I wanted to post this earlier, but decided to wait at least a few days, and thanks to Frontier's recent communication, I could get a few things off this list. So, here's my feedback.
Short version: With a lot more further development, Planet Coaster 2 has the potential to eventually become the best theme park building game of all times, but as it stands now - and it's painful to have to say this - it's not enjoyable. The game is far from being finished, very far away from that even. At this point, I can't commit to put work into a park project.
Before I get to my many not so positive points, here's what I do like about the game, and why I think it really has the potential that I mentioned above:
Many scenery objects are so, so beautiful. While the amount of different themes is still too small at this point, the quality and quantity of the objects within the existing themes is simply incredible. The plants are gorgeous, there are lots of really beautiful and / or useful scenery objects, scaling and moving platforms are game changers. Also the new path tools are promising, as well as the light behaviour in buildings. That's not the case with natural caves, but more on that further below.
Planet Coaster 2 gives you - already now - a lot of tools that really boost your creativity, which in theory I should be really excited about, but I just can't enjoy or make use of these due to the overwhelming shortcomings on the other side:
1. The interface and user experience
2. The lack of rides
Yes, despite the dozens of coasters and crazy flat rides that we do have, I have to title this "lack of rides", and here's why: The variety of rides is poor - many rides, especially classic family and gentle rides are missing.
We need a lot more commonly used older rides. Already PC1 in its final state (with all DLCs) was still lacking in that regard, and now it's impossible to build historical parks with PC2 as it is now, after lots of older rides from PC1 didn't make it to the base game. Especially rides from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s are missing, which are key for (mainland European?) parks (see my longer post in the suggestions forum).
Among the most important missing rides are various types of gentle boat rides, classic family flat rides, powered coaster, vintage steel coasters, and ALL the missing rides from Planet Coaster 1. Really: Try to build a typical European park, how it realistically could have existed in ca. 1980 - it's impossible - even when trying 1990 as a setting, when most European parks didn't have more than one or two coasters (one of them mostly being a powered coaster), and it makes me really sad, that a historically realistic ride portfolio is so far away.
One really has to highlight this: There's not a single gentle boat ride in the game that was used by a significant amount of parks. Does anyone know of a real-life version of the existing Steam Boat?
Why still no rowing, pedal, swan boats, minigolf, mazes, etc.?
I wish the love and obvious research that went into designing the scenery objects also went into the selection and design of classic rides - which is even more important considering rides are key for any theme park.
I might sound very picky here, but it's the most important point for me in a theme park game.
3. Lots of other problems
I'm really, really sorry, but I can't keep my disappointment for myself, and I hope you can understand us, because that's the foundation for deriving something valuable out of our feedback.
Short version: With a lot more further development, Planet Coaster 2 has the potential to eventually become the best theme park building game of all times, but as it stands now - and it's painful to have to say this - it's not enjoyable. The game is far from being finished, very far away from that even. At this point, I can't commit to put work into a park project.
Before I get to my many not so positive points, here's what I do like about the game, and why I think it really has the potential that I mentioned above:
Many scenery objects are so, so beautiful. While the amount of different themes is still too small at this point, the quality and quantity of the objects within the existing themes is simply incredible. The plants are gorgeous, there are lots of really beautiful and / or useful scenery objects, scaling and moving platforms are game changers. Also the new path tools are promising, as well as the light behaviour in buildings. That's not the case with natural caves, but more on that further below.
Planet Coaster 2 gives you - already now - a lot of tools that really boost your creativity, which in theory I should be really excited about, but I just can't enjoy or make use of these due to the overwhelming shortcomings on the other side:
1. The interface and user experience
- Having to confirm everything is one of the worst things of all. Especially having to confirm the picked colour... and the end of day report, which halts the gameplay until you confirm. Why?
- I hardly ever use blueprints, but I always have to click on "create custom" in order to build a ride, and then the menu blocks the whole screen. Why isn't it behaving like in the scenery browser?
- No "recent" tab in the browser
- No custom tags
- Browser doesn't highlight the object that was just picked. And once an object is picked, there's no tooltip when hovering over other objects
- Last used colour isn't applied to next similar object
- Many menus, especially path tools and coaster builders are too complicated to use with all their tabs and submenus
- Right-click doesn't delete the last bit of path that was just placed
- Fixed sun doesn't let us set the exact time. Neither with clicking the arrows, and certainly not with the keyboard.
- Manual colour tool: Hard to hit the corners, as the mouse doesn't drag along the edges of the box, once you hit the edges
2. The lack of rides
Yes, despite the dozens of coasters and crazy flat rides that we do have, I have to title this "lack of rides", and here's why: The variety of rides is poor - many rides, especially classic family and gentle rides are missing.
We need a lot more commonly used older rides. Already PC1 in its final state (with all DLCs) was still lacking in that regard, and now it's impossible to build historical parks with PC2 as it is now, after lots of older rides from PC1 didn't make it to the base game. Especially rides from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s are missing, which are key for (mainland European?) parks (see my longer post in the suggestions forum).
Among the most important missing rides are various types of gentle boat rides, classic family flat rides, powered coaster, vintage steel coasters, and ALL the missing rides from Planet Coaster 1. Really: Try to build a typical European park, how it realistically could have existed in ca. 1980 - it's impossible - even when trying 1990 as a setting, when most European parks didn't have more than one or two coasters (one of them mostly being a powered coaster), and it makes me really sad, that a historically realistic ride portfolio is so far away.
One really has to highlight this: There's not a single gentle boat ride in the game that was used by a significant amount of parks. Does anyone know of a real-life version of the existing Steam Boat?
Why still no rowing, pedal, swan boats, minigolf, mazes, etc.?
I wish the love and obvious research that went into designing the scenery objects also went into the selection and design of classic rides - which is even more important considering rides are key for any theme park.
I might sound very picky here, but it's the most important point for me in a theme park game.
3. Lots of other problems
- The log flume and other water rides look really, really bad. The water is unrealistic and way too blue, and even the logs... I've seen more beautiful ones. I don't know how this could get fixed, because it would need a complete new version of the ride, with all of this: Better water, prettier / recolourable boats, custom drop angles and the lift hills fixed.
- There's this repeating PC2 logo on all queues, and I neither like this nor do I know why we can't get rid of them.
- Many objects have a surface that's supposed to look like metal, but looks like plain plastic.
- Caves done by the terrain tools are not pitch black, far away from it, they're not even dark.
- Sunshine during rain. Shouldn't it become dark, desaturated? I can still see sharp shadows and sunlit surfaces before I see any raindrops.
- Despite getting the information weeks ago that we can now attach scenery to rides, this doesn't apply to tracked rides. Hmm.
- Terrain tool lags and creates stepped landscapes.
- There are no months anymore? Just numbered days?
- "No glass"... but that really became one of my least worries.
- Other things that are less important for me, but were already mentioned by others here
I'm really, really sorry, but I can't keep my disappointment for myself, and I hope you can understand us, because that's the foundation for deriving something valuable out of our feedback.
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