The dreaded spiral of endless debt. – Train Fever /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/feed/ Wed, 30 Apr 2025 12:41:46 +0000 https://bbpress.org/?v=2.6.13 en-US /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6419 <![CDATA[The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6419 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 10:24:45 +0000 Yeol Hello all,

I’m playing hard mode, with no extra loans, and I’m still struggling to survive and to avoid the dreaded spiral of debt. Playing about 20-30 years is easy, but then it becomes a real challenge. Vehicles become very expensive in running costs and because of lack of profit at that moment, replacing all vehicles with new ones is also too expensive. Losses accummulte and the spiral of debt is unavoidable at that moment. I’m at my tenth game now, and still never passed the year 1885. I’ve tried all kinds of tactics, but failed up to now. (…I’ll beat the system, I do not dispair… 😉 )

I would like to see the running costs of vehicles a tad tempered, and not raise that fast, and suggest to offset it by raising the purchase price of the vehicles. That would really make the game more enjoyable; more focused upon building an efficient railway network, end less preoccupied about continuously replacing the endless number debt-threatening vehicles.

Some other points I like to see solved:

  • Navigation with WASD keys for foreign keyboards, PLEASE! (keyboard re-mapping would be appreciated)
  • Navigation by screen-border should move diagonally when cursor is in the corners!
  • Navigation by screen-border does not work were there are menus sticked at the border.

And less important:

  • having left side signals (Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland,UK… 50% of the trains drive left)
  • clickable minimap (static content with cities and geo is fine)
  • able to also lay road on track, and not only track on road
  • slower game pace (possibility to change time scale), because just setting up the basics takes 30 years, and then I have to upgrade all my busses again… much too soon!
  • the double slip!
  • being able to delete save-games.
  • Mouse wheel zooming is too coarse, and a sensitivity setting would be appreciated
  • A planning phase when laying down track would be awsome. Plan the traject, correct, adjust, modify the entire length of a track  (eg village to village) and when happy, confirm and all is commited, the planned track is being build (instant, or maybe optional (depending difficulty setting) with a construction period by workers and bulldozers). A planning phase would be a great aid at snaking through hilly terrain.

I do enjoy the game A LOT! Best game I’ve played in a long time.

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6421 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6421 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 10:28:14 +0000 gax This page will help you with your problems. For a quick fix, use the half cost script, for everything else the Cost Mod.

http://www.train-fever.net/filebase/index.php/Filebase/15-Script-Mods/

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6431 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6431 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 10:56:03 +0000 Person012345 Try playing on an easier difficulty.

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6432 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6432 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 10:56:24 +0000 Yeol Thanks Gax! I didn’t know about this fix. I’ll try it.

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6445 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6445 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:29:11 +0000 Yeol @Person01234: no challenge, too easy to get too much money and having to rush-build to spend it all. Hard mode is fine, just the running-costs of busses en trains need to be tweaked a little. That’s all. Thanks for the suggestion, but I already tried it on medium difficulty. 😉

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6449 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6449 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:39:24 +0000 Traian Trante Same here. I make so much money on medium difficulty the game is no fun. However on hard difficulty, the only lines that make proftit are truck lines. Everything else ranges from barely surviving to epic fail.

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6454 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6454 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:55:51 +0000 Yeol The first 10-20 years trains and stage coaches can make money, but you need to use them combined. A train (with first locomotive available) will be lucrative with about 40+ passengers (I use a 10 cars train with 60 places). To get 40+ passengers per run from the small villages (250 residence), you need to set up end-to-end stage coach lines from stategic points inside the villages to the railway station. I use often 2 lines with about 3-4 coaches per line. The train may have a frequency of about 8-12 minutes, but no more. Try to use just 1 train between 2 villages. After 3-5 years you will get about 30-50 passengers willing to take the train to the nearby village, which give you a nice profit from the train AND stage coaches.

At least, that is what I found out while trying and re-playing. I don’t see how to get yet more profit to be able to both invest in expansion AND save up for replacement later. That is my challenge for the moment.

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6469 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6469 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:39:47 +0000 Vaulter Do you use trams between cities?

 

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6474 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6474 Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:46:42 +0000 Yeol No, not yet, but I like to try it. Buses give a very nice profit. I suspect trams will also. Maybe I’ll try it this evening (if I have the time).

]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6835 <![CDATA[Reply To: The dreaded spiral of endless debt.]]> /forums/topic/the-dreaded-spiral-of-endless-debt/#post-6835 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:04:25 +0000 Yeol I restarted for the eleventh time, en now I’m getting the grasp on it. I’m playing hard mode, hilly and large terrain, 1851 and only use the 1.2M, no extra loans.

It’s now 1885 and I’m still hanging in there, keeping a marginal profit, just enough to replace all outdated vehicles, and to slowly invest in expansion. KEY to keep having that profit (although very small) is to always and with priority replace outdated vehicles. If you don’t, you’re doomed.

I enjoy this game a alot, even with all the particularities, but I would really like to see the vehicle replacement issue taken care of by the developers (eg a semi-automated replacement system, running costs rebalanced,…). That would make this game even more enjoyable!

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