To everyone that replied: You've all made very good points. As I said, there was a part of me I knew I shouldn't give up, no matter how much people told me to. Maybe the backwards compatibility is that for OpenTTD. Considering it could break patch packs, and to get back to NRT...
I do agree NRT's redesign of not just roads and trams but also rails is important. I have no coding skill in that field, and this is just my take...
Project 1: Tracktypes Redux
Redo Railtypes as a patch under that new system (catenary an extra type and railtypes with exponential increase), have people test it as they did NRT, and then when good enough, have it placed in a patch pack (JGR seems most popular, a JGR eXperimental branch is likely what people will pay attention to) to make it work.
If it is workable and will not hamper more than 20% of future additions with it's imperfection, it stays in. Otherwise, it is removed from the eXperimental branch and back to the drawing board. The new solution will be looked at by that same 80% to see which of the two was better, and if the old was better then a step back? Otherwise, judge the new and better one again by a 70% standard. If it doesn't meet that, rinse and repeat with -10% to the standards.
To ensure people don't complain, eXperimental will need that huge warning: DO NOT DOWNLOAD IF CONCERNED WITH SAVE GAME COMPATIBILITY!
Project 2: RoadTypes
Implement the above in NRT for roads, trams and road/tram catenary. Same set of steps.
- [+] Spoiler
- Project 3: "Layers"
Once the above is successful, add the "does not interact with other railtypes and road/tramtypes" feature. This might not need as strict of standards. It does mean considering if actual layers are needed instead of just non-interaction, and if "same layer as Xtype ABCD" is good enough.
Project 4: Underground (is not likely)
Another idea is "underground railtypes" which got discarded due to how crazy I tried to make it work. It won't be that simple as another hack. This will be a big project, you will need railtypes that automatically make vehicles translucent, a tunnel that goes "down into" the underground tracktype, underground stations, and the underground types not interacting with the surface at all (ignoring rails, roads, rivers, stations, buildings and even ocean). I say this knowing the requirements mean this will likely never see the light of day.
Project 5: Utilities (need a new approach)
Looking at my ideas for utility types, the hackiness of it is not what kills it (it doesn't help though). This isn't a game that ever supported pipelines or electricity or telecommunications. That is what killed it. OpenTTD is a game about logistics. Telecom and electricity are slightly out of what we would consider logistics, transporting something which isn't physical.
Pipelines would need a different approach to all other transport; the track itself is what carries the goods, and newer/more expensive pipeline would transport more at the same time, creating a constant flow with direction set by the "one-way signal" valves. A big project but not insanely huge. It should include the possibility of someone using it for electricity, telecom or even stranger things, so keep in mind that two-way utilitytype should remain easy to add by another project. Another is considering the retrofitting of the underground types above to utilitytypes, which will complicate things.
Project 6: One-way Tram Tracks (are doable)
One-way tram tracks. There will need to be a lot of interface changes, but it is possible and not hacky. I can provide an image of what I worked out if needed.
Project 7: Bridges (will always be imperfect)
Bridges need better implementation. The work needed is too large for that to happen. I think we'll need to look at bridges with a "what can we leave out to save work because it will never be able to do what we wish it would?" attitude. See Project 9.
Project 8: NewStops
Back to NRT. Once NRT is properly established, work on custom stops. That is not something I can properly estimate the work required, since I don't know how long it took to implement NewStations properly.
Project 9: Elevated Railtypes/Roadtypes/Tramtypes
Take this with a lot of grains of salt, I have no idea what the realities of this are!
- [+] Spoiler
- Bridges must stay and cannot be properly improved. I noticed the "Underground Metro" railtypes are good for tunnels in general for many situations. A non-hacky version of that for bridges...
Elevated is simpler than underground because it should interact with the surface. It might even be able to make better "bridges" without removing the originals. It is still a big project, no way for me to estimate how big. It could very well be too much.
Project 10: TTDPatch Features Project
NRT should notice that there are still a few features missing that were in TTD Patch, if I remember a comparison page correctly. Diagonal level crossings were one, track/road above tunnels was another. I think this was the page:
https://wiki.openttd.org/Comparison_of_ ... h_features
If nothing else above, a project to implement the remaining missing features is needed. It should be compatible with the improved Railtypes, the Roadtypes and Tramtypes, etc.
It's relevant towards the backend if not the outward appearance.
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I'm sorry for the wall of text. This time I said as little as possible about each project, however keeping them separate to reduce feature creep lengthened the list. I used spoilers to hide the projects that didn't have much merit in my eyes compared to the work I knew would be needed.
