Wanting to get back into the game.

[APDAF]

Having been busy with IRL things for a long time I have neglected OpenTTD and have forgotten most of the GRFs that I have enjoyed for years and years.

I would like some help in first getting either a good patchpack or a good build of the game.
I also would like some help with GRFs as having spent so much time away from the game I don't know what the best ones are anymore.

[Redirect Left]

I would recommend trying JGRs patchpack; viewtopic.php?f=33&t=73469

Has stuff like programmable signals, routing restrictions, infrastructure sharing, and a lot more. It's also regularly updated and kept in line with trunk updates

[kamnet]

OpenTTD 1.8.0 was just released. If it's been several years since you played (especially since, say, 1.3.0) then you may want to download that first and catch up on all the features and changes.

For a patch pack, JGR Patch Pack is probably the most popular (and most similar to the now-defunct ChillCore Patch Pack). There are a few others out there as well, mostly dedicated to specific communities (Reddit, CityMania, etc.).

For NewGRFs, there pretty much are not any "bad" ones. Some are more popular than others and most NewGRFs do not interfere with each other's gameplay. The only thing to really watch for is to try not to use multiple industry/economy NewGRFs due to the way they alter the economy, industries and cargoes. Your choices are a bit more expanded today with industries. FIRS, AuzInd (a fork of FIRS), SPI (also a fork of FIRS), ECS Vectors and PikkaBird Industries (PBI) are the bulk of them, and there are a sprinkling of others NewGRFs that will add one or two new things to vanilla industries. Otherwise, take a look over at the NewGRF List as well as the in-game content download system to see what's out there.

[acs121]

For the patchpack, Spring 2013 is good but JGR is best.

And for the NewGRFs, if you use a lot of road vehicles, you should go on the online content, and search for "Bob's British Buses", "Bob's Random British Vehicles", "BATS" and "Fake Subways". If you prefer trains, 2cc Trains in NML is an excellent set. Look also for the Dutch Trainset. As for tracks, i'd reccomend you Finescale, and for Landscape, OpenGFX+ will be sufficient.

[APDAF]

The NewGRFs I'm looking for are mostly for trains and boats, but I am opened to surgesstions for all transport types.

xUSSR set looks good to me but is it FIRS compatible?

[dol422]

If you're looking for a good train GRF, I'd recommend UKRS2 and UKRS2+. They offer a good range of trains from 1830 to 2030. FISH is also good to get a good variety of ships.

[kamnet]

The NewGRFs I'm looking for are mostly for trains and boats, but I am opened to surgesstions for all transport types.

xUSSR set looks good to me but is it FIRS compatible?

For ships, it's pretty limited. SQUID/FISH is pretty much the main set. Sailing Ships offers a set of pre-industrial ships. WSF offers an assortment of ferries.

Most every NewGRF vehicle set is FIRS compatible, especially if they've been updated within the last 5 years.