On these pages I assume that one has a working installation of TTDPatch or OpenTTD at hand, I also assume that certain switches and settings are set and activated, because without them various features do not work. In order to get to that point, you can follow the short installation guide below.
Installation
OpenTTD
The installation is described in all detail in the Wiki, so just follow these instructions.
TTDPatch
- Installing Transport Tycoon Deluxe
On any Windows newer than Windows 98, only the Windows version of the game will work, but of only when being used with TTDPatch.
To install the game, you only need to run setup.exe, tell the installer where to install the game to and that's it. However, you cannot run the game straight away, it will complain an "Error reading registry!"
- Patch the registry
This step is optional, TTDPatch will circumvent any registry problems automatically. However, the game might start with wrong settings for graphics and sound then.
To patch the registry you need to download the TTD Registry Editor. The content of the archive needs to be unzipped into the folder where you installed the game in the previous step. Now you start the registry editor, set up graphics and sound to your liking and save the settings. That solves the registry error, but now you get another message complaining about impossible access to the game CD (which is complete nonsense...).
- Install TTDPatch
The newest version of TTDPatch can be found at the directory for nightly releases. You will be interested in the windows version, which is named something like TTDPatch-nightly-rXXXX-win32.zip, with a version number instead of the XXXX. Download this file and unzip the contents of the archive into the folder where the game is installed.
- Download base graphics
TTDPatch uses additional graphics for certain features. These so-called base graphics can be downloaded from the homepage of TTDPatch. Now you have to create a folder inside the game folder, name this new folder "newgrf" (without the quotation marks). Extract the contents of the base graphics archive into this new folder and you are ready.
The game has to be started by running ttdpatchw.exe!
Configuration
OpenTTD/JGR's patch pack
Just about every setting in OpenTTD/JGR's patch pack can be accessed via menus in the game. Each setting also provides a tool tip when hovering above it with the mouse.
Some advanced options can be set by editing the necessary lines in the configuration file "openttd.cfg". This is a simple text file which can be opened and edited using the Windows text editor.
TTDPatch
All settings are done inside a configuration file. This is named ttdpatch.cfg and will be created in the game directory when you first run the Patch. The file is a simple text file, you can open and edit it with the Windows text editor.
For each setting there is a short description, more detailed explanations can be found on the homepage of TTDPatch. You can find descriptions of each and every setting there.
If changing around a text file is too complicated or cumbersome, you might want to try the configuration program TTDPC. Using this utility, all settings can be changed via a graphical user interface.
You should change the following settings in order to follow these guides:
- advzfunctions on
This is needed to enable diagonal rails under bridges.
- mountains 3333
Realistic acceleration for railways and road vehicles at mountains should be enabled.
- curves 3333
A more realistic calculation for curve speeds is strongly suggested.
- experimentalfeatures.signalgui on
The graphical interface for signals is necessary for several other additions.
- signal1waittime 255
signal2waittime 255At signals showing "Stop!", one-way or two-way, trains should wait forever instead of turning around and looking for alternative ways. This usually does not work, and in a well-constructed network a signal will switch to "Go!" eventually.
- presignals off
Automatic changing of signals into presignal has become obsolete since the arrival of path-based signalling. At the places where presignals are still useful, I prefer to set them myself.
Extensions
There is a countless number of "mods" for the game. These can be new vehicles, additional industries, changed graphics for signals, stations and houses and so on. These sets come in the form of grf-files (a TTDX-specific format).
OpenTTD/JGR's patch pack
OpenTTD/JGR's Patch Pack contain a download client to access content from the so-called BaNaNaS page. This page also acts as a database for available extensions.
Alternatively (e.g. the extension is not available on BaNaNas), extension sets can be added to the game by copying the grf-file into the data-directory inside the OpenTTD folder. Then you can manage the sets in a specific menu from within the game.
TTDPatch
The most important page to look for such additions is the homepage of grfcrawler. Most sets can be found here, complete with descriptions and links for further information. Discussions about sets and their development usually take place in the graphics forum at tt-forums.
All new graphics sets are usually copied into a folder named newgrf inside the game directory. In order to use these sets in the game, the set has to be added to another configuration file. This file is called newgrfw.cfg and resides in the game directory. If it does not yet exist, you can simply create it with the text editor.
In this file, all graphics sets are listed. Every graphics set should come with a readme file giving installation directions, and telling you about the line that needs to be added to the configuration file. Many sets also check that various settings of TTDPatch are set in certain ways and will complain otherwise. If that is the case, you will have to change your configuration (see above).
Typically, several graphics sets will be used, so the file newgrfw.cfg might look like this:
newgrf/jsignals.grf // graphics for new signals newgrf/dbsetxlw.grf 6 // DBSetXL newgrf/indstatrw.grf // new industrial stations newgrf/newstatsw.grf // new stations newgrf/dutchcatw.grf // dutch catenary newgrf/BKTunw.grf // new tunnels newgrf/total_bridges.grf // total bridge replacement set newgrf/treesw.grf // new tree graphics newgrf/newshipsw.grf // new ships newgrf/PlaneSetw.grf // plane set newgrf/newwaterw.grf // new water newgrf/germanrvw.grf // GermanRV set
This is a part of my own configuration, for you this will probably look a bit different. None of these sets is required to understand the guides on these pages (jsignals.grf and newstatsw.grf are quite useful nonetheless).