"introducing beautiful 3D graphics"
Game Play
In Trains and Trucks Tycoon you establish and control a haulage company in a realistic 3D environment and make your profits from the transportation of people and goods. Sound familiar? Trains & Trucks Tycoon gives you the choice of playing the game through Campaigns, Scenarios and Random Maps. The game tries its best to achieve what Transport Tycoon does minus the planes, and in some areas it manages to at minimum pass the time away very quickly. You see no matter how many bad things there are about this game, it still has the attraction and addiction of wanting to play it. But unlike Transport Tycoon you have no idea why.You are given a whole heap of tutorials in which to learn the game, which is a nice thoughtful addition. The tutorials are pretty basic, but explain the fundamentals of the game very well. The scenarios are probably the most enjoyable part of the game because the locations set for building your empire are based on real world places. You compete against a number of computer opponents in achieving a goal. You have a time limit of years in which to complete the goal and usually it involves beating the computer.
There is a slight but major problem with this game and that’s the economics side of things. I have found that on some levels it can be really hard to make a profit while trying to meet the objective. You find yourself building too quickly for what you’re earning and you get in the red very quickly. No matter how hard I try there is just no way of completing some of the campaigns without getting into debt. This however is not the problem you would expect. Normally you lose so much money you get into debt and the missions over, your bankrupt. Nope not with Trains & Trucks Tycoon. After getting even slightly in debt the bank gives you an automatic loan which includes about 15k extra to spend. I have found that when I'm short of loads of money to build track I just build loads of trains. You see that no matter how much you are in debt you can still buy trucks and trains. So when you get your automatic loan from the bank, you can sell the 10 trains you have just temporary bought, and once again you have loads of dosh to spend on upgrading your transport system. I haven't actually found a point where you get into so much debt that the mission is over. The bank just keeps throwing loads of money at you. It doesn’t matter that the interest is getting you in debt quickly, because they just give you some more. I'm sorry but for an economic simulation this is just crap. The main challenge of the game is to not go bankrupt. But I suppose if Rail Track can do it.....
"The joining of tracks is simple
and looks good"
and looks good"
The actual building of these 3D object and track is ok, and is simple if you want a simple track layout, but as soon as you want a bridge running your train over another piece of track it’s just a nightmare to do. You have to first raise the land. This can take anything up to a couple hundred mouse clicks to raise it enough. The joining of tracks is simple and looks good, but the signalling doesn’t really work that well. I have found on a number of occasions trains stuck facing each other at opposite sides of a signal because for some reason it decides to go the wrong way.
However these things aside it can't all be bad, as at least I've played it for a week, and it has kept me occupied because some of the campaigns are not that simple, and can take several attempts to complete them, and by the time you have you realise many hours have vanished.
Graphics
Possibly the biggest redeeming features of this game are the semi superb 3D graphics. It really makes the game look so much more real, and makes you wonder what a game it could have been if it really was a 3D version of Transport Tycoon.There are times where the slightly jaggedness of the 3D makes it look a little dated, but overall they work rather well. Even at full detail my old 800 MHz machine coped very well. You actually see the number of people on the train that you have picked up from the station which adds a nice level of detail, and makes it easy to see how full your trains and trucks are. The towns have cars driving around them and Paris campaign looks fantastic with the tower and other building being immediately recognisable.
Sound
The sound is another good aspect of this game. The sound effects are somewhat lacking in that there aren’t enough train and truck noises, but the music is of high quality and really fits the game. The music reminds me somewhat of the style found in Transport Tycoon.Overall
Trains & Trucks Tycoon was a good attempt at a hard to crack genre, especially with the competition it has. However Trains & Trucks Tycoon does have a rather large number of problems with it and not even the nice 3D graphics and excellent music can cover them up. Trains & Trucks Tycoon tries very hard, and the 3D graphics are rather good if a little basic at times. The campaigns are challenging and will have you frustrated for days, but I'd still rather play the far superior Transport Tycoon or even Railroad Tycoon 2 if trains are your thing.