Railroad Tycoon 3

I've tried Trainz and a new train game called Railroad Pioneer and Railroad Tycoon 3 is in my opinion far superior, mostly because of the financial aspect. The towns are already there. You link them up and select engines and which businesses you want to buy. Making money is fun. In RRT2 you'd get a "kaching" sound for every coin you made. I kind of miss that as they took it out in RRT3, but then your house sounded like a Vegas slots room when you had a lot of trains using the old sound effect.

Some people don't like the new auto consist device, but I don't have a problem with it. Once you get more than five trains, it can be a real chore to manage all your cars. The new method allows you to concentrate on expanding, getting loans, connecting more cities and so forth.

The trains are a lot less sluggish. It's fun to lock the camera and go for a ride. Best way to show off the impressive scenery, day, night effects, weather.

The new bridges and tunnels are nice, but I've yet to master them. Track laying is never as precise as I'd like it to be. I'm a bit mystified as to how the game decides when it's going to start a tunnel or bridge. It's not like you can tell it to dig here or there like you can with the original Rollercoaster Tycoon, but then that was a tedious, confusing set up that RCT had. RRT3 keeps things moving along and focuses on the financial model and connecting cities. Hook up those routes and make money so you can buy more industries and make even more money.

The game gives you a lot of information in the form of overlays and so forth. I'm still getting used to it, but it seems quite logical and most likely this will be one of the better strategy games to play online as there is no shooting involved and setting up your routes for maximum profitablility is going to make a big difference in how well you do. To be honest though I never played RRT2 online.

Some things that are lacking and there may be a good reason for this, namely they want the game to run well on a decent system. The things lacking are people, cars, traffic, that sort of thing. While the game looks good, it could look better with the things mentioned. RCT had tons of little people, but still the game was graphically much more primitive. It'll probably be a few years before RRT will have all the people and details you might like. For now you get numerous trains with their own sound effects, smoke, lots of industries with some working parts and so forth. The wheels on your train spin, but they're not 3d wheels.

A game that great creates some pretty high standards, and results in high expectations when its sequel is released. That is exactly what has happened here. Every difference between RT2 & RT3 seems to be a source of disappointment for somebody, and now we see some pretty harsh reviews of RT3 by people who wish that the developers had left RT2 totally intact.

This seems a bit unfair to me. If there had never been a predecessor to Railroad Tycoon 3, how would we judge the game based strictly on its own merits? I suspect we would consider RT3 to be one of the better games out there.

What is there to like about the game, judged on its own merits? I personally find the new 3D graphics to be very impressive, and the player interface is very easy to use. The camera feature, where the player can follow a particular train along its root, is a load of fun. For those of us who love trains, this is a great feature.

I have mixed feelings on the new economic model. On the one hand, the RT2 economic model was simple and easy to follow, but not exactly realistic. RT3 takes into account that there were other means of transportation besides the railroads. It also recognizes that passengers will not necessarily go wherever you insist on transporting them. The more complex economic model means that you exert less control on the economy than in RT2. Is this better or worse? That is a real toss-up.

Another toss-up would be the auto consists now featured in RT3. Some people miss the micromanagement, and some people who were driven crazy by the constant need in RT2 to micromanage are glad to see introduction of the auto consist. Personally, there were times when I really preferred not to micromanage every detail, but there were times that I enjoyed the control. One can choose to override the auto consist in RT3. I think the fact that one has a choice now is a definite improvement.

Another common complaint among reviewers is that the scenarios now have requirements to win a gold, silver or bronze medal. You don't just start playing, but instead the game shoehorns you into pursuing specific goals. I found this a little disconcerting, because I always thought that was what the campaign was for. However, if you don't like being forced to play a scenario a certain way, just ignore the scenario's goals and do what you want! Of course you will bomb out after the designated time period, but who cares? You can then continue to play the scenario as you please.

I do have a problem with the lack of maps and a smaller selection of locomotives. Like another reviewer complained, there is no North America map! That was one of the biggest disappointments for me. However, the developers have been creating new maps that can be downloaded (so far, the US Pacific Coast and Spain), and one hopes that they will continue to offer more maps that will further improve the game.

One hopes also that the developers will also offer improvements that will make the AI a little more competitive, because right now the AI leaves a lot to be desired. I would also hope that the stock market is improved.

Overall, I find that I enjoy playing RT3 for the most part, and that should be the question people ask, rather than "is it as good as RT2?" If I want to play RT2, I still have it downloaded onto the computer. I have that choice. It doesn't detract from the enjoyment that its successor brings, and that is enough to satisfy me.