Below is an outline of the different vehicle types in Wasteland including what's already implemented as well as what's planned for the future. As of 0.3 all basic vehicles are implemented including custom railtypes, with the exception of monorail and maglev trains which are coming later. Version 0.4 also introduces Autorefit support for all vehicles.

Planned Features

Much is planned for the future of vehicles including awesome post-apocalyptic graphics, but for now mostly only basic functionality is implemented for gameplay. All modes of transport are now included; road vehicles, trains, aircraft and ships. However, these vehicles are mostly prototypes and in need of thorough testing to determine more appropriate stats. Although current graphics are bare bones, the code is fully implemented to support all cargoes and loading states for all applicable vehicles. All I need is sprites to fill the gaps, and people to playtest the current vehicles to improve them.

Road Vehicles

Since version 0.2, Wasteland includes a full complement of nearly 150 road vehicles spanning over 150 years of gameplay. As of version 0.4, Road Vehicles have different performance and costs based on their engine types; Petroleum, Electric, or Nuclear.

Petroleum is obviously much more scarce by the time the game takes place, and as a result these vehicles will be proportionally more expensive to operate than the other types. However, the internal combustion engine is a relatively simple technology which makes it easy to build and maintain, so these vehicles are very cheap to buy. Just don’t expect to be blown away by the performance!

Electric Vehicles are gaining ground in the modern world, and in 60 years or so in the time of Wasteland, they will be commonplace. These vehicles may use a variety of electric devices to power themselves, but the result is the same: A slightly more expensive vehicle with better capacity and overall performance compared to petroleum.

And then there’s Nuclear power, the ultimate power source! Road Vehicles equipped with nuclear-powered engines are just better at everything: higher speed, bigger payload, and even relatively cheap running costs due to their low maintenance and no need for refueling. Performance always comes at a cost however, so expect to pay a hefty bill for the initial purchase!

There are five main types of vehicle, each with their own unique cargoes they can haul (with the exception of a few that cross over):

There are also a few articulated vehicles and road trains available as well, some offering multiple configurations in size. These vehicles offer greatly increased capacity but are generally slower and more expensive as a result.

Trains

As of version 0.3, Wasteland includes a full roster for the two finished railtypes, scav rail and normal rail. There are plans to also include monorail and maglev, however they will be added later.

Scavenged Rail

Scav rail is a cheap, low speed railtype made from scavenged material in the wasteland. Because of its crude construction it is not suitable for use by normal vehicles; only specially adapted locomotives can handle the rickety tracks.

The scav rail vehicles are much cheaper compared to their standard counterparts, however they are also generally slower and less powerful, but can still be useful in the late game for branch lines and feeders.

Normal Rail

In standard Wasteland there is no distinction between different gauges, nor are there any types of electrification, just standard gauge rail. Aside from scav rail this is the only common railtype included. Locomotives built for use on normal rail are incompatible with scav rail, however scav rail vehicles are able to travel on normal rail.

Ships

Ships are comprised of three main types: ferries, tankers and cargo ships. Ferries themselves come in two varieties: conventional ships and high-speed jet boats. Both carry passengers/wastelanders, but differ greatly in performance. Jet boats are obviously much faster than their conventional cousins, but as a consequence of their high speed design they lack the passenger capacity of the larger ferries, and are also more expensive. But, Passengers will pay a pretty penny if you get them there quicker, so the increased cost might just pay off.

Tankers and cargo ships are pretty basic on the other hand, they haul your cargo from point-a to point-b just like everything else, they just do it a lot bigger! They can be useful for bulk cargoes like gravel, iron ore, and oil, which don't suffer as much from late delivery penalties. Even water can be lucrative when transported via ship due to its high payout, but the low speed will hinder profits compared to other delivery methods.

Aircraft

Aircraft are somewhat uncommon early in the game, with little more than a helicopter and maybe a few small planes available. Not many people are accustomed to air travel in the post-apocalyptic world, and obtaining working aircraft is difficult. As time progresses though the world will eventually catch up and more planes will start appearing.

Aircraft fit into three categories: small planes, large planes, and helicopters. Most aircraft are refittable to cargoes early on, but generally their high cost and low bulk capacity will make them difficult to turn a profit in this way. Passengers, however, will make a good deal of money due to the (usually) quicker delivery times compared to land-based transport, making them a good choice later in the game.

Helicopters can be especially useful for transporting passengers to-and-from Offshore Colonies, where other modes of transport may be impractical. And because Offshore Colonies are a rare source of passengers early in the game, two nearby colonies wanting to trade with each other can prove to be lucrative for the transport business servicing them!

Please note that a plane speed factor of 1:1 is highly recommended for using aircraft in Wasteland! (this setting can be changed in the OpenTTD settings menu)

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