Simutrans Transport Simulator

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Simutrans Transport Simulator

Simutrans Pak 64 screenshot
Developer(s) Hansjörg Malthaner (initial, left in 2004)
Markus Pristovsek "Prissi" (current head of development)
Publisher(s) Simutrans Development Team
Distributor(s) Simutrans Development Team
License Artistic License
Version Latest: 0.99.17.1 (All Operating Systems except Intel Mac)

Stable: 0.99.17.1 (All Operating Systems except Intel Mac and Pak 128 users)
Platform(s) BeOS, Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
Release date 6 March 1999
Genre(s) Business simulation game
Mode(s) Single Player
Media Digital Download
System requirements SDL (Linux), Allegro (BeOS)
Input methods Keyboard and Mouse

Simutrans Transport Simulator (short: Simutrans) is a Open Source simulation game for Windows, BeOS, Mac OS X and Linux that focuses on the transporting 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 bug fixes, changes or new features are frequent.

Contents

[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, tramways, trains (in a few variations), trucks, ships, aeroplanes and more recently monorail). Creation of power grid networks is also supported. Up to 6 computer AI controlled players are also supported, distinguished by colour scheme(s).

Underground mode is supported in the latest versions, making it possible to build a complete underground rail system in large cities. Some transport modes can be combined, e.g. tram tracks may run on roads.

Simutrans is multilingual, and includes the option of darkened night times complete with city lights and vehicle headlights. Recent versions include a beginner mode, 14 additional primary colours and new secondary colours, and a freeplay command-line option to allow debt without bankruptcy. Seasons and different climates are also supported.

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 Hendrik Siegeln, or more recently the contribution of rendered ground tiles and the climate system by Kierongreen). Currently the Simutrans codebase is maintained by Markus Pristovsek "Prissi", 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, meaning 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 are currently Pak 32, Pak 64, Pak 96, Pak 128, Pak Abo, Pak German, Pak HD, Pak Japan, Pak Mars and Pak SC.

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

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Unlike Transport Tycoon and Locomotion, in Simutrans passengers, mail and other goods have a specific destination. This introduces a higher level of complexity to gameplay, since success is no longer a matter of providing simply enough capacity overall, but the right amount of capacity on individual routes.

The pathfinding algorithm in Simutrans is not typical in PC traffic simulation. Traffic Giant is among the only traffic simulation game which contains a pathfinding system as elaborate as that in Simutrans. (However, newer versions of OpenTTD are using a similar A* pathfinder, which is also dynamic.) Traffic Giant uses precomputed pathfinding, whereas Simutrans has a dynamic pathfinding system which can adapt itself to changes in route occurring once a vehicle is already en route. The station hub concept can be utilised very easily, and complex integrated networks involving many routes and modes of transport can be built, as passenger behaviour is very predictable.

Cargo routing tries to find the shortest possible route, not the one with the highest capacity, or even distributed by cargo carrier vehicle, which is the least realistic part.

Mail is also a good to transport. Very little mail is produced, so transporting mail only makes sense between many mail offices in large towns with very few vehicles.

Waypoints can be used to force a specific route rather than accepting the default (which is the shortest route).

Building transportation infrastructure is generally accomplished by just two clicks: one for the start and one for the target. The game automatically fills in the route with the desired mode of transport, and it usually correctly calculates the optimal shortest route. Traffic congestion control is possible, e.g. one-way roads and high-capacity roads (highways). Traffic signals, ranging from simple right-of-way all the way to light signals, can also be used.

Slopes are available, to gain space inside big crowded cities. They can be used for elevated ways, or to make extra space on hills.

Bridges cannot currently be curved — only straight bridges may be built — but combinations of bridges over and under are easy to implement. Slopes and bridges can also be very flexibly combined. The player can create elevated transport ways. By default these only exist for monorail.

Tunnels can be built either as straight lines or as complex networks, so complete subterranean transport networks can be modelled. This can be done with both road tunnels and rail tunnels. It is not yet possible to have slopes within tunnels, however, making replicating complex junctions difficult.

Although Simutrans puts a sophisticated set of rail signals at the user's disposal, there is no provision for trains to automatically overtake one another, when running fast and slow trains on the same route. In Simutrans, trains take the shortest route unless explicitly specified otherwise - this contrasts with other games where trains will automatically make use of parallel lines of railway, where provided, to overtake one another.

Simutrans makes it possible to have a great many vehicles, large towns and an expansive map area. The highly optimised game engine copes well with large complex networks.

The depth of simulation in Simutrans means many people familiar with Transport Tycoon find themselves overwhelmed with the initial gameplay, since it is far easier to 'go wrong' in Simutrans in the early game.

[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 then 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.

[edit] Additional mods

Addons include:

[edit] Related games

[edit] External links