Meet the Team and Q&A - Sam Denney

[Sam Denney]

Hello!!!

Question from me.
In RCT1+2 it was challenging to make rollercoasters and make them good for people to like and ride. And not getting "shocked" animation when watching it.

But in RCT3 exact same coaster, when imported and all, will get accepted, RCT3 had more tolerance for rough rides. It made me a little disappointed.


I wonder about PC, you aren't going to make the bar lower, accepting rougher rides? I hope not. I want challenging game.

Hi Helena

The character animations of the rides are one of the best things in planet coaster, they really bring the ride to life. You'll be really happy with how they look no matter what the rides are doing. The guest animations are really quite varied and colourful, it's a far, far cry from games of old.

 

[Sam Denney]

Just one question really.

Are you advising on the Sounds for all of these rides as well? Sound is such an important part of amusement rides and Roller coasters, from the initial start up, to the electrical humms and of course the chain lifts and b&m signature "roar"... If so, can you explain your strategy for incorporating sounds into the game to bring it to life? If not, move on to the next question

Hi 3pmusic

The audio for roller coaster and rides is something we're really pushing from a technology POV. We are looking into individual track elements and parts to ensure they sound totally convincing. I was discussing this with the audio lead the other day and we went through and looking at using the rail spine flanges as trigger points to identify where the tracks connect so you can hear the familiar thunk, thunk, thunk as the road wheels pass over them. We have broken down the cars into their component parts and looked at emulating how the coupling will sound under braking and how the wheels transfer when the weight shifts and when they are under light and intense G-forces, plus much more. The physics of the coaster will play a big part in how we reproduce the sounds too. That's just a small portion of the explanation to our current approach for ride audio [up]

 

[Marvin1]

"What kind of transport rides will there be at launch? Monorail, Train?"
Monorails and trains are a staple to any theme park, I think we might be revealing one of the transport rides really soon and it's a real beauty!

OMG [big grin] I'm so excited for this!

 

[Sam Denney]

1. How realistic will the coaster physics be? Right now it seems like every coaster is really fast.

2. Will there be any type of construction animation as we build the ride/once its finished? Say maybe the ride is in "blueprint mode" as you build, and once you're done a construction crew comes out and build. Not sure how possible that is though.

3. How will entering the ride work? I have a question for both flat rides and coasters.
a) Coasters: Will they line up in rows once they get to the station? Something like this (sorry I can't find a better picture).
b) Flat rides: I see there are no more ticket booths (?), so will the guests just wait at a turnstile before riding?
EDIT: I see there's a ticket booth at the beginning of the line now (smarter). Will there be a way to turn this off though? At parks like Disney, Universal, etc there is no ticket booth except at the park entrance.

4. Will we able to move/edit supports at all?

5. Also, will the B&M Wing Coaster make it in the game? What about RMC wood/steel coasters? Are they are any fairly new coaster types that will be in the game?

Thanks!

Hi Marvin

"1. How realistic will the coaster physics be? Right now it seems like every coaster is really fast."
The coaster in the video was just a prototype version that was built purely as a demonstration of where we are in the development process. I agree the coaster was very unrealistic in it's movement and speed, but no one actually noticed that it was a hybrid car on a classic steel tracks *tut, tut* [tongue]
As you'd understand we want to show you loads of cool content and feed your inquisitive nature so sometimes we have to show things that are unfinished or prototype otherwise we'd not show anything and that would be a sad day [mouth shut] The coasters are the stars of the show and they will shine!

"2. Will there be any type of construction animation as we build the ride/once its finished? Say maybe the ride is in "blueprint mode" as you build, and once you're done a construction crew comes out and build. Not sure how possible that is though."
We did some previs on this and had some interesting animations that you might see one day but at the moment it's undecided as we have so many bigger features to nail first.

"3. How will entering the ride work? I have a question for both flat rides and coasters.
a) Coasters: Will they line up in rows once they get to the station? Something like this (sorry I can't find a better picture)."
That's what we are hoping.

b) Flat rides: I see there are no more ticket booths (?), so will the guests just wait at a turnstile before riding?
EDIT: I see there's a ticket booth at the beginning of the line now (smarter). Will there be a way to turn this off though? At parks like Disney, Universal, etc there is no ticket booth except at the park entrance."
We are still exploring options for these and again you'll see them develop over time as we test and understand what's the best approach. It's really quite a complicated affair, it really is.

4. Will we able to move/edit supports at all?"
Not sure yet, we need to get further down the line with coaster construction (especially wooden coasters) before we can decide.

5. Also, will the B&M Wing Coaster make it in the game? What about RMC wood/steel coasters? Are they are any fairly new coaster types that will be in the game?
What do you think? [yesnod]

 

[Sam Denney]

Oh Sam, I forgot to ask. Will ride lines being full determine if the peeps pass the ride up and if they do does it effect their mood towards the park??
Thanks!

Hi Sdanwolf

Sorry dude, this is more a question for our design team. Hopefully they'll make an appearance soon [up]

 

[Sam Denney]

Hello,

1) Are you planning to reimplant the blocks in the rollercoaster like in rct 2 and 3 ?

2) There will be an option in the game to make easily buildings with roof for making big hidden warehouse for rides or restaurants ?

Hi Bender01

I'm not sure what you're referring to in your first question.
As for your second question, this is one for the scenery team to answer. I'm hoping you'll get to chat to an artist soon.

 

[Micha1]

Wow i love how detailed you answer

i know my post is on site 7, but may you can have a look at: https://forums.planetcoaster.com/sh...Sam-Denney/page6?p=12606&viewfull=1#post12606

 

[Sam Denney]

Hey, over at the RCTW forums Deuce who I am pretty sure is in the CHC here came up with the most amazing idea. The comparison table that is on this forum and the other forum is a lot of guess work and people are shouting about certain features etc. Well PC is beating every game by a landslide right now but would you do me the great honor and filling it in for us (just the PC part, unless you have spys over the other side [cool])

	RCT World	Planet Coaster	ThemeParkitect
Price (Basic Edition)	35€ to 46€ / 50$	27€ / 30$	15$
Plattforms	Win/Linux[SIZE=2]+[/SIZE]	Win	Win/Linux/Mac
Lenguages	Eng, Fr, Esp, It, Ger, Dut, Pt-Br, Rus, Chin.	English Only	English Only
Perspective	3D	3D	3D - isometric only
Terraforming	Heightmap #	Voxels	Heightmap
Underground Building (tunnels, etc.)	No*	Yes (w. above)	Yes
Water:	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rivers	¿No?	¿No?	¿No?
Waterfalls	¿No?	¿No?	¿No?
Paths	3 Sizes/Freeish	¿Unknown?/Freeish	Grid
Mixmaster	No*	No*	No
Peeps Model	Realistic	Pixar-like	Mii-like
Peep Behaviour	¿Unknown?	Flow Models / Peep Groups	Colliding / Peep Groups
UGC:	Yes	Yes	Yes
Scenery	Yes	¿No?	Yes
Flat Rides	No*	¿No?	Yes
Coasters	Yes	Yes	Yes
Track Types	No*	¿No?	¿No?
Coaster Trains	No*	¿No?	¿No?
Scenarios	¿No?	¿No?	Yes
Coaster Builder	Spline based / Pieces	Pieces based / Spline​	Pieces
Modular Building	No*	Yes	Yes
Custom Stations	No/Ugc*	Yes (w.above)	Yes (w. above)
Restaurants	Kiosks/Premades	Yes (w.above)	Kiosks
Recolor Flat Rides	¿No?	¿Yes?	Yes
Change ride length, wait time and minimum load	Yes	¿Unknown?	Yes
Change Ride Animation	¿No?	¿Yes?	No
Relocate entry/exit	¿No?	Yes	Yes
Transport Rides	No*	Yes	Yes
Water Rides	No*	Yesº	Yes
Dark Rides	No*	¿Unknown?	No*

* After Release, so labeled as No for now... ^{[SIZE=2] + [/SIZE]}RCTw gettting to Mac after release
^ UGC Limited to Scenery at launch
^# Heightmaps had limited functionality in the first beta of RCTw respect TP (no sharp terrain)
º Small set of water rides said to be available at release, but likely to be improved after release.
¿? Indicates something is doubtful, more interrogation marks, more doubt.

Hi B3DDO3

Woah man! This is a little outside of my area, I'm afraid you'll need to catch the big man himself to fill this in. Sorry chap.

 

[Kerrash]

Hi 3pmusic

The audio for roller coaster and rides is something we're really pushing from a technology POV. We are looking into individual track elements and parts to ensure they sound totally convincing. I was discussing this with the audio lead the other day and we went through and looking at using the rail spine flanges as trigger points to identify where the tracks connect so you can hear the familiar thunk, thunk, thunk as the road wheels pass over them. We have broken down the cars into their component parts and looked at emulating how the coupling will sound under braking and how the wheels transfer when the weight shifts and when they are under light and intense G-forces, plus much more. The physics of the coaster will play a big part in how we reproduce the sounds too. That's just a small portion of the explanation to our current approach for ride audio [up]

^^^ [squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee] [woah][woah][woah][woah][woah][woah] [squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee][squeeeeee]
Oh Emmm Geee

 

[Mr Deuce]

Hi B3DDO3

Woah man! This is a little outside of my area, I'm afraid you'll need to catch the big man himself to fill this in. Sorry chap.

Thanks for commenting on this though Sam.

If I PM you the request, perhaps you could time to... just make him aware of the request?

And then leave it at that I guess. I appreciate it's a political question as much as game question when it comes to direct comparison!!

 

[Sam Denney]

Hey Sam,

i want to thank you for all those informations and the great work you all do! As you are an Artist, you may be responsable for Gulpee as well... (may not cause i read your mainpart are the coasters and flatrides)... well as i want anyone else: Could you please say, that Gulpee is a mean dino? I know that must be hard for you... but please^^

Hope your (and our) game keeps improving well and i am full with hope that you produce a game we all have waited for so long!

((also i think head membership is so cool with these Q&A posts and thanks for all the good questions from members of the board, its a pleasure to read though that!))

Thanks
Micha

((can you tell me the PC-Specs (at your fromtier workplace), especially your RAM))

Just for you Micha [noob]
"i want to thank you for all those informations and the great work you all do! As you are an Artist, you may be responsable for Gulpee as well... (may not cause i read your mainpart are the coasters and flatrides)... well as i want anyone else: Could you please say, that Gulpee is a mean dino? I know that must be hard for you... but please^^"

no, I'm not the artists who created Gulpee, i wish I was, he's awesome! As for your question..? Is he a mean dinosouar? No, he's not mean he just has so much love to give that he can't contain himself! [hehe]

Hope your (and our) game keeps improving well and i am full with hope that you produce a game we all have waited for so long!
Thanks man, we have a long and amazing journey ahead of us to be sure!

((can you tell me the PC-Specs (at your fromtier workplace), especially your RAM))
The game will be scaleable and should run well on most reasonable spec machines but it's too soon to give proper confirmation.

((also i think head membership is so cool with these Q&A posts and thanks for all the good questions from members of the board, its a pleasure to read though that!))
We are really glad you appreciate it, but remember that we couldn't make this game half as good without the community. [heart]

 

[Sam Denney]

Thanks for commenting on this though Sam.

If I PM you the request, perhaps you could time to... just make him aware of the request?

And then leave it at that I guess. I appreciate it's a political question as much as game question when it comes to direct comparison!!

It's always worth a try but please don't forget that we are happy to have other games appearing in this genre, it helps to keep it alive and fresh and offers choice to people.
You may get some information but we are still in the thick of development and i'm sure you understand that it's hard to commit to to much at this stage.

 

[Micha1]

Yeahha! Thank you Sam
i have to think about what you say about Gulpee

(Notice: i dont ask for PC-Specs needed for the game, but for your mashine in Frontier office)

 

[Marvin1]

Hi Marvin

"1. How realistic will the coaster physics be? Right now it seems like every coaster is really fast."
The coaster in the video was just a prototype version that was built purely as a demonstration of where we are in the development process. I agree the coaster was very unrealistic in it's movement and speed, but no one actually noticed that it was a hybrid car on a classic steel tracks *tut, tut* [tongue]
As you'd understand we want to show you loads of cool content and feed your inquisitive nature so sometimes we have to show things that are unfinished or prototype otherwise we'd not show anything and that would be a sad day [mouth shut] The coasters are the stars of the show and they will shine!

"2. Will there be any type of construction animation as we build the ride/once its finished? Say maybe the ride is in "blueprint mode" as you build, and once you're done a construction crew comes out and build. Not sure how possible that is though."
We did some previs on this and had some interesting animations that you might see one day but at the moment it's undecided as we have so many bigger features to nail first.

"3. How will entering the ride work? I have a question for both flat rides and coasters.
a) Coasters: Will they line up in rows once they get to the station? Something like this (sorry I can't find a better picture)."
That's what we are hoping.

b) Flat rides: I see there are no more ticket booths (?), so will the guests just wait at a turnstile before riding?
EDIT: I see there's a ticket booth at the beginning of the line now (smarter). Will there be a way to turn this off though? At parks like Disney, Universal, etc there is no ticket booth except at the park entrance."
We are still exploring options for these and again you'll see them develop over time as we test and understand what's the best approach. It's really quite a complicated affair, it really is.

4. Will we able to move/edit supports at all?"
Not sure yet, we need to get further down the line with coaster construction (especially wooden coasters) before we can decide.

5. Also, will the B&M Wing Coaster make it in the game? What about RMC wood/steel coasters? Are they are any fairly new coaster types that will be in the game?
What do you think? [yesnod]

THANK YOU! Great detailed answers! Looking forward to the alpha in March [big grin]

 

[Mr Deuce]

It's always worth a try but please don't forget that we are happy to have other games appearing in this genre, it helps to keep it alive and fresh and offers choice to people.
You may get some information but we are still in the thick of development and i'm sure you understand that it's hard to commit to to much at this stage.

Completely get that. And I know people looking at the table (it is across other forums) will understand that too.

 

[Sam Denney]

Yeahha! Thank you Sam
i have to think about what you say about Gulpee

(Notice: i dont ask for PC-Specs needed for the game, but for your mashine in Frontier office)

Ah. right! I'm not sure what my current machine specs are off hand but I can tell you that they are really, really fast and powerful. Just think, we need to run the game, run multiple copies of Maya, have photoshop and many other editing tools all loaded and still maintain a speedy and efficient, working environment.
We upgrade our software and hardware on a regular basis, so next month I may have a different setup to what I have now. This is all thanks to having an amazing tech department who keep Frontier running through thick and thin. They are the unsung heroes of any well run,games development studio.

 

[Sam Denney]

Well that's me done for tonight! [happy] I'll be back tomorrow for my final instalment [cry] It will be emotional but a happy ending. Goodnight!

 

[Palaber1984]

Hi. I have one thing! Please add a real looking spooky, horror , Halloween scenery packs. With all that stuff to create the illusion of real horror scene.

Ah! And a candy land scenery.

Sorry. I know this isn't a question! Just to remember it

 

[Mr Deuce]

Ah. right! I'm not sure what my current machine specs are off hand but I can tell you that they are really, really fast and powerful. Just think, we need to run the game, run multiple copies of Maya, have photoshop and many other editing tools all loaded and still maintain a speedy and efficient, working environment.
We upgrade our software and hardware on a regular basis, so next month I may have a different setup to what I have now. This is all thanks to having an amazing tech department who keep Frontier running through thick and thin. They are the unsung heroes of any well run,games development studio.

I've heard this is all you really need to make a good coaster game:

 

[Micha1]

is this kind of a surreptitious advertising?