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• Rails Across America Patch
• Rails Across America Game Download
• Rails Across America Download
• Amtrak Train Trips Across America
• Rails Across America Pc Game

Installing Rails Across America. It is strongly recommended that you read the readme.txt file, accessible from the Start menu or the Rails CD for the most current information about the game. To begin play, you must install Rails onto your hard drive. The installation screen opens automatically after the CD is inserted. Travel from sea to shining sea on this 15-day journey across America. Start off in the bustling streets of New York City and then head on to America’s capital of Washington, DC. Experience the patriotic monuments that make the city so special before your journey on to Chicago. While in Chicago, make sure to take time to visit the famous Navy.

Rails Across America is a railroad simulation game released in late 2001 by developer Flying Lab Software and publisher Strategy First. It received generally positive reviews.^[1] Though no official expansions have been released, a rudimentary map-editing tool was made available to the player community.

Gameplay[edit]

1. In contrast, Rails Across America is a 'macro-level' strategy game that lets you concentrate on the big picture of managing a successful railroad company. Starting at any time between 1830 and 2015, you compete against up to seven opponents, either human or computer-controlled.
2. Taking the train across America with the USA Rail Pass is an excellent way to see the United States from a different point of view. There are over 500 destinations in the Amtrak system and all you have to do is choose how long you want to travel. Sounds great, doesn't it? Let's get started with the basics.

The game covers the period 1830–2040 in North America (including parts of Canada and Mexico). The game is 'strategic' with emphasis on expansion of rail networks, finance, and competition with other railroads.

Rails Across America uses a proprietary 2D engine and 3D-flavored sprites, which are outdated when compared to contemporary games of the time. The game is played in a top-down view with various zoom levels. At the closest zoom, one can see animated trains and industries. At the furthest zoom the map is an abstract of the rail network. The user interface includes many 'report' style screens which allow players to analyze the performance of specific aspects of their railroad, to compare themselves to their competitors, to obtain financing, etc.

The seamier side of the great age of railroad expansion is represented by a system of 'influence' which is gained by various achievements, and which can be expended in various ways to undermine the competition. Influence is represented by colored 'cards' with number values and some flavor text. The color and numbers are used in contention with opponents and the outcome can affect finances, construction, prestige, etc. Some smaller scenarios do not use the influence system.

Single-player mode includes multiple scenarios with specific goals, and longer 'campaign' games. Multi-player mode supports up to eight players over LAN or GameSpy. Players who drop out are replaced by AIs.

Rails Across America Patch

The game provides several options which allow players to customize the experience, especially in multi-player mode.

Reception[edit]

According to Phil Steinmeyer of PopTop, developer of Railroad Tycoon 3, Rails Across America received 'outstanding reviews' but 'sold poorly, and Flying Labs abandoned plans for follow ups'.^[6]

The game won Computer Gaming World's 2001 'Best Game We Just Don't Get' special award. The editors wrote, 'Rails Across America is a very, very good game—according to a pack of our freelancers. We respect our writers' opinions, but not one of the CGW edit staff could warm up to this 4.5-star robber baron game.'^[7] The editors of Computer Games Magazine nominated Rails Across America as the best strategy game 2001, but ultimately gave the award to Civilization III. However, it won the magazine's special award for 'Best Multiplayer'.^[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Rails Across America'. Metacritic. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
2. ^Osborne, Scott (October 11, 2001). 'Rails Across America Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
3. ^'Rails Across America'. IGN. October 15, 2001. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
4. ^Geryk, Bruce (January 2002). 'Reviews; Rails Across America'. Computer Gaming World (210): 115.
5. ^Chick, Tom (January 25, 2002). 'Railroads and Robber Barons in Real Time'. Computer Games Magazine. Archived from the original on June 6, 2004.
6. ^Steinmeyer, Phil (October 2002). 'Inside the Sausage Factory; I Hate 3D'. Computer Games Magazine (143): 98.
7. ^Editors of Computer Gaming World (April 2002). 'Games of the Year; The Very Best of a (Sometimes) Great Year in Gaming'. Computer Gaming World (213): 69–73, 76–84.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
8. ^Staff (March 2002). '11th Annual Computer Games Awards'. Computer Games Magazine (136): 50–56.

External links[edit]

• Rails Across America at MobyGames

Overview

Rails Across America, the brainchild of Seattle-based Flying Lab Studios and Canadian publisher Strategy First, is a very in-depth and intense look into the world of cutthroat railway management. From the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution to the present day and beyond, Rails Across America combines financial and territorial based strategy to see who will become the greatest railroad magnate of the last century. Will it be you?

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

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Rails Across America is easily explained: Overpower your opponents to become the dominant force in railway travel and commerce. The purpose of the game is to garner respect rather than merely having the most money or track mileage; a novel concept. This respect is allotted in the form of Prestige points. Prestige can be earned in many ways: through completing important rail lines, such as the Intercontinental Railway or the Trans-Canadian, through continually posting profits on your lines, or even through direct purchase.

That’s not to say money’s not important, though. Finances play a big part in this game, allowing you to purchase track, trains, access rights, influence, and many other things. You also have access to bank loans in case your cash on hand gets low (and it will, trust me). Combine this with a constantly fluctuating economy and you’ll see just how important a good grasp of finances can be. I found myself on the edge of bankruptcy several times, building what I thought would be a financially sound rail line when the country suddenly went into a recession. While bankruptcy is severe (the game auctions off some of your lines to raise money to cover your expenses), you can still win the game after coming out of it. I personally needed to use some 'influence' to get back into the game.

While we’re on the subject, let’s discuss my favorite aspect of the game, the 'Dirty tricks' department. The game allows you to do a lot of behind the scenes dealing (meaning 'illegal'), everything from a mildly annoying safety inspection on your tracks to the devastating stock raid. As the game is played, randomly generated 'cards' are dealt to the player. These cards have different point values and can be traded in for cash or used to influence your opponents. Be warned, though. Using such tactics may be harmful to your Prestige if you aren’t careful.

Gameplay is extremely simple, yet can become complex quite quickly. Laying track is a matter of clicking a button and selecting a destination city. Building tracks is the easy part, but maintaining them, making sure you have enough trains or decent switching, and constantly monitoring traffic becomes quite difficult quickly. The game does provide you with the ability to hire a track manager to take care of the day to day maintenance, but if you like doing it all yourself, the option is there for you.

The game is a fantastic tactical experience, pitting you against either live or computer controlled opponents with rail lines such as yours, along with owners of 'shortlines,' small market railways connecting just two cities. Shortlines themselves add strategy to the mix, as you can buy them out, control them, or simply try to bankrupt them into submission or auction. Believe me, your opponents will try to do the same as well.

All of the aforementioned aspects of the game are mentioned in a ticker at the bottom of the screen, which works in real time. If a player makes an offer on a shortline, a bankruptcy or dirty trick is played, or if lending rates rise or fall, you’ll see it happen. The ticker can be your best friend in this game.

Multiplayer

The folks at Flying Lab stress this is the best part of the game: the ability to link several players together online, either locally or via the Internet. The game itself works either via LAN or Internet and supports up to 10 players simultaneously. I can see this is the real draw for this game, unfortunately, I received this game before the Internet site was up. My opinion is that it would generally not have the latency problems associated with FPS or other real-time strategies in that the interface seems to be quite simple and not a lot of data would have to travel across the wire at once.

Graphics

Graphics are standard, but not anything to shout about. While cut-scenes and in-game menus look to be hand drawn and nicely done, the playing field itself is rather mediocre. Simple city locations and some terrain and rail iconography a la SimCity pretty much tells you what to expect visually. In the game’s defense, 'eye candy' is not actually necessary, as the game’s main draw is its strategic aspects. My guess is the designers sacrificed graphics for pure gameplay, to their benefit.

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Audio

This is possibly the weakest aspect of the game. While in-game noises like train whistles, construction noises, and the like are rendered admirably, the repetitious soundtrack leaves something to be desired. Maybe it’s just me, but I can only listen to a banjo version of 'I’ve Been Working On The Railroad' so many times… Mercifully, the controls allow you to turn off the music without losing any of the ambience.

Amtrak Train Trips Across America

System Requirements

P200, 64MB RAM, and Win9x/ME/2000/XP.

Rails Across America Pc Game

Bottom Line

Fans of strategy gaming (as well as the rabid 'Tycooners' out there) will easily enjoy the detail and strategy associated with this game. However, if you’re looking for a lot of graphics, like with Railroad Tycoon II or others, or for a decent soundtrack, it might be better to look elsewhere. Never having played any of the Tycoon series of games myself, much of this was new territory, but an extremely enjoyable time nevertheless. Recommended for all strategists out there who like a good, non-violent competition, both singly as well as for the multiplayer aspect of it.