Railroad Tycoon II

Railroad Tycoon II
Base Game
General Info
Developers	PopTop Software
Publishers	Gathering of Developers
Genre	Business Simulation
Platform	Windows, Mac OS, Playstation, Dreamcast
Original Release Date
Windows	October 31, 1998
Mac OSX	1998
Dreamcast	June 30, 2000
Playstation	January 31, 2000
Compilations/Expansions
Expansions	Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century
Compilations	Railroad Tycoon II: Gold Edition
Rerelease
Rerelease	Railroad Tycoon II: Platinum Edition
Release Date	August 16, 2001

Railroad Tycoon II is a business simulation video game for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation and Dreamcast and is the second game ''Railroad Tycoon'' series. Original creator Sid Meier was not involved in the development of this game. Instead, Phil Steinmeyer and PopTop Software created the game, with collaboration from Take-Two Interactive and Gathering of Developers. The was relatively successful, and an expansion named Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century was released less than a year later, followed by a Gold Edition, which bundled together the two games along with bonus maps, and game updates. The game continued to sell well, and in August 2001, a Platinum Edition was released, which was the same as the Gold Edition, but with 50 extra community made maps, for a total of 126 scenarios for the whole game.

In 2010, 2K Games re-released Railroad Tycoon: Platinum Edition on to the steam digital download platform as part of a bundle to buy Railroad Tycoon 3 and Sid Meier's Railroads.

Overview

Railroad Tycoon II is a railroad simulation that covers the entire history of railroads from inception to the present day and beyond. The player chooses a map and assumes the role of chairman of a railroad company. The player tries to make profits for investors and completes various other objectives while being hindered by rivals, random events such as train breakdowns, train robbers, economic swings, and scripted events particular to the scenario.

Most of the gameplay consists of building tracks, stations and trains, which are used for hauling passengers and freight from one station to another. Delivery revenue can vary by time, distance, demand, cargo type, economic state, station improvements and difficulty level. Companies can connect to and use each other's track and stations, so revenue can be split. Expenses include the fuel, track and engine maintenance and management fee. The fuel cost depends on the cargo weight and the distance each engine runs. Engine maintenance depends on engine age and the engine's type (some locomotives cost more to maintain than others). Older engines cost more to keep them on the line. The track maintenance is solely calculated from track mileage.

Railroad Tycoon II features two different types of net worth: Personal Net Worth and Company Net Worth. Personal Net Worth is how rich the player and the player can use personal cash to buy shares from different companies, in an attempt to increase their personal wealth. There are also recessions and booms that happen randomly, so there is always risk involved in acts such as buying on margin or selling short. Company Net Worth is related to the total amount of assets that the company has, and this increased by trains delivering cargoes. Company Net Worth can be used to build more track to expand your railroad network. In most scenarios, the goal is often to reach a certain personal and/or company net worth of a certain value.

Development

Railroad Tycoon II, released on November 2, 1998, in North America, was the debut title developed by PopTop Software. Although the original Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon was a major success, its designers, Bruce Shelley and Sid Meier, had no plans for a sequel. However, PopTop's founder, Phil Steinmeyer, saw an opportunity and initiated work on the project in 1996. Initially, the game was set to be published by 3DO, but financial difficulties led 3DO to withdraw from the project in early 1997. PopTop continued development independently until joining Gathering of Developers in January 1998, who ultimately published the game. The project initially carried the working title Iron Horse, but after discovering that the name was unavailable for trademark, PopTop acquired the rights to the Railroad Tycoon name from MicroProse.

Expansions and Re-releases

Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century

Cover Art for Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century

Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century was an expansion pack for Railroad Tycoon II, released on April 30, 1999 for Windows and Macintosh. This add-on focused on enhancing gameplay in the second century of railroads (1930-2030). A second campaign with 18 all-new scenarios, centered around this time period was included, along with 12 more standalone scenarios.

New content was added to the game, such as 5 new locomotives, and several new cargo vectors and industry buildings. There were also new mechanics, like Cargo Depoting, Waypoints and Spanning Bridges, a new metra mode, along with several more map editor options.

Cover Art for Railroad Tycoon II: Platinum Edition

Railroad Tycoon II: Gold Edition

Railroad Tycoon II: Gold Edition, which released for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux on September 24, 1999, combined the base game with the Second Century expansion, and included 15 more standalone scenarios.

Railroad Tycoon II: Platinum Edition

Following the success of the Gold Edition, Railroad Tycoon II: Platinum edition was released exclusively for Windows on August 16, 2001. It included all features and content from the Gold Edition, as well as 50 additional standalone scenarios from around the community, taking the total number of scenarios to 126.

Campaigns and Scenarios

In the base game of Railroad Tycoon a sole 18-scenario campaign and 12 standalone scenarios were included. These can be found in the sections below. A full list of scenarios from all versions of Railroad Tycoon II can be found under Campaigns and Scenarios (Railroad Tycoon II).

Classic Campaign

Main article: Classic Campaign

The 18-scenario Campaign included in Railroad Tycoon II is split geographically into three parts of six. Each scenario depicts an important railroad milestone in history, allowing the player to play through the event for themselves. For the most part, each scenario becomes incrementally more difficult and builds upon the previous ones in terms of game mechanics. The campaign has three difficulty options, selected from the main menu, which adds extra bonuses and penalties unique to each scenario. It's not possible to change difficulties between scenarios though. The entire campaign is played with both the Financial Model and Industrial Model set to Expert.

In contrast to standalone scenario play, the player also gets to choose one of three unique bonuses before commencing each campaign scenario. The campaign mode also has a custom menu for scenario selection, and cutscenes before and after each scenario complete with voiceover. The scenarios in order split by group are:

Part I: North America	Part II: Europe	Part III: Rest of the World
The Iron Seed Handle on the Bread Basket Bridging a Nation Silver Booms and the Market Busts Whistle Stops and Promises Crossing the Great Divide	Birth of the Iron Horse Excess on the Orient Express Knitting with Iron Next Stop the 20th Century The Brenner Pass When Walls Come Down	Croissants or Crumpets The Samurai Rides an Iron Horse Which Way to the Coast The People's Train Dilemma Down Under Cape to Cairo

Scenarios (Base Game)

Britain (1870) Railroad Tycoon II Scandinavia (1950) Railroad Tycoon II

Central Europe (1880) Railroad Tycoon II South America (1875) Railroad Tycoon II

China (1850) Railroad Tycoon II Southern USA (1847) Railroad Tycoon II

Eastern USA (1880) Railroad Tycoon II The Mediterranean (1870) Railroad Tycoon II

Korea (1950) Railroad Tycoon II United States (1900) Railroad Tycoon II

North America (1900) Railroad Tycoon II Western USA (1860) Railroad Tycoon II

Gameplay

Locomotives

Main article: Locomotives (Railroad Tycoon II)

Railroad Tycoon II has a much more broader range of locomotives than that of the original Railroad Tycoon, containing 62 locomotives in the base game, with another 5 more added with The Second Century expansion pack. Unlike the original, locomotives are no longer region locked, and there are options to disable and enable certain engines to add regional flavor, through the map editor. Locomotive Specifications are much more visible and comparable for the player, with useful tools such as the top speed matrix, allowing the player to easily choose the best locomotive for the job at hand, instead of having take the qualitative word of a manual. Other new features regarding locomotives included the implementation of sand, water and oil gauges, as well as more complex loading and unloading orders.

Locomotives are a central part of Railroad Tycoon, as they are the force that moves the different types of cargo around the map to the industry and cities that demand it. Each locomotive's ability is measured by it's top speed, hauling power, hill-climbing ability, reliability, as well as it's annual expenses. It is these specifications among others that can determine where a locomotive can be put to best use, and in turn allow the player to maximize their profit. For example, the Class A4 Mallard is by far the fastest steam locomotive, and while it would be useful on the Chicago to New York express passenger route, it would be much more efficient to leave freight duties to the 2-8-0 Mikado, as the latter has greater hauling power.

In Railroad Tycoon II, all except one of the locomotives (the futuristic Maglev TBX-1) is based upon a real-life counterpart that was in service for a certain time. The availability dates of the locomotives in-game all largely reflect when the real life locomotive type was at it's greatest use. In the early 1800's, most locomotives are very slow, but also extremely cheap, so it is very easy to turn a profit with these locomotives. However, by the mid-20th century, maintenance and fuel costs are much higher. Finding the right balances between performance and expenses is paramount in order for later engines to be profitable.

Economy

The visible part of a Railroad Tycoon II scenario's economy is in the form of industries, which appear throughout the map. Industries supply cargo that is demanded by other industries. Most industry types tend to have set supply and demand rules with relatively minor changes between different time periods and map settings. In any Railroad Tycoon II game, the economy of the map is highly dynamic. As any game progresses, cities and regions grow in line with the level of rail service that is provided to its industries.

Placing stations near industry, along with track and trains, allows the player to pick up and deliver cargoes from them using trains. When supplied cargo is delivered by train to a station with an industry that demands it, the player's company gets rewarded with payment. Generally, the better an industry is served, the more payment received. In the Expert Industrial Model setting, cargo payment is further affected Demand Levels, which reduces payment if the same cargo has been received recently. Cargo payments can also vary based on cargo type, time taken to deliver, the economic status, as well as the time period amongst other factors.

Economic and Industrial Mechanics in Railroad Tycoon II
Industries	Aluminum Mill   ·   Auto Plant   ·   Bakery   ·   Bauxite Mine   ·   Cannery   ·   Cattle Yard   ·   Chemical Plant   ·   Cement Plant   ·   Coal Mine   ·   Coffee Farm   ·   Cotton Farm   ·   Dairy Farm   ·   Dairy Processor   ·   Electric Plant   ·   Fertilizer Plant   ·   Grain Silo   ·   Logging Camp   ·   Lumber Mill   ·   Meat Packing Plant   ·   Nuclear Plant   ·   Oil Refinery   ·   Oil Well   ·   Paper Mill   ·   Port   ·   Produce Orchard   ·   Rubber Farm   ·   Steel Mill   ·   Sheep Farm   ·   Textile Mill   ·   Tire Factory   ·   Tool and Die Factory   ·   Uranium Mine   ·   Housing   ·   Geocore Plant   ·   Distillery   ·   Barracks   ·   Military Depot   ·   Munitions Factory   ·   Weapons Factory   ·   Townhouse   ·   Commercial   ·   Retail   ·   Airport Terminal   ·   Airport Tarmac
Cargo	Passengers   ·   Mail   ·   Lumber   ·   Logs   ·   Milk   ·   Cattle   ·   Steel   ·   Goods   ·   Autos   ·   Cement   ·   Food   ·   Cotton   ·   Wool   ·   Paper   ·   Oil   ·   Chemical   ·   Fertilizer   ·   Coal   ·   Grain   ·   Aluminum   ·   Coffee   ·   Tires   ·   Uranium   ·   Pulpwood   ·   Gravel   ·   Iron   ·   Produce   ·   Bauxite   ·   Diesel   ·   Rubber   ·   Dining   ·   Caboose   ·   Alcohol   ·   Troops   ·   Weapons   ·   Munitions   ·   Commuters
Assets	Track   ·   Electric Track   ·   Mountainous Track   ·   Bridges   ·   Stations   ·   Station Buildings   ·   Bulldozing   ·   Trains   ·   Locomotives
Mechanics
Economic Status   ·   Cargo Generation   ·   Cargo Revenue   ·   Economic Growth   ·   Cargo Demand   ·   Industry Investments

Finances

Company and Player Management in Railroad Tycoon II
Company Management
Company Detail	Company Setup   ·   Company Overview   ·   Manager (list)   ·   Chairmanship   ·   Annual Report   ·   Assets   ·   Efficiency Statement   ·   Income Statement   ·   Balance Sheet   ·   Territories   ·   Goodwill   ·   Company Finances   ·   Credit Rating   ·   Share Price   ·   Interest Rate   ·   Company Stocks   ·   Dividend   ·   Issuing Bonds   ·   Issuing Stock   ·   Buying Back Stock   ·   Attempting a Merger   ·   Declaring Bankruptcy
Manager	Albert A. Robinson   ·   Allen MacNab   ·   Ames Oakes   ·   Andre Chapelon   ·   Andrew Carnegie   ·   Bat Masterson   ·   Ben Holladay   ·   Charles F. Mayer   ·   Charles M. Hayes   ·   Daniel Gooch   ·   Daniel Willard   ·   Dr. Robert Garbe   ·   Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt   ·   Ernst Siemens   ·   Eugene V. Debs   ·   Fedrick Billings   ·   George Nagelmachers   ·   George Pullman   ·   George Westinghouse   ·   Ginery Twitchell   ·   Henri Giffard   ·   Henry Booth   ·   Herbert Garratt   ·   John Wootten   ·   John Work Garrett   ·   John Hopkins   ·   Oscar G. Murray   ·   Philip Randolph   ·   Richard Trevithick   ·   Robert Gerwig   ·   Robert Stevens   ·   Roy B. White   ·   Rudolph Diesel   ·   Theodore D. Judah   ·   Thomas Crampton   ·   Thomas Swann   ·   William C. Horne   ·   William J. Palmer   ·   William Strong
Player Management
Player List   ·   Player Detail   ·   Personal Net Worth   ·   Stock Market   ·   Share Price   ·   Buying and Selling Stock   ·   Corparate Holdings   ·   Financial Model Difficulty
Railroad Tycoon II   ·   Campaigns and Scenarios   ·   Locomotives   ·   Game Economy   ·   Company & Player Management

External links

• Title at Moby Games
• Title at Gamefaqs