![]() How could anyone just trash a wood coaster that got an overall excitement rating over 9? The only other game that had even close to the same effect was NoLimits, but I think RCT’s total holistic nature as a park simulator was far, far more important. I bet at least half of ‘em still keep 3.5” floppies around with files they can’t bear to part with. From the salesmen to the creative types, they all were deep into it. You can’t find anyone in the industry between 30 and 40 who didn’t play the hell out of RCT. What it really did, more than anything, was inspire a new generation of real young kids to get interested in park and ride design. With all the new (and new-old) games now on the market - I’m talking about Planet Coaster and Roller Coaster Tycoon (RCT) Classic obviously - someone had to go back in time a little ways and talk about the olden days, right? Rollercoaster Tycoon changed my life by bringing me closer to video games and theme parks, two passions I keep till this day. At one point in college this game was a sort of "screensaver" for my PC as a perfectly created park was allowed to run for decades. I have spent probably the hourly count of months if not years playing or at least running this game. While the original RCT caught my attention it was RCT2 that captivated my heart. Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, released in 2002, improved on the original by adding more rides, kiosks, refined UI, a more robust building interface, track editor, custom music, and Six Flags parks in the scenario mode. Additionally separate stalls for consumables were created and little guests to walk around and vandalize all your benches. This expanded with Rollercoaster Tycoon as the efficiency was compounded with excitement, intensity, and nausea ratings for each ride. Transportation Tycoon focuses on building efficient transportation systems for communities and running a profit. Rollercoaster Tycoon is an offshoot of the Transportation Tycoon games developed by Chris Sawyer. Rollercoaster Tycoon fit squarely between these two experiences. But that's it, no operations, no guests, no paths, no flat rides, and no budgeting. Players could create hyper real rollercoasters that simulate actual physics, accurate design styles, tons of animations, and first person on ride views of the coasters. NoLimits focused all on building coasters and nothing else. Sim Theme Park was a true spin off of the SimCity model, focusing on operations and guest flow over customization and building of individual units. Minimal creativity or customization was allowed in Sim Theme Park, instead the rides were pre-themed and developed. EA's Sim Theme Park focused on the park management aspect. There were several theme park or coaster creators in the 2000s with the two prominent being Sim Theme Park and NoLimits Roller Coaster Simulator. I dedicated days of my life to this game. Games at that to me were Doom, Quake, Sonic, or Mario, but here is a new game that scratches my interests in theme parks and planning! I quickly acquired my own and the Corkscrew Follies expansion pack was the first item anyone in my family bought from Amazon. A group of us middle schoolers were gathered around what was probably a Gateway 2000 PC running Windows 98 to play a newly acquired game from the Scholastic Book Fair: Rollercoaster Tycoon. I first played Rollercoaster Tycoon around 1999 at a neighbor's house in Richmond, Virginia.
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