I wouldn’t dream of suggesting they make it too much like TTD, as I really feel there’s a whole lot that’s too dated to really enjoy anymore in OpenTTD, and by-and-large, they’re things that I feel the Urban guys have absolutely nailed and brought screaming into the 21st century with Train Fever. I’m certainly appreciative of the deep level of procedural simulation going on, and I absolutely love the focus on mastering the terrain and realistic-feeling line engineering. It always bugged the hell out of me that TTD allowed trains to turn such tight corners 😛
It’s possible the reason you feel the USA map almost feels like a re-textured version of the original is because that is literally what it is. Try using the same seed for both settings… it generates an identical map in both cases, even down to the town layouts and names.
As you mention, all I’m hoping for to make this a complete and eternally-compelling game experience for my taste is the addition of a few ways to spice up the map generation. The important parts are all in place as far as I’m concerned, I just want to be able to take on specific and varied challenges. I want to have no choice but to thread a train line through that map-spanning mountain range… I want to tame that winding coastline… I want to build a massive viaduct across that deep, sheer-sided desert gorge! 🙂