Options - [EBP Help Contents]
Via the Game Options window you can alter the operation of many aspects of the game. To change the "master copy" of these options (saved in the EBP.INI file), choose the File, Game Options pull-down menu. To change the settings for the current map, choose the Game, Edit Setup pull-down menu and click the More Game Options button in the Game Setup window.
Note: a separate copy of most settings is saved for each map! Therefore, if it seems EBP is not remembering your settings, it may be because you had made changes for a different map.
In EBP's Game Options window related configurable items are grouped into frames, and described below. Except as noted below, changing any of these settings while a match is in progress is considered by EBP to be cheating, and will be logged in the match history. In general, avoid making changes after a match has begun because some may confuse the AI or cause it to malfunction, or other unpredictable play behavior may result.
MOVEMENT - START WITH ENGINE
Select the engine with which each player starts. Normally, this should be set to Freight.
MOVEMENT - AT FERRY
For maps with ferries, from the dropdown list choose the movement style you prefer.
MOVEMENT - WAREHOUSING
Enable this to allow field warehousing. One load may be dropped at a warehouse at each city. Enter the number of rounds the warehouse keeps the load before its expiry; use 0 for permanent warehousing, -1 to permanently warehouse tossed loads (often used as part of the 2-player Honeymoon variant), or -2 for private warehousing.
Private warehouses exist only in medium-sized cities, and are controlled by the first player to build track at that city. Only the controller of a private warehouse may store a load there or pick one up. The contents of the private warehouses of opponents are semi-secret, but you can probably figure out how to get a peek if you wish. There's also a way to displace a load from an opponent's private warehouse, but the details of that process are left as a puzzle for you to solve. An event that causes a player to lose all tracks to a medium city may also cause loss of control of the warehouse there.
MOVEMENT - CIRCUS
For maps that have circus-type loads, enable this to convert the lowest payoff on certain contracts into a Circus demand. Via the digits field, indicate which contracts will be converted (examples: entering 0 will convert all contracts with a card number ending in 0, while 05 will convert all contracts with a card number ending in either 0 or 5. If the map does not have a circus-type load, EBP deactivates this check box.
MOVEMENT - RANDOMNESS
By drawing random numbers from a long list, EBP picks the next contract or event. Via the Randomness setting, you can control how randomly EBP draws those numbers.
When set to Normal (the default), EBP chooses from a long list of possible values that is randomized based on varying factors such as the amount of time since your device was started, the amount of free memory available, etc. Nevertheless, since conventional computers are deterministic, none can generate values that are entirely, unpredictably random.
Choose a setting of Quantum to introduce an unpredictable factor into EBP's Normal random number generation. This makes the random elements in EBP non-deterministic and thus, according to quantum physics, truly random. To initiate the process, EBP will prompt you to enter a number in the range of 1 to 9. You can obtain the value to input from any online source that displays a random result it derives from a quantum mechanical device. Search online for quantum dice generator, or quantum world splitter. While a match is in progress, you can increase the quantum randomness by entering a value via the Game, Quantum Randomize menu.
Choose a setting of None to instruct EBP to not randomize its list of random values. EBP will prompt you to enter a number in the range 10 to 32000, which determines the location in the list at which EBP starts retrieving random numbers. For any given value you enter, EBP will, during the match, draw the same sequence of random numbers, and thus the same sequence of contracts and events. You might use this to test a map, or to replay a match from its start and make different choices along the way to see which would have been best. When this feature is in use, a match of all AI bot players will proceed and conclude in the same manner each time it is executed (within a given version of EBP). Do not use the None setting with Web or Pbem matches since random number lists are not coordinated across multiple devices. Note that if you reload a saved game that employs the None setting, the random number sequence is restarted rather than resumed.
AI BOT PLAY - AI REVENGE/CHEAT
The AI bots are designed to obey all the game rules the human player does, but for an added challenge, via the dropdown list choices you can allow the bots to "cheat" in any of several ways. When revenge is chosen, the computer players make efforts to avoid riding track owned by human players. Cheating lightly means the AI will deal itself the next contract from the deck that demands a load supplied by the city at which it is presently located (this reduces the AI's average rounds-to-win by about 12%). Cheating heavily means the AI will search the deck and deal itself a contract listing a high payoff for a load supplied by the city at which it is presently located (this reduces the AI's average rounds-to-win by about 25%).
AUTOSAVE - BEFORE EVERY TURN
Enable this to automatically save the game before each turn; the games will be saved in files with names such as ebpAS001a.ebz, ebpAS002d.ebz, etc. the AutoSave location of your choice. For speed, autosaved files during AI Continuous Play matches are saved uncompressed as .ebg files.
AUTOSAVE - LOCATION
Choose the disk path to the location for storage of AutoSaved games; a RAM disk makes the fastest AutoSave location. EBP will also use the location for temporary files and error reports.
MONEY, BUILDING, ETC.
Via the money fields, you can customize the values for cash, engine prices, track fees and other miscellaneous items. EBP's AI should be able to handle all reasonable customizations. An example of an unreasonable customization is setting the starting cash greater than the amount of cash needed to win. We cannot guarantee that EBP will operate properly with unreasonable custom values.
Most values should be self explanatory. A few notes follow:
WinCash - the amount of money needed for victory. If you set it to 0, the winner will be the first player to interconnect with track the WinMajor number of cities.
StartContracts - the number of contracts EBP should give to each player at the start of the match; the range is 3 to 6. EBP will prompt each player to discard any excess down to 3 contracts before he places his train.
WinMajor - the number of big cities that must be connected by a player to be eligible to win. A value of -1 means "all but one" of the big cities.
WinMust - the name of a city, or Group of cities (defined by the map's designer), to which a player's track must connect to be eligible to win
BigBuildOuts - the maximum number of times each player may build out of a big city per turn, usually 2
WaterMove - the number of additional movement steps consumed by moving to a water/snow milepost
WarehousingCost - the fee to charge each time a player places a load in a warehouse; payment goes to the bank
BorrowMax - the maximum total a player may borrow from the bank for track building and rental; double the loan amount must be repaid; EBP automatically collects repayment when the player delivers loads; 20 is a common value used
TunnelBuildMin - the minimum engine needed to be allowed to build to a tunnel milepost (-1 = slow freight, 0 = freight, 1= heavy freight, 2= fast freight, 3 = super freight)
TunnelMoveMin - the minimum engine needed to be allowed to move to a tunnel milepost (-1 = slow freight, 0 = freight, 1= heavy freight, 2= fast freight, 3 = super freight)
Pilgrims - the number of Pilgrim loads that may be carried aboard a given player's train (appears only for those maps with Pilgrims) at any one time
UseFee - rental fee for use of opponent's track
NormalCost - the build cost to a standard milepost
CityPlus - the added cost (above and beyond that of the milepost) to build into a small or medium city
YellowPlus - the added cost to build across a yellow boundary line on the map
JungleMax - the maximum number of jungle-type mileposts to which a player can build per turn (set to 0 for no limit)
FreeMax - the maximum number of zero-cost mileposts to which a player can build per turn (set to 0 for no limit)
MONEY - KEEP CASH SECRET
Enable this to keep the cash level for your opponents secret until a tax event.
VARIANTS - AUTOMOVE ALLOWED
Enable to allow human players to ask EBP to automatically move their train to a desired spot. We recommend you disable this feature when setting up for Blitz Play, since it can assist too well in blitz matches.
VARIANTS - BACKTRACKING
Enable this to allow trains to reverse direction at any milepost after loss of a full turn.
VARIANTS - BOTS: game repeat
Enable this to have EBP start a new game immediately after one finishes. This feature is handy for running multiple games that consist only of computer players. For such multiple games, also enable the Bots: non-stop feature described below. Cumulative statistics for multiple games can be found in the Game Status window.
VARIANTS - BOTS: halt on error
Use this if you want EBP to stop if it detects an error. This can be handy when using the Bots: non-stop feature (below) to test a map you have created. If an error occurs while this is enabled, 1) EBP automatically unminimizes the map window to call attention to the problem, and 2) EBP displays error info in the caption of the game windows to make that info visible in case the error causes the program to hang
If both this option and "Bots: game repeat" are enabled, upon an error EBP will attempt to save the game so you can later open it to view what happened. This saved game will be placed in the AutoSave directory (which you can specify in the Game Options window) with a filename in the form ebperr######.ebg where ###### are up to 6 digits.
VARIANTS - BOTS: max processor
Enable this to tell EBP to not give much processing time to other Windows applications running simultaneously. Takes effect only when the map window is minimized, and then boosts play speed about 10%. Useful when running continuous games while you are away from the computer or if your device has multiple processor cores.
VARIANTS - BOTS: non-stop
Enable this to skip the messages during AI bot player turns that require you to click OK.
VARIANTS - BOTS: save at end
Enable this to save to disk each "Bots: game repeat" match at its end.
VARIANTS - BOTS: sum data
Enable this on multi-core processor devices to collect and combine AI statistics from multiple instances of EBP running continuous games simultaneously. For proper use, "Bots: game repeat" and "Bots: non-stop" must also be enabled.
When you enable this option, EBP asks if you wish it to automatically spawn additional game instances for "Bots: game repeat" stat collection purposes. For example, if your device has four processor cores, you can enter 3 for EBP to start three more instances and send the game results they generate to the copy of EBP in which you are making this selection. The combined results will appear in the Game Status window.
Important additional information is found in the continuous games topic.
VARIANTS - CROSSGRADING
Enable this to allow players to change between Heavy Freight and Fast Freight engines When crossgrading from Heavy to Fast, if there is insufficient room on the Fast for all loads being carried on the Heavy, the rightmost-displayed onboard load is automatically removed from the train.
VARIANTS - DEAL IN DECK ORDER
Enable if you wish players to receive contracts in contract number order. If the supply of contracts is exhausted, contract drawing restarts with the lowest-numbered contract available (i.e. no reshuffling). This is useful for map testing, as well as for online Crayon Rails Deck Generator contract sets. To import from the Crayon Rails Deck Generator, see the instructions in the Game Setup topic.
VARIANTS - DISCARD 1 CONTRACT
Enable to allow players the option to selectively discard one of their contracts per turn, and draw a replacement.
VARIANTS - ENGINES: STANDARD
Enable this to use EBP's built-in set of standard locomotives rather than a custom set supplied with the map. If a map does not supply a custom locomotive set, changing this setting has no impact.
VARIANTS - EQUAL EVENTS
Enable this if you wish to ignore, for the remainder of the round, any events that occur while any player meets victory conditions at the time the event is drawn, even if those conditions are met before that player's turn ends or if it is not that player's turn. This prevents an event from interfering with a player's win after that player has met victory conditions. If players end in a tie and the match continues, normal handling of events resumes until any player again meets victory conditions, at which point events are ignored per the above. This variant is most useful when combined with the Equal-turns victory option (below) because it clarifies how events will be handled while anyone's win is pending.
VARIANTS - EQUAL-TURNS VICTORY
Enable this to grant all players an equal number of turns in the game. If a player declares meeting victory conditions at turn end, the remaining players of the round each get to take their final turn. Any subsequent events that occur cannot disqualify a declared player from winning, even if Equal events (above) is not enabled. If a remaining player also meets victory conditions and has more cash than the player who declared initially, then the remaining player wins. If there is a tie in cash, the Winning Cash level is increased by the Starting Cash amount, and play continues unless the Sudden Death variant has been enabled in which case the game ends in a tie.
VARIANTS - EVENTS
Enable to allow events to occur during the match. Events occur at random from a selection designed with the map. Turning off Events typically makes for a faster game. If you are testing a map you have created, and suspect an event might be causing odd AI behavior, disable events via this checkbox to learn if that solves the odd behavior. Additionally, for detailed testing, you can toggle individual events on and off via the Event Info window.
VARIANTS - EXTRA LOAD
Enable this to increase the load carrying ability of all engine types by 1.
VARIANTS - FAST TRAINS
Enable this to increase the speed of all engine types by one third. Tests indicate Fast Trains reduces the average number of rounds in match by about 20%.
VARIANTS - HALL OF FAME
Enable this feature to make the game eligible to appear in the Hall of Fame should player end-game score(s) qualify.
VARIANTS - HONEYMOON 2-PLAYER
Enabling this 1) reduces availability of each load by quantity one, 2) disallows both players from building into the same small city, and 3) any building into a small city must be accompanied by a demand for a delivery or pickup at that city, and a requirement that that delivery must be fulfilled; a lock icon is displayed next to such deliveries. This feature is intended as an option for 2- or 3- player matches. If you also want tossed loads to be warehoused, enable Warehousing and in the Warehousing turns field enter -1.
VARIANTS - LIGHT TRAINS +1
Enable this to allow a train to move one more milepost per turn per empty onboard load slot.
VARIANTS - LIGHT TRAINS +2
Enable this to allow a train to move two more mileposts per turn per empty onboard load slot. Enable both this and Light Trains +1 to instead get three more mps.
VARIANTS - MANUAL CARD ENTRY
Enable this if you wish to manually select the contract/event each player will be dealt next. This feature is handy if you are recreating a prior board game match for analysis purposes.
VARIANTS - MY-TURN SOUND
Enable to choose a .WAV audio file that EBP will play as a prompt when it becomes your turn during the match, or if an event requires you to toss or pick up a load outside of your normal turn. Especially handy for Web-based. You can change this setting while a match is in progress without EBP considering it to be cheating, and without the change being logged in the match history.
VARIANTS - NO HAND DISCARDING
Enable to disallow players from pitching all their contracts and drawing new ones. Enabling this is not recommended for use with AI players since the AI can sometimes get itself into an untenable position.
VARIANTS - OPEN CONTRACTS
When Open Contracts is enabled, and a player discards contracts, EBP will designate those contracts as open, that is, in play for all. The first player to deliver any demanded load of an Open Contract completes that contract, and it is then removed from play. EBP allows up to four Open Contracts at a time and ignores excess ones. EBP displays Open Contracts below the contracts of the players; to see them you may need to scroll down, or use the Game, Contracts pull-down menu.
VARIANTS - REBUILD CHANCE BRIDGES
Enable this to permit a player a one-turn, exclusive opportunity to rebuild a bridge destroyed by a flood event. This prevents an opponent from building that track segment before its original builder has had one turn to rebuild after the event ends. At such locations on the map, EBP draws a thin line in the color of the player for whom the rebuild chance is reserved. During Blitz matches, a player is given a rebuild chance that endures through one full round after the event ends.
VARIANTS - REBUILD CHANCE ALL
This operates the same as Rebuild Chance Bridges described above, except it applies to all track segments destroyed by events, not just bridges destroyed by flooding. Sandstorms, for example, sometimes destroy track.
VARIANTS - RESTARTING ALLOWED
Enable this to allow players to restart during the match. Disabling this is not recommended for use with AI players since the AI can sometimes get itself into an untenable position. When testing a map you have designed, a large number of AI restarts (relative to other maps) can indicate a basic problem in your design, such as too many contracts with demands that cannot be satisfied at the start of a match because track connecting the load source and delivery cities costs more than the players' starting cash.
VARIANTS - SOUND EFFECTS
Disable this to turn off all audio sound effects in EBP and the maps. You can change this setting while a match is in progress without EBP considering it to be cheating, and without the change being logged in the match history.
VARIANTS - SUDDEN DEATH
Enable this to extend play of the match until all contracts are exhausted. The player with the greatest amount of cash and who connects the required number of big cities wins. At the bottom-right corner of the map, EBP displays a small color bar of a height that represents the number of contracts remaining; mouse over this bar to pop up the exact number.
VARIANTS - SWITCHBACK START
Enable this to allow the build turns at match start to alternate in turn and then reverse-turn order.
VARIANTS - ULTRA FREIGHT
Enable this if you want a faster speed engine (usually speed 16) available as a final upgrade.
VARIANTS - VERIFY CONNECTABILITY
Enable this to have EBP check and enforce the revised EB-series rules that 1) no track build may prevent any other player from interconnecting all big cities, and 2) no track may be built to or from a medium/small city that would block a third/second player from having one section of track to that city. Note that enabling this option adds computational overhead that slows the program. Furthermore, this feature is not guaranteed to prevent AI bots from building in a way that blocks an opponent's connection. This feature is intended for use in non-AI bot matches with many (5 or 6) human players on maps with bottlenecks that limit track routes, such as Japan.
VARIANTS - XSPOT NOVICE
Normally, the load generated upon building to an xspot can be picked up by any player. For a less-competitive style of play, enable the Xspot novice variant, which reserves such loads for pickup only by the player who built to the xspot milepost. Also, when this variant is enabled, the number of possible loads generated via builds may exceed the maximum number of that type of load that had been permitted by the map designer.
GAME REMARKS
In this field, you can enter a brief comment about this match. This comment will be displayed in the File, Open Game window.