2. The economic model is deeper (in the default paksets, which are like TTD's GRFs). The biggest difference is that it has what was referred to in the TTD space as "cargodest" cargo is generated with a destination somewhere on the map, so to get the most cargo you need to build a bigger network.
This is not to be confused with OpenTTD's "cargo distribution" which is a somewhat watered down version where cargo only chooses from destinations already on your network, so the routes are split among all stations you connect up. In OpenTTD, even with cargodist, if you only have two stations for a good to go between, 100% of the source station will go to the destination station. In Simutrans, you'll have a lower input volume until you connect up more.
There have been historical patches for this in other versions (most recently YACD[1]), but most have been abandoned.
The last one was abandoned in favour of cargodist because:
> - This form of routing cargo has a much different game play effect than cargo dist.
> - The current implementation is too expensive in CPU time, you'll hit CPU limits too soon (the current game already has this problem)
> - There is no easy road to reduce that CPU cost (at least nobody found one so far)
I'm not sure why it's considered too expensive for OpenTTD, but not for Simutrans. It might be because of the larger map size options, something inherent to the way the TTD map is structured, or just OpenTTD's desire to maintain it's "runs on a toaster" status.
You might find some patch packs that will work in the OpenTTD development forum that include YACD[2].
That would be definitely great for passengers, mail, goods, but I think for raw materials it should just pick the nearest factory? Or at least have it as a preference.
Also I would also love for cargo being able to be transferred between competitors. Ideally natively (for passengers at least) if the stations are near enough.
