EB Pronto New Version 2.x Info

EB Pronto and EBPEdit Version 2.x Information

This page lists new version information as it becomes available. Unless otherwise noted, new versions are upwardly compatible with games and maps saved with prior versions. In the form of revisions, we promptly repair all reported repeatable software problems, plus make small improvements. Version numbers employ the format Major.Minor.Revision.

Registered users of any version 2.0.x can upgrade to newer 2.0.x revisions at no additional cost by using File, Download Update in the software. Larger improvements are packaged into significant new versions for which there typically is an upgrade fee. To find the number of the version you are using, choose the Help, About... menu in the program.

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EB Pronto™ EBPEdit Map Editor

We recommend the automated upgrade. If you prefer to upgrade manually, download EBPUP.ZIP and unzip it to replace your prior version. NOTE: this download contains only the files that have changed since 1.7.x. If you need a complete copy, download EBP.ZIP instead. Note: until you register an upgrade, you are limited in the new version to 2-player matches on the USA map, or 10 rounds on other maps.

EBP - Versions 2.0.x

The revisions below were released subsequent to version 2.0.0. These upgrades are free for those who are registered users of version 2.0.x. To upgrade from 1.7.x or older, the fee is $20, payable via Paypal or conventional mail.

version 2.0.40: fixes possible blank cash box after map resize
version 2.0.39: fixes broken Replay "until round" feature; repairs rare situation in which AI would build a track segment unconnected to its network or any big city
version 2.0.38: new: Display Settings allows choice of Info box text and background colors so you can override what the operating system employs (helpful in newer versions of Windows that otherwise force black on white); may work around Windows quirk that sometimes caused Game Status window to not become visible; minor display enhancements
version 2.0.37: fixes certain trouble AI had building to cities that are teleports (such Peary on Moon map); new: the Map, More Info pull-dowm menu can display a [map]info.htm HTML file (such as ABCinfo.htm) if one exists
version 2.0.36: fixes inability of AI in some situations to build from big city to teleport (such as Scott to teleport on Moon map); minor improvements to help content display; no longer exits program if no game maps available
version 2.0.35: new: in Files window, use Local, Delete game menu to remove a saved game; improves detection and reporting of missing files; fixes unlikely failure to save a game in .ebz format if name of destination directory was short; fixes a possible missing max-move-distance oval at Water-type mileposts; fixes randomization of turn order by largest payoff or contract number (broken by 2.0.33); minor cosmetic and performance enhancements
version 2.0.34: new: Reprice delivery payoffs feature, can be accessed from the Game Setup window via the Map, Randomize / Reprice pull-down menu; functionality of Information, Map Basics has been moved to menu choices in the Information, Map Details window; fixes Pbem Nudge and Remail that could falsely complain about file not found (broken by 2.0.33); minor fixes and performance tweaks
version 2.0.33: new: Equal events variant ignores, for remainder of round, events drawn while any player meets victory conditions (this is a nice way to stop an event from clobbering your pending win); "Equal events" is enabled by default, but can be toggled off via the Game Options window; new: "Deal in deck order" variant deals contracts in their numeric order (useful for testing, and for Crayon Rails Deck Generator decks); fixes events that refer to cities on another contract (Moon's Meteor showers) that were not being handled properly; fixes possible scrambled Game Setup player info after halting a match and restarting; help contents updated; minor cosmetic and performance enhancements
version 2.0.32: improves AI play when UseFee customized via Game Options to low values like 2 or 0 (instead of usual 4); improves AI trip planning for warehoused loads; repairs a situation in which AI would move on its own track despite an active Strike event; modifies train movement distance to show actual distance while human is clicking upon move route even if lower-cost, but longer route is possible; minor UI and efficiency mods
version 2.0.31: new: mixed upper/lower case letters now permitted in names of saved games; fixes a failure to allow the proper player to rebuild track when "Rebuild chance" variant(s) enabled; minor improvement to AI trip planning when demanded load already onboard
version 2.0.30: new: if your train begins movement at a mp you do not serve, EBP will display movement distance along the track of players that serve that mp, plus your track; minor user interface fixes; mod so AI will rent opponent track a bit more
version 2.0.29: repairs the loading of a saved game concurrently with starting EBP which would improperly show "This game was started with a different version of the map..." (broken by 2.0.28, it also impacted the "Bots: sum data" Game Option); fixes private warehouse that could be improperly claimed via autobuild; minor speed enhancements
version 2.0.28: new: clicking a player name in the cash box now highlights their most recent move in the map window; mouse over the Game Status cash and net worth history graphs now scrolls the game history to the matching location; in Files window, makes cloud storage (ftp) sites editable without connecting to one first; removes date/time info from Files list when list sorted by date; mouse over a city or load name in Game Status, Display, Max Info now blinks that item on the map; minor cosmetic fixes/enhancements
version 2.0.27: new: to see the most recent track built by a player, click that player's name in the cash box, and that track will be drawn with a thicker line in the map thumbnail; for better visibility of track, removes river drawings from map thumbnail; fixes OK (done) that did not exit from Easter Egg; fixes possible game statistics confusion between similar load names, such as Oil and Oilskins; fixes victory condition check that was not properly handling WinMust groups (AOC map); fixes an uncommon way for AI to get stuck (not move) due to "reason 8"; internal speed improvements involving game history
version 2.0.26: new: clicking a player name in the cash box draws their track in the map thumbnail; small tweaks to AI for skill and speed; minor enhancements to help system
version 2.0.25: fixes rare AI problem delivering multi-demand SDs; fixes an AI improperly not moving/building due to "reason 8"; fixes an AI failure to anticipate border/region crossing fees; improves AI play when low on cash; assigns shortcut keys Ctrl+O, Ctrl+S, and Ctrl+M to File, Open, Save, and Load Map, respectively
version 2.0.24: fixes AI getting stuck thinking about multi-demand SDs; corrects minor text spacing issue in help system; upgrades Pbem to handle .ebg (uncompressed) saved games in addition to the usual .ebz; if a map has no city that can supply a Circus (NWU map), now disallows Circus Game Option; contains a Game of Life sandbox as an Easter Egg; minor AI play and cosmetic changes
version 2.0.23: improves in-game help display and search; fixes poor AI trip planning when locomotive could carry more than 3 loads (broken by ver 2.0.22); fixes the possible display of the wrong player's name in "qualifies for the EBP Hall of Fame" during Pbem; shortens default Pbem match names; fixes setting of Alt Key Text-to-Speech that was not being saved across sessions; minor display fixes
version 2.0.22: adds support for custom locomotives that can carry only 1 load; a redesigned trip-making algorithm improves AI play slightly and speeds it by up to 40% compared to ver 2.0.21, mostly of benefit to those who experiment with and test maps via AI continuous play; this is probably EBP's last major AI speed improvement (compared to ver 1.7.17, ver 2.0.22 is 2 to 5 times faster); fixes an infrequent "error 11 in bestpare" introduced with ver 2.0.20
version 2.0.21: fixes trains improperly being returned to prior cities by events that did not call for such (broken by ver 2.0.20)
version 2.0.20: during map versioning (map names longer than 3 characters) fixes inability to load saved game if map version used by that game was missing; fixes ver 2.0.19 mod that could cause abnormally high player scores on some maps; prevents AI from warehousing loads in non-medium-sized cities during private warehousing; corrects uncommon chance that AI could miscount connected big cities while game window minimized; appends _ or ~ to player names that are too similar and could otherwise disrupt properly finding them in the game history; fixes a warehousing mod (introduced ver 2.0.19) that reduced AI's ability to pick up spec loads; minor other changes
version 2.0.19: introducing "private warehousing" (Game Options) allows the first player to build at each medium-sized city exclusive control of that city's warehouse; new: displays ">" left of a contract's demand if you automove to a city that supplies that demanded load; new: mouse down or touch at left side of contract (left of the new vertical line displayed between your contracts) followed by movement no longer scrolls all contracts, this is to permit touch screen users to slide finger up/down the contract info in order to blink the respective cities; new: ferries from/to big cities now show service/connection via player color at ferry price circle (impacts AUS and AU2 maps); improves Randomize Map feature's contracts to reduce likelihood of all a contract's demands to be close cities or low payoffs; works around a Windows bug that could cause the PJB map to sometimes crash EBP; improves/expands info messages during File, Download Update; minor display tweaks
version 2.0.18: new: now supports contract sets with differing number of demands per contract; the Game Setup, Randomize Map, Edit Contracts feature would not recognize custom contract mods unless you first used the Randomize Contracts button (fixed); loading a map with more icons than the previous map could result in loss of transparency for some icons (fixed); restores Help, Registration Numbers functionality (broken by 2.0.17)
version 2.0.17: fixes Ctrl-+ and Ctrl-- keypresses that were not permitting changes to the map font size of more than 1 point; fixes an incorrect refund upon undoing movement for which a loan had been taken to pay track rental fees; load icon rendering redesigned to be ~25% faster; now all game window elements are dynamically repositioned/resized while you drag the arrow at lower-left corner of map; when an event limits movements in an area, now all players already in that area, rather than just the drawing player, are credited with an "event hit"; repairs AI that could get stuck waiting at city where an event had disallowed load pickups for remainder of match; fixes neglect upon reloading a match to initially account for event restrictions when regenerating city and load values used in AI decision making; disllows a given player from building all track segments into a small or medium city (broken by ver 2.0.0); fixes events and/or secondary events that could be dealt even when turned off (broken by 2.0.16); in the Loads window, fixes a missing RR crossing symbol atop Available Loads; fixes alternate events that were employing the Player and Only If impacts of the parent event rather than their own; removes support for WinHelp-style help, so EBP will substitute its internal help system, if needed; fixes an "Error 9 in showcards" upon discarding contracts containing other than 3 demands (UMA map); minor cosmetic changes
version 2.0.16: fixes a Strike (drawing player) event that was improperly preventing others players from moving on their own track at the strike player's mp; a barrier between ports could prevent proper function of a ferry (fixed); during movement, mouse up at port across ferry no longer auto-advances to turn's build phase; fixes possible wrong player name displayed during cash animation; now updates player rank upon each load delivery; minor AI tweaks and cosmetic changes
version 2.0.15: new: if the Cash box is narrow, only the first letter of each player's name is displayed in order to leave more room to display their onboard loads; fixes a hang if the Contracts window was open while there was a change in the number of player contracts; now supports "(any)" as a Special Demand load; new: event-based disallowance of load delivery or pick up now reflected in information displays via mouse over map and contracts; minor display and performance tweaks
version 2.0.14: during mouse over a contract load, all supply cities would not be listed above map if that load type was warehoused (fixed); other minor display fixes
version 2.0.13: fixes several contract display issues inadvertently introduced by ver 2.0.12, particularly in separate Contracts window; the goal of faster contract rendering has been attained, as witnessed by Game Replay that now runs up to 2x faster as in ver 2.0.10; small speed enhancements to AI play; given the availability of EBP's Internal help system, we are considering removing from future versions support for WinHelp-style help -- but if you would like WinHelp retained, please email us your reasoning by the end of Jan 2021
version 2.0.12: new: displays ">" left of a contract's city if that city is that player's Automove destination; new: upon clicking a player in the cash box, displays above the cash box that player's rank and borrowing (if any); fixes xspot load generation at water and desert xspot types; during 2-player Honeymoon option, now permits build into a small city for the purpose of picking up the Circus; new: supports a Region for scandal event effect load pick up; fixes Spanning Tree display (and the data tables on which it is based) for matches that employ Randomized Cities; fixes Pilgrims that failed to be reassigned to small and medium cities that had been relocated via Randomize Cities feature; increases display speed of Contracts window; minor display enhancements
version 2.0.11: new: Game, Victory Conditions now shows the number of big cities connected by each player, as well as if their cash level (when public) meets victory amount; Pilgrims picked up via a scandal-type event are now sourced from their closest supply; fixes a Loads window Scroll button failure to advance to top player when there were no Special Demands or Open Contracts; fixes a "lose all contracts" event effect that could result in one-too-many replacement contracts being dealt to the player; fixes movement distance counting thru teleports (Moon, Mars, etc.) which was off by 1 due to mod in ver 2.0.10 for upcoming maps; fixes AI that was not upgrading loco if match started with Slow Freight loco (brokern by ver 2.0.0); minor display and cosmetic improvements
version 2.0.10: new: Loads window Scroll button advances contracts display to the next player; several minor bug fixes and display changes; if EBP has trouble starting, run ebp/showstart to display startup info and please report to us what is displayed
version 2.0.9: new: Game, Victory Conditions pull-down menu reminds you of what is needed to win the game; new: mouse over a map element (such as a mountain) shows a description of that element above the cash box; fixes uncommon failure to refund track rental fee upon undo move; volcanos were being obscured by lakes and similar that shared same display location, so now volcanoes are drawn on top of the others; fixes an improper Automove message involving distance to water/snow mps; fixes events that were impacting all players when should have been limited by Region (was broken by 2.0.8); changes Mix Your Own Color hex values to RGB order (from BGR order); >Swipe> bar now shows your distance moved or build cost for this turn; improves AI's ability to handle borrowing (i.e. BorrowMax game option in use)
version 2.0.8: new: Game, Quantum Randomize pull-down menu lets you add non-deterministic randomness to EBP's random number generation at any time during play; fixes "Engine wrecked, revert to previous model" event effect that could revert twice during Web match, not log a refund (if any), or not revert at all if the player had upgraded only once; fixes inconsequential "error 9 in drawmap" introduced ver 2.0.7; fixes "Return train to last city" that was not performed if its event did not impact any mileposts; modifies "Return train to last city" so a port is also considered a "city" for this purpose (teleports are not included); fixes several problems associated with resuming a Web match; now reprompts player for movement or track build after a halted Web match is resumed; fixes uncommon problem during a Web match when a remote player pitched contracts and a series of events were drawn; when map developers employ versioning, now EBP offers the option to load a saved game into the currently displayed version of the map (if that map version is different than the one under which the game had been saved); fixes a problem in which certain custom locomotive images would not appear
version 2.0.7: new Game Options: your choice of Rebuild protection for river bridge washouts and/or any track destruction, gives each player a 1-turn exclusive chance to rebuild track where it was destroyed by an event, if the player does not rebuild, only then may opponents build that track segment; repairs the Government Stimulus Funds event effect that was overpaying; fixes a situation in which AI would rebuild its bridge before flood had ended; consolidates map settings stored in ebp.ini to one per map (a "map" being defined for this purpose by first 3 characters of its name); now remembers across sessions changes to a map's default settings you make via File, Game Options; fixes Show, Find Best Trip which was malfunctioning; speedier river and coastline tracing for events
version 2.0.6: improves restart and reconnection of Web match from a saved game; fixes failure of only-if type event effects on remote players of a Web match; mod to ocean/river/etc. jaggy drawings to match that used in map editor; fixes: mods via File, Game Options would not be saved to the current match even upon responding Yes to inquiry if such was desired; loading a map now animates closure of prior (if Zoom Settings "Animated" enabled in Display Settings); to determine which mp of a big city is its event reference mp, right-click on a city mp, choose Information, and look for "is this city's event reference milepost"; fixes a rare program hang (occurred about once per half-million player-games)
version 2.0.5: display of estimated move distance now better coordinated/consistent through turn phases; mouse-over a deliverable onboard load in Loads window now displays payoff with the "wanted at" info; fixes secondary events that were not being triggered
version 2.0.4: fixes events that were supposed to inhibit movement or building at a ferry, but were not; load icons in Loads window are now resized in proportion to the Loads window (for better viewing on high-res displays); event icons made slightly smaller to reduce overlap with text; fixes hesitating bgnd animation that could happen on some faster devices; minor cosmetic changes
version 2.0.3: attempt to autobuild to a teleport now displays a message about it not being allowed; fixes a problem building from a ferry to a teleport (broken by ver 2.0.2); tweaks spec load valuation to include a small value for loads formerly considered too distant to deliver
version 2.0.2: fixes possible overflow error in aipitch if AI blocked from building to a city; fixes failure of bridges to wash out in Flood event if that event does not disallow immediate track rebuilding; adds text size control to the Options menu of the internal help window
version 2.0.1: new: the Show, Find feature can now also find ferry port names, and text of labels on map; fixes Loads window drop down that would disappear when window resized; fixes an AI build problem involving teleport-style ferries; fixes AI reversing movement direction before eligible to do so; improves AI smarts regarding alternate and cheaper ways to rent track to an unserved city; improves AI's decision regarding track rental vs building; supports 5-character map names (as produced by EBPEdit 2.0.1); F1 key for Help enabled in more places; during continuous play, elasped time by Round is now reported in milliseconds; fixes AI's multiple builds from a given teleport; AI Stats page now includes information about event hits per player, and % of those upon winner; repairs failure introduced with ver 2.0.0 to charge for a track build-in upon building a turn's 3rd big city segment; removes zooming of map to human's automoving train if "Animate train move" (Display Settings) is turned off

EBP - Version 2.0 - Smarter and Faster

Version 2.0 was first released October 2020. Here is some of what's new:

the best-playing AI bots to date, on average winning 1 to 5 rounds sooner than in ver 1.7.x (amount varies with map and Game Options)
this is the largest jump in EBP's AI smarts from one version to the next in over 10 years
improves AI's skill in the following game aspects

when to upgrade locomotive, and upgrade type to select: will upgrade to Heavy Freight rather than Fast Freight if beneficial
choice of spec loads to carry
choice of load to drop upon event loss (derailment and similar)
trip planning for Special Demands and Open Contracts
which extra starting contracts to drop (and which to keep)
ability to reverse train movement direction when its trip plan changes due to an event
warehousing and circus strategy
when to discard contracts in hand for new ones
building end-game shortcuts to win sooner
renting opponent track during end-game to win sooner
rather than discard contracts very early in match, now AI will restart instead if opponent(s) block its desired initial track builds; this means restart rate will be higher
new advanced skills such as max-skill AI building a bit to reduce its tax bracket if tax card is pending
if you find the improved AI often too difficult to beat, you can reduce its skill level in the Game Setup window (High skill now plays about as well as Max had in the prior version)

20% to 80% AI speed boost compared to versions 1.7.x (amount varies with map and Game Options)
the Loads window now displays EBP's rating of each available load's speculative value to you (larger numbers = better) to help you learn
for more precise game replays, when a player drops and/or picks up a load, the history window now records the number of the "train car" (onboard load slot) involved
the Revolution event has been adjusted to expire all dual-events (events that have alternate events), rather than expire all Special Demands
new event effect: no movement allowed at intersections with opponent track
for those curious about best play strategies, or the map designer who is testing a map:

enabling the "Bots: sum data" option now asks if you wish to automatically spawn additional game instances for "Bots: game repeat" stat collection purposes; this handy feature obviates manual start of additional EBP instances on devices that have multi-core processors
on a modern 16-core device, EBP 2.0 can complete over 1 million 4-player max-skill games per day with certain maps and game options
designed to also handle processor core quantity increases of the future: for rapid stat gathering you can spawn 32, 64, 128 or more instances if you wish
during "Bots: sum data", EBP renames its window caption to include the number of its instance so you can tell them apart
the "Stop at..." feature for continuous play can be set in the #1 instance of EBP, and the other instance will automatically stop when the total quantity you specify in instance #1 is reached
the "Verify connectability" Game Option has been redesigned to operate much more quickly
the Event Info window permits events to be toggled on/off one by one; now all but one can be toggled by holding down the Shift key while clicking Toggle; use this to test one event at a time
if "Bots: game repeat" and "Bots: halt on error" are both enabled, if an error occurs EBP now attempts to save the match; saved games are placed in the AutoSave directory with names starting with "ebperr"
if "Bots: halt on error" is enabled, if an error occurs, EBP automatically unminimizes the map window to call attention to the problen
if "Bots: halt on error" is enabled, if an error occurs. EBP displays error info in the main and Game Status window captions to make that info visible in case the error causes the program to hang
if "Bots: halt on error" is enabled, if the game history exceeds 32000 text lines, EBP treats it as an error and stops play

new reports in Map Details window: each city's total distance to every other, and each city's total build cost to every other
now disallows discarding of an extra starting contract if that contract has a locked demand (Honeymoon option)
if more types of loads are available for pickup than fit across the Loads window, EBP will instead display the load names in a drop down list
scroll player contracts (left of map) via the keyboard if you wish: first press the numeric keypad's Ins key, then any of that keypad's directional keys
scroll the map via the keyboard if you wish: first press the numeric keypad's Del key, then any of that keypad's directional keys
games can be saved in uncompressed form by suffixing their file name with .ebg in the File, Save Game window
for play-by-email, 2.0 is cross-version compatible with opponents using version 1.7.x, though such mixed-version play will hinder AI improvement and ignore any new Game Options
for live web and local play, new features render this version incompatible with prior ones, so all participants should upgrade to the same version
updated in-game help content
minor cosmetic changes
upward compatibility with maps and saved games from all prior versions

We recommend the automated upgrade. If you prefer to upgrade manually, download EBPEUP.ZIP and unzip it to replace your prior version. NOTE: this download contains only the files that have changed since 1.7.x. If you need a complete copy, download EBPEDIT.ZIP instead.

EBPEdit - Versions 2.0.x

Version 2.0 was first released October 2020. If your most recent EBPEdit registration was of 1.7.x or older, you can upgrade to 2.0.x for a fee of $20, payable via Paypal or conventional mail.
Here is some of what's new:

new event effect: Government stimulus funds; choose the amount of money to give to player(s)
new event effect: Trigger secondary event; if an event is complex, you can split its effects across two event cards, and invoke the second from the first
new event effect: Windfall profits tax; choose the % of tax, does not trigger the tax card
new event effect: Not at opponent track; you can disallow moving and/or building where a player' track crosses that of an opponent
the Edit Event Card window now has an Insert button so you can add a new event card between the existing
the Edit Event Card window now has Copy and Paste buttons to assist with moving events within or between maps
version 2.0.1: permits 5-character map names for versioning purposes, for example, saving as XYZ12map.ebm is acceptable, and it automatically uses XYZ's bgnd image and icon files (play on such a map requires EBP 2.0.1 or later)
version 2.0.2: will time out if the View Trace feature of the Drawing Group window exceeds 10 seconds; improves map redraw speed when view zoomed; adds text size control to the Options menu of the internal help window
version 2.0.3: to Check Map feature, adds checks for unused Regions, and non-secondary events numbered higher than a secondary one
version 2.0.4: in Edit Prices window, set RebuildBridges to 1 to permit each player an exclusive opportunity to rebuild a bridge after it is washed our by a flood; set RebuildAll to 1 to permit same for any track segment destroyed by an event (requires EBP ver 2.0.7 or newer, where user can override the map's default settings via Game Options); speedier river and coastline tracing for events
version 2.0.5: new: several features to assist in finding/correcting isolated drawings, for example, a River at a single dot, with no other River dots around it is normally invisible, but can still add to track build cost: Check Map feature lists isolated drawings, and has a button to delete such isolated drawings; in the Show list at left, enable Isolated drawings to have the editor circle them on the map; mouse over map element (such as a mountain) now shows a description of that element with the dot X-Y coordinates display at lower left-corner of map; fixes Normalize at non-mp dot so display is now refreshed; changes Mix Your Own Color hex values to RGB order (from BGR order)
version 2.0.6: fixes a Check Map false report involving secondary events; Check Map scans for isolated (inaccessible) cities
version 2.0.7: fixes failure of Edit City window to display xspot load checkbox settings
version 2.0.8: new: Relocate button in Edit City window lets you move an existing city to a different milepost
version 2.0.9: fixes a failure of map bgnd image to reload via toggling of the Bgnd image checkbox after map had been saved; minor display fixes
version 2.0.10: new: Check Map now verifies load names entered in Event window's Other field match existing loads; removes support for WinHelp-style help, so EBPEdit will substitute its internal help system, if needed
version 2.0.11: improves Cards, Random demands feature to reduce likelihood of all a randomly-generated contract's demands to be close cities or low payoffs; the Edit Demands window lets you choose and edit from 1 to 6 demands for each contract
version 2.0.12: fixes Print, Payoff Chart that incorrectly claimed no contracts to print; improves in-editor help display and search; updates rgfhelp.exe with same help system improvements
version 2.0.13: removes date/time info from Files list when list sorted by date; removes Ctrl key shortcuts that were interfering with setting milepost Region; minor performance enhancements
version 2.0.14: improves detection and reporting of missing files; minor bug fixes and cosmetic changes
version 2.0.15: fixes Esc keypress that was invoking Help rather than closing window; improvements to internal help and external help (rgfhelp.exe); rgfhelp.exe now functions as a "tiny browser" of local help, text, html, and image files, to try it, start it directly
version 2.0.16: new: Display Settings allows choice of Info box text and background colors so you can override what the operating system employs (helpful in newer versions of Windows that otherwise force black on white); repairs improper sizing of Edit Labels window; RGFHelp.exe now lets you choose text, link, and bgnd colors; minor display enhancements
version 2.0.17: repairs an "Error 9 in drawmap" that could happen with large maps

EB Pronto™	EBPEdit Map Editor
We recommend the automated upgrade. If you prefer to upgrade manually, download EBPUP.ZIP and unzip it to replace your prior version. NOTE: this download contains only the files that have changed since 1.7.x. If you need a complete copy, download EBP.ZIP instead. Note: until you register an upgrade, you are limited in the new version to 2-player matches on the USA map, or 10 rounds on other maps. EBP - Versions 2.0.x The revisions below were released subsequent to version 2.0.0. These upgrades are free for those who are registered users of version 2.0.x. To upgrade from 1.7.x or older, the fee is $20, payable via Paypal or conventional mail. version 2.0.40: fixes possible blank cash box after map resize version 2.0.39: fixes broken Replay "until round" feature; repairs rare situation in which AI would build a track segment unconnected to its network or any big city version 2.0.38: new: Display Settings allows choice of Info box text and background colors so you can override what the operating system employs (helpful in newer versions of Windows that otherwise force black on white); may work around Windows quirk that sometimes caused Game Status window to not become visible; minor display enhancements version 2.0.37: fixes certain trouble AI had building to cities that are teleports (such Peary on Moon map); new: the Map, More Info pull-dowm menu can display a [map]info.htm HTML file (such as ABCinfo.htm) if one exists version 2.0.36: fixes inability of AI in some situations to build from big city to teleport (such as Scott to teleport on Moon map); minor improvements to help content display; no longer exits program if no game maps available version 2.0.35: new: in Files window, use Local, Delete game menu to remove a saved game; improves detection and reporting of missing files; fixes unlikely failure to save a game in .ebz format if name of destination directory was short; fixes a possible missing max-move-distance oval at Water-type mileposts; fixes randomization of turn order by largest payoff or contract number (broken by 2.0.33); minor cosmetic and performance enhancements version 2.0.34: new: Reprice delivery payoffs feature, can be accessed from the Game Setup window via the Map, Randomize / Reprice pull-down menu; functionality of Information, Map Basics has been moved to menu choices in the Information, Map Details window; fixes Pbem Nudge and Remail that could falsely complain about file not found (broken by 2.0.33); minor fixes and performance tweaks version 2.0.33: new: Equal events variant ignores, for remainder of round, events drawn while any player meets victory conditions (this is a nice way to stop an event from clobbering your pending win); "Equal events" is enabled by default, but can be toggled off via the Game Options window; new: "Deal in deck order" variant deals contracts in their numeric order (useful for testing, and for Crayon Rails Deck Generator decks); fixes events that refer to cities on another contract (Moon's Meteor showers) that were not being handled properly; fixes possible scrambled Game Setup player info after halting a match and restarting; help contents updated; minor cosmetic and performance enhancements version 2.0.32: improves AI play when UseFee customized via Game Options to low values like 2 or 0 (instead of usual 4); improves AI trip planning for warehoused loads; repairs a situation in which AI would move on its own track despite an active Strike event; modifies train movement distance to show actual distance while human is clicking upon move route even if lower-cost, but longer route is possible; minor UI and efficiency mods version 2.0.31: new: mixed upper/lower case letters now permitted in names of saved games; fixes a failure to allow the proper player to rebuild track when "Rebuild chance" variant(s) enabled; minor improvement to AI trip planning when demanded load already onboard version 2.0.30: new: if your train begins movement at a mp you do not serve, EBP will display movement distance along the track of players that serve that mp, plus your track; minor user interface fixes; mod so AI will rent opponent track a bit more version 2.0.29: repairs the loading of a saved game concurrently with starting EBP which would improperly show "This game was started with a different version of the map..." (broken by 2.0.28, it also impacted the "Bots: sum data" Game Option); fixes private warehouse that could be improperly claimed via autobuild; minor speed enhancements version 2.0.28: new: clicking a player name in the cash box now highlights their most recent move in the map window; mouse over the Game Status cash and net worth history graphs now scrolls the game history to the matching location; in Files window, makes cloud storage (ftp) sites editable without connecting to one first; removes date/time info from Files list when list sorted by date; mouse over a city or load name in Game Status, Display, Max Info now blinks that item on the map; minor cosmetic fixes/enhancements version 2.0.27: new: to see the most recent track built by a player, click that player's name in the cash box, and that track will be drawn with a thicker line in the map thumbnail; for better visibility of track, removes river drawings from map thumbnail; fixes OK (done) that did not exit from Easter Egg; fixes possible game statistics confusion between similar load names, such as Oil and Oilskins; fixes victory condition check that was not properly handling WinMust groups (AOC map); fixes an uncommon way for AI to get stuck (not move) due to "reason 8"; internal speed improvements involving game history version 2.0.26: new: clicking a player name in the cash box draws their track in the map thumbnail; small tweaks to AI for skill and speed; minor enhancements to help system version 2.0.25: fixes rare AI problem delivering multi-demand SDs; fixes an AI improperly not moving/building due to "reason 8"; fixes an AI failure to anticipate border/region crossing fees; improves AI play when low on cash; assigns shortcut keys Ctrl+O, Ctrl+S, and Ctrl+M to File, Open, Save, and Load Map, respectively version 2.0.24: fixes AI getting stuck thinking about multi-demand SDs; corrects minor text spacing issue in help system; upgrades Pbem to handle .ebg (uncompressed) saved games in addition to the usual .ebz; if a map has no city that can supply a Circus (NWU map), now disallows Circus Game Option; contains a Game of Life sandbox as an Easter Egg; minor AI play and cosmetic changes version 2.0.23: improves in-game help display and search; fixes poor AI trip planning when locomotive could carry more than 3 loads (broken by ver 2.0.22); fixes the possible display of the wrong player's name in "qualifies for the EBP Hall of Fame" during Pbem; shortens default Pbem match names; fixes setting of Alt Key Text-to-Speech that was not being saved across sessions; minor display fixes version 2.0.22: adds support for custom locomotives that can carry only 1 load; a redesigned trip-making algorithm improves AI play slightly and speeds it by up to 40% compared to ver 2.0.21, mostly of benefit to those who experiment with and test maps via AI continuous play; this is probably EBP's last major AI speed improvement (compared to ver 1.7.17, ver 2.0.22 is 2 to 5 times faster); fixes an infrequent "error 11 in bestpare" introduced with ver 2.0.20 version 2.0.21: fixes trains improperly being returned to prior cities by events that did not call for such (broken by ver 2.0.20) version 2.0.20: during map versioning (map names longer than 3 characters) fixes inability to load saved game if map version used by that game was missing; fixes ver 2.0.19 mod that could cause abnormally high player scores on some maps; prevents AI from warehousing loads in non-medium-sized cities during private warehousing; corrects uncommon chance that AI could miscount connected big cities while game window minimized; appends _ or ~ to player names that are too similar and could otherwise disrupt properly finding them in the game history; fixes a warehousing mod (introduced ver 2.0.19) that reduced AI's ability to pick up spec loads; minor other changes version 2.0.19: introducing "private warehousing" (Game Options) allows the first player to build at each medium-sized city exclusive control of that city's warehouse; new: displays ">" left of a contract's demand if you automove to a city that supplies that demanded load; new: mouse down or touch at left side of contract (left of the new vertical line displayed between your contracts) followed by movement no longer scrolls all contracts, this is to permit touch screen users to slide finger up/down the contract info in order to blink the respective cities; new: ferries from/to big cities now show service/connection via player color at ferry price circle (impacts AUS and AU2 maps); improves Randomize Map feature's contracts to reduce likelihood of all a contract's demands to be close cities or low payoffs; works around a Windows bug that could cause the PJB map to sometimes crash EBP; improves/expands info messages during File, Download Update; minor display tweaks version 2.0.18: new: now supports contract sets with differing number of demands per contract; the Game Setup, Randomize Map, Edit Contracts feature would not recognize custom contract mods unless you first used the Randomize Contracts button (fixed); loading a map with more icons than the previous map could result in loss of transparency for some icons (fixed); restores Help, Registration Numbers functionality (broken by 2.0.17) version 2.0.17: fixes Ctrl-+ and Ctrl-- keypresses that were not permitting changes to the map font size of more than 1 point; fixes an incorrect refund upon undoing movement for which a loan had been taken to pay track rental fees; load icon rendering redesigned to be ~25% faster; now all game window elements are dynamically repositioned/resized while you drag the arrow at lower-left corner of map; when an event limits movements in an area, now all players already in that area, rather than just the drawing player, are credited with an "event hit"; repairs AI that could get stuck waiting at city where an event had disallowed load pickups for remainder of match; fixes neglect upon reloading a match to initially account for event restrictions when regenerating city and load values used in AI decision making; disllows a given player from building all track segments into a small or medium city (broken by ver 2.0.0); fixes events and/or secondary events that could be dealt even when turned off (broken by 2.0.16); in the Loads window, fixes a missing RR crossing symbol atop Available Loads; fixes alternate events that were employing the Player and Only If impacts of the parent event rather than their own; removes support for WinHelp-style help, so EBP will substitute its internal help system, if needed; fixes an "Error 9 in showcards" upon discarding contracts containing other than 3 demands (UMA map); minor cosmetic changes version 2.0.16: fixes a Strike (drawing player) event that was improperly preventing others players from moving on their own track at the strike player's mp; a barrier between ports could prevent proper function of a ferry (fixed); during movement, mouse up at port across ferry no longer auto-advances to turn's build phase; fixes possible wrong player name displayed during cash animation; now updates player rank upon each load delivery; minor AI tweaks and cosmetic changes version 2.0.15: new: if the Cash box is narrow, only the first letter of each player's name is displayed in order to leave more room to display their onboard loads; fixes a hang if the Contracts window was open while there was a change in the number of player contracts; now supports "(any)" as a Special Demand load; new: event-based disallowance of load delivery or pick up now reflected in information displays via mouse over map and contracts; minor display and performance tweaks version 2.0.14: during mouse over a contract load, all supply cities would not be listed above map if that load type was warehoused (fixed); other minor display fixes version 2.0.13: fixes several contract display issues inadvertently introduced by ver 2.0.12, particularly in separate Contracts window; the goal of faster contract rendering has been attained, as witnessed by Game Replay that now runs up to 2x faster as in ver 2.0.10; small speed enhancements to AI play; given the availability of EBP's Internal help system, we are considering removing from future versions support for WinHelp-style help -- but if you would like WinHelp retained, please email us your reasoning by the end of Jan 2021 version 2.0.12: new: displays ">" left of a contract's city if that city is that player's Automove destination; new: upon clicking a player in the cash box, displays above the cash box that player's rank and borrowing (if any); fixes xspot load generation at water and desert xspot types; during 2-player Honeymoon option, now permits build into a small city for the purpose of picking up the Circus; new: supports a Region for scandal event effect load pick up; fixes Spanning Tree display (and the data tables on which it is based) for matches that employ Randomized Cities; fixes Pilgrims that failed to be reassigned to small and medium cities that had been relocated via Randomize Cities feature; increases display speed of Contracts window; minor display enhancements version 2.0.11: new: Game, Victory Conditions now shows the number of big cities connected by each player, as well as if their cash level (when public) meets victory amount; Pilgrims picked up via a scandal-type event are now sourced from their closest supply; fixes a Loads window Scroll button failure to advance to top player when there were no Special Demands or Open Contracts; fixes a "lose all contracts" event effect that could result in one-too-many replacement contracts being dealt to the player; fixes movement distance counting thru teleports (Moon, Mars, etc.) which was off by 1 due to mod in ver 2.0.10 for upcoming maps; fixes AI that was not upgrading loco if match started with Slow Freight loco (brokern by ver 2.0.0); minor display and cosmetic improvements version 2.0.10: new: Loads window Scroll button advances contracts display to the next player; several minor bug fixes and display changes; if EBP has trouble starting, run ebp/showstart to display startup info and please report to us what is displayed version 2.0.9: new: Game, Victory Conditions pull-down menu reminds you of what is needed to win the game; new: mouse over a map element (such as a mountain) shows a description of that element above the cash box; fixes uncommon failure to refund track rental fee upon undo move; volcanos were being obscured by lakes and similar that shared same display location, so now volcanoes are drawn on top of the others; fixes an improper Automove message involving distance to water/snow mps; fixes events that were impacting all players when should have been limited by Region (was broken by 2.0.8); changes Mix Your Own Color hex values to RGB order (from BGR order); >Swipe> bar now shows your distance moved or build cost for this turn; improves AI's ability to handle borrowing (i.e. BorrowMax game option in use) version 2.0.8: new: Game, Quantum Randomize pull-down menu lets you add non-deterministic randomness to EBP's random number generation at any time during play; fixes "Engine wrecked, revert to previous model" event effect that could revert twice during Web match, not log a refund (if any), or not revert at all if the player had upgraded only once; fixes inconsequential "error 9 in drawmap" introduced ver 2.0.7; fixes "Return train to last city" that was not performed if its event did not impact any mileposts; modifies "Return train to last city" so a port is also considered a "city" for this purpose (teleports are not included); fixes several problems associated with resuming a Web match; now reprompts player for movement or track build after a halted Web match is resumed; fixes uncommon problem during a Web match when a remote player pitched contracts and a series of events were drawn; when map developers employ versioning, now EBP offers the option to load a saved game into the currently displayed version of the map (if that map version is different than the one under which the game had been saved); fixes a problem in which certain custom locomotive images would not appear version 2.0.7: new Game Options: your choice of Rebuild protection for river bridge washouts and/or any track destruction, gives each player a 1-turn exclusive chance to rebuild track where it was destroyed by an event, if the player does not rebuild, only then may opponents build that track segment; repairs the Government Stimulus Funds event effect that was overpaying; fixes a situation in which AI would rebuild its bridge before flood had ended; consolidates map settings stored in ebp.ini to one per map (a "map" being defined for this purpose by first 3 characters of its name); now remembers across sessions changes to a map's default settings you make via File, Game Options; fixes Show, Find Best Trip which was malfunctioning; speedier river and coastline tracing for events version 2.0.6: improves restart and reconnection of Web match from a saved game; fixes failure of only-if type event effects on remote players of a Web match; mod to ocean/river/etc. jaggy drawings to match that used in map editor; fixes: mods via File, Game Options would not be saved to the current match even upon responding Yes to inquiry if such was desired; loading a map now animates closure of prior (if Zoom Settings "Animated" enabled in Display Settings); to determine which mp of a big city is its event reference mp, right-click on a city mp, choose Information, and look for "is this city's event reference milepost"; fixes a rare program hang (occurred about once per half-million player-games) version 2.0.5: display of estimated move distance now better coordinated/consistent through turn phases; mouse-over a deliverable onboard load in Loads window now displays payoff with the "wanted at" info; fixes secondary events that were not being triggered version 2.0.4: fixes events that were supposed to inhibit movement or building at a ferry, but were not; load icons in Loads window are now resized in proportion to the Loads window (for better viewing on high-res displays); event icons made slightly smaller to reduce overlap with text; fixes hesitating bgnd animation that could happen on some faster devices; minor cosmetic changes version 2.0.3: attempt to autobuild to a teleport now displays a message about it not being allowed; fixes a problem building from a ferry to a teleport (broken by ver 2.0.2); tweaks spec load valuation to include a small value for loads formerly considered too distant to deliver version 2.0.2: fixes possible overflow error in aipitch if AI blocked from building to a city; fixes failure of bridges to wash out in Flood event if that event does not disallow immediate track rebuilding; adds text size control to the Options menu of the internal help window version 2.0.1: new: the Show, Find feature can now also find ferry port names, and text of labels on map; fixes Loads window drop down that would disappear when window resized; fixes an AI build problem involving teleport-style ferries; fixes AI reversing movement direction before eligible to do so; improves AI smarts regarding alternate and cheaper ways to rent track to an unserved city; improves AI's decision regarding track rental vs building; supports 5-character map names (as produced by EBPEdit 2.0.1); F1 key for Help enabled in more places; during continuous play, elasped time by Round is now reported in milliseconds; fixes AI's multiple builds from a given teleport; AI Stats page now includes information about event hits per player, and % of those upon winner; repairs failure introduced with ver 2.0.0 to charge for a track build-in upon building a turn's 3rd big city segment; removes zooming of map to human's automoving train if "Animate train move" (Display Settings) is turned off EBP - Version 2.0 - Smarter and Faster Version 2.0 was first released October 2020. Here is some of what's new: the best-playing AI bots to date, on average winning 1 to 5 rounds sooner than in ver 1.7.x (amount varies with map and Game Options) this is the largest jump in EBP's AI smarts from one version to the next in over 10 years improves AI's skill in the following game aspects when to upgrade locomotive, and upgrade type to select: will upgrade to Heavy Freight rather than Fast Freight if beneficial choice of spec loads to carry choice of load to drop upon event loss (derailment and similar) trip planning for Special Demands and Open Contracts which extra starting contracts to drop (and which to keep) ability to reverse train movement direction when its trip plan changes due to an event warehousing and circus strategy when to discard contracts in hand for new ones building end-game shortcuts to win sooner renting opponent track during end-game to win sooner rather than discard contracts very early in match, now AI will restart instead if opponent(s) block its desired initial track builds; this means restart rate will be higher new advanced skills such as max-skill AI building a bit to reduce its tax bracket if tax card is pending if you find the improved AI often too difficult to beat, you can reduce its skill level in the Game Setup window (High skill now plays about as well as Max had in the prior version) 20% to 80% AI speed boost compared to versions 1.7.x (amount varies with map and Game Options) the Loads window now displays EBP's rating of each available load's speculative value to you (larger numbers = better) to help you learn for more precise game replays, when a player drops and/or picks up a load, the history window now records the number of the "train car" (onboard load slot) involved the Revolution event has been adjusted to expire all dual-events (events that have alternate events), rather than expire all Special Demands new event effect: no movement allowed at intersections with opponent track for those curious about best play strategies, or the map designer who is testing a map: enabling the "Bots: sum data" option now asks if you wish to automatically spawn additional game instances for "Bots: game repeat" stat collection purposes; this handy feature obviates manual start of additional EBP instances on devices that have multi-core processors on a modern 16-core device, EBP 2.0 can complete over 1 million 4-player max-skill games per day with certain maps and game options designed to also handle processor core quantity increases of the future: for rapid stat gathering you can spawn 32, 64, 128 or more instances if you wish during "Bots: sum data", EBP renames its window caption to include the number of its instance so you can tell them apart the "Stop at..." feature for continuous play can be set in the #1 instance of EBP, and the other instance will automatically stop when the total quantity you specify in instance #1 is reached the "Verify connectability" Game Option has been redesigned to operate much more quickly the Event Info window permits events to be toggled on/off one by one; now all but one can be toggled by holding down the Shift key while clicking Toggle; use this to test one event at a time if "Bots: game repeat" and "Bots: halt on error" are both enabled, if an error occurs EBP now attempts to save the match; saved games are placed in the AutoSave directory with names starting with "ebperr" if "Bots: halt on error" is enabled, if an error occurs, EBP automatically unminimizes the map window to call attention to the problen if "Bots: halt on error" is enabled, if an error occurs. EBP displays error info in the main and Game Status window captions to make that info visible in case the error causes the program to hang if "Bots: halt on error" is enabled, if the game history exceeds 32000 text lines, EBP treats it as an error and stops play new reports in Map Details window: each city's total distance to every other, and each city's total build cost to every other now disallows discarding of an extra starting contract if that contract has a locked demand (Honeymoon option) if more types of loads are available for pickup than fit across the Loads window, EBP will instead display the load names in a drop down list scroll player contracts (left of map) via the keyboard if you wish: first press the numeric keypad's Ins key, then any of that keypad's directional keys scroll the map via the keyboard if you wish: first press the numeric keypad's Del key, then any of that keypad's directional keys games can be saved in uncompressed form by suffixing their file name with .ebg in the File, Save Game window for play-by-email, 2.0 is cross-version compatible with opponents using version 1.7.x, though such mixed-version play will hinder AI improvement and ignore any new Game Options for live web and local play, new features render this version incompatible with prior ones, so all participants should upgrade to the same version updated in-game help content minor cosmetic changes upward compatibility with maps and saved games from all prior versions	We recommend the automated upgrade. If you prefer to upgrade manually, download EBPEUP.ZIP and unzip it to replace your prior version. NOTE: this download contains only the files that have changed since 1.7.x. If you need a complete copy, download EBPEDIT.ZIP instead. EBPEdit - Versions 2.0.x Version 2.0 was first released October 2020. If your most recent EBPEdit registration was of 1.7.x or older, you can upgrade to 2.0.x for a fee of $20, payable via Paypal or conventional mail. Here is some of what's new: new event effect: Government stimulus funds; choose the amount of money to give to player(s) new event effect: Trigger secondary event; if an event is complex, you can split its effects across two event cards, and invoke the second from the first new event effect: Windfall profits tax; choose the % of tax, does not trigger the tax card new event effect: Not at opponent track; you can disallow moving and/or building where a player' track crosses that of an opponent the Edit Event Card window now has an Insert button so you can add a new event card between the existing the Edit Event Card window now has Copy and Paste buttons to assist with moving events within or between maps version 2.0.1: permits 5-character map names for versioning purposes, for example, saving as XYZ12map.ebm is acceptable, and it automatically uses XYZ's bgnd image and icon files (play on such a map requires EBP 2.0.1 or later) version 2.0.2: will time out if the View Trace feature of the Drawing Group window exceeds 10 seconds; improves map redraw speed when view zoomed; adds text size control to the Options menu of the internal help window version 2.0.3: to Check Map feature, adds checks for unused Regions, and non-secondary events numbered higher than a secondary one version 2.0.4: in Edit Prices window, set RebuildBridges to 1 to permit each player an exclusive opportunity to rebuild a bridge after it is washed our by a flood; set RebuildAll to 1 to permit same for any track segment destroyed by an event (requires EBP ver 2.0.7 or newer, where user can override the map's default settings via Game Options); speedier river and coastline tracing for events version 2.0.5: new: several features to assist in finding/correcting isolated drawings, for example, a River at a single dot, with no other River dots around it is normally invisible, but can still add to track build cost: Check Map feature lists isolated drawings, and has a button to delete such isolated drawings; in the Show list at left, enable Isolated drawings to have the editor circle them on the map; mouse over map element (such as a mountain) now shows a description of that element with the dot X-Y coordinates display at lower left-corner of map; fixes Normalize at non-mp dot so display is now refreshed; changes Mix Your Own Color hex values to RGB order (from BGR order) version 2.0.6: fixes a Check Map false report involving secondary events; Check Map scans for isolated (inaccessible) cities version 2.0.7: fixes failure of Edit City window to display xspot load checkbox settings version 2.0.8: new: Relocate button in Edit City window lets you move an existing city to a different milepost version 2.0.9: fixes a failure of map bgnd image to reload via toggling of the Bgnd image checkbox after map had been saved; minor display fixes version 2.0.10: new: Check Map now verifies load names entered in Event window's Other field match existing loads; removes support for WinHelp-style help, so EBPEdit will substitute its internal help system, if needed version 2.0.11: improves Cards, Random demands feature to reduce likelihood of all a randomly-generated contract's demands to be close cities or low payoffs; the Edit Demands window lets you choose and edit from 1 to 6 demands for each contract version 2.0.12: fixes Print, Payoff Chart that incorrectly claimed no contracts to print; improves in-editor help display and search; updates rgfhelp.exe with same help system improvements version 2.0.13: removes date/time info from Files list when list sorted by date; removes Ctrl key shortcuts that were interfering with setting milepost Region; minor performance enhancements version 2.0.14: improves detection and reporting of missing files; minor bug fixes and cosmetic changes version 2.0.15: fixes Esc keypress that was invoking Help rather than closing window; improvements to internal help and external help (rgfhelp.exe); rgfhelp.exe now functions as a "tiny browser" of local help, text, html, and image files, to try it, start it directly version 2.0.16: new: Display Settings allows choice of Info box text and background colors so you can override what the operating system employs (helpful in newer versions of Windows that otherwise force black on white); repairs improper sizing of Edit Labels window; RGFHelp.exe now lets you choose text, link, and bgnd colors; minor display enhancements version 2.0.17: repairs an "Error 9 in drawmap" that could happen with large maps

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Empire Builder is a registered trademark of Mayfair Games. Empire Builder Pronto is a trademark of Intersystem Concepts, Inc. EB Pronto, EB Player and the alternate maps are not products of Mayfair Games.