I Get It Now

[unmerged(281039)]

I purchased this game on Steam last weekend and was a bit frustrated with it at first like many on the forum.

However, last night everything clicked and I now understand how the game works, how I need to keep things small at first and build on that initial line, what needs to be connected and how to make the lines work together. I've successfully created a profitable system that consists only of Tram & Bus lines (7 tram lines, 3 bus lines), so it is possible to make money without a metro (this is in Sandbox Vienna)

I'm not bringing in a ton of cash, but am consistently making about $500 - $1000 a month. If I complete one of the tasks, I get some bonus money which helps build my reserves even further. I took out one loan of $10K for a tram expansion, but was able to easily pay it back early thanks to my profits.

The busy stations usually never have more than 30 people at most, and they only back up when something breaks down or there's a jam or something.

I even have 100% customer satisfaction.

I don't know if the patches have made the game easier or what (and I am playing on easy to get the hang of things), but I think I've figured the game out and really enjoy it.

I've not built any metro lines because I'm saving up for those, and really, it's just been fun watching my trams and buses carry passengers here and there and figuring out how they interact with each other.

The only thing I'm disappointed with is that the game just completely crashes (3 times last night, once an hour) every now and then, even after 3 patches, and I've lost work. I've learned to save often, but I'm kind of irritated that the problem has not been fixed.

This game isn't about instant gratification and you can't build too big too fast, once I got over my need to expand too fast and use the most expensive items, everything kind of fell into place.

Now that I've figured out how to make the game work, it's not a frustrating game at all and I'm looking forward to exploring the other types of transport lines.

 

[sobrano]

try to set difficulty: hard!!!

 

[douglasrac]

The only thing I'm disappointed with is that the game just completely crashes (3 times last night, once an hour) every now and then, even after 3 patches, and I've lost work. I've learned to save often, but I'm kind of irritated that the problem has not been fixed.

Use autosave mod.

 

[unmerged(274615)]

Care to share any tips etc, I'm still on the first scenario after starting it several times... Though I now have patch 12 and the traffic seems to be a lot better than it has been.

 

[unmerged(280086)]

The only thing I'm disappointed with is that the game just completely crashes (3 times last night, once an hour) every now and then, even after 3 patches, and I've lost work. I've learned to save often, but I'm kind of irritated that the problem has not been fixed.

I had the same problem. Game freezes and small sequence of sound just keeps repeating and there is no other way then hardware reset.

Somebody from the forum said that he solved the problem by reducing graphic effects so I gave it a try. I turned off shadows, AA, AF (those 3 sliders in graphic settings) and most important HDR lighting and now I've played game (when all adds up) for about 20-30 hours without crashing problems. I think that HDR lighting is the main problem but now I am used to how the game looks like so I left all off. Turned off HDR lighting also gave me huge FPS increase and made game much more playable.

Also read that it is mostly happening on ATI cards so if U have it u should give it a try.
I have ATI HD3870.

 

[Gauge]

Yes tips pls. Everyone who "gets it" only use broad sweeping terms to tell you how to play. I have yet to hear anything specific.

 

[giladteller]

Yes tips pls. Everyone who "gets it" only use broad sweeping terms to tell you how to play. I have yet to hear anything specific.

My Best tip, is to build lines that "feed" each other.
I build bus lines with 5-7 stations and connect them using tram or metro.
The buses don't take people to their destination, they just take them to a place where they can change to a bigger transport system which will take them most of the distance.
Since passengers pay only if they switch vehicle type (bus to tram tram, to metro etc) most passengers will pay more than once in a single journey.

 

[iluvhats]

My try at berlin

Right, I'm not amazing at this game, but i enjoy playing it, and I wanted to show how I would start Berlin with small routes and building up as i went along. I took some screenshots, but i don't know how well this will come out, but here goes

(Gonna post the pics as links as don't wanna fill it up with stuff that people may not want to look at)

Right, Line 1,
I like to have a route at the central train station, so thats where this on was, and it spread across to the east, taking up the other station, and then looping above it.
Line 1 Part 1
Line 1 Part 2

mistake 1, the way i cross the road at the right hand station, it was gonna cause me problems later

I then linked the first tram track, with one of the bus routes which was already there, so that it increased the range of my network, i tried to keep the station for this off the road as there was a large amount of park space
Line 2

This inadvertently got me the first task complete, i hadn't planned it, but hey, a small addition of cash is quite nice
I then started to tackle the other end of the city (well, the other end of the first line. I made the bus route that circled the city blocks, and from the bottom of the next pic u can see another tram track, i linked that to the bottom of one of the starting bus routes. Also, in the top right, theres an extra bus route running nearly parallel with the initial tram route, I added that because of the strain on the FairGround stop, i hoped i could entice a few off onto this bus route, (that didn't work )

Line 3, 4 & 5

I built another tram track going from the right hand station downwards to the initial bus route, this was probably a bad idea as it added abit too much strain on to the first tram line, but it did get in some cash for me.
My mistake of station placement came to kick me when this tram broke down

Tram Break Down


Here's a final look at my berlin lines just b4 i decided it was bed time, there are some red stops, but also some happy smiley stops, as i said, i'm not overly brilliant at the game

Overview

and i took a pic of my in's and out's, again, not brilliant, but i was happily surviving, and i took out a small loan to buy 3 trams for last line

Balance Sheet

Edit - forgot to mention, i had prices set at 5.50 for bus and 6.50 for tram, and i made sure the employees were green, oh, and i didn't piss around with maintenance or anything else, just plonked the stuff down and let my little cars go

 

[Cougarific]

My Best tip, is to build lines that "feed" each other.
I build bus lines with 5-7 stations and connect them using tram or metro.
The buses don't take people to their destination, they just take them to a place where they can change to a bigger transport system which will take them most of the distance.
Since passengers pay only if they switch vehicle type (bus to tram tram, to metro etc) most passengers will pay more than once in a single journey.

This is excellent early and advanced advice.

Bus lines with 5-7 stations, Trams that feed them/feed off of them, eventually Metro to absorb the overflow at very popular stations.

Here's what I do:

Use your starting money to set up a couple of bus lines servicing high-traffic areas like train stations, shopping centers, theater district, tourist attractions.

Set to 2x speed, monitor those 2 lines and tweak until your buses are running at near-to-full capacity with short waits.

When you're turning a profit, consider taking out a bank loan: NOTE: CONSIDER TAKING MANY SMALL LOANS RATHER THAN ONE BIG ONE. i.e. if you want $10,000 take 3 x $3,300 - this allows you to pay them off quicker and lower the interest payments quicker than having to amass $10,000 all at once.

Now look at your bus lines, pick a busy/popular station, and build a tram line (or 2) with 4-6 stops, with a station near that busy bus stop.

Set 2x speed, tweak your trams until you get steady capacity on board with short waits at stations.

Now I set up some more quick bus routes (from one side of a river bridge to the other and back is uber-profitable) while waiting for my balance to grow.

When I have enough cash (I like at least $15k to work with), set up a 2-stop Metro from the (train station) to the (city center) [whatever areas are generating the most bus/tram traffic].

2x speed, cash is really flowin' now, use income to expand your Metro system until you're rolling in dough.

Works for me.

 

[Cougarific]

Sorry to double-post, but I think ChienAbou's comment from another thread is important for anyone looking for "TIPS":

The matter lies with convincing people into giving up their personal transport (taxi, car) to adopt collective transportation.

It changes totally the perspective of the game.

Usually, it is all about extracting as much as possible from customers for a given level of service (service can be poor, it does not matter as long as you make a profit|captive customers|

Here, it is all about providing the best level of service with the money you collect.
It means that the customers will leave away to rely on their personal means if they are not satisfied with the service.

Usually, the main goal is profit. Here, it is the satisfaction of the customer. This is the primary indicator.

If you focus on keeping your customers happy, it not only turns this into a whole 'nother game, it also makes the money flow that much more REGULARLY.

Don't view this as a money-making "Tycoon" game, view it as a "Sims" game where you're trying to keep the Simcitizens happy.

 

[Tapsa]

One useful tip is also to avoid traffic. Sounds obvious, but at least in Berlin this was one the things that really helped me along. Watch the city streets to see where the cars pack in to lines, and then make your bus routes go somewhere else. The traffic jams usually are one-way, so you can make your bus line go the other way to get to a central building or exchange point. Also don't make your bus lines to long, as this will hurt happiness due to longer wait times and it is more likely to get long queues at the stops.

As for trams, keep those tracks out of the streets as much as possible. Use the parks and plazas, and the "green" areas in between large streets.

When your vechicles don't have to stand in traffic jams, they make more profit, and the people at the stops don't get so upset. Also be sure to add extra vechiles to your lines if you notice stops building queues bigger than your vehicles.

I completed the first Berlin scenario without any early metros. I only built a metro when the scenario requested it, and had four tram lines and about ten bus lines at that point, all making a nice profit.