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''Chris Sawyer's Locomotion'' is a video game by independent game developer
Chris Sawyer Christopher Sawyer is a Scottish video game designer and programmer. He is best known for creating ''Transport Tycoon'', which has been considered "one of the most important simulation games ever made", and the bestseller '' RollerCoaster Tyc ...
from 2004. According to Sawyer, it is the "spiritual successor to '' Transport Tycoon''".


Gameplay

The game allows the player to use railroads, trams, trucking lines,
buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
, airplanes and
ships A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
to earn money in a transport company between the years 1900 to 2100. It contains over 40 pre-designed scenarios and a scenario editor, and can also be played in multiplayer mode with another human-controlled competitor. The game is played in an 2D
isometric The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement". isometric may mean: * Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system * Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music. * "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...
view like the other games by Chris Sawyer, particularly ''
RollerCoaster Tycoon ''RollerCoaster Tycoon'' is a series of simulation video games about building and managing an amusement park. Each game in the series challenges players with open-ended amusement park management and development, and allowing players to construc ...
'', which uses the engine that was originally developed for '' Transport Tycoon''. The scenarios have five difficulty levels: Beginner, Easy, Medium, Challenging and Expert. Different objectives are available, some require the player to finish on a certain position in the company ranking list while others require the transportation of a specific amount of cargo. In some cases these objectives have additional limits, such as that the player must finish within a certain time limit. While many of the scenarios are fictional, some are based on real-world countries such as the United States, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In recent years, several add-ons have been created for the game, including hundreds of trains, trucks, airplanes and other vehicles. Some people have used special programs to convert Microsoft Train Simulator rolling stock for use in Locomotion.


Downloadable content

Early on in the game's development, some Japanese vehicles and buildings were created, only to be omitted from the published game. One of these vehicles was the Shinkansen 0 Series, which later became downloadable from Chris Sawyer's website. These Japanese assets were likely switched out for the Swiss ones.


Development

''Locomotion'' was developed by game developer
Chris Sawyer Christopher Sawyer is a Scottish video game designer and programmer. He is best known for creating ''Transport Tycoon'', which has been considered "one of the most important simulation games ever made", and the bestseller '' RollerCoaster Tyc ...
as "spiritual successor to '' Transport Tycoon''". The game was published and released by
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
in the U.S. on September 7, 2004 and a few days later in the rest of the world. In 2013, an
Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
and iOS version of ''Transport Tycoon'' was released, primarily based on ''Locomotion''. On March 17, 2015, the game was re-released through digital distribution on
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
and gog.com. In January 2018, the
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
project ''OpenLoco'' was launched to enhance the gameplay of ''Locomotion''. This includes fixing
bugs Bugs may refer to: * Plural of bug Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Bugs Bunny, a character * Bugs Meany, a character in the ''Encyclopedia Brown'' books Films * ''Bugs'' (2003 film), a science-fiction-horror film * ''Bugs ...
, translating the game to more languages, and allowing the game to run natively on macOS and Linux. Furthermore, OpenLoco features reduced limitations compared to the original, e.g. disabling vehicle breakdowns, unlocked building options, and using custom resolutions.


Reception

Reviews of the game were generally not favorable, with many noting that the game's user interface and AI were both poor in comparison to the original ''Transport Tycoon''.


References


External links


Chris Sawyer official website''Locomotion''
at
MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

''Repository of OpenLoco''
at GitHub {{Authority control 2004 video games Business simulation games Assembly language software Railroad business simulation video games Transport business simulation games Transport Tycoon Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Allister Brimble Video games scored by John Broomhall Video games with isometric graphics Windows games Windows-only games