I have a little treat for you all as well so watch this space
A Q & A with the one and only Andrew Fletcher? [up]
Meet the Team and Q&A - Sam Denney
- Thread starter Zac Antonaci
- Start date
- Status
A Q & A with the one and only Andrew Fletcher? [up]
That would be rad, I'd love to get a chance to interact with him.
Hi Greg
We'll soon be making announcements about up and coming releases, I'm sorry I can't give you more than that but the wheel are in motion [yesnod]
Good morning Sam and thanks for all the answers [up]
This is very much appreciated, I also want to thank everyone from Frontier that makes this all possible. [heart]
Last edited:
Hi Diabo44
Thanks for keeping the guys in check [hehe] And yes there are lots of great questions here, it's great to see how many people have participated.
Good morning Sam! Thank you very much so far for all the nice little details you gave us! Very much appreciated
Hi Sawyer
"would love to say Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk when I went over there in 09'... but we had an open bar and all I can remember is the tunnel! [haha]
Maybe Blackpool's Ghost Train!"
An open bar plays havoc with the ones memory mate [uhh] I'll have to go on the Ghost Train at Blackpool, I was there on a company trip many moons ago and I'm surprised I missed it. I did go on Valhalla which is also one of my favourite dark rides.
"We had such a great choice of coaster types on RCT3, will that be as large in Planet Coaster, we've seen the types in the videos and B+M track as concept art. Will we be seeing 'kiddie coaster' types?"
We'll have lots of coaster types for release and will continue to build on them way into the future, I can't give you exact numbers I think you'll be spoilt for choice.
Short question this time
I thought about voices in game..... Could be GREAT to hear some sentences or words from guests in different world lenguages in our parks
Hi CoasterConcept
I think you'll like what we have planed for the guests languages, it's really cool.
I'm sure the game will be translated into most major languages but this is not on the radar just yet as we have a fair bit of development to go.
Hi Jart.
The coaster construction mode will come with a variety of pre-made elements that will allow you to easily create an awesome coaster.
This reminded me of a question I meant to ask!
Hi Sam,
A lot of players like to recreate real world coasters, some of which have unusual or unique inversions. Will your coaster system allow us to bend the track into our own design inversions? Or will we only have the pre-made inversions?
Last edited:
Hi éParcurien
"My favorite coasters are the one who are incredibly themed and immersive. In my dream game (in which I'd pour hundreds on expansions), I am able to reproduce Frontierland at Disneyland Paris: a track designed to "fit" on a (fake) mountain and so perfectly integrated to the park. With a stong theme and lots of détails to immerse guests."
Our Voxel landscaping system is totally amazing and this will really help you build coasters the really interact with the landscapes. We have aslo made an extra effort on the park themeing to make sure it's beautiful as well as being consistent.
"So, what I want is that, to be able to create a coaster in which guests will take care of the landscape and what is surrounding them. Think about Eurosat at Europa Park, De Vliegende Hollander at Efteling (what a fantastic ride!). We need to be able to simulate on-board music too! Please!"
Our track system is far more advanced that any that we've done before so you'll be able in integrate scenery far better. We are also creating a lot of scenery to compliment coaster construction and have designed structures that coasters can fly in and around. As for on-board music, we are all over this and investigating all the various ways in which this could work [yesnod]
"In this regard, I have another question: will we have ways to customize track pièces "even more" than before? Again, think of Vliegende Hollander or even Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris: the train makes a stop on a vertical track (so it needs breaks and a way to maintain the train) then a timer and a magnetic (I think? Or induction?) launch. You have the same kind of special tracks on Vliegende or even on Baron 1898 (the smoke after the drop, for example). Would that be possible?"
We called the game Planet Coaster for a good reason, the stars of the show are the rides and we are pushing the coaster construction tech really far, we still have lots to do here as it's one of the most complicated systems in the game but we are making huge strides. I can't wait for you to see it all once it's complete.
Hi SPRidley
"One is more asking as a fellow artist and game designer, how was the jump into creating the 2D expansions or RCT2, and your work as lead artist, to working in 3D with RCT3. I suppose it was huge, but I would love if you could get more into detail about the whole experience and how you and the team tackled it."
I'd been making games for quite a few years before I started the work on RCT2 which covered both 2D and 3D development but I'd never dealt with something quite as technically challenging as working with RCT2. Half the development was technical implementation which was not so much the case on 3D games. We created thousands of tiny sprites which needed to have every rotation and twist from every angle for the coasters to work correctly. It was very challenging but very rewarding. When we first started RCT3 the task ahead of us was immense - To turn a 2D, sprite-based game into 3D and to increase the content, enhance the gameplay as well as make it look beautiful was a scary task. But we had a lot of very experienced people on the team (a significant number who are now working on Planet Coaster) which really made RCT3 a great success. In terms of the most amazing development experience, RTC3 is only seconded to working on Planet Coaster.
"The other is about Planet Coaster. We've seen some amazing concept art of really advanced coaster parts you are working on. Like the B&M suspended chainlifts motor section, the B&M coaster gates opening station, or the brakes section having full realistic suports. My question is, how are you going to implement all this advanced coaster parts. Are they built automatically while building the coaster, or its placement of them somewhat different and/or optional."
The aim for us is that every coaster you build will reel as functionally correct as any coaster you'd find in real-life. This is incredibly challenging task but we have our brightest minds on creating an automatic system that can build the correct configuration of pieces and elements that's seamless and beautiful. I'm very passionate about all the rides construction (you might have noticed [squeeeeee]) and especially of the track construction. I also understand that if you don't have all the correct pieces in the right places the tracks will just look and feel wrong.. Even people who are not big fans of coaster engineering can tell when something is not right because it's all about the supporting details that help paint the bigger picture.
Ultimately this is a game and we can only go so far when trying to recreate real-life, coasters come in sooooo many different configurations and change so often so in some cases it'd be totally impractical and restrictive to emulate how some coaster elements behave. We're taking what we believe is the best route that'll offer the biggest variety and reward for players who are both enthusiasts and casual.
We've come a long way so far and have still got a long way to go before we'll be finished with the coaster construction as a whole, but we are taking our time as it's really complicated and we want to to ensure we get it right.
"I would have liked to know if there could be some on board system we could add music to the coasters, but we already know sadly custom music is out, so I dont know if you could answer any of that."
I've covered this in a previous post me thinks [yesnod]
It's always a pleasure to speak to another artist, thanks for the great questions! [up]
Hi Deuce
We are hoping to offer both in some way, as you know we want to give the enthusiasts and the casual gamers all the tools they need but again we are still in early days [noob]
Hi RickMarkestein
We have a big list of these kind of things, storage track, transfer tracks, vertical lifts, ferris wheel lifts... there's so much we could add. We'll just have to see what we can get done in the time given to us. Luckily, Planet Coaster is not just a game for us, it's a legacy, we hope to keep Planet Coaster alive for years to come and keep expanding on the solid foundations we have just started to build.
Thanks Sam for the response! I understand that time is a big issue with you guys. It's very nice to see the passion that is involved with this project and I am confident we will be seeing some amazing things. [happy]
Thanks again!
Now where is this nice surprise..?
Haha, it's on it's way.. This is so hot off the press it's burning my fingers typing these words! [tongue]
A couple of questions Sam.
1. Do you ever sleep [tongue]
2. As below you mentioned music on the rides. Do you think there is scope for having individually placed speakers and track trigger points, so we can replicate the classic "Don't look down" moment from Oblivion? [big grin]
- Status