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. To find the number of the version you are using, choose the Help, About... menu in the program.

Registered users of any version 2.1.x can upgrade to newer 2.1.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.

If you do not qualify for a free upgrade described above, but have a valid, paid EBP registration of 2.0.x or older, the upgrade fee is $20 payable via Paypal or conventional mail. Pay only after you have installed and tried version 2.1 because otherwise the supplied passcode will not work with the new version!

Or, jump to main EBP page

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 2.0.x. If you need a complete copy, download EBP.ZIP instead. Note: until you register an upgrade from 2.0 or older, you are limited in the new version to 2-player matches on the USA map, or 10 rounds on other maps.

EBP - Versions 2.1.x

The revisions below were released subsequent to version 2.1.0.

version 2.1.3: fixes a failure to employ a map's WinMust city/group when that map is used for the first time (had impacted Perth on AUS and AU2 maps); Event Immunity player was moving half rate through some event-limited areas (fixed); improves AI handling of warehoused loads; new: turns a player's Automove off if an event reverts his engine to previous model; the Loads window can now be opened in Inspect-Only mode during an opponent's turn; autosaved .ebz file during human play could be unreadable if it replaced an .ebg autosave of prior AI Continuous Play game (fixed)
version 2.1.2: fixes AI failure to realize when all xspots of a given type and city had been built, which means no more xspot load gen is possible for that city; corrects possible skip of Round 1 if SuperPowers turned off during Round 0; blinks triangular cities more boldly on minimap for better visibility; minor improvements to AI play
version 2.1.1: new: double click on xspot build result in history box to center map on the referenced xspot; fixes a failure to save/restore map thumbnail location; now shows "no load generation because previously built" upon mouse over an xspot to which the player previously built; fixes Help display errors 402 and 400; fixes Help's incomplete Keyword and text Search results

EBP - Version 2.1 - SuperPowers!

Version 2.1 was first released March 2025. To upgrade from version 2.0.x or older, the fee is $20 payable via Paypal or conventional mail. Ugrading qualifies you for a free copy of the new Alaska map.
Here is some of what's new:

Fantastic new fun: Each player can select their personal SuperPower

Speed Demon - move 1 farther each turn
Bonus Baby - collect 2 bonus for each load delivery (except Pilgrims)
Discount Rentals - rent opponent track for a fee of 2 less than usual
Upgrade Rebates - receive a 60% rebate on the cost of engine upgrades
Mountaineer - discounted builds: mountain mps cost 1, alpines 3
Event Immunity - events, both good and bad, have no effect on this player
Silver Spoon - start with 30% more cash
Airlifter - no need to connect big cities to win

which SuperPower is "best" depends on map geography, match duration, number of players, your play style, more
SuperPower is chosen in reverse turn order, so last player gets to pick first
SuperPowers feature is optional (you can toggle it off)
SuperPowers are simple enough to be used during board game play as well, we offer free SuperPower cards you can print yourself
when you move upon opponent track, the distance popup now also displays the track rental fees that will apply
Cheat menu permits manual override of player cash, engine type, location, loads onboard, contracts in hand, SuperPower, game turn, and active events
during live online and local play, only the GM can use the Cheat features
use of Cheat features is recorded in Game History
via the TieBreak option, in the event of a tie, the next of the tied players to deliver a load can win
Tax Refund event: similar to the Tax card, except you get money
Hall of Fame has been expanded to 32 entries
Hall of Fame results can be sorted by score, name, map or date
improved random contract generation for xspot loads
supports odds-based xspot load generation (some xspot mines turn up empty, as can happen for gold mines of the new Alaska map)
mouse over a milepost star displays StarEffects active there (if any)
each active StarEffect is displayed by a unique symbol to the right of its milepost
fixes several operational problems with StarEffects
Help button added to Select window
ability to skip rest of movement to upgrade engine
big cities at which building may not start are now drawn with a thinner line
File window saved game "sort by date" now also considers timestamp's seconds
for play-by-email, 2.1 is cross-version compatible with opponents using version 2.0.x if SuperPowers and game maps made after 2024 are not used
for live online and local home network 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 and bug fixes
upward compatibility with maps and saved games from all prior versions
Subsequent 2.1.x upgrades are free for those who are registered users of version 2.1.x. To upgrade from 2.0.x or older, the fee is $20, payable via Paypal or conventional mail.

EBP - Versions 2.0.x

The revisions below were released subsequent to version 2.0.0.

version 2.0.55: new: supports triangular cities; eliminates rare case in which AI would build through a city and not leave the required room for an opponent to built to that small/medium city; fixes count of big cities connected which could miss Taiwan on China map; fixes Suggest Plan that might suggest discarding hand when it was not warranted (broken by 2.0.54); changing Display Settings Info Boxes font would temporarily also change map font (fixed); fixes Randomized jumbo/oval cities whose edges were left oversized if the Randomizer had reduced city size
version 2.0.54: new: supports display centering of city names (new in map editor 2.0.20); now offers player choice to not automatically deliver Congress (China) so to allow players to move to a different delivery city first; Congress can now be delivered to Taiwan even if starting turn at its container port; fixes inability to remail a completed Pbem match; if Game Replay feature ran to completion, it would not restart properly unless you first closed the Replay window (fixed); fixes AI that night not deliver Congress while it had an outstanding loan; fixes rare occurrence of Error 91 while Circus option in use; improvements to AI so it better rebuilds destroyed track when win imminent; minor display adjustments
version 2.0.53: fixes AI improperly reversing train movement when "Backtracking" Game Option not enabled; count of contracts delivered by winner was incomplete when multiple EBP instances ran (fixed); secondary events were being displayed during Game, Replay (fixed); to better test all contracts, "Deal in Deck Order" feature for Continuous AI Play now starts game 1 with contract 1, game 2 with contract 2, etc.; F1 help key active in more places; minor display tweaks
version 2.0.52: fixes a "subscript out of range" error possible when using Open Contracts variant; fixes AI that was never delivering 3-load Special Demands; Game Status report of Special Demands Delivered by Winner now also shows demand city, payoff and loads; supports new event effects introduced with EBPEdit map editor ver 2.0.19
version 2.0.51: improves AI to win about 1 round sooner on average on most maps compared to ver 2.0.50; the "blink demand cities" feature now also handles Pilgrim-type loads; the Suggest Plan window now displays advice to discard hand when AI deems that appropriate; new: Game Status AI Stats for continuous play now shows number of times each contract demand is delivered by winner, plus calculates mean and standard deviation; new: during continuous AI play, enable Game Status, Continuous, Show Last Event menu to display the number of the most recent event drawn (useful for finding events that hang); fixes Congress event that confused AI if Congress demanded at only one city; fixes Bots: Sum data in which automatically-started additional instances would stop running after first match (broken by ver 2.0.48); fixes AI Stats load delivery count that had been omitting speculative loads; "Game of life" sandbox removed to make room for other features
version 2.0.50: fixes excess cost being charged for some teleport builds (MOO, MAR maps); enables "OK (+no build)" popup menu choice; improves AI estimates of trip distance, though little change to AI play; reloading a very old saved game might trigger AI to immediately pitch all its contracts (fixed)
version 2.0.49: new: player name now displayed in event color in cash box so you can easily see who is impacted by turn or movement loss; fixes possible incorrect history text display during mouse over Game Status graphs; during Pbem, if you do not finish yout turn and send it within 10 minutes, EBP now brings its window to the front as a reminder (you can avoid this by minimizing the EBP window); fixes missing mid-turn max move ovals upon saved game reload
version 2.0.48: new: remembers reverse cash box bgnd color setting across sessions; upon opening a saved game, expands notice of that game not matching the current map; fixes situation in which AI movement would wander rather than rent a ferry; fixes AI build that could originate 1 mp out of major city; fixes a variety of AI build and movement problems that happened rarely enough the fixes have negligible improvement on AI play; fixes Show, Find Best Trip window that was not functioning while a game was in progress; removes short, real-time delay between continuous games; adds a Stuck counter to AI Continuous Play stats that shows number of times AI pitched contracts to recover from being unable to execute its trip plan; minor cosmetic changes
version 2.0.47: adjusts AI that was overfavoring Pilgrims compared to carrying spec loads; restores right-click on cash box to reverse cash box bgnd color (broken by ver 2.0.34); cosmetic changes for Windows dark mode players
version 2.0.46: speeds AI play when Events toggled off (almost twice as fast as ver 2.0.37); fixes non-removal of event-destroyed trackage (broken by 2.0.45); minor cosmetic changes
version 2.0.45: new: ferry port circles now show colors of serving player(s); AI runs about 10% faster than prior version; fixes uncommon processing hang possible on MOO and WAS maps
version 2.0.44: additional improvements help AI win a bit sooner; fixes Game Status graphs that did not display until replot (broken by 2.0.43)
version 2.0.43: fixes possible failure of Backspace to undo train movement near map top; immediately shows upgraded engine speed in contract area; fixes To: data that was missing if Pbem window was closed and reopened in manual mode; smarter AI wins by up to 1 round sooner on average
version 2.0.42: new: three manual Pbem emailing modes, handy for those unable to make use of EBP's automatic Pbem email sending; small improvement to AI bot handling of Special Demands and Open Contracts
version 2.0.41: fixes Loads window not opening automatically if you moved via mouse to outermost edge of city; fixes inability to draw track from a ferry if a barrier exists between ferry ports (WAS map); permits automove engagement while new track is built to train at previously unserved mp; fixes duplicate error text within error report; improves contract dealing randomness; improves robustness loading saved games that do not match the map version
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 default 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 2.0.x. If you need a complete copy, download EBPEDIT.ZIP instead.

EBPEdit - Versions 2.1.x

Version 2.1 was first released March 2025. If your most recent EBPEdit registration was of 2.0.x or older, you can upgrade to 2.1.x for a fee of $20, payable via Paypal or conventional mail.
Here is some of what's new:

new event: Tax Refund, works like the Tax card but gives players money
to help you find them, cities blink on map when you select them in various windows (such as Loads window)
Find City and Find Loads features have been added to the Info menu
when a given city demands a given load on more than one contract, the Edit Demands window displays the duplication count within [ ] brackets next to the load name; mouse over that load to pop up which other contract number(s) have the duplicate demand
the Export Demand Data feature (of the Cards menu) outputs to a .csv file your map's city-to-city distance and build costs, plus closest load suppliers, so you can import them into spreadsheets where you can employ your own delivery payoff metrics then import back into EBPEdit
xspotpct lets you set the % chance a load will be generated when a player builds to an xspot; this can simulate unsuccessful mining attempts
Check Map feature reports xspots ambiguously associated with more than one city (i.e. same distance from 2 or more cities)
for contracts with 3 or more demands, Check Map feature lists contracts that have only one affordable-delivery demand upon match start
Check Map now reports if a city appears more than once on a given contract
Print cards feature can now include a load supply/demmand map for each contract demand
fixes several problems with the printing of event cards
Print window checkbox lets you start event card numbering at 1 (handy for event expiration effects)
improved error checking
upward compatibility with maps from prior versions
version 2.1.1: corrects Display Settings' Map bgnd image dropdown list to look for image files in map's directory rather than program's directory

EBPEdit - Versions 2.0.x

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
version 2.0.18: new: displays Pilgrims at cities that supply them (click Show Regions to update Pilgrim display, if needed); adds checks for off-map mileposts of ferries and cities; Ctrl key no longer initiates map scrolling (makes for easier Region setting)
version 2.0.19: new: event movement effects "Half rate crossing Green Border" and Yellow Border (requires EBP ver 2.0.52 or later); makes F1 key for Help available in most windows; "Total distance" feature renamed "Count mileposts"
version 2.0.20: new: set city name X offset to -98 for name to appear centered on map (requires EBP ver 2.0.54 or later); fixes problem in which Container ferry mileposts could become improperly hidden upon map save; fixes map printing problem overlaying load icons at big cities; fixes map printing error 5 when using "list loads supplied"; fixes inability in Locomotives editing window to choose an icon numbered greater than 9; makes printed Container port and build-out-from-city symbols match those on-screen; other minor map print fixes
version 2.0.21: new: triangular cities (a new kind of big city size, requires EBP 2.0.55 or newer); new Edit City checkbox to exclude a city from the count of big cities for victory conditions (requires EBP 2.0.55 or newer); setting "Building out allowed" to No for a big city could make its edge mileposts disappear upon map reload (fixed); enhancements to Labels: basic instructions displayed at map top, easier-to-use drag-and-drop, to delete a Label click on it while "Labels active" checkbox enabled then press Delete, corrects Label display location when Foreground checkbox not enabled, introduces ability to override color of Labels on map prints or turn them off entirely; fixes remote chance a city with an Unshown mp could make the program hang upon map load; small cosmetic changes
version 2.0.22: fixes possible program shut down upon a user attempt to save map into a folder that does not exist; no longer auto-scrolls map when user finishes highlighting an area at a map edge

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 2.0.x. If you need a complete copy, download EBP.ZIP instead. Note: until you register an upgrade from 2.0 or older, you are limited in the new version to 2-player matches on the USA map, or 10 rounds on other maps. EBP - Versions 2.1.x The revisions below were released subsequent to version 2.1.0. version 2.1.3: fixes a failure to employ a map's WinMust city/group when that map is used for the first time (had impacted Perth on AUS and AU2 maps); Event Immunity player was moving half rate through some event-limited areas (fixed); improves AI handling of warehoused loads; new: turns a player's Automove off if an event reverts his engine to previous model; the Loads window can now be opened in Inspect-Only mode during an opponent's turn; autosaved .ebz file during human play could be unreadable if it replaced an .ebg autosave of prior AI Continuous Play game (fixed) version 2.1.2: fixes AI failure to realize when all xspots of a given type and city had been built, which means no more xspot load gen is possible for that city; corrects possible skip of Round 1 if SuperPowers turned off during Round 0; blinks triangular cities more boldly on minimap for better visibility; minor improvements to AI play version 2.1.1: new: double click on xspot build result in history box to center map on the referenced xspot; fixes a failure to save/restore map thumbnail location; now shows "no load generation because previously built" upon mouse over an xspot to which the player previously built; fixes Help display errors 402 and 400; fixes Help's incomplete Keyword and text Search results EBP - Version 2.1 - SuperPowers! Version 2.1 was first released March 2025. To upgrade from version 2.0.x or older, the fee is $20 payable via Paypal or conventional mail. Ugrading qualifies you for a free copy of the new Alaska map. Here is some of what's new: Fantastic new fun: Each player can select their personal SuperPower Speed Demon - move 1 farther each turn Bonus Baby - collect 2 bonus for each load delivery (except Pilgrims) Discount Rentals - rent opponent track for a fee of 2 less than usual Upgrade Rebates - receive a 60% rebate on the cost of engine upgrades Mountaineer - discounted builds: mountain mps cost 1, alpines 3 Event Immunity - events, both good and bad, have no effect on this player Silver Spoon - start with 30% more cash Airlifter - no need to connect big cities to win which SuperPower is "best" depends on map geography, match duration, number of players, your play style, more SuperPower is chosen in reverse turn order, so last player gets to pick first SuperPowers feature is optional (you can toggle it off) SuperPowers are simple enough to be used during board game play as well, we offer free SuperPower cards you can print yourself when you move upon opponent track, the distance popup now also displays the track rental fees that will apply Cheat menu permits manual override of player cash, engine type, location, loads onboard, contracts in hand, SuperPower, game turn, and active events during live online and local play, only the GM can use the Cheat features use of Cheat features is recorded in Game History via the TieBreak option, in the event of a tie, the next of the tied players to deliver a load can win Tax Refund event: similar to the Tax card, except you get money Hall of Fame has been expanded to 32 entries Hall of Fame results can be sorted by score, name, map or date improved random contract generation for xspot loads supports odds-based xspot load generation (some xspot mines turn up empty, as can happen for gold mines of the new Alaska map) mouse over a milepost star displays StarEffects active there (if any) each active StarEffect is displayed by a unique symbol to the right of its milepost fixes several operational problems with StarEffects Help button added to Select window ability to skip rest of movement to upgrade engine big cities at which building may not start are now drawn with a thinner line File window saved game "sort by date" now also considers timestamp's seconds for play-by-email, 2.1 is cross-version compatible with opponents using version 2.0.x if SuperPowers and game maps made after 2024 are not used for live online and local home network 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 and bug fixes upward compatibility with maps and saved games from all prior versions Subsequent 2.1.x upgrades are free for those who are registered users of version 2.1.x. To upgrade from 2.0.x or older, the fee is $20, payable via Paypal or conventional mail. EBP - Versions 2.0.x The revisions below were released subsequent to version 2.0.0. version 2.0.55: new: supports triangular cities; eliminates rare case in which AI would build through a city and not leave the required room for an opponent to built to that small/medium city; fixes count of big cities connected which could miss Taiwan on China map; fixes Suggest Plan that might suggest discarding hand when it was not warranted (broken by 2.0.54); changing Display Settings Info Boxes font would temporarily also change map font (fixed); fixes Randomized jumbo/oval cities whose edges were left oversized if the Randomizer had reduced city size version 2.0.54: new: supports display centering of city names (new in map editor 2.0.20); now offers player choice to not automatically deliver Congress (China) so to allow players to move to a different delivery city first; Congress can now be delivered to Taiwan even if starting turn at its container port; fixes inability to remail a completed Pbem match; if Game Replay feature ran to completion, it would not restart properly unless you first closed the Replay window (fixed); fixes AI that night not deliver Congress while it had an outstanding loan; fixes rare occurrence of Error 91 while Circus option in use; improvements to AI so it better rebuilds destroyed track when win imminent; minor display adjustments version 2.0.53: fixes AI improperly reversing train movement when "Backtracking" Game Option not enabled; count of contracts delivered by winner was incomplete when multiple EBP instances ran (fixed); secondary events were being displayed during Game, Replay (fixed); to better test all contracts, "Deal in Deck Order" feature for Continuous AI Play now starts game 1 with contract 1, game 2 with contract 2, etc.; F1 help key active in more places; minor display tweaks version 2.0.52: fixes a "subscript out of range" error possible when using Open Contracts variant; fixes AI that was never delivering 3-load Special Demands; Game Status report of Special Demands Delivered by Winner now also shows demand city, payoff and loads; supports new event effects introduced with EBPEdit map editor ver 2.0.19 version 2.0.51: improves AI to win about 1 round sooner on average on most maps compared to ver 2.0.50; the "blink demand cities" feature now also handles Pilgrim-type loads; the Suggest Plan window now displays advice to discard hand when AI deems that appropriate; new: Game Status AI Stats for continuous play now shows number of times each contract demand is delivered by winner, plus calculates mean and standard deviation; new: during continuous AI play, enable Game Status, Continuous, Show Last Event menu to display the number of the most recent event drawn (useful for finding events that hang); fixes Congress event that confused AI if Congress demanded at only one city; fixes Bots: Sum data in which automatically-started additional instances would stop running after first match (broken by ver 2.0.48); fixes AI Stats load delivery count that had been omitting speculative loads; "Game of life" sandbox removed to make room for other features version 2.0.50: fixes excess cost being charged for some teleport builds (MOO, MAR maps); enables "OK (+no build)" popup menu choice; improves AI estimates of trip distance, though little change to AI play; reloading a very old saved game might trigger AI to immediately pitch all its contracts (fixed) version 2.0.49: new: player name now displayed in event color in cash box so you can easily see who is impacted by turn or movement loss; fixes possible incorrect history text display during mouse over Game Status graphs; during Pbem, if you do not finish yout turn and send it within 10 minutes, EBP now brings its window to the front as a reminder (you can avoid this by minimizing the EBP window); fixes missing mid-turn max move ovals upon saved game reload version 2.0.48: new: remembers reverse cash box bgnd color setting across sessions; upon opening a saved game, expands notice of that game not matching the current map; fixes situation in which AI movement would wander rather than rent a ferry; fixes AI build that could originate 1 mp out of major city; fixes a variety of AI build and movement problems that happened rarely enough the fixes have negligible improvement on AI play; fixes Show, Find Best Trip window that was not functioning while a game was in progress; removes short, real-time delay between continuous games; adds a Stuck counter to AI Continuous Play stats that shows number of times AI pitched contracts to recover from being unable to execute its trip plan; minor cosmetic changes version 2.0.47: adjusts AI that was overfavoring Pilgrims compared to carrying spec loads; restores right-click on cash box to reverse cash box bgnd color (broken by ver 2.0.34); cosmetic changes for Windows dark mode players version 2.0.46: speeds AI play when Events toggled off (almost twice as fast as ver 2.0.37); fixes non-removal of event-destroyed trackage (broken by 2.0.45); minor cosmetic changes version 2.0.45: new: ferry port circles now show colors of serving player(s); AI runs about 10% faster than prior version; fixes uncommon processing hang possible on MOO and WAS maps version 2.0.44: additional improvements help AI win a bit sooner; fixes Game Status graphs that did not display until replot (broken by 2.0.43) version 2.0.43: fixes possible failure of Backspace to undo train movement near map top; immediately shows upgraded engine speed in contract area; fixes To: data that was missing if Pbem window was closed and reopened in manual mode; smarter AI wins by up to 1 round sooner on average version 2.0.42: new: three manual Pbem emailing modes, handy for those unable to make use of EBP's automatic Pbem email sending; small improvement to AI bot handling of Special Demands and Open Contracts version 2.0.41: fixes Loads window not opening automatically if you moved via mouse to outermost edge of city; fixes inability to draw track from a ferry if a barrier exists between ferry ports (WAS map); permits automove engagement while new track is built to train at previously unserved mp; fixes duplicate error text within error report; improves contract dealing randomness; improves robustness loading saved games that do not match the map version 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 default 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 2.0.x. If you need a complete copy, download EBPEDIT.ZIP instead. EBPEdit - Versions 2.1.x Version 2.1 was first released March 2025. If your most recent EBPEdit registration was of 2.0.x or older, you can upgrade to 2.1.x for a fee of $20, payable via Paypal or conventional mail. Here is some of what's new: new event: Tax Refund, works like the Tax card but gives players money to help you find them, cities blink on map when you select them in various windows (such as Loads window) Find City and Find Loads features have been added to the Info menu when a given city demands a given load on more than one contract, the Edit Demands window displays the duplication count within [ ] brackets next to the load name; mouse over that load to pop up which other contract number(s) have the duplicate demand the Export Demand Data feature (of the Cards menu) outputs to a .csv file your map's city-to-city distance and build costs, plus closest load suppliers, so you can import them into spreadsheets where you can employ your own delivery payoff metrics then import back into EBPEdit xspotpct lets you set the % chance a load will be generated when a player builds to an xspot; this can simulate unsuccessful mining attempts Check Map feature reports xspots ambiguously associated with more than one city (i.e. same distance from 2 or more cities) for contracts with 3 or more demands, Check Map feature lists contracts that have only one affordable-delivery demand upon match start Check Map now reports if a city appears more than once on a given contract Print cards feature can now include a load supply/demmand map for each contract demand fixes several problems with the printing of event cards Print window checkbox lets you start event card numbering at 1 (handy for event expiration effects) improved error checking upward compatibility with maps from prior versions version 2.1.1: corrects Display Settings' Map bgnd image dropdown list to look for image files in map's directory rather than program's directory EBPEdit - Versions 2.0.x 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 version 2.0.18: new: displays Pilgrims at cities that supply them (click Show Regions to update Pilgrim display, if needed); adds checks for off-map mileposts of ferries and cities; Ctrl key no longer initiates map scrolling (makes for easier Region setting) version 2.0.19: new: event movement effects "Half rate crossing Green Border" and Yellow Border (requires EBP ver 2.0.52 or later); makes F1 key for Help available in most windows; "Total distance" feature renamed "Count mileposts" version 2.0.20: new: set city name X offset to -98 for name to appear centered on map (requires EBP ver 2.0.54 or later); fixes problem in which Container ferry mileposts could become improperly hidden upon map save; fixes map printing problem overlaying load icons at big cities; fixes map printing error 5 when using "list loads supplied"; fixes inability in Locomotives editing window to choose an icon numbered greater than 9; makes printed Container port and build-out-from-city symbols match those on-screen; other minor map print fixes version 2.0.21: new: triangular cities (a new kind of big city size, requires EBP 2.0.55 or newer); new Edit City checkbox to exclude a city from the count of big cities for victory conditions (requires EBP 2.0.55 or newer); setting "Building out allowed" to No for a big city could make its edge mileposts disappear upon map reload (fixed); enhancements to Labels: basic instructions displayed at map top, easier-to-use drag-and-drop, to delete a Label click on it while "Labels active" checkbox enabled then press Delete, corrects Label display location when Foreground checkbox not enabled, introduces ability to override color of Labels on map prints or turn them off entirely; fixes remote chance a city with an Unshown mp could make the program hang upon map load; small cosmetic changes version 2.0.22: fixes possible program shut down upon a user attempt to save map into a folder that does not exist; no longer auto-scrolls map when user finishes highlighting an area at a map edge

For older info, visit the version 1.x page.

Back to main EBP page

Empire Builder trademarks licensed from 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.