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28th December 2007
Express World Forums Moved, become the LocoForums.
As part of an over haul of Express World, I have consolidated the
Express World Forum with the
LocoForums - an existing gaming community dedicated to Chris
Sawyer's Locomotion game. The combined forums contain new boards for
all of the games Express World covers. Please access the
LocoForums here.
The combined Express
World & Locomotion UK forums will probably be re-named to reflect
their new status. The old Express World Forums will remain open for
the time being to act as an archive of the old content. Registration
of accounts at the old forums has now been restricted to
administrator approvals only, and it is current policy not to
approve any new accounts at the old forums.
Access Restored
After some recent issues regarding security at the host company I
have finally regained access. So its back to action here. I'm still
working on an over haul of the site, its been long in the works.
More updates to
follow.
22nd October 2007
Way too Long
Its been way too long since an update has occurred here. I haven't
given up on the site, however things away from here have been hectic
and game news quite quiet. I'm going to try for some weekly updates
to the site. I'm working on some new content too, so please stick
around here. Want to contribute to the site, get in touch at
expressworld@hotmail.com.
I'm looking for people interested in producing stuff for the site.
Steam: Railroad Tycoon Series on offer
If you have seen our last update, you will know that
the Railroad Tycoon collection was launched on Valve's Steam
service. Just to update you that this is currently on offer, with
the whole package available for $19.95 until 29 October, for this
you get RT2, RT3 and Railroads. I good time to buy if your still
without some of these games. Go to
www.steampowered.com.
3rd June 2007
Back to Reality
I'm back from Canada, had a really good time. Vancouver is very
beautiful. I'd like to go back sometime. Anyways, back to
business...
Railroad Tycoon Series adds Steam
If you are missing one or more of the games in the
Railroad Tycoon Series, Take 2 Interactive has recently released the
games to Valve's Steam
digital content delivery service.
Railroad Tycoon II Platinum Edition is available for just $4.95,
with
Railroad Tycoon 3 is only $9.95.
Sid Meier's Railroads is also available for $19.95. All three
games are also included in the
Railroad Tycoon collection, which will save you a small amount
of money
So if you haven't picked up these games, its a great
way to do so, and you don't need to worry about where you'd store
that game box. Get steam at
www.steampowered.com - theres many other great games on there
too, including Firaxis' Civilization series.
13th April 2007
9 Years Old (Almost)
O n 26th April, Express
World will be 9 years old, I can't believe its been so long. Thanks
(in advance of the date) to everyone who has supported us over the
years, heres to the next year! I would normally actual post this on
the date, however I'll be a few days into my Holiday in Vancouver at
that point... I'll see you all back after May 6th.
This site is still very much alive, I'm still
working on new content, which will go live when I'm back from
Canada. The long delayed new look for this site is still in
development, and hopefully will be here in the summer.
Remember to keep visiting the messageboards, and to
email any contributions for the site to
expressworld@hotmail.com
Sid Meier's Railroads: Game Guide
I found quite a useful game guide for Railroads,
check it out
here
Railroad Tycoon 3: Express World Download Links
Repost for Coast To Coast Expansion & Final (Official) Patch
This seems to be our
most popular download file that we host here on Express World. I've
recieved many emails thanking me for hosting it, but I realised the
download link had been quite well hidden into the older news in the
RT3 section.
Below is the link to the final official patch for RT3. However,
there is a new unofficial patch for the game currently in
development by some dedicated fans. Express World will be lending as
much support to this as possible. More on this soon...
Click here to download RT3 Coast to Coast Expansion Pack (119mb)
(from EW)
...
and another important file to use with Coast to Coast is the final
patch Poptop released! Remember though, this file is for ENGLISH
LANGUAGE VERSIONS ONLY!
Click here to download RT3 Patch v1.05 (From Express World)
Patch info:
This latest patch
updates Railroad Tycoon 3 to version 1.05. This patch does NOT
require you to have any prior patches installed. Whether or not you
have installed patches 1.01 to 1.04, the RT3 - Coast to Coast
expansion, or none of the above, this patch will work fine in any of
these scenarios. If you have already downloaded and installed the
RT3 Coast to Coast expansion, all you need is the stand-alone 1.05
patch.
Version 1.05
Changes
- Fixed a
multiplayer crash bug inadvertently introduced in patch 1.04.
- Resolved the
bug that could cause trains to slow to 1 m.p.h. sometimes when
approaching stations and/or service towers.
- Fixed a bug
that would cause industries with 2 possible inputs i.e. textile
mill), to produce at only half of their targeted rate, even when
supplied with both inputs.
***PLEASE
NOTE***
This patch should only be applied to English (UK/US/OZ) versions of
Railroad Tycoon 3.
17th February 2007
Back
After an absence, I'm back. Not
really much of an excuse, but life drew me away as I settled into a
new job, and the new setup in my life. I didn't think I had been
away so long. Anyways, hoping to get back to normal immediately, so
keep checking the site for updates.
Sid Meier's Railroads
Patch V1.10 Released!
A second patch was recently
released, version 1.10,
click here to download it from express world
12th November 2006
Sid Meier's Railroads
Patch V1.01 Released!
The new patch for Railroads has
just been released, minus the scenario editor. It includes a new
difficultly level for the game, "robber baron," great for those who
were seeking more of a challenge from the game.
Click here to download Railroads! Patch V1.01 (from Express World)
17mb
* You will need a programme such
as WinRAR to extract .zip &
.rar files found on this website.
Sid Meier's Railroads
Train Skins Pack One
Firaxis has also released a new
pack of train skins for the game.
Click here to download Railroads! Train Livery Pack 1 (from Express
World) 3.28mb
11th November 2006
Site News,
Help Required!
I'm currently developing a new look for express
world, its a ground up rebuild of the site. However, website logos
are not my strong point, so I am hoping that one of the site's
visitors would be able to help me out in this area?
Head over to the testing area for the new look @
http://www.express-world.co.uk/rt4/8.5/.
The area at the top of the template with the words "Express World
8.5" is where the logo is going to go. If anyone out there fancies
making a logo for the site, please help me out.
The logo should not be any bigger than the space the "Express World
8.5" area takes up. It should preferably contain the slogan "The
home of Railroad gaming" and must fit in with the colour schemes of
the new design.
The best submission become the site's logo. Please send any attempts
to
expressworld@hotmail.com.
Sid Meier's Railroads
More Reviews
More reviews of the game:
Game
Target
Metacritic
Cnet
Sid Meier's Railroads
Patch News
The first patch for Railroads is
on its way, it will be version 1.010, due for release very soon.
Thanks to
Gamespot. Find the patch notes below:
* AI - Added a negative value to
investor level, to slow AI down if he's running away with a win.
* AI - Better AI train upgrades- only upgrade trains that have hit
full load capacity at least once after the first 3 years of
service. Also only upgrade when a comparison of max speeds, given
the prior loadouts, proves the upgrade is actually faster.
* AI - Edited timing differences in difficulty XML
* AI - Fix for AI failing to initiate industry auctions.
* AI - Fix for AI failing to set a route in first minute of game.
* AI - Fixed AI bug where all its internal values for each good were
mixed up, causing passengers to be valued at the price of
automobiles, hence passengers were almost exclusively delivered.
* AI - Increased maximum AI auction bidding limits.
* AI - Less idling on Tycoon difficulty.
* AI - Track/train costs constant for all difficulty levels
* AI - Train's consist from a bought out AI will no longer have more
than 8 cars on the routing screen.
* AI - Refresh mission status after each train added (ensures early
delivery missions get added)
* Art - Correcting naming convention for Class 40 Diesel.
* Art - Fix for missing build-up animations.
* Art - Fixed rotating truck problem on ES1 and Crocodile
locomotives.
* Art - fixed sorting transparency issue with Goods Car v1.
* Art - Fixes for the Iron Duke and Consolidation.
* Crash - Deleting both routes to a train will no longer crash the
game when the train comes back.
* Crash - Deleting the section of track right before the train will
no longer crash the game.
* Crash - Double left-clicking on an "Industry Buy" button no longer
causes the game to crash to desktop.
* Crash - Fix crash when trying to hide auction that hasn't been
created yet when going into routing screen.
* Crash - Fixed restart crash.
* Crash - If user changes the route to a depot the train is just
passing the game will no longer crash.
* Crash - Long track is broken up into smaller tracks to address the
"long track crash".
* Crash - Overlapping a track junction no longer causes a crash to
desktop upon quitting to main menu or laying a parallel track off a
piece of track.
* Crash - stopped a problem with improper links.
* Crash - The game no longer crashes after deleting a certain
segment of track from the attached save game.
* Crash - The game will no longer crash if the player blocks AI's
train track at the beginning of the game.
* Crash - The liquidate and merge overlay is no longer transferable
to other parts of the game.
* Crash - User can no longer crash game by holding down the
increase/decrease elevation keys.
* Crash - When bought out, don't try to update the main game
interface if the main game interface does not exist.
* Crash - When deleting a track, there is no reason to reroute a
train that is using that track if the train has already passed that
track and will not cross it in the future.
* Crash - When Host or Client is bought out when on the "Train
Upgrade" screen they'll no longer crash.
* Design - Mail price tweak.
* Functionality - Fix for rerouting issue. If you change your route
by adding a new stop while you're loading at the first stop and the
way to the second stop is blocked by another train, your train will
no longer stop loading at the first stop and start moving towards
the second stop (where it wouldn't unload it's cars.)
* Functionality - Fix for why sometimes both parallel tracks aren't
added to a depot when dropped down.
* Functionality - Fixed tutorial progression stoppers.
* Functionality - If the user retires with an auction onscreen and
chooses to 'keep playing' the current auction and all future
auctions will now retain their functionality.
* Functionality - Making parallel tracks within looped track will
choose the shortest path along the loop to build the track.
* Functionality - Opening the Trains screen (F4), clicking the Money
sort button, and then deleting a train will no longer cause the
sorting order to become randomized again.
* Functionality - Remove victory conditions that involve competitor
stock when playing with no AI.
* Functionality - Stock buy/sell exploit fix.
* Functionality - The player who owns the industry now gets the
bonus money, rather than the person who delivered the goods.
* Functionality - User is no longer able to place depot in the water
in london on the GB scenario, leaving it inaccessible.
* Functionality - When player buys out another player, and they
inherit the stock of the remaining player, the remaining player will
now be shown as "bought out" if the player now owns all shares of
that player.
* Graphics - cleared city and industry temporary track grid every
time it moves.
* Graphics - Half the alert screen no longer disappears until space
is pressed.
* Graphics - improved UpdateLeaders performance.
* Graphics - Minimizing then maximizing the game no longer causes
the Minimap and Train Graph, on Roundhouse screen, to become
corrupted
* Graphics - Updated Nvidia settings
* Graphics - While dragging a track and you loose focus of the
railroads window in fullscreen and when you come back the ground
texture will no longer go black.
* Interface - Added option to not show the era intro screen.
* Interface - Clicking on mission objectives takes you to the
locatoin instead of re-opening the newspaper.
* Interface - Closing load dialog resets focus to load button.
* Interface - Closing options dialog resets focus to options button.
* Interface - Customize train screen now remembers apply all states.
Setting apply all buttons, sets color and/or decal as default for
new trains.
* Interface - "Event Log" box no longer comes forward when Player
tries to "close" out the "Finance" screen.
* Interface - First auction bid is now the proposed value rather
than being $10k+ than the proposed value.
* Interface - Game Alert Log can now be properly closed if a
newspaper alert appears above it.
* Interface - In the button config option, the "Print Screen" key no
longer appears as the "System Request" key.
* Interface - Interface can no longer get stuck on the screen if
user presses escape and then an F-key.
* Interface - Newspapers are no longer modal.
* Interface - Now show trade-in value when you're upgrading a train.
* Interface - Optimization to keep the frame rate from dropping
dramatically when objects are mouse-over or selected.
* Interface - Preventing the new train and the newspaper screen from
appearing at the same time
* Interface - Removed the "show all player's floating text" option.
* Interface - The world now drops the initial depot before the era
popup is closed.
* Interface - Selecting a city and having a "New Train Alert" pop up
will no longer cause the selected city's resource icons on the
mini-map to disappear.
* Interface - The in-game Pause prompt now updates after assigning a
new letter to the Pause action.
* Interface - Update player name for game when changed on options
screen from main menu.
* Interface - User can no longer assign arrow buttons as hotkeys.
* Interface - User can no longer enter over 20 characters of text
for the Buyout Taunt Headline or Subhead in the Options menu.
* Interface - When rotating view, letting go of the center mouse
button while over a large city icon now releases the "rotating
camera".
* Interface - Zoom in and out keymap keys added.
* Multiplayer - Code fixes to address MP AI OOS.
* Multiplayer - Don't allow the game to access the internet if we're
not playing an internet game.
* Multiplayer - Enabled AI players in MP.
* Multiplayer - Network and sync timing now floats - attempting to
resolve the time error accumulation in slower machines.
* Multiplayer - Stuttery train fix: turn off vblanksynch in MP.
* Performance - Fixed small AI memory leak when a route is valid but
the AI can't afford it.
* Performance - Improved city and industry placement performance.
* Performance - Improved mow field performance.
* Performance - Improved track overlap finding performance.
* Performance - Improving city and stockpile track cutting, which
improves track dragging by ~25%.
* Performance - Increased performance of reflection and shadow
generation.
* Performance - Roundhouse and feature screen no longer load
animations (only affects non-precached option).
* Performance - Simplified track validation to improve performance.
2nd November 2006
Sid Meier's Railroads
Released!
Sid Meier's railroads has just been released
world wide, and had
received some positive reviews too. Why not head over to the
messageboards to discus the game?
Click here
I've been busy playing my copy of
the game, and I'm absolutely loving it so far. Nice one Firaxis!
Sorry for the delay in a post release update!
From what I here, the first patch
is due soon.
Sid Meier's Railroads
Demo!
A demo of Railroads has just
been released, so if your still unsure whether to part with your
cash or not, you can give it a go!
Download links:
3D Gamers
Fileplanet
(more links soon, including a local express world
copy!)
Got a demo link we haven't posted, sent it to
expressworld@hotmail.com
Sid Meier's Railroads
Review Roundup
There have been many reviews of Railroads already, and they have
been largely positive. Here are a round up of the first few:
IGN -
rating 8.0
Gamespot - rating 8.1
Gamerankings - 79% rating
Gamespy -
watch this space for more!
Sid Meier's Railroads!
Cheats / Trainer
Had a few requests for cheats for
the game, so if anyone has any send them along to
expressworld@hotmail.com
or to the
messageboards
I do have a trainer for the game
(+3 options). Click here to
download (from express world). I'm sure there will be more out
soon for those of you struggling with the game.
11th October 2006
Sid Meier's Railroads Goes Gold!
PRE-ORDER NOW!
Thats right, the game has gone gold, and is on
course for its release date of around 27th October! The game is
expect to ship in the USA from 24th Oct, with a UK/European release
on Friday 27th.
Pre-order now through the Express World Shop.
Through our association with Amazon (now both in the UK & USA) we
earn a small referral fee, which helps operate some of the operating
costs for this website.
UK
readers can pre-order the game through Express World / Amazon UK by
clicking here. (priced at £17.99)
USA & North American
readers can pre-order the game through (our new USA shop) Express
World & Amazon US, by
clicking here
Sid Meier's Railroads! New Official Site Launched
Ahead of the games release, 2K Games
have launched a new official site.
Click here
to enter
Sid Meier's Railroads!
Gold: Full Press
Release
Here is the full press release announcing the game
has gone gold:
2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.,
and Firaxis Games, the Company's world-renowned development
studio, today announced that
Sid Meier's Railroads!
for PC has gone to gold master and will be available at stores
in North America on October 17 and in Europe on October 27. Sid
Meier's Railroads! marks the return of one of the most beloved
strategy titles of all time and a concept that launched a whole
genre and inspired a new generation of strategy games.
Sid Meier's Railroads! returns in a vibrant 3D world
delivering exciting multiplayer options, in-game customization
tools, streamlined interface and unmatched gameplay that's easy
to learn yet challenging to master. Legendary game designer Sid
Meier and Firaxis Games, creators of the highest rated computer
strategy game Civilization IV, put gamers in charge of building
the greatest rail empire in the nation - managing trains, cargo
and the bottom line - while engaging in all-out corporate
warfare against rival tycoons, slick entrepreneurs, and robber
barons.
"It's a dream come true to be reunited with a game I created
early in my career, that has been played and enjoyed by
generations of strategy, simulation, and train fans around the
world," said Sid Meier, Firaxis Director of Creative
Development. "This re-imagining of the original will deliver
exciting and challenging gameplay experiences for years to
come."
I don't know about you, but I'm getting very excited now!
Express World Shop: USA / North America Service Launched!
You can now help to support Express World by
ordering your copy of the games through the express world shop.
Click here
29th August 2006
Pre-Order Sid Meier's Railroads!
Pre-orders for Railroads! have now opened. Support
Express World, and order your Amazon UK Order here! Release date
29th September 2006 (subject to change)
North American pre-orders coming soon.
Railroads! 1Up Preview
Yet
another preview of Railroads, this one is at 1Up. To read click
here
And here is an
extract:
10 to 12 train types
per map, of which about 80% will be steam powered, will drive your
industry in sandbox modes, single-player competitions versus
infamous Barons like Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jay Gould, and LAN or
online multiplayer sessions. Finding the best price for a low-ranked
commodity and gradually up-selling it to control a market like beef
or books is key to building your empire. Some maps have unique
resources, like Great Britain's fisheries. Solid empire building
will let you protect your "hit points," or stock shares. It's always
possible to sell stock to get some cash, such as if a patent comes
up that you want to bid on, but it opens you up to the potential of
a hostile takeover.
20 th August 2006
Interview with Firaxis' Barry Caudill
A very interesting interview with Barry Caudill of Firaxis has emerged
at Hooked Gamers, its well worth a read! Click
here to see it.
And here is an extract:
Firaxis has a history of 'springing' games
on us. Sid Meier's Railroads! was announced in May and currently has
a shipping date of October 2006. How -and why- do you do that? Most
other games are known a year or longer in advance.
Barry: I’m not convinced that having a really long lead time in
the marketplace is necessarily a good thing. There are so many games
out there now and it’s too easy to get lost in the shuffle over a
long period of time. I would rather see focused marketing and
information that builds up interest right to the release. For the
record, Railroads was in development for quite a while before it was
announced.
After Railroads! was announced, most
people wondered what happened with the Railroad Tycoon name. Why
this change of name?
Barry: We felt the Tycoon name had been overused in the
marketplace and didn’t carry the same meaning it did when Sid first
invented the genre. For every solid game like Roller Coaster Tycoon
or Monopoly Tycoon (a vastly underrated game), there are numerous
stinkers like Mall Tycoon or heaven forbid, Prison and Hell Tycoons.
Also, we didn’t want people to assume this was RRT4 because it is
much more of a return to the train-focused gameplay of Sid’s
original title... and Sid is designing this one.
Should we consider Railroads! a totally
new game, or more like a remake of Railroad Tycoon, like Sid Meier's
Pirates! has been updated some time ago?
Barry: It’s a little of both. It is definitely a spiritual
successor to the original game, but it’s built around a new
prototype from Sid which makes it a totally new game as well. It’s a
return to what we thought was fun about the original title but there
are also lots of new things like the introduction of great
multiplayer.
Railroads! IGN Preview
IGN have published an in depth preview of Railroads. Check out the
interview
here.
Here is an extract from the preview:
In order to make money, players will have to create working railroads
connecting resources to cities and run trains back and forth to deliver
the goods. Natural resources are worth less money than manufactured
goods like cars farther down the line. Players can make a lot of money
delivering goods between different industries and finally where the
final goods are demanded. Players can also eventually buy into
industries and make a longer ranged profit that way.
Laying track in between destinations looks to be an easy task as the
land and track will conform to any plans. The click and drag interface
allows players to create paths anywhere on the map while the game adds
tunnels, rises, and bridges where necessary. The trick is just laying
track in a way that will be cost effective and help shipments get to new
locations in a short amount of time.
Railroads! Trailer
The first trailer for Railroads has emerged on the web, and we have a
version at Express World for you to download.
Click here to download Official Trailer One
16th August 2006
Express World To Get A Makeover!
A radical redesign of Express World is in the works, in preparation for
the forthcoming release of Sid Meier's Railroads, and the future of the
Railroad Tycoon series. It will unveiled in stages this Autumn.
Railroads! Gamespot Preview
Gamespot has released an "updated impressions" preview for Railroads!
Check it out
here. Here is an extract:
Railroads! will offer
multiple lengthy
scenarios that will let
you build up a railway
empire by purchasing the
fastest trains for the
job of transporting
mail, freight, and
passengers; by being the
first to lay out tracks
into new territory; by
controlling the flow of
expensive goods
throughout the land; and
even by doing a little
corporate raiding as you
attempt to buy out your
competitors in the stock
market. The game's
scenarios will take
place in the four
corners of the USA, as
well as in Great
Britain, France, and
Germany. Each of them
can be played during
different time periods
that can be adjusted
easily at the start of
each game with a slider.
So, if you want to
hunker down and carve a
railway empire out of
the American Northwest
from 1831 all the way to
1970, you can, though
you can just as easily
play through only 30
years or so of a certain
time period, which can
take about 30 to 45
minutes of playing time.
Though
all of the game's
terrain has a colorful,
pastoral look to it
provided by completely
separate rendering
technology that the
Firaxis team has
developed for use with
the GameBryo 3D engine
(an engine that also
powers Firaxis'
outstanding 2005
strategy game,
Civilization IV), each
of the different
territories has a
different look and feel.
The game's artists
didn't attempt to
painstakingly create
exact replicas of
real-world locations but
instead created
abstracted versions of
each territory, taking
the same approach as a
hobbyist train modeler
would to building out
sandy deserts outside of
Santa Fe or leagues of
limpid ocean off the
coast of Cornwall.
Railroads! New Movies
See the game in action! New movies featuring footage from the game have
also just surfaced! (the files are archived in a .zip file, and should
be extracted with a programme such as Winzip or WinRAR). The gameplay
movies first appeared at Gamespot.
Gameplay Movie One
Gameplay Movie Two
Gameplay Movie Three
3rd June 2006
Railroads! Official Site Opens
2k Games has created a small official website for the forthcoming
Railroads! game from Sid Meier & Firaxis Games.
Click
here to visit.
Railroads! Features List
Firaxis has issued a product feature list for Railroads!
- Real-time action - lay track, route the trains, and the
world comes to life. Cities and industries grow up around you as
you service them, hauling raw materials to market and carrying
manufactured goods away; Cargos are loaded onto train cars and
passengers shuffle between cities.
- Easy to get started - laying track is as easy as clicking
and dragging. Bridges, tunnels, railroad stations and switches
sprout up automatically where they're needed.
- Challenging to master - with a new market system that tracks
supply and demand and complex random events that can cause a
boom or bust at any time, players must stay on their toes at all
times or risk obsolescence, financial collapse, or hostile
takeover.
- It's all about the trains! - over 30 trains to use, from the
primitive 0-4-0 Planet to the Super powerful 4-6-6-4 Challenger,
from the classic diesels to ultra-modern bullet trains.
- LocoBuilder - design your own steam engine from the ground
up, and deploy it across your rail empire! Customize your train
liveries, from colour schemes to custom logos.
- We've got the goods - over 20 different goods to harvest,
produce, and sell, and 30 unique industries, from lumber mills
to war factories, each with detailed, unique animations.
- Scenario and map editor support - enables user-created maps
and scenarios. Want to create a race to complete a
transcontinental railroad in 30 years using only steam engines?
No problem!
- Something for everyone - build your dream train layout in
train table mode, or challenge historical giants like Cornelius
Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, and others in single-player scenarios.
- Multiplayer - Ruthless real-time LAN and Internet play. Buy
out your rivals or cash in favours to sabotage their shipments!
Whether you prefer heads-up competition or the camaraderie of
cooperative team play, you'll find a fantastic multiplayer
experience here.
Sounding good so far!
10th May 2006
Express World is 8 Years Old!
Express world turned 8 years old on 26th April 2006, so I just would
like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support!
Heres to the next year!
Railroads! New Info
Things regarding the recently announced "Railroads!" have been quiet
until now (as was expected), but the E3 event began today, and as
expected further info about "Railroads" has been released. We will have
new screenshots up tomorrow!
Here is the new press release:
Sid Meier's Railroads! marks the return of the watershed title in
simulation/strategy gaming that launched the popular "tycoon" genre,
and inspired a new generation of games. Sid Meier's Railroads! comes
home to its original creator, the legendary Sid Meier, who, together
with his team at Firaxis Games, will take this game to a whole new
level of fun!
The greatest railroad building game of all time is back in a
vibrant 3D world delivering exciting multiplayer options, in-game
customization tools, streamlined interface and unmatched gameplay,
that's easy to learn yet challenging to master. Combining the best
of real-world and model railroads, Sid Meier's Railroads! puts you
in charge of building the greatest rail empire in the nation -
managing trains, cargo and your bottom line - while engaging in
all-out corporate warfare against rival tycoons, slick
entrepreneurs, and robber barons!
Features:
Real-time action - lay track, route the trains, and the world
comes to life. Cities and industries grow up around you as you
service them, hauling raw materials to market and carrying
manufactured goods away; Cargos are loaded onto train cars and
passengers shuffle between cities.
Easy to get started - laying track is as easy as clicking and
dragging. Bridges, tunnels, railroad stations and switches sprout up
automatically where they're needed.
Challenging to master - with a new market system that tracks
supply and demand and complex random events that can cause a boom or
bust at any time, players must stay on their toes at all times or
risk obsolescence, financial collapse, or hostile takeover.
It's all about the trains! - over 30 trains to use, from the
primitive 0-4-0 Planet to the Super powerful 4-6-6-4 Challenger,
from the classic diesels to ultra-modern bullet trains.
LocoBuilder - design your own steam engine from the ground up,
and deploy it across your rail empire! Customize your train
liveries, from colour schemes to custom logos.
We've got the goods - over 20 different goods to harvest,
produce, and sell, and 30 unique industries, from lumber mills to
war factories, each with detailed, unique animations.
Scenario and map editor support - enables user-created maps and
scenarios. Want to create a race to complete a transcontinental
railroad in 30 years using only steam engines? No problem!
Something for everyone - build your dream train layout in train
table mode, or challenge historical giants like Cornelius
Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, and others in single-player scenarios.
Multiplayer - Ruthless real-time LAN and Internet play. Buy out
your rivals or cash in favors to sabotage their shipments! Whether
you prefer heads-up competition or the camaraderie of cooperative
team play, you'll find a fantastic multiplayer experience here.
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Platform: PC
Release Date: October 2006
16th March 2006
MAJOR NEWS!
Poptop Closes, Next Railroad Tycoon Announced!
There has been some major news developments over the past 7 days.
- The first point is that Poptop Software no longer exists. Last week
Take 2 Interactive (owner of Poptop) announced an in-voluntary merger
between Poptop and their other studio, Firaxis Games. The new
development studio will operate under the Firaxis name, with Sid Meier
leading the studio. No information about redundancies at Poptop have
been disclosed.
- The new combined studio, Firaxis is working on a new Railroad Tycoon
game, which will carry the title Sid Meier's Railroads, and is due for
release at the end of the year.
More details on each of these topics follows below. Imagine the
possibilities of the original creator of Railroad Tycoon leading
development on the next title in the series. I'd just like to
re-iterate, that even though Poptop software has closed, Express World
will continue to operate following the games from the new combined
studio.
The new Firaxis games studio has also announced development on an
expansion pack to Civilization IV & a new CIV spin off series called
CIVCITY: Rome.
Sid Meier's Railroads! Announced
The next game in the Railroad Tycoon series, has been announced as "Sid
Meier's Railroads!" due for release in Autumn 2006. The game is in
development at the Firaxis Games studio, which now incorporates some
elements of Poptop Software. The game appears to be developed with the
GameBryo graphics engine that powered Civ4 & Pirates.
|
Quick
Links for Railroads!
First
Information - an archive of the initial information released
about the game
Messageboard - The Express World forum for Sid Meier's
Railroads!
Screenshots
- An archive of Screenshots for Railroads!
Railroads! Wishlists - Post your wishes, hopes & desires for the
game!
|
Here is the official press release
(from http://ve3d.ign.com )
2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software,
Inc., and the Company's world-renowned development studio
Firaxis Games, today announced the next edition of the
award-winning Railroad Tycoon franchise, Sid Meier's Railroads!
for the PC.
The Golden Age of railroading is back with Sid Meier's
Railroads! Combining the best of real-world and model railroads,
Sid Meier's Railroads! puts you in charge of building your own
railroad empire, running everything from steam-powered
locomotives to more modern diesel and electric trains, managing
cargo and your bottom line, all while engaging in corporate
warfare against rival tycoons, slick entrepreneurs and robber
barons.
"In addition to winning countless awards, the Railroad Tycoon
franchise pioneered the simulation and strategy genres by
introducing limitless gameplay," said Christoph Hartmann,
Managing Director of 2K Games. "Building on the franchise, Sid
Meier's Railroads! will deliver a simulation experience that
caters to both strategy gamers and locomotive fans alike."
"We're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this game
back home," said Sid Meier, Director of Creative Development for
Firaxis Games. "Railroads is near and dear to our hearts and
we're looking forward to delivering the endlessly fun gameplay
experience fans of our games have come to expect."
Cities and industries grow up around you as Sid Meier's
Railroads! enables players to lay track and route trains, haul
raw materials to market and carry manufactured goods throughout
the land. Sid Meier's Railroads! introduces a large number of
different single-player game scenarios and a variety of play
modes including the "sand-box" modeling mode, real-time LAN and
Internet play.
Sid Meier's Railroads! will be released for the PC this fall.
The following is an article from
www.gamespot.com
Sid
Meier is set to be
inducted into the
Walk of Game
tonight for a
career's worth of
highly regarded PC
strategy games
including
Civilization,
Pirates!, and Alpha
Centauri. He doesn't
seem content to rest
on his laurels; this
morning, 2K Games
announced that it
would be publishing
the next game in the
developer's body of
work, Sid Meier's
Railroads! for the
PC.
Currently in
development at
Firaxis Games
(Take-Two
Interactive's
recently acquired
studio,
of which Meier is
director of creative
development),
Railroads! is the
next installment in
the Railroad Tycoon
PC strategy game
series.
"We're thrilled to
have the opportunity
to bring this game
back home," Meier
said in a statement.
"Railroads is near
and dear to our
hearts, and we're
looking forward to
delivering the
endlessly fun
gameplay experience
fans of our games
have come to
expect."
Sid
Meier's Railroads!
will challenge
players to create
their own railroad
empires and keep
them up to date with
the times. Working
with trains ranging
from steam-powered
locomotives to
modern diesel and
electric trains,
players will not
only have to worry
about getting cargo
to its destination
on time, but will
also have to worry
about business
rivals and robber
barons, among other
things. 2K is
promising a variety
of gameplay options
for Railroads!
(including real-time
LAN and Internet
play), as well as a
"sand-box" modeling
mode.
Sid
Meier's Railroads!
has not yet been
rated. It is
scheduled for
release this fall.
Here are some screenshots: Click to enlarge:

6th February 2006
File Uploads Are Here!
I'd like to announce that you can now upload your game related files
directly to Express World. You will no longer have to email them to us
to get them hosted here (you can however email them if you wish to). The
system works through Express World's Messageboards, where you can upload
files in a specific forum for each game we cover.
This service is open to registered forum members only, guests can not
upload (but can download). Uploaded files will then be linked to from
the main site.
Only compressed files in the .zip format are permitted, the
system is programmed only to accept these file extensions. Anyone who
uploads a none game file will see the file removed and receive an
immediate ban. The service is being launched for a three month trial
period, at which it will be reviewed!
To attach a file to a post:
- Either start a new topic OR make a post on an existing thread. (a
thread for each file is recommended).
- Create a subject line relevant to identify the file, and include in
the body of the post information about the file.
- At the bottom of the post creation screen, click the link (its in
black) "Additional Options." This will open a small menu with further
options, including adding a file.
- Find the word "Attach" and an address bar. Just use the "browse"
button to locate your file and select it.
- Check everything. Make sure the file location path is correct, then
press the button "POST" at the bottom of the screen. Please note it
will take time (possibly minutes, depending on your connection speed) to
make the post, as the file will be uploading to our server. Please
be patient.
- You can see an example of the RT2 file I posted
here
So lets get uploading:
Shattered Union Game File Uploads
Tropico Game File Uploads
Railroad Tycoon II Game File Uploads
Railroad Tycoon 3 Game File Uploads
Tropico 2: Pirate's Cove Game File Uploads
22nd January 2006
Shattered Union: Game Crashes
A few people have experienced crashes with the game as it tries to load
into the actual battle maps. I haven't personally encountered this
fault, but I've read in certain places that Take 2 / 2K Games are not
providing any support over this issue. While I can by no means guarantee
the following information will provide a fix, I've read that some people
have fixed this fault by this method. Here is some information I posted
on the
messageboards:
I've read in other places of some people beating this problem by
changing your computer's audio settings from something other than
"Creative EAX"
Also, I have this quote from another place "Changing audio to Dolby
Surround and lowering my hardware acceleration on my video card one
click made the game work fine for me"
Hope that helps you
Shattered Union: Quick Reference Sheet
Messageboards member "Wizz" has created an amazing reference sheet
for SU! It is very useful for the active players of the game. To view
the reference sheet,
click
here. (to save a local copy, right click the link and save the file)
Many thanks to Wizz for creating this!
16th January 2006
Two Million Visitors!
A few days a go, Express World had it's two millionth visitor! I'd just
like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for visiting the site
over the last 7 years (8 in April), and I'm grateful for your continued
support. Here is to the next million...
Latest Poptop Update
News is still (unfortunately) very slow, but here is Poptop's
latest update from their site:
We hope that some of you will have enough time on your hands to give our
new game, Shattered Union, a try. We don't have a demo for it yet, but
if you keep your eyes open you should be seeing one in the
not-so-distant future. While we don't have much game related news
(that's been going onto our Shattered Union
mini-site, that
we're sure you've all been checking) we would like to point out that
there is finally a company
message board!
There's no link to it on the side menu just yet, but you can access it
by clicking
here.
The new board is for all of our games, including RRT2, RT3, Tropico, and
Shattered Union. So stop on by, sign up and say hi - you never know who
might respond back! Well that's all the news for now, so stay tuned and
we hope to have some more tidbits for everyone soon!
More news soon hopefully!
5th January 2006
New Year, New Things
There hasn't been a great deal happening related to Poptop's games or
Shattered Union since our last update. This is just a quick update to
wish you all a happy new year! I hope you will stick with us through
2006, as I'm sure it will be an exciting year. We've got some great
content coming up for you soon. And further plans to expand the site.
On the Shattered Union front, Poptop recently confirmed on their
messageboards that a PC demo of Shattered Union will be released
in the near future, but no timescale of when to expect this was
provided. As soon as I know more, I'll post it here for you (and I'll
post the demo file too).
Also, remember to keep posting to the
RT4 wishlists about what you wish to see in the next generation of
the Railroad Tycoon series. The
Express World
Forums are also open for your posting.
22nd November 2005
Shattered Union / Site News
There haven't been many updates
regarding Shattered Union here for you, unfortunately that's because
I've not found a great deal of content to report to you. The
apparent lack of a map editor hasn't helped. Anyways, if you have
any Shattered Union content to contribute, please send it to
expressworld@hotmail.com.
-
Until we are able to bring you news on Shattered Union, or any
developments in Poptop related news, we will focus on bringing
content for the other games we cover. To begin this, we have a
repost of a very important file (see next article).
I find
it very interesting that Firaxis has now been bought by Take 2
Interactive (who also own all the rights to the Railroad Tycoon
series). Wouldn't it be interesting if Firaxis & Sid Meier were to
be involved in developing the next Railroad Tycoon game?
Railroad Tycoon 3: Express World Download Links
Repost for Coast To Coast Expansion & Final Patch
This seems to be our
most popular download file that we host here on Express World. I've
recieved many emails thanking me for hosting it, but I realised the
download link had been quite well hidden into the older news in the
RT3 section. So until the new RT3 section is revised, I'm reposting
the link for ease of access!
Click here to download RT3 Coast to Coast Expansion Pack (119mb)
(from EW)
...
and another important file to use with Coast to Coast is the final
patch Poptop released! Remember though, this file is for ENGLISH
LANGUAGE VERSIONS ONLY!
Click here to download RT3 Patch v1.05 (From Express World)
Patch info:
This latest patch
updates Railroad Tycoon 3 to version 1.05. This patch does NOT
require you to have any prior patches installed. Whether or not you
have installed patches 1.01 to 1.04, the RT3 - Coast to Coast
expansion, or none of the above, this patch will work fine in any of
these scenarios. If you have already downloaded and installed the
RT3 Coast to Coast expansion, all you need is the stand-alone 1.05
patch.
Version 1.05
Changes
- Fixed a
multiplayer crash bug inadvertently introduced in patch 1.04.
- Resolved the
bug that could cause trains to slow to 1 m.p.h. sometimes when
approaching stations and/or service towers.
- Fixed a bug
that would cause industries with 2 possible inputs i.e. textile
mill), to produce at only half of their targeted rate, even when
supplied with both inputs.
***PLEASE
NOTE***
This patch should only be applied to English (UK/US/OZ) versions of
Railroad Tycoon 3.
4th November 2005
Poptop
launches Developer SU Site
Poptop has launched
it's own developer's Shattered Union site! It will soon feature a
Messageboard too. Access the site here
Shattered
Union: First PC Review
The first PC review of
Shattered Union is up at Gamespy, you can catch it here.
Gamespy awarded the game a 3.5 Star (Good) rating!
Here is an extract:
The
real meat and potatoes of the game are the tactical battles that
take place on hex-based maps that represent regions of America. It's
here that the game really shines. Play begins with each player
placing up to 42 military units down on "deployment
hexes." Once that's done, they can move their units a certain
number of hexes each turn, occupying cities or attacking enemy
units. When battles occur, the combat is resolved using attack and
defense ratings in various categories. When the player has finished
his or her moves, their opponent (human or AI) gets to go. The
winner is the player who has destroys all enemy units or manages to
occupy a certain number of "victory points" -- hexes
representing valuable cities. The Campaign adds an extra layer of
strategy on top by stringing together these battles, with the winner
conquering one of 24 regions of the country which will provide
money, bonuses, or new units. The Campaign winner must take over all
24 zones. That's really all there is to it.
Except, of course, that that's not all there is to it. Underneath
this simple surface is a very enjoyable strategic challenge. Player
units are divided into 10 different categories, including heavy,
medium and light armor, artillery, air and anti-air, and infantry.
Within each category, players have two or three choices of units,
each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Each faction also has
a "special" unit. The Great Plains Federation, for
example, has a killer piece of artillery that's incredibly powerful
but slow and fragile. Figuring out how to best use your assets,
which ones work well together, and which carry the most bang for the
buck in a particular situation is the kind of enjoyable problem
solving strategy game junkies live for and there's a lot to chew on
in Shattered Union.
Shattered
Union: French Review
Continuing with the
review theme of this update, I've found a French review of the game
for PC! Click
here to access (a score of 6/20)
- If you want to read
the review in English (or indeed another language), there is always
the helpful (and free!) text translation tool from Altavista -
access it here
22nd
October
2005
Shattered
Union: First Review!
A quick update to
inform you, I've found the first review of Shattered Union! Its over
at team xbox, where the game scores 8.2/10 (review for xbox
version). No PC reviews so far. Read it here.
Here is an extract:
- I have now received
my copy of the game, and I've had a quick play - so far, so good! I
will post an article with some impressions on it after I've played a
bit further. I don't know if I will write a full review, but I will
post some comments.
Any review sites out
there, just let me know you've reviewed the game and I'll post the
info! See the Contact
Us page for
details.
18th
October
2005
Shattered
Union: Section Revised
I have revised our
Shattered Union section, ready for the new content that will come as
a result of the games release. Although there are some pages with no
content so far, our new "story" & downloads archive
pages are active! The new SH Download Archive also contains new
movies of the game. Head to the SH section here
Shattered
Union: New Screenshots
Some links to new
screenshots:
Team Xbox: single
player info, more
screenshots
IGN: Image
archive
Poptop
Updates
As described earlier,
Poptop has finally updated their site after a long absence. Here is
the latest update:
As a
great man once said, reports of our demise have been greatly
exaggerated. Yes, we are still alive and kicking here at
Poptop, we've just been so busy the thought of one of us sitting
down to type up an update had been little more than a pipe dream for
quite some time. Things are finally coming together now, and
we'd like to let everyone know that our latest game, Shattered
Union, has shipped out to stores! You can read the full
press release here.
For those of you that are sitting there wondering what Shattered
Union is, there's an official
2K Games Shattered Union site that will hopefully shed some
light on our latest project. We're currently hard at work
putting together a little site of our own here that we hope to have
up for everyone later today. Starting today you'll see more
regular updates here again, and we will try to make this place the
place to be for any and all news related to Shattered Union!
As a little thank you for your patience and support, we'll be
putting up some brand new wallpapers here shortly that showcase the
7 different factions from our new game. Thanks for sticking
with us, and we hope everyone enjoys our new title!
I'd like to
congratulate everyone at Poptop on the release of their latest game!
I sure am looking forward to the arrival of the copy I pre-ordered!
Shattered
Union Released...
After a little
confusion over the release date of Shattered Union (and the lack of
any gold announcements), 2K Games has finally confirmed that the
game has shipped for both PC & Xbox today, in North America. The
game should appear in European stores from Friday! (Press release to
follow shortly)
In another news,
Poptop has updated their site for the first time since early April,
with a new design to coincide with the launch of Shattered Union.
Though, at the time of writing, it seems not all content has yet
been implemented.
As soon as we have
reviews, we will put them up! AS you know, the press / marketing for
this game has been a little thin, so it will be interesting to see
how the game is received! I'll post some thoughts when I get my
copy.
Here is the press
release:
2K Games, a publishing
label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc, today announced that Shattered
Union is now available in retail stores in North America.
Developed by veteran strategy game creators Pop Top Software, a
Take-Two studio, Shattered Union is available for the PC and Xbox
video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
In Shattered Union,
following an increase in terrorism, internal strife and ultimately,
the nuclear destruction of Washington, D.C, the United States
shatters into a half-dozen nation-states that become embroiled in a
civil war. Gamers take the helm of one of these newfound
sovereignties or control European peacekeepers as they struggle to
reunify America by force, in either a dynamic and non-linear single
player campaign or in one-on-one multiplayer skirmishes with
friends.
"Shattered
Union has a unique and exciting storyline," said Christoph
Hartmann, Managing Director of 2K Games. "With its non-linear
missions, fully destructible environments and addictive gameplay,
Shattered Union is a highly anticipated strategy game."
Battles can be
fought on a hex-grid -- popular among tried-and-true turn-based
strategy gamers and military strategy gamers -- allowing for full
six-way movement across the detailed landscapes of the United
States.
Key Features:
- Modern 3D,
"hex-grid", turn-based, war strategy game.
- Non-linear
mission progression with changes based on player-made decisions.
- Real-time
resolution of turned-based moves. Take your time while you
decide your move, but once you have selected your action, see
the results all play out in full animation models, exploding
vehicles, and burning cities and forests!
- Fully
destructible terrain/environment. As the battle proceeds,
everything from explosions and destroyed buildings permanently
mark the terrain. At the end, very little will look the same.
- Fight your way
across the United States! Had enough of the windy city? Then go
ahead and bomb Chicago! Invade across the Rockies into
California, capture the tank factories in Ohio, and lay siege to
New York City! You decide - the fate of the nation is in your
hands!
- Choose to play
as one of seven different factions: California Commonwealth,
Pacifica, Republic of Texas, Great Plains Federation, The
Confederacy, New England Alliance and the European Expeditionary
Force.
- Call up National
Guard forces equipped with M1 Abrams battle tanks, Bradley
fighting vehicles, Apache helicopters and stealth bombers. Or
utilize the unique Future Combat Systems (FCS) of each
nation-state and mow your enemies down with futuristic weaponry.
- Online and
offline multiplayer support.
28th
September 2005
Site
Upgrade News
The Shattered Union
& Railroad Tycoon 4 sections of the site have now been converted
to the new look! The Tropico sections are the next phases of this
operation. Thanks for your patience.
Shattered
Union: Trailer
We now have a copy of
the trailer for SH hosted on Express World. Its around 15mb, and
you'll need windows media player to view it! Click
here to download
Shattered
Union: Official Site Goes Live
The official site for
Shattered Union has now gone live. To access it click
here
Shattered
Union: New Features List
The launch of the
official site has brought an updated features list from 2K Games.
Story:
Following a great
increase in terrorism, internal strife, and ultimately, the nuclear
destruction of Washington, D.C., the United States shatters into a
half-dozen nation-states that descend into war. Take the helm of one
of these newfound sovereignties (or the "peacekeeping"
European Expeditionary Force) and struggle to reunify America...by
any means necessary!
Features:
- Modern 3D
tactical war game viewed from a "bird's-eye" overhead
camera.
- Non-linear
mission progression with changes based on player-made decisions.
- Real-time
resolution of turned-based moves. Take your time while you
decide your move, but once you have selected your action, see
the results all play out in full animation models, exploding
vehicles, and burning cities and forests!
- Fully
destructible terrain/environment. As the battle proceeds,
everything from explosions and destroyed buildings permanently
mark the terrain. Moving tanks will leave tread marks that stay
for the duration of the mission. At the end, very little will
look the same.
- Fight your way
across the United States! Had enough of the windy city? Then go
ahead and bomb Chicago! Invade across the Rockies into
California, capture the tank factories in Ohio, and lay siege to
New York City! You decide - the fate of the nation is in your
hands!
- Choose to play
as one of seven different factions: California Commonwealth,
Pacifica, Republic of Texas, Great Plains Federation, The
Confederacy, New England Alliance and the European Union.
- Call up National
Guard forces equipped with M1 Abrams battle tanks, Apache
helicopters and stealth bombers. Or make a deal with the
Russians and equip your boys with MiG fighters and T-95 Heavy
Tanks.
- Online and
offline multiplayer on all platforms.
25th
September 2005
Welcome
To Express World Seven
We are proud to
finally unveil the new look of Express World to you, named Express
World Seven. The site is still under re-construction, and the new
look is being introduced in phases of the next week or so. So far
the new look has been applied to the main site pages section. Please
note the new "Contact Us" page, and the altered methods
for contacting the site. Also, the old links page where you could
upload your own links to the site has been discontinued. We have a
new links page here.
The Express World Shop
has also been revamped, and a North American version is in the
works! The Shattered Union and Tropico sections are the next phase
of the implementation of Express World Seven. Please bare with us
through these changes.
Shattered Union
Release Date Nears?
Though not officially
confirmed, many British retailers, including Amazon UK, are listing
the release date as October 7th 2005 - not long now. Hopefully we
can get this confirmed soon.
RT3 Cheats
There have been
requests for this, so here is a re-postage of the RT3 cheats!
Press the '.' (fullstop)
key to activate the cheat dialogue window. Enter the cheat, then
press enter:
trains
are in my blood : All
locomotive types available for purchase
double shift : Buildings produce cargo at double normal rates
we
have a winner gold : Win
the game (Gold Medal)
all is lost : Lose the game
big dog : Give your player $10 million
fat cat : Give your player $1 million
bailout : Give your company $10 million
we have a winner bronze : Win the game (Bronze Medal)
safety first : Trains never crash
subsidy
: Give your company $1
million
passport : Give your company access to all territories
go go go : All trains go double speed
oops : All trains crash
we have a winner silver : Win the game (Silver Medal)
upgrade : All trains upgraded to HST 125 (A nice diesel)
orca : Get the Orca engine
23rd
September 2005
Under
Re-Construction
I'm posting this
notice to inform you that Express World is now under reconstruction.
The process has begun of implementing the new layout of the site, so
for the next week or so, you may find a few errors etc as we role
out the new look in phases. Please bare with us, the end result
should be good!
The first phases was
completed earlier this month with the launch of the new messageboards.
To enter them click here.
The next phase, will be the new frontpage for the site, which will
be very soon.
10th September
2005
New
Forums Open!
The new Express World
Forums are open, to access them click
here.
Please update all
links and bookmarks to our forums to the new address of http://www.expressworldforum.com/forum/index.php
All memberships and
messages have been copied across to the new boards, so you can still
login as normal and post! We still welcome guest posting as well. I
hope to launch the file upload service for the forums in the next
few days.
The new forums run on
the simple machines PHP forum software! Enjoy!!
3rd September
2005
Progression
The work on the new
look for Express World is progressing well, and I hope to have it up
in the near future. And hopefully the new PHP message boards will be
an interesting step forward for the site! More on this as it
develops.
A fair amount of
Shattered Union news for you today!
Tomorrow is my
birthday, I'm 22 (I'm getting old now!), so a well deserved break
for partying is in order :P
Shattered
Union: Gamespy Hands on
Another preview for
you, this time the Xbox version from Gamespy. Grab this one here
Shattered
Union: Team Xbox Interview
Team Xbox has
conducted an interview with Poptop's art director, Franz Felsl. Take
a peek here.
An extract for you:
In
this era of real-time strategy games why did you decide to do a
turn-based strategy game?
Franz Felsl: Because, it’s the era of real-time strategy
games. Really, it’s because we felt it was a niche we could
scratch. PopTop’s been a strategy game maker since its inception
so it was a natural move for us. The fact that we believe there is
an actual market for such games gave us the impetus and the fact
that there are so few turn-based strategy games make us feel like
were blazing a new trail…so to speak.
PopTop has developed two popular, top-selling franchises: the
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