Now that there's OpenTTD, why play the DOS TTD?

[Smecty]

My subject line says it all - basically, now that there's Open TTD, is there a compelling reason to play the original? Some gameplay aspect that the following 2 games don't have?

Smecty

[orudge]

I bet you didn't know there's a DOS port of OpenTTD*?

Some people like the DOS version if they have, say, a lower-spec machine. They can dedicate it to DOS games, and it's a whole lot quicker to boot into and start than Windows might be.

* It's not actually finished, as I got bored when the graphics driver kept not working properly. But I may finish it some day.

[Smecty]

Nope, have to say I didn't. And while I have a very soft spot in my heart for my DOS games (currently I have configured and running 38 of my all time favorites, including 1830, RR Tycoon Deluxe, Elder Scrolls 1: Arena, Wings of Glory, and a host more), TT isn't one of them. So I was just wondering if it was worth the time and effort to get a copy of "classic" TT when TTD ... and now OpenTTD is so well-established.

I run my DOS games not because I have an abiding interest in DOS (which I don't, though I do find it interesting), but because some of those old DOS games have yet to be bested by the latest technology. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the mid-1990's MicroProse was just about the apogee of game design. Even the only RPG they ever put out - Darklands - has yet to be bested as an historically-based RPG.

Smecty

[DonRazzi]

Hmm... I think at the moment there's really no need to play the DOS-Game anymore without emotional reasons. TTO (which has been the original game) and even it's successor TTD had many flaws, which have been the major reason for building TTDPatch. In TTO for exmaple there have been no one-way-signals, no signals on slopes, no ships for all goods and the AI wasn't even kind enough to replace their engines...

TTD had some nice extensions which made railway networks more effecient, but the major flaw of both games, the limitation to 80 trains, 80 road vehicles, 40 planes and 40 ships, still has been there. A progressive player would reach one of the limits after about 20 years of gameplay, about 1970 if starting in 1950. And that's the point when the game becomes boring. Trust me if I say, I've reached Monorail-Age in TTO only in one game, just to see what happens there, but I've never ever reached the Tycoon-Of-The-Century-Screen (cause I hadn't any free slot for building a monorail train anymore...).

So, if you like, waste two or three hours to set up a DOS-machine, have a look to the graphics, which in some cases are slightly different, give the early steam locos in TTO a chance (there are more than in TTD!!!), but I can assure you, you'll be back very soon to TTDP/OTTD.

Don

[Gurluas2000]

Alternatively you can use the TTO conversion which adds the dos TTO graphics and vehicles to TTD/OTTD

[NorthernWarrior]

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the mid-1990's MicroProse was just about the apogee of game design. Even the only RPG they ever put out - Darklands - has yet to be bested as an historically-based RPG.

Smecty

Microprose - ah yes, Gunship 2000, F15 Strike Eagle and F117 all great games. Bested by some of the Janes series from EA but they won't work on Windows or Nvidia either.

Bah.

[eekee]

I remember original TT fondly as I actually had more fun with it than with TTD. I had this challenging 'wetworld' game with more water than land, giant bridges, and rail tunnels under the towns. The latter was harder in TT than TTD. In fact every time I build sea-level tunnels in OTTD I feel like I'm cheating a little bit because it's so much easier than TT. I bought TTD for DOS, one of the few games I actually bothered to buy, (I didn't play much,) but after initially being delighted with one-way signals I lost interest when I found the pathfinding was so poor it wasn't worth trying to make a network complex enough to require one-way signals.

[WWTBAM]

Remember TTDPatch supports DOS TTD so if you have a win 9x (me included) machine then you don't have to have the windows version.