OTTD Portable please? (not PSP but USB)

[relequestual]

Im not sure if this has already been done but i cant find it if it has!
I want to be able to play OTTD off my USB on any computer. I know you can with simutrans, but it just dnt compare to OTTD!
I may have a little go at it, by copying the install folder onto the usb, but i doubt that will work.
Anyone got any ideas/can do it?

The psp version sounds good, but i really want a USB version too! would be real awsum!

[Digitalfox]

You just need to copy your OpenTTD folder to a USB pen and that's it, start OpenTTD executable from the usb pen..

I use that to play OpenTTD from various computers, home, at work, etc...

[relequestual]

*hands up* ok, it appears to work on my computer, just wouldnt on the one college one for some odd reason
i shall have to try it again. tis rather awsum

[tb2571989]

I run it from my usb, works a treat.

Make sure that the patch setting are written to the memory stick, and not the c: drive like what happened to mine.

[T-Unit]

I would do it at school, but they have stopped .exe from running.
We did have a way of getting around it for a bit, but they stopped that too. (we put a shortcut on the quicklaunch bar)

[maartena]

*hands up* ok, it appears to work on my computer, just wouldnt on the one college one for some odd reason

The system administrators of your college may have disabled the running of aunauthorized executables to protect their computers.

[athanasios]

May I suppose that they don't allow you to boot from the USB stick too?

[Spaz O Mataz]

If nothing else is on the USB drive. you could make the drive a stripped down Linux with only what is needed for OpenTTD to run installed. this would mean a very big increase in speed of the game. if you want to do this then just Google it all free aswell.

[T-Unit]

We've managed to boot linux at school from a usb stick. Then the technicians came into the IT room. Luckily they didnt notice

[athanasios]

You can boot/install almost whatever you like from USB sticks. E.G. Microsoft Windows. Just Google to learn how.

[maartena]

You can boot/install almost whatever you like from USB sticks. E.G. Microsoft Windows. Just Google to learn how.

Booting is not going to work though if it is disabled in the BIOS. I work at a rather secure company as we deal with secure data, and every computer has a BIOS password, and booting from anything other then the hard drive is disabled or moved to the back of the list.

Especially since there are many Linux CD's out there that can boot and reset the local admin password, and thus people can get full access to the system if they want.

I would imagine that school computers will be configured the same. I would anyways, knowing how many "students" life goal it is do something ELSE with school computers then they are supposed to

[DaleStan]

Well, once you get your hands on the hardware, you HAVE root, whether anyone likes it or not. The only question is how much your hands have to be on the hardware. Walking out with the hard disk, for example, works, but can be more than a little difficult to explain.

Conversely, without getting your hands on the hardware, you can't be absolutely certain that you have root.

[AntBUK]

I would imagine that school computers will be configured the same. I would anyways, knowing how many "students" life goal it is do something ELSE with school computers then they are supposed to

Guilty, and it was their own fault for running 98 at the time

If you need a tiny version of Linux, you could use Damn Small Linux (Debian, iirc) which is only 50mb and incorporates most of what you would need (except NTFS support the last time I used it). http://www.damnsmalllinux.org

[athanasios]

Of course you can bypass the BIOS password if you bypass the BIOS itself! (some extra hardware and a screwdriver needed)

That's a bit tricky and you may end destroying the BIOS of the M/B, so if it is not your own PC and you don't have experience don't even think about it

[Volatar]

I also run OTTD off of a flash drive of mine. I plug it in at school and play, my teacher doesn't care but it helps to be safe if a principal (vice, assistant, or otherwise) walk in. Works great and allows me to move my save game back and forth and play on any computer. Its also great for sneaking playtime even if your parents play OTTD

*playing*
*front door opens*
"oh crap!" *saves*
*parent walks up stairs*
*ejects flash drive and stuff in pocket*
"What are you doing on the computer?"
"I was looking at it."
"uh huh..." *parent pulls up the OTTD copy on the Hard Drive and checks saves* "just checking"

[NCarlson]

I would do it at school, but they have stopped .exe from running.
We did have a way of getting around it for a bit, but they stopped that too. (we put a shortcut on the quicklaunch bar)

Best such workaround ever was at my high school (and they never caught on). They disabled access to the C drive, but if you redirected an existing shortcut to it, you would get unrestricted access (generally a really bad system that broke normal use, but didn't stop anything malicious).

[UltraNub]

I also run OTTD off of a flash drive of mine. I plug it in at school and play, my teacher doesn't care but it helps to be safe if a principal (vice, assistant, or otherwise) walk in. Works great and allows me to move my save game back and forth and play on any computer. Its also great for sneaking playtime even if your parents play OTTD

*playing*
*front door opens*
"oh crap!" *saves*
*parent walks up stairs*
*ejects flash drive and stuff in pocket*
"What are you doing on the computer?"
"I was looking at it."
"uh huh..." *parent pulls up the OTTD copy on the Hard Drive and checks saves* "just checking"

Total Approx Time: 40 seconds
Total Approx Time(If you installed SECRET second Copy): 39.9999999999 seconds

Either way "TYCOON"!!!

[AntBUK]

Assuming you got Windows, you could make a relatively hidden folder which won't show up easily, using the Attrib command line tool. You just gotta remember where you left the folder

Here... (assuming c:\ottd as where you've got OTTD)

Code: Select all

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\AntB>attrib c:\ottd +s +h /d /s

Then all you need is a CMD file containing...

Code: Select all

c:\ottd\openttd.exe

Use quotes if there's spaces in your path then all you have to do is save and exit.

If you need to get to that folder just type the path in to an address bar and there ya go.

Its come in handy a few times that little trick. Especially when I was in school

Edit: Dalestan pointed somthing out

[DaleStan]

No, you can't. At least not that way. I've got both hidden and system files showing up in Explorer.
ADS (if it's actually usable) and the Sony rootkit will hide things from Explorer, but not from the proper scanning tools. (ADSSpy and RootkitRevealer, respectively.)

There is a way to hide things even from those scanning tools, but it's prohibitively complex[0], and even that can't conceal a drive that can no longer hold as much data as it used to be able to hold.

[0] Details withheld for obvious reasons, but the words "kernel mode" appear.

[AntBUK]

I have no idea why I claimed truly hidden as like you said, various programs can still find them.

But, what are the odds of a parent running those tools to just find out a copy of OpenTTD and check a save?