Railroad Tycoon 2 Platinum 1.56 Patch
Demand at ports is bugged. There's no known fix, although there's a theory that hacking an individual map file could repair port demand on that map. Also, except at steel mills, the second input into each 2-input factory suffers similar one-time demand collapse.
For example, the cannery uses produce + steel (or produce + aluminum) to make food. If you use a cannery to make some food, demand for one of the two inputs will recover, but the other never will. Unlike the ports, the two-input factories can be repaired by using a hexadecimal editor to hack the industry conversions table inside the game's EXE file. I vaguely recall doing so back when I was fixing problems in my own copy of the game. If you have v1.56 (the last patch of the CD version of the game), then you can use my patched version of the EXE (back up your working EXE and LNG files first). My latest EXE and language files are in the zip for my.
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Railroad Tycoon II Platinum patch 1.56 This file has been downloaded 289 times since 2003-02-27. Download locations: Server Location Mirror provided by; Mirror 1 [http]. This is the latest official patch for Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum.
Most operating systems based on the Linux kernel (which is probably the best option at this moment) are basically giant IDE’s hidden behind friendly Graphical User Interfaces (with infinitely powerful command line tools) so for programmers, it can be a very beneficial change. Open source software games.
But I have to ask, replacing the EXE will change something other than the Demands? I don't want Cargos, Locomotives and stuff to be changed before I finish the Campaign.Unfortunately, using my EXE patch will change lots of things. I haven't heard many complaints, but some noteworthy features (like the vastly over-powered F9) have been 'fixed'. In my patch, the F9 is just another diesel. I also 'borrowed' the strong and reliable GP18 and turned it into an even more powerful and reliable 21st C diesel, but it doesn't become available until 2005. My rationale is that the game is now 16 years old, and that's enough time for a newer engine to appear (yes, the game is so old that history has expanded underneath it). Then there's the fact that I chose the 6000hp JT56ACe, one of the most powerful diesel locomotives ever sold:O And I changed some industries and cargoes too.
Military loads/cars/buildings/conversions activate in time for the US Civil War. I added some conversions. Noteworthy: oil to rubber at chem plants beginning 1940, representing plastic rubber to goods at tool&die beginning 1950, representing plastic goods Individual houses also demand a tiny amount of goods, but not enough for the demand to recover. This represents the mail-order catalog business to rural areas. Demand at ports is bugged.
There's no known fix, although there's a theory that hacking an individual map file could repair port demand on that map. I am curious about this.
Did someone actually do it? If there is somewhere explaining (for beginners like me) how to do this I would be interested to learn how it is done.
I can think of several maps where it could help diversify strategy. Or is it super difficult to do? I like your patch. The changes were well thought out.
I would say that there are some strategic advantages when using it, so for the full challenge of the original maps I recommend the original version especially for the campaigns. When playing for fun, it definitely improves gameplay. Did someone actually do it?
If there is somewhere explaining (for beginners like me) how to do this I would be interested to learn how it is done. Do a search on ports and modding and demand. It was brought up by another modder.
I vaguely recall that he had located the port data within a map data file. The data would be structured the same as the industry conversion table in the EXE file, so the fix would be the same as fixing demand for 2-input industries.
I don't have the exact details in front of me, but it had two parts: The demand recovery number needed to be moved from one column to another, and the number needed to be at least 1.0 (because 0.5 was too small to ever do anything). The drawback is that every time a map is edited, the editor is likely to overwrite the port data, requiring the fix to be re-applied. I can think of several maps where it could help diversify strategy. Or is it super difficult to do?
Not difficult to do, but it's very difficult to explain. That's because we're talking about byte positions within large binary files, and they don't translate well into words.
Once you open up one of those binary files with a raw-data editor (usually called a hexidecimal editor, although the bytes can be displayed as decimal values), you can see some areas with repeating patterns. Those are fixed-length data records, which one can call a 'data table'. If you start to analyze the numbers, you'll begin to recognize some of the values, such as engine introduction dates, appearing every so many bytes.
If you have my 'EXE Data.ods' file (an open-office spread sheet), then you have the locations and layouts for the known data tables in RR Tycoon Platinum (CD version) patched to v1.56. Even if you have a different version, that spreadsheet should give you a big head start. You'd just need to locate the tables in your version of the game (locations shift lightly whenever the size of the program changes). The spreadsheet is included in my US History zip.
There was a modding thread (with good discussion in it), but I can't find it anymore, so I haven't updated the file there in a long time. I've never opened a map file before, but there must be a four-record set of industrial production/conversions for the port. Those records probably have the same length and structure as the industry table records in the EXE file (so that a port will operate just like a factory in the game). I've patched US History and added a new upload to post #1 in that thread. What I found was that the port's first industrial action had a proper demand-recovery value. The omissions were on actions 2, 3 & 4. If anyone is feeling energetic enough to test it, see if port demand recovers for an export in top-most slot but not the other slots.
If this patch works as intended, then I may play with some of the other factors later. It should be possible to mod the port to boost an import's production rate based on delivery of some export (the way farms are boosted by fertilizer).
I should also be able to change activation and expiration dates for each of my port's actions. Then the port could start the game doing one action, then add three other actions over a period of decades, and eventually deactivate the original action.
In case anyone's interested, the port data appears to start near byte 0x08700 in a map file (platinum edition). The exact address may vary slightly from map to map. Thanks for the prompt replies! I didn't read that thread on modding as when I was reading through lots of the forum even simple modding seemed out of my league. Now that I understand more about what is involved with tweaking I am much more interested. Very interesting stuff in that thread!
JCCO did a great job with deciphering some of that stuff. Reading through his posts reminded me of my two main wishes to fix current, bad RTII strategy weak spots: fix the exponential value of long distance passengers and mail and also reduce the cornering penalty, maybe half or less of the current affect. I didn't read everything very closely nor have I opened up your spreadsheet for a while, so maybe these things can be at least improved with what information is already available thanks to the efforts of you and the others in that and other threads. My time is limited at the moment, but I will check it out when possible. Will try to play US History too, at least long enough to test the ports.
I have the Platinum Edition of Railroad Tycoon 2 with the latest patch (1.56) and the updated maps. But the game have a minor issue with the demand of certain cargos. Things like Milk and Cofee, even from ports demand, don't regenerate, you make a deliver and they stay 0 forever, making them useless. I tried to find a fix, but with no sucess. Someone have a fix to this bug?
Railroad Tycoon 2 Platinum Mods
Thanks for the help in advice! But keep in mind that zero demand does not mean 'useless'. It's still a lot better than no demand at all. A '0' demand is really a 50% demand, with a 50% revenue multiplier.as compared to a '5' demand, which is a 100% revenue multiplier.
6,7,8, and 9 each go up by 10%, making a 9 demand a 140% multiplier. A bit less disheartening when you look at it that way. But yes, that bug has made us all scratch our heads for lots of years. While this is true, of more importance is the way the distance factor is applied after this calculation. I have found that at a '0' (50% of base price) demand level there is very little gain in revenue as distance increases. As revenue mostly comes from hauling at a distance, this comparative loss blows the potential lost revenue way out.
I can't say I understand it all, but JCCO's research was very interesting in this regard. Will try to understand and experiment with it more when I get time.
I noticed while reading it that Passengers and Mail have the highest values for distance, so that naturally leads me to wonder is the exponential increase I wish to avoid due to this number being too high. This is what I will try to experiment with. If this effect is hard coded that would be too bad.
Individual houses also demand a tiny amount of goods, but not enough for the demand to recover. This represents the mail-order catalog business to rural areas. I'd be thinking that from about now (i.e. 2012 onwards) maybe individual houses should be demanding even more goods, to represent the rise of Internet purchasing. From what I can gather, online purchases account for between 10% and 25% of domestic discretionary spending (i.e. Income minus savings, housing and utilities), with the variation depending on the product types - e.g. Food, clothing, appliances.
Furthermore, and immediately relevant, according to, this activity is currently growing at about 10% annually, translating into an equivalent increase in parcel traffic. Internet commerce would only be raising demand if it is new commerce, but I think it is replacing 'brick & mortar' store commerce. What was special about the advent of the first catalog businesses was that they reached rural customers who'd been largely unserved before, and the rails paid a critical role in carrying both the mail (catalogs and orders) and the goods. That's why my goods demand is in the form of a booster. My houses increase mail production by 50% when they receive goods. What's interesting is that when goods are soaked up by town and city demand, mail isn't affected. The boost only comes from individual house delivery.
When you view goods demand, I think you can see which houses are currently supplied.
Probably the most successful title in my career was Railroad Tycoon 2. We released it in Fall of 1998, then an expansion pack and a ‘gold edition’ in 1999. We were surprised that the game continued to sell well for months, then years, and I was particularly surprised in 2001 when the publisher (and by that time, owner of PopTop), Take Two, asked for another compendium. So we took everything that we had related to Railroad Tycoon 2, added 50 new maps, and put out RT2 – Platinum Edition that summer. But we made one (small) mistake when we assembled RT2 – Platinum. Somehow, in assembling the 50 new maps (there were 126 maps total), one file was accidentally copied over another, and so the Alaska map we were supposed to include was displaced by a second version of a fantasy map called “Tanagore Island”. I’m pretty sure we posted the fixed version of the Alaska map on our web site shortly thereafter, but I can’t find it now.
We may have fixed the problem in a later re-mastering of the disk, but at least one old/early version I checked out had the incorrect ’50th map’. However, that map was one of a handful that we licensed from the RT2 mapmaking community that had sprung up. It was made by Steve Lorenz, and there’s still a copy of it floating around the various RT2 websites, including, as well as a on this site. Anyways, just in case anyone picked up an old copy of RT2 Platinum and saw the “50 new maps” on the cover and was disappointed to find only 49, or saw “over 125 scenarios” on the back (because of the Alaska omission, there were exactly 125, not “over” 125), download the Alaska map. It’s a nicely done scenario 🙂 Also, if you’re still playing RT2 after all this time, there’s a patch we made in 2003 2017 EDIT – I had a link here to the 1.56 patch on a site called Fileshack that is no longer valid as of 2017 – it seems Fileshack as a whole is gone that adjusts screen scrolling speed for today’s fast computers. RT2 was developed on a Pentium-Pro 200 Mhz, and so the effects of today’s 10-20X faster machines weren’t readily foreseeable or testable The patch also adds support for using the middle mouse wheel for zooming in and out.
While you’re at it, you can check out some of the other on the site, or the mere (RT3 maps were harder to make, and the fan community for making them never got on board RT3 quite the way they had for RT2.) Some edits to this post made 5/22/2012 and 2/2/2017 This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 15th, 2006 at 10:22 am and is filed under. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. 17 Responses to “The missing Railroad Tycoon 2 map”. Trent Trautman Says: I happily admit, I forked over my hard earned dollars for RT2 Platinum. RT3 never seemed as good, though. I can still remember many good times playing RT2.
For me, what I loved about it was the extremely detailed simulation. I loved being able to buy shares of my train company (and competitor companies!) on the stock market, and fiddling with individual train routes, and buying up successful companies along train routes. Sure, the graphics were dated by the time I got itbut that didn’t matter. It was the vast and varied simulation that made the game for me. Dmitry Smirnov Says: Phil, Just want to say thank you for both rrt2 and rrt3. Especially rrt3 — where economic model was so good, complex and close to reality (no possibility to just take all passanger from big station and move them to small substantion in the forest, just to ruin the competitior).
Railroad Tycoon 2 Platinum Patch
We are playing rrt3 game with children and they enjoy it very much. Phil Steinmeyer Says: Glad you like it.
Sometimes I wonder if the RT3 economy model was overdone – if it confused people more than RT2. But personally I liked RT3’s model a lot better. I think it’s one of the few games to model fairly realistically a complex economy. Dmitry Smirnov Says: Sometimes I wonder if the RT3 economy model was overdone It is not easy to predict user’s perception of the game features. As for me the new economics model was one of the most important thing in the game.
But the added complexity is often negatively accepted. Recall simcity 4 — excellent economics and so many rants in forums It is still 4 favorite games on my desktop — RRT3, SimCity4, SimGolf and SpaceRangers (made by local developer in Vladivostok, Russia) — all with the compex model and strategy. But I guess this copmlexity doesn’t spur the sales. Says: Oh well I didn’t even know you made THAT game!!! I wish to congratulate and thank you for that one (RT2 in particular). I spent so much time playing it when was younger!!
Just a question how come that after such great simulation/strategy titles you are now making casual games? П™‚ (I know it’s an evil question!). Phil Steinmeyer Says: Lots of factors. Among them: The market for all kinds of ‘hard-core’, retail-oriented PC games, including tycoon games and sim-like games like Tropico, has pretty much dried up, excepting for a few of the mega-IPs that are 6-10 years old where people reliably buy sequels (i.e. SimCity, RollerCoaster Tycoon, The Sims).
Also, creating a competitive title in that arena requires a really big team these days, and several years of development. I’m not interested in projects that big – I enjoy simpler stuff. Says: Well yes, seems quite hard to make a top hit game working alone (I’m still surprised about Democracy success being a one man game). A pity though, I would like to play RT4 🙂. North Says: Sometimes I wonder if the RT3 economy model was overdone Hi Phil, just wanted to say I love the RT3 economy model, it’s outstanding and has made RT3 as a game for me.
I never was much one for micro-managing trains – love the high level strategy, only wish it could make be even more complex, e.g. Running for political office, doling out pork etc. Incidentally I was one of the guys who worked on the RT3 promo minigame at – that was fun, but not RT3 by any means 😉. Jeff Says: Hello Phil, I loved RRT2 and RRT3 equally. You did eveything you could in RRT2, and then made a new game in RRT3. It was good, unique, and different.
I still remember the challenge of getting a proftable route made through/around the mountains in the Swiss Alps scenario of RRT3. That was a lot of fun 🙂. Says: Hey Phil Thank you for taking your time to make such a wonderful game! I am in my late 30s and still playing pc games like a kid.
Time after time, I go back to RRT2 because of its outstanding playability. Game quality is not based on graphics, like most of today’s “eye candy” games but on easy playability, background, mechanics and expandibility. The ability to adjust the economy difficulty is an awesome feature. Some players like to micromanagement and some do not want to or are not ready too.
RRT3 demo did not do it for me and the new renditions offered today do not meet the standards RRT2 has set. I would ask that RRT2 be brought back to take advantage of today’s machinesRRT4? Ohplease add more locomotives, double locomotive/cars, custom paint/real world railroad skins, rail bridges to cross competing railroad’s rails, triple tracks, smaller airports, semi truck warehouses and improved sea port trading. Thanks again Hambone. RTplayer Says: Howdy! My dad is a jr.
High/high school teacher and uses RT2 in his business survey class for junior highers. Through it several of his students have gotten bitten by the “business bug” and I would be surprised if when all is said and done your game has inspired some young people to become entrepreneurs. I have three comments to make regarding RT3, which I also enjoy. The first is that I like how passengers and mail actually care where they are hauled (this is much, much more realstic than RT2 was in this area).
The second is that I liked “drop-shipping” or “cargo depoting” and I’d like it if they were added (perhaps by way of a patch?) to RT3. I found this quite useful in RT2-Platinum (the version that first introduced me to Railroad Tycoon), but I’m not quite sure how this would be implemented in the RT3 economic. The third comment I have is that I have discovered a unique glitch in RT3, although I’m not sure whether this appears on computers other than mine. Having played through the whole campaign with the exception of the last 15-20 years of the final scenario (which I am currently working on), I couldn’t help but notice that the ground color slowly changes over the game years. It starts out realistic, but slowly changes as time progresses.
I’m not sure whether the speed I run the game at (I spend most of my time on “very slow” because it gives me time to have creative solutions occur to me while it’s still early enough in the game to implement them). All I know is that after the first 15-20 game years, the ground has patches of all sorts of color, and after 30 years the ground is mostly white with scattered green and yellow “splotches”, and the surfaces of the lakes/oceans have become covered in blotches of many colors ranging from blue to pink.
I’d appreciate any advice that could help me solve this problem. Just in case my description of the problem wasn’t clear enough, I have also documented this “chromatic evolution”, if you will, with screenshots designed to highlight the nature of this problem I’m having. RTplayer Says: I made a little typo when I said that “I would be surprised if when all is said and done your game has inspired some young people to become entrepreneurs.” What I meant to say is, “I would NOT be surprised”. Phil Steinmeyer Says: RTPlayer – I’m glad you liked them. The color blotch thing is probably some sort of interaction with your video card – it’s conceivable that updating your video drivers would help, and somewhat more likely that a new video card might address it, but I certainly can’t guarantee that either would work. Chuck Castleberry Says: RRT 2nd ED ‘Mother Russia’ Campaign is programed to lose at least one territory at the end of the first day even if sufficient number of loads are delivered. I’m trying for Gold without any territories lost and am in need of a patch to correct this.
Chuck, age 76. Phil Steinmeyer Says: Sorry, I don’t even have RT2 installed anymore, so I can’t really take a look at this. Chuck Castleberry Says: Thank you for your reply. Since sending my comment, I have solved it. Chuck. Says: I got RT3 as a birthday gift a few years ago. It was awsome to say the least.
And just a few weeks ago I tried out Tropico (the demo):) how I wish you’d get back into making those kind of games. I suppose you’re right though; I’m a minority; there’s not much of market for those any longer. New comments are disabled.