About OpenTTD
OpenTTD is a free management game developed by the OpenTTD team and its contributors. You build networks to carry passengers and goods between cities and industries. This entry in the games category covers its version for Windows. The game will appeal to anyone who likes to lay out lines, track costs and gradually refine a system whose parts must fit together. A well-drawn route is not everything: vehicles, their timing and the needs of destinations also decide how useful the service is.
The game plays out on a map where cities and industries offer transport opportunities. You buy vehicles, lay down infrastructure and set their orders. A simple line makes the working of stations and revenue clear. As the network spreads, crossings, station capacity and the renewal of equipment move to the fore. You can develop an installation already in place rather than restart each connection from scratch.
OpenTTD calls for a base graphics set, available free with OpenGFX. Sounds and music are added separately. The Transport Tycoon Deluxe files are another possibility for their owners, without being needed to discover the game with the free resources.
Start with an easy-to-grasp link
Pick two points with a clear transport relationship, then build a modest line. Make sure a station really serves the city or industry you aim for: its being nearby does not guarantee the useful area is covered. Buy a vehicle suited to the cargo and give it orders to the right stations. Then watch a whole trip before adding other vehicles. You will be able to tell apart a route, loading or capacity problem. A small link followed closely teaches more than a vast network raised at once with no check on its working or its costs.
Keep trains running without clogging the network
The railway grows trickier as soon as several trains share the same tracks. The signals govern access to portions of the network and must match the intended direction of travel. Start from a legible layout, then add crossings and sidings once you understand the behavior you observe. A congested station can hold back the trains ahead of it and block a distant junction. So look for the cause of the slowdown across the whole trip. Doubling a track does not always fix a problem lodged in platforms, train orders or a badly laid-out intersection.
Read the results of each vehicle
A company's revenues sometimes mask barely profitable lines. Open your vehicles' information to spot those that wait a long time, run empty or cost too much for the service they give. Fit their capacity to the available flow rather than steadily adding equipment. Conditions shift over the course of the game, and a service effective at the start can turn insufficient. Also check the orders when you replace or clone a vehicle. An error copied across a whole fleet sometimes shows only when stations pile up goods and expenses keep climbing.
Install the required graphics sets
The program and its base graphics set are two separate elements. On first launch, install OpenGFX if no compatible set is present. OpenSFX and OpenMSX supply sounds and music respectively; they round out the atmosphere without being essential at startup. The content manager lets you fetch extra resources. The old Transport Tycoon Deluxe files assume that you own that game. You can use the free sets to play OpenTTD without hunting for a copy of those commercial files or buying an old disc just for the graphics.
Prepare add-ons and shared games
Extra content can bring in vehicles, graphics, scenarios or revise the economic rules. Before starting a long game, pick the items you need and read their notes. Changing certain content after creating a save can bring consistency trouble. In multiplayer, the version and resources the server asks for must line up with your installation. Fetch the items on offer from the manager when the game allows it. Keep a separate save before any major change and avoid altering several settings without checking their effect on an already developed network.
Measure up against other planning games
Freeciv offers civilization management with cities, technologies and diplomacy. The Battle for Wesnoth favors turn-based tactics. OpenTTD above all organizes flows on a map and invites you to watch how a network evolves over time. It fits if you would rather solve a rail jam or reshape a station than wage a battle. Terraria also offers building, but within a frame of exploration and action. These games in the catalog meet different urges; choose by the role you want to give building during your sessions.
Key features
- Build train lines and stations.
- Organize road services between your stations.
- Carry goods to suit the needs of industries.
- Buy aircraft and lay out airports.
- Set orders for each vehicle in operation.
- Follow your company's spending and income.
- Add resources through the built-in manager.
- Share games on compatible servers.
System requirements
Windows; installer according to architecture; Unconfirmed minimum memory and disk requirements; plan graphics sets and backups.
How to install
- Download the Windows installer for stable version 15.3 adapted to the architecture of your computer.
- Run the downloaded file and choose the installation folder in the wizard.
- Run OpenTTD and get OpenGFX if no graphics core package is installed.
- Add OpenSFX and OpenMSX from the content manager if you want the sounds and music, then create a game.
