I don't think you are the only one that is fine with it being RCT3 style management. However I do feel that Frontier tried to sell me on a bigger promise than that.I have to say I dont mind management being RCT1 and 2 levels of same (I actually dont think its worse than RCT3 though, RCT3 management was broken because of the peeps groups and never fixed properly), but I understand people wanting management to eveolve in this games and if added it would be pretty welcomed.
PC is literally overflowing with personality in its lavish visual presentation, and even its loading screen exudes humour and charm, but paradoxically the actual game itself is timid and sterile. "Create" is a gorgeous virtual world of magic, full of personality right down to the smallest detail, but the "Manage" aspect is... spreadsheets? The game itself desperately needs the huge personality so abundant on-screen.
So having played the beta now for a while I have to say I am slightly disappointed with what we got.
I think the 3d building part of the game is absolutely marvelous, and visual-wise it is possible to build the most amazing theme parks with this game. Also the latest update with new rides, fixes and larger map size show that Frontier is listening to feedback and improving where they can.
That said however I am really truly deeply disappointing with the management/career/simulation part of the game. Could spend hours talking about this, and I've given very clear feedback with images and specific examples why this is so on the official forums. Hopefully if someone here disagrees they will take the time to read through some of the management feedback first. Also if you don't care about management and only care about building then fine but respect the fact that others considered this a management game as well (Create, Manage, Share).
https://forums.planetcoaster.com/sh...ept-for-the-management-career-part?highlight=
https://forums.planetcoaster.com/showthread.php/13994-Far-too-easy-and-bland?highlight=
https://forums.planetcoaster.com/sh...relating-to-management-and-the-management-UIs
I'm afraid that at best (with bug fixing, a UI overhaul and more balancing) this will be slightly better than RCT3 was in terms of management and simulation. That might not be a bad thing perse but if I am honest I did expect there to be a bigger evolution in terms of gameplay and simulation depth.
I don't think you are the only one that is fine with it being RCT3 style management. However I do feel that Frontier tried to sell me on a bigger promise than that.
Also we still miss quite a few things from RCT3 management wise:
- Park inspector
- VIP objectives
- Vandalism/Security
- Weather/Umbrella
- Custom menu items in shops
But more than that I feel that there has been a lot of improvement in terms of the game engine, graphics and 3d building tools and very little improvement everywhere else. Not only do I find the simulation elements (such as staff management) to be very bare bones but I also don't think it is very well presented to the gamer. Or as someone else on the official forums stated it:
I don't believe RCT1 had any AI whatsoever. Just peeps aimlessly walking around and getting on rides. That's just a hallow shell to make it look like your park is running well.Im not fine with RCT3 level management, because RCT3 was broken from the get a go (the groups bug). Im happy with RCT1 and 2 because it was basic but worked, just as this game.
You very much have a point here. But you also understand that RCT3 is currently still the golden standard to live up to. I'm perfectly fine with removing elements from RCT3 that are unnecessary and don't improve the game (such as vandalism/security mechanic).Also, I dont usually like to compare a game with "it misses this and that from this game" becuase there actually a deeper meaning to not having some things and the game be improved in others.
I guess this is just a weird Frontier thing in that they like to keep things secret and then do a #SpoilerSam thing on a livestream but I really think they would benefit from more open and honest communication towards the community. This is easily something they could just say they are trying to make it work and explain why it is difficult. The community I think is plenty patient they just want to know what Frontier is working on and planning for the future.-Weather - they are working on it, HARD. They want to make rain actually not being able to enter buildings, and with the building system the game has, thats going to be hard. Of course, umbrellas are going to come when rain is in the game. I know this because I actually talked about this when I was at Frontier.
I'm absolutely not saying development is easy to do. What I am saying is that it is a matter of allocated development time. It is obvious that they spent so much time and effort on making the 3d building part of the game function as it should that they ran out of time to spent as much effort on the management part. For a gamer like me that is a disappointment.People are thinking some of these things are just tickboxes easy to develop, but they are more complicated than that. As you can see, not having the stuff in your list goes deeper than just not being there (apart from the inventory menus like I explained).
Still, I wouldnt mind if they added more to management that is fun, thats for sure. But it needs to be well designed.
Kabouter mate, you're a fun hating, spreadsheet appreciating kind of bloke - is there enough to get your teeth stuck into beneath the aesthetics and create your own world fluff?
It has been since 1999/2000 since I played a good Roller Coaster theme park game.
Year 2016 and now I want to play again. I can't wait for Planet Coaster.
How is the Roller Coaster Tycoon world? I heard that has been delayed a bit and that is releasing in a few days.
It's been ages since I played RCT and last night when I built my first coaster in this game it turned out to be a horrifying and nausea-inducing monster, which nobody entered.
What was the trick again to make a coaster that doesn't make people sick?
Shader complexity? Blending materials based on height requires a bunch of textures (height, normal, base color, roughness...), they are already blending a bunch so maybe that's why? They could have had slots instead and let you pick 6 (or whatever amount they're blending) out of all the ones in the game. Far Cry 4 editor does this, letting you choose 4 from a larger amount.Anyone have any idea why they seem to have limited terrain paints to certain biomes?
I don't believe RCT1 had any AI whatsoever. Just peeps aimlessly walking around and getting on rides. That's just a hallow shell to make it look like your park is running well.
I think for the most part what is there works but I don't think they are fully there yet. I think the money management of the guest is not fully there (they can't really compare the price of one ride vs others vs total value of the park). This also makes that you can't really run a park based on entrance fee alone.
As for the staff management I think it's rather hollow. Train them to make them work better, raise wages to keep them happy. It kinda misses all the charm and personality the rest of the building game does have.
The whole guests evaluating your scenery is also not really true. It seems mostly based on the amount of objects that are in the vicinity of a ride and the system appears to be very basic.
You very much have a point here. But you also understand that RCT3 is currently still the golden standard to live up to. I'm perfectly fine with removing elements from RCT3 that are unnecessary and don't improve the game (such as vandalism/security mechanic).
I guess this is just a weird Frontier thing in that they like to keep things secret and then do a #SpoilerSam thing on a livestream but I really think they would benefit from more open and honest communication towards the community. This is easily something they could just say they are trying to make it work and explain why it is difficult. The community I think is plenty patient they just want to know what Frontier is working on and planning for the future.
I'm absolutely not saying development is easy to do. What I am saying is that it is a matter of allocated development time. It is obvious that they spent so much time and effort on making the 3d building part of the game function as it should that they ran out of time to spent as much effort on the management part. For a gamer like me that is a disappointment.
Anyone have any idea why they seem to have limited terrain paints to certain biomes?
Shader complexity? Blending materials based on height requires a bunch of textures (height, normal, base color, roughness...), they are already blending a bunch so maybe that's why? They could have had slots instead and let you pick 6 (or whatever amount they're blending) out of all the ones in the game. Far Cry 4 editor does this, letting you choose 4 from a larger amount.
It has been since 1999/2000 since I played a good Roller Coaster theme park game.
Year 2016 and now I want to play again. I can't wait for Planet Coaster.
How is the Roller Coaster Tycoon world? I heard that has been delayed a bit and that is releasing in a few days.
They could easily solve this problem above by making it important to cover the entire area around your ride with scenery.The guests reacting to theming is a real thing in the game. Yeah, its not the quality of the theming, becuase programming that type of AI is:
1. impossible, how would an AI gauge if something is beautiful or not.
2. it would limit creativity, A LOT. The themes in this game were designed to be mixed and matched, so you can create an americana main street with western+fantasy for example. If guests start to be negative becuase of mixing, or actually know which theming your are using, parks will start looking the same just to get a better guest rating. Thasts actually somehting that happens with RCTW, and its as bad of an idea as it sounds.
So they decided to make the variable quantity and a percentage, which I think is something realistic to strive for. If you make a short queue, just a few pieces can make it go 100% rating. But for longer queues that really need scenery, the rating percentage is harder to fill (I tested it), and you seem to need more variation of things (not themes), so for example adding a lot of vegetation and rocks actually does not fill the rating that much, you actually need to build some type of building.
Of course you can "cheat" and just use 1 or 2 times one of the frontier blueprints (like the thin cool building, that makes rating up a lot) but wheres the fun in that?
And then comes the gameplay system of the 100% rating theming in queues. You can make a much longer queue, till you fill it up, if you get a 100% theming rating. If you dont have a 100%, no matter how cool is the coaster, they will not fill the whole queue ("Will not wait that much for x ride" guests will say). So say you added 100%, now another problem arises, people will actually want to get into the queue even if its full, but they will get angry now becuase "the queue is full for x ride". And here is where the priority pass queue comes into place.
What I mean here is, I actually like a lot the problem solving of the theming and how it affects the guests. And thats something adavnced from the RCT days (be it 1, 2 or 3).
They could easily solve this problem above by making it important to cover the entire area around your ride with scenery.
.
It's been ages since I played RCT and last night when I built my first coaster in this game it turned out to be a horrifying and nausea-inducing monster, which nobody entered.
What was the trick again to make a coaster that doesn't make people sick?
Make sure you're banking all of the fast turns. Make sure it isn't going too fast over hills/inversions; the train should generally slow down a bit at peaks like the top of a loop, not zoom through everything. And when you've finished the layout, go through and use the smooth tool to remove any harsh segments.
Got a decent start on a park and I think I'm happy with what I've got so far - which is pretty much just a starting area with 3 rides and a coaster with the beginning of a monorail built for when I do the next zone.
Glad I'm not alone in that.Keep in mind when you look at the pics that I am a Steam Workshop-user, so some buildings are from other talented players!
Glad I'm not alone in that.
If you're worried about image compression from hosts btw, you might want to try using abload.de
My gf spent 3 hours making a big castle entrance for a park. She did it in pieces though but wants to save the whole thing as a blueprint. How does she join multiple buildings together to make one big bp?
I mean, is the simulation next level hype shit?! nah, but it is the best available. The fact that it is better at handling groups vs RCT3, the current reigning king in coaster/park sims, means a lot.
I definitely fall more casual on sim elements, but the things I was looking for that I remember from RCT1 and 2 was here and I was so excited. Guest thoughts, following them, finding out their spending habits and finances and favorite ride. The infographics and data on park management has me excited as someone who deals with data on a daily basis, but I do think what it conveys and how it conveys it can be improved, as has already been brought up. I think getting the engine and creative stuff down first was a top priority as the simulation of AI and park management is mainly data driven and can totally be improved easily in time without impacting how the game runs and looks and simulates physics and stuff.
So, I wanted to show off the early stages of my first park on NeoGAF! I've been a HUGE Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 fan so this game is right up my alley
Keep in mind when you look at the pics that I am a Steam Workshop-user, so some buildings are from other talented players! Most of the castles or parts of the castles on the picture can be found for free on the workshop. Props to the talented designers of them!
The best thing about theme park sims for me has always been the possibilities of making a THEME park. Here in the Netherlands, you have Six Flags and 'De Efteling', and I prefer the second one way more, because when you enter you feel like you step into another world seperated from the normal mundane life. Six Flags on the other hand is just some rollercoasters thrown together. So, my challenge with every coaster sim-game isn't so much in making unique rides or coasters, but to really give visitors the feeling they are in another world and never breaking that experience. Game system be damned, I don't care if my virtual visitors don't appreciate it, its about the fantasy I create in my own head of being a park designer.
As you can see in the pictures here, I'm working on the first 'section' of my park which has a kind of medieval setting. Next to the rides I want all sorts of houses and castles to really give visitors a feeling that they're there. It's still early stages and this section is nowhere near done (I expect it to grow in size exponentially), but that's because I spend hours on each piece of park, deciding where I place benches, lights, trash cans, trees, plants and rocks. I leave more or less no empty piece of grass in the park, everything is used. When the park is even half full, my computer will probably start lagging like a b*tch thanks to the countless trees and bushes in the park, but oh well.
I'll probably be busy with the medieval setting for a few weeks, the plan is to make a carreabaen theme on the other side of the park.
I'm pretty much addicted by now.
Oh by the way the graphics look much better in person. Probably compression from OneDrive, Photo Editor Online or Imgur.
My gf spent 3 hours making a big castle entrance for a park. She did it in pieces though but wants to save the whole thing as a blueprint. How does she join multiple buildings together to make one big bp?
So the idea is to build a sandbox park with pirates on one side vs redcoats on the other.
So it's not nearly complete, but we'll see how it does.
The music in this game is something else! The main menu music (its also in the launch trailer) is like a super catchy Of Monsters and Men song, haha.
Work in progress day/night shots of the fantasy/medieval area in my park. Tents have shops in them, saved me from having to actually design a non-ugly building. Oh, the large fountain is (of course) from the workshop, the rest (again obviously) is my own work:
Was pretty happy with how this worked out in my first beta park, might try to do something like it again in my new park:
How did you manage to fit buildings inside the tents? I wanna try the same thing for a fairy tale-ish part of my park.
Well, the large ones will *just* fit the shops without sticking out if you just place them in normally through advanced move or just using shift or whatever. I put an ATM in the medium one, the small one is empty.
Well, the large ones will *just* fit the shops without sticking out if you just place them in normally through advanced move or just using shift or whatever. I put an ATM in the medium one, the small one is empty.