[Rails-devel] Playtest report of 1835 under Rails 2.0.beta3

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

Playtest report of 1835 under Rails 2.0.beta3 on 2015-08-01. jdg

1. I notice the set of game options for 1835 has changed, and the
defaults for at least some of them have changed.  In particular the game
variant is set to Clemens when I first see it.  The default for all
settings should be the regular rules, unless you are going to make it
remember the settings when a particular game was last played on this
computer.  I wouldn't mind that.

2. There is a checkbox for "Ignore reserved shares of company PR" which
I find unclear.  I suggest it say "PR price may rise for all-sold even
if unclaimed trade-in shares remain."

3. Upon hitting "New Game", one thing sticks out like a sore thumb: the
map pane is blank!!!

4. Several of my nits about the Game Status window seem to be fixed.  It
now shows the ownership of minor and private companies; and the SX
ownership is correctly shown as "20%PU" when only the LD has been
purchased.  The fixed par prices are shown for all companies.

Things I would still change: (a) Par prices should not show grid
coordinates for any game.  (b) Both lists of train types still get
shrunk to the height of the graphic elements on their left ("Privates"
and "Worth"+"OR +/-") even when this hides information.  I would like to
see those lines adjust to whichever element(s) are taller.

5. When a player purchases a private or minor company, the fact is no
longer clear in the "Start Round" window.  The player's cash decreases,
but the price paid is no longer displayed in the column for that player.
 I have to look at the Game Status window to see who owns what.

6. As before, players in the stock round are not skipped when they can't
do anything but pass.

7. When the stock round ends the Map pane shows the list of companies
with no map -- and goes straight to the "buy trains" step.  I guess this
confirms that I didn't cause the problem by running the game in "no map"
mode, because I'm not being allowed to lay any track!  I think I'm done.