I just checked... I have over 160 hours in of this game's predecessor, so why the fuck do I feel like I have no fucking clue what I'm doing? I mean, if I was really the "CEO" of this transport company I'm supposedly the head of, the board would have fired my ass long ago.
First up though, let me just say, the game is worth the $44+ I paid. It's a solid upgrade over the previous, especially in terms of graphics. And I thought the graphics in 2 were good, so now I'm really quite impressed. And as far as those graphics working on my budget Mildred? Well I have no idea why people online are bitching about performance, I'm doing fine on high settings and I'm far from being a NASA setup. But then again, I'm not very far in the game, and that's part of my problem...
So here we go... what's wrong with it. Why am I "fever pitched?"
In Transport Fever 2, things were familiar. Now, they may not have been the most intuitive and, especially when being made aware of newer possibilities in this new iteration, they may have been down-right clucky at times, but I knew what I was doing... for the most part.
The main issue I seem to be having, overall, is, like in the game I just recently posted about (Big Ambitions), logistics. It's a branch of math, isn't it? I think it is, in a way. Well, it feels that way. I just find it cumbersome and not very, well, fun.
I don't mind a little challenge in getting product A to couple with product B to make product C to bring to market D but all these letters man, and it's sounding like fucking algebra. And when there's sub letters or conditional letters or other such variables, time limits, demand fluctuations, cost equations, expense to profit considerations, human factors, environmental conditions, etc., etc., etc. well, frankly, fuck me.
One of my biggest obstacles to my simply "having fun" is the ever-present incredible pathing shit. Trains won't just figure out how to get from point A to point B, they not only need track but that track has to be clear and if any bit of it is shared, which, realistically, is going to at some point be the case, then proper signals must be in place. What are the proper installation method for signals? The internet has a thousand different opinions and all of them are shit apparently because no matter which way I configure my tracks, my trains end up standing face to face in a game of chicken, just standing there waiting for me to "do something." And at that point, what can I do? Sell one of the trains. But the remaining one still refuses to move so something else, miles and miles down the line is blocking it. Why? I don't know. The game thinks you'll have FUN figuring it out! Isn't that why you got the game? To solve problems like this all day long? NO!! I want pretty cities with impressive rail and road networks that simply WORK! Why must I, the CEO do everything? Haven't y'all heard of delegation?
But of course, many people DO like these challenges and look at people like me as lazy or "casual" players. Well so be it. I'd like to progress to something like the modern era in the game. I'm still stuck in the Depression because my business is in a depression in having to put out all these logistic fires. And it's not just rails. Ships, trucks, and I'm sure, if I can get to them, planes as well, all are very intense in this version. Oh yes, the UI seems more simplified and streamlined, making you think the game overall has been simplified but believe you me, this is no Sid Meier's Railroads! (which is super simplistic in comparison) this is still pretty hardcore.
I keep plodding along with my first Free Game though, wanting to progress rather than just give up. I want to build something like what we see in the trailer below. I built nice networks in TF2 before, so I know I can do it. I just need to go to TF University or something. And take a pill for my fever.