Industry production

[Baltimees]

How to avoid a source industry (mines, farms, forest, oil wells and oil rigs) halting their production and closing down?

[jfs]

You can't in general, but if you service them well they will usually not decrease production. Primary industries can only close when their production is already at the lowest possible level.

In the original Transport Tycoon, playing with Disasters enabled in the difficulty setting also meant industries could shut down at any time with zero warning, but I don't think that was brought over to Deluxe, and thus not to OpenTTD either.

[kamnet]

So the answer to that becomes, "Play using a NewGRF industry".

OpenGFX+ Industries is a recoding of the original game industries, where you can enable or disable industries shutting down. Most other NewGRF sets also support that feature.

[Alberth]

For the default industries, serving them well (always have a train loading, and have trains arrive at the station regularly) practically eliminates the problem.
The only exception I think is oil-wells in temperate, that are designed to die around the time that oil rigs arrive.

Using an NewGrf industry-set doesn't always lock down industries. Some authors intentionally include the challenge that a primary industry may run out of resources. ECS is one such example.

Also do keep in mind that locking down industries reduces renewal.
If you don't serve an industry, for example because it's too far away or at an awkward place, and you disable closing down, it's going to stay there forever. On the other hand, if you allow closing down, that industry will eventually die, and a new one will appear at another, possibly better, spot. You may also get a different industry, one that became available at a later date.

[Dexterius]

I never realized this problem because all primary industries were served with about 65+% rating. So if you can keep stations on that level you won't have issues, at least in general.

And for Oil wells, I never do oil business because of how they work. It makes me depressed. Their production will go down no matter what you do.

[Cool Loser]

Also do keep in mind that locking down industries reduces renewal.
If you don't serve an industry, for example because it's too far away or at an awkward place, and you disable closing down, it's going to stay there forever. On the other hand, if you allow closing down, that industry will eventually die, and a new one will appear at another, possibly better, spot. You may also get a different industry, one that became available at a later date.

I'm strongly opposed to allowing industries to shut down (mainly because how awful I am at rearranging my networks), but this is what have kept me from disabling the setting since I first read it. However, and in the light of the very first game I manage to take to the late game, is this really a problem? I mean, I've seen a ton of industries spawning over the half century of this game, so why should be a problem that one particular industry stays there forever, if a bunch of that type will eventually spawn? (Which takes me to another question: is industries spawning related to how much of their output are you hauling? I've heavily focused on coal in this game I mentioned, and over the years a lot of coal mines spawned and, what's more, many of them spawned along the main route I use to haul it to my only Power Plant receiving it).

And for Oil wells, I never do oil business because of how they work. It makes me depressed. Their production will go down no matter what you do.

I don't usually do oil for the same reason. However, the fact that the oil wells production never increases is true for every biome? Because I'm playing a sub-arctic map and I'd swear that several wells I'm servicing have done so.

[_dp_]

However, the fact that the oil wells production never increases is true for every biome? Because I'm playing a sub-arctic map and I'd swear that several wells I'm servicing have done so.

That's temperate only. In arctic and tropics they can increase just fine.

[odisseus]

Oil wells cannot increase production only in temperate climate (and IIRC this rule can be disabled); in other climates, they function just as all other industries.