Recommended settings

[Mister__X]

Hi all! I havent played this game in a long time. Even things like Cargodist (adding in 2013) are pretty much new to me.

When setting up a new game you have a lot of different settings, about how everything behave. You can add lots of mods, you can change the behaviour of a lot of things, ... There are even a lot of patches you can use.

Which settings / mods / patches do you recommend to use?

[jfs]

Default settings, no mods.


And if there's then some specific things you find lacking or difficult then you can start looking for ways to adjust and add on.

[kamnet]

OpenTTD has made LOTS of changes in the last decade. My suggestion would be to NOT change anything, don't add any NewGRFs, don't mess with patches or patch packs. Re-learn the basics of the game, learn all the new stuff that's been added, watch some tutorials on how to use Path Based Signals (PBS) which is now the default signals players first see.

After that learn how things work with Railtypes and New Roadtypes/Tramtypes (NRT) NewGRFs, which let you have up 64 of both categories. Some sets provide a lot, some only a few. Some work together well and some do not. Some are beautiful and some have vastly different art styles that may or may not work for you. Not only can you sometimes mix or not mix certain types of rails or roads, it's now possible for certain vehicles to be able to use or not use those types. It can get confusing, so the key is to NOT go all-in, take your time and learn what each set can do.

Next learn of the various NewGRF industries, which will add different stuff. The BIG news here is that over the last decade, the default game vehicles can now carry all cargoes, so you don't need to download specific sets anymore for this purpose. Second big news is that NewGRF industries can now consume and produce more than 2-3 cargoes, so they're going to start becoming more complex (see: FIRS 4, OTIS). For the most part you can only use one industry set at a time unless it's stated otherwise).

Then I'd suggest learning about AIs and GameScripts. Lots of interesting things going on there.

Patches? Unless you know how to code in C++ you're never going to be able to use them. What you want instead is Patch Packs, where they're already compiled into the game for you. Do you need them? Probably not. Keep in mind that with most patch packs if you create a save or scenario with them they can NOT be played by other OpenTTD clients, and can only do multiplayer with other versions of the same patch pack.

Other than that, welcome back.