LGR - A-Train - DOS PC Game Review
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Date: 2022-04-14
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Comments and reviews: 10
Sky
A-train series in general is. lacking. I mean, they are decent games but they are never good enough to make me stay playing at it.
A-train (1st one) had a serious annoyance: you won once your account has 50 M$ and no continue. I had to use PCTOOLS to hexahack savegames and/or waste money all the time so I could play longer. It was so ANNOYING as I just didn't get the reason why a so low goal was decided. I lost fun and the desire to play it, as I couldn't wreak a concrete havoc on the map before -winning-.
A4: Networks wasn't better. I lost all my games, because I didn't get it. The stock market system didn't have any sense (Capitalism, released in 1995 so two years before A4, was great in this subject) and whatever I bought back my shares from day one or not, the company was bought and I never understood why. But the worst thing was the bugs. One of them is that sometimes at any moment, the location of one building (whatever the type) in the Asset window become incorrect for no reason, despite the fact that I can find it visually still right there. For the game and for the usage aspect only, said building has -left- the map, disabling it in the process. A factory concerned by the bug become unable to produce blocks, hotels waste my money because no customers, etc. I had to destroy and rebuild (very costly, until it happens again.
A-Train 9 was the last I tried. It wasn't buggy -or at least for the small time I played it- but there was some serious bad design choices. First, no squares on the map, you place as you wish. A problem as sometimes, the placement of your buildings can be wrong and so you can't place a new building between two already here, because it would overlap one of them by ONE PIXEL. Also, the fact that you can't use blocks if they are few meters too high (no joke) was a serious issue in elevated maps.
It is a game series who could be good but always miss the target at the last moment. It made me wondering if the developers has played many games (and theirs) in the first place, because the issues removed the fun.
Simcity 2000 and Transport Tycoon Deluxe was way better, even if they aren't exactly A-Train.
reply
A-train series in general is. lacking. I mean, they are decent games but they are never good enough to make me stay playing at it.
A-train (1st one) had a serious annoyance: you won once your account has 50 M$ and no continue. I had to use PCTOOLS to hexahack savegames and/or waste money all the time so I could play longer. It was so ANNOYING as I just didn't get the reason why a so low goal was decided. I lost fun and the desire to play it, as I couldn't wreak a concrete havoc on the map before -winning-.
A4: Networks wasn't better. I lost all my games, because I didn't get it. The stock market system didn't have any sense (Capitalism, released in 1995 so two years before A4, was great in this subject) and whatever I bought back my shares from day one or not, the company was bought and I never understood why. But the worst thing was the bugs. One of them is that sometimes at any moment, the location of one building (whatever the type) in the Asset window become incorrect for no reason, despite the fact that I can find it visually still right there. For the game and for the usage aspect only, said building has -left- the map, disabling it in the process. A factory concerned by the bug become unable to produce blocks, hotels waste my money because no customers, etc. I had to destroy and rebuild (very costly, until it happens again.
A-Train 9 was the last I tried. It wasn't buggy -or at least for the small time I played it- but there was some serious bad design choices. First, no squares on the map, you place as you wish. A problem as sometimes, the placement of your buildings can be wrong and so you can't place a new building between two already here, because it would overlap one of them by ONE PIXEL. Also, the fact that you can't use blocks if they are few meters too high (no joke) was a serious issue in elevated maps.
It is a game series who could be good but always miss the target at the last moment. It made me wondering if the developers has played many games (and theirs) in the first place, because the issues removed the fun.
Simcity 2000 and Transport Tycoon Deluxe was way better, even if they aren't exactly A-Train.
reply
Xegethra
I wish there were more games that focused on public and mass transit to build a city. No building placement unless it part of the network, no zoning but where you place various depos will influence those indirectly and you get to place bus lines down and things. . Similar to how Cities in Motion was but also like how A-Train is. Also no road placement either, you work with what the game generates. You see the motorway get longer. then you see roads get rearranged over time, that motorway, now has an elevated section and is bulldozing through an old district, changing everything around it. The new on off ramps affect the buildings and road layouts too. all because you are placing rails and train related buildings as well as the public transport options.
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I wish there were more games that focused on public and mass transit to build a city. No building placement unless it part of the network, no zoning but where you place various depos will influence those indirectly and you get to place bus lines down and things. . Similar to how Cities in Motion was but also like how A-Train is. Also no road placement either, you work with what the game generates. You see the motorway get longer. then you see roads get rearranged over time, that motorway, now has an elevated section and is bulldozing through an old district, changing everything around it. The new on off ramps affect the buildings and road layouts too. all because you are placing rails and train related buildings as well as the public transport options.
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Risingson
You don't know how many of us played this game without a manual and sorted everything out. Cmon, it was the 90s, we sorted out flight simulator games without manuals! :D
My favourite part of A-Train is that it is one of the few economic strategic games where it plays not much for competition, but for collaboration: if you get rich, the rest gets richer, and the reward is seeing how a town grows because you are putting a supply line in it. It is so different to the sum zero strategy games that I am SO tired of.
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You don't know how many of us played this game without a manual and sorted everything out. Cmon, it was the 90s, we sorted out flight simulator games without manuals! :D
My favourite part of A-Train is that it is one of the few economic strategic games where it plays not much for competition, but for collaboration: if you get rich, the rest gets richer, and the reward is seeing how a town grows because you are putting a supply line in it. It is so different to the sum zero strategy games that I am SO tired of.
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Jon
I ported A-Train from the NEC PC-9801 (Japan's version of the IBM PC) to DOS for Maxis, when I was like. 20-ish.
It was my first real programming gig, and by far the most complex thing I'd worked on to date. Some of those bugs were mine. sorry.
One of your other videos on Sim City popped up in my feed, and I saw you had a copy of A-Train on your shelf. Kinda flipped out. I got a copy on mine as well! Then I found this video. amazing.
Glad you enjoyed it. As you note, not many did.
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I ported A-Train from the NEC PC-9801 (Japan's version of the IBM PC) to DOS for Maxis, when I was like. 20-ish.
It was my first real programming gig, and by far the most complex thing I'd worked on to date. Some of those bugs were mine. sorry.
One of your other videos on Sim City popped up in my feed, and I saw you had a copy of A-Train on your shelf. Kinda flipped out. I got a copy on mine as well! Then I found this video. amazing.
Glad you enjoyed it. As you note, not many did.
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SIBUK
I absolutely loved this game back in the day. I played it to death. I always used to end up playing the first scenario though for some reason, but I would end up filling the map so that almost every single square had a building on it. I used to get a really magical feeling watching the seasons change and seeing Santa fly across the sky on Christmas Eve, but now as an adult I dont think I could ever get that feeling again and makes me quite sad actually. I miss those days.
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I absolutely loved this game back in the day. I played it to death. I always used to end up playing the first scenario though for some reason, but I would end up filling the map so that almost every single square had a building on it. I used to get a really magical feeling watching the seasons change and seeing Santa fly across the sky on Christmas Eve, but now as an adult I dont think I could ever get that feeling again and makes me quite sad actually. I miss those days.
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moonshock
I played this game and LOVED it! I just couldn't understand why it never sold but with its high learning curve, I guess that in and of itself would be a good reason. That or Maxis was flooding the market with simulation games and this one didn't get as much attention as the others. Hell, I owned EVERY Maxis game save for SC3000.
. yes, sadly this includes the abomination known as SimCity 5. What a train wreck that was. no pun intended.
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I played this game and LOVED it! I just couldn't understand why it never sold but with its high learning curve, I guess that in and of itself would be a good reason. That or Maxis was flooding the market with simulation games and this one didn't get as much attention as the others. Hell, I owned EVERY Maxis game save for SC3000.
. yes, sadly this includes the abomination known as SimCity 5. What a train wreck that was. no pun intended.
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spiff2268
I had this on the PS1 and loved it. My favorite thing was to lay tracks to an area, buy all the property, start all kinds of businesses and watch to property values skyrocket. I'd then sell the businesses for a healthy profit. Next, I'd take up all the tracks stopping service to the area, and laugh maniacally as the property values would plummet.
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I had this on the PS1 and loved it. My favorite thing was to lay tracks to an area, buy all the property, start all kinds of businesses and watch to property values skyrocket. I'd then sell the businesses for a healthy profit. Next, I'd take up all the tracks stopping service to the area, and laugh maniacally as the property values would plummet.
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fanjoy
The game mirrors how transport companies in Japan shaped its geography post war. One of the reason why Japan's mass transport remains the train instead of a web of roads and cars like the US is their transport giants invested in the station surrounding to attract workers to move next to the stations. Japan is quite a heaven for train geeks.
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The game mirrors how transport companies in Japan shaped its geography post war. One of the reason why Japan's mass transport remains the train instead of a web of roads and cars like the US is their transport giants invested in the station surrounding to attract workers to move next to the stations. Japan is quite a heaven for train geeks.
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Pseudo
That takes me back. I remember seeing A-Train back in the day. but had forgotten it existed until I saw you mention it in another video. I'd love to play a modern reboot of the series if they did it right. Keep the charm and the fun parts of the gameplay, fix the annoying stuff. It could be amazing.
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That takes me back. I remember seeing A-Train back in the day. but had forgotten it existed until I saw you mention it in another video. I'd love to play a modern reboot of the series if they did it right. Keep the charm and the fun parts of the gameplay, fix the annoying stuff. It could be amazing.
reply
nEthing4Her
I had this game. Never seriously played it, was too busy with RRSim, etc, lol. But I gotta say, I do remember that the packaging and put-together was stunning. But then, Maxis packaging and inclusions were right up there with the likes of Infocom and MicroProse.
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I had this game. Never seriously played it, was too busy with RRSim, etc, lol. But I gotta say, I do remember that the packaging and put-together was stunning. But then, Maxis packaging and inclusions were right up there with the likes of Infocom and MicroProse.
reply
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