Getting frustrated about 'missing' features and silly collision 'features'

[lostpilot]

Hi,

Can someone please let me know if I have missed a way to do any of the following? They just do not seem possble in Planet coaster, yet I have read that they were in RTC3, which is 12 years old if you look for the Platinum version on Steam.

• Make a coaster that passes through the 'station' multiple times - for short loop coasters that are generally high speed, or driven with an arm in rl or travel backwards and forwards - like the Genie but as a coaster.

• Make any kind of flat ride from scratch that is not a coaster - there are no western themed rides and 1 (?) pirate themed ride (Victory) in the base game.

• Make a new themed shop, eg a fairytale balloon seller - can't figure this out at all [blah]

• Place a bin next to a path that is on any kind of slope - even with all the terrain collisions off!

I suspect there are plenty more but I have only just started with this game. In any case isn't Planet Coaster supposed to be an update?

 

[maverick34jjv]

1. I agree with you on your first point, there is no reason why Coasters cannot be set to go through the station more than once or to switch between shuttle and circuit mode without having to entirely switch coasters (RCT2 and 3 could do it, no reason why "Simulation Evolved" Planet Coaster can't).
   
   
2. Making a flat ride from scratch is not at all what this game is about. There is no game to my knowledge that has that type of flexibility. What would be nice is for the DLC packs to include different theming for the existing rides in the game. Ex: Chairswing is pretty generic, but the Spooky DLC could include a Spooky version of it, Adventure DLC could include an Adventure version of it, similar to how coaster cars can be swapped out. Not that it should be done for all rides, but for a select few.
   
   
3. The Balloon shop only sells the traditional balloon shape, maybe in the future they could implement more balloon styles. The Hat's Fantastic store can be setup this way though, you can check off what specific hats you want sold at that shop. Same goes for the Souvenir shop / Just-a-Momento.
   
   
4. It makes sense that benches, bins and tables cannot be placed on sloped surfaces. I've only seen bins and benches placed on flat paths in real life.

As of now, there are no major Planet Coaster updates speculated, the most recent one was the addition of Hotels and the released of the Action Pack DLC.

 

[Mez]

As Maverick said, there is no way to do what you are wishing for. Although I’d agree that having multiple circuits would be attractive and promote interesting coaster designs.

Re the themed items - this is entirely up to you! Some flat rides just would fit but you’d be surprised how many flat rides will fit a theme so long as the scenery works. Changing the colour makes a huge difference and, when all else fails, hide it in a central courtyard of themed buildings.

 

[lostpilot]

Hi and thanks for the replies.

I'm going to add another wish for coasters which is you cannot build a true mobius strip coaster.

This is one like the 'Grand National' at Blackpool in the UK where there are 2 trains and 2 starts yet only 1 track. The track from start 1 goes around and rejoins at the end at start 2 and that of start 2 goes around and joins at the end of start 1. In the Grand National the two trains race each other as the track is exactly the same for both, internal turns for 1 are cancelled by internal turns for the other and so on. Again that was apparently possible in RCT3. There is a very good close approximation of this ride on the workshop, but the builder was stymied by the fact that you have to connect station start to station end and cannot connect to another station end in a coaster. Odd when you can do this in a transport ride.

I'm surprised that you haven't seen bins and benches on slopes in real life Maverick. I don't want a pancake flat park so have built hills etc. But as I cannot put bins on slopes I get litter runs everywhere. Really there sould be no reason for this. A bin has a tiny footprint so how it could colide with anything is v odd. I mean you can place barrles, cannons, trees etc on slops so why not bins? Wher I live we have v steep hills and the authorities have placed benches half way up so folk who struggle can have a rest (and admire the view) so come on FD it wouldn't be difficult.

Looking through the workshop it appears that some have managed to skin existing rides, and there is a coaster that has Mickie and Minnie graphics in it any idea how that was done? I mean it would not be building from scratch but at least i could modify rides so they fitted more wth the parts theme.

 

[AaronTuckwell]

I'd like to add to Maverick's very good reply if I may?

1. I agree with you on your first point, there is no reason why Coasters cannot be set to go through the station more than once or to switch between shuttle and circuit mode without having to entirely switch coasters (RCT2 and 3 could do it, no reason why "Simulation Evolved" Planet Coaster can't).
>>> I believe it is something to do with the station set-up from a coding perspective. It's a difficult one to really explain beyond opinion because no-one official has ever given the reasons why. I think a lot of people just assumed that you could do this when the Alpha was first out and was very disappointed with how stations operate. But sadly, it seems that a complete over-haul would be needed which would take away from the forward development of the game. Sadly, I think unless Andy and Co have a few tricks up their sleeves, it is what it is.

2. Making a flat ride from scratch is not at all what this game is about. There is no game to my knowledge that has that type of flexibility. What would be nice is for the DLC packs to include different theming for the existing rides in the game. Ex: Chairswing is pretty generic, but the Spooky DLC could include a Spooky version of it, Adventure DLC could include an Adventure version of it, similar to how coaster cars can be swapped out. Not that it should be done for all rides, but for a select few.
>>> Theme Park Studio allows you to build a flat ride from scratch, designing everything about it, from the parts, the animations, the physics etc. Sadly, TPS seems to be the game that every-one forgot. It didn't capture the imagination of the community and was swept under the rug as No Limits does what TPS tries to do so much better. Also, the community were so up in arms in the early days of PlanCo's release about the flat rides being themed that the future development of rides centred around ebing as un-themed as possible. There were people who wanted to use the pirate ship in a Western or Sci-Fi setting and can't because the ship itself is so heavily themed. That's why the "Tower Of Terror" in the new pack is literally just a frame. Personally, I like it this way.

3. The Balloon shop only sells the traditional balloon shape, maybe in the future they could implement more balloon styles. The Hat's Fantastic store can be setup this way though, you can check off what specific hats you want sold at that shop. Same goes for the Souvenir shop / Just-a-Momento.
>>> It would be lovely to see different balloons like we did in RCT3, but it's a really small request that Frontier possibly don't see the pay-out for it. The same with other souvenir shop types. There must be a reason that we "only" have the 3 and obvious things like T-Shirts and Ride-Photos are missing.

4. It makes sense that benches, bins and tables cannot be placed on sloped surfaces. I've only seen bins and benches placed on flat paths in real life.
>>> Alpha allowed you to place them on slopes, but the nature of the voxel system and path collision meant that they were often floating or slightly buried. It looked horrible and isn't easily fixed without forcing that bit to be flat. So, sadly it seems that this was removed from the game because of how it looks.

Of course, as the game develops, there may be re-visits of things. But the vast majority of the releases have enhanced the game and not re-visited old things. so, I'd not hold your breath for things to change unless something so huge comes along that it requires a re-write of code.

 

[lostpilot]

I'd like to add to Maverick's very good reply if I may?

1. I agree with you on your first point, there is no reason why Coasters cannot be set to go through the station more than once or to switch between shuttle and circuit mode without having to entirely switch coasters (RCT2 and 3 could do it, no reason why "Simulation Evolved" Planet Coaster can't).
>>> I believe it is something to do with the station set-up from a coding perspective. It's a difficult one to really explain beyond opinion because no-one official has ever given the reasons why. I think a lot of people just assumed that you could do this when the Alpha was first out and was very disappointed with how stations operate. But sadly, it seems that a complete over-haul would be needed which would take away from the forward development of the game. Sadly, I think unless Andy and Co have a few tricks up their sleeves, it is what it is.

Shame, but odd since FD at least had a hand in RCT3 and its possible there. I can only hope...

2. Making a flat ride from scratch is not at all what this game is about. There is no game to my knowledge that has that type of flexibility. What would be nice is for the DLC packs to include different theming for the existing rides in the game. Ex: Chairswing is pretty generic, but the Spooky DLC could include a Spooky version of it, Adventure DLC could include an Adventure version of it, similar to how coaster cars can be swapped out. Not that it should be done for all rides, but for a select few.
>>> Theme Park Studio allows you to build a flat ride from scratch, designing everything about it, from the parts, the animations, the physics etc. Sadly, TPS seems to be the game that every-one forgot. It didn't capture the imagination of the community and was swept under the rug as No Limits does what TPS tries to do so much better. Also, the community were so up in arms in the early days of PlanCo's release about the flat rides being themed that the future development of rides centred around ebing as un-themed as possible. There were people who wanted to use the pirate ship in a Western or Sci-Fi setting and can't because the ship itself is so heavily themed. That's why the "Tower Of Terror" in the new pack is literally just a frame. Personally, I like it this way.

I have theme park studio, its good - but its a theme park sim rather than a game, you can't - or couldn't when I last used it, set prices, hire and fire staff etc. The visitors stayed happy - in fact I don't think they had any thoughts? Reading a bit on No limits it looks like this is v similar, its a sim (and probably a v good one) but not really a game with goals etc. In short they're different ermm, fish?

However in the workshop there are skins of existing flat rides, they do't just look like the colour has been changed - for example there is a giant mushroom chair swing, a Mickey and Minnie coaster - how were they made?

3. The Balloon shop only sells the traditional balloon shape, maybe in the future they could implement more balloon styles. The Hat's Fantastic store can be setup this way though, you can check off what specific hats you want sold at that shop. Same goes for the Souvenir shop / Just-a-Momento.
>>> It would be lovely to see different balloons like we did in RCT3, but it's a really small request that Frontier possibly don't see the pay-out for it. The same with other souvenir shop types. There must be a reason that we "only" have the 3 and obvious things like T-Shirts and Ride-Photos are missing.

Its a shame, however I was more interested in getting a baloon shop in a Western shell, or a Fairy tale shop which at present I don't think are in the game? Same for the fries - it looks like they are only sold in the western themed shops. How do I make a pirate balloon store?

4. It makes sense that benches, bins and tables cannot be placed on sloped surfaces. I've only seen bins and benches placed on flat paths in real life.
>>> Alpha allowed you to place them on slopes, but the nature of the voxel system and path collision meant that they were often floating or slightly buried. It looked horrible and isn't easily fixed without forcing that bit to be flat. So, sadly it seems that this was removed from the game because of how it looks.

Which makes it even odder that its not in the final game. I mean to can advanced move scenery, tilt it etc so why haven't FD allowed you to do this with bins, or if there is a 'floating' issue provide a bin on a foundation?

Of course, as the game develops, there may be re-visits of things. But the vast majority of the releases have enhanced the game and not re-visited old things. so, I'd not hold your breath for things to change unless something so huge comes along that it requires a re-write of code.

I can only hope, however at present it appears that FD are heading down the DLC path... not something I am a great fan of but I understand that everyone has to eat.

 

[WingardiumLevicoaster]

Shame, but odd since FD at least had a hand in RCT3 and it
I can only hope, however at present it appears that FD are heading down the DLC path... not something I am a great fan of but I understand that everyone has to eat.

We do however seem to get a free update with each DLC with improvements and new features as well as bug fixes. Hopefully this will continue. It has with Elite Dangerous, so while PC is still profitable, I don't see why not. [happy]