The last free big update???

[AngryH1]

Ah, so it's just an extension of the promise then lol. One day that comet really will be here to take us all away, too. [alien]

I mean, if a 5+ year post-release development cycle is what it takes then, alright, talk to me in 5 years and we'll see how happy I am then I guess [haha]. But I have to say, given the past year's productivity in that regard, believing it's gonna be the case is pretty purely a matter of faith by now, not reasonable evidence based on what Frontier has actually accomplished in the last 3 years.

It isn't actually this hard to make a complete, well-functioning modern strategy game, even one worthy of redefining a genre. If it's not done by now I would strongly suspect it's because they're either not capable, or not willing to spend the money it would take, and neither are macro-signs worth being optimistic about, I think. Of the two I'd guess the latter, though. The number of staff members we've heard here and there as being dedicated to some task like building rides has always been low. Too-low-budget low, especially for a studio flush with early access money like Frontier. And certainly the rides that come out are nice, it's just that there's barely half as many as there really ought to have been.

On the other hand this is all completely typical of the modern greenlight early access market dynamic, so maybe it's just not something to expect anymore. Even AAA games are going gold as 1/4 a game with paid DLC so at least Frontier is keeping up with those trends lol.

Heck even the $45 release price was probably a bad idea. It's a structural price force pushing them to not invest enough money to really go for the full shebang. Given how stable the size of the core community has stayed from alpha through now, I think it would have been much better to give another 1-2 years to development with much more staff, then release a complete $60+ game at the end of it all.

 

[FutureFear]

on Topic: I doubt we've seen the last free update(s) for planet coaster, because i doubt that Frontier is already done with this game, when they just released a big game changer (scenario editor).
Anyway, Bo also said they will keep us updated when there is news. A game like planet coaster has to much potential to just leave it at this point so don't give your hopes up, i'm sure they are planning everything verry carefully and gathering all the ideas/suggestion that pass here and on the official community webpages & streams to make planet coaster a game for us all.


Off Topic:

@ AngryH

Since you claim gamedevelopement isn't hard why don't you give it a try? Make a game atleast as complicated as Planet Coaster, no offense but i doubt you will succeed.
Manny people still forget what kind of hard work is involved in gamedevelopment.

The reason why gamestudios make games early acces these days has 2 reasons: To include the community in the development of the game, so they can "sell" more copies in the long run.
Yes it's for the money AND for the players, it's called marketing.

Really no offense, but by the looks of it, planet coaster just isn't a game you will ever enjoy... If you don't like the freedom of building piece by piece i'm afraid.
I agree that some UI and UX design could be improved, but the fundamentals of planet coaster is creativy and freedom... so some things will indeed forever be the same as in alpha/beta version.

I'm a 3D (motion) graphic designer myself, and I can tell you making a game like planet coaster aint as easy or "amateur like" as you think.
As for the price, it's pritty much underpriced in my eyes, 45$ is like nothing, i'v seen ALOT "worse" games that are ALOT more expensive and never had as manny free update as planet coaster had in the past year.

Don't get me wrong, I still think manny things could be improved about the game, but such things take time, we shouldn't forget that the game is only a year old and is still getting improved by large and small updates. Also we, the community have our suggestion inplemented into the game as we speak, proven by update 1.4.... once again!!
But it seems you don't like it and rather have the old game marketing method where we have to wait 5-10-15 years for a new game and no support or updates/bug fixes after release... and pay more for it...??

The choice is simpel: A complete game without any of our suggestion in it for 60$ + OR a game where we can tell developers what we like, test it ourself when it's there, give them even more suggestion and all that for only 45$ and getting (free) update every 2-3 months and bug fixes in a few HOURS. (i'd choose the 2nd option).

 

[AngryH1]

I don't really feel the need to defend the concept of finishing a complete game man, sorry. Especially a year after release. There is literally an entire industry out there with plenty of studios doing it right now. Doing otherwise is a choice, not some immutable reality of the physical laws of the universe.

Is it being hard supposed to be a justification? A lot of things are hard in this world. Good games are often hard to make. Great games nearly always are. And a lot of people are out there making a lot of money still doing it, and doing it well, so there you go.

I reject the attempt to frame the conversation as if that's some outlandish thing to expect.

I'm not obligated to give a developer leeway because I think they're really putting their best effort into it, sweet dears. They're a manufacturer of a product, I'm a consumer of that product, and it's my belief that what they advertised (and were shooting for) bears only a sketchy resemblance to what they've actually produced. And I don't need to start a game studio myself to have that opinion anymore than you need to go get an astrophysics degree to have an opinion about whether you like the sunglasses you just bought. Or go shoot a movie to earn the right to decide whether or not Transformers is good. [up]

 

[Helena]

I want to see plenty of big updates! Please!!

 

[Captainjelle1]

I want to mention something i have to get it off my chest.
Allthough i love the game, i still think it is missing alot. Scenery, camera/record tools, rides, better landscaping tools, animatronix, multiplayer-socialize-mode etc etc etc.

And that brings me to my next point! Now they've announced they will make Jurrasic park. Well that makes me think they have given up on this game. Sorry i'm a narrow minded thinker. But when i think further... This also could be a good point. If they use the mechanics of Planet Coaster to make Jurrasic park they would't have to spend so much time on that cause in my view the mechanics of Planet Coaster are sound. They would create extra funds for Planet Coaster and this game is far from dead yet.

So i'm torn between these 2 thoughts and can do only 1 thing. Is to sit back and wait what they have in store for us or hopefully, some more communication and vision regarding Planet Coaster! [mouth shut]

 

[En Anu]

on Topic: I doubt we've seen the last free update(s) for planet coaster, because i doubt that Frontier is already done with this game, when they just released a big game changer (scenario editor).
Anyway, Bo also said they will keep us updated when there is news. A game like planet coaster has to much potential to just leave it at this point so don't give your hopes up, i'm sure they are planning everything verry carefully and gathering all the ideas/suggestion that pass here and on the official community webpages & streams to make planet coaster a game for us all.


Off Topic:

@ AngryH

Since you claim gamedevelopement isn't hard why don't you give it a try? Make a game atleast as complicated as Planet Coaster, no offense but i doubt you will succeed.
Manny people still forget what kind of hard work is involved in gamedevelopment.

The reason why gamestudios make games early acces these days has 2 reasons: To include the community in the development of the game, so they can "sell" more copies in the long run.
Yes it's for the money AND for the players, it's called marketing.

Really no offense, but by the looks of it, planet coaster just isn't a game you will ever enjoy... If you don't like the freedom of building piece by piece i'm afraid.
I agree that some UI and UX design could be improved, but the fundamentals of planet coaster is creativy and freedom... so some things will indeed forever be the same as in alpha/beta version.

I'm a 3D (motion) graphic designer myself, and I can tell you making a game like planet coaster aint as easy or "amateur like" as you think.
As for the price, it's pritty much underpriced in my eyes, 45$ is like nothing, i'v seen ALOT "worse" games that are ALOT more expensive and never had as manny free update as planet coaster had in the past year.

Don't get me wrong, I still think manny things could be improved about the game, but such things take time, we shouldn't forget that the game is only a year old and is still getting improved by large and small updates. Also we, the community have our suggestion inplemented into the game as we speak, proven by update 1.4.... once again!!
But it seems you don't like it and rather have the old game marketing method where we have to wait 5-10-15 years for a new game and no support or updates/bug fixes after release... and pay more for it...??

The choice is simpel: A complete game without any of our suggestion in it for 60$ + OR a game where we can tell developers what we like, test it ourself when it's there, give them even more suggestion and all that for only 45$ and getting (free) update every 2-3 months and bug fixes in a few HOURS. (i'd choose the 2nd option).

Angry has many serious points raised. I personally have been waiting for a revolutionary coaster game, the only one from a visual point of view so far is No Limits 2 and Parkitect is getting better from a managment point of view. Now I have been banging on for a year now about various issues which STILL have not been resolved in updates such as no light walls (darkrooms) and tools (which Angry) pointed out. They call it simulation evolved from a managment point of view I call it simulation de-volved!

A while back I even wrote to Brett C and stated when will be getting the bug fixes for the picnic tables and staff room problems on 1.4.2 thread and guess what NO REPLY to that which many have been moaning about.

No one is perfect I get that, however PlanCo have got a long way to go and they have a lot of patching to do and modernising as Angry and others have massively stipulated in the past!

I love building don't get me wrong but I love the entire aspects not just GLAM BUILDING cos any 5 year old can do that!

 

[LN]

I want to mention something i have to get it off my chest.
Allthough i love the game, i still think it is missing alot. Scenery, camera/record tools, rides, better landscaping tools, animatronix, multiplayer-socialize-mode etc etc etc.

And that brings me to my next point! Now they've announced they will make Jurrasic park. Well that makes me think they have given up on this game. Sorry i'm a narrow minded thinker. But when i think further... This also could be a good point. If they use the mechanics of Planet Coaster to make Jurrasic park they would't have to spend so much time on that cause in my view the mechanics of Planet Coaster are sound. They would create extra funds for Planet Coaster and this game is far from dead yet.

So i'm torn between these 2 thoughts and can do only 1 thing. Is to sit back and wait what they have in store for us or hopefully, some more communication and vision regarding Planet Coaster! [mouth shut]

Just because they are starting a new game series (if it will be a serie at all), doesn't mean they quit other games.
We only have to look at their other big product to see how we can expect future development on Planet Coaster.

Elite Dangerous is the prime example of how Frontier handles their games.
The team working on PC might not be as big as during initial development but there still is a team, with the same people on it (Andy, Sam, Brad, Matt, etc.).
And releasing new products is a priority for any company, it keeps customers interested.

I've played Elite Dangerous too, it's a fantastic game, a bit to difficult for me though.

So if PC's updates are going the same way as Elite, I won't be displeased.

 

[En Anu]

I And I don't need to start a game studio myself to have that opinion anymore than you need to go get an astrophysics degree to have an opinion about whether you like the sunglasses you just bought. Or go shoot a movie to earn the right to decide whether or not Transformers is good. [up]

LOL fair point

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

So if PC's updates are going the same way as Elite, I won't be displeased.

I am just hoping they will get somewhere close to Elite before I start signing my OAP cheques

 

[spoonetti]

PlaCo is maybe not a perfect game, but a very good game, anyway. I think it is a "mission: impossible" to create a game that suits all user's wishes and suggestions. That's a clear fact.
I understand AngryH's frustration and respect his opinion about PlaCo and Frontier's marketing, even if I've got a different opinion on this or that point. Frontier would have done a lot different in the past. But they didn't. And neither we users nor Frontier itself can't change it, retrospectively. All they can ( and will !) do is to make the game even better in the future. The question is (and this is the main topic of this thread), on which way they will present us the improvments and extensions? Small and big free updates + many DLCs, or just small free updates + many DLCs, or some small updates + some big DLCs + 1 big Add-on, or small updates + 2-3 big Add-ons and so on.
What do YOU prefer?

 

[LN]

PlaCo is maybe not a perfect game, but a very good game, anyway. I think it is a "mission: impossible" to create a game that suits all user's wishes and suggestions. That's a clear fact.
I understand AngryH's frustration and respect his opinion about PlaCo and Frontier's marketing, even if I've got a different opinion on this or that point. Frontier would have done a lot different in the past. But they didn't. And neither we users nor Frontier itself can't change it, retrospectively. All they can ( and will !) do is to make the game even better in the future. The question is (and this is the main topic of this thread), on which way they will present us the improvments and extensions? Small and big free updates + many DLCs, or just small free updates + many DLCs, or some small updates + some big DLCs + 1 big Add-on, or small updates + 2-3 big Add-ons and so on.
What do YOU prefer?

More content than there was in the Sppoky Pack for the same price. Themed packs is fine, but I don't want a Spooky Pack 2.0 somewhere in the future that holds items that might as well have been in version 1.0.

So yeah, more themed DLC's is okay, but with more content. In the end I decide if it's money's worth, but that's what I would like.

Of course the game still needs tweaking. Those updates should be free.

 

[En Anu]

PlaCo is maybe not a perfect game, but a very good game, anyway. I think it is a "mission: impossible" to create a game that suits all user's wishes and suggestions. That's a clear fact.
I understand AngryH's frustration and respect his opinion about PlaCo and Frontier's marketing, even if I've got a different opinion on this or that point. Frontier would have done a lot different in the past. But they didn't. And neither we users nor Frontier itself can't change it, retrospectively. All they can ( and will !) do is to make the game even better in the future. The question is (and this is the main topic of this thread), on which way they will present us the improvments and extensions? Small and big free updates + many DLCs, or just small free updates + many DLCs, or some small updates + some big DLCs + 1 big Add-on, or small updates + 2-3 big Add-ons and so on.
What do YOU prefer?

I have no problems with bigger DLCs (equivalent to expansion pack size) as long as they keep on fire fighting bugs promptly and in a chronological order (not years down the road) so we can have an all round gaming experience not just a bias for building but for tools, modding, management and alike.

I can not stand micro transactions and that would effect people downloading parks on steam keep it basic and real from a DLC point of view!

 

[LN]

I can not stand micro transactions and that would effect people downloading parks on steam keep it basic and real from a DLC point of view!

I'm still trying to figure out the whole Workshop issue every time about not being able to download cool stuff?
Why is this so important to everyone?

They cannot download your amazing stuff because they don't have the DLC? Bad luck for them.

 

[redrum]

I came back a year later to try and build a holiday park....

How'd you go with that? Any workshop things to share? I'm keen to see what the harshest critic on the forums has made. [big grin] Regardless of how unsatisfied we may be with the tools, or aspects of the game, we nevertheless can achieve things with the tools available. Some pain is required, we all know. That's why I won't build any more detailed trucks, it's too much work.

Speaking of wanting to see content from unexpected places, I wonder if any of the gang at Frontier have content in the workshop? I'm kind of curious to see what the makers have made.

In regards to the topic of last free big update, well... they're holding cards close by the sounds of it, and that's fine. DLC is a good ongoing option for revenue. First smaller DLCs were a bit iffy, I didn't bother, but Spooky pack was a win. The graphics in this game are top shelf for the most part, and that fact affords some allowance for imperfection in other aspects IMHO .

 

[Helena]

I see that the rest of my post wasn't there, so I feel it is too "give me give me", so I wanted to complete here...

I would love to see more updates please! But I would pay for updates! I would love to see Planet Coaster supported for years and years to come. So I would pay for it to support the developers. Bug fixes and "quality of life" fixes should be free of course, but I am up for paying updates as long as it is fair priced.

So if free updates = no more updates at all, or paid updates then I will go paid all way down.

 

[En Anu]

I see that the rest of my post wasn't there, so I feel it is too "give me give me", so I wanted to complete here...

I would love to see more updates please! But I would pay for updates! I would love to see Planet Coaster supported for years and years to come. So I would pay for it to support the developers. Bug fixes and "quality of life" fixes should be free of course, but I am up for paying updates as long as it is fair priced.

So if free updates = no more updates at all, or paid updates then I will go paid all way down.

All future updates that contain content should be paid for but put in DLC at least twice the size of spooky for £11.95 for example.

Helena is right, all QOL and bug fixes need to be free of charge!

 

[En Anu]

How'd you go with that? Any workshop things to share? I'm keen to see what the harshest critic on the forums has made. [big grin] Regardless of how unsatisfied we may be with the tools, or aspects of the game, we nevertheless can achieve things with the tools available. Some pain is required, we all know. That's why I won't build any more detailed trucks, it's too much work.
.

I feel your pain - built cars designed for entrance car park and also used them (various colours and different ones for upholstery and dash) for a ride inside a five storey car park on same map in the city area then adjacent to fun land built a lego area plus coaster lego supports plus lego characters and lego shops brick by brick plus floor and then bespoke bumper cars for road rage named bumper flatride with two clashing smoke coming off etc....the list goes on to doing bespoke design prob is we need those TOOLS desperately as when married it is the quickest way to get a divorce if designing one thing for hours on end with out adequate tools

 

[LN]

those TOOLS

I am finding it really hard to understand what you are writing, if you would use punctuation marks it would be a lot easier.
But in basics what you are saying is that you want to design the most elaborate en extensive lego park there is, which obviously takes time.

Now comes the part from my quote:
What tools do you think make it easier to build such an extensive park?

It doesn't matter what tools are handed, it would still take a lot of time to build detailed and extensive things.

IMO the tools provided in PC do their job fine.
It's your choice to design something that takes hours.

 

[Stream]

I am finding it really hard to understand what you are writing, if you would use punctuation marks it would be a lot easier.
But in basics what you are saying is that you want to design the most elaborate en extensive lego park there is, which obviously takes time.

Now comes the part from my quote:
What tools do you think make it easier to build such an extensive park?

It doesn't matter what tools are handed, it would still take a lot of time to build detailed and extensive things.

IMO the tools provided in PC do their job fine.
It's your choice to design something that takes hours.

The ability to click and drag out walls and roofs. The ability to click and drag to change the angle of the roof. The ability to change the texture of the walls and roofs after you've placed them. The ability to select items and make them into a building/group. The ability to freely rotate walls around 360 degrees within a grid. A better advanced move gizmo tool that doesn't bug out. An easier way to make paths (ability to click and drag, make them able to connect everywhere). I could go on and on about how things could be made a lot easier to work with.

Of course the system in place right now works and people can build incredible things with the tools we have, but some things are just unnecessarily tedious, and could be solved with some tweaking to the UI.

Btw, I'm not saying to abandon the current system in favor of a new one, I'm saying that we should be able to hold a key down in order to drag a wall out for instance. Best of both worlds.

 

[ojonas]

Seems like people want to create the most amazing and detailed parks with no effort put in. Just push a button and magic will happen (dramatically simplified for dramatization purposes). If nothing else, the tools available today has shown that creative people can create almost anything with some imagination and time. Nothing in life is easy or quick. Practice and time makes perfect.

I also don't understand the whole workshop issue and DLCs. You won't suffer if someone can't download your blueprint just because they don't have the DLCs needed. That is their loss, not yours. If you are upset because people won't/can't download your blueprints, you may play this game for the wrong reasons.

Back to topic, I can't understand why people all of a sudden think there will be no more updates (free and paid)? There are literally no signs of Frontier abandoning this game. If nothing else, Frontier has shown that they do support the game, fix game breaking bugs after each major update with the first one often the same day or the next. SO all you that think that they will stop releasing updates, bug fixes etc. what are your arguments to why you think that will happen?

My prediction is that there might be one or a few more major updates for free along with DLCs in the same size as the Spooky pack. This is a perfectly acceptable path in my opinion. I don't think bug fixes and QoL (as many are crying over) should be hidden in paid content, but rides, scenery and game play additions outside of the base game's scope. I don't think we will see larger expansions packs like Wild or Soaked (never liked water parks so for me this is not a loss at all) any time soon.

 

[Chems]

Things taking a long time to build are not the issue. It is the reason WHY some things take so long to build. It is because some tools lack certain quality of life options. Think small terrain brushes, no foliage brushes, no fence tool, etc.