I personally am not a big fan of the first chapter, as it does have a lot of problems, especially in the first two missions.
I can't write down my own gripes as to why I feel like they're bad, as I am not that great as a game designer and am a bit brainless when it comes to playing the game, to be honest - for example, efficiency is just a 10-letter word, just like meta is just a 4-letter word.
Replaying Chapter 1, Mission 1, suppose one problem I had with the initial tutorial is the fact that players aren't told or hinted that they could have trains wait longer in stations, creating demand and hauling more passengers to one end in less time. In bulk, basically.
Since the mission has you haul 3 passenger cars for one Baldwin Six Wheel - which is already mediocore right after placing a passenger car, mind you, - then the capacity is at 42.
The task only has you deliver 20 people to-and-from Carson City to Reno. I doubled that almost immediately! ON AN ENGINE NOT MEANT FOR PASSENGER TRANSPORT!
The first two missions also didn't point out that there are engines which are good for passengers, and good for cargo. Early on, I just bought which train was most expensive, the fastest, and the like, as, that's just how progression works, right?
Now, initially too, I also didn't understand how sidings worked, and that's what CH. 1, M2, was supposed to teach. The game made a siding just for you, and had you place signals... I think originally, I placed them backwards.
The trains blocked each other and I was confused as to why. Had to look up on YouTube why my trains weren't moving...
These are the tutorial missions, basically. At least these first two, right?
Why is it that there are so much left out? That I need to do research on YouTube just so I'm not in the red moving forward? I remember being 9 million in debt in Baghdad oil, because I didn't know how powerful cargo hubs are.
Remember when I opened up saying that effeciency was a 10-letter word? I know. I'm a hypocrite.
Well, how about you folks? How did you learn how to play the game? Did the first few missions teach you well you think? Or did you also have to look up on YouTube how to make money instead of being in the red every month?