page_title: OpenTTD
section_title: Gameplay
hierarchical_section_title: OpenTTD / Gameplay
context_page_description: OpenTTD is a business simulation game in which players try to earn money via transporting passengers and freight by road, rail, water and air. It is an open-source remake and expansion of the 1994 Chris Sawyer video game Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
  OpenTTD duplicates most features of Transport Tycoon Deluxe and has many additions, including a range of map sizes, support for many languages, custom artificial intelligence, downloadable customisations, ports for several widely used operating systems, and a more user-friendly interface. OpenTTD also supports local area network and Internet multiplayer, co-operative and competitive, for up to 255 players.
  OpenTTD is free and open-source software licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2.0 and is under ongoing development. According to a study of the 61,154 open-source projects on SourceForge in the period between 1999 and 2005, OpenTTD ranked 8th most active open-source project to receive patches and contributions. In 2003 or 2004, development moved to their own server.
  Since 2018, the project uses GitHub for its source repository and bug tracker.
context_section_description: OpenTTD gameplay is very similar to Transport Tycoon Deluxe, on which it is based, although there are many improvements in both options within the game and ease of use. 
  A player's aim is to build a transportation network using trucks, buses, trains, airplanes and boats to link together industries and towns on the map and transport the cargo they produce. Every time a vehicle makes a delivery of some cargo, players receive an income, allowing them to build more infrastructure (rails, stations, etc.), build more vehicles, modify the terrain, and interact with towns, via their local authorities. The default game runs from 1950 to 2050, during which a player aims to get as high a performance rating (based on number of vehicles, income, amount of cargo delivered, etc.) as possible.
  The world map is dotted with both industries and towns. Cargo for transportation is supplied by both industries (e.g. the coal mine which produces coal) and towns (which produce passengers and mail) and accepted by other industries and/or towns according to their needs (e.g., the power station accepts coal). Placing a station near a source and a receiver of a certain cargo allows transportation between the two. The amount of cargo supplied by a town or industry depends on the quality of transport players provide to move its goods. Payment for delivering cargo depends on the quantity of cargo delivered, how fast it was delivered and how perishable it is. Some cargoes (e.g., passengers) must be delivered faster than others (e.g., coal) to earn a good income.
  During the course of the game, players must build and expand their transport infrastructure. The only infrastructure present on the map at the start of the game are roads within towns (as well as seas and rivers which ships can utilise). All other infrastructure—ports, stations, airports, rail, canals, locks, aqueducts and depots—must be built by players. The tools for building a rail network are particularly powerful, and players have access to many different signal types to build a complex and interconnected rail network.
  During the course of the game, technology improvements give players access to newer, faster and more powerful vehicles. For rail transport, new track technology also becomes available over time, first electrified rail, then monorail and maglev track. In general, newer vehicles cost more money to buy and run, and players must have earned enough money in earlier stages of the game to be able to afford to upgrade their vehicles. The full course of the default game, from 1950 to 2050, takes around 24 hours. Players can optionally start at earlier dates and play on past 2050, although no new technology becomes available.
  OpenTTD can be played by one player, against a computer controlled AI, or by many players against each other, over a LAN or the Internet.
caption: The introduction of the "Path Signal" to OpenTTD, in addition to the traditional "Block Signal" from the original Transport Tycoon, increases throughput of railway junction-crossing.