Rail Australia [Quenched]

[iancanton]

a very nice map. this looks a lot more australian than rail europe looks european.

regarding the bonuses: i think the bonus for nsw rail ought to be more than the ones for qrail and wa because nsw rail is more connected. its position, which virtually shields qrail from attack, means that it’s much more likely to be the victim itself of a successful attack that breaks the bonus. of the three, wa looks to be by far the easiest to hold, not being near either of the other two large continents, and therefore deserves the least bonus.

ian.

[cairnswk]

a very nice map. this looks a lot more australian than rail europe looks european.

regarding the bonuses: i think the bonus for nsw rail ought to be more than the ones for qrail and wa because nsw rail is more connected. its position, which virtually shields qrail from attack, means that it’s much more likely to be the victim itself of a successful attack that breaks the bonus. of the three, wa looks to be by far the easiest to hold, not being near either of the other two large continents, and therefore deserves the least bonus.

ian.

thanks ian, about the australianism of the map.
what would make the eruopean map look more european? nobody seems to have commented on this, not that i have asked.
i'll exam the bonuses again soon.

[cairnswk]

Version 10

Just wanted to get some feedback on these changes before i proceed with them any further....

1. the tin roofs over sydney newcastle and werris creek
2. new background silhouette for the long distance trains
3. removal of the rails and replace with the stations in state colours
4. addition of adelaide as the hub, we don't have a large hub in oz like in usa and europe.
Whatta ya think?

[lord voldemort]

I LOVE ADELAIDE AS A HUB!!!
you did this just for me didnt you cairns??

im liking the look of this atm its good

[fumandomuerte]

On the extra bonuses box you wrote the CountryLinkXPT as:
MEL-ALB-CMA-GBA-SYD-NWC-CSO-BNE
It should be:
MEL-ALB-CMA-GBN-SYD-NWC-CSO-BNE

Also, you should change de color of the ADL multi-station on map, it's hard to see it.

[fumandomuerte]

On the extra bonuses box you wrote the CountryLinkXPT as:
MEL-ALB-CMA-GBA-SYD-NWC-CSO-BNE
It should be:
MEL-ALB-CMA-GBN-SYD-NWC-CSO-BNE

Also, you should change de color of the ADL multi-station on map, it's hard to see it.

[Tieryn]

I was actually liking the map better without a hub... I don't think the hub concept represents Australia rail at all... is it completely necessary?

Are you going to have multiple rails running to connect to each port of the hub? or are they just done on one rail line... and thus, only need a station anyway?

I like the new long-distance mechanism with coloured words for state rails... I think the silhouette needs to not cross over the aboriginal art lines.

With bonuses: need to remember that holding q-rail also means you are holding the sunlander, so is it a +10 bonus?

Also in the ghan, mga needs to be mai before kga. and why are there purple rail lines in s.aus?

[FreeMan10]

I'm not sold on ADL as a hub, either.

1) You show 4 lines/stations at the hub, but it's not connected to four different colored stations, or any paired line stations (like LMR in RailUSA). As a matter of fact, it only appears to be connected to three stations (PGA, BHL, BDT). I think you may have been intending a connection to MDA?

2) There are purple rails connecting ADL to BHL, but ADL itself is/was a brown station and BHL is blue/cyan.

3) After some close inspection, I just noticed that you have "ADL" floating in the water off the southern coast, west of the station boxes - it doesn't tie in well with the station itself. I'm sure this would be patched up in further revisions.

4) It just has the feel that you added this in to be consistent with RailUSA and RailEurope. I honestly hadn't noticed it missing until you put it in. It really does feel as though it's a last-minute afterthought, not a designed in cohesive whole. Tieryn mentioned that it's not representative of Australia rail, and I can't comment on that, but it does just seem tacked on for the sake of tacking it on.




As far as the tin roofs (rusted!) go, I think that makes it too busy, especially if you're putting the continent abbreviation in the roof (as you have for AR & QR, so far).

The background train looks fine to me, though I didn't have an issue with the previous. What's the thing sticking up in the left foreground of that image? That's the only odd part.

Why are some stations connected by rails, and some by lines? I think the single line is satisfactory, and will eliminate much of the issues you're currently having on RailEurope in trying to make them look 'good'. From this high, satellite view of OZ, a single line is all you're gonna see anyway.


I'm looking forward to playing this and learning some OZ geography!

[Tieryn]

I'm not sold on ADL as a hub, either.
The background train looks fine to me, though I didn't have an issue with the previous. What's the thing sticking up in the left foreground of that image? That's the only odd part.

Why are some stations connected by rails, and some by lines? I think the single line is satisfactory, and will eliminate much of the issues you're currently having on RailEurope in trying to make them look 'good'. From this high, satellite view of OZ, a single line is all you're gonna see anyway.

The thing standing up in the foreground in West Aus is a kangaroo... and yes, they are odd but cool!

All basic connections are by single line... All connections that are part of the "long distance" network are done double=line. I think this is a good way to distinguish between them and identify the long-dist routes.

I personally like the tin roofs, and especially like the P/X/T down the side. That makes long-distance train-id-ing much easier.

Another negative on the hub - I don't like how it replaces the aboriginal artwork that was there... it unbalances the picture for me. *shrug* maybe I just don't like the hub. But excuses are excuses!

[FreeMan10]

The thing standing up in the foreground in West Aus is a kangaroo... and yes, they are odd but cool!

That's what I assumed, but I couldn't make it into one when I was typing that last post. I see it now...

All basic connections are by single line... All connections that are part of the "long distance" network are done double=line. I think this is a good way to distinguish between them and identify the long-dist routes.

Makes sense. I'll have to go back and look it over to ensure I'm following all the connections. I was thinking along those lines, too, but not seeing it...

Maybe I should stop spending so many hours staring at a stupid monitor...

[lord voldemort]

well actually when rail ways were used for major means of transport adelaide was the hub....
and i like adelaide as the hub...
it needs to be touched up and fixed a bit but i like the idea

[Tieryn]

You're just trying to get Adelaide on the map settle for a territory like the rest of us! Sheesh. You're gettin greedy Drew

[lord voldemort]

You're just trying to get Adelaide on the map settle for a territory like the rest of us! Sheesh. You're gettin greedy Drew

i do still like the idea though even if it wasnt RADelaide
actually cairns can u call it RADelaide??
but yer i still like the hub idea. if your building a rail network there needs to be a hub.

[Tieryn]

You're just trying to get Adelaide on the map settle for a territory like the rest of us! Sheesh. You're gettin greedy Drew

i do still like the idea though even if it wasnt RADelaide
actually cairns can u call it RADelaide??
but yer i still like the hub idea. if your building a rail network there needs to be a hub.

I disagree. In places like america/europe it makes sense... but our "hubs" are really just stations with one extra platform... Come on... really there's not much to connect, and the places that do, are not centralised!

The Australian rail network does not have a single "central" type location. it -is- all distributed.

And you can only call it RADelaide, if we get to call it FUNbury.

[lord voldemort]

You're just trying to get Adelaide on the map settle for a territory like the rest of us! Sheesh. You're gettin greedy Drew

i do still like the idea though even if it wasnt RADelaide
actually cairns can u call it RADelaide??
but yer i still like the hub idea. if your building a rail network there needs to be a hub.

I disagree. In places like america/europe it makes sense... but our "hubs" are really just stations with one extra platform... Come on... really there's not much to connect, and the places that do, are not centralised!

The Australian rail network does not have a single "central" type location. it -is- all distributed.

And you can only call it RADelaide, if we get to call it FUNbury.

cept albury isnt fun

[cairnswk]

I'm not sold on ADL as a hub, either.

All basic connections are by single line... All connections that are part of the "long distance" network are done double=line. I think this is a good way to distinguish between them and identify the long-dist routes.

I personally like the tin roofs, and especially like the P/X/T down the side. That makes long-distance train-id-ing much easier.

Another negative on the hub - I don't like how it replaces the aboriginal artwork that was there... it unbalances the picture for me. *shrug* maybe I just don't like the hub. But excuses are excuses!

Guys thanks for feedback on these elements....let me explain.

1. It was always my intention to try to tie elements of the RAIL series map together. This can be achieved in a couple of ways.

While the boomerang style roofs were more distinctly australian, the tin roofs are going to tie this map in with the USA map roof style in that they're the same shape but tin roofing is disctinctly more Australian. (perhaps i should even add the Hills hoist and the victa lawn mower and do an olympics thing)

2. the hub is another way of tying these maps together...it is not as big the other other two, but having it in Adelaide was not put there for Lord V's ego...it is put there because Adelaide is the obvious choice as there is the Indian Pacific, The Ghan, The Overlander and the SARail all with hubs there. I know we don't have a Railway hub per say here in australia, but having it in Adelaide allows a smaller version to be created. It does need work though.

3. I will try to do something with hub so that it doesn't interfere with the aboriginal design.

4. I will fix the codes in next post.

[lord voldemort]

2. the hub is another way of tying these maps together...it is not as big the other other two, but having it in Adelaide was not put there for Lord V's ego...it is put there because Adelaide is the obvious choice as there is the Indian Pacific, The Ghan, The Overlander and the SARail all with hubs there. I know we don't have a Railway hub per say here in australia, but having it in Adelaide allows a smaller version to be created. It does need work though.

are you sure??
well it certainly helps

[cairnswk]

2. the hub is another way of tying these maps together...it is not as big the other other two, but having it in Adelaide was not put there for Lord V's ego...it is put there because Adelaide is the obvious choice as there is the Indian Pacific, The Ghan, The Overlander and the SARail all with hubs there. I know we don't have a Railway hub per say here in australia, but having it in Adelaide allows a smaller version to be created. It does need work though.

are you sure??
well it certainly helps

Well the Ghan leaves from there.
The Overlander leaves from there
The SARail runs from there
The I-P also runs through there.
So yes it is the best place to have a hub.

[oaktown]

in terms of play I can take or leave the hub... I suspect the negative feedback on it has something to do with the fact that graphically it really stands out.

[lord voldemort]

graphically the hub needs work
game play and "storyline" (for use of a better word) it is good

[cairnswk]

Version 11a

Guys, i'm flooded out here in Cairns, the floods cut the roads and i couldn't get to work today so i worked on this and i put all those little tin roofs on it.....plus changed the colours around a bit....I also 'xperimented with the hub and decided against putting one in...as much as i'd like to help it tie in with the other maps, i don't think it needs it.....
but alas it looks shocking (like a pyjama party) so we'll go back to the drawing and do this again.
Just thought i'd show you anyways.

[Tieryn]

Haha, pyjama party indeed... tho I like it, but you can't really see the tin corregation at that level... perhaps each moutain/valley needs to be 4 px wide to be able to show some gradual change in height rather than 2px as currently, and just be a colour/white/colour/white.

Hub wise, okay, so "story"wise, it kinda works, and yes I guess my -major- objection was graphically it was just tacked on. How about work -with- the aboriginal design?

That circle has 4 quadrants. Each quadrant could be designed and extracted to form a territory, this could then "grow" from the Adl station into the hub for the 4 long distances rails.

This would also spice up the holding of the long distance rail lines to some extent. Work on developing this graphically and i won't have a problem with it. It was the "added on to look like rail US/Europe" bit that threw me. Make it a hub, but make it a distinctly "Rail Aus" hub.

[cairnswk]

That circle has 4 quadrants. Each quadrant could be designed and extracted to form a territory, this could then "grow" from the Adl station into the hub for the 4 long distances rails.

This would also spice up the holding of the long distance rail lines to some extent. Work on developing this graphically and i won't have a problem with it. It was the "added on to look like rail US/Europe" bit that threw me. Make it a hub, but make it a distinctly "Rail Aus" hub.

Yes i had tried using that quardant, but it hadn't worked, but i'll try it again to see if i can do something more appealing.

[trk1994]

I love the railroad maps. I don't have any real comments on what to do for it b/c I don't really know much about rail systems or coding games. I just wanted ya'll to know that work is not wasted on refining these type of maps. btw if hubs could be worked in that would be cool. they do fit with the line of maps and I personally like them. They make things interesting when triing to fort b/c of multiple lines of attack. I also like the addition of resource bonuses for connecting rail lines and the long haul bonuses.

have you thought of making maps with the U.S. interstate highway system? That would offer MANY lines of attack. Cairnswk, after you got me into that waterloo game I'm looking at complex maps in a whole new light. thanx

[cairnswk]

I love the railroad maps. I don't have any real comments on what to do for it b/c I don't really know much about rail systems or coding games. I just wanted ya'll to know that work is not wasted on refining these type of maps. btw if hubs could be worked in that would be cool. they do fit with the line of maps and I personally like them. They make things interesting when triing to fort b/c of multiple lines of attack. I also like the addition of resource bonuses for connecting rail lines and the long haul bonuses.

have you thought of making maps with the U.S. interstate highway system? That would offer MANY lines of attack. Cairnswk, after you got me into that waterloo game I'm looking at complex maps in a whole new light. thanx

Thanks trk1994. Glad to hear you like these challenges on railroads.
No i hadn't thought about the highway systems, but thanks for the idea.
And of course, after your Waterloo games, a wonderful outcome for all.
Keep up the comments.