History VideoGame / TransportTycoon

* ArtisticLicenseEngineering: Monorails function exactly like conventional and electric rail, albeit as its own separate track type with unique engines. In real life, monorails are substantially different in how they're constructed and how they operate, due to their distinct track design: switches are more difficult to implement, grade crossings are impossible, and tracks have to be elevated above the ground. This is why most real-life monorails have simple layouts, and why they're constructed above-grade.

* JustTrainWrong:
** Just like in ''VideoGame/RailroadTycoon'', steam locomotives that should have a tender don't have one. Blame it on the engine that doesn't allow for articulated vehicles.
** Just like in ''VideoGame/RailroadTycoon'', electric vehicles don't need catenary.
** ''Unlike'' in ''VideoGame/RailroadTycoon'', there is no distinction whatsoever between passenger and freight locomotives. They just keep getting faster and more powerful. When the Gresley [=A4=] comes along, it actually becomes your best choice for heavy iron ore trains. The sole exceptions are three multiple units because short locomotive-hauled passenger trains become too expensive around TheFifties.
** Most tender locomotives are identical-looking 2-6-0s. The Gresley [=A4=] is the same 2-6-0, but streamlined. Even the only two electric locomotives look identical. As proven by countless third-party vehicles from the ''[=TTDPatch=]''/''[=OpenTTD=]'' user community, this could have been avoided even with such small sprites.
** Monorails are depicted as a futuristic upgrade on railroads that can haul just about everything over just about any distance. In RealLife, there are good reasons why they've only ever been used in theme parks or as fancy urban transit.
** Also, grade crossing for monorails and maglevs. This is the only point on the list that ''[=TTDPatch=]'' and even ''[=OpenTTD=]'' haven't fixed yet because the engine has yet to allow for ''VideoGame/{{Locomotion}}''-style elevated rail.

* SteamNeverDies: {{Averted}}; vehicles that go obsolete become unavailable for purchase, including steam engines. The only way for a player to {{invoke||dTrope}} this is to configure

* SteamNeverDies: Players can {{invoke|dtrope}} this trope if they choose to keep their steam locomotives well after diesel and electric tanks become available.

* SchmuckBait: When a player first learns about station coverage, they may be tempted to clear out a path in the middle of a town to make way for a train station, thereby covering the most buildings in that given area, thus maximizing their passenger load. However, doing this will diminish their ratings with that local town, leading them to be boycotted or forbidden from making any further (potentially necessary) adjustments to the town. Even if the town is able to forgive this, there's still the logistical issue of not being able to expand the station without destroying more town infrastructure, which can become problematic once the town starts growing. A more viable alternative would be using buses, streetcars, or even branch lines as feeder stations, to funnel passengers from other parts of the town to a larger ststion.

* SchmuckBait: When a player first learns about station coverage, they may be tempted to clear out a path in the middle of a town to make way for a train station, thereby covering the most buildings in that given area, thus maximizing their passenger load. However, doing this will demise their ratings with that local town, leading them to be boycotted or forbidden from making any further (potentially necessary) adjustments to the town. Even if the town is able to forgive this, there's still the logistical issue of not being able to expand the station without destroying more town infrastructure, which can become problematic once the town starts growing. A more viable alternative would be using buses, streetcars, or even branch lines as feeder stations, to funnel passengers from other parts of the town to a larger ststion.

* XMeetsY: The game uses uses the same premise as Creator/MicroProse's earlier ''VideoGame/RailroadTycoon'', but uses an interface and gameplay rules that would be re-used in their later ''VideoGame/RollercoasterTycoon''. It also uses a similar [[IsometricProjection graphical style]] and level generator to ''[[VideoGame/SimCity SimCity 2000]]''.

* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The original starts in 1930. ''Deluxe'' has [[TheFifties 1950]] as the earliest date. ''[=OpenTTD=]'' can start even earlier -- given the right [=NewGRFs=], you can even start in ''[[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy 1700]]'', complete with horse-drawn cargo carriages and sailing ships.

* ScoringPoints: Each company has a performance rating which increases with the number of vehicles and stations they have, the revenue they earn and the cash they have in hand. As the rating goes up, the company's owner gains new titles, going from "Engineer" to "Traffic Manager" and so on up to "Tycoon", and their headquarters expand, going from a small shack to a large office building.

* VideoGameCaringPotential: Want to try and nurse mainline steam traction into the 21st century ? Now's your chance.

** Up to 250 stations can be built in a single map. Buoys are technically stations and count towards the limit, as do the helipad/port attached to oil rigs.

** ''Deluxe'' limits the spread of stations to seven tiles away from the sign. ''[=TTDPatch=]'' and ''[=OpenTTD=]'' allow this limit to be changed, which defaults to 12 tiles for the latter.
** Each company can have up to 80 trains, 80 road vehicles, 50 boats and 40 planes. ''[=TTDPatch=]'' and ''[=OpenTTD=]'' also allow these limits to be changed; the latter defaults them to 500, 500, 300 and 200 respectively and allows them to be adjusted up to 5,000.

** Once the game reaches December 31, 2070, the calendar loops back to January 1, 2070. If a vehicle is scheduled for servicing in 2071, it will never get serviced and its reliability will steadily drop to 0%.

* ShoutOut: Every now and then, an ''VideoGame/XCom'' fighter jet or UFO will appear and fly around the map.
* SuicideMission: As detailed below, this is a [[CrapsackWorld perfectly reasonable]] way of dealing with competitors.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts / RidiculousFutureInflation: The prices eventually rise so high that a piece of road costs more than a skyscraper in real life. While this is no problem for a company that has been around and profitable since 1930 or 1950, rival companies that are established late in the game will often find themselves unable to even afford building a simple bus line since the starting loan is always £100,000 and the maximum loan amount doesn't quite catch up with inflation. ''[=OpenTTD=]'' does allow turning off inflation, however.

*** The locomotives all play it straight: they're named and modeled after famous British models such as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4 Class A4]] and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterCity_125 InterCity 125]].

* GameMod / FanRemake : ''[=OpenTTD=]''.
** ''[=TTDPatch=]'' is exactly this: a GameMod for ''Transport Tycoon Deluxe'' which alters the executed binary code at runtime while leaving the original executables intact.
** ''[=OpenTTD=]'' itself has got loads of patches and several ready-to-compile or pre-compiled patch packs.
* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The original starts in 1930. ''Deluxe'' has [[TheFifties 1950]] as the earliest date. ''[=OpenTTD=]'' can start even earlier--- Given the right [=NewGRFs=], you can even start in ''[[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy 1700]]'', complete with horse-drawn cargo carriages and sailing ships.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo / CaptainErsatz : The initial UK release of Original used real company names for the vehicles and several were explicitly modeled after real models. To avoid potential lawsuits, the names were changed to fictional ones starting from the US release of Original: examples include the T.G.V. becoming the "T.I.M.", the Airbus brand becoming the "Airtaxi" brand and, most notably, the Lockheed Tristar and the Concorde becoming the "Guru Galaxy" and the "[[InherentlyFunnyWord Yate]] [[MemeticMutation Haugan]]" respectively. Those changes were carried over to the ''Deluxe'' version and remain in ''[=OpenTTD=]'' to this day.

* LevelAte / ToyTime: The "Toyland" climate, where the trees are lollipops and you transport such cargoes as candyfloss, sugar, toffee and fizzy drinks (which are made by combining "flat" cola and bubbles, and yes, you get to transport ''bubbles''). All those cargoes are treated as natural resources, that is, they're "extracted" from the land.

* ShoutOut / EasterEgg : Every now and then, an ''VideoGame/XCom'' fighter jet or UFO will appear and fly around the map.

* VideoGameTime: A day passes every few seconds, so trains take weeks to travel from one town to another. Because of this, we have the oddity that passengers will pay through the the nose for the privilege of travelling a couple of miles in "only" ten days.

There is also a FanSequel of sorts, called ''{{VideoGame/Simutrans}}'', but it's an indie game only InspiredBy and not related or legally connected to the ''Transport Tycoon'' series. ''VideoGame/TrainFever'' was an attempt at a modernised SpiritualSequel by [[Creator/UrbanGames Urban Games]], however it had a myriad of limitations and bugs which eventually necessitated the release of ''Transport Fever'', the SurprisinglyImprovedSequel with backwards compatibility for most ''Train Fever'' mods (either natively or using a mod that autotranslates the code so it to be usable with ''Transport Fever'').

The original game was superseded officially by its 2004 SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/{{Locomotion}}''. ''VideoGame/TransportFever'', launched in 2016, is also basically ''Transport Tycoon'' with modern graphics and updated game mechanics.

The original game was superseded officially by its 2004 SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/{{Locomotion}}''.

* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The original starts in 1930. ''Deluxe'' has [[TheFifties 1950]] as the earliest date. ''[=OpenTTD=]'' can start even earlier--- Given the right [=NewGRFs=], you could start in ''1700'', complete with horse-drawn cargo carriages and sailing ships.

* GenteelInterbellumSetting: The original starts in 1930. ''Deluxe'' has [[TheFifties 1950]] as the earliest date. ''[=OpenTTD=]'' can start even earlier, given the right [=NewGRFs=].

* FlawedPrototype: The player occasionally receives offers to test out a new vehicle for a year before it's made available to every company. While this allows early access to the latest and shiniest, the catch is that the maximum reliability will be low at first, which will result in more frequent breakdowns that can potentially cancel out the added benefits of higher speed or capacity. The offer can be accepted or refused, but since there's no cost in accepting the offer and no obligation to use the vehicle, there's no reason to refuse.

** The stupid things the AI tries to pass as traffic routes [[http://nylon.net/ttd/stupid.htm has to be seen]] to be believed. The custom AIs available for ''[=OpenTTD=]'' are much less insane, even the one that tries to emulate the "classic" AI.

* PhysicsGoof: Trains can go around extremely tight corners at 300mph, but immediately slow down to a crawl when encountering a tiny hill. Only the ''[=OpenTTD=]'' implementation finally added a (more) realistic acceleration model.

* AfterActionReport: Some fans of the series frequently compile these to describe how they built up their company and the country's transportation infrastructure during their playthrough. Pre-made scenario maps are especially popular for AAR recaps.