I suck!

[The Andy-Man]

I can't seem to get the hang of it, I am playing the Berlin scenario, and within a few months my bus stops and tram stations have 100+ waiting around, and I am broke.

Is there something I am missing? Maybe smaller routes or something like that? Or perhaps I just should build my stops by the really busy places?

[douglasrac]

There is a player with the same problem - a lot of tips can be found in his thread: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...new-ish-player

[The Andy-Man]

Thanks, this should help quite a bit. I assume not rushing to complete to Berlin objectives is not too much of a problem - that big connecting route for the buses, then the tram line seem to be what kill me off quickly!

[slornie]

Just a heads up, in this case the "connect the routes" objective doesn't have to be done with a single line (i dont think). In my current game ive got three interconnected tram lines that run between the bus routes (where possible along avenues and off-road to avoid traffic) and that completed it.

[douglasrac]

Thanks, this should help quite a bit. I assume not rushing to complete to Berlin objectives is not too much of a problem - that big connecting route for the buses, then the tram line seem to be what kill me off quickly!

Unfortunately the campaign objectives won't help you make money. Make your routes regarding the objectives, and complete the objectives when you have enough money.

[The Andy-Man]

Thanks for the help, I managed through Berlin and Amsterdam now, and the objectives are pretty ruinous financially (Vito wants a private but to the college, and some spy wants me to close a line!!!)

I struggled through though!

[CorporalRutland]

Hi Andy-Man,

I had a problem with the Berlin scenario too, maybe you saw my thread. On reflection it's a daft scenario to dump a new player into, particularly given that Amsterdam and Vienna are much easier.

While I'm aware you've aced them, a couple of tips from me:

- Forget buses and trams. I've cleared the first 3 scenarios thus far with nothing but metros.
- When you get those objectives that ask you to build routes to a location (e.g. Boy Scouting) have one bus route with the cheapest bus on standby and lower your bus maintenances to 0. When those objectives come up, plonk down two bus stops on that person's street, join them with a route, open it, pass the objective, close the route! Easy. Those objectives (like Faraway Farm in particular) are just in locations that would never be financially viable and would never have public transport IRL. Repeat this process for the two-stop objectives (such as the Spy's or Vito's in 'Dam) but obviously by placing each bus stop at the relevant locations.
- For the routing objectives that require you to move numbers of passengers, helicopters are your best friend. Lay down some quick helipads, create a route, satisfy the objective and then blitz.
- Try and build elevated metro as much as possible with as much coverage as possible. Keep the metros to the major routes and make your routes circular wherever you can. On scenarios like Vienna you invariably end up with three major metros for the three islands. Make sure you then build a 'bridging line' that links one station from each network so that citizens can switch between them!
- Set your wages to the first green face and your metro fares to the highest mid-red (the one before dark) and your maintenances to 0 at first. You can raise them later.
- Borrow and expand aggressively. My main failing was in refusing to borrow what I thought I couldn't repay. That is to say I'd be £200 a month in profit and refuse to borrow a loan that cost more than £200 a month. You need to take a gamble and borrow as big as you can and create a metro network that then ends up paying for that loan!

PM me if you get stuck, sounds like we're both new in this together!

[KonradRichtmark]

Me, I've concluded that it's almost always good to start off building some metro lines, regardless of what the scenario objectives are. Even with only a few ten thousand at start you should be able to afford 3 or so stations, and more if you're ballsy enough to pull the loan-lever. Mind you, metro lines don't need to loop around at the end like tram lines, so you can keep gradually adding new stops to the end of a line without having to demolish anything you previously built.

First, metros take care of long-distance travel. A passenger doesn't pay per distance, a passenger simply pays the fixed fee once upon boarding. Meaning that a passenger traveling a long distance is a liability who uses up space that could be used to transport several passengers. If there are metros available for long-distance travel, people will prefer them over buses or trams for that, simply due to being faster. Leaving your buses and trams with the more profitable shorter-distance passengers.

With a network of metros for longer distances, you can let buses operate within smaller, closed areas centered on a metro station. Then you have a nice symbiosis going on: The metro diverts away stupid longer-distance travelers from your buses, and your buses bring passengers to your metro stations. Also, the metro reduces the amount of traffic on the streets, allowing your buses to travel faster and serve more people.

[KonradRichtmark]

Also, if you have blue coins to spare, get the Metro Stations DLC. It's awesome.

[slornie]

Also, if you have blue coins to spare, get the Metro Stations DLC. It's awesome.

Or download eis_os's Big Underground Metro Station Mod. I find the ability to set each side of the double station onto different levels a real advantage!