Transport Master/Empire Ideas

Date: 26th November 2003 (version 2)

Original document compiled by Chris 'Awkward' McKenna.

Converted to HTML by Matthew Wilson (dominionspy).

For the latest version of this document please visit the ideas forum on tt-forums.net.

Disclaimers:

I have tried to remove duplicate ideas, but can't guarantee it. I have made no attempt to remove contradictory ideas.
Some ideas may have already been taken forward/rejected, I will try to include this as a later comment but can't guarantee it.
The ideas are roughly sorted by category then by date suggested, The categories are roughly in alphabetical order. Categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
I make no guarantee that I have correctly understood/summarised all ideas.
Spelling errors are probably mine (some corrected by dominionspy).

The following format is used:

New Catergory

The Ideas

AI / Multiplayer / Scenarios

Real transport war, eg modifiable fares.
Internet multiplayer (8 players max?) (GameSpyArcade?) (must not be too complicated for novice players).
Intelligent AI - same rules as player.
Multiplayer should be true client/server (like quake). AI should be a 'real' network client.
AI manager.
Taunt your opponent.
High scores ranking on internet.
Scenarios with objectives.
AI plugin so everyone can design their smart AI (AI competition = fun).
Cooperation in online games (see Rein's post here for LOTS of detail).
Upload custom HQ models while joining a multiplayer game.

Bridges / Tunnels

Bridges >1 tile high.
No bridges on bridges.
Diagonal / inclined / curved.
Multi-level.
Combination of road/rail bridges.
Bridges over diagonals.
Signals on bridges/in tunnels.
Tunnel under water (very expensive under sea).
More than one track per bridge (how is this better than twin bridges?).
Tunnel costs vary with ground type (rock high, water v. high).
Sloped tunnels (eg in Switzerland have helix inside mountain if no space outside).
Vacuum tunnels for maglev (v.v.v.v. fast).
Tunnel intersections.
Roads / rails parallel under bridges.
Signals / trains on lines parallel on top of tunnels should not affect signals / trains in tunnel.
Build tunnels without having to make a wall against the mountains. Simply let the game do it... At a price, of course.

Charts / Graphs / Menus

With each month, a new point is drawn on the charts... (small 2x2 pixel square)... If the same charts system is included in TM/TE, how about the ability to move your mouse over one of those points, and some info about why your rating has increased/dropped... eg: The performance rating rises by 50 points. When you place your mouse cursor over the chart, a piece of text tells you that the performance increases because... for example, your loans are repayed...
Option to look through all years, like with the balance each year that you can scroll back to previous years. Two years isn't enough for a good trend analyses.
Cargo payment rates graph: select units and distance (eg 150 units of cargo 42 squares), able to move the mouse over a point (days in transit) to see the income.

Climates

3 (TTD -toyland).
weather influence.
City: passengers, mail, goods, deliveries (eg. pizza, electronics, etc), drugs, etc. Local traffic (larger catchment areas, slower progression of time (day/night?)).
Unlimited climates / terrains (add-ons).
Replace toyland with city terrain.
One big map with more than one climate on (e.g. mountains with snowy peaks with desert in between) (artic deserts, tundra).

Disasters / Breakdowns / Accidents

Realistic / enhanced disasters - e.g. earthquakes, tornadoes (cf Sim City 4) (signal failure?).
Sinking ships.
Oil spills (must pay to clear up, ships must avoid for 6 months) (appalling local authority rating after disaster, but only half as bad after successful cleanup?).
Car crashes.
Trucks can accidentally fall off huge cliffs, or tumble down mountains. Planes can be hijacked and rammed into tall skyscrapers (All sorts could happen. But not necessarily will... ).
Animals on track (train must stop to check).
'Regional investigator' for sabotage, big penalties for getting caught (like TTDPatch 'bribe').
A uranium train crash would send ratings to 0 and you'd have to pay to clean it up (uranium crash in settlement: evacuate town/city. no accept or produce cargo for many years. crash elsewhere: 15x15 radiation spill. passengers/livestock passing though die, other goods not fit for humans therefore no income. town buildings in 15x15 as above. - minor radiation spills for not servicing regularly (2x2-5x5)).
Sea levels rise - floods.
Mad cow disease, farm(s) affected produce no livestock (for a year)
Foot and mouth disease (cf Britain 2000 / 2001). All farms stop producing livestock for a year. (passenger travel to rural areas plummets, recovers more gradually).
Droughts.
Aircraft breakdowns: should have the option to divert to a closer airport over land. If that is competitors, it costs you money, vice versa for your competitors at your airports. Emergency landings go to head of queue, even over taking off aircraft. (fewer breakdowns, only tiny number in flight. Three types of in-flight breakdown - minor: slow down; major: emergency landings req. crash if don't get there; very major: crash) (technical faults at airports - planes delayed while fixed, ratings would drop for type(s) of cargo carried).
September 11th - aircraft crashes into a tall commercial building (cf also buildings at end of airports). Passenger numbers at airports only 1/10th or less for one year (very sensitive subject - shouldn't be included).
Hijacking valuable trains etc. Lose cargo for that trip. Ratings drop (lose use of vehicle for {3months-2years} for crime investigation {if train or lorry, railway/road sealed off for 4? days}).
Forest fire - produces no wood. Can spread at 1 square/day. Can burn down towns.
Dynamite blows up at industry (yes, but only very occasionally).
Hunger strike: town stops accepting food (too silly - some people will still want food of course. They'd all die after ~40 days).
In the tropical climate, a ¡Revolución! - Everybody loses a large portion of their money and prices fluctuate as a new regime is installed and the currency changes. Players may also have to deal with an AI-controlled Authorite de Transporte Federál. (Possible, but again quite tricky to implement. Probably not worth the hassle. Except if there was a national transport company (in any game) introduced randomly it could add an extra level of difficulty if they received unfair state subsidies!).
Pirates hijack your passenger ferry or hovercraft and drive it off the map. (a bit silly - it would just get annoying after the first time).
Pirates steal a buoy, disrupting the path-finding ability of ships (as above).
Assassins kill a rival company owner. All other companies are suspected, and as a result, their ratings drop a bit. The other company's leader gets a new face, a new name, and may use a different strategy (i.e. previously focusing on road vehicles, now using mostly aircraft).
Derailments. Some/all cargo is lost in big derailment. Oil spills different to coal spills, etc.

Employees

Salaries.
Training affects rating (more important than vehicle age).
Hire lawyers to make signing contracts easier.

Graphics

Keep same style as TTD.

Industries / Local Authorities (LAs)

Industries list: list showing all industries with production.
Sort list by type, production, connected.
Able to own industries and profit from them.
Travel agencies - commission to give passengers/mail/cargo.
Banks have gold/silver/bronze/platinum/diamonds/other precious stones to ship.
Car factories.
Chemical plants.
Abaka (what is this?).
Phosphate.
Oil deposits allowed anywhere (refineries?).
Oil rigs at sea, not inshore.
Solar/hydro/nuclear/coal/gas/etc power plants, can be owned (presumably if you own you can sell electric to towns/not have to pay for electricity to run trains, etc).
Rent industries (pay amount of money per year/month and for exclusive rights) (sign contracts with industries / LAs).
No industry limit per town.
Have to sign contract for electricity from LA (cf power plants above).
Several layers of authority (what for?).
Building tracks also dependent on LA rating.
Visible borders of LA influence (as long as they are easily turned on/off).
More of industry inside catchment area = more of cargo.
Power stations show production (kWh) (should affect town growth).
Nuclear power plants - transport uranium from mines to plant, and nuclear waste to waste facility. Waste would need to be transferred fast! (have to route waste not trough towns or get poor ratings?) Only be one or two nuclear power plants / 2-3 uranium mines per map. Profits would be high, but risks also high (cf disasters).
HQ/regional office accepts people/mail/goods (stationary, etc), produces people and mail.
Gas wells (gas)->gas power station (power)->cities.
Oil wells (crude oil)/mines (minerals)->chemical plant (chemicals)->factory (goods)->towns/cities.
Furniture factory (requires: wooden planks from sawmill).
Coal/iron ore (also limestone from a quarry) to steel mill. Steel pipes/coils/sheets to car factory/factories/construction offices etc.
Large towns require cars from car factory (to dealerships).
Supply construction materials (wood, steel) to towns to get them to grow.
Oil refineries produce petrol and diesel as well, which you have to transport to petrol stations in towns/cities and diesel to road/train depots.
Towns: supply passengers/workers and mail that will want to go to a specific area/town and accept passengers/workers and mail who want to go there, refined goods, paper, furniture and food (any providing on type of shops in town).
Oil wells: supply crude oil.
Rigs: supply gas and oil.
Forests: supply raw wood.
Grain farms: supply grain, maize, barley etc, increase production if supplied with manure.
Livestock farms: supply cattle, goats etc., unprocessed milk and fertiliser.
Uranium mines: supply uranium.
Copper ore mines: supply copper ore.
(Plant name) plantation: vary between strawberries, apples, pears, oranges, grapes, bananas, lemons, coffee and pineapple, increase production is supplied with fertiliser.
Oil refineries: supply refined oil in exchange for crude oil.
copper mills: supply copper in exchange for copper ore.
Steel mills: supply steel pipes and steel coils in exchange for iron ore and/or coal.
Weapons factories: supply weapons in exchange for steel and/or copper.
Canneries: supply tinned food in exchange for apples, pears, oranges, pineapple, coffee and steel (any) and supply packed food in exchange for strawberries, grapes, lemons, bananas and plastic.
Plastic factories: supply plastic in exchange for chemicals.
Mills: supply flour (differs depending on type of grain delivered) in exchange for grain, barley etc.
Bakeries: supply bread (differs depending on type of flour delivered) in exchange for flour (any).
Sawmills: supply wooden planks in exchange for raw wood.
Furniture factories: supply furniture in exchange for wooden planks.
Dairies: supply processed milk (is type of food) in exchange for unprocessed milk.
Coal power plants: supply electricity in exchange for coal.
Gas power plants: supply electricity in exchange for gas.
Oil power plants: supply electricity in exchange for refined oil.
Nuclear power plants: supply electricity and waste in exchange for uranium.
Chemical factories: supply chemicals in exchange for refined oil.
Fertiliser plants: supply fertiliser in exchange for chemicals and/or manure.
Paper mills: supply paper in exchange for raw wood.
Waste plants/landfills: accept waste.
Farms: wheat,. barley, rye, canola, oil seed rape, rice, cattle, pigs.
HQ gives you extra good-will in the LA where it is located. (Similar but smaller effect for regional offices).
LA range should get larger as the town grows.

Miscellaneous

Global advertising (make your own).
Lighthouses placed by computer or player (what's the point?).
Have wonders of the word as tourist spots, attract large numbers of passengers (also small goods - souvenirs) (also other tourist attractions).
Company logo.
Your photo as company face.
TTDPatch features.
Universal file formats (XML).
Easy to use mouse controls, shortcut keys etc (user definable shortcut keys).
Control game speed (locked to normal for network multiplayer).
Could be expanded with a module that takes it from the industrial and city management side so in one game there could be a few player with transport corps, a few with industries and a few playing with local authorities...
All components, features, etc optional (like TTDPatch) (with a GUI interface) (switch between 'realistic mode' and 'old TTD mode') (option to save and export settings to share with others).
Vandalism - pay to repair/clean stations/vehicles (prevented by employing security personnel).
Everything that isn't impossible to change customisable.
Ground signs.
Advertising hoardings. Some owned by local authority, rent space on them to increase your rating. Also buy some yourself.
Choose your own logo.
Choose / design your own livery(ies).

Roads / Railways

One-way roads.
More realistic curves.
Underground stations and signals.
Rail / electric rail / cog rail / maglev (different types of electric: DC third rail (eg SE England), AC Overhead line (eg TTDPatch style)).
Trains can't handle all curves.
Elevated highway/railways (railways can go into buildings? (cf New York/Tokyo)).
Signals for road vehicles.
Waypoints (distinct from stations) (signal boxes?) (set routes, not waypoints).
Light rail (under/over ground).
Trams.
Rent use of opponents rails/etc (cf stations).
Teleport system (would make game very boring) (no skill due to no infrastructure).
Pay for upkeep of track, choose amount, but the less you pay the more likely derailments are.
Option for cheaper railways, but don't allow max speed (electric track: 60 km/h - 100$ per meter, 120 km/h - 250$ per meter, 160 km/h - 400$ per meter, 200 km/h - 700$ per meter, 250 km/h - 1000$ per meter, 300 km/h - 1500$ per meter and so on).
Shortcut for track and road laying - pop-up junction types menu, so get standard junction every time (would need to be able to override).
Able to lay double track in one action (not lay one, then lay another one next to it) (would make junctions harder to build).
Roads have speed limits, different limits for urban/rural/highway.
Different types of rail gauges - Russian (wide), normal, narrow (GWR Broad gauge).
Different types of road (cobbles, asphalt) (cobbles aren't cheap. cheap road=dirt, better=gravel, even better=macadam, good=asphalt, really good=concrete (although not good in cold climate due to ice wear) (concrete also much noisier, so people might complain)).
Safety is very important to rating/usage of railways (influenced by loco type, maintenance, signals, staff training).
Ghost lines (e.g. like in housing developments).
Realistic way of changing to monorail/maglev.
Signals built like track. (How would this work?).
Click on HQ to: buy stock in that company (if not yours), check company ratings, check books (not current year if not yours), hiring managers, setting dividend, bribing authority.
Sound walls need for rails near residential areas - ratings drop otherwise (sound walls reduce impact).

Start Year

1920/30 (train progression as TTD).
1820s (start with Pony Express like Fargo & Wells).
1804 (first steam locomotive).
1825 (first passenger service by railway).
Pre-industrial (start with horses).
Late 1800s.
1828 (year of first railroad service - Stockton-Darlington).
Must be an option for the user (but earliest should be decided from above. Should we have a latest start year?).
1900.

Stations / Depots / Airports / Heliports / Ports

In station list show vehicles using the station (all that have visited or all ordered to visit?).
Can build hotels, restaurant, (refrigerated) cargo storage.
Switching for trains, livestock pen (split to warehouses/loading bays/terminals).
Engine shop.
International/domestic airports. Int:5-9 runways. Domestic:2-4 runways (shorter runways for domestic. min of 1 runway for both).
Charter/scheduled flights/trains.
Terminals for train/plane/bus, etc (?).
Many docks/cranes.
Max 3/city.
International and domestic harbours (cf airports idea above).
Catchment area differs for types.
Modular building of airports - zone an area as airport, place runways/terminals/control tower/etc in the area how you wish (points per item, higher rating = higher max points available. thus improvement possible).
Non-rectangular stations, etc.
Airports built by towns, free for all transport companies. option to buy more cargo/passengers for your company (as a % - eg. if two companies each default to 50%, buy more in 5/10% jumps) (ditto for ports, bus stations, lorry stations) (if your company 'really sucks' you can be evicted).
Roadside bus stops.
RoRo RV stations.
Rent use of stations from competitor (also rail/road/etc).
Train depots should be as long as train in order to service.
Larger lorry stations.
Separate stations - cargo bays, passenger platforms, etc.
Pre-designed stations for those who don't want to design their own.
Max 15 platforms/station (make this a game setting?).
Multi-level stations (look at Portsmouth & Southsea station in UK).
Station facilities develop through time - start with just benches.
Long distances busses only stop at bus station, not a roadside stop (cf).
Public stations, with lots of tracks so multiple companies can connect.
Larger RV stations (separate for diff cargo?).
Stations have capacities (e.g. you wont get 1000ppl at a bus station).
Helicopter service ports so they don't have to go to an airport for service.
Urban/suburban/rural/industrial/etc stations.
Helicopters to land on most commercial buildings.
Heliports: incidental:1x1 - helicopters. small: 2x2 - can hold 2 VTOL craft. medium 2x3 - can hold 4 VTOL, large 3x4 can hold 6 VTOL craft. All should include a depot that builds only VTOLs.
Road depots built near petrol stations and car dealerships (cf) get cheaper vehicles.
Floating docks (e.g. like Venice).
Can't have large buildings at end of runway - propeller aircraft (only at short runway airports): low/no buildings for 1 square, medium 2nd square. - jet: low/no for 2 squares: med for further 1/2. - supersonic: low/now for 3, med for further 3. New buildings above height not allowed by local authority, existing ones demolished (this needs to be possible as part of building airport).
Increase catchment area (proportional to station size) (should be on a per station basis: select station, select "enlarge catchment area". Cash id deducted based on the number of squares added. (there should be a maximum). The LA gets a say in whether it goes or not).

Stock Market / Finances

Company mergers (isn't this covered in TTD?).
Have stock market buying your bonds/stocks.
Detailed balance sheet (like TTD isn't detailed?).
Borrow any quantity of money each loan (€1000 units?).
Hiring managers (no, too RT2 like).

Subsidies / Cargo

Passengers and cargo have destination point (people only get on train if it goes to their destination) (if no direct journey do in stages. max 3 legs?) (fines for breaking contracts. also lose rating).
Long distance subsidies.
To transport cargo you must buy it and sell later (must carefully check a price where it is best to sell), so buy->travel->sell. - if you own one or both industries it costs much less (or nothing?).
Goods sold for higher price if raw materials transported from further away.
Enough coal has to be transported to power stations to keep electric trains running.
Coal to be transported to depots for steam trains (also diesel from oil refineries for diesel trains).
Speed shouldn't be a factor for cargos like coal.
All vehicles can carry all cargoes.
Keep cargo realistic - e.g. airplanes can't carry water.
Cargo doesn't appear at station if no facility to transport it (TTDPatch style) (also if planes can't carry water (cf), then an airport only station shouldn't be shown as accepting water. maybe just show water entry as grey).
Different types of passengers - industrial/commercial/domestic (lots of people not keen on this).
More mail is produced from mid November until Christmas.
Huge amount of mail produced between mid/late 80s and mid/late 2010s for mass advertising flyers, etc.
Higher payment rates for air transport.
Possible to sell parts of your company (e.g. airports/aircraft).
Split 'goods' into categories. eg. lumber, petroleum products, etc.
Industries output more in the morning. No industries output at night.
Passengers go to work in the morning > transport demand in residential areas.
Transport demand in working areas in evening.
Recycling: transport scrap metal back to factories.
Variable payment rates: payment would be slightly random (1 ton of coal always pay more than 1 passenger, but by differing amounts). Each cargo from a different area would be worth more or less than from another area (2 forests next door produce same quality wood, but one 100 squares away might be not as good).

Towns / Cities

Mail centres.
Hotels.
Restaurant.
Mall.
Market place.
(Train company to build, operate and profit from all above).
Growth factor such as increased food, etc.
Civil traffic on roads (traffic jams) (traffic lights) (turn off for slow computers).
Realistic population.
Zoning.
Pollution.
Realistic passenger / mail / goods production / requirement.
Partial support for building stations.
More naming options.
Import user created/downloaded lists (eg. of Somerset settlements, capital cities, places beginning with P, etc) (less tedious than renaming all the cities individually).
Subsidies for intra-city transport when a certain size is reached.
Build offices and rent them out.
Rent out office space in your HQ/regional office.
Large offices produce high-paying passengers (executives).

Vehicles

Sorted vehicle/station lists (sort by age, reliability, income, vehicle name).
Lock main view to a vehicle.
Delete whole train with one command (like TTDPatch).
Cloneable commands (like TTDPatch).
Realistic slope handling (eg trains can't handle >3%).
Cog-wheel trains (cf rail section).
Maglevs cope with 10% slope.
Train types: limited / express / commuter / special cargo / etc (not really needed unless traffic flows simulated (e.g. commuters, long distance travellers, etc)) (cf passengers/cargo have destinations).
Taxis (what's the point?).
Specialist types not available outside that region / country.
Bid for slots in airports owned by cities.
Ships: supertanker / refrigerated / bulk / etc.
Oil reserves for own vehicle.
Marshaling yards.
Goods transferable at depots.
Unique sounds.
Easily editable.
Exclusive contracts with vehicle manufacturer.
Fund research to gain vehicles years ahead of competitors (what happens if competitor signs exclusive contract while you are funding research?) (give manufacturers some requirements).
If a manufacturer offers you chance to test vehicle and you say yes but then don't, much less likely to offer again.
Oil by helicopter (not v. useful due to limited capacity) (any cargo by any transport).
Include all trains that have ever been created (big database!).
Stream trains need to take on more coal/water (only do this in stations / depots / marshalling yards?).
Road vehicles on trains.
Loco can pick up/set down carriages at stations (e.g. loco takes maize from farm to factory, sets down the grain wagons, picks up food wagons and takes the food to the city).
With passenger destinations make split trains possible (e.g. two DMUs together take passengers from Big City to Local Town, where they split one taking passengers to Small Village and the other to Little Village).
Trains run backwards.
Trains don't auto-reverse (make a difficulty setting).
Set switch positions for each train separately. options: turn left / turn right / go straight / don't change (it will go as switch position is).
Double-decker vehicles.
Load options: unload (unload and don't deliver cargo) full load (load all cars) (not really useful for Passenger traffic) half load: load all cars halfway. full/half load one type (TTDPatch style) maximum time (so that a train leaves station when load option is met OR after a set time, whichever happens first).
Passenger trains should wait at station for a fixed period or until the departure time, whichever is the longer.
Instead of waiting for train to be loaded, the engine could drop of the wagons and pick up already loaded ones, haul them to their destination and drop them off for unloading, pick up empties and return to first station. Engine is running all the times, not waiting for load/unload (loads more carriages needed, but 1 engine running 3 trains).
20 carriage maximum train (640m/40TTD squares would be better. Change from 160m in 1850 to 640m from 1940 and so on) (bigger trains aren't efficient in TTD ratings scheme).
Localised vehicle sets (eg British set, USSR set, Italian set, etc).
Max 25 locomotive types per game (to aid choice).
Different kinds of passenger cars (HSTs can only use HST cars, local trains use local carriages, etc).
1st and 2nd class passenger cars (1:5 ratio of 1st:2nd passengers) (set person class: Person_class1: travels only in 1st class. class 2 only travels in 2nd class. class 3 travel in first class but will go 2nd if 1st is full. should be random so a train with only 1 class stands to loose half potential profit) (on UK HSTs there are 2/3rds of the number of 1st class seats as 2nd class seats. 2nd class costs 2/3rds of 1st class) (busses accept 1st and 2nd class passengers) (1st and 2nd class on aircraft as well (specify proportions on refit? what about no-frills airlines?)) (3rd class also before WWII, but not after) (on aeroplanes, if not enough first class passengers, some 2nd class get upgraded. you don't profit more, but your ratings get a massive boost).
Urban busses distinct from long-haul busses.
Inertia (e.g. when electric train goes on none electric track it gradually slows to a stop) (long trains start to slow before station).
School busses - houses produce 'students' and you have to transport them to school (school as an industry, produces 1 student for every student delivered) (have a delay of say 7 hours in city climate / 1 day in standard timed climates) (make a switch - they don't exist in The Netherlands).
Steam trains can't go into underground systems (max tunnel length?).
Australian-style road trains (expensive, high risk at level crossings. long breaking distance).
Priority trains (coal gives way to food gives way to fruit gives way to passengers).
Planes should bank when turning.
VTOL aircraft. Eventually supersonic VTOL.
If a train regularly went to a station that had too much cargo, then the next time it was serviced, the game could automatically add a few more wagons to it to compensate for the large amount of cargo (build warehouses, grain silo's and such. This keeps the product 'fresh' so you gain a higher profit, no matter how long it has been waiting for you to pick up) (not as high as delivering fresh, but much slower decline).
Aircraft Carriers (ACs) for servicing planes mid-route -owned by military, no transport company can buy one. -occasional message in newspaper: TES Gredhatten Ridge for tour of duty in waters near Aberley Cross. (AI will need to intelligently place them, no ACs in small lakes). -Cost money to land, and only in emergencies (breakdowns). ACs Not available during war (cf War category) (ACs not a good idea. most civilian planes can't land on them).
Rockets (send cargo to moon).

War

Transport rivalries set aside. (Ratings? You care only about your RATINGS? We're at war here!").
Throughout the game, the military sets up bases (army, navy, air force) in the game world. While War is declared, the draft makes Passenger services to military bases WAY more profitable.
Goods, Oil, and Steel pay-offs spike.
"Scrap Drives" allow towns to produce a modest amount of steel, which can be delivered to factories, which can now produce Weapons. All military bases accept weapons. This is only available during war. (weapons should be available all the time, just produced in much lower quantities. Should distinguish light weapons (guns, etc), from heavy (tanks, etc), explosives (can explode en route in disasters, take out surrounding buildings, etc)).
Enemy bombings take out industries / towns.
Sell crashed vehicles for scrap metal (have option to transport this).

Water / Terrain / Map

Smaller tiles than TTD.
Terrain lower than sea level.
Rivers (different types - broad/fast-flowing/shallow/curves).
Canals and an ability to place a dock on flat land.
No slopes (cliffs?).
Cliffs/vertical slopes.
Terrain editing like RollerCoaster Tycoon (too slow for over ground? easier for underground?) (underground should be like SC2000) (note from dominionspy: I think these comments are related to track laying - not terrain editing).
Mutli-level slopes (eg 90°,110°,125°,135°) (as RCT would be good).
Not all water at sea level, some higher/lower (eg. mountain lakes).
Map not necessarily an island.
Map size: large/small/medium/ultra large.
Can see map for flight/train.
Auto-scrolling when you bump into the maps screen border.
Rotate map.
Several maps - one for each planet in solar system (space flight needed. not enough processor power currently).
Canalisation of rivers/flooding if made too narrow.
Coral reef - ships have 50% chance of crashing if going through so use buoys to avoid (sub-tropical climate only for realism?).
Replace toyland with city terrain.
Replace trees around lumber mills.
Unlimited terrains (add-ons).
One big map with more than one climate on (e.g. mountains with snowy peaks with desert in between) (artic deserts, tundra).
RollerCoater Tycoon style terrain editing (no, use TTD style or have an option to choose).
Floating cities?