Pluto Scarab Software

Rails Game for Windows XP

In this game you build a railroad system and earn money by delivering cargo between cities. The goal is to be the first to connect to the major cities (at least all but one) and collect €250. It is inspired by the Eurorails® board game from Mayfair Games.

This is a work-in-progress. Feel free to send me email (address below) with any suggestions or comments.

System Requirements

• I have run it on Windows XP and Windows 2003, but it should work on most desktop versions of Windows 98 or later.
• Microsoft .NET Framework. This can be obtained here. If you have a folder called "Microsoft.NET" in your c:\windows folder, you probably already have this.
• 1024 x 768 or higher screen resolution. It takes a lot of detail to display all those little map dots.

Download Instructions

Download the full version (2.54 MB) or the lite version (363 KB). The full version includes expanded documentation and three custom maps. Last updated on 2005-09-08.

This release includes the following changes:

• Win/loss record now includes a "delete" option to clear the list
• Aborted games are included in win/loss record but are listed as "unofficial". Games become official after 5 turns.
• Bots now build smarter in the early game, building out to major cities faster, and sometimes making better combo load choices
• Bots end game is a bit better, not needing to build to so many major cities at the end, and changing delivery strategy slightly to end the game as soon as possible
• Mousing over a city now shows other cities that have the same commodities as the indicated city
• Can specify victory condition different that 250mil euros, but not less than 100
• Game option added to allow "grouped" contracts, so that contracts are treated in groups of three, just like the contract cards in the board game
• Bots smarter about train movement toward cities not yet connected by track
• Each turn allows full usage of 24 hours. Before you could be at 23:20 and have to waste 40 minutes because there wasn't enough time to perform another full action. Now you can perform another action and go slightly over 24:00, but the extra time will be taken away from the following day.
• Bots will pause to think again after delivering the first part of a two-cargo load in order to consider the new contracts in combination with the existing cargo

Bug fixes:

• Options on the Stats menu no longer corrupt the game, but they are only available on your turn
• Fixed track building cost exploit if game window loses focus while building track
• Fixed miscellaneous other bugs

Map Editor

The Rails Map Editor (639 KB) allows you to create custom maps that can be played in the Rails game instead of just using random maps. I used this map editor to create a map of Europe (west of Moscow), a map of Washington state (US) with a little bit of British Columbia, Idaho, and Oregon, and a map of the northeastern United States with roughly the same extent as the 1830 board game map.

Please share any good maps you create by posting your maps on the Rails Fans group in the Documents folder. You can also post any custom commodity icons that you create. Refer to the Map Editor documentation for more info.

Tips and Tricks

A friend of mine who plays the game a lot has put together some suggestions for good play. He beats the computers fairly easily, so if you feel that the bots are too tough too beat (no, they don't cheat), then try to play like my friend.

You can also visit the Rails Fans message board to ask for help from other players.