Planet Coaster 2: Speculation and Rumors

[Wagi]

There hasn't even been a Monthly Catch-up since November, of course there hasn't been hardly any community posts either. Sort feels like Planet Coaster PC is the ugly red-haired stepchild of Frontier... I suspect that they feel that whenever they DO decide to announce something new that everyone will all come running back so it doesn't matter.

Perhaps some will...perhaps some won't...

 

[Pixlestar]

Well... I still have fingers Crossed.. I really don't see how they could let this masterpiece of a game to just go sideways forever.. sure they are working on existing game for other platforms.. but please Frontier.. you made a new Jurassic game.. don't forget us coaster lovers..

If anything.. new DLC and updates please..

And please give us the ability to import our own height maps for our parks..

 

[DisneylandFreak]

There hasn't even been a Monthly Catch-up since November, of course there hasn't been hardly any community posts either. Sort feels like Planet Coaster PC is the ugly red-haired stepchild of Frontier... I suspect that they feel that whenever they DO decide to announce something new that everyone will all come running back so it doesn't matter.

Perhaps some will...perhaps some won't...

Worse is that they are promoting it like a new game release currently,with a countdown and everything.It rlly seems like they have forgotten about the planco community.We'll obviously have to wait till E3 to find out if we'll get anything as PC players,the core community that supported the game from the alpha days,from them this year or if they abandon us again,like they have done since 2019,but my hopes for anything this year have gone down exponentially.

 

[rct-uwe1]

Probably there wil be an offer on steam, too. It was frustrating to see PC on sale with 70% off just 1 year after release (when I was paying 38€). They are milking the cow (fans which are buying at release) as much as possible and at the same time they don't really care about them later...
They could still sell much more dlcs with wanted stuff, but ... nothing to announce!
If there is something to announce, it will be announced about 2 weeks before. There's absolutely no logical marketing visible.

I'm still hoping for a lot of improvements in a PC2 after stopping PC completely because of the game engine...

 

[DisneylandFreak]

Probably there wil be an offer on steam, too. It was frustrating to see PC on sale with 70% off just 1 year after release (when I was paying 38€). They are milking the cow (fans which are buying at release) as much as possible and at the same time they don't really care about them later...
They could still sell much more dlcs with wanted stuff, but ... nothing to announce!
If there is something to announce, it will be announced about 2 weeks before. There's absolutely no logical marketing visible.

I'm still hoping for a lot of omprovements in a a PC2 after stopping PC completely because of the game engine...

If that ever comes in the next few years. I have a feeling they are gonna milk this game and Planet Zoo dry before they announce a sequel,and I was hopeful the last few years,since they abandoned PC players in 2019,but now it seems like they are going to abandon console players too. Also they never said they were finished with the game.If they'd been honest I would have understood,but they just left us hanging for years.

 

[Pixlestar]

If that ever comes in the next few years. I have a feeling they are gonna milk this game and Planet Zoo dry before they announce a sequel,and I was hopeful the last few years,since they abandoned PC players in 2019,but now it seems like they are going to abandon console players too. Also they never said they were finished with the game.If they'd been honest I would have understood,but they just left us hanging for years.

I didn't know that this game was initially supported with crowdfunding.. Yeah..there does seem to be a trend and tendency for large game franchises to grow more "corporate" and out of touch over time with their audience and players--like The Sims. S4 left out important things-- that should have been part of the game at launch-- for the amount of money charged. Although in recent years EA has asked the community directly what they would like to see in future DLC...So -- EA once stated "it wouldn't make a sequel unless it achieved great success $$$ with the current title".....

...mmmmm $$$.. But if you use $$ then, as a barometer for PlanetC..there were 2.5 mil copies sold by 2020- 3 years-no DLC or major updates for PlanetC .however, the game is a masterpiece as it stands. Frontier created the Thememaker's Toolkit..Not a lot of games out there give you the tools like this for creative freedom (personally I am going to give that a go)--I really hope they keep that aspect in a sequel

One can hope for a PC2

 

[DistortAMG]

So a since deleted post on reddit was posted a few days ago. I think it gave the most realistic prospects for Planet Coaster 2.

Make of these what you will but these were the takeaways from it, important to note. This is not confirmed as real and pure rumour at the moment. But to me, they seem like some of the more realistic rumours.

Planet Coaster 2 is apparently in development, with an estimated announcement and marketing to begin in late 2023. With that I would expect a release late 2024 maybe. Hopefully also the year of Grant Theft Auto 6. Two very talented British devs releasing two amazing games, the two single most highly anticipated sequels for me may I add, in the same year would be amazing!

Project lead is apparently Sam (I assume Sam from the original Planco dev diaries) if this is true, fantastic. Take my cash now Frontier, take it all!

Big delays due to Covid and an "IP Grab", which has not come to fruition. This could be the previous speculated partnership with Disney. You just have to look at the state of the Sims 4 to see this is a good thing it fell through. Plus, I thought one of the key strengths of Planet Coaster was for the most part, its originality. This would be lost, so could creativity somewhat be lost, having to build within the constraints of Disney. But who knows what they had planned.

Pathing systems are apparently going to be the same. It is apparently a known QoL issue but the AI is so heavily tied into it the investment of time is not deemed worth while. To be fair I can live with paths staying the same as they were not too bad..some of the worst QoL stuff for me was stations having to hold all trains and boats. So a log flume with 30 boats would have to have a station 30 boats long - very annoying. Plus, no exit and entry stations for coasters - finally the REALLY terrible physics for all the water rides in the game (especially tracked) the boat ride that is supposed to be like the Pirates of the Carribean boat ride is the worst offender here. Bottom line is I could live with pathing systems being the same, aslong as some of the worst QoL issues are fixed - I say aslong as, not sure why, as I will still be buying it anyway.

Potential to release with 5 themes, again this makes sense, as a newer game, will need newer assets to take advantage of advancements in computers and their game engine. Not to mention the increased dev time for higher detail assets. Again, I am fine with this, 5 is enough for the base game. The most important thing for me is that the foundations of the game are spot on. People including myself will happily pay for extra content if the fundamental foundations in the game are there. I do hope we see weather this time Frontier. Having parks in a state of sunshine, while very nice, gets stale rather quickly. Especially considering we were and are accustomed to dynamic weather in most games these days. I understand why you chose it that why (I think!), but hoping you can evolve the weather for the next one. Especially seeing as Planet Zoo got an excellent weather system, so the systems that handle weather should now be built, right? In any case, I am confident this will have already been decided to be put in the game for the huge demand there was for weather with the first one, the fact the systems are now partially or fully built as can be seen in Planet Zoo means the engine now supports weather. Then finally the extra opportunities and mechanics that can be added to the management aspect of the game. I know Planet Coaster got some minor criticism in reviews over shallow management and it was. Even with Security and other updates, it seemed hollow. Understandable, it had been a while since they worked on this type of game. Planet Zoo really picked it up at notch management wise and I am confident Frontier will be hitting their stride with management sides in Planco2. This is why I think weather will almost certainly have already been decided on as a feature..if PlanCo2 exists that is.

Which nicely ties into a rumoured DLC format similar to Planet Zoo. Which was successful as they got the fundamental foundations right, as they did with Planet Coaster.

Very exciting times ahead if any of this is true.

Also can I just say. I wish people on here would stop acting like Frontier owe you something. They owe you NOTHING. People are moaning because no new DLC, but people want PlanCo 2. Yet people would moan when a sequel is delayed due to time being spent on DLC. I understand people want this and that. But Frontier owe you nothing. Remember that. Get your self entitlement out the way and stop acting like they do. Get a grip with reality then come back and speak. I am sorry to sound so negative but this is something that has to be said.

Frontier never once abandoned players, everything YOU paid for. You got. This was never released or even advertised as a live service game, they never cancelled any announced DLC. So how did the exactly abandon you. How is it any different from EVERY SINGLE game to release on computer since the 1980's? It is not and like I said they owe us all nothing.

 

[Pixlestar]

But Frontier owe you nothing. Remember that. Get your self entitlement out the way and stop acting like they do. Get a grip with reality then come back and speak. I am sorry to sound so negative but this is something that has to be said.

BTW.. thanks for sharing that info!....Good point!..Budget, programming, staff constraints aside, fans are wishing for additions, changes, improvments and/or a sequel. I think the game was a huge success--players wanting more could be looked at as a huge compliment to Frontier. One could hope they don't however, get bogged down with things such as Disney (IM-humble-O) with a sequel. I hope they keep the creativity uniquely PC..

 

[lilibat]

I keep coming back here because In miss planco, kind of hoping for a 2 but I don't know. I quit playing because I could no longer get TMTK stuff to upload and they seemed uninterested in fixing it. Definitely mixed feelings.

 

[gecaum]

they owe us all nothing.

I don't agree with this statement at all...First, it's true that normally they don't owe us anything...because Producers of the game, they do what they want (of course!).. .BUT secondly , they owe us to build a game that works properly at over 5_10 FPS (which would seem normal to me!) because we paid a lot of money for this game....and the deal is not not correct ! Would you say it's normal to buy a fridge that works in slow motion???

 

[DistortAMG]

Would you buy a mini and try and put as much inside it as you would a van? Same principle applies here.

The game runs fine for me and most other people. The game has run fine for me since 2016. It is not Frontiers fault that you A, do not have a powerful enough machine. Then B, it is not Frontiers fault you do not understand how to manage your gameplay based on how this sort of open ended game works where you can keep building.

I am yet to see a single game, in 30 years, which has no limits on building and doesnt slow down to a crawl at some point. This is not Frontiers fault that you do not understand fundamental laws within computer science.

The game is not broken, it runs fine and has done for years, the thousands upon thousands of YouTube videos prove this beyond any reasonable doubt. Your lack of of understand of computer hardware and fundamental limitations in computer science are also not their fault. So stop blaming them for your lack of knowledge.

May I suggest, perhaps buy a console, where everything like this is totally abstracted away from the user. As no disrespect, you seem to have a difficult time understanding how they work.

 

[Wagi]

Respectfully there is a difference between acknowledging that you got what you paid for as a consumer and aren't owed more (a sentiment I agree with...), and the general feeling of abandonment as a community.

The PC community used to be a very active two-way communication and sharing between the players and Frontier, something that quite frankly endeared Frontier to many players after the train wreck that was Atari and how it treated it's fans. Personally I don't feel Frontier 'owes me' more in PC at all, but I'm frankly very disappointed in how they just sort of walked away from the community here that they purposefully built up to support the title. Whether or not other other developers do the same is besides the point. A simple statement that we had come to the end of active development would have saddened many but people would have known not to keep expecting something. Instead we got basically nothing communication-wise, something that had next to zero cost to the company. Even simple things like monthly updates kind of fell by the wayside as the community slowly left the forum. The Theme Makers Toolkit was never really supported as it probably could have been, which is a real shame.

I have no doubt that if and when a PC2 is announced that everyone will again be excited, as I will be myself. But after what's gone on with PC my excitement will be somewhat tempered. That's not self-entitlement, that's just a reallity about not buying into the hype again...

 

[DistortAMG]

But that brings us back to the question, can the community not mature enough to sustain itself. It did for RCT3, so why couldn't it for PC? Why does aspects of the community feel they need to be spoonfed by he developers. The PC community is very active on parts of the web, other places we hear these means and groans.

Should they be putting time and resources into a game 7 years later, it should they be working on something else.

I do not agree or disagree with you. But the points you make, raise interesting questions.

 

[gecaum]

Would you buy a mini and try and put as much inside it as you would a van? Same principle applies here.

The game runs fine for me and most other people. The game has run fine for me since 2016. It is not Frontiers fault that you A, do not have a powerful enough machine. Then B, it is not Frontiers fault you do not understand how to manage your gameplay based on how this sort of open ended game works where you can keep building.

I am yet to see a single game, in 30 years, which has no limits on building and doesnt slow down to a crawl at some point. This is not Frontiers fault that you do not understand fundamental laws within computer science.

The game is not broken, it runs fine and has done for years, the thousands upon thousands of YouTube videos prove this beyond any reasonable doubt. Your lack of of understand of computer hardware and fundamental limitations in computer science are also not their fault. So stop blaming them for your lack of knowledge.

May I suggest, perhaps buy a console, where everything like this is totally abstracted away from the user. As no disrespect, you seem to have a difficult time understanding how they work.

I don't know who you are, to defend Frontier, (player or employee of Frontier?), but the way you despise the average player (often very young!) for their unsuitable hardware or their lack of informatic knowledge, is not not very worthy ... It's a popular game, so for the People, who, even if their machine is above the minimum specs required, don't have the computer knowledge you claim to have! And not everyone can buy ultra-sophisticated computers! As for the necessary computer knowledge, if you are so smart, provide it to everyone, on this forum... For my part, my pc has good specs, but the game grinds. it was recognized by game specialists that there was a problem with the Cobra engine, and possibly DirectX. Let this be recognized !
Thanks to Wagi for his calm and balanced appreciation of the problems of this game .....

 

[DisneylandFreak]

I don't know who you are, to defend Frontier, (player or employee of Frontier?), but the way you despise the average player (often very young!) for their unsuitable hardware or their lack of informatic knowledge, is not not very worthy ... It's a popular game, so for the People, who, even if their machine is above the minimum specs required, don't have the computer knowledge you claim to have! And not everyone can buy ultra-sophisticated computers! As for the necessary computer knowledge, if you are so smart, provide it to everyone, on this forum... For my part, my pc has good specs, but the game grinds. it was recognized by game specialists that there was a problem with the Cobra engine, and possibly DirectX. Let this be recognized !
Thanks to Wagi for his calm and balanced appreciation of the problems of this game .....

I have no idea who he is,he seems new around these parts. I am a pretty neutral person so I respect his opinion,he shouldn't be hating on people that can't afford a better PC tho.Wagis Post is a pretty good take on the topic,however I want to try myself to make clear what has lead to this discussion.When I took part in this thread I never intended to hate on Frontier Developments or the game. In fact I've loved this game since it's alpha, since I first played it and I wanna tell you it was very rough back then. I still think it could have been optimised a little better,but I don't see this as the main problem as this game is pretty old already,when you consider it came out in 2016. I expect a sequel to be playable by more computers,that don't necessarily have the high end specs,because I feel this should be enjoyable for everyone and not only PC Geeks. What was special about Planet Coaster was it's amazing community and the interactions with the developers(SpoilerSam and many more). It really felt like they listened to their fans and cared about our hopes and wishes. The DLC Packs where pretty great and gave the game a lot of extra content. Don't forget tho that before DLC they supported the game for free the first year,with pretty substantial updates. AND THEN it suddenly stopped. In Summer 2019 PC Planet Coaster Players got their last DLC Pack,the Ghostbusters Pack,which granted was an awesome finish,but we didn't know it was the final DLC at the time,because they never told us. Countless times during the golden era of the DLCs they used to say,they would tell us when they are finished with the support of the game. Yet that definitive "We are sad to announce Planco Support is ending,but we had a great time and hope you continue playing and enjoying the game." never came. When the usual 3 months DLC development phase ended and nothing was announced we started getting suspicious. Was it rlly over? We asked and asked,yet the answer to this day was: "we have nothing to announce regarding planet coaster on pc at the moment". Then the console edition got announced. And we thought: "Great more players and possibly more dlc, once it is up to date with the pc version!". But now it seems they abandoned that newly built console community too without saying anything. It's not that we suddenly hate Frontier,it's the lack of communication and the absolute secrecy concerning their future plans that frustrates people around here and has driven away people from the forums and some even the game. Heck the only way we kind of got confirmed development was over was through the "frontier developments 5 year plan" reddit leak in 2019,that has 99% turned out true,where planet zoo and planco 2 where mentioned.I can neither confirm nor deny this new leak we got in this thread,but I reckon we'll see an announcement soon,because we all know a sequel will be announced sooner or later,but we have learned and probably won't be as invested anymore,tho we obviously absolutely still will be hyped in the moment,because we still love this game❤.

 

[gecaum]

Well said . Completly agreed ! very good analysis !

 

[DistortAMG]

You know you can see when someone joined by clicking on their profile. 2015 I've been around here since. So by no means new.

This is the problem today, I've now been accused of hating on people because they cannot afford new PC's.

Show me exactly where I did that. This is the problem these days, people half read stuff then make assumptions based on their own narrative.

Here is the TLDR. I Was not hating at all if you read what I said properly you will see that. I was stating a simple fact of ALL pc games. If you do not understand PC hardware do not blame developers for your lack of knowledge when getting the game to run properly, with a huge set of settings and what not, a basic understand is required and always has been since the 1980's. If you dont understand hardware that is fine, just do not blame other people for your own lack of knowledge. Then I said you can always get a console and play the game there, where you need next to zero knowledge of hardware to enjoy the game........apparently that has been interpreted as me hating on people who cannot afford to buy expensive hardware.....man, if you are going to engage is this discussion, the absolute MINIMUM you should be doing is actually reading and understanding what I am actually saying.

Offering someone a solution and platform they can use the enjoy the game to its fullest based on their skill level is not at all hating on them for number one, being able to upgrade their computer, or number 2, technical skill level. It is offering them a solution to enjoy the game. I am more worried I have had to spell this out to be fair.

One final thing. Public companys like Frontier, have to keep future plans very quiet for many reasons, some being legality issues and others being related to the fact that they are a public company with shareholders to answer to. Again, this goes back to a lack of understanding of how the world works. I am sorry but it does. There are many very good reasons (some being legal issues) as to why I a company may not want to keep their future plans secret but they have to keep them secret due to being a publicly traded company. I assume most people here do not understand that as I have not once seen it mentioned.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with not knowing something. That is normal and a fact of life.

But yes, I will defend Frontier and make no secret of that. Like everything in life, they are not perfect. But the bottom line is this. The game you have installed on your PC today aka Planco, is great and amazing, you have all admitted that yourself. That alone is worth defending a company for. As that is the main thing we are here for, the game, not the communication, that is nice, but fundamentally would be nothing without the software.

 

[DisneylandFreak]

You know you can see when someone joined by clicking on their profile. 2015 I've been around here since. So by no means new.

This is the problem today, I've now been accused of hating on people because they cannot afford new PC's.

Show me exactly where I did that. This is the problem these days, people half read stuff then make assumptions based on their own narrative.

Here is the TLDR. I Was not hating at all if you read what I said properly you will see that. I was stating a simple fact of ALL pc games. If you do not understand PC hardware do not blame developers for your lack of knowledge when getting the game to run properly, with a huge set of settings and what not, a basic understand is required and always has been since the 1980's. If you dont understand hardware that is fine, just do not blame other people for your own lack of knowledge. Then I said you can always get a console and play the game there, where you need next to zero knowledge of hardware to enjoy the game........apparently that has been interpreted as me hating on people who cannot afford to buy expensive hardware.....man, if you are going to engage is this discussion, the absolute MINIMUM you should be doing is actually reading and understanding what I am actually saying.

Offering someone a solution and platform they can use the enjoy the game to its fullest based on their skill level is not at all hating on them for number one, being able to upgrade their computer, or number 2, technical skill level. It is offering them a solution to enjoy the game. I am more worried I have had to spell this out to be fair.

One final thing. Public companys like Frontier, have to keep future plans very quiet for many reasons, some being legality issues and others being related to the fact that they are a public company with shareholders to answer to. Again, this goes back to a lack of understanding of how the world works. I am sorry but it does. There are many very good reasons (some being legal issues) as to why I a company may not want to keep their future plans secret but they have to keep them secret due to being a publicly traded company. I assume most people here do not understand that as I have not once seen it mentioned.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with not knowing something. That is normal and a fact of life.

But yes, I will defend Frontier and make no secret of that. Like everything in life, they are not perfect. But the bottom line is this. The game you have installed on your PC today aka Planco, is great and amazing, you have all admitted that yourself. That alone is worth defending a company for. As that is the main thing we are here for, the game, not the communication, that is nice, but fundamentally would be nothing without the software.

Look I never said your point wasn't valid and now that you had the chance to elaborate on it, I totally get your perspective. From the marketing side however I feel it is sometimes wiser to let consumers know about a sequel a bit in advance, so hype for a game can be built up trough ad campaigns,livestreams,etc. How much that is possible, as you said, I have no knowledge of, because of all the secrecy stuff for companies,but I feel like nowadays just a little more transpareny is appreciated, not just in the gaming sector btw. What we definitely all can agree on tho is our love for the planet games and who am I to dictate them how they should go about things,these thoughts are merely wishes,no hate, no hard feelings,let's keep on enjoying the game❤

 

[Digler]

Here's hoping.

 

[MrHappy]

I had a thought last night that a nice feature would be.....

The Add To Building checkbox should be available when placing a custom coaster station. So as to properly line it up with the grid for that building instead of having to manually shift the station to fit.