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
Railroad Tycoon and Tropico series. What have those series
contributed to the development of Shattered Union?
Franz Felsl: It’s made us even more comfortable doing
strategy games. Shattered Union doesn’t really take anything from
them from a game point of view since they were real-time and the
rules for such games are significantly different. RT3 did give us
experience using 3D though and that was a big step for us. Also, the
idea of making a game system that is expandable was carried over
from those games. The idea is that a different theme or story might
be useable within the context of the game system.
Now let’s talk about the game. What is the backdrop for
Shattered Union and what incidents lead up to the circumstances in
which the player finds himself as the game starts?
Franz Felsl: The premise is that in the U.S. there have been
a series of unpopular elections. Not just the official elected
president, but the process itself has become overtly corrupt. No
party is without blame and people are becoming fed-up with
politicians and government. Therefore, more homegrown militia start
popping up and causing problems which then leads to more and more
strict government restrictions and continued civil rights abuse and
erosion. Finally, the previous president “wins” a second term in
office after legal abuse of the system essentially installs the
president against the will of the people. During the inauguration
celebration a nuclear weapon is detonated in the D.C. area and kills
off most of the elected officials. The loss of the obvious
presidential successors sets off a series of legal barrages that
essentially drives another wedge between different groups in the US.
This quickly escalates into a run to establish a government that the
“people” will recognize and hopefully find the “heir to the
throne” so to speak. After numerous small conflicts occur, large
portions of the country decide to secede from the union to protect
what they each feel is the “rightful” government. During this
whole process, the European Union sees the loss of stability in the
US as a threat to the world at large and that the chaos from the
loss of the US market causes in the world is creating even greater
negative ramifications. Therefore, the EU sends in Peacekeepers into
the decimated D.C. area to help protect both EU interests and world
interests. As the dissolution of the US comes to a fevered pitch,
the EU decides it can’t wait any longer and decides to take an
active reunification role to speed up the process.
And, there you are. A faction leader in the violent reunification
process.
Shattered
Union: Gamespot New Content!
Gamespot's recent PC
newsletter brought new content related to Poptop's new game
Shattered Union! A hands on preview - including new game footage
& over 50 screenshots - can be found here.
An interesting point I've noticed is all reference to the PS2
version of the game have vanished - maybe that version has been
canned?
- The video is
here. Here is an extract from the article:
...There's a lot in
Shattered Union to remind you of older PC games, notably the classic
Panzer General games from SSI. We've had the opportunity to play a
number of battles in Shattered Union thus far. The action is
fast-paced, and the gameplay mechanics are simple to understand;
this is crucial, since Shattered Union will also appear on the Xbox.
It doesn't take too long to start picking up on the
rocks-scissors-paper balance between the units, either. Artillery
can smash infantry; tanks can crush darn near everything, but are
vulnerable to air power; antiaircraft units can shred helicopters
and incoming bombers; and so on. As we mentioned earlier, terrain
plays a role in the game, so you have to worry about maneuvering to
keep your units in defensible terrain for their bonuses--a unit
caught in the open is at a serious disadvantage against one
entrenched in a city's streets...
...The visuals of
the game are also fairly strong for the genre. They're not
cutting-edge, but the graphical style is simple and appealing in its
own way. Factor in the multiplayer gameplay on the PC or the
one-on-one multiplayer battles over Xbox Live (which we didn't get a
chance to test), and there could be a considerable amount of replay
value as well. All in all, we came away from Shattered Union
impressed; it's shaping up to be a lightweight,
beer-and-pretzels-style wargame that is user-friendly and simple
enough to be played by anyone. And the game's premise of a second
American civil war fought with modern-day weapons is certainly
appealing. With luck, Shattered Union may bring about a revival in
the turn-based PC wargame genre. We can expect Shattered Union to
ship on the PC and Xbox this fall.
15th
August 2005
The
Death of a PC
I've finally returned
to you, after my pc died on me about two weeks ago! It took awhile
to get it all sorted, but I'm finally back online. The last few days
I've been working on a revised look for the site. We haven't had a
new look in over two years, so I'm hoping to produce something that
is easier to use.
The revised look will
not be a radical change to the site overall, but should freshen
things up a bit, and implement a few changes. Most notably, the new
message boards will be launched at the same time. We're moving the
boards over to a new home, and they will also take advantage of php
technology!
Other than this little
bit of site news, everything is still quiet on the game news front.
Railroad
Tycoon 4 Wishlists: Idea of The Day!
Here is the best idea
for the RT4 wishlists:
I would like to see
locomotives from others places, like Africa, Asia, Japan etc. A
country like South Africa has a proud history of locomotives (steam
as well as diesel and electric). Political dispensations and the
causes thereof should be worked out better. I wonder how Apartheid
whould have effected RT's passenger? Some driving 1st class others
3rd. The graphics should be more polished - The
Chaplain, [Reply]
To reply, click the
reply button at the end of the post! To post your own wish list,
visit the RT4
Wish Lists Board!
- click
here
to enter Express World: RT4
27th
July 2005
All
Quiet Still!
Everything is still
really quiet on the Poptop games news front, there seemes to be
little new info on Shattered Union at this time. I guess once Poptop
gets the go ahead to launch an official site there will be more
news! Anyways, we are still here and as always we will being you
what we have.
Also, please keep your
maps, articles or anything you'd like to submit for inclusion on the
site to expressworld@hotmail.com.
I'm particularly interested in anyone who has Poptop game related
content they may wish to contribute.
Shattered
Union: Video Interview & Game Footage
Veteran Poptop
software member Franz Felsl has given an exclusive video interview
to Gamespot about shattered union. You'll need to be a member of
Gamespot basic to view it, but its a free sign up!
To view click here
(the site notes to say
the game footage is from the pc version)
- The video page also
includes the official game trailer, an official video of the game
and three short videos produced by Gamespot. There all worth a look!
Shattered
Union: IGN New Content!
The IGN site has added
additional screenshots of Shattered Union! Included in the
collection is some concept art pictures of units in the game. To
view click here
Also at IGN are
further video files! To view them click
here. Unfortunately you need to be a IGN Insider member to view
them, and I am not a member at this time. So if anyone has the
videos, could you email them to me? I'd like to take a look!
Railroad
Tycoon 4 Wishlists: Idea of The Day!
Here is the best ideas
from the RT4 wishlists:
- Being a
Multiplayer purchaser of RT1 2 & 3, I'd like the stock
market to be fixed. It bugs out after 2 hours consistently on my
machine and others. Haven't tried the 1.05 patch yet, perhaps
that fixes this. In future releases, please focus more on the
Multiplayer aspects. I love them so far, but I feel you could
improve. After all the maps are played and won, MP keeps me
playing. :) - Adam,
[Reply]
- Authentic
Company Cars and Engines... Would love to see the historic
B&O Chessie, PA RR, Conrail, CSX, Union Pacific, Santa Fe...
in the next RR Tycoon game. Also station coverage of the cities
needs to be revamped.... theres always 1 building in a city
outside of the station coverage. Finally, I think it would be
cool to be able to actually engineer a train on one of your
routes... - Engineer
Scotty, [IMAGE]
[Reply]
To reply, click the
reply button at the end of the post! To post your own wish list,
visit the RT4
Wish Lists Board!
- click
here
to enter Express World: RT4
24th
June 2005
Shattered
Union Gets Release Date
According to Gamespot
the Playstation 2 version of Shattered Union has a release
date of 14th November 2005. This is the first time an actual
date has been suggested for release. However, we must take this with
a grain of salt as the game is still quite far off. Also, the
gamespot site lists the other versions as having no release date so
far. But at least we have a general idea of when to expect the game.
More shattered union
news as we get it...
Railroad
Tycoon 2: New Maps
Today, we've got a few
new Railroad Tycoon 2 maps for you! Click the links below to
download: (they all need TSC or later to play)
Arizona
California
Montana
Remember to keep
sending all your maps to us at expressworld@hotmail.com
Railroad
Tycoon 4 Wishlists: Idea of The Day!
Here is the best idea
for the RT4 wishlists:
Station addons as
ADDONS. It'd be nice to be able to simply select a handful of
stations and click an "add tavern" icon, instead of having
to go to each city and add them.This holds particularly true when
adding all the addons at once. - Nazdak,
0 [Reply]
To reply, click the
reply button at the end of the post! To post your own wish list,
visit the RT4
Wish Lists Board!
- click
here
to enter Express World: RT4
17th
June 2005
Catchup
With Phil Steinmeyer
As you may, or may not
know, the founder of Poptop, Phil Steinmeyer left Poptop last year
to pursue new interests. Well, for anyone interested, he now has a
website so you can keep up with him! Click
here to access
Shattered
Union: News Updates
Some quick news items on Poptop's
new project:
- Xbox version preview here
- E3 Impressions here
- Gamers Info mini preview here
Railroad
Tycoon 4 Wishlists: Idea of The Day!
Here is the best idea
for the RT4 wishlists:
REAL
sandbox mode! Maybe I just havent discovered it yet, but I cant find
a sandbox mode that includes rival companies, or even economics.
It'd be nice to set up a sort of quickie match. Select a map,
designate strength/maturity of economy, set number/wealth of
opponents, etc. Maybe a Tournament type system where you face off
against 12 increasingly difficult rival tycoons over a span of 12
maps. - Nazdak,
[Reply]
To reply, click the
reply button at the end of the post! To post your own wish list,
visit the RT4
Wish Lists Board!
- click
here
to enter Express World: RT4
2nd
June 2005
Mirror,
Mirror
There is now a second domain that
can be used to access the site. If you goto www.express-world.org.uk
you can now access Express World. For now this simply redirects you
here, but we may put up a full mirror of the site there in the near
future. Remember, its www.express-world.org.uk!
As a side note, Express World will
soon be launching the spin-off site ExpressWorldForums.com which
will give a new home to the Express World Messageboards, and will
allow the upload of map files!
Shattered
Union: News Updates!
Some quick news items on Poptop's
new project:
- 12 New Screenshots can be found here
- An interview with Poptop's Franz
Felsl is here
- A gameplay video is up here
- A sneak peak is now
up at Gaming Nexus
Thanks to Pjay for those! More
Soon...
Railroad
Tycoon 4 Wishlists: Idea of The Day!
Here is the best idea
for the RT4 wishlists:
please
in the new rt 4 have it wear you can have a company build its own
factoriels and be able to have train yards, and sideings, and be
able to make roads and freight depots, and make trains longer, and
be able to chose your companys train colors, and cooler logos, and
better graphics than the third tycoon, thanks. - jimmy,
[Reply]
To reply, click the
reply button at the end of the post! To post your own wish list,
visit the RT4
Wish Lists Board!
- click
here
to enter Express World: RT4
31st
May 2005
Quick
Update
Like the title says, a quick update
to let you know that my exams are over, and I'm working on a big
update hopefully that will be up tomorrow. Thanks everyone for
sticking with us through this last year, its been tough... but back
to normal updates now!
7th
May 2005
Next
Poptop Project Announced: Shattered Union
Poptop's new projected has been
announced. The game is a turn based strategy war game called Shattered
Union. Its due out towards the end of 2005 for PC and consoles
(a first for a Poptop developed project - they normally outsource
any console version). So far the project has been confirmed for
Xbox. The game runs on an enhanced version of the 3D engine that
powered RT3.
The game is to be published by Take
2's newly formed publishing label 2K Games. The announcement of this
game has led to a new section of the site being added here.
Also, a few cosmetic changes to the site layout on this page to
accommodate the new section. They will be incorporated site wide
ASAP.
Here is an excerpt from the press
release (from VE3D)
Set atop the
smoldering ruins of a fictional United States torn apart by civil
war, Shattered Union is an action-packed turn-based strategy game
for console and PC. Gamers will play through an exciting single
player campaign to reunite the country by force or online in
one-on-one matches.
Read the whole thing here.
So far only three screenshots have
been released. See them below or here
From www.ign.com
(click to enlarge)

We will bring you more news as and
when we get it. The Poptop site has yet to post anything about this
game. We will be archiving all know information on the game on our Shattered
Union first information page.
- The Messageboard can be found here
Shattered
Union: Gamespot Article
GameSpot has released an article
about the newly announced Shattered Union game. To read it click
here
Here is an extract:
Shattered Union
focuses on a fictitious future where the United States has descended
into civil war. Players must managed their army of tanks,
helicopters, and modern-style war machinery to take back the
American landscape and reform the union.
The game appears to
be entirely three dimensional, and the three released screenshots
show detailed representational units the size of large buildings.
According to the press release issued earlier this week, the game
will offer an engrossing single player campaign and head-to-head
online play for two players.
3rd May 2005
Flying
Time!
Where does the time go? I'm so
sorry for the bigger gaps between updates (luckily news has been
very thin during this time so there wasn't too much to miss out on),
my finals are almost upon me, the semester ends on Friday and my
final project is due in then (almost done for all those
interested!). Anyways, I finish exams on 26th, and from then on I'll
be doing alot of work on the site to get it all back in shape, and
some big updates including a new look! The long in the works
redesign for the site will hopefully reach completion soon (it has
been on the back burner for a while due to university).
On another note, Express World
turned 7 years old on the 26th April, so I just want to say thanks
for all those who have supported the site through the years and I
hope you will continue to do so as we approach another fascinating
project from Poptop!!! I normally like to mark the birthday of the
site, but I was buried in coursework at the time.
Anyways, please bare with me just a
little longer until late May! Please continue to send your maps
through to expressworld@hotmail.com
and we will get them hosted for you. (I hope to do a couple more
updates during my finals, but if not, I'll see ya all on the other
side!)
Poptop
Updates
A quick update from the Poptop
site:
Just a quick update
today to thank all of the applicants we had for the Junior Artist
position. We will not be accepting any more applications for
this position as of today; but, if you've already sent portfolios
that we haven't received yet we will include them in with the other
applicants. We were lucky to have lots of interested and
talented people to pick from for this opening, and we wish all of
you that have applied good luck!
Railroad
Tycoon 4 Wishlists: Ideas of The Day!
Here is the best ideas
recently in the RT4 wishlists:
- Country specific
train packs would be a good start, as i live in England I'd like
to see more British locos, generally more diesels and electrics
like class 47,58,60 etc, also with working liveries like gwr,
virgin, Scot rail and finally more detailed and customizable
rolling stock - Phil,
[Reply]
- For RT4, I would
really appreciate to build more complex track layouts at the
train station e.g. build a real central station with 20 or so
platforms, separate cargo unload facilities aso... I think, RT4
should lay much more emphasis on micro-structures and building
realistic track and station constructions. - Wolfgang, [Reply]
- In RT3 there was
very big problem I like to build complex railroad lines with
signals and so on My point is that there was no crashes in the
game and when to trains come on each other and on of them make
him self transparent it makes the game totally unrealistic. In
the old games for example Transport Tycoon Deluxe the traffic
was much more interesting Try to sort this out Thank you! - Auris,
[Reply]
To reply, click the
reply button at the end of the post! To post your own wish list,
visit the RT4
Wish Lists Board!
- click
here
to enter Express World: RT4
29th
March 2005
I'm
Back
After being forced to take a brief
hiatus from updates due to the pressures of life, I'm returning to
you with an update! Sorry for brief absence, but I was, and still am
very busy with things at university (its nearly over now). So bare
with me, and when we get to May, its freedom time!
Poptop
News: Next Game Info
Poptop's new
project has yet to be announced, we do know however that
it is a war game, and it may get a console release for Xbox and PS2
alongside a pc release. We have a few more details from Poptop's job
page, its not much but it gives us an idea what to expect:
Following the
success of Railroad Tycoon 2 & 3 and Tropico, we are now
developing on a console & PC strategy title (turn-based war
game). PopTop offers
you the chance to make a major impact on a new, original I.P. game
in a great environment. We are looking forward to making a
truly next-generation war game – one that innovates and
invigorates the genre, like Panzer General, Command & Conquer
and Advance Wars did in their day.
Come be a part of an outstanding team, and help us make an
outstanding product.
With that in mind, we are launching
a new section today that will contain any and all information
available in relation to the game. Once the game is formally
announced, we will launch a full section (similar to our existing
coverage of Poptop projects). Click
here to enter Poptop's War Game - First Info
Poptop
Updates
Poptop has updated their site after
a long absence too. Here goes:
Things continue to
be quiet about the goings-on here at Poptop, but we can assure you
that it doesn't mean we aren't busy behind the doors. In fact,
the biggest bit of news we can relate to you for now is that we have
more positions to fill, this time in the artist catagory! We
are currently seeking both an Experienced
Industry Artist and an entry-level Junior
Artist. Please feel free to browse our job
page for any additional information. Thanks for hanging in
there, and we hope to have some big news for you all in the near
future!
We're updating
again this month with more news of open positions in the company!
This time we're on the look out for some on-site game
testers (local applicants only please!). So if you live in
the St. Louis area, and you'd like to aid us test our latest yet
unannounced game, just download a copy of this Tester
Application, fill it out in its entirety, and send it back to us
(mail, fax, and e-mail are fine). If you'd like more
information about what we're looking for in a tester, please look at
our job
page for additional information. Happy St. Pat's to
everyone out there, and good luck!
Railroad
Tycoon 4 Wishlists: Idea of The Day!
Here is the best idea
for the RT4 wishlists:
Building Restaurants,
Hotels, Taverns etc. seems to have modest effect on the income and
number of passenger. Since there is no way of measuring the effect
of such buildings it seems a waist of money in difficult scenarios
where money is scarce. Maybe is should be the AI that raised these
buildings depending on the appeal, numbers and regularity of
passenger trains that visited the station. - Tordenskjold,
[Reply]
To reply, click the
reply button at the end of the post! To post your own wish list,
visit the RT4
Wish Lists Board!
- click
here
to enter Express World: RT4
10th
March 2005
Frogcity
Announces New Game
Frogcity,
developer of Tropico 2: Pirate Cove has announced their latest
project today. The game goes by the title "Snow" and
"is about the creation and distribution of illegal drugs in the
1970's and 80's." The game will be published by 2KGames, the
(newly created) publishing label of Take 2 Interactive. 2K Games are
also responsible for Poptop's forthcoming war game project.
Few details are available at the
moment, but the following is from VE3D
"The fictional
underground world Frog City has created for Snow is the perfect
setting for a real time strategy game," said Christoph
Hartmann, Senior Vice President of Publishing for 2K Games.
"Snow will
challenge players to oversee every aspect of the drug trade, all
of which require calculated thinking in order to make your
business prosper while at the same time keeping it safe from the
authorities and other rival kingpins. This will surely make for an
intense, paranoid and most importantly, strategic gaming
experience."
Railroad
Tycoon 4 Wishlists: Idea of The Day!
Here is the best idea
for the RT4 wishlists:
In RT3 I do not find
much use for specifiying different cargo. The safest way of making
money seems to be to tick off "Any Cargo". It would be
more fun if at least Express in a higher degree could be separated
from Freight. If that also demanded different Locomotives it would
be a more interesting game experience - Tordenskjold,
[Reply]
To reply, click the
reply button at the end of the post! To post your own wish list,
visit the RT4
Wish Lists Board!
- click
here
to enter Express World: RT4
28th
February 2005
Archive
With today's update it was
incredibly clear to me it was time to clean this page up a little.
So I've moved all the pre-2005 news to the Archive
News
section.
Please bare with me
over the next two months, I will update as often as I can but I'm
reaching the final stages of my final semester at university, so as
you can imagine its rather hectic. But update will continue, and
after May 6th 2005, very regular updates! So stick with us, we are
not going any where.
If you have any
news, or maps etc to be posted just drop me an email at expressworld@hotmail.com