A-Train (DOS)

A-Train

Platform:	DOS
Year:	1992
Developer:	Artdink Corporation
Buy:	Amazon

A-Train, released in 1992 to the North American market, was a Maxis conversion of a Japanese game from Artdink called Take The A-Train III.

The game is a 3-dimensional business simulation centered on building an empire starting with railroads. The player can then dabble in real estate, the stock market and property management. The game goes through seasons, with appropriate holiday, springtime and autumn music.

The game featured more than 30 locomotives to choose from.

Screenshots

The title screen.

Main menu.

The display transitions from morning, day, dusk, and night.

Looking to buy a new train.

Checking my funds at the bank.

Dabbling in the hotel business.

Music

VGMPF Album Art

Brad Madix composed an assortment of jazz songs and arranged a couple traditional Christmas songs for A-Train's soundtrack.

This game appears to be the only credit of professional musician Brad Madix.

Here's what Brad had to say about the soundtrack.

“

A-Train was so long ago! My recollection may be a bit hazy, but I recall sequencing MIDI files using some ancient version of Digital Performer. Maxis’s Product Manager for A-Train gave me a list of themes they wanted (“Spring,” “ Summer,” etc.) and lengths and I wrote the pieces. When done, I sent them to Maxis for approval and basically never heard back. I did check with them a few times expecting to get a list of revisions, but never heard a word. I’m guessing here, but I got the feeling the game was way behind in development and they were not prepared to give me comments. Some months later I went away on tour. When the game came out, I got a copy and played with it. They did indeed use all the stuff I wrote. I have no idea what Russell’s involvement was, but assume that there were adjustments that had to be made and they asked him to make them since I had told them I wasn’t available. I don’t recall any pieces that Russell actually wrote, but I may be mistaken. I was unaware that he was involved until after the game was released, and at no point did I work with him directly. This doesn’t mean he should not have received some credit, only that I don’t know what the credit is for.

„

Recording

The soundtrack were recorded using emulated sound hardware in DOSBox SVN Daum during gameplay.

The Roland MT-32 recording starts with a 1, and the AdLib recording starts with a 2.

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
101	Title	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:51	Download
102	Fall	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:21	Download
103	Intro	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:12	Download
104	Spring	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:23	Download
105	Summer	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:18	Download
106	Winter	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:18	Download
107	Deck the Halls	Traditional	Brad Madix	0:36	Download
108	Jingle Bells	James Lord Pierpont	Brad Madix	1:13	Download
109	Impend	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:12	Download
110	Bultrain	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:20	Download
111	Down Beat	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:05	Download
112	Up Beat	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:04	Download
113	Bad Info	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:17	Download
114	Good Info	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:13	Download
115	You Lose	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:55	Download
116	Victory	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:57	Download

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
201	Title	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:44	Download
202	Fall	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:20	Download
203	Intro	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:11	Download
204	Spring	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:21	Download
205	Summer	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:18	Download
206	Winter	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:17	Download
207	Deck the Halls	Traditional	Brad Madix	0:37	Download
208	Jingle Bells	James Lord Pierpont	Brad Madix	1:12	Download
209	Impend	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:10	Download
210	Bultrain	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:19	Download
211	Down Beat	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:04	Download
212	Up Beat	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:05	Download
213	Bad Info	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:15	Download
214	Good Info	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:12	Download
215	You Lose	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:54	Download
216	Victory	Brad Madix	Brad Madix	0:57	Download

Credits

Ripper: binarymaster
Recorder: binarymaster
Game Credits:
- Music: Brad Madix
Manual Credits:
- Sounds: Koji Yamada credited as Yamada
- Sounds: Daisuke Nakakaze credited as Nakakaze

(Sources: Game, Manual)

Game Rip

Format	Download
	Download (Info)

The MIDI music was ripped directly from the game memory. The game also plays 3 voice music on Sound Master and Tandy along with SNG format which is unknown, so it can't be ripped for now.