Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe is a ported and improved version of a very old management game from several non-descript platforms. Unlike most such games there is a goal and that is to have the most of everything when the year 2050 has passed. The only way to lose is to file for bankruptcy, which can be quite hard indeed.
In order to start a business all one has to do is connect a route from something that produces materials, that can be refined into goods. Such as building a railway from a forest onto a sawmill.
Or transporting people between places, everything else is just variations on the formula. However, there is a lot more to it than that. Such as the ever-so-fun multiplayer mode.
Anyhow, I figured out some really fun ways to spice things up. Buying up land in front of someone establishes a railway. A bit costly but it will prevent that player from claiming a good spot.
Raising land under someone’s boat and watching the ensuing fireball.
But a really really devious one that is very hard to notice, is when someone has trucks going to and from a depot. Building the tiniest railway ever, it’s about six squares in total. The locomotive will go so fast, it fails to stop at the railroad crossing. Causing the car to get run through by a speeding train. Replacing the car with a pile of ash and a mushroom-like explosion. Even more satisfying when your friend fails to notice it.
All is not well in the garden though. The screen will quickly be overrun by panels and information. Not to mention the horrible scaling text and interface, which was made for a different time. In the options menu, the interface can be scaled a little, but it is still very annoying. The same goes for the blue text at the bottom.
Aside from that, there is also a fair share of accidents that can occur, such as fires, planes crashing and Xcom blowing up a ufo on your railroad. Trains also have the habit of colliding when more than one runs on the same track when the signals fail.
In Tycoon, trains can be used in exceedingly complicated and weird ways, due to the signals. Which is a meta-game all of its own. After all, at some point, there will be so much money in play that insane things can be built.
Drawing a line from A to B with a train running on is the icing on the cake. A town that litters the map for example has some personality and limits on what they accept being built. Naturally, there are a lot of ways to manipulate the town itself, such as setting up the commute. Transportation causes them to expand greatly.
Transport Tycoon graphics are made up of nice and clean isometric sprites. With several environmental themes to pick from, such as the candy land one. A real eyesore, but fun non the less. Meanwhile, the game music is composed of loud chip tunes. With a big variety of styles to pick from.
Not to mention the scenario editor that’s a vital part of the experience. There are many, many devious maps, but most of them try to recreate real-world locations. These can be downloaded directly from the various game menus, along with various AI and a bucket load of custom game settings. Which makes this a lovely cocktail for the grand price of free. Regardless of how fun I find Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe, it’s still a timesink.
Njål Sand is a Norwegian Cosplayer with opinions on video games, and a passionate for creating content on YouTube about living in Norway, and gaming!