Historical Progression

This particular page as it is developed will hopefully contain the following: Game development through all versions, game design and philosophy, evaluation of each version, historicism, etc.

There is also an Archive where some Historic Data has been preserved; Information found there is no longer valid under the Current Version of Transport Empire.

Version Development 1.0

Version 1.0

February 2014 (IOS April 3, 2014)

Transport empire became available to play on the iPad.

Evaluation:

Version 1.01

April 7, 2014

Evaluation:

Version 1.02

May 13, 2014

Multiple improvements were brought to the game. Roads could be updated twice, once with silver and once with gold, improving transport times for contracts. Mines now exhaust themselves of resources. If sold, a mine may give a resource manager back. New buildings appeared on the map _____??____.

Significant changes to the train barn. Inefficeent early trains could now be upgraded to other trains. Such that a Puffing Billy became a Rocket, and a Rocket could become a Pacific with upgrades. Players did not have to sell old trains to make room for new trains- but could simply upgrade. Decapods no longer required space in the train-shed. Daily presents were first introduced on a 30 day cycle.

This is the first edition that was available on the iPhone.

Evaluation:

Version 1.03

June 18, 2014

Evaluation:

Version 1.03.4

July 15, 2014

Evaluation:

Version 1.04

September 22, 2014

Evaluation:

Version 1.04.06

October 16, 2014

Evaluation:

Version 1.05.03

December 2, 2014

Evaluation:

Version 1.06.16

December 20, 2014

Evaluation:

Version 1.06.26

January 9, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.07.15

May 30, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.08.09

April 24, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.09.05

May 12, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.10.09

June 17, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.11.06

June 29, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.11.12

July 9, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.12

August 6, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.12.9

September 3, 2015

Evaluation:

Version 1.13

October 22, 2015

Version 1.13 made two major changes to the game. First, it created the reserve storage feature, allowing players to store broken or transports they currently do not use without taking up space in the depot. This allowed players to purchase more transports than before, allowing unused transports to be activated when others went down for repair.

The second major change brought a change to the speed up button. Instead of the previous method of coal for level 1 and 2 mine contracts and gold for level 3 and 4, now all contracts were placed on a timer by kind. Contracts start requiring extensive amount of gold determined by the value of the resource and level of contract. As contract time expired, the cost decreased and went from requiring gold to requiring coal. The last three minutes of most contracts were free to speed up.

A final game improvement included a new challenge to play against George Moyle around the city of Fineville for reputation points. Players had 30 minutes to beat George Moyle in each competition.

Evaluation:

Players for the most part enjoyed these updates. Several players reported that the game appeared more professional as a result.

Some players on Facebook reported losing airship ability with the Draco and SkyWhale Airships, as the reserve requirement limited airship contracts to six active airships regardless of model at any one time. Before the update, some players were reporting being able to run as many as twelve or more airships at any one time. This may have been a glitch in the system that was never intended by Transport Empire that ended with v. 1.13. Apparently Draco and SkyWhale ships were added on top of crafted airships before v. 1.13 and required room in the depot only if other airships were scrapped or if the airport expanded to a higher level. Considerable frustration by players who spent real money for SkyWhale ships as they felt cheated by the game. Thus Transport Empire provided an unintended impression that these ships required no room when they always did. Special event and purchasing opportunities allowed a temporary override of the previous depot rules, as they were gained in the July 2015 special event or as a special purchase opportunity and were available even if room in the depot was full.

Other players reported accidentally spending more gold in the Control Center when collecting contracts as a confirmation button was not available in all browsers for Facebook players. There may have been some glitches in version 1.13 that were fixed in version 1.13.13 as multiple players complained of the game freezing, crashing, or not registering tasks that were completed.

Overall this version created a more playable version of the game where players could use strategy to keep specific transports running, where players were able to save collections of transports they liked but did not always want to play, and where players enjoyed expanded ability to control their game with the expanded options in the Control Center.

Version 1.13.13

November 10, 2015

Evaluation:

Version Development 2.0

Version 2.0

December 17, 2015

The Winter Event is in effect until the end of the year!

• Enjoy the Winter Adventure and share your findings to ensure success for all!

Meanwhile, we continue to gather information on the December 2.0 Update where Crafting has been introduced to the game.

• New District Buildings allow you to complete Research at the Academy and produce Parts at the Craftshopin order to Build, Upgrade and Maintain your Transport Fleet.

• Also discovered are 2 new Locations to assist in your Empire's development:
  • The Machine Lab .
  • The Smithy .

• Continue the 2.0 Discussion here!

Evaluation:

Version 2.0.2

January 18, 2016

Tweaks to the 2.0 system continue with Today's update for mobile players where Repairs now require "simplerParts":

While Pacific Locomotives once required 2  1  (or the "Steel Equivalent" of 245 basic elements) to return it to Service, it can now be Repaired for 2  2  (a "Steel Equivalent" of 28) or just over 10% of the Partspreviously required, for example.

As always, Contributions to update Articles and Data with the most-current information continue to benefit all Transport Barons; all insight to assist in growing our Empires is appreciated!

Meanwhile, we continue to gather information on the December 2.0 Update where Crafting and Parts have been introduced to the game.

• New District Buildings allow you to complete Research at the Academy and produce Parts at the Craftshopin order to Build, Upgrade and Maintain your Transport Fleet.

• Also discovered are 2 new Locations to assist in your Empire's development:
  • The Machine Lab .
  • The Smithy .

Evaluation:

Version 2.1

03/30/16 - 2.1 Update Released!

UPDATE 2.1 RELEASED on Mobile & Facebook Platforms involving:

• Reliability of Transport Equipment where Parts can now be applied to each in order to prevent breakdown.
  • New Condition Bar allows us to monitor the Current Condition of equipment (right).
  • Maintain equipment by selecting respective Info Icons then the new Reliability Tab.
    • Select & Apply Parts to increase condition of the equipment by an amount based upon Part Complexity.
  • As an added Surprise, All Equipment is Repaired to Maximum Condition with the Update!

• District Expansion
  • Additional Districts available for all Cities (except Coldport) along with expanded functionality of the building process where information on District Types is now available (see new Icon at top-left):

• Access the brief 2.1 Tutorials by selecting the in-game 2.1 Icon
  • Complete both to receive your Reward!

Evaluation:

Version 2.2

June 9, 2016

UPDATE 2.2 RELEASED

• Hire a Maintenance Worker  to ensure your Transport stays in tip-top shape!
• Fully Upgrade your Vehicles to receive a Reward! 
• Craft-shops now produce only  Kits of Basic Parts.
• Complete the in-game tutorials  to receive a Reward!
• Find more details and discuss them HERE.

Evaluation:

This update produced some positive changes, in that all fully upgraded vehicles earned rewards in crystals, parts, and experience, with the higher value transports receiving higher end parts than lower end. Many experienced players found that they were able to receive a great deal of parts from previously updated transports. The maintenance worker also proved to be a welcome addition, as it allowed those willing to spend some gold (1-5 gold bars depending on level of transport) to save considerable time repairing their transports and more time playing the game. Carriages no longer could be repaired, as Transport Empire found that newer players wasted many of their spare parts on carriages instead of placing them on maintenance of vehicles. Deciding whether to use or not use a maintenance worker created a bit of strategy as some vehicles prove more expensive maintaining rather than repairing.

Players proved to be less enthusiastic with the change of all craft-shops from producing tiered parts to producing only basic parts (L1). This changed the strategy considerably in upgrading transports. The airport now produced Excellent parts (L2-L4). Spending more crystals on airship contracts sometimes produced tiered L3 and L4 parts but usually gave L2 parts.

And so began the Long Wait between Update 2.2 and future updates. The Long Wait produced the longest period between updates in Transport Empire history. To help keep fans happy, Transport Empire repeated several special events, including the Coffee Rush in August, the Sky Conquers in October. They also had several small resource competitions with parts for rewards. In early August they put out a teaser for what may have been a Jules Verne style expansion- asking fans if they would prefer to "venturing into outer space or exploring the depths of the earth." Transport Empire received mixed responses- most fans who responded tended to prefer underground rather than space. Could these mixed responses have thrown Transport Empire game builders for a loop, requiring a total rethink for expansion?

Game Design and Philosophy

This section will highlight game design and the philosophy behind how the game was developed. Included can be the storyline development, transport items developed and those never released.

Historicism

This section will comment on how the game both reflects current world culture and impressions of Victorian nineteenth society vs the reality of the growth of transportation empires.

Setting

The Game, Transport Empire, takes place in a fictitious country by the name of Storwell. The period appears to be late nineteenth century Victorian Era with a heavy twist of Steam Punk culture in dress, amoral lifestyles, and cultural/ gender expressions that overstep Victorian Era values.

Storwell appears to be a landlocked country (as of the territories released as of early June 2016) in a temperate climate. The main map shows a large plain with a river system with originally three later four tributary rivers (after an expansion that added four new territories). It remains unclear where the river system goes. Mountains border the top of Storwell (presumably the North given the snow). A long mountain range appearing to be a Continental Divide occurs on the right side of the game. Unlike a true continental divide though, a tunnel near the bottom right of the map creates a passage that allows steamboats passage between the main river and the large lake on the other side of the divide. Resources seem to be placed randomly to create game balance, with each type of chosen resource available throughout the entire map. In reality, geography would dictate that different resources would appear in concentrated areas.

Some of the special events showcase possibly other parts of Storwell not yet connected with the main map. The Winter Adventure takes place to the north of Storwell in a temperate climate covered by snowfall. The Coffee Rush adventure appears to be at first glance a colonial railroad extraction business in a sub-tropical environment. Unlike most railroad extraction empires in nineteenth-century colonial territories that take single-commodity resources from the center of a territory and extract them to the coast, so that they can be shipped to their mother country and future profits; Coffee Rush appeared to do the exact opposite. All single-commodity items (coffee beans) started at the port, Berryport, and were eventually transported to a major city in the interior- Brewston.

It appears from the introduction video of Storwell, the dress, and the ethnicities seen that Storwell is likely based on the North American West of the United States and or Canada. Though, this is never explicitly stated and could in fact represent many parts of the world.

In reality, the late nineteenth century was indeed a time of rapid growth in technology and transportation systems. In the United States the mercantilism of an earlier colonial period had already been completely replaced by a growing market economy. This market economy grew hand in hand with transportation improvements, leading to the First Industrial Revolution in the United States during the early nineteenth century. The building of roads greatly facilitated trade, including the National Road from Cumberland, MD to Vandalia IL facilitated economic growth through much of the Mid-West. Other private turnpikes built up trade in other sections of the country. The application of the steam engine to river boats facilitated trade moving both up rivers and down rivers, allowing the Mississippi, Ohio, and many other tributary rivers of the Mississippi to leap forward in trade. Canals such as the Erie Canal and Pennsylvania Canal greatly opened up huge areas of hinterland to large cities like New York and Philadelphia, allowing them to grow into the mega-cities of today. By the 1840s the first railroads started to connect parts of the country together.

Regional market economies, each greatly varying by different climates, resources, and the industries built up from those resources produced Sectionalism within the United States. Although the nation as a whole contained trade between all sections, transport empires had not yet fully connected each section, causing differences. Severely under-paid immigrant factory workers in the north competed against the slave labor of African Americans in the South. Both regions claimed that their own faulty labor system was more humane than the other's. Eventually this led to the American Civil War, where historians are still arguing whether the war was over sectional economic differences based on geography or on labor system differences based on slavery.

After the American Civil War the entire nation finally came together in a single national economic system, largely as a result of improved transportation empires. The transcontinental railroads (Central/ Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Great Northern, Northern Pacific Santa Fe, Canadian Northern Railway) connected all parts of North America into a single system. Regional smaller railroads (often times owned by the same owners of the larger railroads) connected smaller towns and industries into the trunk lines of the major railroads. These railroads allowed farmers in remote portions of the continent to participate in a national economy. More importantly, these railroads made the urbanization of the Eastern cities possible by providing an outlet to move and sell factory made goods all over the continent. New business models such as the Roebuck & Sears Catalogue allowed factory goods to be sold via railroads readily to rural communities lacking large department stores. Failing mines gained new life by being able to transport marginal ore to processing plants hundred of miles away, allowing many silver and gold mines that had shut down before the railroads arrived to reopen and prosper for a time more. Even fresh fruit from California started to find its way across the nation using first icebox cars and later refrigerated cars, making it possible for the rare winter treat of an orange in the cold mid-western states. The lumber industry grew using temporary mountain railroads to transport heavy logs to lumber mills and then cities.

In the rest of the world these same forces of rapid economic expansion of the second industrial revolution also pushed a railroad building craze. This fully connected countries within Europe. Mother nations rapidly built railroads in their colonies to extract resources. Often times these railroads following economic prejudices of the time focused more on extracting single-commodity goods from the interior and moved them to the coast for transshipment to their mother country. Less emphasis was placed on connecting the peoples and nations in those regions together. Only overtime were these railroads connected. The British built the Calcutta to Delhi Railroad in India in the 1850s. The Japanese begin connecting cities via railroad in their colony of Taiwan in the 1890s to 1920s. Other transcontinental railroad projects were started and completed by the early twentieth-century such as the Trans-Siberian Railroad in Russia, the largely though never completed Cape to Cairo Railway in Africa, and the Trans-Australian Railway.

Transports

Real v. Fictitious