Mileposts - [EBPEdit Help Contents]

Mileposts are the visible dots on the map that mark the game's basic unit of movement. During each turn a player can move his train to a series of adjacent mileposts (usually 9 or 12).

Mileposts come in many different varieties and are edited in the map window. During game play, building track to certain milepost types, such as mountain, typically costs more than to build to normal (clear) milepost dots.

As you slide your mouse in the map window, the crosshatched circle follows. When you point to a milepost location, the circle's border grows wider. If there is no visible milepost at that location, it might be hidden (described below).

NUMBER/ORIENTATION

The number of mileposts on the map and their orientation can be altered in the Map Information window.

EDITING MILEPOSTS

To change the terrain at one milepost, point to it and press a letter as described below. To quickly change many mileposts at once, select a rectangular area of the map (point to one corner of the area, click and hold down the left mouse button, drag the mouse to the opposite corner, and release the button), and press a letter as described below.

To clear a particular milepost setting (for example, if you by mistake press a to make an Alpine milepost) press Shift+letter (in the example, that is Shift+A).

You can zoom closer into the map via controls at the bottom right corner of the map.

HIDDEN

Hide the mileposts you don't want visible, such as those in ocean areas, by pointing to them and pressing h. To make a hidden milepost visible once again, press Shift+H instead.

MILEPOST TYPES

When you start a new map, EBPEdit initializes all of it to normal (clear) mileposts. To create another type of milepost, point to it then press the key indicated in the table below:

....

Type.... Keypress.... Depiction.... .... Build Cost

Normal.... n.... dot.... .... 1

Mountain.... m.... solid triangle.... .... 2

Alpine.... a.... open triangle.... .... 5

Swamp.... s.... v-symbol.... .... 3

Jungle.... j.... J-shaped palm tree.... 3

Forest.... i.... iii (three trees).... 2

Xspot.... x.... x.... .... 1

The build costs listed above are the typical values. You can change them as you prefer.

MILEPOST MODIFIERS

Variations of the above Milepost Types can be made by pointing and pressing the key indicated in the table below:

....

Modifier.... .... Keypress.... Depiction.... .... +Build Cost

City.... .... c.... various, red.... .... 2 or 4

Queen.... .... q.... star.... .... 0

Desert.... .... d.... brown color.... .... 0

Water/Snow.... .... w.... cyan color.... .... 0

Tunnel.... .... t.... overhang.... .... 4

Unshow big city mp.... u.... normal mp.... .... 0

Cities are depicted as large circles, squares or hexagons, depending on their size. Note that EBPEdit lets you build cities on all visible milepost types, not just normal mps.

Queen (star) is often employed to mark the milepost as special in some manner, such as a country's capital. You can create events that take place only at such mileposts, and various effects at such mileposts (see events).

Desert mileposts are depicted via a brown color (unless the user picks a different color). You can create an event that converts desert to non-desert during game play. A given milepost cannot be both water and desert. Rivers and lakes can also be made desert; during game play such dry rivers and lakes turn into normal ones upon a Rainy Season Event.

Water mileposts are depicted via a cyan color (unless the user picks a different color). Water mileposts have the unique property that reaching them during game play can require extra units of movement. By default the game requires 2 units of movement to reach a water dot, but you can configure this in the prices window. While EBP considers them "water" you can use them for any purpose, such as snowy mountain passes liable to experience train delays from avalanches. You might also use water mileposts instead of or adjacent to ferries. A given milepost cannot be both water and desert.

Tunnel mileposts are unique in that EBP allows only one player (the first) to build to them.

You can limit the number of Jungle mileposts that each player can build to per turn; edit the JungleMax item in the prices window.

Xspot mileposts, when built to during game play, cause a load to be generated at a nearby city. Three different types of loads can be generated, one for plain xspots, one for those you modify as desert, and another for those you modify as water/snow.

If an edge milepost of a big city needs to be visible, but not considered part of that city, upon that milepost use the unshow feature. The AU2 map uses this to properly depict Adelaide.

DRAWINGS

Elements that fit between mileposts, such as rivers, are called drawings.