How do I make money fast at the start?

Early on there are two quick ways to earn money: carrying passengers within a town or between towns, and carrying cargo from one industry to the next or from an industry to a town. For passengers, start with a bus line between two neighboring towns. Income goes up with speed and with distance, and the distance counts in a straight line from where a trip starts to where it ends.

Should I take a loan?

Yes. Your bank account starts empty, so take a loan first. You can hold up to four, the interest depends on the difficulty, and each offer comes with its own terms, so know what the money is for.

Yes. Switch on the tutorial for your first map; it sits in the Environment section of the map settings. The manual suggests playing it once to learn the basics. For a guided start, the campaign works too: the manual suggests that newcomers play the first few missions, because they bring in the main parts of the game one at a time.

Which start year should I pick?

Choose a start year from 1900 to 2020, in steps of ten years. It decides which vehicles the store offers when you begin. Our vehicle unlock guide lists the buses each start year offers.

Why is my train losing money?

Give each train enough wagons, and pick wagons about as fast as the locomotive; a short or mismatched train is likely to run at a loss. Upkeep is paid on the real length of road or track, so a long detour in an S or U shape adds upkeep and may cut your profit. An empty vehicle earns nothing. Let the same vehicles carry goods in both directions where you can; trucks, freight wagons and cargo ships switch cargo at stations by themselves.

Why has my town stopped growing?

Keep every town rating green. A single poor rating is enough to stall a town's growth. Growing towns want more cargo and more passenger service, and new cargo types join their wish list, so look over your lines from time to time.

Do mods turn off achievements?

Usually. Achievements are generally unavailable while non-cosmetic mods are active or when gameplay settings differ from the standard values.

Does the climate matter?

The climate changes how the map looks and what the terrain is like, not how the simulation works. The terrain does make some kinds of transport more useful than others.

Beginner Tips: Your First Hour | Transport Fever 3 Tools

Step 1 · New game screen

Before you press Start

Switch on the tutorial for your first map; it sits in the Environment section of the map settings. The manual suggests playing it once to learn the basics.
Choose a start year from 1900 to 2020, in steps of ten years. It decides which vehicles the store offers when you begin.
When each vehicle unlocks Vehicle list
Bigger maps, and settings with many towns and industries, take longer to generate.
How big each map size is
The climate changes how the map looks and what the terrain is like, not how the simulation works. The terrain does make some kinds of transport more useful than others.
Picking a difficulty fills in every gameplay setting below it, vehicle costs and running costs included. The prices on our vehicle list are those at Normal difficulty.
Vehicle prices
Decide on mods before you start. The four built-in mods (Sandbox Mode, No Costs, Tycoon and Vehicles: No End Year) change how the game plays, and achievements are generally off while non-cosmetic mods are active or gameplay settings differ from the standard ones.
What each built-in mod does

Step 2 · First ten minutes

Your first line

Your bank account starts empty, so take a loan first. You can hold up to four, the interest depends on the difficulty, and each offer comes with its own terms, so know what the money is for.
For passengers, start with a bus line between two neighboring towns.
Passengers and cargo use different stations, so build the passenger kind for a bus line.
Each stop only reaches the streets around it. Put several stops in each town, or add a short bus line inside the town, so people from every part of it can travel.
Buy vehicles in a depot, then put them on a line in the line manager; a new vehicle has no route of its own. The line manager's Buy Vehicles button opens the store of the nearest suitable depot and puts the new vehicles on the line straight away.
Check the subsidy offers. A Connect Towns offer asks for exactly this kind of direct passenger line between two towns, and it comes with a reward.
How subsidies work

Step 3 · Once the first line runs

Your first cargo chain

For cargo, start small: carry food such as vegetables or fish to a town whose commercial district wants it. The town window, and the label next to the town's name, show what it is asking for.
What towns want Production chain planner
An empty vehicle earns nothing. Let the same vehicles carry goods in both directions where you can; trucks, freight wagons and cargo ships switch cargo at stations by themselves.
Which station takes which cargo
To pass cargo from one line to another, build a warehouse within reach of the stations. Every vehicle that stops nearby can use its storage.
Warehouse modules for each cargo

Step 4 · When the money matters

Making lines pay

Income goes up with speed and with distance, and the distance counts in a straight line from where a trip starts to where it ends.
Upkeep is paid on the real length of road or track, so a long detour in an S or U shape adds upkeep and may cut your profit.
Give each train enough wagons, and pick wagons about as fast as the locomotive; a short or mismatched train is likely to run at a loss.
Compare speeds and capacity
Make platforms at least as long as your trains. Shorter ones slow down loading and unloading.
Build on the level or along the contour lines. Reshaping terrain is expensive, steep slopes slow vehicles down, and both earthworks and felled trees cost you reputation in nearby towns. River valleys make good routes.
Bigger networks cost money before they earn it; a few months in the red at the start can still pay off later.

Step 5 · After the first years

As your towns grow

Growing towns want more cargo and more passenger service, and new cargo types join their wish list, so look over your lines from time to time.
What each district needs
Keep every town rating green. A single poor rating is enough to stall a town's growth.
Find the rating that holds a town back
A map rarely has enough industry for every demand. An industry produces more when you deliver its booster cargo, if it has one, or workers, which every industry takes.
Boosters for each industry
As soon as more than one train runs on a line, or lines share a stretch of track, add signals.
How signals work
Your company rank follows the population of the whole map, and each new rank unlocks perks.
Which perk fixes which problem

Transport Fever 3 Beginner Tips: Your First Hour

The short answer

The first-hour checklist

Before you press Start

Your first line

Your first cargo chain

Making lines pay

As your towns grow

When something goes wrong

Frequently asked questions

How do I make money fast at the start?

Should I take a loan?

Is there a tutorial?

Which start year should I pick?

Why is my train losing money?

Why has my town stopped growing?

Do mods turn off achievements?

Does the climate matter?

Sources

Continue reading

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