Railroad Tycoon 3 on a netbook

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These tracks will make or break your business

Railroad Tycoon is probably the best series when it comes to railway simulation; a business simulator with a railway-management twist, with a lot of depth. Railroad Tycoon 3 is in my opinion, the best railroad business simulator out there. Even the latest Sid Meier’s Railroad has to bow down to RT3′s deep business aspects that involve you as an individual and your company as an entity.

The game pits you in different eras, from the dawn of railroads and trains, to the wars, famines and collapses of empires of history. You’ll play from 1830 up to a fantasy 2050 world, and throughout these years, you’ll have varying goals such as connecting different cities together, earning a pre-determined amount of profit, or amassing great personal wealth. Each mission takes you through a very engrossing game where you, a railroad tycoon, will put your own money in and attract investors. With the raised money, you will build railways, services and buy businesses which integrate into your railway’s route. Then, you’ll handle stocks, management of bonds, mergers and takeovers of other companies.

Eleven years later, the Euro becomes a weedy mess!

Handle these finances well, and soon you’ll see a great triple-A credit rating which will give you access to cheaper bonds, better stock prices and eventually the financial muscle to buy over your competitors. Rack up too much debt and you’ll have to declare bankruptcy, causing your stock prices to tumble.

More critically in RT3 is the things you do on the map, rather than off it. You’ll have to plan where your first railway is going to start. Should it be in Zurich, Berlin, Stuttgard or Paris? Strategising which routes make the most profit would allow you to have a good cashflow, and that takes a lot of planning. And then you’ll have to decide which train would suit you best. Is it the electric, diesel or steam – each with their own pros-and-cons. And then it’s the first hurray when you send the train out with the goods and it comes back with a satisfying chi-ching sound effect. Then the Berlin Wall falls and you suddenly get access to East Germany.

The key to RT3′s great longevity is its focus on realism. Not only are you supposed to make money for your company, but you also have personal avarice to satisfy. Sometimes, you will need to rack up a large net worth as part of the mission, and as a result, you’ll be in the stock market quite often. And furthermore, you’ll also have to think about world events – besides the boom and slums of the economy, events such as the mad cow disease, the fall of the Berlin Wall, WWII and the widespread adoption of the airplane will all coalesce to affect your business, both in good and bad ways. These give you a challenge not seen in any other game of similar genre. And then there are many scenarios and a campaign mode with many maps inside spanning different continents and eras. Surely, if you like these types of sims, you will absolutely love RT3… if you can forgive the graphics.

Problems?

RT3 installed quick and easily on the netbook, and didn’t have any problems running in a widescreen format. Initially, the program wouldn’t load properly, though. Windows loaded the game, but there was no sign of the game on your screen. The only clue was in the background music playing which came from the main menu, and the fact that Task Manager says that it is running.

An offer you cannot refuse

A quick fix would be to run it in XP compatibility mode. However, one of the bigger issues is the non-optimal resolution popup. Permanently disable that and you’ll be able to the main menu, then immediately head to Settings and set your resolution to your screen’s resolution.

Like

One of the most realistic business simulations

Great lifespan due to it having a large variety of missions

Very satisfying to accomplish goals

Few problems, widescreen support

Dislike

Graphics are very, very dated

Has a learning curve

Verdict

If you like business strategy games that pack in a lot of realism, then RT3 is your best companion. This game has a very good lifespan and great replayability.

Gameplay: Excellent

Graphics: Excellent (30+ fps)

Work needed to get game to play: Minimal (5 minute)

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