My OpenTTD Suggestions

Here are some of my suggestions for OpenTTD, currently only for personal reference

Gameplay

1. AI assistant
   • AI tasked with creating routes & vehicles (Human builds infrastructure)
2. option to switch between TTD mode and OpenTTD mode
   • these should be configuration presets
   • see below for proposed settings
3. towns buy company-owned roads when inside inner city limits (area inside "tree circle")
4. (Cheat)switching between companies should lapse
5. option to restrict roads to 3x3 (2x2) grid
6. when a company goes bankrupt, don't destroy its road bridges and tunnels

Construction

1. right-click de-selects current tool
2. build town roads
   • cheaper than private roads (since subsidized)
3. remove Depot orientation and Station orientation window
   • orientation automatic when possible (especially for road stations)
   • orientation set by dragging to edge (depot displayed but not placed)
4. advanced Autoslope, with the ability to raise/lower constructions
   • should make fine-tuning rail lines easy

Interface

1. Advanced Settings in tab, not tree view for Interface, Construction ... (like before)
2. vehicle capacities summed
   • only different railcars displayed (with a multiplier before them) and the total capacity thereof
3. a single shortcut key for removal of objects (i.e. like CTRL+placement tool, e.g. CTRL+Autorail vs. R for signals)
4. alternate raise/lower ground by holding (e.g.) ALT key
5. selecting "railway construction" automatically selects the Autorail tool
6. station window should display "Supplies: ..." below "Accepts: ..."
7. autmatically sort vehicle lists by cargo type
   • alternatively, setting up filters (e.g. if train has passenger carriage -> assign to group "passenger train")
8. manage railcars from Vehicle lists
   • e.g. build a Passenger Carriage and drag it to Train 12. This will instruct the train to go to a depot and have the railcar added
   • likewise moving railcars on train set
9. replace vehicles without track type selection (in the works?)

OpenTTD Mode

Settings I think should be enabled by default (I took the wiki pages as reference for default settings):

Interface

1. Link landscape toolbar to rail/road/water/airport toolbars: On
2. Position of the main toolbar: center
   • since most people have large displays (>= 1024*768)
3. Automatically pause when starting a new game: On
4. Default rail type (after new game/game load): Most used

Vehicles

1. Forbid trains and ships to make 90 deg turns: On
2. Disable servicing when breakdowns set to none: On
3. Train accelleration model: Realistic
4. Enable multiple NewGRF engine sets: On
   • especially useful for new players. This would also prevent some crashes where trains were replaced then reverted back to defaults, right?!

Economy

1. Road layout for new towns: better roads
2. Remove absurd road-elements during the road construction: On

Other

I'm not so sure how these suggestions might alter the feel of TT, so I singled them out for now

1. shares bought in competing companies should add to company value (% of shares * company value)
   • likewise, you should receive money when your shares are bought
   • at the end of the year, the increase in company value should be paid to investors/owners
   • companies owning shares in each other should be no problem, since 50/50 merges can't happen
2. ability to invest in vehicle research, so, e.g. Maglev would be available sooner
3. ability to build platforms
   • similar to bridges, but tile by tile
   • the size of a tile
   • anything can be built on them, even diagonally (maybe even stations, i.e. multi-level stations)
   • default surface: concrete (foundation texture)
4. shared road & ship depots
   • anybody can use them, but they remain owned by the builder
   • I'm curious about the Shared infrastructure patch

And of course:

1. Voxel rendering engine ;)