Ever played OpenTTD?
I have not! Giving it a quick google, though, it seems like it could be right up my alley!
Unfortunately I've already got uh... SO many games on my backlog. I'll remember this recommendation, though!
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so i’ve had this concept for this game called Locomotive Works. the game is similar to OpenTTD and Transport Fever 2 in the sense that as the years progress, you unlock new technology and you can new and more interesting things. Except this time the game is focused on the actual rolling stock. the locomotives, the wagons, etc. as the years progress you get clients who come in asking you to produce rolling stock for them based on real life trains. depending on how developed your company is, each year you can design X number of new rolling stocks, and you can produce Y amount of them if that makes sense. Let’s say the year is 1860, you can design three trains, and you can produce 400 units total, whether that locomotives or carriages.
The game would be able to take place in several different locales: at the moment I am thinking the game would start as just the United States but if the game grows you would be able to do the UK, eastern Europe, Germany/Central Europe, Japan, and China, and maybe some others. Depending on where you start, the course of the game will be different.
The UK would allow for the earliest start (like 1830s) and you would be able to build locomotives of all different kinds for shipment across the british empire.
In Eastern Europe you would start late but following the first world war you would get a LOT of work, and expand really quickly.
In the USA, you can choose a variety of places to start, including the east coast, the south, midwest, etc. You can get different jobs as the game progresses depending on where you start. You can choose to produce trains generally for a lot of railroads, or choose to partner with a specific railroad for a guaranteed clientele and the opportunity to make more experimental trains.
The jobs you pick up are based on real life examples of rolling stock. You may be approached and asked to create a standardized steam locomotive that a railroad can buy in bulk, or you may be approached by someone with a crazy idea and you can gamble on the design. An example of this would be the Shay locomotive.
The actual gameplay would be the construction of the rolling stock. It would be a lot like Kerbal Space Program. You would be able to assemble trains based upon designs you have “researched.” In the case of steam locomotives, this would manifest in various kinds of water tanks, boilers, cylinders, wheel types and sizes, driving rods of various types, axles, wheel configurations, headlights, smoke stacks, tenders, and much much more.
As you assemble the locomotive, you get feedback from the game on what the he locomotive you have built can do. It will give you things like power, boiler pressure, tractive effort, top speed, weight, etc. These stats would come both as numbers representing directly what the engine can do, but also as a rating: good, mediocre, bad, or in cases like power, strong, mediocre, weak.
You may be commissioned to construct a locomotive with a specific weight, speed, and tractive effort in mind, or you may be commissioned to build the strongest engine you can that fits within a specific height, width, and length profile.
You would also be able to produce carriages, if you choose to diversify into that field. You could build passenger wagons, freight wagons, and even specialized wagons like ones used for nuclear waste. These carriages would be easy to design, and would be bought in bulk orders, and likely make up the majority of the “production capacity” for any given year. The carriages will not be as monetarily rewarding as the locomotives, but are a more stable source of income.
If you produce a successful design, clients may return in future years and simply ask for more of that type of train. You wouldn’t have to design anything new in that case. A successful design that is purchased over and over for years opens the floor to allow you to experiment with new and wacky trains.
As the years go on you can upgrade your shops to allow for more designs per year, as well as more production each year. Additionally, you would be able to purchase and research new machinery that would allow for you to build bigger or more complex rolling stock.
When I say research, I refer to an in game window that would be “research X, Y, Z?” and you click yes, and it takes an in game year or so to research.
Years would not progress until you choose to progress them. You can breeze through the years, or choose to make every year count to the fullest.
As the game progresses, you would unlock new “advisors”. You can only have three advisors at a time. The advisors would give you tips and tricks regarding the construction of rolling stock. Different advisors specialize in different things. Some specialize in experimental locomotives, while others specialize in passenger carriages or freight carriages. Some advisors can tell you whether the person who wants you to build something for them is trustworthy, or whether they want you to build a locomotive that won’t be financially successful.
This is a game idea i’ve thought up in the shower and at night and I’m finally putting it into words. I plan to add more to it. If you’re one of three people who find this post, I’m going to tag all of my posts regarding this with #LT’s locomotive works game. I plan to write more about it
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this AI is so dumb (blue company)
it has like 15 stations throughout the map, and only two of them are actually connected to eachother. it also has (as depicted in the top left corner) odd conveyor belts that are literally just loops.
this was supposed to be one of the best AIs for openttd...
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