Re: [Rails-devel] 1856 CGR Diesel upgrades

[John D. G. <jd...@di...>]

Aliza Panitz wrote:
> A question on the Yahoo 18xx mailing list would split the group into
> two factions, each loudly insisting the other was wrong. :-)

Depends on the question.  We all agree on some things, and if a
question DOES produce two factions then it's likely the program ought
to give users a choice.

> FWIW, Dirk Clemens' 18xx moderator enforces train-buying rules, but
> does not force the CGR to upgrade a 4 to a Diesel.

This brings up the broader question of the rules language that, as
Dirk believes, requires as follows: CGR *must* acquire a permanent
train ASAP, and cannot pay out or change share price in any way until
it has done so.

In my reading of the rules, *all* the requirements in the preceding
sentence are part of the paragraph about what happens when the CGR
borrows a Diesel, and apply only then.  (Meaning that a CGR which owns
only 4-trains is free to operate normally in all respects; but if CGR
forms with no trains, or it forms with only 4-trains and they die
before it ever owns a permanent train, *only then* it must borrow a
diesel, withhold, and not change price until it buys a permanent
train.)

At any rate, 1.1.1 does not yet enforce these requirements.  But if
they are ever implemented, I want the option to have them only apply
when I believe they're supposed to.

* * *

Other noteworthy behaviors I found when trying out 1856 last night:

1.  If I use the options menu to view the map during a stock round,
it still contains text directing the company that ran last to buy a
train or hit Done (even though all action buttons are grayed out).

2.  I like the use of separate arrows in the red map areas.  (Earlier
playings of 18AL and 1830 had them looking like "dits" with tracks
that connected to each other.)

3.  There are places where "hovering" over the map with the mouse
does not tell you how much a space pays (Goderich for one).

4.  Adding a "bonus" column to the company table in the map window,
and showing $10 if it has a bridge or tunnel token, is not helpful
because it doesn't say which is which.  I'd write "Br" or "Tu" there.
(And purchases of these tokens are still mis-described as if the money
were going to the company it's actually coming from.)

5.  The CGR formation is unfriendly and wrong.
   a)  Before asking for any player's decision, the program should force
       all companies that have at least $100 and any loans to repay what
       loans they can from treasury.  This is immediate and compulsory.
       (It does do this for each company before asking the question for
       that company, but that's too late because it makes some companies
       look like they could convert when they can't, when the player is
       making his decision for earlier companies.)
   b)  There shouldn't be ANY dialogs asking "Select number of loans of
       [company] to repay".  The decision for each company is all or
       nothing, and each player should be presented with the decisions
       for all his companies at once (in one dialog).
   c)  During those "rescue?" dialogs, the players' cash amounts in the
       Game Status window are squeezed horizontally so they can't be
       read (example: $1... instead of $1445), and it's impossible to
       fix it by resizing the window because the dialog is modal.
   d)  After the first decision is made, change the Loans column on the
       Game Status window to show "MERGE" for companies that will merge.
   e)  When four companies whose current prices were 65, 65, 75, and 100
       merged in, the program made CGR's value 200 (and that actually
       meant $200 per 5% share).  It's supposed to be the average of the
       predecessor companies, but not less than 100, so in this example
       it should have been 100, not 200.
   f)  Those companies had two 5 trains and a 4 train.  CGR was not given
       the option of keeping the 4 train, it was discarded with no prompt.
   g)  The table of companies in map window is not updated afterward to
       show that some companies have disappeared.
   h)  The table of companies in Game Status window continues to list the
       merged companies for the rest of the game, with their final prices
       and the number of loans when they died.  They should no longer be
       listed at all (nor should any company that went to the Closed box).
   i)  In subsequent rounds, CGR is shown as having TWO $10 bonuses (and
       thus takes two lines in the table in the map window) because two
       predecessor companies had tunnel tokens.  CGR should inherit only
       up to one of each type of token (tunnel and bridge); duplicates
       should go back to the bank and become available for sale (if
       played as finite); and in any case, the table should expand
       horizontally, not vertically, if it must expand at all.

6.  The program allows CGR to buy 4-trains after it forms.  It can't.