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Chris Sawyer wrote all his games in assembly, including Transport Tycoon Deluxe. Some bloke called Ludvig Strigeus reverse engineered the code and Open TTD was born. It's still in active development and quite fun to play if like Chris Sawyer style games. Best of all, it's free.
I recommend it.
I highly suggest you avoid Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
It's free by the way, so don't let the price tag tempt you.
Oh, and open sourced... with mods... and a active community....
really, just don't try it.
Link for the interested: https://www.openttd.org/en/
It's a free-to-download rebuild of the old game Transport Tycoon, by the same guy* who made Rollercoaster Tycoon. It's got a hell of a difficulty curve (even compared to Factorio), and the interface is pretty frustrating, but it's very engrossing if you can get into it.
*yes, one guy - Chris Sawyer single-handedly made Rollercoaster Tycoon and Transport Tycoon, and he wrote them in assembly for x86 microchips.
Knaves Obliterating Trains Over Rainbows
You do that, but, also makes a "modkit" downloadable "somewhere".
People can play the legit version, with non copyrighted assets, but people can infringe themselves by replacing the assets with something else.
A bit like how Open Transport Tycoon works. You can download Open Transport Tycoon, and, if you own the original game, use those assets with that engine.
Of course, in the case where assets are actually infringing, it wouldn't be allowed to be distributed, and the project would have to distance itself from those assets, but you can't force yourself the fan to not make assets for your game, which is totally not related.
OpenTTD 1.8.0 is now published.
GOOD NEWS! Ships have been put back into the game. Unfortunately due to new improvements in Toyland environment, we ran out of room in the map array, so we have chosen to eliminate train signals. ENJOY!
DOWNLOAD: https://www.openttd.org/en/download-stable CHANGELOG: https://binaries.openttd.org/releases/1.8.0/changelog.txt
> 2. How do I even get a copy of TT?
TT, TTD and OpenTTD are 3 different games. TT is the original game. TTD (Transport Tycoon Deluxe) is an expansion to TT. OpenTTD is an open source version based on TTD, hence the "open" in the title, which includes tons of improvements not present in TTD. OpenTTD receives regular updates and new stuff from time to time, as it has a very active development/player community.
I don't have idea regarding TT but I think you can get a copy of the original TTD CD-ROM on Amazon. There's also a browser version.
As for OpenTTD, you can download the latest stable (vanilla) version of the game at https://www.openttd.org/en/download-stable. As you get more familiar with it, you might also be interested in NewGRFs, which are some additions to the game (think of them as "mods") that include changes to the gameplay, visuals, new vehicles, etc. Most common NewGRFs can be be obtained via an internal downloader.
Gewoon OpenTTD spelen. Na een aantal dagen heb je voldoende kennis om de NS weer te haten!
EDIT: Obligatoire nederlandse treintjes.
Features in Locomotion that aren't in OpenTTD:
- Gentle, wide track curves
- Stations and signals on bridges
- A (hard to use) underground construction mode. (Only half the screen shows the underground view, and you can't hide surface roads without hiding underground tracks, so it's harder to build subways than you'd expect.)
Features in OpenTTD that are not in Locomotion:
- Ability to disable vehicle breakdowns
- Easy way to automatically renew old vehicles
- Easy way to automatically upgrade old vehicles
- Passenger destinations
- In-game package manager for mods and user content
- Enormous maps
- Good random map generator
Locomotion used to have more distinguishing features, and OpenTTD less. Back when it first came out, OpenTTD/TTDPatch didn't have trams or on-street stops for buses or many of the features I listed above.
These days, though, I don't see a reason to play Locomotion. There are several excellent transportation tycoon games that are different from or superior to OpenTTD, but Locomotion isn't anymore.
Incidentally, if you like those pictures and want to play with trains, take a look at OpenTTD, which is a free railway-management simulator. No bells and whistles, 2D graphics only, based on a game released in the early 90s, very easy to pick up, and -- because it's old and lo-fi -- it'll run on your toaster.
transport tycoon deluxe, same makers of RCT. dig into it. there's an open remake that uses original graphics and gameplay and also a stand-alone version that you can download and play without the original game. https://www.openttd.org/en/
OpenTTD is a sandbox game, it doesn't give you any challenges or goals, you have to find them yourself. It may be a competitive goal or quests like on CityMania servers or some network art like #openttdcoop does or may be improving the game with art or code.
Nice to see it done at last, but urgh, yet another Chromium-in-a-box application. I'd rather not have to download 50MB (150MB uncompressed) just for a damn launcher...
Building against an old version of ICU is irritating as well, sure you need it as a dependency? For instance, OpenTTD has it as an optional dependency, but publishes "generic" binaries don't require it
It was a marvelous time - all the Railroad Tycoon games, the birth of Theme Park, Theme Hospital and Rollercoaster Tycoon, the first Zoo Tycoon, Sim Tower - practically any sphere with the word 'tycoon' tagged onto the end of it (or 'Sim' at the front - like Sim Ant). One of the big ones, Transport Tycoon, has been kept alive and thriving as OTTD.
I suppose the main concern now is that big publishers are starting to realise that most of the money resides in mobile games (EA and Konami have already commented on high revenues from mobile platforms, and Ubisoft and Square Enix have sort of being watching with interest and starting to dabble). People will dribble continuous amounts of coin to bash out games on tablet or mobile. But if big publishers go that way, there will be no shortage of indie development on PC - which is how today's publishers started out in the first place. It could be the same with console games too (it probably depends on how difficult it is to push through an indie title via Sony and Microsoft's scrutinising forces).
Good news everyone! Before developing RCT, Chris Sawyer developed Transport Tycoon Deluxe. The game was mildly successful. Much later, a team of open source programmers created OpenTTD. Bit by bit, they replaced the original game's code written in assembly to C++, then they did graphics and later they added many more features including lighting, extensive modding support and netplay. I really have to say it's a work of art, it's enormously extensive.
Now to the relevant part. The same is happening for RCT called OpenRCT! Still under development (currently requires the original game to play), but it has potential to take an equally large leap forward as seen with OpenTTD. So the mighty might not have fallen completely.
There is also FreeRCT, they're building the game from the ground up instead of replacing parts. The blog isn't very active but development still continues.
I still have the disc(s) to this somewhere. One of my very first PC games oddly enough.I can say though, I sunk many hours into this game watching the various towns and businesses grow as you or competitors build up travel and transport around the "map". However, OpenTTD scratches a similar itch and its free. Not sure what they differ on in features however.
I am, but until I reach a point where I am able to (money and space-wise) I scratch the same itch by playing OpenTTD, there's something about building an elaborate train system and watching it go that feels similar to me.
OpenTTD (Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe).
Endless hours of playtime both single player and multiplayer, coop is especially great! I've kept coming back to the Transport Tycoon series ever since 1994, and OpenTTD is a absolute masterpiece.
Plus, it's free and open source.
OpenTTD (Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe) is about creating your own transportation tycoon, including freight trucks, trains, passenger and freight ships and airplanes.
It still has awesome community, and the game itself is awesome!
Chris Sawyer was (still is) amazing.
He also did Transport Tycoon as well, which is still popular this day via Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe
That ending was great. Never seen that happen before. Its pretty damn funny. Clearly the planet is a Mesmer. Great series. Loved to see Zisteaus take on it, and see him get a little spooked at times. The spaceship talk makes me want another Kerbal Space Program series, but i imagine there isnt much left to do in that game, except maybe new mods?
I am curious, has Zisteau ever played OpenTTD? I remember that he enjoys Rollercoaster Tycoon, and the crazy base building/logistics of Factorio.
For graphics, lore, sounds etc yes. Not for the code though. There are plenty of games remade - typically with a FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) license*. My favourite is OpenTTD.
* Note that the "Free" in FOSS refers to freedom, not price. It means you are free to study, modify, copy and redistribute for any purpose.
(Crossposting from /r/tycoon)
Features in Locomotion that aren't in OpenTTD:
- Gentle, wide track curves
- Stations and signals on bridges
- A (hard to use) underground construction mode. (Only half the screen shows the underground view, and you can't hide surface roads without hiding underground tracks, so it's harder to build subways than you'd expect.)
Features in OpenTTD that are not in Locomotion:
- Ability to disable vehicle breakdowns
- Easy way to automatically renew old vehicles
- Easy way to automatically upgrade old vehicles
- Passenger destinations
- In-game package manager for mods and user content
- Enormous maps
- Good random map generator
Locomotion used to have more distinguishing features, and OpenTTD less. Back when it first came out, OpenTTD/TTDPatch didn't have trams or on-street stops for buses or many of the features I listed above.
These days, though, I don't see a reason to play Locomotion. There are several excellent transportation tycoon games that are different from or superior to OpenTTD, but Locomotion isn't anymore.
nu du nævner både railroad tycoon og rollercoaster tycoon, virker det næsten som en fejl at du har udeladt transport tycoon, hvis det ikke er tilfældet har jeg vidunderlige nyheder til dig https://www.openttd.org/en/
These legal free open source games are the shit! I've been playing tonnes of OpenRA as well as OpenTTD (Transport tycoon deluxe, also has very active multiplayer). There's also FreeCiv But I haven't tried it. Also a game called 0ad, which is a more modern RTS
But yeah anyway, go live your ~~new~~ old digital life and feel the nostalgia flow in waves
I watch youtube let's plays of games to get an idea of them alot of the time. Easiest way!
Not the same game, however very similar.
Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe https://www.openttd.org/en/
Totally free also!
Transportation Tycoon has a freeware version that sees regular updates to this day and it'll run on the grandfather of your toaster's toaster.
Some elements of it haven't aged well- managing your company once it reaches a certain threshold is a massively unfun chore- but in the broad strokes it's one of the more complete, better realized business simulators on the market, it's free, it'll run on modern hardware, and honestly I like it more than the one I had to use in college.
Until we update the servers to 1.5.3, you will need to download 1.5.2 (I recommend downloading the zip version, as you can just unzip it somewhere and run).
Zadnje (pred par mjeseci) - Cities: Skylines.
Inače, godine su ubijene na Transport Tycoonu Deluxe, a kasnije i na Open TTD: https://www.openttd.org/en/
Graditeljske i menadžerske igre su mi slaba točka.
If you like tycoon style games, you might want to give OpenTTD a shot. It's a transport management game, generally focused on trains. With the right newgrfs (user made content, downloadable from the game) you can create really cool looking stations. Plus, it's free and open source.
You might also want to check out the sidebar of the subreddit.
I'd recommend picking up FreeSpace 2 if you're into spaceflight combat games (fs2 is not super realistic), so that you can use the amazing fsopen project. (Installer link). If it looks interesting and you want to give it a go, please say so and I can provide more detailed instructions and a play order (with fsopen you can also play fs1 and silent threat reborn for no additional cost, not to mention the many many mods).
If tycoon style games are more your thing, and you don't mind older looking graphics, I'd also recommend OpenTTD. It is a transport management simulator, mainly focusing on trains. It's entirely free, and also has many many fan made additions (called newgrfs with this game). It also has a subreddit. Sorting by top of all time should give several nice screenshots of games there.
Transport Tycoon Deluxe is what I've been spending most of my gaming time on lately, it's a game I play every few years and with OpenTTD it makes so many quality of life changes and allows for more advanced railways. If you're into old school management tycoon games I can really recommend this, it's great fun alone but can also be played against AI and/or other people in multiplayer.
Team Fortress 2 is the game that is scratching my FPS itch nowadays. Even though I fell behind many years it doesn't really matter, because I can still play the game and have fun even with just the basic weapons. Especially since it's free to play it seems the skill level hasn't been on a steady increase for all those years, so once I got back into it the hours I had from before helps me make a positive impact on the team.
OpenTTD has some similarities - it's all about moving cargo from Point A to Point B efficiently, with simple production processes to turn one cargo into another. It's supported on Android phones.
I suggest you download OpenTTD 0.6.3 and play one, two games with that again in order to actually refresh your impression about the "original AI": https://www.openttd.org/en/download-stable/0.6.3
If your kids are into building games, I'd recommend OpenTTD. Its a open source version of Transport Tycoon Deluxe. When I was a kid, many dads played this with their children.
The cool thing about this game is, that it can grow with your kids. You can build complex things with it.
- Hammerwatch--a Gauntlet-light experience. Levels/maps are quite long and confusing, but excepting the bosses, the gameplay is not particularly challenging. (Though, there is a cheap twist and you get a bad ending if you don't hit the right secret doors.)
- The actual Gauntlet reimagining. If you want to perform well, the gameplay is a little more complicated than in Hammerwatch, but you can stick to less complicated movement/attacks if you prefer. There can be screenfuls of enemies, though, and this might be a bit daunting.
- Open Transport Tycoon. It's been many years since I've played this, but I don't remember it being hard to learn (additionally, I've never played it in coop, which might be more complicated). Found a transport business and move cargo and people. You can play it simply and just move things from point A to point B or try and set up supply chains linking different industries. Free.
Played the game. It's fun. Reminds me of Transport Tycoon. I recommend you play the free open source version, openttd. May want to brush up on the UI though. Worth releasing this on /r/android.
Euro Truck Simulator, should be right up your alley.
If you like building games (SimCity-ish) that have goals you might check out the Tycoon series. In particular something like RollerCoaster Tycoon or the open source simulation game based upon Transport Tycoon Deluxe, OpenTTD.
If we take a broader interpretation of the grey wolf doctrine, I believe that OpenTTD is one of the best train games, which happens to include other modes of transportation.
If you're interested in the building/management aspect of it, have a look at OpenTTD - freeware/open source version of Transport Tycoon Deluxe. If that's a bit too involved, SimCity 4 and Cities Skylines (not directly comparable with each other) are great city building/management games with less of a learning curve and better graphics.
Openttd, the open source successor to Transport Tycoon Deluxe. Make huge rail networks, grow cities, set up boat, airship, bus etc. services moving around your bustling cities. Map size can be set extremely large, so you never run out of things you could improve, optimize or expand. For free.
https://www.openttd.org/en/ is an open-source recreation of business simulator Transport Tycoon Deluxe by Microprose (the guys who brought you Civilization, Master of Orion and X-COM).
Also would like to mention The Battle for Wesnoth http://www.wesnoth.org/ an open-source turn-based strategy in a fantasy setting, which is pretty great for a price of FREE.
You don't need others to test it. Check https://www.openttd.org/en/servers for your server. If it's there, advertizing works. Allow for a delay in the order of 5 minutes or so.
If your computer is connected to a router, you need to activate port forwarding in its settings for the mentioned ports; 3979 and 3978 are the defaults, but your openttd.cfg may vary. At least if OpenTTD is run as console application, it will tell you if advertizing fails.
OpenTTD is about managing several airports.
It also has other things like trains and buses etc, but the airport part is in a lot of depth. Competing with other players online is fun too.
Open TTD, if you ever get bored of the game you can download a tonne of mods, new graphics and new sounds using the "Check Online Content" button.
On another note I really like the newer indie games like Papers Please where a good graphics card isn't a necessity. I have a laptop which is way too underpowered to run any AAA titles.
- Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (10 players)
- Guns of Icarus Online (up to 32 players, 16 on each side)
- Any of the Trackmania games (up to 255 players)
- Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe (up to 255 players)
- Flatout 2 (8 players)(Look out for Next Car Game: Wreckfest, it's currently still on Early Access though)
- Serious Sam 3 (16 player coop)
I know this isn't on the platform you want but you should defiantly take a look at OpenTTD. It is a great game with TONS of mods for managing a transport company. It's based on a older game that was released open source. https://www.openttd.org/en/
There are OpenTTD sources as well. That is open source for transport tycoon deluxe-like game. I don't know how helpful the sources are nor I have even checked them myself, but maybe it helps. https://www.openttd.org/en/development
/u/STtwo is right, but there are a few details.
If you're new to linux, don't bother with compiling. Especially that under https://www.openttd.org/en/download-stable you can download .deb packages for Debian Wheezy. Should be all good.
Are free non-steam games allowed? You could run this with a touchpad instead of a mouse.
One of my childhood games is Transport Tycoon Deluxe. A fantastic transportation empire builder with adorable 2.5D graphics.
There is an open source recreation of the game which is 100% independent of the original: OpenTTD, its a massive improvement over the original: code, art, modding support, online play etc.
You can also use the original art/sprite/music by downloading the original game, which is also free, from here: Link
It reminds me of the Transport Tycoon, OpenTTD, Chris Sawyer's Locomotion set of games, but with different graphics.
A completely free rebuild of Transport Tycoon Deluxe with a wealth of extra content & complexity. If you enjoy setting up a train network in Factorio then I would highly recommend this one.
Not really what you're asking for but it gives me the same vibe/feeling as when I play DF: OpenTTD
It's a free(opensource) managemnet game where you basically set up the infrastructure for a big map through trains and boats etc etc. It's completely free and pretty fun. Pretty complex as well, you can tweak lots of little things here and there.
Your english.lng might be corrupt.
In my build (of OpenTTD 1.8.0 for OpenBSD), 0xD24 is the valid ID for STR_GAME_SAVELOAD_ERROR_FILE_NOT_READABLE. English (UK) is the game's main language, so it also defines the IDs for strings. When one compiles OpenTTD, it uses src/lang/english.txt to build tables/string.h (for the IDs) and english.lng (for the strings). I'm guessing that english.lng got miscompiled.
You might be able to copy english.lng from another Linux/x86-64 build (like the official build). The file contains a machine-dependent data structure, which is incompatible between different platforms, but might be compatible across platforms that use the same System V ABI for x86-64. (Beware that when you replace english.lng, your package manager might detect that OpenTTD was modified. It might refuse to uninstall or upgrade OpenTTD unless you force the action or restore the old english.lng.)
I recommend this game now and then to people who don't mind old games.
Open Transport Tycoon (free) is amazing.
Your goal as a transport company is to service the various sectors, whether it be passengers and mail, or more heavy industry things like rubber, petroleum, water, steel, etc etc.
The commodities interact with each other, so if you send iron ore to a steel plant, it will create steel, which can be taken to a factory which will make goods, which can be delivered to cities.
The forms of transportation are varied: Vehicles, Trains and Planes. You can have passenger buses and trucks, which all get upgrades, while the trains begin as steam and then get fancier and fancier until you get monorail and finally maglev that go 600 km/h.
The airplanes begin as primitive but later become supersonic jets which can net you $1 million per run.
The train networks can be customized to your OCD delight with transit signals and multiple trains per one piece of track.
The terrain can be terraformed, so when you're rich enough you can build a $7 billion tunnel from one side of the map to the other, just for fun.
Not sure that any of these fit your description 100% but going to throw a few suggestions of games from oldest to newer that might fit the bill, or put you on the right track haha.
Transport Tycoon? or TTD (check out Open TTD https://www.openttd.org/en/ for a working remake).
Industry Giant?
Cities in Motion?
Train Fever?
For mental stimulation, I would suggest SpaceChem or Infinifactory. Both are single-player puzzle-solvers, which are sort of programming problems dressed up as games. However, both have some quests that are in real-time (though pausable), so she might get frustrated if she's truly wrestling with controls.
Consider also Transport Tycoon (remade for modern systems). It's a sim for running a transport company, and largely nonviolent (vehicle crashes can happen). It does have multiplayer. Though it's not particularly pretty in its art assets, but maybe she could find joy in lining up railroads and stations.
Transport Tycoon the OpenTTD version is constantly being updated by a community that really loves the classic game. Surprisingly in depth railroad management game with a ton of different loading and connection options.
Also gotta give a shout out to Project1999, old school Everquest MMO. Hamfisted punishment for failure, probably what helped to inspire games like Dark Souls. This game can be a pain to find the install disks but there's a torrent of information out there.
Classic but not fun: first few Mario games, Duck hunt, Pacman, Manic miner, Qbert. I find these (and many others of their time) as boring.
Old, but not outdated: Transport tycoon (esp, OTTD.) Baldurs gate and icewind dale games Blood, Hexen/Heretic series, Doom. Too many to mention here. I play old dos games a lot.
Anyone here ever play OpenTTD? It's a game where you build complex train systems to transport goods everywhere. I call it the grandfather of Factorio.
I also heard it was one of the inspirations for Factorio. Here's a link, the game is free.
lets try this:
- Unistall all those bullshit;
- Delete all related to;
- Download the real thing and install it;
- Start a clean game without "newgrf's" or "gamescripts";
this one should work... if not, clean the top of your dog ^^
Simcity 4 is a great game, tons of mods, and users found ways of playing the game in a multiplayer format:
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=11945.0
OpenRCT2 also has a multiplayer mode:
OpenTTD is also great:
> The scenario where all games would be free software is just impossible. Not in the world we live in.
However, it is possible. OpenTTD to name just one example. It just takes a little more business genius.
One note, for Transport Tycoon you can get it's open source version OpenTTD for free. And it works flawlessly on modern operating systems, which probably can't be said for the original.
Also love love love Outpost II I'm still sad I couldn't get my best friend interested in it because I would have loved to play it multiplayer. The novellas that accompany the campaigns also make for great reading imo.
Hearing it has some bugs at the moment, might want to hold off briefly.
In regards to if you like the genre, give openTTD a try. A bit antiquated, but has essentially the same type of gameplay.
Perhaps this is getting off on a tangent but couldn't the craftmanship and maintenance elements of table-top wargaming translate to a computer game? People could devise their own 2D sprites or 3D models with their own customized coloring and animations. It would involve a new set of artistic skills but I don't know why that would detract people from it. For all I know this might already go on (?), but to me the situation is not dissimilar to the communities around games like openttd where the interest centers around models of trains, trucks, planes, ships, industrial facilities, designs of stations, transportation infrastructure, building and housing types, and all regional/national variations thereof. A few decades ago people into this stuff would be building model trains.
Nope. Transport Tycoon is a very well known economical planning game (which BTW found a later revival in Open Transport Tycoon, an open source implementation). That game I was talking about was exactly like the linked one except for 2D EGA graphics.
OpenTTD, get some mods downloaded using the in-game installer and get sucked into TRAIN LOGISTICS SIMULATOR. Here's a beginner tutorial.
When I was taking Spanish in high school and college, I would often play OpenTTD with the language set to Spanish. Was a great way to learn some vocabulary! My phone, I think, I'd be fine with if it was set to Spanish.
OpenTTD great coop economy that doesnt require 100% attention. You have to build a transport company and multiple players can join the same company. Free to play, loads of mods and many active server.
noone going to mention the old transport tycoon deluxe game? come on guys, where else can you transport candy or soap bubbles or if you feel a bit lame the normal stuff via air, ship, train, truck etc... you can even get it for free at https://www.openttd.org/en/
This game is similar to factory idle in game play. Its not a perfect example of incremental or idle but it has elements of the gametype. It is called openttd. There are two versions you can play an outdated browser version or a downloadable version. The game is a open source version of transport tycoon deluxe. It has you transport goods from place to place. It requires good management skills and planning skills much like factory idle. You can idle the game to a degree but you cannot leave it too long without checking. If you have not played it I recommend you check it out. download version: https://www.openttd.org/en/ In browser: http://epicport.com/en/ttd
There's a free, open-source version called OpenTTD (that's the wiki article about it). It's pretty cool, and very active.
They host it on their own server now for Win, OsX, Linux, and a few others, with pretty regular updates and mods.
My favorite game of all time is Transport Tycoon. Every time i see that Microprose logo it makes me shiver (and feel old). There is a community based reverse engineered version of it called OpenTTD. I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone that enjoys business/transport simulation games.
yeah that wont work as its using .net framework, starbound also shouldnt work, try openttd its free to download, also old fallout games they will work as well, but yeah It looks like your GPU is busted, you could try to heat it up, but sometimes it wont help and when it does its only temporary.
You might like a train game like OpenTDD (an open source version of Transport Tycoon). In the game, you need to build a transport network (mostly trains, but also aircraft, boats and cars) to transport resources and people. Real fun, fully focussed on economics (no warfare or anything).
I also recommend the Immersion citybuilder games (Zeus: Master of Olympus and Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom in particular). These citybuilder games focus more on resource management and less on making pretty cityscapes than other citybuilder games. They have combat, but you can buy off invaders while sending your own armies is completely hands-off.
I dont consider this a mod - it's just an incomplete clone.
I'm guessing the goal is to be more like openttd: https://www.openttd.org/en/
That is a transport tycoon clone that is a fully standalone game.
Try OpenTTD. If you set up a dedicated server somewhere, you could play with a couple dozen people if you wanted to. The game can get pretty complicated at times, so it should keep you guys busy for quite some time.
- openttd: https://www.openttd.org/en/
- league of legends: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/
- smite on steam or http://www.smitegame.com/
- dota2 - on steam
- mortal online (friend on steam says it's fun)
dl the game, install using the open gfx. play whenever you feel like, hit pause and carry on later if you have to stop.
the best game to play at the office when not actually doing anything and getting paid anyway.
If he likes buses and trains, perhaps he'd enjoy OpenTTD, an open source version of the classic transport management game Transport Tycoon Deluxe. You get to build transport networks involving trains, planes and automobiles (and boats) to move passengers and mail from city to city and various cargos from industry to industry. I could not get enough of this as a kid and I still play it 20 years later.
A friend of mine is a developer at browser based WebSimHockey and it's quite good.
Ninja edit: I missed the part where it said "no sports". Still, I'll leave the suggestion.
What about some of the older Tycoon games? Transport Tycoon or its free OpenTTD version is a long time favourite of mine. There are lots of other Tycoon games like Railroad, Airport, Rollercoaster ++
My #1 top recommendation is Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe. Second to none in terms of econ simulation games.
Railroad Tycoon series of games are often hailed as "the best of the econ sim games".
Patrician 4 is basically just the trading-subgame shown in the video above, except vastly expanded into being the whole game.
Settlers 2 is another game that is hailed as one of the best econ sim games. Settlers 7 is the most recent in the series, and might be good if you can put up with the uplay garbage. Settlers 7 is also gameplay-style the closest to the game shown here.
Tropico 4 and Cities Skylines (not cities XXL, which is a terrible game) deserve an honorable mention, but they're more econ-based-citybuilders.
- http://download.cnet.com/OpenTTD-64-bit-for-Windows-XP-Vista-7-8/3000-2119_4-75451177.html
- http://download.cnet.com/OpenTTD-32-bit-for-Windows-XP-Vista-7-8/3000-2119_4-75628734.html
If you're willing to trust CNET. If not, this is the md5 checksum from the source website:
- 64-bit: 582db030e492936e8c4a1be76c2e0cb5
- 32-bit: 1adb046999293c0af81ceb99e8d3f211
Of course search around if you need something non-Windows.
If building simulation and financial strategy is your thing, download OpenTTD. It's a bit like SimCity, except you build transportation networks through a randomly generated map, moving goods and passengers from industries to cities via train, truck, bus, airplane, or ship.
Transport Tycoon. I loved planning the rail lines and once I'd sussed how the signals worked, it was even more fun! Add to that that there is now an open-source remake - OpenTTD - means that I don't even have to stick to Windows to play it now
Chris Sawyer's Locomotion (the follow up) is just as much fun too. BUT WITH CURVES! My one complaint about it is that he should have stuck with the track/road laying system from Transport Tycoon (draw a line between A and B, lay track) but it's no big deal
You might aswell try OpenTTD - it's a transportation game that's a tycoon too, and you can play it on multiplayer.
Also there's RCT 4 coming up, but apparently another studio took it over and now it's going to be shit.
There's also OpenRCT2. Both Open games are, obviously, open sourced so you can contribute too.
Any of the Chris Sawyer games, so rct, ttd. In fact, there is an open source version off transport tycoon right now!
This is about as in-depth as games come...
But it is no dwarf fortress
https://www.openttd.org/en/ Click on the download thing on the right, then select the version you want (latest is 1.5.0) and the OS. Remember to also download OpenGFX and OpenSFX; links to these are on the same download page. The game can either be played with the original textures/sprites or with the open source alternatives (the ones I mentioned above). OpenMSX includes music for the game and is not really needed :)
It's a bit hard game to get into. Mainly because of the old style user interface hah.
Hmm, you could try some PC games then https://www.openttd.org/en/
Build a few train lines, destroy the countryside with industrialization, begin to hate yourself, and three days from now you will be completely broken and ready for Bloodborne.