Out today and GMG has it for $25 - a pretty good price if impressions are positive.
This sounds really cool on paper. Apparently they patched Train Fever thoroughly enough to make that game worthwhile, so this has a chance of being good. There’s some LPs on youtube but don’t have the time to check them out.
A lot of reports of technical issues in the comments. I’ll wait for a while.
Still: OpenTTD is one of my favourite games. I’m hoping this at least comes close to stealing the crown! Most other attempts are made by terrible games.
Yeah, really looking forward to hearing if it’s any good or not. Have there been any recent previews?
Yeah, this is one I’d almost want to watch an LP of, or at least read a reputable review or three of. Cuz Transport Tycoon was a favorite when I was a kid/teen. I’d love something similar, but a little easier to run, with a few modern amenities.
this guy has 5 LPs up so far:
Folks saying there is no AI in sandbox mode , is that right? Would be good to know before I pull the rigger. Thanks!
From what I’ve read there’s no AI at all. I’m still tempted though.
Hmm, think i will wait for the qt3 hive mind on this one. OpenTTD is pretty darn good.
It’s not the kind of a game where your company fights against other companies. It’s more like a city builder slash resource management game.
-Tom, digging it so far
Certainly in the case of OpenTTD, I never had any problems with the lack of AI. To me, that game was all about creating optimal routes, especially when adding in mods that created some complex resource chains.
Sadly, I bounced hard off Train Fever. It had the right looks, it screamed “this is the game I love” but the industry was dry and boring. If I recall, there were only 4 cargoes to choose from, and only that A–> B style transport. I love having chains, differing supply and demand, that sort of thing that takes me back to Railroad Tycoon 2 in particular where it was possible to over-saturate a town with goods and get little return for the transport. Likewise, hauling goods made little money compared to the hauling of passengers around the map in Train Fever, the whole industry side of things felt undercooked. I guess as a result, Tom, I am looking forward to your thoughts on the game!
Tom, can you elaborate on what it is you like about it? I need something this morning to ease the pain.
I kind of enjoy just shuffling resources around. That said, given what Strato said about the fixed flow of goods, I think I’m losing interest. It looks like you just have to get a certain amount of goods into a city to level it up? And I’m also not sure about the tools for setting up a rail line. As near as I can tell, there’s no way to manage stuff like whether a lucrative passenger train has precedence over a slow coal train. But it’s still kind of relaxing just watching stuff go back and forth. Not sure how much actual thought it will require.
But I’ve only dinked around with the tutorial and the first campaign scenario, which is just early rail and stagecoach stuff. Before I give up on it, I want to mess around with the shipping and aircraft stuff.
-Tom
It’s honestly going to be pretty hard to best OpenTTD. It’s so modifiable and easy to play (maybe part of the advantage of being graphically limited? more time to work on the game itself?). The depth is has if you add the FIRS mod is insane. After tinkering around with that, it’d be hard to switch to an easier game…
Why can’t someone just make a modern Railroad Tycoon 2? UGGGGGHHHH :(
Seconded!
Railroad Tycoon 3 was ok, but Railroad Tycoon 2 was the best. It has aged much better too in such a way that an isometric styled viewpoint allows compared to the look of RRT3. In fact, I know that RRT3 was woefully dark too. Don’t get me started on the placement of water towers/sand towers/engine shops which really inhibited the movement of trains on busy lines. I did appreciate what they did with the economy of RRT3 where goods and passengers had a location to get to, that was about the only positive for it.
Thirded!
After my disappointment with Train Fever, I am very reluctant to purchase Transport Fever. I’d rather buy an updated Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
Still interested in other folks impressions. Particularly sandbox mode. Sounds like it maybe a little thin for Tom (TBD) any other folks playing it?
Fourthed!