1.3 UPDATE COMING!
- Thread starter Noxue
- Start date
I can't wait for the news. I hope they listen to ideas from here and give us things we want. I mentioned so many rides they could add. If it is just a regular update we will probably get about 2 new flats, 2 new coaster types, and maybe a new tracked or water ride. Of course, there could be more. If I had to choose only two new flat rides they would probably be Gravitron (flying saucer ride where you stick to the walls) and Musik Express or Thunder Bobs. RCT3 and RCTW have a Gravitron. RCTW's looks more detailed than 3, but I don't really care for RCTW. I would love to see it in PC. I just made a fake one over a Psychola ride but it's not the same as having a real one.
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I'm expecting an expansion + paid DLC announcements.
QoL Patch please! Nothing more! Big improvements in path, in water, darkness inside buildings! More under the hood improvements please!
Well, I'm sad actually. And I'm sad that I'm sad, because I'd rather be hyped. I like hype.
A major release with "much hype" surely means few bug fixes and few QoL improvements.
I'm not going to object to content, of course, it's always spectacular!!!
But no hype for me until there's some QoL improvement hints.
Even flowing water wouldn't get me hyped at this point, and you know I love me some waterfalls.
Gizmo, selection, advanced move, paths, etc etc I've already said it all elsewhere, so I'll stop now.
QoL is the only hype for me.
A major release with "much hype" surely means few bug fixes and few QoL improvements.
I'm not going to object to content, of course, it's always spectacular!!!
But no hype for me until there's some QoL improvement hints.
Even flowing water wouldn't get me hyped at this point, and you know I love me some waterfalls.
Gizmo, selection, advanced move, paths, etc etc I've already said it all elsewhere, so I'll stop now.
QoL is the only hype for me.
I hear you. I didn't want to rain on the parade of happiness and gratitude in the 1.2.3 thread, but it worries me a lot. I mean, beside all the fanfare for the new free ride there are disturbingly few fixes and one of them is a silly rename of one single object. While the entire catalog is a bit of a mess with unfindable and poorly categorized assets.
Bo's anwser in the big complaint thread was also pretty vague marketing talk that didn't address or acknowledge the QoL issues, it just promised more to come.
Are they so busy churning out (either paid or free) content that they don't give themselves time to take a step back and have another look at the systems and assets that are already in the game? Did the codebase become so complex that it is almost impossible to fix any quirks without breaking something else? Or do they become blind to the issues because they are too deeply involved and learned to live with or work around the many shortcomings?
The answer is that software development is complex, and I'm not just talking about the actual nitty gritty of design or implementation. Frontier are a business, and like it or not they have to prioritise where they put their resource. Said resource is finite, often specialised, and the business will be generating competing demands for it. Frontier have three ongoing franchises (Elite: Dangerous, Planet Coaster and an unnamed third "Hollywood film" game). Given Planet Coaster has released, it makes sense that much of that third franchise will be made up from resource that previously worked on PC.
We also have to consider that sales are important: they're what drive further investment. As sad as it is, Frontier already have your money and taking a step back and concentrating solely on QoL for existing players doesn't make a lot of financial sense. What *does* make sense is for them to continue to develop new features and pick off the QoL changes as they go. This generates new money, which feeds back into the game in the long-term. Of course there are risks inherent in a strategy like this: put off your loyal customer base too much and you'll damage your relationship when you want them to spend more money later.
What we're seeing in the PC update model is that these minor point releases contain some of the more vital fixes, with the occasional bone thrown here and there to keep things interesting (such as new flat rides or the terrain collision update). Adding new features to a maintenance branch is messy, which is why we'll see the majority of QoL fixes in the major point releases. The terrain thing probably turned out to be a fairly trivial merge from the trunk to the maintenance branch, so the engineers decided it was low-risk enough to include.
As to your comment / question about the code base becoming so complex. Yes: the code base will be complex, and necessarily so. But the whole project structure is complex. Any particular feature requires the input of teams from disciplines such as: UX, engine, game logic, art, animation, audio. If you want your catalogue to be recategorised or reordered, that probably needs the involvement of UX and game logic teams (and possibly engine). To make those changes you have to schedule time and dependencies of those teams, bearing in mind the overall business need for them. You also have to ensure that they're compatible with other changes that you plan to make, to ensure that you don't do the work twice.
The team won't be blind to the game's shortcomings. They won't be *happy* until it's as perfect as it can be. I've talked to Matt about the audio, and how wonderful I think it is; he points out the flaws that he still knows are there, because that's how it is with engineers. They have to live with the day-to-day reality that there'll be some things they never get around to doing, or that there'll be features that necessarily need to be prioritised over QoL fixes. They have to make those changes and QA them. They have to deal with the issues that look simple on the surface but that require complex or time-consuming refactoring. They have to try to figure out what's going to give the community the best overall improvements, while balancing the fact that everyone wants something different. They don't just say "bosh, done, job's a good 'un" and leave it there.
I'm certain that Frontier are aware of their shortcomings, and I'm certain that they wish they had more time or resource to invest into the game. But I think that it *does* show commitment from the business that we're getting these major feature releases. I think they *have* shown that they listen to what the community want. Most importantly, I think they've shown that threads on the forum that critique the game and suggest improvements *are* welcomed, and that they *do* want to improve things. It's important that both sides of the coin are represented, that there are threads showing gratitude and those being critical. Gratitude improves morale, and gives the team renewed vigour to continue. Criticism gives them focus and reduces complacency. It also makes for a healthy, balanced community.
Hoping that darkness inside rooms is added - tired of building dark rides underground... Other than that I believe that Frontier will and should release a paid DLC expansion, as stated above this will allow them to refocus on general fixes later on and the influx of new revenue will allow them to continue work on the game for longer. Excited to see what they come up with!
I am completely with you.
Well said Xyphic. I am quite happy to wait and see what comes next, although I would like to see more transport rides especially a Cable Car. [yesnod]
I'm thinking this will most likely be an update with some new rides, scenery items, and tweaks to the existing engine and play mechanics (perhaps addressing SOME of the QoL requests).
But the bigger event that I'm sure we're all looking forward to is the possible major expansion reveal around the week of E3. That week is traditionally like an early Christmas for gaming enthusiasts; so many announcements not just for new games but for major additions/expansions to existing ones. The latter is especially the case for PC gamers, including this community and others like the Civilization community (who are, like this one, eagerly waiting to see Civ VI's first major expansion, which will hopefully address many initial complaints about that game).
What would I personally love to see the most in PC's first major expansion? More themes, each including loads of their own specialized rides, scenery items/animatronics, etc.. Right now Spooky tops my Wish List, with Prehistoric/Safari close behind. PC desperately needs the ability to build proper (and properly populated) above-ground Dark Rides such as Haunted Mansions, and I spent countless hours designing Prehistoric and Safari-themed rides and parks in RCT3; I would love to see what PC's visuals could bring to those concepts. Sub-themes (attached to Safari) that would be greatly appreciated would be stuff like Dolphin/Orca Shows (no need to worry about the ethics of "Blackfish" here; it's a purely virtual environment) and aquariums.
As xyphic said, I think the community requests are (at least in large part) going to be addressed by Frontier over the course of time. It may not happen as fast as some of us would prefer, but this is a HUGE project and their development team can only take on so much at one time. We just need to be patient; PC IS getting better and more refined with each update, and now that the expansions appear to be on their way, those incremental steps could very well become much bigger.
But the bigger event that I'm sure we're all looking forward to is the possible major expansion reveal around the week of E3. That week is traditionally like an early Christmas for gaming enthusiasts; so many announcements not just for new games but for major additions/expansions to existing ones. The latter is especially the case for PC gamers, including this community and others like the Civilization community (who are, like this one, eagerly waiting to see Civ VI's first major expansion, which will hopefully address many initial complaints about that game).
What would I personally love to see the most in PC's first major expansion? More themes, each including loads of their own specialized rides, scenery items/animatronics, etc.. Right now Spooky tops my Wish List, with Prehistoric/Safari close behind. PC desperately needs the ability to build proper (and properly populated) above-ground Dark Rides such as Haunted Mansions, and I spent countless hours designing Prehistoric and Safari-themed rides and parks in RCT3; I would love to see what PC's visuals could bring to those concepts. Sub-themes (attached to Safari) that would be greatly appreciated would be stuff like Dolphin/Orca Shows (no need to worry about the ethics of "Blackfish" here; it's a purely virtual environment) and aquariums.
As xyphic said, I think the community requests are (at least in large part) going to be addressed by Frontier over the course of time. It may not happen as fast as some of us would prefer, but this is a HUGE project and their development team can only take on so much at one time. We just need to be patient; PC IS getting better and more refined with each update, and now that the expansions appear to be on their way, those incremental steps could very well become much bigger.
I don't see any way that Frontier could realistically avoid that. Any major expansions and/or themes in particular are going to bring tons of additional content to the table, not just scenery but also rides, booths, etc.. But here's the flip side of the coin: the VAST majority of users who are immersed enough in PC to create and share content on the Workshop will no doubt also buy up any and all paid DLC. In the end I seriously doubt that too many folks will get left behind, and the ones who do probably aren't invested enough to care all that much anyway.
Joël
Volunteer Moderator
Well said xyphic. Thanks for explaining how things work : )