 | This article needs suitable references, either from appropriate primary sources or trusted third-party sources. (October 2009) |
Chris Sawyer's Locomotion is a video game by independent game developer Chris Sawyer. In his words, it is "the spiritual successor to Transport Tycoon".
The game allows the player to use railroads, trams, trucking lines, buses, airplanes and ships 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 view like the other games by Chris Sawyer, particularly RollerCoaster Tycoon, which uses the engine that was originally developed for Transport Tycoon.
The game was released in the U.S. on September 7, 2004 and a few days later in the rest of the world.
Scenarios[ | ]
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.
Many of the scenarios are based on real-world countries such as the United States, Switzerland, and United Kingdom and Canada.
Third party add-ons[ | ]
In recent years, several add-ons have been created for the game, including hundreds of trains, trucks, airplanes and other vehicles.
Critical reception[ | ]
Reviews of the game were generally not favourable, with many noting that the game's user interface and AI were both poor compared to the original Transport Tycoon. However, the AI algorithm had expanded since Transport Tycoon Deluxe, such that it would now build two-way routes and avoid constructing loops. Sabotage of the rival companies' vehicles, prevalent in Transport Tycoon, has been reduced but not entirely eliminated. Further, rival companies can never be bought over by the player's company.