Meet the Team and Q&A - Sam Denney

[Zac Antonaci]

Greetings Coaster Heads,

Part of being in the Coaster Head Club is about getting to see behind the scenes and into the development of the game. Which is why I'm super excited to be able to introduce you to our next meet the team: Sam Denney!

Sam is our resident expert in all things Roller Coasters and Amusement Rides. With that in mind, we'd like to keep the topic of questions on rides for this Q&A. But don't worry, we will be having more opportunities to meet with other team members and talk to them in more depth about other areas of their work and Planet Coaster!

This time, we're going to make a slight change to how the Q&A works. Instead of Sam joining us for 1 hour, he's going to be coming back through the whole week to answer as many of your burning questions as possible. He will start answering questions from Monday so feel free to get some questions in for Sam now.

Enjoy!




Sam Denney
Lead Artist

What's your earliest memory of visiting a theme park?

Jumping the fence and sneaking into Pleasurewood Hills in Lowestoft from the approximate age of 10 almost every weekend

What’s the biggest stand out memory for you about theme parks?

Being on the front seat on the Nemesis at Alton Towers in the rain.. Amazing!

What tends to be your favourite type of ride at a theme park and why?

Hypercoasters, they are such massive feats of engineering and the speeds and heights are incredible

What exactly are you working on with Planet Coaster?

Everything and anything related to Amusement rides and Roller Coasters

What does an average day at work look like for you?

Research...lots and lots of research
Defining and designing systems for roller coaster tracks and supports
Amusement ride design
Ensuring amusement rides are technically and proportionally correct
Generating specification sheets for artists to create rides from
Mentoring the team on art and technical direction
Meetings with design, animation and code teams
Technical game and design documentation
Planning and team management.

Are you excited to work on a game like Planet Coaster, and why?

Working at Frontier on previous Roller Coaster games has been awesome and now on Planet Coaster we get to do everything we couldn’t do 10 years ago. Planet Coaster is the most technical, creative and imaginative project anyone could ever wish for. Every day I’m working with the greatest talent in the industry and it’s unbelievably rewarding. I love my job

What aspect of Planet Coaster are you most excited about?

We have a really big focus on the Amusement rides and Roller Coasters, they are far more complex and beautiful than anything anyone had done before. I can’t wait to see people’s reactions to them.

What have you worked on before Planet Coaster, and what did you do on those projects?

Roller Coaster Games marked with *

• Powerboat Racing (PSX, PC, Arcade) - Artist
• Hydrosport (PSX, PC) - Artist
• Renegade Races (PS1, PC, Dreamcast) - Artist
• Paris to Dakar Rally (PS2) - Artist
• Dog’s Life (PS2) – Artist
• Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 – Time Twister – Lead Artist*
• Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 – Wacky Worlds – Lead Artist*
• Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 (PC) – Lead Artist*
• Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 – Soaked (PC) – Lead Artist*
• Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 – Wild (PC) – Lead Artist*
• The Outsider (unpublished) – Lead Artist, Producer
• Kinect Disneyland Adventures (xbox 360) – Art Outsource Producer
• Star Wars Kinect (xbox 360) – Artist
• Kinectimals – Now With Bears (mobile) – Producer
• Screamride (xbox 360, xbone) – Lead Artist*

How does working on Planet Coaster compare to working on other games you’ve worked on?

No other game has given our team this much creative freedom and enjoyment. Every day we see new and amazing things coming from every department. I’m also a engineering enthusiast and this for me is like having a job as a hobby, too much fun to be work

In your opinion what makes Planet Coaster special?

The attention to detail is astonishing, we really are trying so hard to be true to the real rides out there. We have managed to create rides that are a perfect synergy of art and engineering. There’s already an astoundingly beautiful look and feel when you see all these elements together with the scenery and characters interacting with the environment that seems unreal. We are making something very special here.
What have you learned so far from working on Planet Coaster?

Everything you could possibly know about steel roller coasters and flat rides.... Wooden Roller Coasters are my next big research project!

Tell the community a fun fact about yourself.

I used to be a guitarist in a local ‘Grunge’ band in the late 90’s. We used to play with a band called ‘Lung Nugget’ who ended up becoming ‘The Darkness’. And yes there were some pretty shiny-open chest leotards in that band even then.

I’ve also crashed more cars than I’ve not..

If you could ask the Planet Coaster community one question, what would it be?

Does anyone have the entire, real-life, scale measurements of every track ever made? It would save me a lot of time if you do
Also, what’s your favourite vintage Roller Coaster and Amusement Rides?

 

[B3DDO3]

We have a ride and coaster man here so simply:

1.how many rides right now do you have in the game made up and looking awesome like some we saw in the dev vids?

2. How many rides are you targeting for Early Bird?

Bonus. Can you give us some insight into dark rides, the latest dev vid mentioned them, if you make a structure out of pieces does it cut out ambient?

To answer your question not sure if 1996 cuts it as vintage but Megaphobia in Oakwood as that's the 1st coaster I ever went on

 

[KnoxVegas]

First and foremost to answer your question you asked us, the JackRabbit from Kennywood is a classic wooden coaster and host some great airtime hills! Loved that coaster!

1. I would love to get some more insight into the types of coaster. Hyper, Wooden, Wooden RMC type, Drop Coaster, and more?
2. What will the detail of the people getting on the ride look like? Will it be full of animation?
3. Will the rides break down (hehe)? If so can get some some insight into what types of breakdowns there are?
4. How will the detail look, I saw some good looking detail in the last dev diary, are you going to be putting in more detail to the track and cars?
5. How excited are you to see what the community can come up with when using your coaster builder to make rides?

Thanks,
May post more later!

 

[Sam Denney]

Hello World!

Just popping on to say hi! I'll start answering your questions as soon as I can. I'll try to be as in depth as I can and I know you guys understand we can't spill all the beans [mouth shut], were's the fun in that?

The community is what keeps the passion flowing with this game, I'll do my best to answer every query and I'm very pleased to be able to talk to you guys!

Speak soon.

 

[Coasterbuff]

Thank you Sam, much appreciated.

Being as old as I am, my early youth was spent during the 1950s. I lived near Manchester at that time and often went to Belle Vue where you could ride the famous BOBS roller coaster, which was built in the form of a figure 8. It wasn't as big as those in Blackpool, but boy was it fast. It was built in 1929 and was demolished in 1972 or thereabouts and Belle Vue Amusement Park closed down.

It was built different than most other coasters, being in the form of a figure 8 It was a rather rickety ride and got its name from what it cost to ride it, a bob (one shilling in pre decimal currency). If I remember correctly, the station was built on the curve. I have added a couple of videos I found of it. If this could be created in Planet Coaster it would bring back many happy memories. One of my other all time favourites is Blackpool's Grand National.

As you may have gathered I am a wooden coaster fan, purely because steel coasters were not seen in those days, although I did ride the Pepsi Max last year, which was brilliant.

(1)...I would like to know if the wooden coaster building tool will have the same spline adjustments as the steel coasters, we have seen on the Dev Diaries.

(2)...Will we still be getting the Side Friction Coaster like we had in RCT3

(3)... Are we getting the Wild Mouse Coasters and the Virginia Reel

Below are a few videos of BOBS Coaster that I would like to see in Planet Coaster.

First video the actual ride, second video, the ride built by someone using No Limits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olp_mCvyXZQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2W3sTAieSY

 

[OlaHaldor]

I've read rumors that art made in the original two RCT games were made in LightWave. Is that true? [noob]

What's your take on art/rides/mods made by users in the community?

IF modding is a possibility either from the get go or as time goes by; any pointers on detail level/polycount restrictions/texture size, PBR or Spec/gloss workflow?
Not rides per se, but.. somewhat interesting either way for all of us I guess.

Will you please forward the wish for a "free camera" mode in order to float around and make the very best of angles, zoom, dolly, pan/tilt and such to show off our own designs to the community? [hehe] As a followup and plus to that : support for 3D Connexxion hardware to control the camera in this mode would be even more awesome. [yum]

 

[MrPizzaCrust]

Hey Sam!
Great to see someone who's working on the rides.

My question is:
How does the excitement rate work for rides/coasters? What factors are involved? (intensity/nausea/surroundings..)

 

[Patlefro]

I take to you Sam, such a nice photo. I would love to have you as big brother [hehe]

 

[Palaber1984]

I have no concerns about coasters and flat rides. But
My question is:

1. What about the water physics and graphics and how the rides interact with that.

2. How much themed scenery we will see at the end game, for example Egypt, jungle, Rome etc.

 

[stuk71]

Great thread, good to meet you

I like the Eyerly Octopus... Partly because it was my first experience of a fun fair as a young boy.

With all your involvement in the rides, have you had anything to do with the sound of them too? I am really looking forward to hearing how the game sounds.

 

[Prody07]

Thanks for sharing with us Sam.
I just want to know, if we can recolour the tracks and supports, move supports and position them where we want to??
All the best.. from London UK

 

[UltimateAirtime]

Hi, thanks for answering our questions!!!
I don't think this ride counts as vintage, but I really like Ghost Rider at Knott's Berry Farm. I really enjoy old and rickety wooden coasters.
Here are my questions:
1. Will there be hybrid/RMC coasters in the game.
2. Will we be able to see the technical stats for our coaster like GeForces and Speed.
3. Will we be able to have more than one car on a coaster track without making a station big enough to hold all the cars?
4. Will there be water/ water rides in the Early Bird Edition?
5. Will the guests use catwalks on coasters if the coaster breaks down?
6. What's your favorite ride/coaster type that you have seen so far in Planet Coaster?

 

[DaXin]

Hiii Sam! Nice to met you a bit

I want to ask you 3 or 4 things about coasters, because sure is one of the essential cores of the game

1. Nowadays there are a wooden coasters wich are soo popular, with loops and other crazy elements, called hybrid coasters. Are you going to at that kind of wooden coasters to t game?

2. There’s gonna be the ability to modify the Supports or will be added in automatically? I like the addition of that horizontal metallic supports between big ones, but should be good to choose if we want them or not.

3. The coasters will have got a preload section where visitors wait on diferent rows its turn? That should be sooo great and a real element that we know perfectly

4. (and last!!!!) Any special elements like we saw (or i saw) on Coaster Crazy, like elevators, elements that rotate 90 degrees or maybe "modules", like buildings, needed to repair and save trains for its maintenance.


Ohhhh, and answering you, i love old attractions i saw on Efteling and that classic style.. haha

 

[sdanwolf]

Thanks for taking our questions Sam! My question goes as far as your ability to design rides go... how much does all this cost to develop!? Does each department have separate budgets or are certain aspects more expensive than others? Thanks! - Sdanwolf

 

[Angelis1]

Hi Sam Denney

Only questions on rides for this Q&A, okay !

1) I will start with the most important question for me. What kind of omnimovers have you planned ?

2) I would like to know if we can have some event track pieces based on trigger ? (to open a door when a car touch a piece of rail for exemple)

3) Are the amusement rides use "modular parts" to easily change an element of the decor/theming ?

4) What about, what we called CTR (Custom Track Ride) and CFR (Custom Flat Ride) in RCT3 ?

If you could ask the Planet Coaster community one question, what would it be?

Does anyone have the entire, real-life, scale measurements of every track ever made? It would save me a lot of time if you do

I know that many "Disney Fans" have TONS of blueprints, engineering documents, and things like that, and registered members on this kind of forums are sometimes even "Imagineers".
I'm french, so I only know "DisneyCentralPlaza", but I'm sure it is possible to find the same kind of "communities" in English. I hope this can help you.

Also, what’s your favourite vintage Roller Coaster and Amusement Rides?

Well, since many people in my familly have "fairground rides", I spent millions of hours on several rides (just for fun, to pick up the tickets, to store cars, or to shout "Do you want more ? I want to hear you scream ! I can not hear you !" in the mic in the cabin) I feel nostalgic now ...

Anyway, my favorite rides when I was young was the "Bumper cars", 2 rides from the same italien company, the "Kamikaze", and the (dangerous) "Tagada", and the german "Break Dance"

 

[Banned0bon]

Hi! Nice to see more Planet Coaster developers.

What map sizes can we expect our of Planet Coaster? Compare it to another game for scale if u can
I really love being able to remove limitations (such as coaster height, coaster speed, terrain restrictions etc), would you be providing that ability?
Is there any other mod-ability other than models/textures? For example, in Cities Skylines players are able to modify the game mechanics to a great extent, leaving a lot open for users to create new features or modify the game in a cool way. It's really one of their most popular features and why it's been given such praise.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[KiLLu12258]

awesome guys. this is the best example how you can work with your community and make them happy.

I have a question about multiplayer/online things.
What are you plans on this? Will there be a real multiplayer at anytime or something like this?

I would be really happy if you can start a game with friends, everyone is building a park at the same time - you can compare your stats (visitors, money) and you can visit there parks also.

 

[KiLLu12258]

some new question...

- at the moment we saw in the videos this kind of "Pirate" theme, are there others or is this the only one?
- can you start from the scratch, with let me say 10k dollars and have to be carefull to dont run out of money? ,at rct3 there was only scenarios.. will there be scenarios also?
if you can start with nothing and you do it- have you to do research things to build more and more? so let me say you have only a few things to build on the start and will get more and more if you research it and play?

- is it planned to allow mods like in city skilines? It would be so nice if the community can work on things?

 

[grod4L]

Hello Sam!

I am also very interested in dark rides. The last dev diary spoke about them but I'm still a bit confused:

Does building a structure automatically create darkness within that structure, or is there a way to designate which place has darkness within it?

Is it complete darkness or just darker in general?

Thanks so much!

 

[Helena]

Hello!!!

Question from me.
In RCT1+2 it was challenging to make rollercoasters and make them good for people to like and ride. And not getting "shocked" animation when watching it.

But in RCT3 exact same coaster, when imported and all, will get accepted, RCT3 had more tolerance for rough rides. It made me a little disappointed.


I wonder about PC, you aren't going to make the bar lower, accepting rougher rides? I hope not. I want challenging game.