Rating: 
Summary: Great strategy game!
Review: I think that when people say "The game is not working, don't buy it," they should rather say "The game is not working ON MY SYSTEM, *I* wish I hadn't bought it..."Traffic Giant(US Gold Edition), with the latest patch 1.4, is working fine on my system (Win98, 128 MB RAM.) I have not experienced a single crash in many hours of gameplay, either when playing Campaigns or Endless games. The game has very nice graphics and ok sound but, most of all, it is a lot of fun! Each map presents a very different challenge and the layouts of the many available cities are very interesting. It is a pleasure to just look at the cities, with its pedestrians, traffic and cute animations. The only reasons I gave this game 4 stars instead of 5 are: 1. I wish the game had a map editor, to create our own city layouts. 2. The interface of the game could have been better. For instance: I particularly dislike the fact that only up and down arrows are available to scroll through our lists of vehicles and lines, when it should also have had a scrollbar! It's ok at the beginning of the game, but when you have many vehicles and lines, it's a pain to find what you want using the up and down arrows... Also badly designed is the "Create new line" option: the command is only available at the top of the list of lines, and then you have to click the "Build" button. This means that you must first scroll the list of lines to the top (with that stupid up arrow -- no scrollbar available!) and then click the "Build" button. Why didn't the designers include a "New Line" button instead is a mystery... At least they could have added a keyboard shortcut for it. I also dislike the fact that we can't click on a line in the list to automatically jump to it on the map. Aside from that, I'm enjoying the game immensely! :)
Rating: 
Summary: I LOVE IT!!!
Review: I've read some other reviews about the game crashing, its because you need to download the patches and also loook at the system requirements!!! To download the patches, I used [a website] and its NEVER crashes after I installes the patches. Okay, about the game, its really cool and I think it would be a great investment because it brings you hours of fun and mabey about 3 seconds of boredom when it loads!!! It also has good graphics and ok sound. When you want to choose a line and you have a lot of them, you have to keep on pushing the right arrow or left arrow which is annoying to most, but not to me!!! I basically LOVE this game and I recommend buying it!!! I've seen it in a store for [more] but Amozon.com has it for [less]!!!...
Rating:
Summary: Good game, but needs some fixing
Review: If you like Mass transit and traffic and all that, then you'll love this game. I've read many reviews where they said the computer kept crashing, or it would crash when a new mode of transit would be available, but aside from that (because I never faced those problems) it is a good game for the "trafficly minded".
First off, they got so many different missions each mission is different in a way that it makes each city feel unique. Depending on what mode you choose, they start you out with a limited number of Mass transit vehicles, each with different passenger capacities. As the game progresses and you start making more money and making people happy, more advanced vehicles start coming in. They have everything from 10 passenger transit vans to 20-40 passenger basic buses, 30 & 45 passenger hydro-diesel buses, 80 passenger double decker buses, even a special 15 passenger hydro electric shuttle bus (way later in the game), different types of LRV's (Light rail vehicles--trolleys, trams, etc...), Heavy rail, Monorail, and suspension trains... you name it
Missions include making a certain amount of money in a certain period of time, or reaching a certain company value in a certain time period and stuff like that.
Buildings come from all over, they have lots of medieval looking buildings that give some of the cities a unique blend because they do a good job mixing the historic with the contemporary (modern). As for city types, they have so many different types and sometimes, they'll give you only a certain district of a big city to play with. But overall, there are urban areas, suburban, industrial, tourist-oriented, downtowns, residential areas, some residential areas with tall co-op apartment buildings with hundreds of people trying to get on your buses, rural areas with small towns spread out, I can't name them all off the top of my head but there are a lot.
Of course, the more buses you have on your map, the slower the speed will run. The computer I use to play this game isn't all that great, but the game works perfectly on it. When I start having about 25 bus routes, with maybe 7 buses on each route, thats when it starts slowing down. Another good thing though is that you even get to name your bus routes, and the route name doesn't have to match the name of the street the bus travels on so you can use your imagination.
In a way, this game can help you in real life with things like budgeting or how hard it is to keep a transit system running well. Like in the game, you do have the choice of placing only a sign at a bus stop outside a large apartment block or a heated bus shelter near a farm... its up to you but obviously one would be a big waste, the other- a big nusciance. Another big (real life) nusciance is waiting 20 minutes for a "frequent" bus and then 3 of them come in a row. The game even lets you control things like this so each of the buses come evenly
The bad part. Only things that suck about this game is how when you have too many buses on the screen at one time, it starts slowing down [but i guess that depends on the computer].
If you play this game for the first time, then its gonna be kinda tough getting used to the menus and all because the instructions are all in symbols but its simple tho.
Also, they need a part 2 where everything, includin the graphics, would be advanced and it would be even better if you'd be able to create your own city. The graphics ain't bad now, but an advanced version would be better. But overall, I like the game.
Rating:
Summary: An addictive and fun game
Review: Ok, like other ppl, i have experienced three system crash during like 10~12 hour of gameplay. I have checked the internet and tried to find out what is causing this problem. It seems nobody really knows(not even the company). Some says when a new vehicle is introduced, it crashed. I haven't experienced that, but I noticed everytime when my system crashed, the laptop is extremely hot. (My laptop is PIII 600, 64MB Ram) Therefore, I believe the the game crash not because the game has flows, but the system(CPU) generate too much heat that it meltfuction. Anyway, my point is the game does crash. Other than this fatel error, this game is pretty enjoyable to play.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Addictive!
Review: One of those pc games you can't walk away from. I guarantee you'll get hooked once you start playing. I was doing some temp work in the Washington, DC metro area and fired up the game on my laptop (while I was waiting for my bus). One metrobus driver asked me what I was playing and I got a kick out of telling him I was planning bus routes! He shrugged his head and laughed...but I thought it was amusing.
Rating:
Summary: Great game!
Review: So few good games these days have such low system requirements: 233mhz, 32MB RAM, 2MB Video, 4x CD-ROM, 240MB space. I purchased this game and installed it on my 800mhz, 320MB RAM, XP Pro system and it works perfectly. Though I haven't attempted to install any of the patches/updates yet. Great job JoWood! You may have a new return customer.
Rating:
Summary: "You are in charge, sir!"
Review: Some critics say Traffic Giant is a sheer boredom. But if you spend your patience with it, your are immensely rewarded. Backed by a solid economic model, the game emphasis on planning and long-term strategy. You are CEO of a public transport company. Your only goal: makes it profitable. You start from scratch to build a transportation company by drawing your bus routes inside the cities, purchasing buses, coaches, double-decks from a wide range of selection, setting up bus stops along the busiest streets, and adjusting your bus fares, planning your advertising campaigns, setting your employees' wages and off you go, hoping the "sims" in the city would choose your company's services...rather than their own cars. Pre-planning is required. The economic model is surprisingly believable, taking into account of all the important factors at a right proportion. Are your fares set reasonably? Are the bus stations located convenient enough? Do the buses provide reliable services? Are the buses going to the place that the "sims" really want? The prices are too expensive? What are the competitors doing? You've got to answer all these questions. You can always get the feedback from the citizens in the streets or their own cars. And the no. of passengers waiting at the bus stations would tell you if you are going along the right track. Apart from making your own company profitable, your commitments to reduce the level of traffic congestion, providing a satisfying level of services measured in terms of popularity of each of your bus routes, company's image, and even the attractiveness of your buses and stations, are all but important. Setting too high a level of bus fares and wrecking one of your buses in the middle of the road would certainly prove detrimental. And don't forget, your other competitors won't give you a second chance. If your company is profitable enough, you can always grow even "bigger" by laying tracks. Yes, trams and trains are available and they are expensive to purchase and maintain. Do it only if your company's cash position is strong enough. Remember, you can't do anything if you have negative cash balance...except selling off your own assets. But the trams and trains carry more people than a mere 100-passengers double- deck... and they seldom break. In the campaign game, you are monopolizing the public transport (i.e. no competitor) but are given the priorities by the local municipal. If you are doing well, the authority would release one to three more cities for you to run your business, with a different set of goals. But your company is not carrying over to the next city. You always start from scratch. The campaign scenarios are overall well structured and you are given increasing difficult objectives. At one point, you are responsible to save a company from the verge of going bankrupt. However, you are never stuck by a single campaign scenario because you can always "skip" the difficult one and proceed to the next available, if you so wish. This thoughtful "flexibility" in the campaign design is greatly applauded. While the campaign game is mildly challenged, you can always pit your wits against one to three computer competitors in a cutthroat price war or in a race to be the first one to find the best routes at the best price. The AI is generally competent. They extend their route to your area of operations relentlessly if they find it profitable. This game truly gives you the survivalist view in a commercial jungle. The game's graphics are exquisite: churches, swimming pools, shopping arcades, cinemas, parks, governmental buildings, factories, commerce center...all are there. You can zoom in and out of the city at three levels. You always feel the vivid life in a city with the bustling voices of people, engines, tram bells etc. Having all that, Traffic Giant is not without drawbacks though. You cannot design express route (i.e. fewer stops) overlapping the existing routes because you must have the same stops of an existing route along the same streets. Multiplayer is apparently not working for the moment. Interface design is rigid and takes you a while to get used to, with very few short-cut keys. In a non-competitive environment, you find not many things to do if your company is well established for constant cash-inflow, other than watching the highs and lows of the economic cycle in the game. Several game bugs also boot you back to the desktop all of a sudden. So "saves" your company (a.k.a. game) often. But these are just some quibbles for an otherwise splendid game. Overall, Traffic Giant is the game that glues you to the monitor. In a risk-free environment, you run you company at million dollars and get a taste of what it's like a CEO, solve the all too headache traffic congestion problem, Traffic Giant offers you value for every dollar of your money.
Rating: 
Summary: System Crashes
Review: There are serious bugs once you get to advanced stages. I have had repeated screen freezes and system crashes. Twice my system has been so seriously corrupted that I have had to re-format my hard drive and re-load everything. The only common denominator in those cases was this game. After the last re-format, I will no longer load or play Traffic Giant. That's too bad because this game had a lot of potential.
Rating:
Summary: Best game in a long time.
Review: This game is the best thing to happen to the U.S. in a long time. It'l teach people that there are other fun ways of getting around besides the automobile. America's love affair with the automobile has been the worst thing for the environment, and has created gridlock unimaginable 30 years ago. Traffic Giant will give us a new way of thinking.(a better and smarter one) Thank you JoWood.
Rating:
Summary: Great Game
Review: This is a fun, addictive game that uses strategy to make money. 2 thumbs up!
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