USA DLC strategy

[gcampono]

Hello,

I’m having a hard time deciding on what is the best strategy to start on USA DLC to maximise the (long term) profit on hard difficulty (and with the one cargo per vehicle restriction) in 1850. It seems that cargo trucks and intercity busses are easier to set up (less capital nedded) but bring less money than trains (which however require much more money).

In both ways I feel that I’m struggling to make enough money to develop fast. In my last play after 15 years I was heavily in debt (5M), had a profit around 200K only and connected only three cities 🙁

What strategy do you think is best to start with the USA DLC ? Passenger or cargo ? Busses or trains ? Long distance or short distance ? Focus on extending to many cities (with lower frequencites and usage %) or focus on a few cities (with higher frequencies and usage %).

 

[jm764]

I’ve always found long distance train travel to be very profitable for both the stock Euro and Usa Dlc themes in 1850. Its possible to have trains make profit with a 30 min route (15min to one station and 15 back). I’ll see if I can recreate a hard map similar to yours when I get the chance.

[gcampono]

Yes, I confirm that they are profitable, howerver:

– is it more profitable than setting up lines with trucks ?

– are you able to make longer lines with trains than trucks, considering that trains are faster but there is more waiting time ?

– is it worth even considering that long distance trains requires (I think) more capital than setting up a truck service ?

– isn’t it slower to expand to other cities with the risk that they grow less ?

• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by gcampono.

[jm764]

In 1850 yes. Trucks (Horse Wagons) are a bit too slow for long distance travel until the first gasoline-powered  ones in the 1900s as you usually lose more money than you gain initially. If you are going to use trucks to start then only use them on routes where cargo is already moving on its own: this will alow for you to already have a supply of cargo to load with and will automatically  increase production immediately after a few trucks arrive at their destination(s).

Sametime applies with buses (Horse wagons), but the initial profits are lower for local travel then long distance travel. Trams (Horse trams) seem to be better at local then buses initally, but are more expensive to build.

Allow these tips also apply to the Euro and Nordic (Fan made) Dlc.

 

[gcampono]

I do not understand the part “Its possible to have trains make profit with a 30 min route”. How is that compatible with the 20 minutes rule ? I mean 30 minutes (with 1 train) = 15 minutes travelling time + an average of 15 minute waiting time… That is already 30 minutes not considering the deplacements in the two cities to/from stations. Even with two trains it is still 15 minutes travelling + an average of 7.5 waiting…

Do I interpret the 20 minute rule wrongly ?

Can someone tell me how to calculate itsdifferent  components ?

[jm764]

@gcampo

It’s only a 5 minute wait time as the travelers stay in a building for a certain amount of time before traveling again; This means that the only thing you really have to worry about is how long it takes to get from one station to another in a multi route line and if it is evenly dividable by 20. If you have a route with 10 stops you want the total time under 200 minutes (3hours and 20 minutes).

This also considers the time it takes to travel TO the station before hand and FROM the station to the destination.
So for a 15 minute trip it would be 2.5 minutes to travel to the station and 2.5 minutes to travel from the station.

[Greno Zee]

I would swear campo no has got it right. I’ve ran into the 20 min rule on several occasions and it always worked this way. AFAIK a line of one train where it takes 30 mins to get back to the starting point can’t work. I would really wanna see a game save with this working :O

[jm764]

Alright, I’ll make a quick video and a save file about this. This strategy very useful in the Nordic (Fan Made) Dlc pack where the first train only goes 9 Mph (14.5 Kmh) at top speed.

[gcampono]

@jm It would be really cool.

At the same time I think in my last game I made a train line which was slightly over 20 minutes with 1 train and it managed to attract passengers.

That’s why I am not really sure about how to calculate the different aspects of the 20 minutes rule. It would really be useful if someone manages to explain it well because the official explication in the misconception blog “Cargo or passengers must be able to reach the destination within 20 minutes (game time at standard speed) with a certain route, otherwise they will not use it. The considered travel time is the sum of the walking time, the time spend on the ride and the average waiting time at the departure or at changes” simply sounds not true 🙁 (unless the minutes displayed on lines – which are our only hint at ride time and frequency time – are not game-time-at-standard-speed minutes :((( ).

Any clarification about the 20 minutes rule would really be useful.

[Greno Zee]

To my experience it is exactly what the official explanation says. But don’t forget that it gets update in real time. So if you create a line that exceeds the limit for certain passenger/package but then your train manages to make it faster, so you get within the limit, the line gets used. But its really no good idea to drive on the edge of limits since you easily exceed them from time to time and that results to a complete collapse of your chain

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