Demo Released

How will the peeps get on board? :)

Hey, I found reading an article that "thought summaries" can be found under research, which is disabled in the demo.

Told you there was no reason to freak out. :)

More screens for those interested:

Puke

Handyman to the rescue

Sky Wheel at Night

Sky Wheel at Dusk

Coaster at Sunrise

Gonchar Style

Tycoon Completed

Grrr...now mine crashes around 8:45 each evening. Not more than two seconds after I get the "Firework Display: Stratosphere is about to start", does the screen go black and I am thrown back to the desktop. I understand its just a demo, and there is a month until the release date so they can fix the bugs...but this still stinks.

Anyone else have the Fireworks issue?

-Michael *** Edited 9/28/2004 1:16:27 PM UTC by olympic10086***

I installed it and it ran fine. Getting between 18 and 30 fps, depending on the view and time of day. I have a 2.8Ghz P4, running on an Intel 875-Pro Chipset ASUS board with 512MB RAM, and an FX5700 card with 128Mb RAM.

My only gripe is that you can't drown your peeps....haaaa!

Just so everyone understands...the code you are running is not the final version. It is not even the same as the version that they are beta testing right now.

Although this demo was released yesterday, it has been ready for weeks and run through its own testing cycle.

It is impossible for game manufacturers to test the games on all the possible hardware variations, let alone driver revisions.

The easiest way to get the most out of your computer when installing a new game/demo is to get the latest drivers for both your soundcard and video card. At least that way you have the drivers that are as least as new as the one that they tested with (if not newer).

I'm going to get some more RAM and a better graphics card for this game. I NEED one. Anyway...

-It took me forever to figure out how to delete a track piece.
-I LOVE the Huss Frisbee!! It's fun to ride!
-On low quality, the peeps kinda flicker.
-The lighting is really good.
-Am I the only one who thinks the demo inverter goes too fast?
-Now you can target your marketing audience. More teens for a thrill park, sure thing!
-I thought there was going to be a Screamin' Squerrel, where did it go? I don't see it in the rides area.

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Jeff said:
Hey, I found reading an article that "thought summaries" can be found under research, which is disabled in the demo.

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That feels like an odd place to put it, but I'm glad it's still there.

Much of the complaining stems from change. Same thing happened when RCT2 came out and look how that turned out.

I still have faith in the franchise. :)

Personally, Im happy with Flat Rides. I thought thats what RCT 1 and 2 was missing.

I think they should re-name the game "Theme Park Tycoon".

It sure fits the game style a lot better.

I sure hope Atari and Fronier irons out some of the bugs and glich's you guys are saying is in the game before the release. (I will find out tonight! and give a full report).

Also, I dont see what this big deal with "3D" is? I thought RCT 2 was "3D" enough for my liking.

From the Pics and stuff, it still reminds me of an Updated version of Sim theme Park :-)

But I LOVE atari and/or Frontier for the On-Ride views! I have always wanted this! And Finally, Day and night! One problem I had with RCT 2 and may have with the game yet is when I close the park for the night it takes 6 years for everyone to clear out... Sure hope they corrected this.

:-))

For the record, Im running an HP Pavillion 230a (Or somthing like that)... AMD Athlon XP 2.2GHz, 512mb DDR Ram, 256mb ATI Graphics card, XP (Of course), and I also updated the whole computer before I installed the demo (Windows Update, Graphic Driver Update, Re-intalled the OS, ect) . So it should run fine for me when I get home to start it for the first time!

P.S) If I need, I will build a whole new computer if it means the game will run better. *** Edited 9/28/2004 3:02:11 PM UTC by Landon***

Landon: I agree about the similarity to SIm Theme Park. The entire demo has more of a "Sim" feel and a "RCT" feel.
They could've at least kept the design similar to the RCT franchise.

Regardless there are alot of good things with this new game, and alot of bad.

I skimmed through most of the posts and didn't see anybody having problems with creating footpaths... am I the only one?
Trying to direct a path can be an unnessicary stumbling block, at least it seems so in the early hours of play.

Also I appreciate the effort to create "smooth" landscape, instead of the sqaured grid we're used to... but one tiny mistake with the shovel and your paths can become unconnected, trapping people, and leaving you with a big mess.

I fear the landscape will have a bigger impact in this game since you cannot take rides underground at any point (major disapointment)

you can't really re-create tunnels with scenery, since it won't actually turn dark inside... so that's a definete bummer.

Also I've had several mechanics get stuck in the Que while they're on their way to fix a ride. Not to mention some people got stuck in the exit of a ride, thinking it was the entrance. Seems like they did nothing to the way guests funnel through the park, soemthing that needed their attention IMO.

Overall I will definetly get this game, so I guess they've done their job... but I wish they'd spent more time working on the physics of the game instead of just dressing it up. *** Edited 9/28/2004 3:14:47 PM UTC by B&M Guy***

Here is my story:

I started to download the demo from the Yahoo site mentoned, but the download kept cutting out after on 35MB (the file is 184MB). Switched to the RCT website, and after jumping through the hoops, and finding a server whose speed was merely "Slow" instead of "Pathetic" I was able to download it.

Install went smooth, but I feel somewhat insulted that it recommended "medium" for my settings. Then again, Jeff did mention that 3D cards have an amazingly short lifespan. The box I am using is about 2 years old. However, I noticed that in Medium the demo ran nice and smooth with no jerkiness, even Coaster Cam produced smooth video. so I may try to "Kick it up a notch" and see what happens.

Okay, into the meat, being the kind of person who doesn't want to spend the time on training, I sort of skipped past the tutorials and started a game. I think I'll be going back to those tutorials real soon now.

Funny thing is, I was able to build a wood coaster, test it, and build paths on flat land. However (and I admit I have not done the tutorials yet), I am at a loss for finding the 3D path builder. I think I may have found some combination involving pressing 2 of the 3 mouse buttons while lifting your right foot up off the floor while moving the mouse, but that technique for sloping paths did not work consistantly.

I didn't experience any problems with the ride builer, though some more specific messages like "hey buddy, there's a tree in the way", or "Hey buddy, that land doesn't belong to you" could be helpful.

I'm still going through finding where everythign is on the menu. I have only played one 45 minute demo session so far, and spent a lot of tht time just looking around the game. For example you can see a lot (if not all) of the rides and shops in the full product on the menus, but you can't select them. They seem to gvie you one or two rides from each cateogry for demo purposes. In the Demo you don't have to do research but you are limited in money and time.

Still no midway games that I noticed, and it has a lot of neat little things. For example the 'pad' the Rocking Tug sits on will change based upon what style of path you connect to it's exit gate.

I can't wait to try another demo or three.

I agree with you B & M guy. They should have spent more time @ "Tweeking" the game instead of trying to get it out for a christmas release.

This is the messege that I am getting after downloading:

*** Assertion failure *** : C:\Coding\FGDK3\Code\Windows\GE_Surface.cpp(264) : Invalid call

What does this mean and how can I fix it to be able to check out the demo? My computer is only 2 months old, XP, 3000+Athlon, 160GB, 512 RAM, 16x max speed, 64 MB shared video memory.

My system exceeds all of the requirements, but yet I still can't get it to work.

I have tried downloading from three different sites, same BS.

Is this a sign that I shouldn't run out and buy the game the day it's released as I planned?

THANX :)

For all of you that are having problems I will repeat myself...

Have you downloaded the latest drivers for your soundcard and video card?

Odds are many of your problems will be fixed by doing this.

What's your graphics card? That "64MB Shared Video Memory" implies you're using a system with an integrated graphics chip (laptop perhaps?), rather than a standalone video card. This demo does have some known issues with graphics hardware that isn't quite up to speed.

I am no computer genious by any means, should I have to do that considering mine is brand new? I have tried following the steps on the previous page and got nowhere. How would I DL the latest drivers for those devices?

THANX:)

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What's your graphics card? That "64MB Shared Video Memory" implies you're using a system with an integrated graphics chip (laptop perhaps?)

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I don't know what my card is, and it's not a laptop.

It says realtec for sound, but I can't find the video driver.

I usually check for new drivers once a month (or at least every other month).

That being said, you never know what version drivers your computer manufacturer uses - they could be one or two versions behind what's current...

How to download them? Go to the website of the manufacturer of the device (not your PC). They all will have a download section...

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Currently_Down said:
This is the messege that I am getting after downloading:

*** Assertion failure *** : C:\Coding\FGDK3\Code\Windows\GE_Surface.cpp(264) : Invalid call

What does this mean and how can I fix it to be able to check out the demo? My computer is only 2 months old, XP, 3000+Athlon, 160GB, 512 RAM, 16x max speed, 64 MB shared video memory.

My system exceeds all of the requirements, but yet I still can't get it to work.

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Look back a few pages at my posts...you'll see I had the same exact problem...called the people at Atari/Hasbro...they said the same thing I'm telling you...need a new video card, my friend...or else it won't work period.

BigJim4Life-
Just to throw my hat in the ring: I encountered the same error initially, but after I updated the drivers for my video card (NVidia Ge-ForceMX), the error went away.