(I'm going to post this on BGG as well)
Sadly, I did not get a playtest of Terra Prime last night at my weekly game group... and even more sadly, I DID get to try Age of Steam. There was lots of discussion on BGG when Railroad Tycoon came out, and recently we've been playing RRT a lot. Someone in our group got AoS to try it out, and there's now been discussion in our group about the two. Now that I've played both, I can say with authority that AoS is a miserable experience. RRT is clearly a streamlined, edited, and improved version of the game in just about every respect. If you are consternated about which of the two games to play or buy - I recommend Railroad Tycoon over Age of Steam. Below are SOME of my concrete reasons why RRT is the better game:
In no particular order:
1. Game length vs actions. Both games appear to take about the same amount of time. In AoS, our 6 player game took a good 2.5 hours - probably longer than normal - and lasted 6 turns. One of the players was bankrupted approximately turn 2, so it was really a 5 player game at that point.
6 turns is not a very long time. I don't see how a player can plan and execute any kind of long term strategy in only 6 turns, or even 8 or 10. In a 2.5 hour game, I would really like to play more than 6 turns. Even in a 1.5 hour game (which may be more realistic) I'd like more than 6 turns.
2. The tension in AoS is all in the wrong place! Some have said that by having to plan ahead with how many shares you want makes the game much more tense and interesting. In actual fact, it transfers much of the tension of the game from strategic action, to careful planning of money. Since the game is so unforgiving with respect to shares and income, people spend quite a bit of time deciding up front what they plan to do, how much they plan to spend, how much they might need for auctions, and therefore how much stock they can afford to take. It's important to be careful in this consideration, because a small mistake - especially in the early turns - can send you right into bankruptcy (or put you so far behind you'll never catch up anyway).
Railroad Tycoon streamlines this such that you can just do whatever you need to do, and take stock as needed, cutting down tremendously on the down time in the game and leaving the tension with the track building and deliveries where it belongs.
3. Production of goods. At the beginning of a game of AoS, everyone's on equal footing as all players can see the setup of the board, and even what goods MIGHT go to each city (eventually). The die roll mechanic in theory implies that over time all cities will probably get goods produced in them... however as we all know, the variance in rolling 1d6 is pretty high. Frankly, I'm highly put off by the production mechanic in AoS, and I much prefer the larger board with more goods in RRT - and no repopulation of goods (unless you pay for it). I'd be a little happier with AoS if the Production mechanic were based on 2d6 rather than 1d6, but even then there'd be the same complaints as with Settlers.
4. Cost of Track: In Age of Steam the cost of track of various types are increasingly expensive, and the cost of building on various terrains also increases... in railroad Tycoon the complexity of the track (cross, straight, bend, etc) doesn't matter, the only consideration is the terrain. This minor simplification streamlines the game without losing ny strategic depth whatsoever. AoS Also has some fiddley rules regarding Towns, which don't add much to the game, while RRT just has cities which all behave the same way. Another rules simplification that doesn't deteriorate the game at all, and leaves the focus on the game rather than the rules.
5. Income Reduction: The fiddley income reduction rule from AoS is greatly improved in RRT with the Income track - where income is based on, but not equal to, your score. That the income actually starts to decrease in RRT is ingenious, and is only undermined by the unclear statement in the rules about "income dropping and then rising again" after 100 points. If played with the $9 income (as must have been intended), then a player going into debt (taking out stock) to set up a moneymaking enterprise must either be more careful about how many shares he takes, or take measures to ensure the game ends before his debt comes back to haunt him.
Income Reduction in AoS seems like a crude representation of the same thing, but without the real effect at the endgame - just fiddley stuff in the middle which makes the uphill road steeper and steeper. In AoS there's not really a feeling of going into debt to set up a moneymaking enterprise, as EVERYONE must go into a lot of debt, and NOONE reallymakes any money. This comes back to the long term strategy I mentioned earlier.
6. Cosmetics: It's clear that Railroad Tycoon has nicer bits than Age of Steam. Some people are not moved by this one way or another. That being said, I think it's safe to say that more often than not people who ARE moved by that are moved in the direction of the fancy board and trains of RRT.
I've seen that 'dumbed down' comment on BGG... it's not accurate. Unless by 'dumbed down' they mean 'better'.
Seriously, as a game designer, Age of Steam feels like an early prototype of Railroad Tycoon.
AoS DOES have 1 thing going for it... the start player auction. It's more interesting than the one in RRT. I think that's something that can be ported easily, and I might try it next time I play RRT. Here;s the gist for those not familiar:
Previous P1 starts the bidding. On your turn you bid or pass. First player to Pass pays nothing and goes last in turn order. Next player to pass pay 1/2 their bid and goes next to last, etc. The last 2 people in the auction BOTH pay their FULL bid.