Tim Smith
Lead Community Manager
Hi everyone!
We've really appreciated all the wonderful feedback we've received so far about Planet Coaster: Console Edition. We know many of you have had questions about what the game will be like to play with a gamepad, so we thought it'd be a great idea for you to hear from the devs on this topic, as well as getting to hear some additional information. Please welcome Programmer Philippa Moore and UI Designer Jason Ware!
Hello everyone! We're looking forward to sharing more information from behind-the-scenes of Planet Coaster: Console Edition's development!
Jason:
When developing Planet Coaster: Console Edition, we wanted to take full advantage of the gamepad and make the controls feel as intuitive and natural as possible, which is why we redesigned the user interface to make sure it works in harmony with the controls. At the same time, we still wanted to allow for mouse and keyboard input, so that players have the option of seamlessly switching from keyboard and mouse to gamepad at their leisure. We started by evaluating some of our previous park-building simulations and coaster games, seeing what worked well, what we could learn from them and what we could adapt for Planet Coaster. We then went through several stages of creating prototypes of the UI, testing them, gathering feedback and iterating based on the findings. Gradually over the course of the project, each component has come together and been tweaked and polished to create the game that players will be able to experience later this year.
Philippa:
We went through a lot of iterations of the control scheme, making tweaks and adjustments until it felt just right. We really wanted to make use of the features unique to a gamepad controller, ie the triggers and the joysticks, to come up with controls that felt like they had been designed with the gamepad in mind. For instance, the level of joystick deflection gives you really fine control over the camera for exploring the detail of your park up close. It's been really important that our final control scheme is as intuitive as possible! There’s a lot of back-and-forth and close collaboration between the programmers and designers to really nail down exactly what we wanted.
Jason:
In Planet Coaster on PC, there can be many different interfaces onscreen at once and the player can control these using the cursor. With the Console Edition, the UI is a lot more focused on showing the tools and settings that are most relevant to the player at any given time, whilst ensuring everything else is still only a few button presses away. For example, when players are building paths, editing terrain or placing objects, the options have been condensed into a single panel that allows the user to change settings, tools and styles on the fly, without ever needing to exit the mode they’re in. Furthermore, we’ve introduced a new radial menu that features shortcuts to frequently used settings, making it even quicker for players to adjust them.
Philippa:
We’ve scaled up the UI and the text to make sure it’s all readable from your sofa. People tend to play console games on larger screens than PC, but of course they sit further away, so for the browsers and menus to be easy to navigate they now take up more screen space. We’ve redesigned certain menus for things like park statistics to make them larger and visually more accessible – one of the great things about Planet Coaster is how in-depth the management is, so it’s vital that all the park information is presented in a way that’s readable and easy to navigate.
We’ve added a whole host of new categories and filters to make it easy for players to find exactly what they want. It’s as simple as using the gamepad bumpers to switch browsers tabs, then quickly narrowing down your selection with the D-pad. You can also apply filters to search by scenery theme and size, so if you have something specific in mind you can find exactly what you’re looking for.
Jason:
The item browser was one of our core focuses in Planet Coaster: Console Edition, as it’s a fundamental part of the game for both casual players and the more advanced coaster park enthusiasts. We’ve revisited the categories and filters and added some new options to create a more robust filtering system, allowing players to find items with greater ease. These options can also be quickly accessed from within the browser, and, like Philippa said, changing tabs is as easy as pressing a bumper. In addition, there is a greater emphasis on blueprints with the Console Edition. Players will find a huge range of new blueprints in various different themes, making it much easier to build impressive looking parks in a short space of time, with the individual piece-by-piece objects now neatly separated in a new section of the browser called the “create” tab.
Philippa:
We really wanted Planet Coaster: Console Edition to have that pick-up-and-play appeal, without watering down any of the in-depth creation and management tools that we are so proud of in the PC version. To this end, we’ve created a brand new Tutorial (with some fabulous voice acting), which guides you through the process of park management and coaster creation.
Jason:
The tutorial level and a coaster tutorial park are new levels that are catered towards new players, teaching them all about the various facets of the game and how to use the different tools that the game offers to get the most out of their experience. We’ve introduced some new quirky characters that help guide you through the tutorials, who also make appearances throughout the career scenarios, and really inject personality into the levels as you’re learning the ropes.
Redesigning Planet Coaster for console has given us an opportunity to revisit the game and experiment with some new features, and one addition that players can look forward to is the Movement Snap Tool. This allows you to align any objects along a single line and space them equally apart, something that was previously only possible with grid objects. It’s a great setting for those who really want to pay attention to detail and line their scenery up perfectly for that flawless finish, it can be quickly accessed via the Radial Menu and it definitely shouldn’t be overlooked.
Philippa:
Another thing that’s had a lot of attention is the camera system. We’ve done a complete overhaul of the camera in Planet Coaster, to make sure that you always have complete control with the gamepad – whether you’re placing individual plant pots on the outside of a burger stand, or panning over your park to watch a majestic sunset.
We always love seeing what our community comes up with – some of the creativity we’ve seen from our players has been absolutely mind blowing. I’m so excited to see the joy our new Planet Coaster community members can find in our game, and where their imaginations take them.
Jason:
It absolutely blows me away seeing the creations that our talented community design and build, so I’m really excited that a whole new audience is going to be experiencing Planet Coaster for the first time and I can’t wait to see what new inventions they’ll come up with!
We've really appreciated all the wonderful feedback we've received so far about Planet Coaster: Console Edition. We know many of you have had questions about what the game will be like to play with a gamepad, so we thought it'd be a great idea for you to hear from the devs on this topic, as well as getting to hear some additional information. Please welcome Programmer Philippa Moore and UI Designer Jason Ware!
Hello everyone! We're looking forward to sharing more information from behind-the-scenes of Planet Coaster: Console Edition's development!
Jason:
When developing Planet Coaster: Console Edition, we wanted to take full advantage of the gamepad and make the controls feel as intuitive and natural as possible, which is why we redesigned the user interface to make sure it works in harmony with the controls. At the same time, we still wanted to allow for mouse and keyboard input, so that players have the option of seamlessly switching from keyboard and mouse to gamepad at their leisure. We started by evaluating some of our previous park-building simulations and coaster games, seeing what worked well, what we could learn from them and what we could adapt for Planet Coaster. We then went through several stages of creating prototypes of the UI, testing them, gathering feedback and iterating based on the findings. Gradually over the course of the project, each component has come together and been tweaked and polished to create the game that players will be able to experience later this year.
Philippa:
We went through a lot of iterations of the control scheme, making tweaks and adjustments until it felt just right. We really wanted to make use of the features unique to a gamepad controller, ie the triggers and the joysticks, to come up with controls that felt like they had been designed with the gamepad in mind. For instance, the level of joystick deflection gives you really fine control over the camera for exploring the detail of your park up close. It's been really important that our final control scheme is as intuitive as possible! There’s a lot of back-and-forth and close collaboration between the programmers and designers to really nail down exactly what we wanted.
Jason:
In Planet Coaster on PC, there can be many different interfaces onscreen at once and the player can control these using the cursor. With the Console Edition, the UI is a lot more focused on showing the tools and settings that are most relevant to the player at any given time, whilst ensuring everything else is still only a few button presses away. For example, when players are building paths, editing terrain or placing objects, the options have been condensed into a single panel that allows the user to change settings, tools and styles on the fly, without ever needing to exit the mode they’re in. Furthermore, we’ve introduced a new radial menu that features shortcuts to frequently used settings, making it even quicker for players to adjust them.
Philippa:
We’ve scaled up the UI and the text to make sure it’s all readable from your sofa. People tend to play console games on larger screens than PC, but of course they sit further away, so for the browsers and menus to be easy to navigate they now take up more screen space. We’ve redesigned certain menus for things like park statistics to make them larger and visually more accessible – one of the great things about Planet Coaster is how in-depth the management is, so it’s vital that all the park information is presented in a way that’s readable and easy to navigate.
We’ve added a whole host of new categories and filters to make it easy for players to find exactly what they want. It’s as simple as using the gamepad bumpers to switch browsers tabs, then quickly narrowing down your selection with the D-pad. You can also apply filters to search by scenery theme and size, so if you have something specific in mind you can find exactly what you’re looking for.
Jason:
The item browser was one of our core focuses in Planet Coaster: Console Edition, as it’s a fundamental part of the game for both casual players and the more advanced coaster park enthusiasts. We’ve revisited the categories and filters and added some new options to create a more robust filtering system, allowing players to find items with greater ease. These options can also be quickly accessed from within the browser, and, like Philippa said, changing tabs is as easy as pressing a bumper. In addition, there is a greater emphasis on blueprints with the Console Edition. Players will find a huge range of new blueprints in various different themes, making it much easier to build impressive looking parks in a short space of time, with the individual piece-by-piece objects now neatly separated in a new section of the browser called the “create” tab.
Philippa:
We really wanted Planet Coaster: Console Edition to have that pick-up-and-play appeal, without watering down any of the in-depth creation and management tools that we are so proud of in the PC version. To this end, we’ve created a brand new Tutorial (with some fabulous voice acting), which guides you through the process of park management and coaster creation.
Jason:
The tutorial level and a coaster tutorial park are new levels that are catered towards new players, teaching them all about the various facets of the game and how to use the different tools that the game offers to get the most out of their experience. We’ve introduced some new quirky characters that help guide you through the tutorials, who also make appearances throughout the career scenarios, and really inject personality into the levels as you’re learning the ropes.
Redesigning Planet Coaster for console has given us an opportunity to revisit the game and experiment with some new features, and one addition that players can look forward to is the Movement Snap Tool. This allows you to align any objects along a single line and space them equally apart, something that was previously only possible with grid objects. It’s a great setting for those who really want to pay attention to detail and line their scenery up perfectly for that flawless finish, it can be quickly accessed via the Radial Menu and it definitely shouldn’t be overlooked.
Philippa:
Another thing that’s had a lot of attention is the camera system. We’ve done a complete overhaul of the camera in Planet Coaster, to make sure that you always have complete control with the gamepad – whether you’re placing individual plant pots on the outside of a burger stand, or panning over your park to watch a majestic sunset.
We always love seeing what our community comes up with – some of the creativity we’ve seen from our players has been absolutely mind blowing. I’m so excited to see the joy our new Planet Coaster community members can find in our game, and where their imaginations take them.
Jason:
It absolutely blows me away seeing the creations that our talented community design and build, so I’m really excited that a whole new audience is going to be experiencing Planet Coaster for the first time and I can’t wait to see what new inventions they’ll come up with!
