Questions about moving from SimuTrans to OpenTTD

[pack.wolf]

Hi everyone,

since I can't figure out a way of keeping the AIs in SimuTrans from going bankrupt by building route upon route that will stop making money very quickly (e.g. only providing a steel mill with coal or iron but not both, not distributing the produced goods to consumers, ...) I want to switch to another TTD type game.

Now I very much like SimuTrans' feature that every passenger and good has a certain destination and every consumer only accepts goods from certain producers (e.g. power plant A only accepts coal from mines B and C but not D). Is there a similar system in OpenTTD? If there is, how do I enable it?

I also like that in SimuTrans stations can have different capacities for goods, passengers and mail (if you enable that feature). So a station can be full with passengers and accept no new ones but still accept goods. Is this somehow available in OpenTTD too?

And most importantly: Does the OpenTTD AI know how to build routes that will not result in it's eventual bankruptcy?

I'd also be thankful for any suggestions regarding other TTD-type games that have these features. But since it's the best known one I guess OpenTTD is my best shot.

Thx 4 your help,
Alex

[kamnet]

Now I very much like SimuTrans' feature that every passenger and good has a certain destination and every consumer only accepts goods from certain producers (e.g. power plant A only accepts coal from mines B and C but not D). Is there a similar system in OpenTTD? If there is, how do I enable it?

This is not a feature of the stock OpenTTD, but there are currently two active patches which add this feature: Fonso's Cargo Distribution (CD) and Michi_cc's Yet Another CargoDestinations (YACD). To use them, you will either need to download the source code from a recently nightly distribution and apply the patch, or you will need to download a binary that is already patched. I myself use ChillCore's Patch Pack 14_5 which includes a customized version of CargoDist. See the OpenTTD Development section for more information and assistance.

I also like that in SimuTrans stations can have different capacities for goods, passengers and mail (if you enable that feature). So a station can be full with passengers and accept no new ones but still accept goods. Is this somehow available in OpenTTD too?

This feature is called "stockpiling", and it is controlled by industry sets. I don't remember if stockpiling is enabled in the default OpenTTD industries. I do know it is available in George's ECS Vectors set, I don't think it's enabled in Andythenorth's FIRS set. Or, if it is, I've never hit any limits.

And most importantly: Does the OpenTTD AI know how to build routes that will not result in it's eventual bankruptcy?

OpenTTD has a wide variety of AI's that can either compete or cooperate with you. All of them should be able to operate and make a profit. Check out the OpenTTD AIs section.

[pack.wolf]

Thank you for the links! I'll check them out and see if I can get the game to run as I want it too

[Zuu]

If you need help on picking an AI, the wiki have two articles that cover which transport modes each AI support. That gives some idea, but still misses the characteristics of each AI that you will have to find out by testing them in game. For example you could create a 512x512 map and start 8 AIs there (you could lower the default start interval from 356 days to 50-100 days). Press fast forward and you can watch the AIs battle against each other.

Wiki: Test AIs - An attempt to score AIs depending on their abilities (click on the Result column of the table to sort AIs by score)

Wiki: Comparison of AIs

[Kogut]

Note that AIs in OpenTTD are able to avoid building routes that will result in it's eventual bankruptcy mainly due to less complex industry sets ("providing a steel mill with coal or iron but not both, not distributing the produced goods to consumers" is not likely to cause problems).