Note

Rules are used to ease the cooperative gameplay. Do not think of rules as laws, being punished if you don't follow them, but rules as a cornerstone to play together.

Please note: individual games may have different rulesets. These rules are a default set, and in different games different rules may be needed - look at our Gametype-pages for further information.

Rules of our games

Playing in a team is very challenging. Imagine a team of skilled players who stick to their own individual playing style. If we want to set up a comprehensive and efficient transportation network we need to stick to certain rules.

These rules help us to understand what our teammates are doing. Also, it keeps us away from additional work caused by a lack of proper building style. If you want to join us, you are very welcome; but we request you to pay attention to our rules.

Communication

• You should be on IRC in case we need to have a discussion for which in game chat is not sufficient.
• We have no choice but to kick and/or ban players who are disruptive to the cooperative style of play, to make sure everyone can enjoy the game.
• Try not to disrupt the whole network. If that's necessary, talk to everyone else; so they know what's going on.
• Two people building in the same place is generally about as many as can be without a large amount of confusion. So communicate what and where you are doing something.
• If you have a special intention about something, use the ingame signs. Use them to comment out your ideas, like programmers use comments in their code. In fact, playing OTTD is like programming a system.
• No Sign overkill is needed! If you see obsolete signs, delete them (if you are not sure, keep them).
• Language is english (due to popular demand ;-) )
• We always name our hubs and add the name of the builder on the sign to ease bugtracking and communication. Look at our naming conventions.

Game Start

Games always start with coal, because it's the resource with the best distance/profit margins. The route should go a reasonable distance in a straight line. We should all discuss the start in IRC and all work together to find a route that is both profitable and easy to expand. If none can be found a new map will be started. The start should be done by no more than 3 people at a time, to avoid confusion while establishing an initial profitable route. The company color is always orange. Don't question this. It leads to nothing at all ;-)

There is a very-short but very-meaningful Game Start Guide. Have a quick look on that, it says more than a thousand words.

Construction

• Stick to our construction guides for a proper building style as long as a plan says something different. Therefore, ask some others ingame.
• Avoid having a full loan like the plague. One loan unit is needed in case the total amount of money goes into the red. If this happens too much, the company can go bankrupt. So, it's good to have one loan unit to borrow on so that this doesn't happen.
• No 90 degree turns! Trains can't take them due to our patch-settings.
• No 2*45 degree curves, due to too high speed penalties with the new train acceleration. It should and can be avoided in 99.9% of all situations. Only at some less-frequented, bad-located stations, 2*45s are acceptable. This holds true also for "chaos style".
• Stations are all equally long - depending on game type and strategy. Usually the smallest stations have 2 platforms but on larger games, like 1024x1024, you should stick to even larger stations - because of the long train running times there some queuings can occur.
• Use the "Ro-Ro" style. Terminus stations are acceptable for eyecandy as well as less-frequented stations or in difficult terrain.
• On 2+/2+ lines (Mainlines) be sure to leave some spaces in between the two lanes (the more the better, depending on space restrictions).
• We (well most of us) drive on the right side of the road, the trains should too ;-).
• Never build industries until the entire map is connected. This is because the max industry limit could be reached accidentally, which would prevent the building of a necessary industry such as a factory or oil refinery.

Network Design

• Often, we build large mainlines (also known as 'Axis' - at least LL___RR or even more depending on the size of the map) and use them as backbones for all of the traffic. Everything is connected to those mainlines by the standard line hierarchy. On the other hand, this can vary basing on a specific plan. Be sure to search for a sign called like "!Network plan" to gain further information. They may mention one of the proven [1] in order to avoid writing down everything anew.
• We build sidelines (LR) that access the mainlines via Sideline Hubs.
• Never ever connect a station directly to the mainline. This makes a fast mainline slow. Always connect a station via a sideline.
• Try to minimize the number of sidelines. A sidelinehub is always a possible source of a jam or speed decrease. Just connect stations in a certain area via the same sideline.

Trains

• At the very beginning of a map we try to agree on a train length. A certain trainlength needs a certain curve radius, therefore we try to avoid different lengths.
• Shared orders are a must if more than one vehicle shares the same route.

Public Server

• The Public Server is a special case. Rules must be observed even more stringently than elsewhere.
• The password for the Public Server is available only from this page or via IRC. Bookmarking the page directly is not effective - you must visit the Wiki before you can play. Anyway, its highly recommended to join our IRC-Channel. You can query the password easily via an IRC command at any time.