The Unofficially Official Looking Alt.Games.Microprose.Transport-Tyc
FAQ v4.12 (Updated 2nd July 2004)
[Note that there's a better formatted version of this FAQ at
http://www.tt-forums.net/~faq]
Compiled by...
Jan Willem van Dormolen: jw.van.dormolen@xs4all.nl
Based on (much) earlier work by...
Paul Wright: paul_a_wright@hotmail.com and Eddie Bernard: agmtt-faq@ebernard.greatxscape.net
With help from... (in no particular order)
Rémi Denis-Courmont
Rick McGreal
Josef Drexler
Bill
Hayles
Niels (G4S)
Owen Rudge
Marcin Grzegorczyk
Michael Blunck
Phil Holbourn
Tom Cumming
Introduction:
This FAQ is an attempt to cut down on the repetition of questions
in the newsgroup. You should read this first before posting a question
to Alt.Games.Microprose.Transport-Tyc (AGMTT). We will add any questions
posted in AGMTT to here with each person's answer, as well as as
many questions we can think of ourselves.
This FAQ will be posted regularly to the AGMTT newsgroup, or
if a request is made.
Update history:
4.12 - Added newest developments (Locomotion, Wikipedia, among
others)
4.11 - Corrected some links.
4.10 - Added question about music freezing under Win2k.
4.9 - Added the 'final' solution to the won't-play-fullscreen
problem.
4.8 - Added solution to the won't-play-fullscreen problem in
Windows 2000
4.7 - Cut out the fullscreen solution of 4.6 - it doesn't work.
4.6 - Added info on localization of TTD
Added
a possible solution to TTD not running fullscreen under Windows
XP
4.5 - And some more mistakes fixed.
4.4 - A few mistakes sorted out
4.3 - Updated Simutrans website
4.2 - Included more comments from regular visitors of agmtt.
Added stuff about Ttdpatch's
new vehicles
4.1 - Included comments from regular visitors of agmtt
4.0 - Full review, many additions and improvements, hardly surprising
since the last update
was two years ago...
3.4 - Added question on TTD with Windows 2000
Minor
updates here and there...
3.3 - Minor change to boat tips section.
3.2 - Updated sound FAQ section.
3.1 - Minor change in the multiplayer section.
-
Changes to Addons and Sequels section.
3.0 - FAQ split into two. Section 1 has been removed, and has
been
adapted into the group
charter of AGMTT.
- Updated section
on multiplayer TT.
- Updated patch bug
problems.
2.5 - Added new section on performance points
-
Changed the layout so it's now obvious where a question ends
- Removed major section on Official Newsgroup
Website, pending
construction
of the new site.
- One or two minor
changes
2.4 - Added Music FAQ
- Correct "Expires:
" header added
Older changes have sadly been lost...
CONTENTS
[1.1] AGMTT Group Charter
[1.2] Abbreviations
and terms used in this FAQ
[2] FAQ's
[2.1] General
[2.1.1] Are they any patches, and where can I get it ?
[2.1.2] Are they any cheats/tips ?
[2.1.3] I'm fed
up of the enemy; can I get rid of him ?
[2.1.4] Any dirty
tricks to keep the enemy at hand ?
[2.1.5] What's a Subsidy
?
[2.1.6] Is there a world editor ?
[2.1.7] My
vehicles keep getting jammed, how can I stop this ?
[2.1.8]
Trains constantly go back to the depot when I play TTD with
the Patch. - What's going on ?
[2.1.9] How are Station
ratings calculated ? The AI gets much more than I do ! Why ?
[2.1.10] Is there any way to change the screen resolution in TTD
?
[2.1.11] Can I take screenshots in TTO or TTD ?
[2.1.12]
I can't get the sound to work. Why ?
[2.1.13] Whatever
happened to Transport World?
[2.1.14] What exactly is the Performance
Rating?
[2.1.15] So how can I increase my rating then?
[2.1.16]
Can I run Transport Tycoon Deluxe under Windows 2000 or XP?
[2.1.17] So, thanks to the Patch, Transport Tycoon Deluxe runs under
Windows 2000/XP, but only windowed!
[2.1.18] When I play
Transport Tycoon Deluxe under Windows 2000/XP, every couple of minutes
or so the game freezes for some seconds.
[2.1.19] Can I get
Transport Tycoon Deluxe in my own language?
[2.2] Online Games
[2.2.1] Can I play TTO Multiplayer?
[2.2.2] Can
I play TTD Multiplayer?
[2.2.3] What about Online games?
[2.2.4] TTD Multiplayer hangs over an IPX connection?
[2.3] TT and the local authority
[2.3.1] Who are the local authority?
[2.3.2] What
is the 'influence boundary'?
[2.3.3] Why do they stop
me from building?
[2.3.4] What are all these options inside
the local authority window?
[2.3.5] Can I improve my ratings
in the town?
[2.3.6] Can I make my city grow?
[2.4] Competitions
[2.4.1] How does a TTD competition work?
[2.4.2] I
would like to start a competition on this newsgroup. I need advice.
[2.5] Add-ons and sequels
[2.5.1] Are they any sequels, add-ons for TTO / TTD?
[2.5.2] Are there any sequels to TTD in development?
[2.5.3]
Can't I get some other vehicles, in stead of what the standard
game's got on offer?
[2.5.4] Any other similar games?
[3] Resources
[4] Misc.
[4.1] Credits
[4.2] Copyright
[4.3] Comments
[1.1] AGMTT Group Charter
The AGMTT Charter gives full details about this newsgroup,
what to expect, and a number of other ground rules that anyone who
knows their way around Usenet should come to expect, like posting
in Plain text only...
The Charter is available at
http://www.ebernard.greatxscape.net/charters/alt.games.microprose.transport-tyc.html
[1.2] Abbreviations and terms used in this FAQ
There are several versions of Transport Tycoon, and they are
adressed like this in this charter:
TT
- Refers to any version of Transport Tycoon generally
TTO - The original version of
Transport Tycoon, DOS only.
TTOW -
The original version of Transport Tycoon with World Editor and
Moon
scenery
TTD - Any version
of Transport Tycoon DeLuxe
TTDD -
Specifically the DOS version of Transport Tycoon DeLuxe
TTDW
- Specifically the Windows version of Transport Tycoon DeLuxe,
often also
referred to as Transport Tycoon DeLuxe DX (but
not in this FAQ)
patch - Any program that changes
TT in some way
Patch - The program TTDPatch, created
by Josef Drexler and friends, that
changes
TT in many ways
Other abbreviations and terms
DOS -
Microsoft Disk Operating System (tm), any version
Windows -
Microsoft Windows (tm), any version
Win95
- Microsoft Windows 95 (tm)
Win98 - Microsoft
Windows 98 (tm)
WinME - Microsoft Windows Millennium
Edition (tm)
Win9x - Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and/or
Millennium Edition
Win2k - Microsoft Windows 2000
(tm)
WinXP - Microsoft Windows XP (tm)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2] The FAQ's
[2.1] General
[2.1.1] Are they any patches, and where can I get it?
There is a patch for TTD called (highly imaginatively) TTDPatch,
it does tons of cool things to TTD and is by Josef Drexler, with
help from several others. The best way to find it is to get it from:
http://www.ttdpatch.net/
The best part of the Patch (I will distinguish between this Patch
and other patches by using capital P for this Patch) is that is
constantly being improved and updated. In AGMTT, people discuss
issues with TT, and with the Patch, and suggest new features to
add. Then Josef Drexler and his collaborators try to implement these.
Or they don't, depending on whether they like them...
The Patch not only gets rid of bugs. It doesn't even stop at
improving things in TT. It adds lots of new features too.
Some
highlights (the whole list can be viewed on the Patch's website,
www.ttdpatch.net):
- railroad presignals
- road vehicles
wait for their turn at loading bays, in stead of going anyplace
- automatic renewal of engines that are too old
- depots can
be used in the orders window, so that you can send vehicles to a
designated depot on a designated moment in its route
- longer bridges
- new vehicles; at the moment just new ships,
but new trains and road vehicles
are being developed
at this very moment [*]
- longer trains
- more engines in
one train
- control when and if planes can crash
- get rid
of the stupid UFO's
- take control over computer players by
obtaining a majority in shares
- several cheats:
- get the amount of money of
your choice
- bribe local authorities to improve
your ratings
- change all your railroad tracks to
monorail or maglev in one go
The beautiful thing of this Patch is that you can choose which
feature you want and which you don't like; each feature can individually
be switched on or off, by means of a easy-to-understand configuration
file.
And if even that's too hard, one of the regulars in the
newsgroup has made a little program called Ttdpatch Starter that
provides a graphical interface for Ttdpatch.
[*] Several people are doing hard work to improve and add to
the vehicle graphics.
If you want to
contribute yourself (e.g., have trains that look like the ones
in your country), be sure to contact Josef
Drexler or to drop a note in the
newsgroup
first. You will then get the technical details of how to make your
work compatible with TTDpatch.
There are other patches, but none of them comes close to TTDPatch.
In fact, none can stand in its shadow. None can hope to kiss the
soles of its boots. And did I mention that TTDPatch comes in 10+
localized versions?
-$=$=$-
[2.1.2] Are they any cheats/tips?
For TTO there are a few tips, no cheats but there is a bug:
THE TUNNEL BUG
To do this first you need to start a new game with the settings
you want.
Then go to the bottom end of the map and click the
tunnel option, train
or road doesn't matter. Hold down shift
as you build it and if it gives
you a huge minus number try
to build it. The game gets confused and gives
you the price
of the tunnel.
For TTD there are several cheat add-ons:
TTDAlter is a program that lets you alter several parameters
of TTD, like the
speed
of vehicles. It's available at http://www.owenrudge.net/TT/
TTDPatch contains several cheats, usually you set these by putting
up a sign with
a
specific text
Also, there are several savegame editors around. You can use
these to put certain
things
on the map, or to get rid of them.
Some tricks for building:
The way of avoiding high costs when building on sea is to put
many ship
depots in the water, all next to each other. Then
destroy them
all, and press F1. Change to raise terrain, unpause
and quickly
raise the land before the water floods into it.
When building railroads, building over farmed land costs A LOT.
However, if you first put a tree on the lot you want to build on,
and only then build the track, it costs considerably less.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.3] I'm fed up of the enemy; can I get rid of him/her?
Not really, you can possible bankrupt the enemy by getting all
the
subsidies and good runs. But this alone won't really bankrupt
the enemy.
A trick in TTD is to first get your enemy onto the verge of bankruptcy,
then when the option to buy shares come up, buy 75% and leave the
window open. Then leave the company to go bankrupt. Once they are
bankrupt sell the shares and make £'s!! Or get a game crash :-(.
In fact, the game usually crashes when you do this. The Patch 'fixes'
this, however, simply by preventing you from even trying it...
You can also simply buy 100% of the adversary company shares
and all their stations, vehicles and so on will become yours.
However, you may want to note down the stations and vehicles they
have first (especially if they're bad ones!). After buying the company
check the Finances dialog - you may have inherited a loan from them.
Or you could use the Patch to take over your adversary and do
really unpleasant things to his network before swapping back to
your own company again. E.g. remove one (1) tile from a rail line
so his trains won't be able to reach their destination any more.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.4] Any dirty tricks to keep the enemy at hand?
Tonnes, I'll go through the ones for different types of transport
TRAINS
This is not an obvious trick to do but it is always effective.
First
build a depot onto the back of the enemy station and buy
a train. Leave
the train in the depot until the enemy train
comes. Then force the train
to leave the station. It should
hit the other train and blow it up. That
is then the end of
that rail, and the AI will remove it soon after, but
any stations,
airports, docks in the nearby area will have their ratings
reduced
to 0%!
If the enemies' train stations have not yet been built then stopping
them
being built at all is a doddle! All you have to do is when
the enemy
places the two stations at the places then surround
them with diagonal
track so they cannot build bridges over it
or go round it!
Another way to stop the enemy from building tunnels and bridges
it to do
what Steven Lalewicz of the NG did:
"On a different topic....
A tip for making life harder for the AI, I discovered, is to
build long
diagonal train lines. If I had two points I wanted
to connect, I always
used to do a long horizontal and then vertical
rail line. For some reason
I thought the trains would not like
long diagonal ones. So I tried to see
if it did make any difference.
I then discovered something quite
interesting, your opponents
can't build bridges over them and have severe
problems connecting
two stations if they placed them either side of your
long diagonal
line (hee hee hee!)."
There is a problem with diagonal lines, as they can stop cities
from
growing. Use only in the countryside.
PLANES
Planes are another hard one to stop. There is no actual way to
get rid of
the enemy's planes, but there are some ways that
nearly always work.
1. Build your own airport next to theirs.
2. If you have an airport put on more regular services.
There are rumours that putting hills around airports will cause
more plane crashes, but, however realistic this may sound, this
is NOT true.
AUTOMOBILES
In TTO you can build a rail over the road and destroy it. The
computer is
too thick to build a new piece of road. Their vehicles
will then run at a
loss. If there is a depot nearby they will
be removed in a year of so. If
not, they will wander aimlessly
until the end of the game!
Another great cheat is in TTD, build a short train line over
the road
and stick a depot on the track. Buy a train, the cheapest.
So there is a
use for them after all! Send that train over the
crossing so the lights
turn on and stop it. And their trucks
stay there forever! Or you could let the train run to and fro endlessly
and one by one it'll kill off all the passing trucks.
Also, you could build a more efficient road and connect it to
the
existing one which shouldn't be too difficult given the
state of some of
the AI's roads! The trucks then follow it,
and what you then do is
demolish both ends (entrances) of that
new road, and trap their vehicles.
BOATS
This is a hard one to do, as it does not always work. Wait till
a boat
breaks down and is parked straight on, then try and build
a bridge over
it, sometimes it will work, sometimes it will
be refused. Hard to do.
Or, you could just simply block it in its current position by
building a couple depots around it! (You could also put up walls
of land around it, but it'll cost much more...)
-$=$=$-
[2.1.5] What is a subsidy?
A subsidy is when the town council offers you a bonus rate for
providing
a transport service that they want. For example, if
the town wants a
passenger service from that town to a neighbouring
town, they will
advertise in the paper. What you then do, is
if you provide that service
within 1 year, all fares will be
multiplied by a certain factor set in
the difficulty settings
at the start of the game. E.g. a £10,000 delivery
before subsidy
would equal £40,000 on a x4 subsidy.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.6] Is there a world editor?
Yes there is. It comes with TTD, and there is also a separate
one
available.
There is also the add-on for TTO. This contains a world editor
too.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.7] My vehicles keep getting jammed, how can I stop this?
This problem can happen any time, but less often if you use the
Patch and have switched on road vehicle queueing. These jams are
caused by a design bug in the road vehicle movement code: a vehicle
exiting a station can overlap another vehicle, and then they block
one another.
In TTD, you can press the reverse buttons on the vehicles, or
try sending them to depots, and sometimes (not always) the congestion
frees. If you don't do anything, the congestion will sort itself
out by itself eventually (after 20 days or so of gametime), but
you'll loose a lot of money while waiting.
In TTO, you can only
wait...but I have been told you can press skip.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.8] Trains constantly go back to the depot when I play TTD
with the
Patch. What's going on?
You're using a totally outdated version of the Patch. Download
the newest from http://www.ttdpatch.net.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.9] How are Station ratings calculated?
The
AI gets much more than I do! Why?
We recently had a debate on this, and Josef Drexler, our resident
expert,
reliably informs us with a very long answer!...
"Rating out of 255[1] =
-90 (base value)
+ LastVisitRating
+ CargoRating
+ SpeedRating
+ AgeRating
+ StatueRating
+ ComputerRating
In Percent: Rating / 255 * 100%
This gives the maximum value attainable, the actual rating will
grow or
decay to that value in a certain amount of time.
Maximum: 271.5, or 106% for people
334.5, or 131% for highly intelligent (yeah, right!) computers
LastVisitRating: (Ships four times longer)
130 < 3 units
[2]
95 < 6 units
50 < 12 units
25 < 21 units
0 >=21 units
Total Value: 130 (51%)
CargoRating:
130 < 100 units [3]
120 < 300 units
100 < 600 units
90 < 1000 units
55 < 1500 units
0 >=1500 units
Total Value: 130 (51%)
SpeedRating:
LastSpeed [4] - 85km/h)/4 (Note: km/h not mph)
Total Value: 42.5 (17%)
AgeRating:
33 < 1 year[5]
20 < 2 years
10 <
3 years
0 >=3 years
Total Value: 33 (13%)
StatueRating:
26 if Statue in city
Total Value: 26 (10%)
ComputerRating: [only for computer players]
63 high intelligence
31 medium intelligence
0 low intelligence
Total Value: 63
(25%)
[1] That's how they are calculated internally
[2] One unit is 2.5 days
[3] Units are passengers, bags, tons or 100 litres. If you use
TTDPatch (version
above 1.9.1 alpha
3), that last item is changed to 1000 liters.
[4] Or 255km/h, whichever is lower
[5] Age: current year - year built (changes Jan 1) of the last
carriage
with that particular type of
cargo
The AI gets higher ratings usually, as it has the extra addition,
as is
mentioned earlier.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.10] Is there any way to change the screen resolution in
TTD?
No.
I think the reason is, TTD is really not a Windows program,
but only has a sort of shell around it that interfaces with Windows.
Inside, it's not a Windows program at all. Therefor you cannot do
Windows-things with it, like changing screen resolution.
In
fact, everything in the game is hard-coded to act on a 640x480 screen
resolution, and even if you managed to raise it, you would
have to
change a bazillion places around to make any use of
the new resolution.
If it even is possible.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.11] Can I take screenshots in TTO or TTD?
In TTO, you'll have to use an outside program. But in TTD, in
the
question mark menu, there is an option to take a screenshot,
or a giant
screenshot. The latter takes up lots of space though.
And make sure, if you play under plain DOS, to fire up a write-back
disk cache program (like Smartdrv) first, or your giant screenshot
will takes ages.
The file is stored in your game directory as
a PCX.
In TTD, there is a bug with the screenshot procedure, so a normal
screenshot doesn't do anything at all and a giant screenshot produces
an all black picture.
TTDpatch tries to address this issue,
but that doesn't work in all cases.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.12] I can't get the sound to work. Why?
A frequent complaint when playing Transport Tycoon or Transport
Tycoon
DeLuxe under Windows95 or Windows98 is that there is
a problem with the
sound, most often that sound effects don't
work.
There are four common problems, two with the Windows-version
of the game, and two for the DOS-version.
If you have the Windows-version,
try:
1 - The install program doesn't do its job properly and
writes the game
location in long filename
notation into the registry, whereas it
should
be using short filename notation. The Patch solves this.
2 -
Under Win2K and WinXP, there are often pauses when the music changes
from one track to another, due to the DirectMusic
system used. There's
a patch available,
but it's still in development stages.
If you experience trouble
with the DOS-version, try:
3 - For those that use a Soundblaster
Live! card: Go to Start -> Settings ->
Configuration
Panel -> System -> Device Management. Find the entry
Creative
Miscellaneous Devices and click on the + in front of it. Now
doublecli
ck Creative SB16 Emulation, go to the tab Settings and make
sure Allow LPT Interrupt Sharing is ON.
If not, check it and reboot.
Continue
with the next item.
4 - If you're using the DOS version of TTD,
the sound settings in Windows, those
set
by AUTOEXEC.BAT and those set by Transport Tycoon's INSTALL.EXE
must
be the same. In addition, TT only
appears to work with certain sound
settings.
The fussy figures are those for input / output range, IRQ
and
primary DMA.
The first thing to do is to check your
Windows settings. From "My
Computer"
open the Control Panel, select System and then Device Manager.
Scroll down to Sound, Video and Game Controllers,
where your sound card
should have an
entry, hopefully a SoundBlaster emulation. Click on
Properties,
and then Resources in the new pop up box. Look at the
settings
for the Interrupt Request, Direct Memory Access (if there's
more than one, the first figure), and Input/Output
Range (the first
figure). If these are
set at IRQ5, A220, DMA1, you have a standard set
up,
and you should have no problems. It might be an idea to uncheck
the
"Use automatic Settings"
box and enter the values manually to ensure
Windows
can't change them. If you have other figures, your first step
should be to see if standard settings can
be acce
pted.
Uncheck the "Use Automatic Settings"
Box, and enter the values above
manually.
Check the "Conflicting Device List". If this
shows no
conflicts, skip the next paragraph.
If the address of A220 has a conflict,
the best idea will be to force
the device
using it to use another value. The procedure is much the
same, but if you need help, just ask. If
IRQ5 has a conflict, try
IRQ10, which
is known to work correctly with TT. IRQ7 also works for
TT, but is almost always allocated to LPT1
(your printer port). IRQ2,
although
listed as an option for TT, does not appear to work. If DMA1
has a conflict, try DMA3.
Make a note of the Windows settings you
have settled on. Using your
favourite
text editor (Notepad or EDIT.COM, for example), call up your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, found in the root directory
of C:. This should have
a line
such as:
SET BLASTER=A220
I10 D1 H5 P300 E620 T6
The first three figures are the important
ones. Make sure the figure
following
A is the primary address set in Windows (hopefully 220), I is
the IRQ and D the DMA. If they are different,
edit the file to make them
agree with
the settings you have just forced in Windows.
It
is a good idea to edit your AUTOEXEC.DOS file to make it agree too,
although this will only affect working in
MS-DOS mode.
Save all files, close all windows and
reboot. Now start the TT
INSTALL.EXE,
and enter the same values as you have put in Windows System
and AUTOEXEC.BAT. All being well,
you can now enjoy Transport Tycoon
in
all its noisy glory!
If despite all this you still fail, you
can try setting the Transport
Tycoon
sound with TRANSTYC.EXE, an alternative sound configuration
utility to INSTALL.EXE, downloadable as
http://www.btinternet.com/~lfdreams/tycoon/ttyc_snd.zip
Good luck, and enjoy the game.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.13] Whatever happened to Transport World?
Who knows! We all suspected from the beginning anyway that there
was
something fundamentally wrong in its creation. But never
fear, as there
are other TT sequels in development. Ask on the
NG if you are interested,
and someone will reel off a nice list
of links for you to peruse at your
leisure.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.14] What exactly is the Performance Rating?
This explanation is from Josef Drexler:
"It's a series of conditions you must meet, with each condition
giving a
certain number of points out of the 1000 possible points:
Max.points | requirement
-----------+----------------------------------------
400 | 40,000 units of
cargo delivered in the last four quarters
100
| 120 vehicles
100
| 80 station parts, each bus stop, station, etc.
counts extra
100 |
10,000[+] minimum profit of all vehicles at least 2 years old
100 | 100,000 maximum
quarterly operating profit in last 3 years
50
| 50,000 minimum quarterly operating profit in
last 3 years
|
(i.e. the quarter with the *least* profit must be > 50,000)
50 | 8 different
types of cargo delivered in last quarter
50
| 10 million cash
50
| <250,000 loan (ie. zero loan=50 pts, 250k
loan=0 pts)
-----------+----------------------------------------
1000 |
[+] All money values are given in/have to be converted to British
Pounds
If you only have, say, half of the requirement, you'll only get
half of
the points, it's roughly proportional (except for the
rounding). If you
have a negative value, you get zero points.
So, you work out what you
have and add all points you get, and
that's your performance rating."
-$=$=$-
[2.15] So how can I increase my rating then?
(again from Josef Drexler)
"To improve your rating, you could
- deliver more
cargo, 10,000 units a quarter will do
- buy more trains/planes/ships/busses/trucks,
you need 120
- build more station parts, not necessarily
new stations, you need 80
- make sure all two year old
trains make a profit of at least 10,000,
or
cheat and replace the ones that don't, so that they're not two
years old anymore.
- have one quarter
where you have at least 100,000 operating profit
- have
no quarters with less than 50,000 operating profit. It may take
three whole years for you to be able to meet this!
- deliver all types of cargo, not just coal or passengers,
but at least
eight different ones, with any
type of transport, from anywhere to
anywhere,
just transport it. I don't know if a forced unload counts,
though.
- have 10 million
cash (that should be easy :)
- have no loan (also
easy)"
-$=$=$-
[2.1.16] Can I run Transport Tycoon Deluxe under Windows 2000
or XP?
No, is the short answer.
But fortunately, with the Patch
you can get the *Windows* version of Transport Tycoon Deluxe (NOT
the DOS version, and NOT the original Transport Tycoon) to run under
Win2000 or WinXP.
The DOS version (I repeat this since very
few people seem to understand this first hand) will NOT, I repeat
NOT, run under Win2000 or WinXP. And no, neither will TTO, in any
version. Not even if you try VMWare. It's been tried, and failed,
because VMWare doesn't include VESA support, which the game needs.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.17] So, thanks to the Patch, Transport Tycoon Deluxe runs
under Windows 2000/XP, but only windowed!
Update your version of the patch to any version higher than 1.9.1
alpha 30, and it'll work as a breeze. If you don't have that version,
or if you're a little wary of alpha versions, and rather wait for
the definitive version 1.9.1, you can try any of the solutions below:
In WinXP, make a shortcut to Ttdpatchw.exe. Rightclick on it,
and in the Properties dialog, select Windows 95 Compatibility Mode.
Now you can get the game to run full screen. Unfortunately, this
doesn't work on all machines, nobody really knows why.
Win2K doesn't normally have the compatibility mode tab. There
is an alternative way of getting compatibility mode in Win2K, by
using apcompat.exe. Make a shortcut to ttdpatchw.exe and edit it
in this way:
C:\WINNT\system32\APCOMPAT.EXE -v 5 -x"C:\Games\TTD\TTDLX\ttdpatchw.exe"
Of course, you have to adapt the paths to apcompat.exe and ttdpatchw.exe
to reflect the situation on your system. DONOT forget the ""
and copy the spaces (and not-spaces) EXACTLY as given!
Also, set the option "Start in" to
C:\games\TTD\TTDLX\
(or whatever the correct path to your game folder is) and set
it to run in a normal window. (Sounds daft but works).
An interesting point is that it doesn't seem to make any difference
whether you have the compatibility mode set or not, as having apcompat
in the path overrides it anyway. Thus, it's probably best if you
leave it unset, or at least try both settings if it doesn't work
at first.
-$=$=$-
[2.1.18] When I play Transport Tycoon Deluxe under Windows 2000/XP,
every couple of
minutes
or so the game freezes for some seconds.
That's a known problem
with the MIDI music on Windows2000/XP. Get the DXMCI
files
from www.ttdpatch.net/src/ and put them in your TTD folder. Then
it should be fixed.
Another (easier) solution would be to turn
off the music. (Remember to
use the 'stop' button, not just
turn it down.)
-$=$=$-
[2.1.19] Can I get Transport Tycoon Deluxe in my own language?
Out of the box, TTD only speaks four languages: English, German,
French and Spanish. However, if you go to http://www.csucsposta.hu/csaboka/ttdtrans.htm, you
will find:
a) a program called TTD Translator (created by Varga
Csaba), that lets you
create a localized version
of the game yourself
b) many examples of localized versions
in many languages that you can download
and
install right away. Currently available languages include Hungarian,
Polish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, 'corrected
French' and two Dutch
versions (one by me).
-$=$=$-
[2.2] Online Games
[2.2.1] Can I play TTO Multiplayer?
Yes, you may play TTO via null-modem serial link (2 players).
The World Editor allows you to play via modem.
If you are playing the DOS version, a DOS IPX driver is required.
I don't think it's needed for serial or modem play.
-$=$=$-
[2.2.2] Can I play TTD Multiplayer?
Yes, you may play via null-modem, modem, IPX or TCP/IP network.
For IPX, you may use either Novell IPX with LSL or Windows 95
IPX
compatible protocol.
For TCP/IP, a standard Windows driver will do. However, it is
rather
unstable. It must be said though, that TCP/IP games are
only available
with the Windows version of the game that comes
with the Tycoon
Collection.
Note that if you're using the Patch, not all options / features
of the Patch work. Notably the options that require you to use the
CTRL-key won't work in multi-player mode.
-$=$=$-
[2.2.3] What about Online games?
We don't believe you can play multiplayer games over the net
with TTD,
however, there was talk of a TCP/IP protocol emulator
called Kali that
uses the IPX protocol to simulate a TCP/IP
one. Whether it works or not,
we don't know. To get Kali we
believe you have to pay.
The Win95 version of TTD claims to also do TCP/IP. Since it uses
DirectPlay, it should work. The only problem is that it can crash
at any
time if a network error makes the computers not be in
sync.
If you set up a VPN connection (Win2k and WinXP Professional)
it's pretty
easy to start a network game, and it seems to be
stable enough.
-$=$=$-
[2.2.4] TTD Multiplayer hangs over an IPX connection?
I suppose this is due to a game synchronization problem.
When this happens, both computers hang at the same time.
To limit data loss, you should use frequent AutoSave.
-$=$=$-
[2.3] TT and the local authority
[2.3.1] Who are the local authority?
The local authority are those that run and expand the city. They
have
their own opinions, and can make your stay a hard time!
-$=$=$-
[2.3.2] What is the 'influence boundary'?
The influence boundary is the radius from the city in which activities
such as add campaigns, and exclusive transport rights will operate.
If the station is not in the authority that you are advertising
or buying exclusive rights in,
then the station will not be
affected.
It is not possible to figure out the exact places
of these boundaries, except for the planting / removing trees issue
discussed in [2.3.5].
For more details, see <http://joesbox.cjb.net/lists/ttdpatch/200211/msg00124.html>
and the follow-ups, especially <http://joesbox.cjb.net/lists/ttdpatch/200211/msg00142.html>.
-$=$=$-
[2.3.3] Why do they stop me from building?
Town councils or local authorities may stop you from building
when your
ratings inside the city council local authority window
go on or below
Poor. They stop you, basically because they are
biased. If you have a
low rating, they think that any new stations
will also have the same.
They will refuse to let you build.
If your rating is Mediocre or lower, the council will also refuse
you the right to blow up things.
-$=$=$-
[2.3.4] What are all these options inside the local authority
window?
There are many options in the local authority window. All of
them affect
gameplay one way or another: -
Small Ad campaign - Increases ratings of all stations under the
local
authority influence radius with about 20%
Medium Ad campaign - Increases ratings of all stations under
the local
authority influence radius with about 40%
Large Ad campaign - Increases ratings of all stations under the
local
authority influence radius with about 60%
Fund local road reconstruction - Bad for you and bad for AI.
All roads in
the city get bulldozed and replaced. During this
time, the road is
blocked. This is bad for you when you have
vehicles in a city, but good
for you when the AI has vehicles
in a city because all his vehicles will
be stranded for six
months and his ratings will suffer accordingly.
Build statue of company owner - Not only increases your ego,
but adds 10%
to the ratings of all stations in the town. So
there is some use for it
after all.
Fund new buildings - Encourages the town to expand by building
any type
of building. The town council will usually use the
money to improve roads, but if you use this option a short time
after again, it will start building commercial buildings; sometimes
it will build residential buildings too.
Buy exclusive transport rights - Gives you the sole rights to
transport
material, and leaves the computer stranded, for one
year. It also
increases you ratings to 100% temporarily. Note,
this will only work for
stations inside the influence boundary.
It's very expensive too!
-$=$=$-
[2.3.5] Can I improve my ratings in the town?
The only regular way is to plant as many trees as possible within
the influence area. This will often be enough.
You can find
out where the boundary of the town's influence is with the query
tool: click on a tile and the tool will tell you which city it belongs
to.
If planting trees doesn't work (enough), hard luck. You'll
have to try and use existing stations.
But there is another option: if you use the Patch, you can use
the option to bribe the local authority (it's with the other options
named in the paragraph above). It costs a ridiculous sum of money,
AND you run the risk of getting caught, but it WILL get your ratings
up.
-$=$=$-
[2.3.6] Can I make my town grow?
Yes. One way to make it easily grow is to fund new buildings.
The other
ways which take longer include:
Setting up a decent passenger service between two towns, or more.
This
should increase population massively.
Transporting goods to towns: Although not mentioned, this does
have an
indirect link in increasing population.
In the arctic landscape, towns above the snow line also need
food to grow. In the desert landscape, towns in the desert need
water, and in the toyland landscape, all towns need sweets to grow.
Steve did an experiment once, he was trying to find out what
makes towns grow most. You can read about his findings at:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_umsgid=sjjjqu4snr4ook1qpc8m9k063ihcthdaf8%404ax.com
-$=$=$-
[2.4] Competitions
[2.4.1] How does a TTD competition work?
A competition is when a group of people get together, and all
play the
same game of TT, usually a scenario, and all use the
same rules. One
person or a group of people act as the hosts,
and they host the site on
which league tables, and saved games
may be downloaded. The winner is the
one with the highest, or
a combination of the highest, factors that were
decided at the
start of the competition. There used to be regular competitions
on several websites and even on this group, but I haven't spotted
any recently.
-$=$=$-
[2.4.2] I would like to start a competition on this newsgroup.
I need
advice.
It is always best to check if there has only been one recently
on this
newsgroup. If there has, then post about one, mentioning
that you will
not host it for a while, so that you ensure that
no one else can take
your idea. If there hasn't then the process
begins:-
- Make sure you have a decent web site hoster. 15mb should be
suffice.
And it'll help if you try to keep the address
short.
- Post on the group saying you are going to host a competition.
- Watch reaction. If negative, then leave it. If positive, carry
on.
- Create a scenario yourself, or get someone else to make
one. This
person would then become the co-hoster,
as they made it.
- Create preliminary rules and post here. Watch
debate ensue, and take
down rules.
- Decide
on whether to moderate the competition. Do people have to send
their saved games to you for checking?
- Post a
final set of rules.
- Post again, asking for all those interested
to confirm.
- Once a satisfactory number of confirmations are
in, post the scenario
on your web site, as well
as the rules.
- Announce the competition open.
Please try and keep your web site updated. People don't like
it if there is a week delay in updating the league table ;-)
-$=$=$-
[2.5] Add-ons and sequels
[2.5.1] Are they any add-ons for TTO / TTD?
An add-on for TTO, is the world editor. This is difficult to
get your
hands on... You could try www.jungle.com/. Typically,
it is called tt_addon.zip or something like that.
TTD does not have any official add-ons, but it does have a number
of patches available for it. The Patch that is mentioned in several
places in this FAQ is, however, by far the best, most comprehensive
and the only one you need to be aware of. Get it, and I do mean
GET IT, at http://www.ttdpatch.net/. Be sure to read the documentation
that goes with it.
Summer of 2004, an official sequel is released called Locomotion.
At this point of time, it's too early to say if it's any good.
-$=$=$-
[2.5.2] Are there any sequels to TTD in development?
For some time, a 3D TT was being developed. We frequently discussed
3DTT on the NG, with us having one of the creators, Peter Dobrovka,
present. However, he and his software company split up, and a nasty
divorce it was.
A transport simulation freeware game is also in development.
SimuTrans is
discussed on AGMTT, and we also have the author
of SimuTrans with us too.
This is still very much in development,
although it can already be played, and quite enjoyable too. However,
the developer would be the first to say it's far from completion.
For more info, screenshots and downloading is available at http://www.simutrans.de/.
Some TT enthousiasts are working on an open source version of
Transport Tycoon.
-$=$=$-
[2.5.3] Can't I get some other vehicles, in stead of what the
standard game's got on offer?
Yes, but only if you use TTDpatch (from http://www.ttdpatch.net),
and even then, it's still under development.
You'll have to
download the latest alpha version of the Patch (at http://www.ttdpatch.net/src,
filename latest.zip for TTDD or latestw.zip for TTDW); also you
need some new graphics files, which are partly available at the
same address, partly at Michael Blunck's site, http://www.patagonia.de.vu/ttd.
In other words, you'll have to hassle around a bit, but it'll provide
you with some stunning new vehicles, mostly designed by Michael
Blunck.
Michael is still working on more (as are some other
people) but at the moment you can already enjoy beautiful new ships
(which make using ships much more useful too, by the way), two complete
new train sets (one specificalle designed for arctic climates, and
one general set), and a collection of road vehicles.
-$=$=$-
[2.5.4] Any other similar games?
Don't forget Traffic Giant, aka Verkehrsgigant:
http://www.trafficgiant.com
or (for German speakers):
http://www.verkehrsgigant.de
A newer version of this game is Transport Giant
http://www.transportgiant.com
or even Mobility...
http://www.mobility-online.de/
and the different versions of Railroad Tycoon
http://www.railroadtycoon2.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[3] Resources
There are several websites with links, sounds, screenshots, scenarios,
patches, competitions, strategy guides, halls of fame, and all that
sort of things. Too many to mention, actually, so do a google search.
I'ld just like to mention a few though, since they are maintained
by AGMTT regulars, and their work is discussed regularly on the
newsgroup:
Most importantly, the site of the Patch (you MUST download this):
http://www.ttdpatch.net
(Additional material for the patch can be found at Michael Blunck's
site:)
http://www.patagonia.de.vu/ttd
If you need any information on the Patch, look at the guide resources
at http://wiki.ttdpatch.net
Owen Rudge's site, which includes several excellent add-ons (notably
the Transport Tycoon Savegame Manager and TTDAlter):
http://www.owenrudge.net/TT/
Another site that's full of saved games, scenarios and utilities
is The Ultimate Transport Tycoon Game Repository, and can be found
at:
http://www.gamearchive.uk.tt
This also allows you to rate and comment on games, and has a set
of forums.
More forums can be found on TT on
http://www.tt-forums.net/.
More websites:
- The Transport Tycoon Semi-FAQ
http://i-want-a-website.com/about-tt/
- Oliver Keating's pages
http://www.o-keating.com/ttd/
- Owen's Transport Tycoon Station
http://www.owenrudge.net/TT/
- Adam's TT Depository (will be integrated into Owen's site soon)
http://www.owenrudge.net/TT/adam/
- Cecilie Irgens' pages:
http://home.c2i.net/cecilieTT/ttrigt.htm#topint
What used to be this newsgroup's official site, http://www.ttworld.cjb.net,
is not the official site anymore. It still exists though, but chances
are that you won't be able to find it, due to some weird referral
behaviour. Some browsers won't let you view the site, some will.
So try it, though what's on it, I don't know (my browser falls in
the former group).
If you're into chatting, you can get help or just conversation
about TT on the channel #tycoon on irc.QuakeNet.org (http://www.quakenet.org/).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[4] Misc.
[4.1] Credits
Paul Wright -
for the original FAQ draft, Oct 1999
Eddie Bernard -
for the versions after that, up until 2001
Jan Willem van Dormolen
- for this version
Credit must also go to the regular members of AGMTT, who will
have
contributed in some form or another.
-$=$=$-
[4.2] Copyright
Jan Willem van Dormolen, Paul Wright, Eddie Bernard and AGMTT
Copyright © 1999-2001 [TTO, TTD and Microprose]. All rights
reserved.
This FAQ may be posted to any newsgroup, FTP or web site, as
long as it
is posted unaltered and in its entirety.
This FAQ may not be distributed for financial gain [unless you
wanna pay
me!!!]
-$=$=$-
[4.3] Comments
FAQ corrections, additions, comments etc are all welcome. Please
post
them to the newsgroup where I can receive and review them,
or they
can be e-mailed direct to me at...
jw.van.dormolen@hccnet.nl
.. and your complaint will be dealt with quickly ;-)
/End of FAQ
|
