What do you think about making a completely new game?

[micz81]

Hi there,

I have read most of the posts in this thread and it looks like the conversation became very ...detailed. Which is good I supposed when we are talking about specific ways of implementing specific solution (multi-core support) into the game's code.

BUT... We could change the subject here a bit and let me naively (hope not) ask you this:

What do you think about making completely new game, written in a modern way (code-wise) for modern machines (2019-ish)... but with exactly the same gameplay mechanics as the original? I mean: is it relatively possible to "abandon" OTT-Deluxe project (since - as I understand, hopefully correctly - it's code has apparently some architectural limitations which bottle-neck it's advanced playability on modern machines), and simply start coding ...let's call it Modern-TT with all the same principles of gameplay, all the same "vibe" as TT or OTT-Deluxe?

If I understand correctly, OTT-Deluxe is something like "restoration" of original TT. And my thoughts went around changing that perspective from restoration to remake rather. In other words - OTT-Deluxe project seems for me like taking Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic "Psycho" and restoring, upgrading a bit the original film material, removing some scratches, or flickering, maybe colorizing the shots, etc. And maybe Modern-TT should rather be like the Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" from 1998 (here you have comparison of those two movies to understand me better I hope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI_4LT7BTm4)

Don't get me wrong - I APPRECIATE EVERY HOLY LINE OF CODE WRITTEN BY OTT DELUXE DEVELOPERS!!! I'm grateful as gamer could be!! I Just love this game, and the fact that YOU GUYS made the effort of keeping it still alive is just one of those moments in life, when you believe in humanity I just want to check if my noob feel about changing the perspective is technically possible and if so - how easy/hard/reasonable/whatever it would be.

Regards from Poland!

[kamnet]

The main issue with some people is that because of OpenTTD's architecture, it isn't easy to sometimes add new features because of these constraints. With anything computer programming, nothing is impossible, it just takes time and individuals dedicated to resolving the issue.

For example, the upcoming OpenTTD 1.10 will feature multiple types of roads and tram tracks. This is a long-requested feature that was not implemented previously because of the constraints of the architecture and the interest of the developers at the time to resolve it. But, times change, new people come along who are willing to find new solutions and have the time and energy to seek them out.

While one could certainly try to write a new game, writing new games is not easy work at all. And when you only have a few people to work on it, it is not fast. Even when you look at some of the recent transport games like Transport Fever and Factorio, they take teams with hundreds of individuals working on it, and millions of dollars of investment to make it to release in 2-3 years. And then you have games like Mashinky only have a few people and it takes even longer to make it stable and playable. Those are games which have explicitly looked at OpenTTD's mechanics for inspiration.

We don't have a lot of people working on OpenTTD, and they're all working without pay in their own free time. So, for them, it's not going to be desirable or realistic to start a new video game from scratch. But they're still working to improve OpenTTD and stretch it far beyond it's humble beginnings as a open source clone. OpenTTD today is played in ways that Chris Sawyer never thought Transport Tycoon Deluxe could be played (and, in fact, doesn't want it to be played!)