Spurned by Local Authority

[hlg]

As we all know, ratings of a transport company by a local can go from "'Outstanding" through various shades of "Good" and "Poor" to "Appalling". I seem to have discovered a new state, in which the Local Authority refuses to even acknowledge my existence.



It occurs when I purchase a company, and remove all (or sometimes merely some) of its property in a town. This might be to make room for a new station, or remove assets no longer required, or whatever. Then, when I try and build something new, I find that permission is refused by the Local Authority, and I have become an "unperson". The Local Authority does not give any rating at all to my company, and no advertising or any other method will change this state of affairs.



The accompanying jpeg shows this situation. I purchased another company and removed its bus stations and depots in Cochabamba, as I no longer needed them. Then I tried building a railway station somewhere towards the top left corner of the screen. Permission is refused. So, I check the Local Authority. I have been established in Cochabamba since 1921 ! My existing bus and lorry terminus at "Cochabamba Annexe", near the centre of the screen, is doing a roaring trade. But the Local Authority has never heard of me ! (The company name is hlg3_des and the colour scheme is light blue.)



Incredibly, I sometimes find that if I purchase another company with property in the town, I am admitted to exist once more, although with a foul rating.



Any thoughts / comments on this ?

[DaleStan]

How much do you know about hex editing? If you're brave/foolhardy enough, use sv1codec to decompress the savegame, then fix word 1E and byte 2E in the appropriate town structure. Then recompress the game (sv1codec again) and see if it worked.

[hlg]

Hex editing ? Doddle !

Seriously, I have spent years bodging programs using debug.exe. Your link to the site about game data structure is most useful, thanks.



One thing I haven't tried yet, is purchasing 75% of the target company, selecting "Manage", deleting the stations or other sites, and then leaving "Manage" and buying the remaining 25% of the company. This is perhaps an untidy solution. If done in haste, it will leave "orphaned" vehicles wandering about until I can divert them to depots, but it ought to mean that my own standing with the Local Authority won't be affected.

I'll try it and see what happens.