[OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

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[OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

Almost 9 years ago I played an epic game of ottd on a dedicated server on really hard mode, with daylength setting cranked up so it would last several weeks. The game was played with several co-workers.

With the corona-virus lockdown, the company I work at decided to spend a little funds on setting up a gameserver for the employees to hang out in instead of having watercooler talk (strictly off-hours only, of course). And after a wonderfully chaotic game of Factorio, it was time for another epic game of OpenTTD. We started out with a simple Netherlands setting using all the dutch sets and BSPI, so people could get used to how this game works again (for some it has literally been 9 years). However, now it's time to get dirty with some proper hard settings again.

This is an After Action Report (AAR) on our game being played on a multiplayer server running JGR's patch pack (0.34.2). We're using only a small part of the patch features, but daylength is mandatory for us so what's a gamer to do? ?(
This thread will contain many, many pictures. But given that this is the screenshot forum, I'm assuming that won't be an issue.

Table of Contents
Pre-game plans
Session 1: Fishing for a start
Session 2: Broke for rails
Session 3: A passing grade
Session 4: New blood, old troubles
Session 5: Highs and Lows
Session 6: Plans and medals
Session 7: Generations
Update 8: Stebbins or Bust

Game Settings

The settings are cranked way up, in order to make a hard game. The normal game settings are almost as hard as they go and we're using the Basecost newgrf to make everything more expensive as well. Building on water is entirely forbidden, so no massive landscaped bridges in the endgame.

We're playing with the wonderful Silicon Valley gamescript to give everyone in the game their own goal, which directly defines the red line of this AAR.
session0 - game script.png
session0 - game script.png (4.21 KiB) Viewed 6228 times
Our theme is 'Alaska', using alaskan town names in the arctic climate, with a very mountainous height map. We're playing with FIRS 3 on extreme mode. That is a lot of industries, but on this massive map it balances out. No gold mines unfortunately, but plenty of oil to fit the theme.
World gen:
session0 - world gen.png
session0 - world gen.png (28.48 KiB) Viewed 6228 times
These are the newgrfs we're using. I messed up on the configuration for the Chips docks, but it's running on the dedicated server now so we'll have to live with it.
session0 - newgrfs.png
session0 - newgrfs.png (9.74 KiB) Viewed 6228 times
NARS doesn't have a lot of endgame, so we added the maglev sets. The only activated railtypes are the urban maglev and transrapid. With NuTracks, that's already plenty enough tracks to clutter up the interface.

The settings:

Code: Select all

[preset-Alaskan]
454E0202|AC1ADFB1CBF3066671DE6D454C7B43AF|maglev_track_set_v2-2.2\maglev_track_set.grf = 1 4 4 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 0
444A5401|E198910FBF02F96A14C70B2E61D43B68|nutracks-r283\nutracks.grf = 0 0 0 0 0 0 80 131 180 230 350 56 56 37 0 56 56 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 50 101 1 3 1 2
F1250007|997B31233DCFC059D343EB90E046D7EB|firs_industry_replacement_set_3-3.0.12\firs.grf = 5 0 0 0 0 0 16 150 80 300
50430303|38558CC62E283687C5CD56F2D3596B64|alaskan_town_names-1.0\alsk_names.grf = 
415A0301|8667797182D6F6C670D7BE5D677ACB45|american_road_replacement_set-2.0.0\americanroads.grf = 1940
47474705|6D9D5B2E44D9EFE3EEE35BB92E971EC8|auzfreightstations-8\auzfreightstations_v008.grf = 
47474709|B2871F0F49743A1098D2F6F855DAEC1B|auz_stations_platforms-1\auzstationsplatforms.grf = 
44440A80|D032A9394BD1679CDB74E7B1067CD04F|av9.8-0.95\av9point8.grf = 0
44440502|9B2267C916691C45A2C85BE1FF54F7C3|combined_american_signal_set.1.1\ussigzw.grf = 
52571203|7CE88A25DDB058C1BE577B88D049B274|egrvts2-188\egrvts2.grf = 0 63 2 0
474A0001|C1772ED819AC0A4303B2813A8CFF0C76|total_town_replac._set_early_mod-modified23.14\ttrs3w-early_mod.grf = 0 0 0 0
524A4501|5FAD80637E4DD13F7997EA2F7C5F707C|north_american_building_set-v0.6.6.8\re_nabs.grf = 
44440302|C2A2CE006D0F3BC2E44122A9358EC999|north_american_renewal_set-2.51\newnars.grf = 0
4D50006A|3A797B1A7E3968A91CB45199BCF52520|ore_unloader_station-0.1\iorestat.grf = 1
4A4D0101|AFE4E75999A3FF92D4B01DBEE9A803E9|sailing_ships-0.62\ss.grf = 
414E0201|0DA3A80B986BC3C17C20CA4CE9CA26AA|fish_2-2.0.3\fish.grf = 1 1 0
415A0501|37F4A01391FE088BD22740A89E22F78B|total_bridge_renewal_set_arrs-1.0.0\total_bridges.grf = 
54570200|3DEB9B30A6254AE8606A5A9A99A9A696|us_stations_set-0.86\usstatsw.grf = 
4A430002|93EAC5F5396584B92D4C5F0AAAF3F6C5|industrial_stations_renewal-1.0.2\indstatr.grf = 0 1
5043A010|1B83986FEE421A06589FFB66D5364E11|isr_rail__road_depots-0.2\isr_depot.grf = 0
444E0400|735D3D74D5DCADBF1FD6EF7A9C5A3519|vast_station_tiles-0.2.0\vast.grf = 
504A0013|8C19753CB66905E869534611828C2654|isrdwestyle_objects-1.1\isrdwe_objects_v1_1.grf = 
47474708|CF484D1DA7816918320F33BD3B2A4735|auz_more_freight_stations-1\auzmorefreightstationsv1.grf = 
50430901|C3AE624A4F431B28FCB52CDB7F7867FA|chips_custom_docks-1.0\chips_docks.grf = 0 0 0 0 0
43485053|107210078AB4C22C7D83BA65ED9AF16F|chips_station_set-1.8.0\chips.grf = 
454E2001|EB36821EDDFAAC0E5E18CD296E55D7FA|real_international_maglev_set-1.5\rims.grf = 1 4 4 0 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1
454E1901|E84F4875E7EBC3B7DB5379746A0AD563|future_reality_inspired_maglevs-1.3\frims_maglev_set_1.3.grf = 1 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1
524A4502|01EB35953EF4A72B12523CAE046BCD36|basic_stations-v0.6.6.7\re_basic.grf = 
43530103|0B216C6FFB7FF95D01EC0CC22AFEA340|country_roads-1.0\countryroads.grf = 20 1 1 12 1
4D470305|2E96B9AB2BEA686BFF94961AD433A701|basecosts-5.0\basecosts.grf = 9 10 10 12 9 10 9 8 10 10 10 13 8 8 10 9 9 10 9 9 12 15 8 12 12 11 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 14 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 8 9 13 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 10 7 13 8 7 7 8 8 12 8 8 8 8 8 11
The relevant difficulty settings:
  • Everything is really expensive. Including blowing up farmer's fields.
  • cargo weight 4 (all cargo weighs 4x as much for the purposes of required horse power. We tried 5, but it was too harsh with the current heightmap.)
  • asymmetric cargo distribution for passengers and mail
  • highest possible interest
  • hostile town authority
  • no building on water, this does allow docks, ship depots, buoys etc. Including water-based objects for eyecandy.
  • daylength is set to 13
  • 90 degree angles for trains and boats is disallowed
  • recessions are on
  • primary industries can be prospected. But they're really expensive and on this massive map, good luck getting one anywhere near you. Still, it may be used in the end-game.
  • no x4 growth cities, only normal growth.
Last edited by Korenn on 15 May 2020 08:33, edited 13 times in total.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

Pre-game plans
(pre-story disclaimer: the dates are wrong, Alaska wasn't purchased from Russia till 1867 and the gold rush in 1890 was the first time lots of people moved there. But let's pretend this Alaska was colonised by the US a hundred years earlier)

It's january, 1850. Meet Ted Rudinsky, born in Primrose, Alaska, a village on top of a mountain range at a height of 7000 ft. His family was descended from Russian settlers that gained US citizenship when Alaska was purchased.
session0 - manager.png
session0 - manager.png (11.97 KiB) Viewed 6221 times
When he was younger, he studied business school down in the civilised world of California and he saw the big cities (or, as big as they were back then). On his very first trip there, he realised that's what he wanted. Massive buildings touching the clouds back in his home village (we're talking 1800s here, so 'massive buildings' would be 5 or 6 stories high, tops).

Speaking of his home village, have a look:
session0 - Primrose.png
session0 - Primrose.png (339.22 KiB) Viewed 6221 times
Primrose is a frozen craphole. But still, we have a dream: To build it into a vast city filled with skyscrapers. There's one problem though, there's not a brick to spare to build them with!
So the solution is clear: we'll have to build an empire on the production of Building Materials to succeed in our dream.
session0 - goal.png
session0 - goal.png (3 KiB) Viewed 6221 times
Of course, this might be called a bit of a tall order right now. Given that our home village is on top of a mountain range and permanently covered in snow, cut off from the rest of the world. We'll have to start small. Or possibly someplace entirely different.
Last edited by Korenn on 04 May 2020 10:23, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

But where in the world is Primrose? Well, I'll show you the world, or at least, the bit we're interested in: Alaska
license: PD-US from Wikipedia
license: PD-US from Wikipedia
800px-Alaska1895.jpg (211.09 KiB) Viewed 6216 times
Okay, that was a cheap shot. Here's a map that's actually useful:
session0 - the world.png
session0 - the world.png (303.29 KiB) Viewed 6216 times
As you can see, there are several large landmasses on this map, separated by large bodies of water. Some of these could be bridged with our settings, most cannot. This map is HUGE, so each of those landmasses is easily big enough to be its own map for most people.

But where in all this is Primrose? In the farthest north you could be, of course. Where else?
session0 - primrose area.png
session0 - primrose area.png (740.81 KiB) Viewed 6216 times
Yes, That's primrose right there in the middle of the icefield on the roof of the world. If you're having trouble reading the name it's because it's covered in ice. Trust me.

This is going to be a bit of a challenge, isn't it?
Last edited by Korenn on 03 May 2020 23:53, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

So, about that challenge, what do we have to work with?
session0 - all vehicles.png
session0 - all vehicles.png (28.21 KiB) Viewed 6214 times
This is what we have to work with in 1850:
  • Two trains
  • Five sailing ships, and a paddle steamer (with sails)
  • Horse-drawn wagons
Trains are monumentously expensive. Perhaps under the perfect conditions a rail start could work out. But in our mountainous surroundings, that's so far removed from perfect that perfect isn't even a concept. Which leaves horse-drawn wagons and ships. (no, not the kind that go baaa. Though there are plenty of those to be found where the plants aren't permanently frozen)

Our subcontinent has several large cities that we can eventually offer passenger services to. I say subcontinent because maybe you forgot when I mentioned this before? This map is HUGE (2048 * 4096). But that too, is a distant pipe-dream. How would one cross the mountain ranges? How could one afford the construction? Right now, it baffles the mind.

When we look at our surroundings, we notice that Primrose has a bunch of nearby industries, which is probably why there's a hospital here and why Primrose even exists.
session0 - industry list.png
session0 - industry list.png (7.56 KiB) Viewed 6214 times
To complete our goal we have to ensure there are at least 3 building materials producing industries at a rate of 500 building materials in 3 months, and 5000 summed up. We already have 3 building material producing industries, but they're not in the most ideal of locations.
session0 - building material industries.png
session0 - building material industries.png (107.04 KiB) Viewed 6214 times
The cement plant and glass works are on top of the mountain range, and the timber yard is in the closed off valley mentioned below. Far from ideal.
Last edited by Korenn on 04 May 2020 10:26, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

Primrose is the highest town on our subcontinent, so getting large amounts of cargo there at cargo-weight factor 4 will be 90% of the problem! This map shows the countours of the area:
session0 - contours.png
session0 - contours.png (299.63 KiB) Viewed 6204 times
To the west of our town is a valley that is still part of Primrose territory, we could consider founding new industries down there to save us a climb. Unfortunately, that valley is mostly closed off from the rest of the world, so we'd be looking at incredibly expensive tunnels to get to the other side of the mountain range (had a look later for this, too long for tunnels. We'd have to carve a way through, costing hundreds of millions). Still, might be an option later on. But no matter where we end up making our building materials, we'll have to ship food up to Primrose to allow it to grow at all.

To the south of the Primrose mountain range is a valley leading down to the ocean.
session0 - kenai valley.png
session0 - kenai valley.png (91.11 KiB) Viewed 6204 times
Kenai valley (This countour mapmode is misleading, each continuous color can be 3 or 4 height levels.)
Our first general goal for transport will be around the town of Kenai, at the root of this valley. Interestingly enough, the real Primrose lies on lake Kenai in Alaska. The town is tiny and surrounded by snow and ice most of the year so I guess the game reflects that pretty well! But in our world Kenai is on an island in a bay (which we'll call Kenai Bay), across from a valley which is the only flat-ish low lands anywhere near Primrose. There are a bunch of industries dotted around here, which will form the start of our train network. But... as we said before, trains are a future dream.

Instead, our very first steps will be in the Kenai Bay and its surrounding waters.
session0 - kenai bay.png
session0 - kenai bay.png (49.09 KiB) Viewed 6204 times
There's plenty of fishing to be had, and we will start by buying up local fishing boats to form the backbone of our early transport efforts. Fast sailing boats with small holds are perfect for getting fish to the fishing harbour - relatively fresh.

Next time - The server will unpause and we can start playing!
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

Session one: Fishing for a start.

We start the story in this AAR when the server starts running. It had been on pause for a full day allowing people to figure out how the map works and where they want to build.

Our transport empire begins by executing our fishing plans. After building docks and depots, by maxing out our loan we can afford to build 8 schooners and bring the fish to the fishing docks near Kenai.
session1 - first boat.png
session1 - first boat.png (21.04 KiB) Viewed 6141 times
The furthest fishing grounds are around a small outcrop of land, so we place a buoy there to avoid ships getting stuck over the long distances.
session1 - fishing docks.png
session1 - fishing docks.png (266.34 KiB) Viewed 6141 times
This fishing harbor is going to be really busy in the coming years. It takes about a month before our first schooner returns from the open sea, but now we've got enough income to not immediately go bankrupt.
session1 - kenai HQ.png
session1 - kenai HQ.png (135.17 KiB) Viewed 6141 times
Our HQ is built near Kenai, because this will be the center of our shipping operations for a long time.
While we're waiting to earn enough money to buy another ship, we repay our loans because the interest is at maximum and that can't be ignored at this time!
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

The sailing ships look amazing! Here's one of our schooners heading back out to the fishing grounds for a month or two of fishing:
session1 - schooner.png
session1 - schooner.png (4.42 KiB) Viewed 6137 times

In august we buy a schooner to ship the packaged fish from the fish harbor to a nearby town with a grocery store, called Pilot Station.
session1 - food ship.png
session1 - food ship.png (27.53 KiB) Viewed 6137 times
This is quite a distance, but the trip is profitable. When we can, we add two more schooners to this route to keep the food flowing through.
Our first year looks great! We're certainly in the profit range.
session1 - year 1 budget.png
session1 - year 1 budget.png (8.7 KiB) Viewed 6137 times
We're not doing the best in the world though, there are (currently, more can follow) five competitors with dreams of their own, and one of them had some luck with a highly productive fishing shoal netting them about twice as much as our best schooner brings in. But for a change in an ottd game, this isn't about being the wealthiest, it's about realising our dream as fast as we can.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

In april 1851 we upgrade one of our food schooners to a clipper because of the piles of food on the docks just rotting away.
session1 - food overflow.png
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3 months later we upgrade a second one, this should cover the shipping.
session1 - food clipper.png
session1 - food clipper.png (6.23 KiB) Viewed 6133 times
The clippers look even more amazing than the schooners, in my opinion.

session1 - grain plans.png
session1 - grain plans.png (13.2 KiB) Viewed 6133 times
In september 1851 we have a new plan, to start shipping some other cargo than fresh and packaged fish. This is the first time we'll be acting as a true transport company, instead of employing mostly fishermen. The plan revolves around two arable farms close to the shore in Kenai Bay. The only places nearby where we can ship the grain it produces is near Kaktovik to the north east. Conveniently there's also a port there which we can hook up with the same dock, if we use a little warehouse to connect to both industries.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

The first service will be farm supplies from the port to both arable farms. This will allow the farms to go at enhanced production, easily supporting our grain shipping needs.
session1 - farming supplies boat.png
session1 - farming supplies boat.png (47.63 KiB) Viewed 6130 times
Then we purchase a schooner to ship the grain back from the farms to the Kaktovik dock.
session1 - grain waiting.png
session1 - grain waiting.png (4.74 KiB) Viewed 6130 times
This is going well, In fact, the first schooner with grain isn't nearly enough, so on its next trip we maximise our loan again to upgrade it to a clipper. The clipper nets us some good income, so this looks like a sound investment.

session1 - kenai bus service.png
session1 - kenai bus service.png (141.55 KiB) Viewed 6130 times
We set up a bus service in Kenai to make sure we keep on the good side of the town authorities.

(sorry about the cursor blocking part of the image, I pay more attention to avoid that in later pictures)
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

session1 - year 2 budget.png
session1 - year 2 budget.png (10.77 KiB) Viewed 6126 times
1852 comes along. We doubled our shipping income in 1851, and even our bus services are in the plus (another small one was added in Pilot Station for the ratings there).

In march 52 we sell off the food schooner because the two clippers can cover all of the created packaged fish. In fact, the clipper spend quite some time loading food at the fishing docks and that seems to create a bit of a problem :!:. The value of the cargo is a lot less when delivered. Possibly because the first part of the food is loaded immediately, but the rest takes a while to load and causes the whole trip to take a long time, thus tanking the delivery value. If this keeps up, we will end up having to sell one of the clippers so that it doesn't have to spend time loading to full. The time that food is stored on the docks doesn't seem to have any effect on value.


session1 - second grain clipper passing supplies.png
session1 - second grain clipper passing supplies.png (12.29 KiB) Viewed 6126 times
In may of 52 we've saved up enough funds to purchase a clipper to service the other arable farm. The first one is doing amazing and is looking like it will be our top earner for the year.
session1 - clipper profit.png
session1 - clipper profit.png (6.27 KiB) Viewed 6126 times
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

The full load order on the food clippers at the fishing docks is removed, so that the clippers will just take whatever is there (usually about 80% of a load). Hopefully this will address the loss of value due to long load times.

session1 - farm supplies.png
session1 - farm supplies.png (139.62 KiB) Viewed 6124 times
At the Kaktovik docks, the farm supplies have been piling up. The schooner is doing a great job to serve our two farms, but we can clearly add another schooner without running low.

session1 - selling second food clipper.png
session1 - selling second food clipper.png (11.56 KiB) Viewed 6124 times
Our order managing of the food clippers wasn't paying off. So it's time to cut our losses and sell the second clipper so that our first clipper can continuously sail with a full hold.

session1 - year 3 budget.png
session1 - year 3 budget.png (10.17 KiB) Viewed 6124 times
1853 - our finances are looking better. We've fully repaid our loan and are saving up for a big project.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

At the end of 1853 we've saved up quite a good sum, about half a million, and the two grain docks are overflowing with grain. So we spend it on two extra clippers on each route to bring up our revenue.
session1 - year 4 budget.png
session1 - year 4 budget.png (9.59 KiB) Viewed 6122 times
While we were waiting on funds, two hotels spawned on Kenai. This means we can afford to set up brand spanking new steamer to shuttle passengers back and forth from the hotels on Kenai island to Kaktovik, which also has a hotel. It can transport 300 passengers at a time at the same speed as a clipper, but it costs about twice as much as one in running costs. This is a bit of a gamble as passengers always are, but it should be alright.
session1 - steamer.png
session1 - steamer.png (61.01 KiB) Viewed 6122 times
We're at the end of the first play session. Our company is healthy, when we get back to the game we should have enough time to invest in some bigger projects. But the server will keep running while we do silly things like sleep or work, so we have to make sure everything looks okay to keep going for several years without our oversight. To this end we sell one clipper on each grain route, as the grain stores were dropping fast and we don't want them to waste time loading.

We just have enough time left for an overview of our company's assets.
session1 - company final overview.png
session1 - company final overview.png (19.5 KiB) Viewed 6122 times
We managed to build 21 ships in almost 12 hours of play time. That's not an awful lot, but remember the daylength setting slows everything down. One steamer with passengers, 1 clipper shipping food, 4 with grain. 5 schooners with supplies and 10 fishing schooners each fishing their own fishing grounds south of Kenai Bay.

This is the last thing we do this session as we sign off for the night, looking forward to something other than boat building next time.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

Session 2: Broke for rails.

Finally, it was a long work day but we're back! Our finances look healthy. $4.7 million to spend on new projects, excluding a possible loan. Let's have a look around our company.
session2 - starting finances.png
session2 - starting finances.png (9.37 KiB) Viewed 6018 times
How's our lovely home village doing?
session2 - primrose update.png
session2 - primrose update.png (397.35 KiB) Viewed 6018 times
Yep, Primrose is still a frozen craphole. We have 4 times as many people though! Except no new buildings were built. So I assume a few buildings had been constructing when we first looked here back in 1850.

session2 - busy kenai.png
session2 - busy kenai.png (186.73 KiB) Viewed 6018 times
The steamer has doing great business! Look at all those passengers waiting at Kenai's Harbour. If you're paying attention, you will have noticed that the bus isn't visiting the dock station. This is on purpose, because the cargo dist would ruin our services. Eventually we'll have a nice passenger network going, but we can't afford that right now.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

The economy has been moving forward!
session2 - primrose industry update.png
session2 - primrose industry update.png (8.13 KiB) Viewed 6015 times
New industries have popped up in the Primrose industry list. Let's see if there's anything useful to us.
session2 - new industries!.png
session2 - new industries!.png (98.51 KiB) Viewed 6015 times
A new Brick Works is good. And it's at a much lower elevation. Unfortunately, it's in the middle of our closed off valley. Maybe we should make this our prime transporting target, instead of heading for Primrose itself. The Stockyard at the top of a mountain... seems less of a sound investment. Unfortunately the game doesn't model livestock not spoiling on long distances because it's frozen solid.

Technology isn't standing still either though.
session2 - new boat.png
session2 - new boat.png (4.14 KiB) Viewed 6015 times
There's a new boat available! The merchantman has more hold space than the barque and is slightly faster. But it's a lot more expensive so I doubt we'll find a use for it just now. Barques are good moving value-steady cargo like sand or coal, but we don't have any coastal industries nearby where that helps.
Last edited by Korenn on 04 May 2020 23:28, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

How are we doing compared to our competitors?
session2 - income graph.png
session2 - income graph.png (6.08 KiB) Viewed 6013 times

Hmmm, we're third by quite a large margin. But then we haven't touched the game for 5 in-game years, so I'm sure we'll catch up somewhat.

So, back to playing. First we'll clone the steamer, see if we can make a dent in those passenger queues.

The grain clippers to Kenai West are spending too much time loading and their profit has tanked. I'm selling one so only one clipper is left. The supply schooners at the port are also constantly loading, time to sell two of them.
session2 - sold 3 ships.png
session2 - sold 3 ships.png (13.01 KiB) Viewed 6013 times
Bye, ships!

Maintenance done with, let's work on the next project. With 4 million in the bank, we should be able to put down a few railways, as long as it's not too crazy.
Here's the plan:
session2 - railway plan.png
session2 - railway plan.png (13.16 KiB) Viewed 6013 times
(the sugar refinery is visible on the left, desperately pretending it's a forest)

We'll move the large amounts of sugar beets from one of our arable farms up to a sugar refinery further up Kenai valley. These farms receive enough farming supplies to enhance or even gung-ho their production, so there should be plenty of beets for us to ship. Once the first line is up, we'll see about hooking up the second farm.

Some rough estimation with the shift tool indicates around $800k in raw construction costs for the first line. Due to realistic acceleration and cargo weight x4, it'll be really important to have as much space between slopes as we can get, to allow trains to get up to speed and take the slope at more than 1mph. We can build in either slow or mainline rail, but mainline is double the cost. However our only available trains go at a maximum of 50 mph, which is the top speed of the slow rail. Slow rail it is.
Last edited by Korenn on 04 May 2020 23:29, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

Yikes. Construction was over a million bucks, partly because we had to go straight through the farmer's fields and that stuff is expensive!
session2 - first line construction complete.png
session2 - first line construction complete.png (20 KiB) Viewed 6005 times
The train, a 4-4-0 american, 8 hoppers and a caboose total up to 150k purchase cost. We're only the second company to start using trains. Most have stuck to ships and horse-drawn wagons so far.
Hooking up the second farm to the same line costs another $400k. Most of the cost is in crossing more farmer's fields and bridging two rivers. And another 80k for two bypass tracks.

Whoops, the first train couldn't make it up the first 1 tile slope with 8 wagons. Back to the depot and try again with 6. It *just* about manages. Good enough for now.

session2 - no profit first trip.png
session2 - no profit first trip.png (7.85 KiB) Viewed 6005 times
The first trip nets $18k, yet the train still isn't profitable yet. That should work out when it doesn't have to load as long for the second trip. We re-engineered a corner on the track that was too tight after a slope, giving it more space means it won't drop down to 1mph on the climb.

session2 - bridging is hard.png
session2 - bridging is hard.png (94.07 KiB) Viewed 6005 times
The second train got stuck, because I'd failed to connect the line properly, I misread a slope so the tracks couldn't connect. Fixed it and now we're on our way. Unfortunately the running cost did rack up quite a lot for the second train while it was stuck, so it'll be a while before it turns a profit.
Last edited by Korenn on 04 May 2020 23:32, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

The sugar beets are bringing in some money.
session2 - sugar beets arriving.png
session2 - sugar beets arriving.png (97.62 KiB) Viewed 5998 times
It still doesn't compare to our boat income, but it's a start!

Investing in rail is extremely expensive, but once you've got it down, many trains can use it. We're going to make use of this by connecting an iron works behind the sugar refinery, to a forest down the coast from Kenai. This is a larger distance, but it only took a similar amount of money to put down the connecting tracks as the first line.
session2 - iron works.png
session2 - iron works.png (223.32 KiB) Viewed 5998 times
session2 - wood extension.png
session2 - wood extension.png (5.35 KiB) Viewed 5998 times
Iron works, meet forest.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

We wait to see if the wood train does well before expanding further. It does great, but it's already getting busy on the track. So we double up the rail from the sugar refinery up to the points splitting off to the arable farms. Signals are placed such that if a train waits, there's always enough level track before the next slope to not stop to a crawl.
session2 - double track.png
session2 - double track.png (244.71 KiB) Viewed 5996 times

Now we have the capacity to deal with more trains. Next up, another forest along the shore in the other direction from Kenai. This will be expensive, because we have to lay tracks right through the rest of the north-most arable farm. We have about a million and a half left to spend, as well as a loan. It should easily cover it, but we may have to frugal if we want to hook up another industry after that.
session2 - second forest.png
session2 - second forest.png (3.92 KiB) Viewed 5996 times

We have a million left after hooking it up. There's some more low-hanging fruit we can connect up to our two-way rail, here you see a clay pit and a cement mill.
session2 - clay and cement.png
session2 - clay and cement.png (9.14 KiB) Viewed 5996 times
Last edited by Korenn on 04 May 2020 23:33, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

While connecting this up, in november 1860 we get a popup for 10 new boat prototypes. I would hazard a guess and say that Squid Ate Fish just kicked in. We're interested in the fishing trawler and the cargo freighter. They go 18 mph as opposed to our 20 mph schooners, but can carry a lot more for less running cost. This should work out well. We will set up a group for our fishing fleet, so we can create a replace order for the fishing trawlers. After the train though. We'll have to see how much cash we have left.
session2 - new boats.png
session2 - new boats.png (3.84 KiB) Viewed 5987 times

The clay train was pretty cheap, still $500k left. That should be enough to replace most if not all of our fishing fleet.
While setting up the replace order though, we got a good side-by-side comparison. I completely eyeballed it incorrectly, the fishing trawler has triple the running costs! We'll hold off on this until we have to, sailing vessels will inevitably disappear entirely.
session2 - replacement... or not.png
session2 - replacement... or not.png (15.22 KiB) Viewed 5987 times

For future plans, we're eyeing a refinery past Pilot Station and some oil wells near our two-way rails. That will be a long trek though, and we have the option of either following the coast, or following the mountain-side higher up. And we've just spent a whoooole lot of money, a fact that the game throws us in our face as the next year ticks over.
session 2 - 1860 budget.png
session 2 - 1860 budget.png (10.63 KiB) Viewed 5987 times
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Re: [OTTD] A dream of skyscrapers. A daylength server AAR

Post by Korenn »

In 1861 the first steam trucks arrive. Both in a tram version, or as really slow but powerful vehicles. I don't think they'll edge out horses for our trucking competitors, but for us it's not relevant at all. We'd like to see a new engine though, that could be big.

Some rough measuring puts the potential oil line at over 2 million dollars. Which would take a very long time to save up during our play session. So instead, let's focus on something a little bit quicker to build, a line taking coal to a lime kiln next to our sugar refinery. Coal is always a good bet, and lime kilns turn it into chemicals and farming supplies (fertilizer), which is a great product to spread around.
session2 - coal plan.png
session2 - coal plan.png (6.28 KiB) Viewed 5981 times

But that's the end of our projects for now, and you can see why:
session2 - broke.png
session2 - broke.png (1.25 KiB) Viewed 5981 times
Finishing the line completely depletes our remaining funds (which was up to $800k after saving a bit), and puts us $300k into debt after buying the engine. We're done building this session. All we can hope to do is little tweaks here and there to improve the system.

Tweaks like those corners, that were far too sharp for climbing engines to take:
session2 - corner fix.png
session2 - corner fix.png (97.05 KiB) Viewed 5981 times
Last edited by Korenn on 04 May 2020 23:35, edited 1 time in total.
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