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Marek

Chris Sawyer's Locomotion preview

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It's now confirmed that Locomotion is the final title of the spiritual successor to Transport Tycoon. The game will be published by Atari (who of course also published Rollercoaster Tycoon). They issued a press release today to formally announce the game.

Incidentally, GameSpy has a new preview.

It's safe to say the gameplay of Locomotion will be about as addictive as a crazy cocktail of, err... various addictive things. However, there's one thing that stands out as a major con: the graphics.

I'm not a graphic whore. Resolution or dimensions or whatever... I don't care. However, I do like good art direction, and Locomotion in fact manages to be uglier than the original Transport Tycoon. It's quite a feat to produce something less visually appealing than a game that's 10 years older.

TT1.jpg

Transport Tycoon (1994)

Nice, crispy graphics. Things are looking happy and detailed. The coastal lines feature a few pixels of beach. It's easy to see everything that's going on.

TT2.jpg

Locomotion (2004) - cropped image

It's a bit weird and confusing, but it looks nice I guess ... until you zoom in to the actual size...

TT3.jpg

Oh no! The artist clearly went crazy with the random noise filter. Tiles aren't matching up and the sea just ends uncomfortably without any beach of any sort. There's way too much confusing detail that makes it hard to see what the fuck is going on. The railway track doesn't match the bridge and makes things look a thousand times more complex. Basically, the whole charm and clarity of the original is gone.

I think it's the random noise that frustrates me the most. It's everywhere, and it's making the game look crap at regular resolution. I dare to say that these graphics would be seriously detrimental to my enjoyment of the gameplay.

I really hope they fix things up a little before it gets released later this year, but its release is apparently very close now. I'm almost inclined to wait for the inevitable sexed up sequel done by an Atari team.

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Agh! ;( Why don't any of the lines from Locomotion match up? It's looks like a freaking collage! I'll cross my fingers and hope that's just a very, very early build.

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And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better — though it is — as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent: And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better — though it is — as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent: And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better — though it is — as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent: And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better — though it is — as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent: And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better — though it is — as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent:

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I agree the coastline needs a little bit of a makeup, but I don't really see your point with the random noise thing. There's just as much of a grainy feel to Transport Tycoon as there is to Locomotion. At least, that I can see.

You're just being insanely picky.

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And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better ? though it is ? as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent: And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better ? though it is ? as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent: And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better ? though it is ? as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent: And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better ? though it is ? as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent: And somehow the top one doesn't seem so much better ? though it is ? as it seems cosier than the newer incarnation... What of the sentimental value of the dos colour scheme and the low-res, though bubbly graphics... :innocent:

Sorry, I didn't catch that.

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I agree the coastline needs a little bit of a makeup, but I don't really see your point with the random noise thing. There's just as much of a grainy feel to Transport Tycoon as there is to Locomotion. At least, that I can see. You're just being insanely picky.
No, I'm just being observant :shifty: Plus I may have stared at the original Transport Tycoon's graphics for hours upon hours.

In the original graphics, the only thing that has the random noise pattern are the ground tiles. Though even those are nicely done. Now pay close attention to how everything else is drawn, particularly the roads, the trees, the ground, etc.

Now open some of these images here: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/cslocomotion/screenindex.html

Pay attention to the trees. Suddenly they don't look like they've gotten nicely done shading, they're just a jungle of little pixels. Take a look at the ground tiles. You can see the noise pattern repeating, whereas this effect isn't visible in the original. Take a look at the roads, there's just random noise going on (1 pixel grain) whereas in the original seems to have the little bits of crap hand painted into it.

Or just compare two screenshots really. You can't tell me that Locomotion isn't more grainy and washed out on the whole than the original. I think it looks terrible.

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Sorry, I didn't catch that.
That's odd, 'cause I repeated it five times...

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yeah, ur right, the game does look very grainy ... but either way its gonna be fun, so im not complaining too much.

i just wish chris sawyer would try to modernize his engine just a bit, in terms of graphics. RCT ran on 256 colour palettized display i think (u could tell from the save window) ... why not run it on 16-bit? and perhaps make the graphics bigger/more detailed?

SiN

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You know, it's possible that those screens look just as crappy. I mean, Locomotion probably wouldn't look too bad if they were shrunk down to that size.

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Still looks kinda grainy... that is the main problem of the olden sim games: grain.

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