This is probably just a backlog from the todo list.
I started a game last night in 1914 on a 256x256 .12k/tile grid. Ferry service to several cities from a central hub city. The steamship ("The Queen") claims it needs 2 station tiles, so I built in some cities 2x passenger dock and in some cities 2x passenger canal quay. Maintenance costs thus ran $600 or $144 per city.
I then ran a series of motorcoach lines in the larger city and as connections to the ferry service for more inland towns. I foolishly opted for the bus stop with post box. Monthly maintenance $144 per stop.
Needless to say, the first month was profitable, with a few thousand(?) coming in from the lines. After that I was in huge trouble because my maintenance costs (add two diesel garages for $720, two coaching stables for my half dozen boys on postal bikes at $144 ... the steam shipyard at $108 was a bargain...) and the infrastructure was running $6k. Impossible to make a profit!
Reviewing strategy this evening, the bus stops raise an eyebrow:
12 pax = $20/mo
25 pax = $108/mo
250 mail = $72/mo
25 pax+mail = $144/mo
If I want to break even, it seems I need to just stack those 12pax stops on top of each other and give up on mail entirely.
One suggestion: a diesel garage is probably at least as well equipped for a bicycle messenger boy as a horse stable is. Probably the diesel garage is even better suited due to the intricate steel parts used in bicycles. I'd let the bike boys roll out of either . . .
I suspect that for the ships I can run single-tile passenger quays (cheaper to build and maintain a canal) and I'm guessing the steamships would then be limited to pax? I can live with that.
The other nice-to-have feature that's probably a standard request would be a ledger or an "infrastructure list" that tells you where does all that money go.
I'm also curious to try those BLIMPS!! =D
-danny
