About Railroad Tycoon II

Since the invention of the wheel, man has been obsessed with finding faster and more efficient ways of transporting people and goods to distant destinations. The ancient Romans used ruts or grooves in their roads to improve the flow and speed of traffic. In the 1600s, miners laid down wooden planks on which they led horse-drawn carts to lighten their workload, and increase the speed at which they could extract coal and other raw materials from the mines. However, few things changed the world as dramatically and as quickly as did the introduction of steam power in the 1700s, and the invention of the steam-powered locomotive in 1804. Initially replacing the horse for freight work and thus earning the long-lived moniker "the Iron Horse," the steam locomotive and the railways on which they ran revolutionized the means of transportation and inspired visionary entrepreneurs and generations of song writers. Virtually overnight, it became feasible to haul cargo over great distances, and the railroad industry quickly became a cash cow for landowners and the railroad barons themselves. For the first time, long-distance travel was a reality, and new industries, folklore, and legends were created to cater to the needs and dreams of a more mobile population. Railroad Tycoon II takes you back to this momentous period in human history. You slip into the role as chairman of your own railroad, and it is your job to be better, faster, and just plain smarter than your competitors. Good business sense is a must, but so is a healthy dose of guts to go for the glory of building and ruling your own iron empire. As your fledgling empire grows, youll have the chance to bring rail travel to the cities of your choice, supplying them with the goods they need. Youll also be given various tasks whose completion depends upon your ability to think faster than your competitors, make allies out of enemies, and above all, satisfy your shareholders. The stock market is another area where you can pad your fortune, or grind your rivals into dust. You can even hire managerseach with unique bonuses that contribute to your successto assist you with everyday operations. There are as many ways to accomplish your goals as there are individuals playing the game, and each scenario wont play the same way twice, resulting in a fresh game play experience every time. Once

Laying Your First Track

Now that youve started a company, its time to get down to business. The first thing you need to do is find a suitable route. Youll find the city of Slough ideally situated to be the center of your new empire. Slough is near the far south central part of the map and just west of the city of London. 1. With the game paused, click the Lay Track iconthe top icon on the left side of the main interface that looks like railroad tracksto start laying track. Your mouse cursor will change to a track icon. 2. The List Box gives you two track options, Single Track or Double Track. Select Single Track for now. The third option is bridge type, which is chosen by clicking one of the two icons on the right side of the List Box. Select Wooden Bridges (the top image).
3. To lay track, place the cursor between the sheep farm and the cattle ranch just to the east of Slough, then click and hold the left mouse button down. As long as you keep the mouse button down, you can move the mouse cursor around the screen, dragging your track around with it. Drag the cursor towards Oxford (further west), the next destination. Youll notice that there are white, green, and yellow numbers all along the track. The white numbers are the costs for each piece of track. The green and yellow numbers are the grade (steepness) of that section of track. Yellow numbers are steep (red are the steepest), which will slow your trains down. You dont want a steep grade, so before you release the cursor, press the ESC key to clear the proposed track. Now, click and drag smaller sections of track, releasing the left mouse button at the end of each short section. Trace your track around the hill.
4. When you think your track route looks good, click on the track button again (top left) to exit out of tracklaying mode. TIP: The tabs at the bottom of the Center List Box will take you to the detail screens for trains, players, and companies, by double-clicking on an item in the List Box. Clicking the left or right arrows at the bottom of this view moves you from station-tostation, train-to-train, player-to-player, or company-tocompany. These views are very useful for fast management of everything.

IndustriesBuy them to pad company coffers and increase your holdings. FinancesBe a smart manager and run a solid, profitable business by maximizing revenue and return on investment. Personal WealthIncrease it by good management and mastering the Stock Market. CompetitorsBury them by doing all of the above. For more detailed information about any of the topics covered in this tutorial, read the rest of the manual (Oh come on, youve read this far already!) A few options youve seen in this tutorial, such as buying industries, buying stock on margin, and short selling, are only available if you set up a game on the expert financial and industrial models in the options panel. If youre playing the campaign, they arent available until a few scenarios into it. Weve given you a taste of everything here, though you wont be able to use every option in every scenario. >Chapter 2<
3. THE MAIN MENU >Table of Contents<
In this chapter: Navigational Aid Main Menu Options Single Player Multiplayer Campaign New Scenario Options Navigational Aid

Main Menu Options

The main menu screen in Railroad Tycoon II gives you five options: Single PlayerSelect this option to start a single-player campaign or scenario. MultiplayerThis option enables you to play with multiple human opponents. The multiplayer option is discussed in detail in Chapter 9, Multiplayer (page 65). EditorThe Railroad Tycoon II map editor enables users to customize or build their own maps for the game. Click here to access it. This option is covered in Chapter 10, Using the Map Editor (page 71). High ScoresClick here to view the high scores for the game. CreditsTake a look at the hard-working folks that brought you this game. QuitSelecting this option will immediately return you to Windows.

Single Player

To start a single-player game, click Single Player on the main menu screen. The next menu will appear, giving you four options to choose from: New Campaign, Load Campaign, New Scenario, and Load Scenario.

New Campaign

Railroad Tycoon IIs campaign mode enables you to play through 18 individual scenarios, designed to be played consecutively. The first few scenarios start off fairly simple, then escalate in difficulty. To start a new campaign:
4. Click New Campaign on the Single Player menu. 2. Choose a difficulty. We suggest Normal Difficulty if youre experienced with strategy games, or Easy Difficulty if youre not. Stay away from Hard Difficulty until youve played at least one campaign all the way through. Note: You cant change campaign difficulty after youve started, so choose carefully. 3. Youll start with the first scenario, "The Iron Seed." Choose one of the available bonuses from the list below. The bonuses available will change from scenario to scenario throughout the campaign, and can be key strategic choices. 4. Click Play this scenario to launch the game and start the campaign. Skip to Chapter 5, The Main Interface (page 41), before you begin play. Load Campaign If youve already started a campaign and saved it in progress, click Load Campaign to bring up a dialog box with a list of

Lay Track The first icon is used to place track on the map. Click on the icon, and your cursor turns into a representation of section of railroad track. Click at one endpoint of your track, hold the left mouse button down, then drag the mouse cursor to your destination, and release the button when you have the layout you want. Track can be laid between any two points, but cant be laid over oceans or through buildings. It also will not be laid if you cant afford itas you lay track, the current cost of it is displayed below the List Box tabs. There are a few choices to make when laying track: Type of TrackSelect your preference from the List Box before laying your track. Lay Single track on short routes that only one train is likely to use. Double track is a must for busy routes, especially those connected to large stations. In later scenarios, you may choose to lay electrified track, which costs more, but allows the use of fast, efficient electric engines. Bridge TypeWooden, Stone, and Iron bridges will become available as the game progresses. Select the type you prefer from the icons in the right side of the List Box before laying your track. Go with Wooden bridges to start with, then upgrade them later as you upgrade your track. Wooden bridges are cheap to build, but can only support single wide track, and force trains to slow down greatly as they pass over. Avoid building bridges whenever possiblethey can be as much as ten times as expensive as regular track. CostWhen you begin laying track, you will see a set of cost numbers displayed in white along the track as you lay it. In addition, the total cost of the track segment will appear below the List Box tabs. Keep your track cost down so you can spend money on more routes. Track cost is increased by steep grades, heavy forests, deserts, and other hostile terrain. TIP: You must own a company BEFORE you can build track. GradeIn addition to cost figures, track grade will be shown along the track as you lay it. Ideally, these numbers should be green, which translates to a flat grade. Yellow numbers can be all right if theres no other way to get where youre going, but red numbers are big trouble. A grade greater than 4.0 is considered steep, and should only occur if the obstacle is unavoidable. Anything higher than 4.0 will kill most routes, in the early 1800s, when locomotives arent very powerful, but can be acceptable later as locomotive power increases.
Build a New Station Clicking this icon changes the cursor to a set of builders tools. In addition, the default station size is selected, and the cursor drags a color-coded representation of that station across the map. You may choose to place your station on existing track or out in the open (where you can connect to it later). If the station is colored green, it is in a valid location, with a valid connection to existing track. If its colored yellow, it is in a valid location, but has no track connection. If its colored red, the station is in an invalid location (such as over water, or overlapping an existing building). Move the station around until you find a satisfactory location for it. Surrounding the station cursor youll notice a gold circle. This is the stations collection area, and it varies with the size of the station. A collection area graphically represents the area that a particular station will collect resources from. Make sure to place stations so that their collection areas cover desirable resources.

Available station sizes are shown in the List Box, along with their associated cost: Small Station ($50K)Use these for single resources, or areas where resources are very close together. Medium Station ($100K)These are good for small cities, since youll want to include as much housing as possible in the collection circle. Large Station ($200K)Use these for hubs or large cities. In addition to these choices, you can also select a stations architecture from the six selections in the right side of the List Box. Your choices here are Default, Victorian, Colonial, Mission Revival, Tudor, or Kyoto Revival. Default will automatically choose the architecture best matching the geography. The different architectures are visual onlythere is no impact on the gameplay from the different architectures. Below the station architectures, you can choose the stations facing. The center square is the default, which attempts to autorotate the station to best fit its surroundings. The eight surrounding boxes force the station to a particular facing (useful when youre trying to fit the station into a tight spot).
Bulldoze Objects Things wont always go the way you planned, so its a good thing you can do something about it. Bulldozing is done by clicking the Bulldoze objects icon, selecting a brush size (area of effect) from the List Box, and then clicking on the object you want to demolish. You can bulldoze almost any object, including resources, so be very careful how you use this tool. Youll have to have enough cash on hand to pay for the demolition.
Map Overview Clicking the Map Overview icon brings up a list of five different overlays you can view on the map. From the List Box, you can select:
Resource MapWhen you select this overview, all the resources in the game appear in the List Box. Passing the cursor over each one in the List Box will highlight them on the map. White text indicates a supply of the resource, and yellow text indicates a demand for it. You can toggle resources to stay on by clicking on them, or if you want them all to overlay on the map, select All. You can clear your selections by clicking Clear. Station StatusesWhen this overlay is selected, a small box appears near each station on the map. This box displays the current supply at that station, enabling you to see at a glance where additional trains or resources are needed. Track Grade MapThis overview toggles the track grade map on or off. This is the same grade map you see when you lay track without the cost numbers to clutter it up. * Traffic DensityThis overview helps you avoid high-traffic routes by showing traffic density on the tracks. Track by CompanyThis overlay shows how much track is owned by highlighting the track in the main window for the

demands everything that a town does, plus autos, cement, paper, oil, and coal. Note that houses are the only type of industry you can not buy.

The Role of Stations

Stations serve as your anchors within the economy. They enable you to pick up and deliver cargo from buildings located near them, and they service and maintain your trains, keeping your entire operation running efficiently.
Cargo Pickup and Delivery Both the stations and the buildings they service are somewhat representative. In the case of buildings, one factory on the game map might represent the entire Detroit area auto industry. One large station represents not only a station and accompanying facilities, but also a small network of feeder lines and sidings snaking out through the city to pick up cargoes from the major industries. Its entirely possible to build multiple stations with overlapping service zones. If a building sits within the zones of two different stations, it will ship out through whichever station has a train ready to accept it. Thus if an opponent puts down a big station in New York or London, you can outfox him by putting your own station nearby and doing a better (and faster) job of picking up cargoes. If a railroad does a particularly good job of servicing the industries around a particular station, the surrounding area will grow, adding new buildings and increasing in size.
Servicing Trains Like any other complex mechanical device, trains need a lot of care to perform optimally. In Railroad Tycoon II, train servicing consists of three elements: water, sand, and oil (a proxy for general maintenance), provided, respectively, by water towers, sanding towers, and roundhouses. For more information on the uses and effects of these items, see Chapter 6: Trains. All of these structures can only be built at stations. You will generally want to have at least one of each type of service building somewhere on your lines, unless youre running all diesel and electric trains, in which case water towers are unnecessary. However the buildings are expensive, and youll want to use them efficiently. Roundhouses, in particular, are the most expensive, but a train only needs to visit one occasionally (usually once every two to three years), so you can probably get away with one of them on a small line. There is one important difference between how trains use stations for pickup/delivery, and how they use them for servicing. A train must actually stop at a station to pick up or deliver cargo. However, a train only needs to pass through a station to be serviced by ita full stop is not necessary. The Station Detail Screen is the primary screen used for planning and monitoring pickups and deliveries, and for building service buildings and other support structures. When you purchase improvements, you can purchase one improvement at a time, or multiple improvements. Clicking an improvement and selecting Purchase will only purchase the improvement you clicked. To purchase more than one improvement, click the checkboxes to the left of several improvements, then click Purchase to purchase more than one.

Station Detail Screen

The Station Detail Screen is accessed every time you add a new station, or when you double-click a station on the main screen Center List Box. Here you can see a 3D representation of your station as it grows. You can also buy improvements for your stations, as well as see current cargo Supply/Demand information.
Structural Improvements The 3D view shows which structural improvements are currently built for the station. You can purchase more structures by clicking on the Buy button. This will bring up a list of currently available structures. Clicking a structure and selecting Purchase will only purchase the structure you clicked on. Click the check boxes to the left of several structures, then click Purchase to purchase more than one. In addition to the train-servicing structures, several other structures increase passenger revenue, decrease turnaround time, or decrease the effect of delays upon certain cargoes. (If you store the cargo well, your customers will be less upset with a slow delivery.) Some improvements are not available until later dates.

Cargo Supply/Demand

At the bottom of the screen is a list of cargoes supplied and demanded by the station. On the left are cargoes supplied. Each car shown represents one carload available for pick-up. If there are more than four cargo types available, the additional types will be shown as text only. If a cargo type name is shown with no cargoes above it or a zero quantity, it means that the cargo type can be available there, but none currently are. In some cases, you only have to wait a while for the cargo to show up. In other cases, you must supply certain raw materials to the station in order for the cargo type to be produced.
To the right are shown the cargoes demanded by this station. This is an aggregate of the demand of the individual buildings around the station. Certain types of demand only occur when enough houses are within the area of effect of a single station. Four houses near one station constitutes a town, demanding food and goods, among other things. Eight houses constitutes a city, demanding everything a town demands, plus autos, paper, and other products. If you chose the Expert Industrial Model option when you started the game, then a number of cars or a simple textual number will be shown next to each cargo type demanded. This is the demand level, which ranges from 0 to 9. The higher it is, the greater the price the station will pay for that item. If a station is oversupplied with an item, the demand level will fall, and the price will fall along with it. To the right of the Demand section is a From/To section, with coins representing the total value of cargoes hauled from and to this station during the current year. To make those coins really pile up, youll need well-run trains to use your well-planned stations, which brings us to Chapter 6, Trains. <Chapter 5>

Thats it! Be aware that if you think the computer players are tough, human opponents are downright brutal. Make sure you know what youre doing by playing plenty of single-player games before jumping into a multiplayer game, or youll live to regret it. <Chapter 9>
10. THE MAP EDITOR >Table of Contents<
In this chapter: Starting a New Map Loading a Map Editor Basics

Starting a New Map

Using the map editor that ships with Railroad Tycoon II is fairly straightforward, but there are many tools and options that youll need to use. This chapter will cover the basics, which should be enough to get you started. There are two ways to start editing a mapfrom scratch, and from an image. If you dont have an image to use, dont worry about it. Working from scratch will give you good experience with the editor. If you do plan to use an existing image, pay close attention to the requirements for imported images below. Start the game, and select Editor from the main menu.
Starting from Scratch If you dont have a map to import into the editor, but you have an idea what youd like to design, then starting from scratch is the way to go: 1 Select New Map from the Editor menu. You can also click Load Map to select a map from the game itself to edit. Loading a
map takes you directly into the editor, so skip the next step if you decide to load one. 2 If you chose New Map, set the Width and Height of your map to your preference, then click From Scratch to enter the editor. (If you want to use an existing image from outside the program, skip to the next section, "Importing an Image.") Importing an Image TIP: A 500 x 500 map is hugestick to something smaller for your first editing attempt. If you only have 16 MB of RAM, then keep your dimension total equal to 125,000 squares or less, for example 500 x 250 = 125,000. If you want to import a map image rather than make a map from scratch or from a game map, then click From Image when you reach Step 2 above. In order to import an image into the game, it must be an indexed, grayscale image. Nothing else will work, so convert the image in your favorite image editor before trying to import it. A sample image, the North American continent, is included with the gamewell use it for this demonstration. Railroad Tycoon II imports absolute black as the lowest points, and absolute white as the highest. Remember this when importing an image that doesnt fit this standardyoull need to convert it first. To import an image:

Map Editing Tools In the tools surrounding the editor screen, there are six map editing toolsa
Map Options tool, and seven game play buttons (you cant use these, even in the editor, until you control a company). For our purposes, well skip all the game play iconsLay Track, Bulldoze Objects, Build a New Station, Purchase a New Train, Stock Market, Control Panel, and File Optionssince they are all covered in Chapter 2, Tutorial and in Chapter 3, The Main Window. The six map editing tools are:
Raise/Lower Ground This tool enables you to raise or lower the terrain under the cursor. There are three options in the List Box when you select this tool, as well as a brush size selection panel on the right side of the List Box. The three options are: Raise or Lower GroundClick and hold as you move your mouse up or down to alternately raise or lower the terrain. Smooth Out an AreaThis takes sharp cliff edges and rough terrain features and smoothes them into more gentle curves without sacrificing height. Lower an Area to Sea LevelThis world-changing option will bring mountains to their knees. Use it to radically modify your map. Use the brush size selector to choose the area for any of these three effects.

Paint Terrain

This is the tool you use to paint various types of terrain on your map. Everything from dry, desolate deserts to lush, green grasslands are available to customize your maps. When you click this button, the List Box becomes a palette, allowing you to choose your terrain. In addition to the palette, theres a brush size selection tool on the far right side of the List Box, and two more tools as well: SolidThis paints the terrain solid with the texture you choose from the List Box. MixClicking this tool changes the palette in the List Box to mixtures of terrain, rather than solid types. Consider using this tool when you want to cover large areas without making it look too uniform.
Fill Terrain The Fill Terrain tool works much like the Paint Terrain tool, with one important differenceit completely fills the selected area, based upon the choices you make from the right side of the List Box when this tool is selected. There are five options to choose
from. You must first toggle the All or Adj. buttons on, before selecting Match, Above, or Below. In the List Box, select one of these two: AllWhen toggled on, this button fills terrain across the entire map. Useful for covering an all-land map with one texture. Adj.This toggle sets the Fill Terrain tool to fill terrain adjacent to the selected square. Then select from these three options: MatchUse this tool to fill terrain that matches the type (such as desert) of the selected square. This is useful for quick replacement of a terrain you want to change across the entire map. AboveUse this tool to fill terrain at or above the selected square. This is an elevation-based fill tool that works best for filling small areas that vary in height. BelowUse this tool to fill terrain at or below the selected square. This is the opposite of the Above tool. Use this tool to fill in your oceans quickly.

EnginesYou may want to limit the Engines that can be in the game. Any Engines left un-checked on this screen will not appear in the game for this map, unless you have set up an Event that allows them. IndustriesThis screen enables you to select only those Industries you want on your map. This wont effect any you have placed directly, but it will effect the random placement done for cities and regions. RestrictionsThe Restrictions screen contains a list of game actions that you can disallow. Restrictions are things that cant be done in this map. Checking them keeps your selections from happening. PortsThis section screen is where you set up what each port supplies and demands. Note that Ports are global in nature, so you dont set these settings for individual ports. If you set a demand and a supply for an entry, the demand must be delivered to generate the supply. RobbersUnless you want to reflect a crime-ridden society that even Superman would be hard-pressed to keep in line, dont set the Overall Robbery Level at the upper end of the scale. The Jesse James era, circa 1875, would be about 200 on this scale, while a more crime-free period would be around 30. Youre done! If youve followed this manual in order, youve seen all the commands Railroad Tycoon II and the map editor have to offer. However, the commands are just a means to an endas you play the game, youll discover that Railroad Tycoon II satisfies your urge to plan, create, and manage a high-profile business like nothing else around. Good luck!

<Chapter 10>

RAILROAD TYCOON II: The Second Century

Chapter 21.

UP & RUNNING >Table of Contents<
In this chapter: Installing Railroad Tycoon II - TSC What's New Campaigns Gameplay Changes
Installing Railroad Tycoon II The Second CenturyRailroad Tycoon II The Second Century ("RT2TSC") is an expansion pack for Railroad Tycoon II ("RT2"). You must own the original Railroad Tycoon II and have it installed in order to install and play Railroad Tycoon II - The Second Century. The system requirements and installation procedure for RT2TSC are essentially the same as for RT2. They are as followsSystem requirements:You must have either Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0 or later installed.Your computer should be a Pentium 133MHz or better.There must be at least 16MB or RAM installed.You must have a 4X (or better) CD-ROM drive.Your graphics card and monitor must be capable of 1024 x 768 resolution and 16- or 8- bit color depth.You must have MS DirectX 5.0 or greater installed. If you don't, you can install it as part of the RT2TSC installation process.You must have at least 140 MB of available hard disk space. (RT2-TSC requires 140MB of disk space on top of the 130MB of disk space required by RT2 a total of 270MB is required for the pair). To install RT2-TSC on your computer:Turn on your computer and start Windows 95 or later, or Microsoft NT 4.0 or later. If you haven't already done so, install the original RT2.Remove the RT2-TSC CD from its case and place it in your CD-ROM drive.If AutoPlay is enabled, a menu will appear once the drive closes. Select Install, and then follow the on-screen instructions.orIf AutoPlay is not enabled, you'll need to manually install the program: double click the My Computer icon on your desktop, double-click the icon for your CD-ROM drive, and then double click the Setup.exe icon. Click Install when the setup screen appears, and then follow the on-screen instructions.If you have problems during installation, refer to the troubleshooting section of the Readme2.txt file on the Railroad Tycoon II CD.To uninstall RT2-TSC:Turn on your computer and start Windows 95 or later, or Microsoft NT 4.0 or later. Place the RT2-TSC CD into your CD-ROM drive.Click the Start button on the taskbar, select Settings, then Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs, select Railroad Tycoon II, then click Add/Remove to uninstall the program.

Route Waypoints Most of the time, when routing a train, you just want to pick the stations and let the computer find the best route. However, there are situations where your track grid can grow complex and you want to override the automatic route finding and specify exactly how a train should go. On the train detail screen, instead of clicking on or dragging a station's star to your route list, hold down the <Ctrl> key and drag from any point on the track to add a waypoint. Your train will travel to that point before traveling on to its next station.Game Options - Two new choices have been added to the Game Options window, under the gameplay section. Autosave - If you enable this, the game will automatically be saved (under the name "Autosave") at the interval you choose. This is a good way to recover from any mistake you might make. (of course you never make mistakes, right?)Liquidate Bankrupt Companies Normally, when a company goes broke, it is liquidated, but its track and stations stay on the map, managed by the bankruptcy trustees. In a long game, these remainders of shattered companies can clutter up the map. Enable this option to force the track and stations to be removed along with the liquidated company.Annual Report Status Because the goals of the new scenarios are often unusual or hard to track, a new section has been added to the annual report status which generally shows how well you're achieving the scenario's goals, though sometimes it shows other supplemental information as well. To see the information from that section throughout the year, in the company detail screen, for your company, turn to the Overview section, then press Next to turn to the next page, and you'll see a live report of your status. Spanning bridges You may build long spanning bridges across open water, though at a very high cost. Use this ability wisely, and you can recreate the famous Firth of Forth bridge in Scotland, or create your own engineering marvel.Editor Changes A number of additions have been made to the editor, primarily to support the more widely varied types of scenarios seen in the new scenarios. In the editor options window, under special restrictions, new choices support the metra scenarios, the war-time scenarios, and the other special scenarios. Events are also more flexible and powerful. A number of new effects have been added, and a new frequency allows updates to the annual report status page. A number of fan created web sites about Railroad Tycoon II have sprung up, many with tips for mapmaking and downloadable user-created maps. Look in the links section of www.poptop.com for an up to date listing of sites and for more information.

SOFTWARE Backup or Archiving. After You install the SOFTWARE into the permanent memory of a computer, You may keep and use the original disk(s) and/or CD-ROM (the "Storage Media") only for backup or archival purposes.
Restrictions. Other than as provided specifically in this Agreement, You are not permitted to copy or otherwise reproduce the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS; modify or prepare derivative copies based on the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS; distribute copies of the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS by sale or other transfer of ownership; rent, lease, or lend the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS; or to display the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS publicly. You are expressly prohibited from transmitting the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS electronically or otherwise over the Internet or through any other media or to any other party. You are expressly prohibited from selling or otherwise using for profit any levels, level packs, add-on packs, sequels, characters or other components or items created by utilization of the SOFTWARE's level editor and/or based upon or related to the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS. YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO REVERSE ENGINEER, DECOMPILE OR DISASSEMBLE THE SOFTWARE IN ANY WAY. Any copying of the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS not specifically allowed in this Agreement is a violation of this Agreement.
Limited Warranty and Warranty Disclaimers.
LIMITED WARRANTY. Owner warrants that the original Storage Media holding the SOFTWARE is free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use and service for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase as evidenced by Your receipt. If for any reason You find defects in the Storage Media, or if you are unable to install the SOFTWARE on your home or portable computer, You may return the SOFTWARE and all ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS to the place You obtained it for a full refund. This limited warranty does not apply if You have damaged the SOFTWARE by accident or abuse.
CUSTOMER'S REMEDY. Your exclusive remedies, and the entire liability of Owner, shall be (i) replacement of any original Storage Media with the SOFTWARE or (ii) full refund of the price paid for this SOFTWARE. By opening the sealed software packaging, installing and/or otherwise using the SOFTWARE or ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS, you hereby agree to waive any and all other remedies you may have at law or in equity. Any such remedies you may not waive as a matter of public policy, you hereby assign, or shall assign as they become available, over to Owner.

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Chapter 3

THE EXPERTS Sid Meier, Firaxis
General Game Design: Strategy Games
Do you like to use some brains along with (or instead of) brawn when gaming? This chapter is for youhow to create breathtaking strategy games. And do we have a roundtable of celebrities for you!
Bill Roper, Blizzard North Brian Reynolds, Big Huge Games Bruce C. Shelley, Ensemble Studios Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios Alex Garden, Relic Entertainment Louis Castle, Electronic Arts/ Westwood Studios Chris Sawyer, Freelance Rick Goodman, Stainless Steel Studios Phil Steinmeyer, PopTop Software Ed Del Castillo, Liquid Entertainment

Sid Meier, Firaxis

Theres a very good reason why Sid Meier is one of the most accomplished and respected game designers in the business. He pioneered the industry with a number of unprecedented instant classics, such as the very rst combat ight simulator, F-15 Strike Eagle; then Pirates, Railroad Tycoon, and of course, a game often voted the number one game of all time, Civilization. Meier has contributed to a number of chapters in this book, but here he offers a few words on game inspiration. Find something you as a designer are excited about, begins Meier. If not, it will likely show through your work. Meier also reminds designers that this is a project that theyll be working on for about two years, and designers have to ask themselves whether this is something they want to work on every day for that length of time. From a practical point of view, Meier says, You probably dont want to get into a genre thats overly exhausted.
For me, working on SimGolf is a ne example, and Gettysburg is anothersomething Ive been fascinated with all my life, and it wasnt mainstream, but was a lot of fun to writea fun game to put together.
To Meier, it all boils back down to passion:
What do you get excited about, and what are you good at? Do an RPG, not an action shooter just because its in style. Find something new and freshpublishers want to be leading-edge, too, so theyre usually receptive to new ideas. But remember, for every 20 guys who walk into the door, maybe two ideas are worth considering.

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Theres a temptation to create the ultimate game of all time, so keep your focus on a couple of cool features, make sure those are great, and leave some room for a second game.
Be sure to read Meiers advice on programming, articial intelligence, proper game testing, breaking into the industry, and more in later chapters.
Bill Roper, Blizzard North
Blizzard North VP Bill Roper is an industry veteran with countless triple-A titles under his belt, including WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness (producer), Diablo (producer), StarCraft (producer), Diablo II (senior producer), and StarCraft: Brood War (executive producer). Most recently, he has participated on the oversight team for WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos, in which he was instrumental in shaping the direction of the game. We chat in depth with Roper in Chapter 5, General Game Design: Role-Playing Games (RPGs) and Persistent Online Worlds, on role-playing game development, but here we have his inspiring and enlightening words on strategy game design, and how WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos could serve as a benchmark to others. Roper was rst asked to discuss what he personally learned from working on such epic projects as WarCraft III. Following is his thorough response.

Persistence of Vision

The main goal of WarCraft III was to create a real-time strategy game that was heavily inuenced by roleplaying sensibilities. Although we went through innumerable changes, both grand and minute, we strove to keep the concept of the game in the forefront of discussions. This often proved challenging when we would have to try to balance the needs of a strategy game with the mechanics of a role-playing game. One of the key features of the game is the Legendary Hero units, and to emphasize their importance, we originally used an over-the-shoulder camera angle and required that regular units be attached to the Hero. This gave the game a very distinct look and feel while immediately driving home the point that role-playing elements were going to play a big part in the experience. Unfortunately, we discovered that this design prevented us from doing many things that we felt were necessary to create a strategy game. While the camera angle needed to be changed, we also didnt want to lose the immersion we had attained, so we also made sure that the environment had a much more organic feel as we pulled back the camera, making it easier to strategically control multiple units while at the same time eliminating the game board feel from which many strategy games suffer. Keeping our eye on the overall vision for the project allowed us to make major changes to even key elements of the game, with the knowledge that we would end up with a cohesive and fun game design.

Letting Go

During the creative process of designing a game, you come up with thousands of great ideas and notso-great ideas. Sometimes you come up with ideas that seem like amazing groundbreaking concepts. Occasionally, these ideas just dont work. Whether for technical reasons, world continuity and design considerations, or simply because theyre just not fun to play, these ideas need to be changedor set

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aside. Sometimes, this can be a simple matter when you try something out and realize that it isnt fun or simply doesnt look right. Other times, this can be an extremely difcult decision because you can see how it might work and are willing to try and nd ways to keep the idea alive. For example, we had a major shift in the look and the associated design elements of WarCraft III after a year or so of development, when we moved away from the over-the-shoulder angle associated with Hero units. The interesting aspect of this decision was that although it probably caused some concern and confusion to our players, the development team actually found that they could now make the game they envisioned; the rest of our design concepts related to melding role-playing elements into a strategy game were basically unaffected. Dumping an idea that you have conceived, fostered, and perhaps even implemented is a painful but necessary process. Not everything works out as planned, and its difcult to admit when that gameplay mechanic you thought would revolutionize the industry turns out to be an adventure into tedium. When youre faced with the need to pull the plug on something in the gameno matter what the causeyou have to do so as quickly and painlessly as possible. Dont be afraid to scrap ideas because many times youll replace them with something far better or simply nd that [you dont need] anything there at all.
Bill Roper says that WarCraft III is one of our greatest accomplishments to date. We started out hoping to create a tting sequel to WarCraft II, and we ended up crafting a world of epic proportions. WarCraft III offers players an incredibly fun and dynamic experience.
(Used with permission by Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.)

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Taking Time for Tools
The design and implementation of the World Editor for WarCraft III was key to the successful realization of the role-playing game aspects found in the single-player campaign. The level designers worked handin-hand with the editor programmer to create a tool that was not only powerful but also easy enough for them to use day in and day out. While its not uncommon to see tools created without much thought given to the end user, the growth of the World Editor was a cooperative venture between the people making it and the people using it. This was essential, not just because we intended to ship it as a part of the game, but also because we knew that we wanted to free up our game programmers as much as possible from having to do special-case programming for the campaign. By putting a heavy focus on designing a robust tool that the level designers could use to modify their work and then immediately review it in the game, we streamlined our development process [and gained] many more chances to iterate on those designs while reducing our required quality assurance testing time [see Chapter 17, Proper Game Testing]. Its said that a craftsman is only as good as his tools, so giving your craftsmen the best possible tools will help them create the best product they can.

Is there anything that Roper wouldve done differently? We should have spent more time in designing the game before we put as many programmers and artists on the project as we did, he admits. Roper explains:
By nature, game design is a very organic and iterative process, but in our excitement to start making the game, we honestly put too many people on the project at too early a stage. Its difcult to gauge the proper numbers to assign to a project in the rst weeks and months, but the biggest lesson we learned was to put as many designers into the mix as possible. Also, keeping multiple high-end designers in addition to the level designers on the project until the end was something we didnt address until later in the development process. Fortunately, we caught this issue before it was critical, but it certainly set back our balance and campaign designs to some extent.
In addition to the Legendary Heroes and the role-playing game avor, what else makes WarCraft III stand out from other real-time strategy games? While there are many elements that go into any successful game, I honestly feel the character and emotional bond gamers get while playing WarCraft III makes it far different from any strategy game we have ever created.
Movies have come a long way in the past 20 to 30 years in terms of what can be technologically created and brought to life onscreen. Games have leaped forward in the past 5 to 10 years in terms of what can be accomplished and represented with much of that same type of technology. Games provide potential immersion mainly because theyre interactive, placing the player in control of the situation something that movies simply cant do. But movies have traditionally provided something that games dontan emotional connection between the entertained and the entertainment. This is an area where we as game developers can grow, and it was a major focus of the unit and level designers as well as the writers, cinematic artists, sound designers, and musicians on WarCraft III. In terms of gameplay, the units in WarCraft III play an even more important and unique role within the composition of an army than in any of our previous games. Even the most basic unit has some special twist that makes him different and a viable choice throughout the course of a game. The top-end units

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the Legendary Heroesare the epic leaders of those armies and can greatly inuence the outcome of any battle in which theyre employed. These special units really show how we used the sensibilities of role-playing games within a real-time strategy game as the units grow in experience, gain levels, and nd and purchase items that they carry in an inventory. They even have their own names, making them a very personal element in the scope of any game. When one of these Heroes dies in battle, a message is sent throughout the game announcing his or her defeat, and the death animation is far more grand and dramatic than those of his less-epic compatriots. Although WarCraft III is rst and foremost a real-time strategy game, these elements provide an interesting and unique gaming experience.
Roper says that in terms of making an emotional connection with the player, they spent a huge amount of time crafting a rich storyline thats expressed through the single-player campaign:
The use of pre-rendered and in-game cinematic sequences, professional voice acting, and missions that are centered around a story (and not the other way around) create a compelling game that involves not only the skills of the players, but also their feelings. As the story unfolds, both the world and the characters within undergo changes. Reaching someone on a deeper level only makes for a more satisfying experience, and this is something that other forms of entertainment do extremely well. With WarCraft III, we wanted to involve the player on many levels while still tapping into the adrenal responses that have served games so well for so many years. If we can succeed in this endeavor, we can reach a wider variety of people than just the traditional core gamer. Anything and everything that touches your life is potential fodder for the creation of a game. Did you ever get stuck on the expressway and wish you could just jump the center divider, blast through oncoming trafc, and cinematically sail into the local 7-Eleven parking lot so you could grab a Slurpee while waiting for trafc to break? Grand Theft Auto 3. Have you ever sat through a long boring dinner, lazily arranging and rearranging the vegetables on your plate into new and interesting patternseating only the ones that line up three-in-a-row? Bejeweled. Have you ever listened to Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner while staring into a clear blue summer sky? The Wyvern Riders in WarCraft III.
What about the origins of WarCraft III?
WarCraft III came from (a) wanting to expand the world we had already created and grown; and (b) not wanting to waste an exceptionally strong storyline that had been created for a canceled game. When we looked at where to go with the WarCraft universe after destroying the Dark Portal in the expansion set to WarCraft II, our creative director, Chris Metzen, set to crafting a story that would focus on what happened to the orcs who were trapped in Azeroth. Elements of the story and the background of where the orcs came from as a people were inspired by the culture and plight of the American Indians. The internment camps of World War II also played a part in shaping the background of how the orcs were marshaled and corralled after the war in Azeroth. The gladiatorial rings of ancient Rome and the way their combatants were both revered and feared as they lived out violent lives as valuable property also played a major part in shaping the character of Thrall, the main character of the orc campaign. Music, literature, television, animation, art, sports, music, food, love of debate, social interactionthese are all things that can spark ideas for a game designer. Also, playing other games is keyespecially with other people on your team. The best solos in jazz are a fusion of the mind and skill of the soloist with a

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2. Each strategy should have both a unique strength to make it cool and a unique weakness to keep it from being too powerful. Rock, paper, scissors is the best model for game balance. Our current real-time game is based around a rock, paper, scissors model for game balance. That is, unit A is really strong against unit B, but weak against unit C; whereas B is weak against A and strong against C, etc. That way, no unit is so powerful that its unbalanced. Also, all units are strong against something, so theyre cool to build in the correct context. 3. Play your game regularly. If you have multiplayer [capability], get that running early so that you can balance it. By the time our new game ships, well have had our multiplayer running for at least 18 months. Weve built a special multiplayer lab with eight workstations side by side (its modeled on the lab we saw at Ensemble Studios), and we run at least one multiplayer game a day thereoften several. We have novice days, pro days, intermediate days, freefor-all days, and so fortheveryone in the company signs up and plays. Everybody in the company gets to see their own work interacting with the rest of the game, gets to see the big picture, and has a chance to contribute to the design and balance. The progress on design and game balance was dramatic once we got the lab in, and we have plenty of time left.
Most of Brian Reynolds advice in this book is found in the chapters on programming (see Chapter 11, Programming Theory) and articial intelligence (Chapter 12, Articial Intelligence [AI]), as well as on how best to break into the industry (Chapter 21).
Bruce C. Shelley, Ensemble Studios
Bruce Shelley is a lead game designer and spokesman for Ensemble Studios, the development studio that has created award-winning and critically acclaimed real-time strategy games for Microsoft. In the past, Shelley has worked on computer games such as Civilization (Microprose), Railroad Tycoon (Microprose), and others. His latest project was the million-unitseller, Age of Mythology. Shelley offers some key tips for those starting out in the industry:
Be familiar with lots of games, but especially those most like the game you most want to design. Consider which parts of a game are working and which are not. Providing a player with interesting decisions is the rocket science of game design. If you agree, then consider whether a game youre playing or designing is providing interesting decisions. When you attempt to add a new piece to a game, ask yourself whether it will add interesting decisions for the player to deal with. When considering a new game, look at the competition rst and make lists of features they do well, poorly, or not at all. The features they do well are the minimum requirements for your game. The features they do poorly or not at all are a list of opportunities where you can differentiate your game and offer innovation. Always seek to differentiate and innovatedont clone around.

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On providing direct examples, Shelley says this:
When we set out to make the original Age of Empires (AOE), we made our lists of features that were done well, poorly, or not at all in games like Civilization, WarCraft, and Command & Conquer. From these, we built our list of must-have features for AOE, such as hidden maps, economic buildup phase, empire building, town conquest, great multiplayer, scenario editor, and differentiated civilizations. Then we built the list of features that would differentiate Age of Empires because other games were not doing them well, such as historical theme, random maps, non-cheating AI, levels of difculty, realistic graphics (not cartoonish), and multiple victory conditions. By meeting the competition where they were strong and providing clear differentiation and innovation in AOE, we created a game that was able to be quite successful in a very competitive genre (50+ RTS games in development in 1997). Competing games that fell by the side came up short mainly because they didnt sufciently differentiate and innovate from the best games in the genre already available.
Check out this screen grab from Shelleys latest, Age of Mythology, published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2002. Talk about gorgeous graphics!
(Used with permission by Microsoft Corp. and Ensemble Studios, Inc.)
Shelley says its critical for a game designer to keep these three pointers in mind when starting out:
1. Design for a broad global audience, not a narrowly focused, especially hardcore audience. The majority of game buyers are casual gamers, and too many games are beyond their skill or tastes.

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2. Within a specic genre, make your game different in terms of topic, look, and feel. At the gameplay level, innovate new features and gameplay. Dont imitate successful games only to the point of being at least as good as they are on their strong points. Create a new experience with your game. Nobody buys imitations. 3. After you have a basic design document, prototype the game quickly and thereafter design by playing. Play every day, make adjustments, get opinions, recode for tomorrow, and play again. If you have enough good gamers giving comments and your instincts as a designer are good, youll design a fun game.
Shelley supports this advice in light of his latest project, Age of Mythology:
1. Included within Age of Mythology are multiplayer games, a single-player campaign, random map Solitaire games, and a variety of game types such as death match. We believe that gamers of all skill levels and from all global PC markets will nd a satisfying way to enjoy our game. We think this is reaching out to a broad global market, as all of our past games have done. 2. Adding the mythological elements and moving to 3D technology will make our game different from other RTS games, including the Age of Empires games. At the gameplay level, we think weve innovated with myth creatures, god powers, and more subtle changes. Overall, weve made Age of Mythology both different and innovative to provide a new experience. No one will consider it a clone of something else. 3. Age of Mythology has been playable since early 2001. Since then, we continued to design the game by playing every day, making changes, and recoding through thousands of iterations.

Finally, Shelley was asked to be frank about what its like working with a powerful publisher such as Microsoftsomething many game designers are likely curious about! Shelley says the pros are that big publishers get shelf space; have marketing muscle; have PR departments; and are usually well organized for testing, localization, and manual creation. They do virtually everything better than the alternatives (small publisher, self-publishing). But he discusses some of the cons as well: They usually control the purse strings and can dictate schedule dates and budgets. Your game is just one in their portfolio. They may use it for strategic purposes good for their company, but not necessarily for yours (loss leader, bundling deals). Bruce Shelley offers advice on many other topics in this book, including writing design documents (Chapter 6, Creating Characters, Storyboarding, and Design Documents), coding realistic AI (Chapter 12), creating a good user interface (Chapter 14, The All-Important User Interface [UI] and Game Control), and breaking into the industry (Chapter 21).

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Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios
One of the computer game industrys most revered game designers is Peter Molyneux, the brilliant (and soft-spoken) managing director at Lionhead Studios. And talk about a track record! Molyneux is responsible for some of the most beloved PC games, including Populous, Magic Carpet, Theme Park, Dungeon Keeper, and the Black & White series. Molyneux is currently overseeing a number of new projects, including Project Ego, Black & White 2, Black and White: Next Generation, and The Movies. Molyneux shares some advice he wishes he was told before he got involved in this industry:
1. Come up with a concept thats easy to explain in a sentence or so. This was highlighted to me by Bing Gordon at Electronic Arts back in 1993. I was heading up to a meeting to try to sell the concept of Magic Carpet. [As we rode up together in the elevator] I said that I was looking forward to making the presentation, and Bing replied that if I couldnt explain the concept on the way up then it probably wasnt a good concept. We were on the rst oor, and the meeting was on the second oor. Games that are easy to explain and that deal with subjects people can easily understand are always going to be more successful than more abstract ideas. 2. The most brilliant concept is useless unless you can think of the way that people will play the game. In the end, game design comes down to interface designthe key to making games playable is how youll get people to interact with your concept and how simple the interface is. 3. Dont be frightened to be original and innovative. Remember that the greatest game concepts and interfaces are yet to be designed; just because everyone else has done things a certain way previously doesnt necessarily make it the right and only way to do something.

1. Design around themes that youre passionate about. Life is short, and making games is supposed to be fun. Make sure youre having fun making games, and chances are that people will have fun playing them.

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2. When youre coming up with concepts, focus more on what makes your game fundamentally fun to play, not what the story is. Understand that as a game player you rarely consider the underlying mechanics of the experience youre having. More often, you focus on the story that youre playing through. When you read a book, you rarely think about the fundamental appeal of the book; you think about the setting, characters, etc. As a game designer, the paramount rule you must obey is to make sure that the core experience is appealing before you worry about the story. If story is your only concern, write a book. 3. When making decisions about your game, ask yourself two questions: What do I think is the right thing to do? and What does the paying public think is the right thing to do? A totally uncompromising commitment to your own personal vision creates art. But art alone doesnt sell. You must make fun art.
As examples, Garden provides the following:
Homeworld had a totally freeform 3D camera. Some people loved it, but most people found it too hard to use. With Impossible Creatures, weve included the option to play with a totally freeform 3D camera, but by default the game is played from a xed viewpoint, which dramatically simplies the learning curve, thereby making Impossible Creatures accessible to a wider audience.
How can you create a new concept yet still include enough familiar concepts so the game isnt too obscure to the gamer?
Our design rule at Relic is One revolutionary step, multiple evolutionary steps. Basically, we try to do one fundamental thing that will set us apart from everyone else, then we try to do everything standard better than everyone else. In Impossible Creatures, the revolutionary leap we took was to add a totally user-created army-building system with real-world animals. The evolutionary steps are all based on the lessons we learned through our experience with Homeworld and Homeworld: Cataclysm.
Does anything about todays games irk Garden?
I think that most games (and indeed, most game designers) today are afraid to take risks. When you take risks, bad things can happen (Daikatana), but truly magical, wonderful things can happen, too (The Sims).
Later in the book, Alex Garden talks about design documents and storyboards (Chapter 6) and breaking into the industry (Chapter 21). Read more about Relic Studios, Alex Garden, and Impossible Creatures at www.relic.com.

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Louis Castle, Electronic Arts/Westwood Studios
Louis Castle is the general manager and co-founder of Westwood Studios, one of the most successful game development houses in the world. Westwood is best known for its Command & Conquer franchise, as well as Blade Runner, Monopoly, The Lion King, Earth and Beyond, and others. In early 2003, Westwood Studios become integrated with its parent company and publisher, Electronic Arts. Castle provides some advice on creating successful computer games:

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5. If I had been present at creation, I would have given some useful hints. Goodman advises knowing your limits. Recognize your strengths and passions, and take advantage of them. For example, Goodman knew his knowledge of board games was very strong when he approached Age of Empires. 6. By the mile its a trial, by the inch its a cinch. Creating a game usually follows a topdown methodology, with game vision on top of the pyramid, game ideas and features in the middle, and low-level game mechanics on the bottom. Goodman explains, There is a method to this process. The top is where the vision is generated (How about a game where youre on a desert island?); the middle is the games features (And this is what well do on this island); and the bottom, the most crucial of the three, is how to implement these ideas in the game. According to Goodman, many game designers concentrate too much on the top two levels and not enough on how the play mechanics will work in the game. The bottom level is the hardest; the implementation of the details is key, says Goodman. He also says most design docs seem to rely on the rst two levels, when the emphasis should be on the implementation of the ideas into the computer and not just the ideas themselves. 7. Take note of the future; youre going to spend the rest of your life there. For the RTS genre to move forward, Goodman says, there has to be more to the game, and not just more of the same. He cites 3D action shooters as a genre that has evolved graphically, but not in gameplay (barring a few recent exceptions). With RTS games, try to foresee what will come down the pike and work toward bettering the genre. 8. Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit. Time is your friend, says Goodman. Use your project schedule well. Age of Empires was a 1,000-day project; 500 of those were spent internally at Ensemble Studios, the other half play-testing by Microsoft. Bewarethe only thing that can kill a good game is a great game. Be realistic at the beginning of your project and keep in mind that many of the great RTS games, such as StarCraft and Age of Empires, took longer than average to complete, but look at the outcome! 9. Communicate your vision. One of the most important considerations while developing a game is communication. This is not only between a designer and his team, but between designer and publisher, the public, marketing, game critics, and testers. 10. Never put a glazed donut on a mouse pad. And other lessons learned the hard way, says Goodman. Some of his other lessons: Schedules are not more important than quality.

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Lets not tell them and maybe they wont nd out always backres; its no
different than when you were a kid.
For more information on Empire Earth and the design team at Stainless Steel Studios, visit www.stainlesssteelstudios.com.
Phil Steinmeyer, PopTop Software
For the past few editions of this book, PopTop Softwares president and lead programmer, Phil Steinmeyer, has shared savvy strategy design tips. Steinmeyer has a number of games under his belt, including Railroad Tycoon 2 and the Tropico series. When it comes to general game design, Steinmeyer says to focus on a small niche somewhere within the gaming universe for your rst project:

If you can, create something with a built-in audience that will nd your product with little marketing or distribution clout on your end, and with no big-budget competition. Some excellent niches to start in are war games, detailed 4X space games, games about semi-obscure sports or hobbies, gambling games, and so forth. Too many beginning game developers overshoot on their rst game and never get it done. First, games are rarely brilliantbetter to get something completely done and published and shoot for the moon on your second game.

Where does Tropico t in?

Tropico was my fth major game; I had a much bigger budget and a more experienced team than anybody would typically have starting out. My rst game (released in 1994) was a low-budget war game called Iron Cross. I did all the programming, most of the art and sound, and it was my rst gamea true garage effort. There was a built-in audience (World War II enthusiasts), and little big-budget competition. It didnt sell nearly as many copies as my later games like Railroad Tycoon 2 and Tropico, but it did all right given its budgetI made a decent amount for my time invested, and more important, I got my start in the industry and moved on to bigger and better things.
But is it possible to make a game easy to get into and understand while trying something new at the same time?
Its hard to dene itthis is sort of a gut feeling thing. I think Tropico was pretty good with this. The concept was quite novel (playing a Caribbean dictator, la Fidel Castro). There had been few if any games set in the Caribbean or Latin America before, and our humorous Latin/Caribbean feel was very fresh, I think. At the same time, we grounded our gameplay in previous successful titles, particularly the SimCity series, although that was only a rough gameplay guide. But we thought the millions of buyers of SimCity and RollerCoaster Tycoon would immediately be able to get Tropico just by looking at the screenshots or seeing a little snippet of gameplay.
For more from Steinmeyer, ip to Chapters 6 and 21.

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Ed Del Castillo, Liquid Entertainment
As president and co-founder of Liquid Entertainment, Ed Del Castillo juggles his management responsibilities with active participation in all aspects of product development: especially design and art direction. Liquids rst release was the eagerly anticipated Battle Realms. Before cofounding Liquid, Ed Del Castillo was probably best known as producer in charge of Westwood Studios Command & Conquer franchise, including Red Alert and its expansion packs, various ports to other platforms, and foreign language versions. Del Castillo was asked to provide three pieces of advice to a new strategy game designer looking to be successful in this industry. He responds as follows:

Go to lm school to learn how to tell a story, develop characters, light a scene, set a mood, and evoke an emotion. Never stop reading, watching, and playing everything. Consider another line of work if having a family is one of your goals!
According to Del Castillo, the most challenging obstacle when creating a real-time strategy (RTS) game is getting people to innovate:
The RTS genre has been in stagnation for so long with only micro-improvements that its hard for people to create stuff thats truly better and not just different. Overcoming it is a matter of vision. You have to have a clear picture of what youre trying to achieve.
If Del Castillo could create Command & Conquer (C&C) all over again, would he do anything differently?
Thats tough because C&C taught me so much. I think that I would change two things: A less-limiting universe. C&C is very limited, which is why you see things like Red Alert and Emperor. Theyre both attempts to use the C&C model in other worlds. More controlled presentations prior to ship. A few people, who shall be nameless, went on to great success due to their good memories and timely use of video cameras during our presentations prior to our release. It had its place and time, and Im having a hard time messing with that. The original C&C is my third favorite RTS after [Blizzards] StarCraft and [Bungie Studios] Myth.
Any pet peeves with todays strategy games?
Yes, too much iteration, not enough innovation. We need fewer people just trying to squeeze all they can out of an engine and more people crafting emotional experiences.

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As a programmer, Del Castillo offers these words for others:
Think before you act. The days of the hacker are over. Think modular, exible, expandable, wellorganized, and well-documented code. Truly grasping these tenets will make you incredibly wanted by everyone.
On articial intelligence (AI):
I think the biggest mistake you can make, and not just in AI, is to believe your own marketing. Theres no such thing as a learning AI yet. Everything is still incrementing and decrementing weighting variables on algorithms based on specic and predened data. AI is hard because most games arent in the oven long enough to bake up a proper one. I think the best AIs are written for people who understand how little time they have and work to distill the decision-making tree of a human down to the essentials for that given game. Im afraid that the only tip I have is to study the player. Most of his decisions can be simple to understand and emulate.
Del Castillo gives some examples of his past or present work that reinforce what hes suggesting here on innovation and on adding an emotional layer to a game:

Ed Del Castillo offers some helpful advice on breaking into the industry in Chapter 21.