14 DAY TRIAL // OpenTTD, an open source simulation game based on the popular Microprose title "Transport Tycoon" written by Chris Sawyer, has just reached version 1.4.0.
Transport Tycoon is a very old game that was originally launched back in 1995, but it made such a huge impact on the gaming community that, even almost 20 years later, it still has a powerful fan base. If you take into consideration the fact that a gamer was 15 when the game launched, the fans of the original and of OpenTTD are probably well in their thirties.
This is where the OpenTTD project comes into play. This is actually a remake of the original release (not the one that was remade in 2013), but it comes with a much wider range of features and improvements, which means that it's actually much better.
“OpenTTD is modelled after the original Transport Tycoon game by Chris Sawyer and enhances the game experience dramatically. Many features were inspired by TTDPatch while others are original,” reads the official website.
Some of the features in the OpenTTD can only be found in the open source game. For example, bigger maps (up to 64 times in size) have been added, a stable multiplayer mode for up to 255 players in 15 companies is available, dedicated server mode and an in-game console for administration are present, in-game downloading of AIs, NewGRFs, scenarios and heightmaps have been implemented, canals, shiplifts, and aqueducts have been added, drive-through road stops for articulated road vehicles and trams have been added, and much more.
The latest OpenTTD 1.4.0 release is the product of many months of intense work and numerous new features and fixes have been added. For example, a [Script] APIs has been added to get the cargo waiting from/via another station, the "symmetric" cargodist mode is no longer explained if the setting does not allow it, the distance between link graph nodes is now updated when the station sign is moved, and a specific font size is now selected when freetype fails to select one automatically.
Also, the game now warns the user about empty setting search results, map sizes up to 4096x4096 are now allowed, the performance of map generation has been improved, writing out of the bounds of the rail type map has been fixed, and the default icon size has been reset.
Check out the changelog for a complete list of updates and fixes. Download OpenTTD 1.4.0 right now from Softpedia.