| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SID MEIER'S RAILROADS
First Information |
This is an page to follow for the initial and early
stage news that we will gather about the new Sid Meier's Railroads!
game. This page will be expanded upon in the coming months.
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
10th May 2006
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.
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:
|
|
|
|
|
