OpenTTD 16.0-Beta1

I made version 12.2 my programming hobby project. First time I tackled it years ago was to have it run at real time instead of the default fast pace (even with the day length patch). Worked great including a feature to really schedule routes and have working yards for vehicles to wait. But when I wanted to change internal mechanics to add other features I hit the spaghetti code wall several times (and the code after 12.2 is just more complex with every version bump).

Took a break from it for a while and picked it up again, this time by not doing anything much feature-wise but pulling the code apart and de-C++-ing it. Bit by bit building a categorised code tree with single functions per file, deconstructing classes to plain functions and data structs, with the goal to convert from C++ to clear C. And then one day consolidate code to have for instance the same diagonal road options as current train tracks.

Might be pointless and take a long time to finish, but it's comforting to turn something overly complex into simple, small pieces and also create a unique code formatting style to visualise elements of a line of code for easier reading. Another fun part is reading about data design and coming up with a custom data container to replace the std::vector uses.

I always know what kind of game I want to play, but it's overwhelming to set up, if even possible. It's tons of packages, forums, idk.. so I just end up playing vanilla, with maybe some rules among the players. But I wish there was a comprehensive interface to allow me to set all the stuff that I want.

From the top of my head (haven't played in over a year) it would be: cargo destination for people, cargo prices reflect proximity of other productiosn, mono/maglev only has passenger cabs, regular rail still gets upgrades, no planes I guess, "automatic" public transport within cities - no need to build stops, just buses driving around (transferring people to train stations). And probably more I can't think of now.

Deploying and building OpenTTD if my favourite exercise when i am trying to learn new CI tool or orchestrator or packaging format. Simple enough, yet fun.

Sorry if it's a meta post, or a faq, or if I'm just missing some HN lore here, but I finally have to ask : why is it that, everytime there's a new release for OpenTTD (and 0ad, for that matters), it makes it to the front page ?

I can kinda get why there are often news about Factorio, for example (it's not subtly related to programming), and there is nothing wrong with open source projects getting visibily even when they're not "yet another web framework" or "the last open weight LLM wrapper".

But why those games in particular ? Are the authors regulars of HN ? Is there an interesting forking history / backstory ?

Any way, kudos for the release, of course :)

The flip, I think, is realistic enough. It could be just slower and the speed of turnaround reflect whether the loco needs to turn around. But the slow reverse that can be solved with two locos is a nice upgrade too.

Wonder if the Yogscast Jingle Jam will use v16 in this year's stream. Might stop Duncan crashing so many trains if they're all driving slower backwards.

Separating locomotives from trains next?

And then, finally, hump yards?

hah I played for an hour this new beta. It's fun. I haven't played for years.

I couldn't workout the train signals though, there are 4 of them and they have a digit as well with them, not sure what's going on there. I'm probably not the target audience :)

cool hopefully this stupid crash bug is fixed now!