When comparing Warsow vs Simutrans, the Slant community recommends Simutrans for most people. In the question“What are the best free (No F2P!) games for PC?” Simutrans is ranked 15th while Warsow is ranked 37th. The most important reason people chose Simutrans is:
Each product has a chosen destination and they will only use your company if you deliver them where they want.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Ultra-fast gameplay
Here some numbers: Warsow is based on Quake game engine, just like Counter-Strike so numbers are comparable. In CS you are moving usually at speed 320 ups. In Warsow average duel match goes with speeds 600-900. In CA mode most of players moving at speeds around 1000ups. And in insta CA mode on some maps you can expect opponent flying at 1500-2000ups.
Pro For both competitive and casual players
If you want to go hard then go to the online servers and pick duel mode. This is the hardest mode in the game. You will need to have many different skills to beat even an average player. If you want to just have fun you can pick bomb or ica modes. Bomb mode is much like de_* maps in Counter-Strike.
Pro One of the best gateway arena shooters for your friends
Well optimized, small file size, good bots, cute graphics, free, standard arena weapon set, good tutorial... If you are trying to get your friends to try playing hardcore arena shooters with you, like your Quake, UT, Reflex or what have you, this is a quick and free download that won't take too much convincing that will also give you a great experience.
Pro Good old Quake-like game mechanics
Pro Has match-making feature
Game optionally can collect your statistics to find game that matches your skills.
Pro One of the best gateway arena shooters for your friends
Well optimized, small file size, good bots, cute graphics, free, standard arena weapon set, good tutorial... If you are trying to get your friends to try playing hardcore arena shooters with you, like your Quake, UT, Reflex or what have you, this is a quick and free download that won't take too much convincing that will also give you a great experience.
Pro Passengers & goods have their own travel destinations
Each product has a chosen destination and they will only use your company if you deliver them where they want.
Pro Multiple paksets
There are multiple graphic packages to choose from, each with different dynamics. So even though you have mastered one pakset you can have a different gameplay with another.
Pro Cross platform
Available for Windows, Mac, Linux & Steam-OS.
Pro Available through Steam
Simutrans is available through Steam for those who prefer automatic updates and game management through Steam.
Pro Transportation
For fans of transportation games it has lots of vehicle options and things to transport. The multiple graphical packages also mean a, kind-of, multiple games in one, as each graphical package can be completely different from the others.
Pro Multiplayer
Multiplayer support still has bugs and disconnections happen, but it works and is easier to setup with version 120.3 and up. It also allows you to setup servers without announcing them to other players, though that requires manual work.
Pro Map customisation
The map has multiple customisation options, like map size, climate zones, terrain 'roughness' and number of rivers, cities, industries and tourist attractions, & more.
Pro Modding
Creating new objects is not too hard, as long as you have some drawing skills you just need a text file with some parameters and then you can compile it to enjoy. Some paksets even rely on rendering from 3D objects.
Pro Community
Even though the game is old the community is active and open to developers and modders who want to improve the game. Decisions on how the game evolve also accept the decision of the majority of the community.
Pro More complex version called "Extended" for hardcore gamers
A fork of the project called Simutrans Extended extends the standard game with more complex and realistic features for extra complexity and realism for those who like hardcore gameplay. The fork is available in their official forums.
Cons
Con Hard for beginners
Quake is hardcore game. Sharp shooting is far from enough to be good at it. You need to control position of your opponents, plan your strategy really fast, control powerups, etc. Warsow is much like Quake, but movement is more complex and plays an important role.
Con Too few people online
Usually 80-150 players are online, and all the people are spread out over many modes of the game. So if you want to play duel or arena, you must wait or pickup opponents on an IRC.
Con Small difference in skill results in a huge difference in score
For example you can lose with a score such as 20:1, and this is okay.