OpenTTD saved games: 200808

Saved games for 200808 (~r13734 of OpenTTD).

The August 2008 game is a 512x256 tropical map. I want to play a standard cargo game, this time, but with the NewGRFs for fancy stations and more realistic trains. So I've used these GRFs from #openttdcoop's GRF pack version 7.1:

openttd.cfg (#openttdcoop's version 7.1 graphics pack):
ottdc_grfpack/7_stations/basic_platforms/basic_platformsw.grf
ottdc_grfpack/7_stations/indstatr/indstatrw.grf
ottdc_grfpack/7_stations/newstats/newstatsw.grf
ottdc_grfpack/8_vehicles/trains_wagons/pb_nars/pb_nars.grf
ottdc_grfpack/8_vehicles/trams/generictrams/generictrams_v0.4.grf
ottdc_grfpack/8_vehicles/trains_wagons/usset/ussetw.grf
ottdc_grfpack/8_vehicles/ships/newships/newshipsw.grf

I started with the HQ building and a network plan in one corner (signed "!Plan" in #openttdcoop style). The plan calls for a north-to-west main line with sidelines branching off, a factory at one end of the ML, food plant at the other end, and a diamond drop in the middle (near a bank). A goods drop in the east corner and a food/water drop in the south complete the plan.

I soon found that my money-maker plan, diamond service, didn't make much money very fast. Even after adding a random fruit line, money was slow to come in. Eventually, I finished building the LL-RR mainline (two tracks each way) and four single-track (one each way) sidelines. The diamond, goods, and food/water drops will be on sidelines.

The diamond drop was finished very early, and in G.Y. (Game Year) 1995 I had the factory and food plant drops/pickups done, too. The food drop in the south started receiving service (and a small passenger tram line) right away, from the MM food line. That's when I found that only "towns" are allowed to have water towers. I quickly made that drop food-only and built a water drop at a nearby water tower. That's where things stand in GY1995, as I write this.

Between GY1995 and GY2021, the network was grown to include most of the industries, and even a couple of tram lines. I have decorated most of the stations ("eye-candied", so that instead of the standard stations you get cranes and various buildings, some of which actually move, and even track-end buffers) and there is a ship at a dock next to the factory, complete with canal and harbor. "Eye-candying" is the OpenTTD equivalent of model railroad "scenicking", and much easier! There are a couple of fake classification yards, too, one near the factory and one near a fruit plantation somewhere. There are two because the first one I did was on the brown "desert" tiles, and the yard tiles are designed for the green "temperate" tiles. The yard looks fine on green tiles, but ugly on the brown ones.

In GY2020 I decided that since most trains run at 128mph in this game (except the copper ore trains, which are slower), having the food and goods trains run faster is bad because they keep slowing down behind a 128mph train. When they slow down, they drop well below 128mph. So I spent GY2020 in replacing those trains with boxcar and reefer versions (instead of the container trains) which are speed-limited to 128mph.

I also replaced the X crossovers at the food drop because they are not necessary; the input is a single line that gets split. Crossing the two split lines again is redundant.

Somewhere around GY 2024 the goods drop suddenly stopped accepting goods. The whole town refused any goods. I built a second goods drop near Bruway, and redirected all goods trains there. Due to "surge" (i.e. all the trains bunching together instead of being spread over the route), I later made the drop have only three active platforms. The first drop started accepting goods again, but I'm going to ignore it.

By game year 2029, there doesn't seem to be much scope for expansion, unless I start passenger routes. Which I have, as of 2031. There are two of them.

Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2