Transport Tycoon to make a return journey [Updated]
Update: Realising how many questions there were – is this to be a straight port of Transport Tycoon? Will it take elements from Transport Tycoon Deluxe? What else might it have? – I contacted Andrew Smith of Appynation, who had made the initial announcement. He responded
We’re not talking about specific features at the moment, but we can say it is not a direct port of any previous game in the series.
[...] [E]ssentially this is the next Transport Tycoon game.
Which sounds promisingly like there will be some new goodies to look forward to. More details posted when we may hear them.
(Original article below)
When Chris Sawyer’s Transport Tycoon was released in 1994, it proved to be a notable hit – the desire to play with trains suddenly appeared to be pretty universal, even more so when including that into an integrated road, rail, air and sea business empire. Now, almost two decades later, Sawyer is behind the game’s imminent re-appearance, this time for iOS and Android devices.
Allowing you to lay track or roads connecting various towns and industries before scheduling routes, the game proved to be compulsive entertainment, and this was before considering the drive to out profit rival companies (either controlled by the AI, or other players over a LAN). It proved a surprise hit, and led to a revised version – Transport Tycoon Deluxe – being released the following year with additional elements.
The games original code has apparently been updated for the mobile devices, with revisions for touch screen controls. Beyond that, few details currently stand – a website has been set up for the game although currently only has a teaser video to play.
Perhaps most significantly, there is nothing to indicate whether the game due for release is built upon the original or Deluxe versions, or indeed if additions made by fans of the still-active Transport Tycoon community in projects like OpenTTD may make appearances.
Transport Tycoon will be coming to iPhones, iPads and Androids soon, with no release date currently given beyond late 2013.