RCT3 Hands on

Gamespot has posted their 'hands on' article. (They play the game for a while and write the report.)

Here.

I think theres a few new movies and screens in there as well. :)

I'm not sure I like the boom noise the game makes whenever you place something down. Just watching the food stand placement scared the crap outta me. lol!

LOL...I agree! I don't mind it too much for the rides, but park benches too? Those must be some awfully heavy benches!

Well, The only real disappointment I got from the hands-on report is how they reported how quiet the game was.

One of the most important aspects in a game now-a-days is the sound, and nothing is more important in a theme-park game than the ambient atmosphere of the random sounds, from the rides running, to the peeps chattering, to the various music around the park!

I sincerely hope it gets fixed too, 'cause that's more important than pretty water effects to me.

Is it just me, or is the track really missing from the wooden coaster in this screen shot?

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/rollercoastertycoon3/screens_6105445.html?page=1

Also what are those red, white, blue and purple things infront of it? Another poorly rendered ride perhaps?

Danimal - The thread below this one

Ok, I was able to check out the videos now... and although the video aspect of it is ok... I really must say that the audio is a pure disappointment thus far.

I know this isn't a complete version, but there's only a couple months left before the game is release & less than 1 month before a demo.

- A few notables is how the paths have no sound effects when they're laid out.
- All items dropped sound the same. It'd be nice if you place a bench, maybe the sound of a bench (whatever that sounds like), and the sound of placing a food stall has a little "ching ching" sound.
- The wooden coaster sounded exactly like the monorail, and when it increased speed, they just increased the volume.
- If you're not right in their face, it does get very quiet there. Kinda reminds me of those Budget Tycoon games all around the place.

Again, it's probably last on their list of "things-2-do", but I sure hope the audio is being worked on. It'll turn a game from a hovering 7 to a definate 10.

I feel just a little let down compared to all the promo videos which shows all the wild & crazy action going on.

I disagree that the game looks to be quiet. The hands on stated it was quiet when you zoomed out. Well, that's true to real life! The farther you get away from the sound, the more faint it becomes until you can no longer hear it.

Also, unlike RCT1&2, the flat rides will have machinery sounds! One of the videos clearly shows the Magic Carpet ride and it's sound effect.

And let's not forget you can attach an MP3 to rides, fireworks shows, and now it has been reveled there will be rock shows that also can have MP3's attached:

http://media.pc.gamespy.com/media/664/664146/img_2314127.html

So I think there will be PLENTY of audio in this game.

Yea, but did you WATCH the videos... all of them... in the full quicktime format that the GS-Complete members get?

- You can hear that when you zoom out JUST A LITTLE... not even half the distance to the normal Zoom of RCT1&2, it gets eerily quiet...
- And again... the rollercoaster sound effects have no change in pitch for speed... the volume is just increased or decreased based upon speed.
It's a few small issues like that I just hope they get ironed out before the demo & final product
(demo represents a good portion of people who'd consider buying it & passing it up)

I was thinking the silence might be more of a necessity than anything else. Since you can attach your own MP3's to just about anything it would seem, plus place speakers in the park for theme music, it might be to prevent overload. Could you imagine how horrible things would sound if you zoomed out and had 20 or 30 different songs all playing at the same time? Not to mention the strain on the CPU. It may not even be possible to play that many.

So perhaps this is why things get quiet when you zoom out. I'm okay with that. I suppose they could make one MP3 (like the Merry-go-round for instance) stand out above the rest when you zoom out. Kind of a default. That might be the best solution.

Have you ever played Sim City 4??

That's an example of a good tycoon game's sound effects. That really adds to the atmosphere, and makes the game jump from a 7 to 9.5.

Im sure that noone's going to set 30 MP3's set to different rides all at once. Man, it was annoying enough for the carousel & bumper cars to be close-by.

Music is one thing... ambience is completely another.

You'd be wrong on that. Someone on the Atari forum already wanted to try putting 200 (yes you read that right) sounds in his park. :)

There's still going to be way more sound in this game that needs to be accounted for. You have:

• The coasters
• The peeps
• The shows of which there can be several each with their own MP3's
• The flat rides which now make sound
• The fireworks show with their sound and their mp3 soundtracks
• Park speaker sounds that you can place around the park
• I also figure the animation props will have sound too as well as things like the volcano perhaps.

So way more sound to account for then RCT or Sim City 4 for that matter.

Does anyone know or have an idea if this game will be able to be played in a window? It would be nice if it could be placed in a window (or at least have the option to).