Railroads

[Caligastia]

I remember in Civ1 railroads would give you more food on each square you built them on. This is no longer the case in Civ2. Is there any point in building railroads all around your cities in civ2 or should you only build one line between cities?

[drake]

You get a trade bonus from the railroads! Keep building em'!

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I am the one you warned me of

[Mercantile]

only build them where needed, otherwise you leave yourself open to an invasion of howies or tanks and god only knows what else those crazy warmongers have in their pockets

[Caligastia]

quote: Originally posted by drake on 12-11-2000 03:13 PM You get a trade bonus from the railroads! Keep building em'!

What form does this trade bonus take? I cant see any difference between the trade of a square with railroad and a square with road.

[kcbob]

My understanding is that you definitely get additional trade arrows.

As to invasion from opposing forces, I don't see this as too much of a problem. You would still want RR between cities. If you're not playing ICS, the opposing AI could still move quickly from one city to the next. And if you are playing ICS, the issue of using RRs to get from one city to the next is somewhat moot.

BTW. I am pleased to announce that my post count, with this posting, is now 1000!!!

The king is dead!! Long live the king!!!

*edit*

AARRGGHH!! I'm still at Prince.

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Frodo lives!
[This message has been edited by kcbob (edited December 11, 2000).]

[DaveV]

In Civ 1, railroads increased trade, food, and shields by 50%. In Civ 2, that's been cut waaay back to just increasing shields by 50%. For the food benefit, you need farming and supermarkets; for the trade benefit, you need superhighways.

In the rare game where I get as far as railroad, I'll build a single trunk line to help me move units instantly from one side of my civ to the other. And, if my settlers/engineers get really bored, I might railroad a few squares that are producing two or more shields. As others said, a railroad can be used by an attacker to wipe out your civ in a flash.

Edit: another difference between Civ 1 and 2 is that your cities count as railroad squares. So it's a good idea to have your trunk line pass through cities; if the bad guys wipe out your city, it breaks their invasion path.
[This message has been edited by DaveV (edited December 11, 2000).]

[Smash]

sorry no trade bonus for RRs.Only sheilds.And only for squares that produce more sheilds.RRing everything is useless.Single line thru cities(as mentioned) and on sheild squares.Forests,hills,mountains and sheild specials(buffalo,coal etc)

Try airbases instead.RR+Farming at same time.A cheat but against AI who cares?
[This message has been edited by Smash (edited December 11, 2000).]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

quote: Originally posted by Smash on 12-11-2000 06:30 PM sorry no trade bonus for RRs.Only sheilds.And only for squares that produce more sheilds.

Even more specifically, it's a 50% bonus and the calculation rounds down; so you need at least two shields on a square before the railroad bonus kicks in. Makes the incredibly extensive railroading the AI does seem like its stupidest act -- and that's saying something!
[This message has been edited by Rufus T. Firefly (edited December 12, 2000).]

[Mercantile]

Its better this way. Civ1 was too easy with the railroad bonus. I think it is more realistic this way, but why the ai still covers its turf with rail is beyond me

[DrFell]

i thought the early versions of civ2 had the trade bonus, and it was taken out because it was thought too much of an advantage. maybe im wrong... also i thought the reason they did away with that food bonus was to get rid of those 'ugly' railroads on every square.. too bad the ai doesnt listen to this, i hate seeing every square covered in railroads.
[This message has been edited by DrFell (edited December 15, 2000).]

[Laertes]

I seem to recall reading that a railway connection between two cities increases the one-off trade and research bonus earned by a freight.