Simutrans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Simutrans is a freeware (but not open source) simulation game for Windows, BeOS, Mac OS X (Intel Macs only) or Linux that focuses on the transport of goods, people, mail and power. It was originally written by Hansjörg Malthaner, and is now maintained and developed by a small team. New releases (for features and bugfixes) are frequent.
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[edit] Overview and features
Like many similar games such as Transport Tycoon or Railroad Tycoon, the main goal of Simutrans is to create a stable economy, as well as making a company grow and avoid bankruptcy.
Simutrans features the ability to modify the terrain, build roads and rails, build various kinds of transportation stops, terminals and vehicles (including buses, trains, trucks, ships, and more recently aeroplanes). Creation of power grid networks is also supported. Up to 6 computer AI controlled players are also supported, distinguished by colour scheme(s).
Simutrans is multilingual, and includes the option of darkened nighttimes complete with city lights and vehicle headlights. Recent versions include a beginner mode and there is a freeplay command-line option to allow debt without bankruptcy.
Simutrans is compiled by default for Windows, Linux and BeOS. There is also a version available for Intel-based Mac, though this is compiled separately. Simutrans can make use of several graphics libraries, including GDI (Windows version), SDL (All versions) and Allegro (currently used with the BeOS version). It is in theory portable to any little endian processor architecture.
[edit] Production Team
Simutrans was originally created by Hansjörg Malthaner, who has since retired from active development. Over the course of its history many different people have contributed to the code, often these contributions take the form of "one-off" additions to the code (such as the addition of Airplanes by Hsiegeln, or more recently the contribution of rendered ground tiles and the climate system by Kierongreen). Currently the Simutrans codebase is maintained by Markus "Prissi" Pristovsek, who heads the development team.
Numerous artists have contributed sprites for buildings, vehicles and all the other graphics which go into the game. It is easy for newcomers to get involved in production and development thanks to the easy-to-use object creation system, creating a new vehicle or other object is as simple as producing a set of images and a short text file. The list of contributors to Simutrans probably extends into hundreds.
[edit] Graphics Sets
Simutrans is designed in such a way that the game engine is separated from the graphics displayed, this means that it is possible to easily replace all the graphics in the game if need be. This has led to the development of multiple sprite sets (known as "scenarios" or "pak sets"), maintained by various developers. The standard graphics set is known as pak64, and is the most common set seen in screenshots. This was the original graphics set and has changed much since earlier Simutrans versions. Pak128 has been developed to create a more detailed set of images that are twice the size of the standard pak64 images. There are also other sets based on the pak64 and pak128 image sets. More recently the 96x96px size has been used in the development of a Hand Drawn graphics set, known as pakHD.
There has also been a port of graphics from Transport Tycoon to create a set for use in Simutrans, this project is known as SimuTTD.
[edit] Comparison with other transportation simulation games
Unlike Transport Tycoon and Locomotion, in Simutrans passengers, mail and other goods have a specific destination.
The pathfinding algorithm in Simutrans is often recognized to be one of the best in any PC traffic simulation[citation needed], and is commonly regarded as better than that in some commercial products. Traffic Giant is among the only traffic simulation game which contains a similarly advanced pathfinding system as Simutrans. However, Traffic Giant uses precomputed pathfinding, while Simutrans has a dynamic pathfinding system which can adapt itself.
[edit] Modding
Simutrans is designed in such a way that adding new objects to the game is easy. Graphics are created as 24bit .png images, which are then compiled by the tool Makeobj to form .pak files. Information about the object (such as name, type, statistics etc.) is provided in the form of a .dat file conforming to certain specifications. Makeobj reads the .dat file and uses the entries to compile the finished object. This system means that only very rudimentary tools are required to create a new object, it can be done using a bitmap editor (capable of outputting .png files) and a text file editor.
Many objects in Simutrans are created using 3D modelling applications, such as Blender, the rendered images are compiled into objects in the same way as pixel-drawn ones.
Sounds may also be customized, it is possible to add a unique sound for each vehicle. It is also possible to add midi music to the game.
