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Part 13: Wish List
Needless to say, Transport Tycoon is a wonderful game. However, it has several bugs and limitations that can be quite annoying. Plus, there is no limit to the worthwhile additions and enhancements that would make TT even better. This page is a comprehensive "wish list" of ideas that would make TT the greatest game ever produced.
Unfortunately, the prospects for an official TT sequel look grim. MicroProse isn't interested, and while Chris Sawyer and hinted about the possibility sometime in the future, he seems rather busy with RollerCoaster Tycoon. Nevertheless, if you would like to see a new TT version, please sign that Petition.
Here are some things other TT players have to say about a new TT version.
One problem with a TT sequel is finding a name for it. Transport Tycoon Deluxe 2 just doesn't sound too good. Transport Tycoon 3? Possibly. Transport Tycoon 2000? Might work. One possibility is to add a subtitle. How about Transport Tycoon: The Great Monopoly? TT: Industrial Robber Barons? TT: Prince of Money? TT: Hostile Takeover? TT: Megalomania? Okay, okay, maybe not.
How about a new name altogether? SimTransport, SimTycoon, SimRail, or SimMonopoly could be contenders if Maxis, the makers of SimCity, decide to produce a TT-like game. In keeping with Chris Sawyer's UFO obsession, it could be called X-COM: Alien Transport. Just kidding.
Problems with the current version
Aside from the technical bugs and limitations, TT does contain (gasp!) some serious playability flaws. One of these is "income explosion", which is explained by Paul den Dulk:
"One important problem of the game (a problem of many games) is that once the cash starts rolling in, it's no fun anymore. It's no use trying to think of clever tactics because the best strategy is just to build, build, and build, and as fast a possible... I can imagine that not many people complain about this, because at the moment they start getting money they actually like it, but in the long run people get bored by it. Compare Doom in the invulnerable cheat mode, many people use it, but not for long because they get bored very soon."
He suggests:
"The solution to this problem is to make price competition possible. You can compete with your opponent by lowering your price, this way you can keep customers away from your opponent. With this option prices will have to be sharp and income margins will be small. So you have to continue clever marketing instead of just building more and more."
Another problem is the lack of an economy. There is no law of supply and demand. If a power plant desparately needs coal, they will pay more for it than if another company was also transporting coal. The residents living in arctic or desert towns depend on food and water. Therefore, if your company is the only one transporting food or water to them, they should pay a higher price. If they don't receive supplies, however, then the population may drop.
The control over vehicles and layouts is another problem. The current system to build the rails and order the vehicles to go to a specific station. The imperfect AI guides the train from one station to the next. This leads to trouble on complicated networks -- the trains (and other vehicles) often become disoriented. On the positive side, this system works well for simple train lines and is easy to implement. Therefore, this system shouldn't be scrapped completely. You should have a choice between this or an "advanced" system. With the advanced system, you would first tell the train to go into "test mode" and give it a destination station. While the train is rolling, you would watch its progress, and every time it came to a juntion, a dialog box would pop up. You would decide which direction it should turn. The AI would remember the route the train took to reach its destination and would always use this in the future. This way, the train would never get lost.
An interesting system to train signalling and routing is presented in the simulation program called Bahn. In it, each train is assigned a "route ID." Each junction or branch is programmed for different routes. For example, at one junction you might have all "A" route trains continue straight while all "B" and "C" route trains turn off. You can also have "alternating" junctions. One train will continue straight while the next will turn off, and vice versa. This helps to efficiently move traffic and would be a welcome addition to TT.
The AI is, hands down, the worst part of Transport Tycoon. This should be a top priority for a TT sequel.
First and foremost, the rival companies should plan ahead. Before starting construction, they should decide on the most efficient train or road route. Then, and only then, should they start construction. As soon as a route is picked out, the AI should buy up all of the land along it. This will prevent anyone from blocking its construction. The AI should use tunnels and the best bridges (if it can afford them), build the flattest rail lines possible, build bridges over roads that it owns, but construct grade crossings over roads of other companies.
The AI should pick profitable transport services to begin with. The current AI makes no distinction between industries producing different amounts of cargo. I've seen the AI build long trains to gold mines spitting out 18 bags per month but then build a low-horsepower, small train to a coal mine spitting out 1024 tons per month. The AI should tailor its transport services to the volume of cargo available.
Airport construction by the AI needs to be improved. The AI always picks the worst spot, often times the airport doesn't even accept mail! The computer should do a what-if analysis before it builds it stations. It should simulate how much traffic would be generated if an airport was built at a certain spot. Where the amount of passengers and mail is greatest, the AI should build its airport. In addition, there should be a time limit on its "full load" orders -- perhaps a month or two. Many times a rival aircraft will sit at an airport for years waiting to fill up. Or, the AI should either not mess with "full load" or should be able to order a 50% or 75% load.
Ships are rarely used by the AI. This is surprising; it seems to me that programming ship AI would be easier than programming the AI behind building trains or road layouts. The AI should make extensive use of oil rigs and hovercraft routes.
Stuart Foster submitted the following idea: you or the computer should be able to negotiate with other players, ie. negotiate use by another company of your rail line - they pay an agreed amount per month. This amount can either automatically go up with inflation, or be agreed again at the start of each year.
Finally, the AI should have better control of its finances. Usually, the current AI takes out huge loans and doesn't repay them for years, if ever. Thus, it racks up huge loan interest payments that eat away from the AI's already limited bank account. The AI should keep just enough money on hand to operate and take out loans only before an expansion. If the AI has a surplus of money, it should upgrade all of its vehicles. One sneaky addition for the AI would be the ability to purchase stock in other companies (including yours) at will. Right now, the AI can only purchase near-bankrupt companies, which are often worthless. If the AI can afford 100% of your company, you lose! To make it fair, however, the computer would have to alert you to the impending hostile takeover. The only way to avoid it would be to take over the rival first!
With an improved AI, there should be no more reason for the little bonuses it receives. For instance, the AI's station ratings are always at least 20 percentage points higher than yours. Rivals can raise and lower land around towns at no cost. And the Local Authorities completely ignore the activities of rivals.
The variety of disasters in TT needs to be increased. The UFO invasions should be rare. Some possible, more realistic, disasters include:
The existing selection of vehicles in TT is good, but there are some inconsistencies. The trains in the temperate climate are much faster than those in the arctic and tropical climates. Why? The trains between the realistic climates should be similar -- or even the same. Helicopters are another area of concern. They become obsolete after 2020. There should be a third model to replace the Guru X2. Helicopter landings at airports also needs to be improved. The larger airports should have helipads specifically for helicopters. This way helicopters and planes can land simulaneously.
The ships need to be revamped. In parcticular, the passenger ferries are worthless when the hovercraft is available. The goods freighters can only hold 190 units... and they only travel at 25mph! This means they are practically worthless.
It should be possible to extend railroads underground to make subways. Subway stations would only occupy one square, so they could be built easily in large cities. There should be the capability to connect regular rails with subways.
Another nice addition would the ability to couple more than engine to a train. Like in the real world, you could have two or three engines pulling one long train. The horsepower would be cumulative, but the speed would be limited to that of the slowest engine.
Finally, shifting from rails to monorails to maglevs should be made much easier. You should be able to highlight a rail line and have it automatically upgraded. It should be possible to tranfer orders from old rail engines to the new monorail or maglev engines. This would eliminate a major headache from TT.
The stations in TT tend to become easily overwhelmed with high volumes of traffic. Bus and truck stops have the potential to jam up if more than three vehicles try to use it at once. You should be able to build different size bus and freight stations -- 1x1, 1x2, and 2x2. This way, a varying amount of traffic can be moved through the station efficiently.
Airports need a serious overhaul. New sizes of airports should be possible, including:
Boat docks need a major overhaul. Right now, its possible to have an unlimited number of ships use on dock. They will pile up on one another, without worry about the laws of physics. To overcome this, there should be different size docks possible -- 1x2, 1x3, 1x4 or maybe even larger. The limit should be one boat per square.
One annoying limitation in TT is that train stations can only have four tracks. Stations with 1 to 8 tracks should be possible. This is more realistic, many city train stations have dozens and dozens of tracks.
Train depots are very unrealistic. Imagine, several trains being able to fit in one square! The depots must be as large as the trains they hold.
Supersonic rockets should be available after the 2020s. These rockets would travel at 2,000+ mph and could cross the entire map in the blink of an eye. However, they would require a special rocket launch port and they wouldn't be able hold very much cargo. In addition, there would be a risk of a significant disaster if the rocket's reliability is low.
Simulated traffic should be introduced into the game. TT would simulate the movement of resident's cars as they drive between home and work. Since this would require a lot of CPU resources, there should be an option to turn this off. Simulated traffic will hinder the movement of your road vehicles. Traffic jams may form and traffic accidents involving your vehicles would be more frequent. Things would really get bad if you or a rival funds road reconstruction in the town!
To handle the traffic, it should be possible to build stoplights, one-way streets, and freeways. Freeways would be four lane highways (two squares wide) that could handle double the traffic. On and off ramps would be required, however (just like in SimCity 2000).
Speed limits should be imposed by the local authorities. These limits would vary from town to town, possibly depending on the LA's rating of you. Speed limits outside of city limits would be higher (like 65mph). There should be no speed limit of freeways.
One thing that is suggested time and time again is improved network play. TT currently only supports two player mode over serial or IPX lines. Network play with more than two players should be possible over the Internet.
Water should be more realistic. Rivers and creeks should run at higher elevations, and should flow downhill at waterfalls. Ships should be able to use these rivers, however they won't be able to transverse the waterfalls (except maybe hovercraft). Lakes should also be possible at higher elevations. In addition, lakes and rivers above the snow line in the arctic climate would run the risk of being frozen over.
TT should have simulated weather. Changes in rainfall in the tropical climate should cause the desert to expand or contract. The snow line would change in the arctic climate during the year (in the winter almost the whole map may be covered in snow). The trees should lose their leaves during the fall.
You should be able to fund industries to increase their production. For example, you could fund a program with a coal mine for them to do extensive underground surveying to look for coal veins. Or provide new equipment to a farm so they could harvest more grain. This would be expensive, however, and not always effective.
The industries you construct (fund) should be under your brand name, so all their cargo must be transported through your company. You should be able to do surveying to see if any natural resources are around. If you find an area (such a coal vein), you should be able to set up an industry there to harvest the resource.
Many TT fan eagerly await a new version. A well-done sequel would reap immense rewards for Microprose or another company that markets it. Are you listening Chris Sawyer? We want a sequel!
If you have any ideas for this wish list, feel free to send them in. And don't forget to tell Chris Sawyer how you feel!
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