Planet Coaster

http://www.planetcoaster.com/

Looks like there is yet another contender in the park simulation game arena coming soon. Looks good- I'm immediately more interested in this than Roller Coaster Tycoon World.

Frontier is the developer, which implies that it's just an improved RCT engine. I'm skeptical.

Your skepticism is founded- I suppose that really just shows little faith I have in RCTW to deliver.

I don't blame you. It's not even on my radar. Parkitect is what I'm watching (considering I already paid for it and all).

The trailer reminds me so much of RCT3 that I just threw up in my mouth a little.

This new video does have me intrigued, despite the fact it's from RCT3's creators.

The coaster building system uses a combination of splines and piece-by-piece track, which seems like a better solution than what the new rct team settled on. My concern is that the theming buildings are "modular" which probably means that all our parks will look the same unless there are thousands of modules, which is unlikely. The greatest thing about RCT2 was designing your own buildings with the custom pieces created by others. Ironically, "Planet Coaster" was initially called "Coaster Park Tycoon," but they changed it because they felt the "Tycoon" franchise had been degraded by previous titles. You know, like Roller Coaster Tycoon 3D.

Wait, so what's the code base that Atari is using?

How should I know? Frontier, the company that developed RCT3, is using an advanced version of the "Cobra" system for this game, which is a proprietary code they developed for RCT3. That's the extent of my knowledge.

Of the three new coaster sim gams under development, Planet Coaster is the most promising to me (disclosure: I never played RCT3 as it looked awful). The jury is still out but here is my take on each so far:

• Parkitect: The coaster editor looks like a nice upgrade from RCT2 and I love its homegrown nature but the graphics seem too cartoony to me.

• RCT World: The new RCT game looks like the result of "design by committee." Seems like some bad bets were placed here.

• Planet Coaster: The creators seem to understand and embrace the spirit of RCT/RCT2 while giving the graphics and customization a great leap forward. If you can recapture the simple, fun and addicting game play of RCT2 plus cool graphics and easy customization, that's all I want.

From what I have read about RCT3 it sounds like the skepticism toward Planet Coaster is warranted but it is hard to watch the feature videos they have released thus far and not be intrigued by what this game could offer if properly executed.

Don't forget about Theme Park Studio, which collected more than $100,000 on Kickstarter nearly three years ago and still hasn't delivered anything of substance to its backers... /s

• Parkitect: The coaster editor looks like a nice upgrade from RCT2 and I love its homegrown nature but the graphics seem too cartoony to me.

• RCT World: The new RCT game looks like the result of "design by committee." Seems like some bad bets were placed here.

  
  

• Planet Coaster: The creators seem to understand and embrace the spirit of RCT/RCT2 while giving the graphics and customization a great leap forward. If you can recapture the simple, fun and addicting game play of RCT2 plus cool graphics and easy customization, that's all I want.

Agree on the first two points, disagree on the last one. Will probably try all three nonetheless because that's just who I am.

bjames said:

My concern is that the theming buildings are "modular" which probably means that all our parks will look the same unless there are thousands of modules, which is unlikely. The greatest thing about RCT2 was designing your own buildings with the custom pieces created by others.

From what I understand, there will be opportunities to create custom objects in Planet Coaster. But more importantly, I thought the standard RCT2 offered great variety and room for creativity within the limits of the game. I enjoyed the standard version for years before messing a bit with some of the customized stuff that came available later.

Planet Coaster appears to offer walls similar to RCT2 (haven't seen those yet from the new RCT game or Parkitect) plus the ability to alter the grid for individual buildings (look at one of the earlier demo videos). Seems like a great solution to me. Hope I'm not just buying into the hype.

Jetsetter said:

Planet Coaster appears to offer walls similar to RCT2 (haven't seen those yet from the new RCT game or Parkitect)...

1. The lack of custom building pieces and inclusion of pick-and-drop buildings/stations/etc is one of the biggest reasons I have no interest in RCTW or Planet Coaster. I hope you're right. It would be enough to make me take a look at the game.

2. Parkitect absolutely offers tons of building pieces - both included and as available mods. Just scroll through some of the screens I've posted throughout the Parkitect thread.

1. Planet Coaster appears to include custom building pieces which they show off a bit in this video. The local grids feature seems particularly clever in terms of hitting the right balance of complex customization and simplicity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOAiH4_Wrc4

2. I just took a look; glad they are there. The Parkitect graphics are still a tough pill for me to swallow; I think I prefer the overall look of RCT2.

Nice. Hadn't seen that Planet Coaster video. Looks a million times better than RCTW. I dare say it's the terraforming/landscaping tools that look most impressive to me. Problem is, I think my lack of enthusiasm for RCT3 was the way it put you in the park. I think I like the third person approach (more like building a working model than a visitable park) that RCT2 and Parkitect use.

Still, I think I'll keep an eye on this one.

I've gotten used to the Parkitect graphics. Now whan I look at RCT it seems too busy or oversharpened or messy or something. The simpler Parkitect lines and texture lend themselves more to that "building a model" mentality.

I agree about the third person approach. I have little desire to walk around visiting my parks and would prefer designing and building from the bird's eye view. But I'm still hopeful Coaster Planet hits the sweet spot. Check out the rest of their YouTube page; they have some additional videos including a time lapse of their terraforming tool. Long way to go until the game is released but I'm encouraged by the approach they are taking. Looks like a lot of love is going into this game.

Jetsetter said:

1. Planet Coaster appears to include custom building pieces which they show off a bit in this video. The local grids feature seems particularly clever in terms of hitting the right balance of complex customization and simplicity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOAiH4_Wrc4

2. I just took a look; glad they are there. The Parkitect graphics are still a tough pill for me to swallow; I think I prefer the overall look of RCT2.

I hadn't seen that video, that really raises my hopes for this project. I agree on the Parkitect graphics...they're just miserable. If they want cartoony, ok, put solid black lines around everything. It's just so unfinished looking the way they're doing it, and it's disappointing because I really like the system the game uses.

I seem to recall when RCT2 was popular that everyone wanted to be able to walk around in the park they created in the worst way. A guy was even writing software to do just that. It was way before RCT3 came out.

Planet Coaster looks awesome, so far. It's what I've always wanted a amusement park sim to look like.

I haven't been to thrilled about Parkitect. Gonch comparing those kind of graphics to a model kind of make me understand the appeal a little better though.

$75 to get in on the March beta!? Yikes. Guess I'm going to have to keep keeping an eye on it for now. Not convinced enough to drop $30 on a pre-order either. Eventually. Any idea on a release time frame?

$15 gets you in on the fun with the Parkitect development and every update through (and including) the final release.

Really not trying to be a Parkitect cheerleader here, but I've already gotten $15 worth of entertainment out of the game several times over (including offering input at the development phase) and it's still in pre-alpha as far as the developers are concerned. Long way to go. But yeah, I get that if it's not really your cup of tea, that it doesn't matter.

$750 for a Planet Coaster foundation stone.

Although, $15 to ensure Lord Gonchar visits your parks seems like a steal.

Good stuff.

I think I remember reading the full release for Planet Coaster won't be until Q3 or Q4 but don't quote me on that.

I agree for $15 it's hard to criticize Parkitect. The bigger investment for me is my limited time. Still think it's cool different teams are developing coaster sims, it's a no brainer.