How to stick to your park

[Joren91]

So I love playing simulation games and have been for like 15 years (all the Sims iterations, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Cities: Skylines, Two Point Hospital and Planet Coaster), but I have this very annoying habit of starting a save, working on it for up to 40 hours or so, finding something I don't like about it and just deleting it all. Start again, repeat process.

I've become very frustrated over this, especially with Planet Coaster, because while I have owned the game since the beta days and played for +/- 350 hours, I don't have any park to show for it.


I'm dead set on building a full sandbox park, but I just can't seem to keep myself to it. I also have a lot of difficulty with deciding which "theme" I want for the general parts of the park, the entrance/main street.


Anyone else with this problem? Any tips on sticking to it? Maybe one day I can join the fun and share pictures of my park as well [haha]

 

[wowman]

Its really personal preference and personal accountability. I stick with my parks probably more than anyone. I have built only 1 complete park since the Alpha stage and filled it to the brims edge to edge. Working on a second park now. I did/do have a few smaller projects that interfere with my main build going on, but its usually just temporary.

Another example the other way...my good PC buddy Sdanwolf. He was consistently starting builds and then dropping off, or doing just small builds that went no where and I constantly made fun harassment of him about how he jumped all around and never saw a project through to the end. He did change up and built a complete park (Wilderness Springs) and did a great job at it. Then he went back to some smaller unfinished projects, but is now working on another complete build.

So, how do you do this.
1. make a simple plan to start. Come up with a theme or idea of what the park may look like
2. start the build. Great thing is you can change it as you go. You may not, and should not scrap the whole thing. Just revise as you go along. I have made many revisions in my parks as I go along, because new features become available, new DLC, etc.
3. Don't think you have to fill the entire map. I do use the full maps, but start by having a smaller park that fills up part of the map. This will be easier to see through to the end.
4. Ask for help on specific things you get stuck on from the community

Hope this helps you get started

 

[HeatherG]

There are some people who can start a project and stick with it to the end but i’m like you. Most of the time I have trouble starting. With me...I think I get bored after a while or I think what i’ve made stinks after looking at it for so long. I also don’t have the patience to make a big park. I don’t know how some people spend a year on making a park. No patience like I said. Everyone is different. You just have to catch yourself before you start deleting things and make a conscious effort to stick to it.

(i agree with wowman’s # 1-4)

good luck

 

[Joren91]

Guess I'll just have to try to persist then… Thanks for the feedback! [happy]

 

[cerealfruitcakes]

I always stick to one idea at a time and I don't plan/build ahead. I always built too ahead of myself with RCT that I fall into the same trap, never finishing parks because I just think about how much there is to finish and do. So for Planet Coaster I dialed back with over planning and building, keeping myself to one idea at a time.

I think the best way to describe my building method is like a tree. The trunk is the entrance/plaza and the branches lead to a major ride or themed area. Sticking to one branch at a time keeps me from becoming overwhelmed. If I do have any new ideas for rides/themes I'll just mentally write them down for a future branch. Also, if you surround your park with trees it ends up feeling complete even with just a few rides and some basic buildings, like a park that's in its early years. When I start a new branch it feels like I'm working on a new "season" for the park. I have finished 2 parks in PC and working on my 3rd now with this method. Compared to 10+ years of RCT, I only made 1 complete park! [wacky]

I've been documenting my latest park from the very beginning and you can see the method play out,
https://imgur.com/a/VLNAE

I did get overwhelmed a few times. First with those entrance buildings...omg I was so sick of making them by the 3rd set. Also, when I was working on Fort Frontier. I stupidly decided to build/work on all the major rides at once rather than just one at a time. It's just so easy to be tempted to build out all the ideas you have in your head! It's sometimes hard to tell myself NOT to start a new branch/ride when I haven't finished the previous one because I get excited to work on a new idea. But so far with this method I no longer over plan and build out too much at once without finishing.

 

[PsychoScooby]

So I had this problem as well and one way I’ve gotten over it was setting an amount of time for myself to work on a park. Not stressing over little details and just building something as fast as I can. Similar to the painting style of Bob Ross haha. I set a timer for like 30 min and say “in this time I’m building a rollercoaster and it’s station and queue in this time”. I’ve been able to build parks a lot faster, and then once I’ve got everything in place I go back and make small fixes and adjustments.

 

[lilibat]

I have no idea.

I would have finished one of my parks but I keep being worried that the next DLC will have that one perfect thing I really need to put it over the top. With the new toolkit coming, I will never finish either.

So I content myself with doing smaller bps and keep chipping away at my 2 big parks.

 

[Vampiro]

I have no idea.

I would have finished one of my parks but I keep being worried that the next DLC will have that one perfect thing I really need to put it over the top. With the new toolkit coming, I will never finish either.

So I content myself with doing smaller bps and keep chipping away at my 2 big parks.

I know what you mean all too well.

I think in the 2 year course i play PlanCo i build like 8 Mainstreets. After every DLC or update i feel like i have to start over because i can do it better with the new additions
I hope i will finally stick to one after we get TMT and i can make something that satisfies me enough

 

[lilibat]

To be honest my parks are so crammed with stuff by the time I get anywhere near finished they will be unplayable. I have an addiction to detail and it makes my computer cry.

 

[Crowdpleaser]

I have some projects that are not going to be completed, but i won't delete them. Sometimes i revisit them and change them, or add other stuff to them. Dont start out with the Idea that the Park will be complete. Nobody is holding a gun to your head and says "You must complete this project".

If you feel that you "have to" do something you completely freeze up creatively. Let the ideas come to you, and it will naturally fall in place. If i am stuck for ideas with a project i am working on, i'll give it a rest. Often times i have a "Aha" Moment and i'll return to my project.

So, i guess my "remedies" are:

1. Just simply start. No matter if you are happy with the outcome, you can always change it. Don't use the "Nuclear option" all the time.

2. Don't put pressure on yourself, if you have no clue what to do at the moment, give it a rest for a while, ideas will come to you.

3. When you start a Park keep in mind that it will of course look unfinished for a while. This can be discouraging. Work with it, and over time you will grow more fond to your project.

 

[Joren91]

Thanks for all your replies! I took your advice and started working on a smaller scale, building by building. I started a new thread for my progress.

Hopefully I'm able to piece it all together later on [big grin]

 

[MrOsterman]

One thing to think about for "sticking with it":

Work in blocks with clear endings and then decide later if you want to come back and "add" to it.

Look at the Magic Kingdom in WDW. It was "finished" in, what, 1970? But then they added to it. And added to it. And took things out and put other things in. And then added.

So what you could do is to focus on a "centerpiece", then maybe 2 zones. Make 2 coasters, 2 general attractions, maybe a simple transit system, and see where you are with it as "done". Then come back and add a zone. Or maybe take out a coaster to put in a bigger one. Then you are still "done" and can spend time enjoying and videoing your park, but you don't feel like you STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO.....

 

[cerealfruitcakes]

One thing to think about for "sticking with it":

Work in blocks with clear endings and then decide later if you want to come back and "add" to it.

Look at the Magic Kingdom in WDW. It was "finished" in, what, 1970? But then they added to it. And added to it. And took things out and put other things in. And then added.

So what you could do is to focus on a "centerpiece", then maybe 2 zones. Make 2 coasters, 2 general attractions, maybe a simple transit system, and see where you are with it as "done". Then come back and add a zone. Or maybe take out a coaster to put in a bigger one. Then you are still "done" and can spend time enjoying and videoing your park, but you don't feel like you STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO.....

Agreed! This method has gotten me 2 finished parks with a 3rd in the works that already could be "complete". For example my Lake Greenwood park,

I didn't plan any of it. My first goal was to just make an entrance plaza with the Fairy Tale set (I started this in Alpha 3 when they gave us the set and wanted to mess around with it). Threw down some flat rides and 1 main ride a junior coaster. After I finished, I wanted to see if I could re-create Anaconda from Kings Dominion so I started working on zone 2. Anytime I came up with a new idea for a new ride/area I'd wait until I finished with what I was already working on and then move on to the next zone. If I planned all of this out ahead of time, it would have never happened.

For all of you that can plan/sketch out paths and areas for the whole park, mega props to you because for me that is a recipe for giving up and sending that park to the graveyard. [squeeeeee]

 

[smelly]

My suggestion would be to simply save your park when you get fed up with it and move on to another one. It's fun to rediscover a park later and improve upon it with fresh ideas weeks or months later. If you get stuck with starting fresh then download a park and create a new ride or area in the style of the park.

 

[JoeExplor]

Boy oh Boy. This thread is all about me.

I'm the constant restarter. I'm the perfectionist to the end, which never comes. I've built a park already with over 10,000 peeps in it but wasn't happy with it. I find there is something I can always do better.

For the longest time all I did was Western themes because that had the most stuff on the workshop. Now my themeing (can't spell) is way off. I love the vintage and Victorian stuff. And I also love the old carnival look. The workshop is getting better with this stuff, but still kinda limited.

I save my "good parks" but I never go back to them. Any way I'm off to start a new park. [happy]

 

[Crowdpleaser]

Boy oh Boy. This thread is all about me.

I'm the constant restarter. I'm the perfectionist to the end, which never comes. I've built a park already with over 10,000 peeps in it but wasn't happy with it. I find there is something I can always do better.

For the longest time all I did was Western themes because that had the most stuff on the workshop. Now my themeing (can't spell) is way off. I love the vintage and Victorian stuff. And I also love the old carnival look. The workshop is getting better with this stuff, but still kinda limited.

I save my "good parks" but I never go back to them. Any way I'm off to start a new park. [happy]

well, then play however you like

 

[Paul_Crowther]

I'm very bad at this. I start a park in order to fulfill whatever creative idea I have at the time (Spoiler, it's ALWAYS some form of spooky setup) and then the moment something doesn't 100% go according to plan or looks out of place I bulldozer the park and start again. At least I've slowly started to remember to actually blueprint the designs I actually like...