glad to see ill have some options to save the town,my honest character builds tend to also be poor but they also tend to have decent relations with preston and i imagine it should be fairly easy to convince the railroad to do me a favor i mean i usually at that point have a 50-60 persuade and have saved the railroad with very few of the workers dying and i dont think james has any problems with me either,actually will these stack to determine how well off the town will be or anything
Just some thoughts:
If you do do the direct investment option, it should be the glassworks. Anything gold-related won’t bring lasting prosperity to the town, bank aside.
The only other encounter you get with railroad types is with Denny at the beginning.
Also…James has contacts? I thought that making contacts and allies wasn’t his personal specialty.
And finally, I’d limit this to a total max of +4 prosperity from options that can be taken during the game, not counting the Upton wish. My preference would be as follows: Reduce the benefit from “I defeated Hartigan’s gang” to 1 prosperity, to allow those of us who are not warriors to still get a city, then take 3 of the following options.
A: Glassworks. Also, a possibility would be that instead of this being a winter interlude, it might only be possible if you decide to stay out on the frontier (as Marshal or not, but definitely needing to be legal about it) and picked when you do the final choice.
B: A success in arranging Sadler Balloons, with a high influence with Maria and a talk with Sadler to get him to want the balloon ride.
C: A maxed success on both sides of the railroad war (defeating the Upton forces at the railhead with nearly no casualties…a solo attack doesn’t give you the visibility you need…and stopping the train job without exploding the train) might get you a chance for a meeting with Stanford or one of his understudies. Maybe this is through one of James’ contacts, so also requiring a non-terrible relationship with James?
D: The bank. Influence with Preston a must.
E: Staying on the frontier as a marshal, with a maxed 2-out-of-3 karmic stats, will allow your little fief to prosper.
Saving Preston Springs isn’t the same thing as making it thrive and turn into a city.
And, um, doesn’t beating the Hartigan Gang require some level of combat skill?
I did manage to save the city most play-throughs even as a non-fighter, via a high knowledge of explosives and a good friendship with Carrie (for the gold and the outlaws in general) and stopping the flood acceptably, which always seemed to work out alright for some reason. I think a high persuasive stat also helped with several of those things…
That said, a lot of the suggestions here are very intriguing and I would love to see some of them integrated into the game!
@Ramidel I should have said, ‘saving the future of the city’… and I didn’t beat them so much as barely stopping them from getting the gold, and nearly at the cost of everyone’s necks (no combat skills - but I did have Carrie along). But the gold still went through and so Preston Springs did eventually turn into a city. I also died a whole lot trying to figure out how to do it with no combat skills… hence the eventual foray into studying explosives. It took me several tries to get through that scene without either dying or losing the gold (like, 10 restarts) however, but when I finally could manage the scene due to explosives and Carrie, the city went on to thrive in the epilogue.
If you mean later, though, the army folks eventually took them down when we were on the chase with the LDS contingent.
Also, isn’t there already an ending where the town nearly becomes a ghost town, but then, if the MC is involved with Preston, you come up with a factory and it revives? I don’t think my MC had any funds to speak of on that run-through, but she was romancing Preston (although not taking bribes or orders from him, stubborn girl).
@AllenGies Oh, and one thing I would love to see is some kind of unexpected success for the Shoshone other than ‘they get a reservation and it’s basically depressing and nerve wracking for all involved’. I know history limits that a good deal… but surely there must be some options? Especially as Yiska is one of my favourite characters.
Fiogan: If you turned Preston Springs into a city, you must have cut a deal with the Uptons. If it survived on its own after the gold ran out, you must have beaten the Hartigans, not gotten the gold through, unless I’m missing something. (That’s the ending you’re talking about, where the PC and Preston team up to save it, and a similar ending where Preston saves the town on his own. That’s not the same as the city ending though.)
Also, you can give the Shoshone a better reservation along with mineral rights. You need a little help there.
@Ramidel - The glass works certainly does make more sense. The balloon factory as well, though that is long term. Amusingly, the need for silk for a balloon lets me bring back a mention of Wong Dai Choi to handle the importation. That is, if you met him on good terms and/or have the money for it.
I also like the maxed success on protecting the railroad, a nice bonus for those who take care in their choices.
The other railroad scene can be found in the third interlude, but only if you aren’t romancing Preston. Easy to overlook though, so I’m not putting much weight to it.
Lowering the prosperity reward for routing the Hartigan gang doesn’t feel right. Since it is a given that the gold shipment will now go through safely, dispersing the gang ought to have an additional benefit as they aren’t preying on others connected to the town in the interim. Still, I’ll give it some thought. Perhaps I can work in a different bonus, lower prices in town, etc.
As for Marshal James and his contacts, he does have them. Not that he is all that great at acquiring them, but he does have them because some people appreciate what he’s done in the past. Perhaps not many, but then he has been a Marshal for years. Impressive deeds can open a lot of doors if he makes a suggestion or inquiry.
@Fiogan - There are a couple of ways to get a better result for the Shoshone, but all of them require outside intervention of some kind. Either asking that of Upton, seizing the Upton family fortune and being romantically linked to Yiska, or… nope, that’s about it. The reservation system is otherwise immovable.
@AllenGies just to be clear the Renegade route is when you side with the Uptons? because I’ve played through it a few times trying to find the scene but have had no luck yet.
No, that’s the Lackey route. The Renegade route is when you betray both sides and lead Reginald’s bandits to raid Preston Springs. Or “Where did Marshal James get the dumb idea to use someone like you as a marshal?”
How do you access that route?
never mind found it.
@Ramidel - That is a pretty good summation of the renegade path. 
@jps175 -Glad you found the path. If you have a moment afterward, tell me if you liked it.
As for the coding, the patch has been submitted. Now I can return to other projects.
Ok I think I have played the most evil path possible
Mister Logan Slaughter:
Traits: Stoic. Has an unusual bullet scar.
Current Companions:
Health: Healthy and vigorous.
Wealth: Wealthiest person in the northern hemisphere.
Honor: Morality is a subjective thing.
Law: Do what thou wilt.
Order: People are going to be people no matter what anyone does.
Gunfighting: Seven targets with six shots? It can be done.
Sharpshooting: Not a target out to five hundred paces has not felt your sting.
Brawling: Precious few can get back up after you put them down.
Riding: Your Sorrel knows what to expect.
Survival: The wilderness is a harsh and unforgiving place.
Legal Understanding: The law is what other people are always yelling about.
Engineering: It is easy to break things down than build them up.
Explosives: Gunpowder has a wonderful smell in the morning.
Persuasion: On occasion, people listen to what you have to say.
Intimidate: When you growl, people don’t mistake it for a purr.
Stamina: Once you get moving in the morning, things are fine afterward.
Resolve: What you don’t want, you don’t do.
Ben Carson: Dead.
Dan Schmidt: Dead.
Miss Caraway: Dead.
JT Preston: Dead.
Richard Hartigan: He will never forgive you for killing his daughter. You owe each other no favors.
The people of Albion Falls: Bishop Hancock is still uncertain about you.
Maria Agustina: Floating into exile.
Marshal James: Hung.
Yiska: Dead.
I also killed Denny Basco, all of the mining company, Frank Spears, Tumbleweed, Matt the general store guy, Every Indian tribe I could find, Tim the saddle guy, Henery Winthrop, Steele, all the Uptons, and anyone else I had the option to.
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How do you get the lackey route
Go in and talk nice to the Uptons. And be evil when you do.
When do you talk to them
@Natsu: Chapter 7, the Painted Caves. Come in under a flag of truce.