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[Djohaal]

Simutrans!

So it turns out simutrans still is alive and slowly progressing. There's a new branch called simutrans experimental but I haven't fiddled with it much. Highlights of latest versions is the new sectional view and full Z levels for subways (and curved tunnels).

What is simutrans: Simutrans is an open source project dedicated to creating a transport simulator game in the spirit of transport tycoon, but with some different approaches and gameplay features, such as:

1: Full map pathfinding: each passanger in your vehicles has a destination and will pathfind trough your network to reach it (akin to cargodist experimentals on OTTD, but way better), no need to set "transfer" orders or whatever, the game figures out a path and gets the goods flowing
2: Modular cargo: A "peice goods" trailer can accept any good that is classfied as peice goods (such as electronics, plastics, finished goods, wool, etc), what allows for double-direction routes where your train hauls different stuff on each pass.
3: No breakdowns - simutrans is all about logistics, so no breakdowns or scheduled maintenance. You can also keep using obsolete stuff if they feel a niche you need.
4: Programable game speed  - you can have the historical timeline progress super slowly, income rates and maintenance adjust themselves accordingly.
5:  Full Z-levels above and underground: The UI is a bit unweildy but it works. Pics on the spoilers.
6: Brutal economics: turning a profit is hard, but you can reach the bill gates point in mid game, but in early game a network flop and you can go straight to bankrupticy.
7: Eletrification and passanger bonuses: You can build powerlines to take energy from powerplants to factories boosting their productivity.
8: Multiple content sets: Simutrans comes with paksets with different graphics styles and gameplay balance. The most popular paks are pak 64 and pak128 (the one used in my screenshots). You can mix-and-match content that is made for a given resolution for addons.
9: Per-block pathfinding: Trains only move if they can secure a route to the next signal or stop, so nothing crashes (even if they do, no breakdown, the line only clogs). That also means the train pathfinding is usually smarter. Same applies to ships, they can figure out a route on a complex maze without problem.
10: Emergent behaivour: You'll find cargo taking unexpected routes once your network gets complex enough. Same for passengers.
Bonus feature: Awful graphics! (But I supposed this shouldn't be a problem for the DF people).

tl;dr: Dorf fortress of transport tycoon genre.

Screenshots:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Crowded airport - multiple runways because the game's airplane code is still a bit herp.


Curved multi-level tunnel!


Subway on a crowded city.


Above-ground Z level demonstration on a double-decker station. Didn't have space on the side for a new platform, so I went up instead!

[TheBronzePickle]

Those runways anger me for a really petty reason.

Runways are numbered by their angle off from Magnetic North. Opposite sides of the runway should be 180 degrees (or 18, since the runways are numbered by decadegrees) apart from one another.

And yet the runways are numbered 8/27.

More on topic, wasn't there already a thread for Simutrans?

[BigD145]

More on topic, wasn't there already a thread for Simutrans?

No dedicated topic, but it has come up in conversation.

[Djohaal]

Those runways anger me for a really petty reason.

Runways are numbered by their angle off from Magnetic North. Opposite sides of the runway should be 180 degrees (or 18, since the runways are numbered by decadegrees) apart from one another.

And yet the runways are numbered 8/27.

More on topic, wasn't there already a thread for Simutrans?

It is actually a nine, the poor sampling compression on different zooms mangled it a bit



I didn't know that's what the numbers were suppposed to mean, now my world is shaken because what I thought was the southern part of the map is the north! And we didn't have a dedicated simutrans thread, so I thought I might give it a try for people who have difficulty getting into the game.

[TheBronzePickle]

Well, if this is the official thread, then I'd say you should probably put up a link to the website on the first post.

I will say that I like Simutrans a bit better overall than OTTD. OTTD's a bit more customizable mod-wise as you can only play with one Simutrans 'pak' at a time, but overall Simutrans has a bit more quality to it.

[Djohaal]

You can add extra content to a pakset in simturans too, as long as it is compatible. There's some french industry and a maglev addon at the SNFOS site, also is where I got those cute subway stations.

http://www.simutrans-france.fr.nf/doku.php?id=en:snfos

[Vortex Rikers]

My only real concern is difficulty. In OTTD it's nearly impossible to run a deficit unless you're doing something SERIOUSLY wrong. Gonna give this a try, lets hope I crash harder than the US economy.

[MrWiggles]

I really like simulatrans. Though I wish there was a better method for managing routes. From their to the late game, when you want to expand to the other side of the map. It just feels like a monstrous task and lots of tedium.

I really wish passengers lines evenly spaced themselves out and their other was an easier way to copy ten mirror a line.

I also can never get airplanes, trains, or mail to be profitable.

[Djohaal]

Airplanes must run at 100% fill, need lots of platforms so they don't crowd the landing strips. Trains for passangers can run on demand once your network is big enough (they'll never keep up with the demand). Mail is a problem and needs huge networks to be profitable too. The secret on simutrans is to keep everything interconnected, that raises the number of possible destinations and with it the demand for your service.

[LoSboccacc]

I like this game for trains, but I despise the economic model. if only there were set sell/purchase prices for products, or at least market driven, instead of distance driven.


distance driven prices are dumb. 

[Shooer]

I like this game for trains, but I despise the economic model. if only there were set sell/purchase prices for products, or at least market driven, instead of distance driven.


distance driven prices are dumb. 

You aren't buying and selling the goods, you are being payed to move it.

Would be neat if being a actual commodity broker company was an option in some of these games.

[LoSboccacc]

yeah but why anyone would contract you coal from the other side of the county having a mine right near them?

also, if industries are too close you can make loops and bam! loads of moneys.


I hate when a simulation doesn't make any readl-world sense.


... boy I miss industry giant 1

[TheBronzePickle]

Maybe the coal from the other side of the county is from a non-union mine with no OSHA compliance and is so cheap that the high shipping costs are still cheaper than the competitors.

[Graknorke]

Like OpenTTD but different?

[Jalak]

Does anyone know of some decent tutorials for this thing? The "official" one I found seemed to be outdated and not that informative and the in-game one is full of information that somehow manages to not tell me anything I actually need to know.

On a side note, I did eventually figure out that you can't just set up a road mail/passenger route with carriages with schedules linked to all the cities, like you would a train, since they would deliver the mail/people through the longest route possible otherwise and never make money. Rather, you have a carriage specifically devoted to two-four cities that overlap with other delivery schedules, as the ai is smart enough to recognize that they can send mail/people to one place to be picked up by another carriage waiting for them, so that's nice.