OpenTTD Version 1.0 Review

8.0

Review Score:

From slow busloads of passengers to hundreds of tons of coal sailing along on one of your trains, OpenTTD lets you create a vast empire of transport. OpenTTD is a game that I have been following for the last few years that is a nice open source remake of the game Transport Tycoon Deluxe by Chris Sawyer. It is a simulation game where you build different types of transport routes for profit and to ultimately have the company with the most money at the end of the game.

You play the game in an isometric view, and place roads and track from place to place that your vehicles will run on. I like how you start in the early 1900′s with a few different types of vehicles, and as the years go by you watch as the technology of the world goes from steam engines to high speed MagLev’s. The game is a race against your competitors to make transport routes from the natural resources to towns or factories in an attempt to earn profit.

The game has finally hit version 1.0 which means that after years of patching, the open source game has gained enough features to be considered being whole. Over the years they have added tons of awesome features to the original concept such as: a huge number of customizations options, multi player, larger maps, downloadable AI’s, and more. The game is also translated into a few dozen languages, so it is very accessible for many different people.

One of the great things about the product hitting version 1.0 is the completion of a new graphics and sound set for the game which means the game doesn’t require any of the files from the original game to function. This means that now anyone can play the game as it is entirely open source.

A feature built into the game that lots of players will like is the built in mod-support, where you can within the game download new ai’s or vehicle sets that are very easy to implement and play with. I found its nice to download some of the sets so that you can have vehicles that span a longer time frame or a varied amount of ai’s so the game is more unpredictable.

If you want to try this addicting simulation game out, head over to http://www.openttd.org/ and download the game. I highly recommend the game to anyone who played the roller coaster tycoon games as the original game was created by the same person.

NXT Score: 8/10

Pros

• Open source, so free to play
• Many add-ons to the original game such as multiplayer
• Much mod support for a large amount of online content
• Fun addictive game play
• A great community around the game

Cons

• The game has a moderate learning curve
• Older style graphics that aren’t overly detailed.

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