Hi Sam! First of all I just want to say I absolutely adore Planet Coaster... it's my favourite game ever and pretty much everything I wanted in a theme park simulator. Even after 150 hours of playing I still shake my head in awe... it's a marvel. Thank you (and the devs) so much for making it and having so much passion as you continue to make it.
However there was one thing in the stream that made me cringe a little. When you were teasing the new coaster types you asked the fans in the chat what they thought they were, and someone must have suggested "launched coasters". When you saw it you said "We already have launched coasters."
As a coaster enthusiast I have been hoping that you guys would include what is, in my opinion, the king of the Launched Coaster type... the traditional Intamin Accelerator Coaster. I'm sure you're aware of what they are, but if not, let me offer a run down!
Being from the same manufacturer, they generally use the exact same track type as the Invincible Giga Coaster type in Planet Coaster, but use a hydraulic launch system instead of a lift, and have similar, but more box-like cars. For me, they were the coaster-type of the Naughties, and normalised and became the benchmark for launched coasters in general.
Here's a listicle of some examples of traditional Intamin Accelerators:
In 2002, Intamin introduced the world's first Accelerator Coaster, aptly named Xcelerator. It featured a 200 foot, world first non-inverting Top Hat Element.
With that, parks took advantage of the impressive system and thus, the world's first 'Strata-Coaster' (in the 400-500 ft bracket) was built... Top Thrill Dragster, standing at 420 ft.
Only a couple of years later, Kingda Ka trumped Top Thrill Dragster's record, standing at 456 ft tall. It remains the world's tallest rollercoaster.
Storm Runner was Intamin's first inverting Accelerator Coaster, with unique unreplicated elements including the Cobra Loop and the Flying Snake Dive.
This was also the first Accelerator to use the generic Acclerator car type. (Which I would recommend using in PC)
At around the same time, your own Alton Towers mixed things up by forgoing the traditional Top Hat at the exit of the launch (due to height restrictions) and threw trains into a highly banked turn instead.
Even us Aussies got in on the action with Superman Escape... and our coaster selection is VERY sparse.
Good ol' Superman pushing the otherwise generic trains to safety.
They even made a cute lil' one called Kanonen in Liseberg, Sweden.
In 2007, Intamin branched out with a very close sibling of the Accelerator with the Blitz Coaster. The notable difference was that instead of a Hydraulic Launch it used an LSM Launch system, which meant that the trains could roll into multiple launches without the train having to be hooked up to the Hydraulic Launch cable. In the coaster above, Maverick, the LSM system is used for both Lift and Launch (in the tunnel below lift).
Cheetah Hunt has three launches through a long layout.
And this mess of steel is one of Intamin's most recent Blitz/Accelerator Coasters, called Taron.
I mainly included it because it's pretty amazing.
So in summary, the Intamin Accelerator is one of the coolest, most significant coaster types out there, and I'd love to see it in Planet Coaster at some point. Thanks for reading if you did, and I hope it didn't come across as too obnoxious... just taking advantage of the fact that you guys actually listen! Keep up the amazing work, can't wait to build with the new swinging suspended type!
However there was one thing in the stream that made me cringe a little. When you were teasing the new coaster types you asked the fans in the chat what they thought they were, and someone must have suggested "launched coasters". When you saw it you said "We already have launched coasters."
As a coaster enthusiast I have been hoping that you guys would include what is, in my opinion, the king of the Launched Coaster type... the traditional Intamin Accelerator Coaster. I'm sure you're aware of what they are, but if not, let me offer a run down!
Being from the same manufacturer, they generally use the exact same track type as the Invincible Giga Coaster type in Planet Coaster, but use a hydraulic launch system instead of a lift, and have similar, but more box-like cars. For me, they were the coaster-type of the Naughties, and normalised and became the benchmark for launched coasters in general.
Here's a listicle of some examples of traditional Intamin Accelerators:
In 2002, Intamin introduced the world's first Accelerator Coaster, aptly named Xcelerator. It featured a 200 foot, world first non-inverting Top Hat Element.
With that, parks took advantage of the impressive system and thus, the world's first 'Strata-Coaster' (in the 400-500 ft bracket) was built... Top Thrill Dragster, standing at 420 ft.
Only a couple of years later, Kingda Ka trumped Top Thrill Dragster's record, standing at 456 ft tall. It remains the world's tallest rollercoaster.
Storm Runner was Intamin's first inverting Accelerator Coaster, with unique unreplicated elements including the Cobra Loop and the Flying Snake Dive.
This was also the first Accelerator to use the generic Acclerator car type. (Which I would recommend using in PC)
At around the same time, your own Alton Towers mixed things up by forgoing the traditional Top Hat at the exit of the launch (due to height restrictions) and threw trains into a highly banked turn instead.
Even us Aussies got in on the action with Superman Escape... and our coaster selection is VERY sparse.
Good ol' Superman pushing the otherwise generic trains to safety.
They even made a cute lil' one called Kanonen in Liseberg, Sweden.
In 2007, Intamin branched out with a very close sibling of the Accelerator with the Blitz Coaster. The notable difference was that instead of a Hydraulic Launch it used an LSM Launch system, which meant that the trains could roll into multiple launches without the train having to be hooked up to the Hydraulic Launch cable. In the coaster above, Maverick, the LSM system is used for both Lift and Launch (in the tunnel below lift).
Cheetah Hunt has three launches through a long layout.
And this mess of steel is one of Intamin's most recent Blitz/Accelerator Coasters, called Taron.
I mainly included it because it's pretty amazing.
So in summary, the Intamin Accelerator is one of the coolest, most significant coaster types out there, and I'd love to see it in Planet Coaster at some point. Thanks for reading if you did, and I hope it didn't come across as too obnoxious... just taking advantage of the fact that you guys actually listen! Keep up the amazing work, can't wait to build with the new swinging suspended type!
