Release: Railroad Tycoon 3 Multiplayer Lobby

[FlorianF]

Fortunately I have not forgotten about this project!

Having recently finished my study, the nostalgic feelings of Railroad Tycoon 3 are still calling me, together with all the fun times I've had with friends playing the multiplayer.

Unfortunately the first matchmaker (or lobby) did not work as good as intended, which was mostly caused by the poor design choice of using Java for both the server and client. Being frustrated about having to rewrite the whole thing, I abondened/forget about the project.

But here we are, 5 years later (I hope there are people that are still playing this game), and I started working again on this multiplayer lobby from scratch. I just need to get Railroad Tycoon 3 multiplayer working again to finally find peace..

This new version I am working on will be easy to install and will support the Original, GOG and Steam versions of the game. Right now I am putting the client together, and almost all basic functionality is completed. Very soon I will release the first version, but in the meantime check my teaser website at http://railty3.herokuapp.com/. Feel free to join the Discord as well to keep updated about the progress and find people to play with!

[Gumboots]

...using Java for both the server and client.

That sounds seriously evil.

But here we are, 5 years later (I hope there are people that are still playing this game)...

There seem to be. I tend to haul it out for intermittent binges, which I suspect is what everyone else does. Fired it up last night for the first time this year, and discovered I still like it.

This new version I am working on will be easy to install and will support the Original, GOG and Steam versions of the game. Right now I am putting the client together, and almost all basic functionality is completed. Very soon I will release the first version, but in the meantime check my teaser website at http://railty3.herokuapp.com/. Feel free to join the Discord as well to keep updated about the progress and find people to play with!

Sounds like quite the project.

[RulerofRails]

Sorry. How could I know you were about to re-appear? Anyway, good to see you're back.

[RulerofRails]

A little off-topic, but I remembered that you are editing the exe for this?

I really wish that someone who knows a little programming would try to fix the price bug. What happens is that anytime an event raises cargo prices (all, or any specific freight type/s), that breaks the formula that increases price at an active station (a train is hauling plenty of product away). That formula increases price more than the new maximum on the map. This breaks the cargo economy (stations not industries are the points of maximum price) and causes crazy prices.

Less important to me, the events for train acceleration and fuel cost don't do anything. Maybe that's a simple fix?

If you want to give hunting these bugs a go, I can provide more details/examples if it's helpful.

[FlorianF]

There seem to be. I tend to haul it out for intermittent binges, which I suspect is what everyone else does. Fired it up last night for the first time this year, and discovered I still like it.

That's good to hear!

A little off-topic, but I remembered that you are editing the exe for this?

I really wish that someone who knows a little programming would try to fix the price bug. What happens is that anytime an event raises cargo prices (all, or any specific freight type/s), that breaks the formula that increases price at an active station (a train is hauling plenty of product away). That formula increases price more than the new maximum on the map. This breaks the cargo economy (stations not industries are the points of maximum price) and causes crazy prices.

Less important to me, the events for train acceleration and fuel cost don't do anything. Maybe that's a simple fix?

If you want to give hunting these bugs a go, I can provide more details/examples if it's helpful.

I will try to look into it at some point! Finding these particular parts of the code (which is not code anymore, but compiled machine language) is really a painstakingly long process unfortunately.

An update on the multiplayer lobby, the interface is pretty much done, and almost ready for release!

lobby.JPG

[RulerofRails]

I will try to look into it at some point! Finding these particular parts of the code (which is not code anymore, but compiled machine language) is really a painstakingly long process unfortunately.

Thanks for the willingness to try. In making patch 1.06 milo managed to disable one system in the program (cash on wheels gives location here)that helps equalize station prices. I.e. outbreaks in 1.06 are more severe. The Chile map for 1.06 gets break-outs pretty reliably when you build catchment stations mid-way down the initial mineral run in the north of the map. Couple screenshots around this part of Chile thread.

Ok I wont derail your thread anymore. If you want some more details/examples, put a new thread or send a PM. Some of Lama's maps might be interesting to check-out in multiplayer mode. Will watch for when you release.

ETA: Have you seen the thread about dgVoodoo2 being a better replacement for Vista Fix on current operating systems? Since a good while I am using this solution as it's clearly superior.

[Gumboots]

That interface looks promising. I'd be willing to do some testing once you have it workable.
The game's .exe has several bugs in it, so if you can find any of them in the code that would be great, but I quite understand if it's not going to be possible. Milo did leave some notes, but unfortunately they don't make a lot of sense to the average mug. Not sure if they'd be helpful to you or not. Have you read them?

[Gumboots]

In making patch 1.06 milo managed to disable one system in the program (cash on wheels gives location here)that helps equalize station prices. I.e. outbreaks in 1.06 are more severe.

I just thought of something. It happens.

We're not being smart enough. If a scenario requires something like the Chile scenario, with the price of Crystals (or anything else) boosted massively, all that is necessary to stabilise things is one simple edit to a drop-in replacement .cty file for that cargo. That way the price can be set to anything you want, and breakouts won't be a problem.

Another option: tie price to economic state. It could be +100% in Prosperity and +200% in Booming, dropping back to +0% in Normal, with price in a Recession or Depression set to whatever is appropriate. Given the short timeframes for each economic state, and the changing prices, this might disrupt the breakouts to the point where they're not a significant problem.

Lateral thinking.

Edit: Another idea, and this one is really a no-brainer. We know for a fact that certain events are broken (fuel cost, etc). It would be simple to not only make a list of these, but to also make an edited RT3.lng file that denotes these as broken when using the editor interface. For example, these strings:

Code: Select all

	2384 "Engine Fuel Cost"
	2385 "Steam Engine Fuel Cost"
	2386 "Diesel Engine Fuel Cost"
	2387 "Electric Engine Fuel Cost"

Could be changed to something like this:

Code: Select all

	2384 "Broken - Fuel Cost"
	2385 "Broken - Steam Fuel Cost"
	2386 "Broken - Diesel Fuel Cost"
	2387 "Broken - Electric Fuel Cost"

That way anyone writing a scenario would not be tricked by the interface into attempting an event which won't work anyway.

[RulerofRails]

At one time I did setup an install with doubled cty prices and starting the game with a map-wide -50% reduction. The drawback there is that the 3 year simulation period runs without the reduction (no events apply) so it's changing the feel of the existing maps, maturing them a lot more (cargo is produced and moves faster). So it's more like you start at year 2 or 3 of the game (such as after an industry start). I suppose it could be taken further by also reducing production rates in base files to only boost them at game start, but this will result in incorrect readouts during the game.

[Gumboots]

Ok, but if you're only applying the price boost to selected cargoes, and particularly if you're not doubling prices, presumably the overall effects wouldn't be as severe. There's also the possibility of using a sparser initial seeding to compensate. That could be combined with a higher growth rate in the first few years, and/or with some use of seeding by event if necessary. It's probably possible to come up with a useful mixture.