I love myself a good bit of rollercoaster tycoon. I like to build my own scenarios where i can go design crazy and build amazing parks. I tend to play the game intensly for about 2 months, then go off it for about 10 months then come back to it again. I love the game so much, and its one of those games that the more you play it the more things you realise you want for the next in the series. As i build stuff I'm always thinking "in RCT4 they should really change the way they handle......X" The community is quite alive as well with tons of really well made custom scenary. People have also found a way to expand the game, by creating items such as lighting for rides and rocks to build caves. Sounds rubbish if you don't play these games, but if you do you'll understand!
I reckon if a developer wanted to make RCt4 they could get a great success by doing 3 things.
1. Nail the key elements.
e.g. get really nice graphics in the style of the games, do what will wright did with spore. Get the core building tools perfect. If i could go into a RCT game and be able to easily form cliffs and caves and waterfalls and then have coasters running in and out of them without the ground spazzing it would be awesome. Theese are the core elements. The games main features have to work 110%. Somthing like building a path running along a cliff and then underground to attach to a station should be made simple.
2. Listen to the community on what they want.
Theres a great community of people building Custom stuff for the RCT games and they are so focused on what they do. This is one game that a forum asking for ideas would help no end. Every suggestion will make the game better. Its not like Halo or COD where a thousand 13 yr olds are gonna write "BIG GUNS PLEASE" Because the last game was quite old the people who would track down these forums are people genuinly interested, and most of the suggestions would be simple to implement. For example, a suggestion such as. "please allow speakers to be in the shape or rocks, bushes,small themed scenary" would be easy to draw and would be a great game addition. Not a huge thing, but a nice little change. Instead of having an ugly speaker blasting out my music i'll have a themed one.
3. Add new features to the game. this is similar to the last point, but i mean bigger things. If you listened to the community alone you'd end up with a great game, but it would be more like RCT3.5 It would be the last game with all the features neatly wrapped up. The developer would have to add bigger new items in. Such as a way to build caves, huge caves with indoor lakes and waterfalls, or add hotels! You get my jist, but the important point is that they have to still listen to the community. I mentioned that you need new things or the game would be RCT 3.5. To build a long term great game you have to aim to give your own game the .5 By this i mean, say the developers added caves. There would be a huge list of tiny little items that the community would identify when using the tools, e.g. they may want to customise the entrances to the caves, or have small tunnels. The developer should patch into the game these changes as much as they can.
Now heres the sad end to my blog post, its never going to happen. Why? cos Chris Sawyer took Atari to court over some issue with the IP. That case got wrapped up way back in 2005. But for me its 1.25am and i've just finished reading the case and Its too boring to decipher into a blog. It just aint happening. Unless some other developer notices the demand for the game and decides to make a themepark game of their own. Rollingcoaster Tycoon all they way! Spritual successors are the way forward!
Who else has a favourite game thats lost in a eternal will they wont they? Duke Nukem? Star Wars Battlefront?
I love myself a good bit of rollercoaster tycoon. I like to build my own scenarios where i can go design crazy and build amazing parks. I tend to play the game intensly for about 2 months, then go off it for about 10 months then come back to it again. I love the game so much, and its one of those games that the more you play it the more things you realise you want for the next in the series. As i build stuff I'm always thinking "in RCT4 they should really change the way they handle......X" The community is quite alive as well with tons of really well made custom scenary. People have also found a way to expand the game, by creating items such as lighting for rides and rocks to build caves. Sounds rubbish if you don't play these games, but if you do you'll understand!
I reckon if a developer wanted to make RCt4 they could get a great success by doing 3 things.
1. Nail the key elements.
e.g. get really nice graphics in the style of the games, do what will wright did with spore. Get the core building tools perfect. If i could go into a RCT game and be able to easily form cliffs and caves and waterfalls and then have coasters running in and out of them without the ground spazzing it would be awesome. Theese are the core elements. The games main features have to work 110%. Somthing like building a path running along a cliff and then underground to attach to a station should be made simple.
2. Listen to the community on what they want.
Theres a great community of people building Custom stuff for the RCT games and they are so focused on what they do. This is one game that a forum asking for ideas would help no end. Every suggestion will make the game better. Its not like Halo or COD where a thousand 13 yr olds are gonna write "BIG GUNS PLEASE" Because the last game was quite old the people who would track down these forums are people genuinly interested, and most of the suggestions would be simple to implement. For example, a suggestion such as. "please allow speakers to be in the shape or rocks, bushes,small themed scenary" would be easy to draw and would be a great game addition. Not a huge thing, but a nice little change. Instead of having an ugly speaker blasting out my music i'll have a themed one.
3. Add new features to the game. this is similar to the last point, but i mean bigger things. If you listened to the community alone you'd end up with a great game, but it would be more like RCT3.5 It would be the last game with all the features neatly wrapped up. The developer would have to add bigger new items in. Such as a way to build caves, huge caves with indoor lakes and waterfalls, or add hotels! You get my jist, but the important point is that they have to still listen to the community. I mentioned that you need new things or the game would be RCT 3.5. To build a long term great game you have to aim to give your own game the .5 By this i mean, say the developers added caves. There would be a huge list of tiny little items that the community would identify when using the tools, e.g. they may want to customise the entrances to the caves, or have small tunnels. The developer should patch into the game these changes as much as they can.
Now heres the sad end to my blog post, its never going to happen. Why? cos Chris Sawyer took Atari to court over some issue with the IP. That case got wrapped up way back in 2005. But for me its 1.25am and i've just finished reading the case and Its too boring to decipher into a blog. It just aint happening. Unless some other developer notices the demand for the game and decides to make a themepark game of their own. Rollingcoaster Tycoon all they way! Spritual successors are the way forward!
Who else has a favourite game thats lost in a eternal will they wont they? Duke Nukem? Star Wars Battlefront?
I can't think of any game right now that i really want to see made but i'll just say that i also loved the Roller Coaster Tycon games and wish that somebody would make a new one. Though i too know it will never happen.
Actually, i would love someone to make a really good dinosaur-zoo type sim. I know that i played something like that a while ago and would love to see it done better. That would be cool.
I want new Theme Park games! I'm still playing the old ones when I feel like some fun. I enjoy those more than Rollercoaster Tycoon, sorry to admit that. I am also still playing Star Wars: Battlefront 1 and 2 though.
@TorgoGrooves89: I know that dino feeling, hundreds of people do. Theres whole sets of custom scenary for RCt2 allowing you to make a jurrasic park. Its another thing to add to the wish list....number 38; DO DINOSAURS PROPERLY!
@ZeForgotten: I never came across the theme park games. I was given RCT1 as a present so never looked for more! I've also got a lot of love for star wars battlefront. Dude, someones gotta make one of these games soon enough.
" @TorgoGrooves89: I know that dino feeling, hundreds of people do. Theres whole sets of custom scenary for RCt2 allowing you to make a jurrasic park. Its another thing to add to the wish list....number 38; DO DINOSAURS PROPERLY! "
There's a Jurassic Park game for that thing. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis. Build your very own Jurassic Park, research dinosaurs, new rides and everything. Cure diseases of different dinosaurs, search digsites for fossils or DNA. It's enjoyable but it's showing it's age.
I loved Roller coaster Tycoon 3, if they followed these simple 3 steps RCT4 could be a big hit. I wonder if somewhere in some small room with a fake name on the door, Chris Sawyer is drawing his ass off.
@AgentJ: It's ok. im playing it a load at the moment and its ok. When its fun it's really really fun. But when its frustrating its REALLY frustrating! its one of those games where your imagination wants so much more than what the game can provide, but it almost lets you, enough to be frustrating. it got a load of core things wrong, like laying paths on a hill.....nightmare, the slightest difference in land height splits the path, so you use the smooth tool and then it wrecks all nearby scenary.
Too bad there will never be a RCT4, after Josh Sawyer sued Atari, they grabbed everything that was going to be in RCT4 and turned it into Thrillville: Off The Rails!, which sucked
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