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Comment by jabl | Hacker News Reader

OpenTTD is one of the rare remakes of a classic game that has succeeded in significantly improving upon the original. Though I stay away from playing it because it's so addictive.

Choo-choo!

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I vividly remember playing the trial version over and over as a little kid on my first computer, a PentiumI system. With no internet and no access to any computer stores that carried the game, the game was only a memory in my teens.

But then I got Internet access, and some time later discovered OpenTTD. I started with point-to-point rail connections and escalated from there, into complex block-based any-to-any rail networks with train grouping and feeder systems via road and waterway. Then I discovered the FIRS mod and the networks got so complex I had to start inserting comments via the in-game signpost functionality to keep myself from trying to apply disproven "fixes" to certain hotspots.

And it even compiles and runs on my OpenPOWER ppc64le system!

Can't wait to start a new map, I haven't found enough time for the game the last couple of years...

I tried it because I loved the original and remember playing it for hours (and keeping the low difficulty game run over night to get a lot of money).

I think the controls haven't aged very well. Compared to modern games laying tracks is so damn complicated. I get that you can build complex layouts without the "helping game" get in your way but I just couldn't get into it anymore.

On the one hand that is true, but on the other OpenTTD _has_ made improvements to the controls. They are subtle, and very much in the spirit of the original game, but they are there.

The autorail tool (A, or the fifth button with the cross icon) is the one you want for a click and drag experience, and the most popular modpack, jgrpp, adds a "polyline" patch which lets the autorail tool also add in bends as needed. I suspect that patch will get merged eventually

Considering OpenTTD has already made a change to hid the classic rail signals by default in favor of path signals (I'm really not on board with this change, but regardless), I think it would probably be justified for them to hide the non-auto tools by default as well. Autorail is really the one most people should be using by default, but the game UI makes it too easy for new players to use the manual rail tools instead.

I like the 2.5D RTS-like TTD rail laying, I find the newer Locomotion "RollerCoaster Tycoon" style track laying disturbing.

I usually binge it for a few hours then don't touch it again for years.

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