Sometimes, it seems that the gaming industry has gotten too big - that it has gone too mainstream. The industry keeps focusing on more new, shiny, graphics, and big, explosive set-pieces rather than putting together a competent and, most importantly, fun game. I mean, have you tried the latest Jackpot Capital casino download - now that's greatness!
There's a reason that so many have a fondness for retro games, back in the days where the most advanced graphics were whatever could be crammed into sixteen bits. Games like the original Mario, which was so limited for space and budget, the developers had to cut corners wherever they could to support the core experience. Did you ever notice that the bushes in that game use the same sprite as the clouds, but colored green? Probably not.
So taking a look at the past, choosing the best parts of older games and making them run on modern computers can teach us a lot about the good, the bad, and the ugly of game design. One example of such an experience is OpenTTD, an attempt to bring the old to a newer audience, and succeeding.
History
Transport Tycoon was created and released in 1994 and published by a company called MicroProse- the same company that released the original X-Com and Civilization games. The gameplay involves building a vast transportation network between numerous towns, transporting everything from people to livestock to petrol. Planes, trains, and automobiles- there's a wide range of options based on real-world vehicles that are unlocked during the real years the vehicles were released.
Later on, an expanded version of the game was created called Transport Tycoon Deluxe, which added a level editor, modified train signals, and more environments, such as the Arctic (in which towns cannot grow without food, a significant gameplay difference). The game was discontinued, and the company MicroProse no longer exists.
In 2003, however, a programmer named Ludvig Strigeus decided to reverse engineer the game. The new version, called OpenTTD, was released in 2004 and is still being updated as of today, in 2019. In 2007, a community effort created over seven thousand new visuals, sound, and music assets, allowing players for the first time to play OpenTTD entirely independently from the original TTD.
Gameplay
Do you know what's fascinating about the whole event? The gameplay hardly changed despite fifteen years of development. It’s still the same core experience in spite of all modern trends. No loot boxes, battle-royal modes, microtransactions, or absurd graphical requirements. The game is built around a solid core that comes above all else. It's merely an entertaining experience that still holds up today.
In terms of gameplay, the game is easy to learn but hard to master (the best kind of games). You send trains with the correct cars from the location that produces a product to the place that accepts it. Or… you could build an intricate network that supports multiple trains, transition points, and vehicles that passes along seven different products to optimally produce tier-three cargo and deliver it to the end location for maximum profit.
Or you could forget all of that and set up airports on two opposite sides of the map with one passenger plane going in-between, and play the game on easy mode. Okay, so the game isn't without its faults. It's not perfect, but it doesn't need to be.
I think that’s the main takeaway here. So long as the game is fun and a product of passion, rather than corporate greed, you’re going to have a better outcome than the bland, repetitive experience that's shoved out the door every year with the latest "Call of Duty"s and "Fifa"s. Do that, and you’ll have a game made for the heart, and not for the wallet.
