Transport Tycoon Forums

Time.

Extend it backwards. Make OpenTTD a combination of transport simulation and quasi-historical simulation by allowing a start time deeper into history. Start before 1700 and incorporate the common transportation methods of the time, which is basically animals, animal/vehicle hybrids, and ships. Allow the industry graphics to evolve as well, maybe changing their physical appearance with major advancements in the technology that controls them. Even if the graphics only change once or twice, it adds variety. For sure, the housing and commercial buildings could evolve as well, with suitable population controls to mimic how populations didn't grow as robustly until the industrial revolution.

A long caravan of camels crossing the map, bringing goods from faraway lands that by 2000 would be an overnight train trip. Is this too far off course for the game?

_________________
Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan

NewGRFs can already accomplish this. All it takes is for somebody to decide to make pre-1700s industries and economies.

_________________
Do you like drones, quadcopters & flying toys? Check out Drone Strike Force!


Base Music Sets: OpenMSX | Scott Joplin Anthology | Traditional Winter Holiday Music | Modern Motion Music
Other Projects: 2CC Trams | Modern Waypoints | Sprite Sandbox & NewGRF Releases | Ideabox | Town Names | Isle of Sodor Scenario | Random Sprite Repository
Misc Topics: My Screenshots | Forgotten NewGRFs | Unfinished Graphics Sets | Stats Shack | RoadTypes?

Well, to some extend. But existing industries can't change appearance, if I recall that correctly. Even changing street graphics by era is a bit wonky. I'm not sure for example cargo prizes can be made date-dependent. Or station ratings (in 1700 I'd suspect people would have expectations than nowadays ^^).

So I'd say: possible, but OpenTTD isn't specifically made for it ^^

Newgrfs can (and do) change industry appearance by date.

Industrial revolutions can't be simulated in OpenTTD because there's no reliable way to open and close whole groups of industries by date.

_________________
FIRS Industry Replacement Set (Released) | HEQS Heavy Equipment Set (trucks, industrial trams and more) (Finished)
Squid Ate FISH (ships) (Released) | CHIPS Has Improved Players' Stations (Finished)
Iron Horse (trains, released) | Termite (tracks for Iron Horse, released) | Busy Bee (game script, released)
Road Hog (road vehicles, released)

Can´t game scripts handle this?

regards
Michael

_________________

With sufficient effort yes. The challenge for GS is identifying which industry newgrf(s) are in use, with which configuration, and then behaving appropriately. This is possible by analysing the accepted/produced cargos against a list of known newgrfs.

So technically possible, but a PITA to actually do

EDIT - and GS can't control industry closure also

_________________
FIRS Industry Replacement Set (Released) | HEQS Heavy Equipment Set (trucks, industrial trams and more) (Finished)
Squid Ate FISH (ships) (Released) | CHIPS Has Improved Players' Stations (Finished)
Iron Horse (trains, released) | Termite (tracks for Iron Horse, released) | Busy Bee (game script, released)
Road Hog (road vehicles, released)

NewGRFs have the last word in when they should close, there is no way to indicate to a newgrf industry it would be useful to close.

_________________
Being a OpenTTD developer does not mean I know what I am doing.
Also, other OpenTTD developers may have different opinions.

In that case, that feature should be added as an item to the wish list

The original industries however appear to have that feature already, as the oil wells dry up around 1970. I'd love to see eg. the FIRS iron works die during the 1860s, as they did in real life when they were obsoleted by the blast furnace.

_________________
My screenshots
The 1700-2050 Ships & RVs thread
Norwegian Alternate Town Names

There are currently two problems with that.

1. they all close at once, which is odd, and various strategies with random offsets didn't help much
2. they don't get reliably replaced by anything, which leaves broken chains

It's an appealing sounding behaviour, but when implemented it kind of sucks. I removed various incarnations of it from FIRS.

_________________
FIRS Industry Replacement Set (Released) | HEQS Heavy Equipment Set (trucks, industrial trams and more) (Finished)
Squid Ate FISH (ships) (Released) | CHIPS Has Improved Players' Stations (Finished)
Iron Horse (trains, released) | Termite (tracks for Iron Horse, released) | Busy Bee (game script, released)
Road Hog (road vehicles, released)

In my opinion it is not a good idea, to force closure of obsolete industries.
Instead of this, old fashioned industries should have much worse productivity than a modern one, so it is up to you, to decide to feed and preserve such vintage facility or shift resources to the better one. Lower productivity is also more comfortable for early game stage.
However implementation of such features depend on grf maker, not openttd code.

_________________
My experimental openTTD server: 149.156.194.203:3979 non-standard client, now testing: JGRPP http://tiny.pl/ggnch
Projects: Reproducible Map Generation patch, NewGRFs: Manpower industries, PolTrams, Polroad, 600mm narrow gauge, preindustrial houses, wired, ECS industry extension.

The original industries are not nrewgrf-based, and OpenTTD has a special function for it. NewGRF industries can use that same feature if they want, but it is not configurable, eg the year is hard-coded, and speed of deceleration cannot be changed either. It does do some random number things so not everything closes at exactly the same time, but that's about it.

I agree it would be really nice to be able to communicate with industries. OpenTTD itself could improve on the changed probabilities of industries appearing, for instance (assuming users actually allow industries to close, some users seem to hate it). If the control is also exposed to a game script, it could make nice scenarios, with large changes in industries that exist.

_________________
Being a OpenTTD developer does not mean I know what I am doing.
Also, other OpenTTD developers may have different opinions.

That'd certainly make for some interesting scenarios, not sure if it'd be worth doing just for that though...

_________________

Worst Behaved IRC Member of 2008, 2009 & 2010 - Go Me!

That's somewhat part of my thought process. When I found and figured out how to utilize JGR's Patch Pack, the possibility of having multiple "countries" opened up in a way that makes the challenge more realistic. I could have a central continent where technology just moves along but a far-reaching part of the world lags, for whatever reason. This idea actually came from a real-world example I studied in college (Albania) that I've tried to simulate within the limits of OpenTTD. Just for fun, but at the same time, what McZapkie says clicks with me.

If NewGRFs could do this, OpenTTD industries could simply be ignored. Not the most elegant scenario, but we work within the boundaries we are given. For me, it's certainly created enough interest to start reading about how the whole thing works at a more technical level, and I've discovered it's not as intimidating as I thought. Could lead to something down the road.


P.S.: This idea really gained steam in my thoughts when I read leifbk's thread about ships and RVs carrying a game from 1700 through 2050. I very much enjoy the fictional historical stories of growth. Dave's Albion sparked that interest some time ago.

_________________
Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan

That's a very nice idea, but a detailed discussion on that theme doesn't belong in this thread. But I think that I maybe should try to hack a bit on the FIRS source again. Several primary industries, like mines and farms, may require two different versions pre/post ca. 1850. The start year of most industries should probably be postponed until that time.

_________________
My screenshots
The 1700-2050 Ships & RVs thread
Norwegian Alternate Town Names

Mostly for pax. Us passengers don't take 2 days to go 3 towns further.

I'd like to have airports like in simutrans. You can build the runways and taxiways like you want...

There is a GRF for OpenTTD, which adds runways, but the planes don't use them...

More available types of windows and buttons for gamescripts.

_________________
Owner and admin of servers:
Experimental games 01 (92.63.57.152:3979), Experimental games 02 (92.63.57.152:3879), Experimental games 03 (92.63.57.152:3779).
My heightmaps: Flat Earth Map and United nations logo
My scenarios: Game Fallout 1,2,3 Map scenario
My gamescripts: City Founder GS
My newGRFs: ---

Maybe more a few new disasters and make them more eye catching or problematic?

_________________

What i'd like is less stupid passengers, instead of getting out of the vehicle at the next station, they would stay until another point if there's multiple orders. To explain, there's a bus that goes between stops A, B and C. Passengers at stop A may get out at stop B like they would at stop C - just like those from stop B will go at stop C or A.

I think there is a setting you can change where the passengers do that. I think you need to change it to "Symmetric" instead of manual.

So change your settings to expert.


Now search "pass"


Now change Passenger Distribution from "Manual" too "Symmetric"

_________________