Tips for a beginner?

[Arkantos97]

Hello! I'm new here (and to the game!). I'm a big sim game fan and have played many of them (RCT3 being my favorite). I'm a little confused about how to play the game and I'm not doing so hot. Since there doesn't seem to be any active FB groups or Discords for the game I figured that I would come here for some advice. Quite frankly ANY general advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

[Gwyd]

There is in fact a discord for OpenTTD, more related to the Reddit server but anyone is still welcome: https://discord.gg/hKzMGUx
Additionally, Reddit (r/OpenTTD) itself has some content relating to OpenTTD.

As for tips, I'd say once you have an understanding of how the game works (how to make a bit of cash, how to stop trains from jamming all the time) you should take a look at NewGRFs: they're a great way to make the game your own. Or not, if you don't want.

If you're looking for crazy junction designs, your next stop should probably be OpenTTD co-op's section on the topic: https://wiki.openttdcoop.org/Junctionary

[kamnet]

Hello! I'm new here (and to the game!). I'm a big sim game fan and have played many of them (RCT3 being my favorite). I'm a little confused about how to play the game and I'm not doing so hot. Since there doesn't seem to be any active FB groups or Discords for the game I figured that I would come here for some advice. Quite frankly ANY general advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

1. There is a Beginner Tutorial that is available to download from the in-game content download system.

2. Tons of YouTube videos. I prefer to suggest Master Hellish's OpenTTD 26-part tutorial series, from beginner to advanced. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... K6VbncNil7

3. I will also suggest LugnutsK's OpenTTD tutorial on signal basics, as it's one of the most-requested topics of help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kcgylFM3y4

[Wuzzy]

Before you can reasonably play OpenTTD (especially in singleplayer), there is a couple of things you need to do:

- From the add-ons menu, install OpenGFX, OpenMSX and OpenSFX
- Make sure those 3 things are active in the game settings
- Install the SimpleAI add-on from the add-ons menu
- Configure the AI settings and decide on how many competing companies you'll have in singleplayer
- To start music playback, click on the music icon in-game and hit "play"

(Technical background information: OpenGFX, OpenMSX and OpenSFX are the official graphics, music and sound packs for OpenTTD. These are must-haves for obvious reasons.
SimpleAI is not officially part of OpenTTD, but this is also an absolute must-have. This is your computer opponent. Without this, you will have NO competition in singleplayer (unlike in Transport Tycoon Deluxe)! This is because OpenTTD sadly does not ship with ANY computer opponent. There are many AIs for OpenTTD, but many of them are very broken, so don't bother when you're new. In my experience, SimpleAI is good for a start because it works reasonably well and is stable.)

Now for some random unsorted gameplay tips:

- If you're new, ignore ALL content downloads except the bare minimum I suggested below. This helps you to familiarize yourself with the core basics. Otherwise you will just be overwhelmed. The basic game with no add-ons is fairly straight-forward
- Start your game in the Temperate climate zone and flat maps since it's easier to build
- At the beginning, you don't have much money, so you need to start small and can't waste your money on fancy buildings. It's very important to be profitable early on, otherwise you can't grow
- Always check the list of your vehicles and check which vehicles lose money. Preiodically sell those that bleed out money
- Airplanes are very easy since you need to build only a very little, but beware: Towns have a limit on how many airports you can build
- The best way to start is with point-to-point passenger transports between towns, since it's the simplest, but it doesn't pay well
- You must how to build signals of railroads. For beginners, I recommend to only use the block signal and ignore the other ones. The block signal separates sections of a single track and prevents trains into crashing into each other. There can always be only train per section.
- With railroads, I usually build two parrallel rails so multiple trains can run on it back and forth. If money is very limited, build a single rail until you can extend
- Early in the game, it's a good idea to look out for subsidies since they pay better. If you're rich, they are usually no longer worth the hassle
- In general, trains are the most profitable of the 4 modes of transport
- A very important aspect of the (default) gameplay is you not only get paid for delivering goods fast, but also for high distances of transport. You can make a lot of money fast if you build a very long railroad moving a lot of goods around, but it also costs a lot to build
- If a town does not like you, plant a couple of trees and it becomes happy again. Alternatively, just try to offer better service
- Don't forget to pay back your loan when you can. The loan costs you money if you keep it
- You must keep growing your company all the time. There is a permanent inflation, meaning the money loses value over time
- The classic goal of the game is to run your company for 100 years (till 2051). If you make it that far, you get an entry in the highscore table, based on your company performance rating (0 to 1000). But the game does not end here, you can play as long you want.
- You will need to replace old vehicles eventually. Very old vehicles get clunky and have breakdowns a lot
- Avoid level crossings whenever you can, build bridges or tunnels instead. There are a lot of accidents at level crossings
- If the news annoy you, you can fine-tine which news appear in the settings

Of couse, as soon you get fancy with add-ons, or mess around with the gameplay settings, some of these tips might no longer be valid. But I think the tips are more or less a good start.

[odisseus]

Some of those tips are incorrect.

• - The best way to start is with point-to-point passenger transports between towns, since it's the simplest, but it doesn't pay well

  Passenger transport pays very well if your stations get a lot of passengers. To ensure that, you must place the station as close to the town centre as possible. Delete some houses if necessary, but watch out for the town rating. Alternatively, learn how to use transfer orders and/or station walking.

• - In general, trains are the most profitable of the 4 modes of transport

  What about aircraft?

• - You must keep growing your company all the time. There is a permanent inflation, meaning the money loses value over time

  As long as all your services make a profit, your company will be good even if it does not expand. In a very protracted game, the inflation may get so high that it is impossible to build a profitable service, but AFAIK this is going to be fixed in the upcoming version of the game.

• - You will need to replace old vehicles eventually. Very old vehicles get clunky and have breakdowns a lot

  If I'm not mistaken, the default settings now have the breakdowns disabled. However, replacing old vehicles with newer models is still a good idea.

Here are a few more important things that haven't been mentioned yet:

• If you want to make a town grow, place a few (up to 5) bus stops and launch a couple buses in a circle route. Even if the stations become overwhelmed with passengers, the town will still grow, and your town rating will grow as well.
• If you have ceased to use a station, delete it (you may leave the tracks for future use if you want). If a station isn't visited by any vehicles in a long time, it begins to decrease your town rating. If your town rating falls low enough, the town won't allow you to build new stations!
• A town can actually grow only if it has space to expand into. Station tiles and diagonal tracks can get in the way of a town expanding its roads, and thus hinder town growth.

Finally, be sure to check the Wiki at https://wiki.openttd.org/en/. It contains plenty of useful information (though the site search is broken, so good luck finding anything). Anyway, that's the best the community can offer.

[jfs]

- You must how to build signals of railroads. For beginners, I recommend to only use the block signal and ignore the other ones. The block signal separates sections of a single track and prevents trains into crashing into each other. There can always be only train per section.

Strong disagree.
Do not use block signals. Only use path signals.
Path signals don't need "exits", so you can place them via the simple rule of "where would it be safe for the train to stop, so it won't block any other trains crossing in different directions". That rule makes all the basic stations and interchanges, without the need to remember any special "gotchas".

Path signals approximate how railway signals are used in the real world, while blocks signals don't really do that. Instead, block signals in OTTD force you to learn how to use the "pre-signals" for any slightly more complex setups, and these don't have any real-world equivalent. (In real world railways, a pre-signal is something entirely different.)

[odisseus]

I would argue that the plain block signal is easier to understand for a complete beginner than the path signals.

However, in order to build efficient and deadlock-proof rail networks, it is necessary to master either path signals or pre-signals, and path signals are by far the easier option.