrupt railroad owners, but hey, why be negative?) The following material will provide in-depth details about all aspects of the program, including specific situational strategies. Refer also to the Q&A section at the end of this section for answers to some broad overview questions and some detailed game play techniques. A mouse is recommended when playing A-Train. All instructions in this manual assume that you have a mouse. If you do not, see the section of the Addendum entitled, "Playing A-Train Without A Mouse." The slight variations for monochrome monitors will also be discussed in the Addendum. A-Train is a game that lets you wear several hats: you can simultaneously be a CEO,engineer,industrial magnate, cityplanner, stock market speculator and big-shot financier. And you have the opportunity to fail miserably or shoot the moon in all of these enterprises. Your goal, of course, is shrewd management of all of these linked components, which are constantly affected by the dynamic forces of the simulation, mimicking the roller coastering of forces in any developing landscape. Developing landscapes are the shapeable clay of A-Train. You are given six different maps, all of which present varied, demanding challenges to contend with--but the basic issues are identical. How do you operate and expand a successful railroad? Where do you build factories, apartments, offices? When is the best time to sell them? How do you balance out killing taxes and piling profits? What's a strategic approach to bank loans and the stock market? And of critical import, how do you manage the day-to-day (often hour-to-hour) details of all of these concerns, while asking your guardian angel to pull you up above it all to get a look at the big picture, and your company's future years down the line? And you thought this was just a game. "WINNING" THE GAME If you reach $50 million dollars in cash, you get the keys to the city and your favorite locomotive, and a chance to start all over again-- your game is won. But the money measure is just one of many targets of game success to aim for. One significant notch on the ladder is the upgrading" of the size of your city to the next notch on the city scale; see the Cities section for details. What you need to do is craftily develop your railroads and properties, jack up the population. and stack up some dough. LOSING Aside from winning, there is only one condition that stops the game play--if you go broke. If you don't have enough money to pay taxes or debts on the appointed dates (the game will inform you), or if your cash resources dwindle to a nub at any time. the game is over. To avoid a game-over, secure enough money for your immediate taxes and debts by getting bank loans or by selling off the company assets. THE MAIN WINDOW Most of A-Train takes place in the Main Window. This window is surrounded by a "picture frame" of menu choices. Click on any of these choices to open various menus, windows and reports. The central part of the Main Window is a display of the current map. This is where you view your city, as well as lay tracks, place train stations, and buy and sell land, buildings, businesses and resorts. The map is divided into squares, or blocks." In this manual, distances are often given in blocks, i.e., "You should build an apartment no more than 10 blocks from a station." Syslem Menu In the lower right of the picture frame are scrolling arrows. Click on these to scroll the map in the display area. THE SATELLITE VIEW One of the most useful views of your city is the SATELLITE view, which is accessed by clicking on the SATELLITE section of the picture frame. The SATELLITE view opens up a small window with a small map of your total landscape. In the small map is a highlighted rectangle that demarks the area that is visible in the Main Window. Move the rectangle in the Satellite map with your mouse and click to quickly move to any place on the map. At the bottom of the Satellite window is a "calendar chart" for tracking the active trains in the current map. Each train is assigned a number from this chart. If no train is assigned to a number, it will be "ghosted" or greyed out. When you click on the number of a train, both the highlighted rectangle in the small map and the display area in the Main Window center on that train. Below the calendar chart is a display of the vital stats of the active train, including: train model, formation, current passenger total and operating status. THE MAPS There are six different maps you can develop, each of which consists of a mix of urban and rural landscapes and at least one operating rail line. It is a good idea to explore each landscape thoroughly; you'll need this working knowledge of your kingdom in order to rule over it with a deft touch. MENUS The A-Train interface provides you with a "picture frame" matrix to access the menu commands. The periphery (frame) of the display screen contains the main menu headings, which will highlight when the mouse pointer is positioned on them, and they then can be opened with a mouse click. The exposed commands can then be executed with your mouse. Most menus stay open until you click on the EXIT button. Many menu choices open submenus. When a submenu is open, you can cancel a command by clicking the EXIT button. After the credits for the game have been displayed, the SYSTEM menu will open. When this menu is opened, the game clock stops. The menu consists of the following commands: NEW GAME Lists available maps so you can begin a new game fresh or quit the present game for a "green" one. You can select the same map with which you began a game to play the same game from its beginning. Õ Choose a number from 1-6. Õ Click the LOAD command. Quits the present game and loads a saved file. See your Addendum for details. SAVE Saves the current map and game conditions. See your Addendum for details. QUICK MENU Provides a small, icon-based menu strip along the left side of the picture frame that replaces the standard TRAINS and SUBSID- IARIES menu windows to provide more map display area. Õ Click on QUICK MENU to toggle on and off the standard and Quick Menu windows. OPTIONS Lets you set some options for graphics, sound, and printing. See your Addendum for details. SPEED Adjusts the clock speed in the game. You may wish to set the speed according to your computer type. The speed rate can be increased when you want to jumpstart your city, and slowed when you are reflecting on city developments or doing some complex work like laying railroads There are 10 speeds that are set up or down one level at a time by clicking the corresponding hox or the LAH switch. The clock goes fastest when all boxes are clicked. Click EXIT when you are done setting the speed. Quits the game. Be sure you save the game before quitting so that you can continue the game later. Executing the EXIT command does not save the game. This menu is composed of commands associated with the railroad constructionoperation,suchaslayingrailroadsandbuildingstations. The clock doesn't stop when this menu is opened, but does as soon as a submenu is opened. LAY TRACKS This command lets you lay or remove track using the LAY command and the REMOVE command. PLACE TRAIN Lets you put a purchased train on a track or removes a train that was in operation (using the PLACE, REMOVE, and TRAIN REGISTRY commands). There is a "calendar" chart for selecting a train number below the TRAIN REGISTRY heading. After you choose a train number, the model, the number of coaches and the seating capacity are displayed. If it's in operation, the map will center on the active train. To place a purchased train, first click the PLACE command.Next,use the calendar chart to select the number of the train that is to be put into service. Trains that are "in storage," i.e., not in service. can be returned to operation by selecting their number. Then click on the track where you want to place the train--it will appear there on the map. Your train will have a set of arrows on its roof,one dark and one light, pointing in opposite directions. The train travels the direction of the light arrow. You can toggle the direction of train movement by clicking on the arrows. Statistical information on the train and its current operating conditions will be displayed under the registry. To remove a train that is in operation, first click the REMOVE command. Next, select the train number. When the number is clicked, the map will scroll to display the train on the center of the map. Click on the train and it will be removed from the map, i.e., placed in storage. The train can be placed again, or if you choose, you can sell it. BUY TRAIN Lets you purchase or sell a train using the BUY, SELL and CONFIRM commands. To purchase a train, click the BUY command, then choose a train number from the calendar chart. Click on CONFIRM to seal the purchase. To sell a train, click the SELL command. Next, choose the train number. Only the trains that have been put in storage can be sold. The model, statistics and value of a train in storage will be displayed after you click the train number. The train will be sold and its value added to your cash as soon as the CONFIRM command is clicked. BUILD STATION This command lets you build or remove stations using the BUILD and REMOVE commands. To build a station. click the BUILD STATION command, choose the station type. then click the place where you want to erect your station. A station can only be built adjacent to track Iying on a straight, diagonal line. You can't place your station near vertical, horizontal or curved track. Also, keep in mind that if you build a station on land that you don't already own, you will be charged for the land when you build. To remove a station, click the REMOVE STATION command and then click the station on the map. SCHEDULE Use the schedule to determine the stopping time, the departure time, and the routes for your trains. After you click on SCHEDULE, a window opens that displays the Train Registry, along with a map showing the route for the currently selected train, with that train's information and some command choices. The selected train is displayed on the route map by a small highlighted box. First, choose a train number. Then, under MODE, choose SWITCH or DEPARTURE TIME. (It's possible to set both for each train from this window.) Set the SWITCH as follows: Click on SWITCH. You'll see a small diagram displaying one of the switches for the train you've selected. The diagram is above the CHANGE SWITCH, TEST RUN and END TEST commands. Move the cursor on the route map so that the crosshairs shift to the nearest switch. Click to choose the switch. The small diagram will update to the chosen switch. When the CHANGE SWITCH command is clicked, the switch diagram will reflect the new direction that your train will assume at that switch. Use the TEST RUN command to see a model representation run of the new route. The train (dot) will keep running until STOP TEST is clicked. You can repeat the switch-changing commands to make the train run the desired route. Choosing DEPARTURE TIME displays the window to set the depar- ture time. Move the cross on the route map to the desired station and click. Then click on one of the eight choices: choose either ONE- HOUR STOP, NON-STOP, or one of the six departure times. You must set the departure time for each train, so that each train has its own schedule. This menu includes the commands associated with the building construction and real estate businesses. Using these commands, you can construct buildings on your purchased land or destroy (sell) the buildings that are owned by your company. FACTORY With this command you can build or remove factories that produce construction materials to speed your building or to augment the importation of incoming materials from the outside. Click on FACTORY and the BUILD and REMOVE submenu will open. A highlight of the factory's outline will follow your mouse move- ment around the map. You can place the factory by clicking, as long as there are enough nearby construction materials and the site is feasible. You will be informed by a message window if there are any problems. Factories are good sources of employment for your population. COMMERCIAL These are enterprises like department stores and furniture stores. Use the BIJILD and REMOVE command to site your companies. Be sure to locate them close to your stations in the early going. HOTEL Don't place hotels until you have a population base. They can be solid sources of income in flourishing cities, particularly during those seasonal periods when recreational facilities are operating. GOLF COURSE SKI RESORT STADIUM None will be profitable until your city has enough traffic to support them. They are all subject to seasonal income variation as well as influenced by their proximity to stations. They are expensive--build them with caution, with the long-term in mind. APARTM ENTS The placement of apartments at the early stages of the game is critical to city growth. The people who move into the apartments provide a labor force for local enterprise and passengers for your trains. You can place a number of apartments near your station and sell them fairly quickly, often at a profit, in order to produce funds to build more. Do recognize that your apartment dwellers need places to work as well. LEASE BUILDING You can adjust the number of stories in units of five for each type of lease building by clicking on the various building icons. It takes time to finish constructing a building for rent--you'll see a crane on top of the unfinished building that will disappear upon completion. The building can be opened for business only after the completion of construction. REAL ESTATE This command allows you to buy or sell land. When you click on REAL ESTATE, a submenu opens, showing the BUY and SELL commands. You will see a figure that tallies the number of blocks that you own, and an expense figure for land purchase or income figure for land sale that will update as you move the mouse from block to block. You can buy and sell (if company-owned) land where there are no buildings. Land owned by other companies is surrounded by a dotted line. This part of your display isn't really a menu, but a menu bar along the bottom of the screen that accesses all the business reports and financial information. REPORT 1 -- RAILROADS This window lets you read the financial status of your railroad and subsidiary operations--there are no commands in the menu. The clock keeps going even when the menu is opened. The window has a three-part display, which covers more of your screen display with each click on the Report 1 menu. REPORT 2--BALANCE SHEET This is an itemized report on the total assets and balances of the railroad branch, including real estate and stock investment. When the menu is opened, the clock stops. This window doesn't contain any commands. Assets Properties and real estate owned by the company. The taxes for each category are also displayed. Revenue Company sales and incomes as well as the one-year totals. Expenditures Company expenses are itemized, along with the yearly totals. Taxes All of your rail, real estate and subsid- iary properties are taxed, as well as your profits. REPORT 3--SUBSIDIARIES Use this menu to buy or sell buildings and facilities. The clock stops when the menu is opened. The number of buildings and facilities owned by your company and the number of buildings and facilities on the map owned by the other companies are displayed. Choose the BUY command or the SELL command. Next, choose the building type. A list of buildings available for purchase or sale will be shown. Move the cursor to choose the building and then click. The building that is available for sale will blink on the display map. Fees will be taken from cash assets for purchases: income from sales will be, added to those assets. REPORT 4--URBAN GROWTH This menu displays information on the town's character and environment. (You can regard the display map as a part of a larger administrative district.) The clock stops when the menu is opened. Size reveals which of the following scales the city belongs to: a small town, a small city, a moderate city, a big city or a metropolitan area. One of the primary measures of A-Train success is the developmental upgrade of your city to the next scale, as defined by a combination of population and facilities development numbers. See the cities section for details. There are six Types of cities: agriculture-based, balanced, industrial- based, residential, tourist-based and underpopulated. The Budget is a measure of public investment: more funding results in faster city development. A growing Population figure results in more pass- engers and income for your railroad and faster development. The 'RadarChart"graph displays the relative scope of the industry within the city. STOCK MARKET The menu lets you trade on the stock market. The business hours of the brokerage firm are 9AM-5PM, except Sundays and holidays. The menu can be opened only during business hours; the clock stops when the menu is opened. Click the up or down arrow to scroll the board that displays all the stock types. After you choose the company name, click the BUY command or the SELL command. When using the BUY command, decide the unit totals of stocks to be purchased by using +/- and the unit buttons, which allow you to buy in in- crements of 1,10, or 100. You are restricted to buying 2,000 units at any one time. There is a fee for purchasing stocks. To sell stocks, choose SELL and click on the stocks from the brand list. Stocks are sold in the same units as they are purchased. The display will reveal your credit limit, adjustable loan amount, interest rates for the chosen term, and the due date for repayment. Current interest rates for the 1-3 year periods are displayed, as well as your available cash and updated liabilities. Use this menu for borrowing money from banks. The business hours of the bank are 9AM-5PM, excepting Sundays and holidays. The menu can be opened only during the business hours. The clock stops when the menu is opened. Choose a repayment period for the debt from 1-3 years. Adjust the loan amount using +/- and the unit buttons, which let you borrow in increments of 100,000, 10,000 and 1,000. After you click the BORROW command, the loan is added to your company funds. You cannot exceed the credit limit. The debt is paid automatically from the company funds on the appointed date; you can't pay the debt before that date. To see your debts and their respective payment dates, click the DEBT TOTAL command. Clicking on SATELLITE brings up a window with an aerial overview of your map showing the layout of railroads and a train chart that provides the status of train operations for all your trains. The clock does not stop when the window is opened. A rectangle enclosing the cursor on the reduced map shows the current territory of the larger display map. By moving the cursor on the reduced map and clicking, you can quickly move the display area to the cursor position. If you select a train number from the TRAIN REGISTRY, the display area will move so that the train is centered on the screen, and pertinent train info will be revealed. RAILROADS ON THE INITIAL MAP The railroads on the initial map are part of your company assets. It is OK to relay these railroads, to remove a station, or to build a new station. You will be given at least one passenger train and one freight train that are connected to places outside the map. They belong to the company, but their timetables can't be changed. They go straight at switches, and stop one hour at stations. GETTING ON THE RIGHT TRACK The most basic type of railroad is a single line between two stations. At the beginning, the line should be as straight and as short as possible, but long enough to be a reliable source of profit. Lay the track straight toward its destination. Stations should be built far away from each other (relative to the length of the line), because the fare you receive increases with the distance between stations. Make the distance at least 15 blocks. A"belt line" is suitable for running several trains in the same direction. A belt line is a closed loop of track. Using a belt line, with its frequent, regulated scheduling, you can put many trains into operation at the same time. At the beginning of the game, you probably won't be able to bear the construction and engine expenses. After several stations have been built, a belt line will seem more feasible. When shy of cash, play only on a single line. The shortcoming is that only one train can be put on the line, although it's conceivable to put a loop on each end of a developed single line so that several trains can be run at the same time. It's also possible to design a double line segment in the middle of the single line so that two trains can run in opposite directions, but it can be somewhat costly. The merit of a double-line railroad is that you can run passenger trains and freight trains on separated lines without conflict. RAILROAD ENGINEERING Laying a railroad is simple, but you should pay attention to your expenses. Just click on LAY and move the cursor in the desired direction. A line of track will highlight and will be placed on the map when you click your left mouse button. Normally you can lay a railroad on any cleared place (except on a hill or on the ocean). You can't lay a railroad on land that you don't own or that isn't available for purchase; thus when track is placed, you've bought the land. When there are large facilities--lease buildings, parks, or roads--in the way, the track will have to be curved around them. Bridges will have to be constructed over rivers. If you start to lay some tracks and then change your mind, click the right mouse button to cancel the operation. Õ Don't lay track any longer than necessary--the removal expense is two-thirds of the laying expense. Õ You cannot destroy your company buildings to lay a railroad. But you may lay the railroad after the buildings have been removed through the REMOVE command in their respective SIJBSIDIARIES submenus. Õ When you want to lay a railroad on areas where other companies have facilities, it's necessary to buy the facilities and then remove them before proceeding. (They are not always available for purchase.) Keep in mind that costs for projects such as these are tremendous. LINE- LAYING NO- NOS In summary. a line can't he built if: 1.) A railroad is connected to an established railroad by a right angle. 2.) A railroad crosses over an established railroad. 3.) A railroad intersects a river in an improper way other than at a right angle. 4.) A railroad passes through a public place, like a park. 5.) A Other A-Train cheats hints faqs solutions: 1. A-Train cheat codes 2. A-Train cheat codes |