Features List - Updated 22/7/04

[Steve]

Here is a list of things about the game, noted down from previews, movies and screenshots!
I shall update it as i learn more things

Last Updated: Thursday, 22nd of July

Trains
Trains turn off their engines before they hit the station and slow down into it. (Either that or its a bug)
Realistic breakdowns, the train continues to move forward whilst broken down until it stops. Includes nicer sounds too.
Trains have a tender included.
Tracks are fully signalled, double and one way
Electrified railways and normal ones.
Railroad crossings have different types, with full fences or barriers

Trams
You can build trams!

Buses
There are proper Bus stops and the buses can serve and stop on the other side of the road
Vehicles stop properly, not instantly like in TTD.
Buses now stop at crossing a long time before the train comes, to prevent collisions.
Smoke comes out the back of the buses whilst they acclerate.
You can see people waiting at the bus stops

Boats
There are realistic boats, will nice turning.

Airplanes
Much bigger, better organized airports can be built, as well as smaller ones.
Planes are refittable
Planes don't crash as much as they used to.

Interface
The view can be rotated, so you get 4 views
Can be zoomed in and out to have the best detail possible.
Increased number of messages, new types (such as boat speed record) and expanded messages (more reasons for industry failure)
Uses RCT style track building, which IMO is a good feature, although is a bit messy sometimes.
Improved Stats system, so you know how well you are doing.
Profits are given monthly, suggesting the game is of a slower pace.
Vehicle listings show much more information.
Vehicles can be company coloured
The toolbar changes depending on what you are doing
Windows can be resized

Game Engine
Can build on slopes
Vehicles can tilt up and down on slopes.
More angles on vehicle grapics, allowing much smoother turns
Stations and track can be easily built in bridges, to climb above towns.
There are challenges to be completed, an enhanced subsidy system
The game can be run at faster speeds or paused
Vehicles can't be maintained, they simply get less reliable over time.

Multi-player
The game will allow to play against up to 14 computer controlled players.
AI should be much improved due to more memory in new PCs
A head to head online mode will be there as well

Industries
Industries may need 2 types of resource to produce goods.
Bigger industrys, with better animations.
Industries are not just rectangles, they have weird shapes
Forests look like real forests and are much bigger.
Chemicals can be sent to factorys
Cattle can be seen in the fields.

Buildings
Realistic looking bridges.
Headquaters get built properly
Town buildings will face towards the road.
The more you build between towns, the faster they will grow.
Towns will update their old roads to newer roads as they grow.

Landscape
There are lowlands as well as snowy hills.
Can have different types of roads, dirt, tarmac and one way (?)
Three different areas are: North American, British, and Alpine
Town names are real
The game will handle more transport vehicles, larger maps, and multiple-level bridges and tunnels instead of just land-based construction.
Multiple levels of land underwater
The land can have cliffs overlooking roads, not just slopes
40 Pre-built scenarios, including an accurate UK game.

[infinityland]

Good post, very useful. Do you know if there will be 'grades' of corner, like in Rollercoaster Tycoon? That way you could build express lines with smoother corners, suburban railways with sharper, etc.

[Steve]

Well, for roads, you can have instant corners, like you can find around square blocks. You can also have a long smooth corner, but that can't be easily junctioned. These are shown in the 2nd video iirc.
Trams can have the tight corners like TTD (but smoother) and we have seen trains with the nice long corners. Presumably the trains will still have the different corners, as this is one of the best features of the RCT interface.

[Cephalaspis]

Does multiple levels of land underwater means that tunnels under sea/lake/river will be possible? O.o

[Steve]

I'm unsure how that will affect anything, i just noticed it in a screenshot. Perhaps you'd be able to dig under ground level further to have very deep tunnels. Perhaps even tunnels under lakes. Although i wouldn't get your hopes up, this is a pure guess.

[SHADOW-XIII]

yes, I'm sure the tunnels will be possible anywhere, like in RCT

[LorenzoDV]

Does multiple levels of land underwater means that tunnels under sea/lake/river will be possible? O.o

It means water is not always 1-level deep like in TTD, but that there will be 2-level or 3-level or n-level deep water.
It does not imply levels under the sea bed (it would be cool, though).

[AussieDriver]

i wonder what sort of music they will use for locomotion

[Born Acorn]

the music on the vids are obviously form ingame, you can even hear the button select sounds.