Many players (including myself) feel that the train system limits strategy once achieved. I have thought about how this shoul dbe changed and came up with a few things that should go with it 
I had been thinking for a bit on how I would like to see both distance and size of the city have an impact. My logic is simple here. Distance is the obvious (this is in fact the whole problem... Sending your entire military clear across the continent in one turn). Size because I feel that a big city has alot of trains headed towards it. therefore it should cost little time or resources for the government to send its military to it.
Its like this... Say you live in New York. A train ticket to New York City can be bought for just about any hour of the day... But if you want to go to teh boondocks you may have to wait a day or two since the trains are limited to there.
Well I have decided that direct connection to size is to complicated since it is often likely to have a large city next to a small city... But transportation to either should be about the same. So here is what I came up with starting with changes to not just the railways.
Two additions to Roadway use and construction:
1.
Automobile Acheivment-
Leads to the building of Asphalt Roads. These Roads are changed much like Railways are constructed currently. There use however is signifigantly different. They simply double the effectiveness of the Road (i.e. 1 movment units can move 6 on an ALL Asphalt Road).
2.
Sophisticated traffic laws Acheivment(er something like that)
Allows Highways. Highways do not need to be built. Once acheived all roads (ashphalt or not) are doubled for effectiveness. So if a 1 Movment Unit is traveling on an All asphalt road and this achevment has been acomplished it can effectively travel 12 tiles!
Ok now for the big changes to Railways.
Firstly when Railway construction is acheived it leads not to Railway construction but rather 'Train Stations', Build 'Train', and construct Rail Route. The idea remains much the same in that it is one turn movement.. However.. To where depends (read on)
Train Station:
Rather than allow fast effective movement to any city only cities with Train Stations and are directly connected by a train route can use one turn access.
Build Train:
Each train Station comes with one train. However, a city can build more trains (up to a limit.. Maybe 2 or 3 is max total). Each train can hold so many units (say 5 to 10) and can travel along one of the cities train Routes Once per turn.
Construct Rail Route:
A rail route can only be constructed in certain areas. Firstly it must be constructed with a road already in place (DOES NOT REMOVE THE ROAD!!!). Nextly they must be cost bennificial. This means that one can not build a direct route for two cities bypassing multiple cities inbetween. In stead the route must go directly to the nearest city.
A valid route algorithm is constructed as follows. Label shortest Road path to the closest city as a valid route.
Check the 2nd closest city and others outwards until a succession of no match is found (succession meaning a few no matches or something) as follows,
if the route to the current station being checked has a route 1/4 (or less... ofcourse is number should be tested) the distance to a station which has made a route for the station being checked do not match it.
The idea here is to only allow for routes to be made beween cites in which are logical. Allow you can travel by train from Chicago to Houston you will hav eto stop in many cities along the way.. And this will also slow your trip down.
Routes should be able to be build directly from city production OR from worker help.
Upgradable!
Now for the kicker.... This is what will bring the train system to its full effectiveness. Although I think with the initial discovery of Railways they will be very effective and usefull espeacially in a time of war.
eventually Express Way sytems should be acheived. This would allow for an 'Expressway Station'. This train stations will use the old railroutes (so no need to build more) and come with their own train also. Again more express trains can be built.
Express trains can go directly from once express station to another express station.
Well thats it
Hope you like my idea and I hope something simular gets implimented.... Cause as I said. The current mobility for later games kills the strategy. I think this system would slow that process down and actually add strategy durring the process... For example
What city to focuss on building routes first? What city should build alot of trains? Which cities need the express stations the most? And then of course sacking your oppenents cities with trains
I had been thinking for a bit on how I would like to see both distance and size of the city have an impact. My logic is simple here. Distance is the obvious (this is in fact the whole problem... Sending your entire military clear across the continent in one turn). Size because I feel that a big city has alot of trains headed towards it. therefore it should cost little time or resources for the government to send its military to it.
Its like this... Say you live in New York. A train ticket to New York City can be bought for just about any hour of the day... But if you want to go to teh boondocks you may have to wait a day or two since the trains are limited to there.
Well I have decided that direct connection to size is to complicated since it is often likely to have a large city next to a small city... But transportation to either should be about the same. So here is what I came up with starting with changes to not just the railways.
Two additions to Roadway use and construction:
1.
Automobile Acheivment-
Leads to the building of Asphalt Roads. These Roads are changed much like Railways are constructed currently. There use however is signifigantly different. They simply double the effectiveness of the Road (i.e. 1 movment units can move 6 on an ALL Asphalt Road).
2.
Sophisticated traffic laws Acheivment(er something like that)
Allows Highways. Highways do not need to be built. Once acheived all roads (ashphalt or not) are doubled for effectiveness. So if a 1 Movment Unit is traveling on an All asphalt road and this achevment has been acomplished it can effectively travel 12 tiles!
Ok now for the big changes to Railways.
Firstly when Railway construction is acheived it leads not to Railway construction but rather 'Train Stations', Build 'Train', and construct Rail Route. The idea remains much the same in that it is one turn movement.. However.. To where depends (read on)
Train Station:
Rather than allow fast effective movement to any city only cities with Train Stations and are directly connected by a train route can use one turn access.
Build Train:
Each train Station comes with one train. However, a city can build more trains (up to a limit.. Maybe 2 or 3 is max total). Each train can hold so many units (say 5 to 10) and can travel along one of the cities train Routes Once per turn.
Construct Rail Route:
A rail route can only be constructed in certain areas. Firstly it must be constructed with a road already in place (DOES NOT REMOVE THE ROAD!!!). Nextly they must be cost bennificial. This means that one can not build a direct route for two cities bypassing multiple cities inbetween. In stead the route must go directly to the nearest city.
A valid route algorithm is constructed as follows. Label shortest Road path to the closest city as a valid route.
Check the 2nd closest city and others outwards until a succession of no match is found (succession meaning a few no matches or something) as follows,
if the route to the current station being checked has a route 1/4 (or less... ofcourse is number should be tested) the distance to a station which has made a route for the station being checked do not match it.
The idea here is to only allow for routes to be made beween cites in which are logical. Allow you can travel by train from Chicago to Houston you will hav eto stop in many cities along the way.. And this will also slow your trip down.
Routes should be able to be build directly from city production OR from worker help.
Upgradable!
Now for the kicker.... This is what will bring the train system to its full effectiveness. Although I think with the initial discovery of Railways they will be very effective and usefull espeacially in a time of war.
eventually Express Way sytems should be acheived. This would allow for an 'Expressway Station'. This train stations will use the old railroutes (so no need to build more) and come with their own train also. Again more express trains can be built.
Express trains can go directly from once express station to another express station.
Well thats it
Hope you like my idea and I hope something simular gets implimented.... Cause as I said. The current mobility for later games kills the strategy. I think this system would slow that process down and actually add strategy durring the process... For example
What city to focuss on building routes first? What city should build alot of trains? Which cities need the express stations the most? And then of course sacking your oppenents cities with trains
).
