Get your questions in for John now and make sure come back on Thursday November 5 at 5PM GMT, as John will be answering your questions in this thread!
John Laws
Director of Art
What’s your earliest memory of visiting a theme park?
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach.
Around the age of five, still wet from the fantastically brutal Water Chute ride, my mum and dad took me on the 1923 Scenic Railway rollercoaster and I think I screamed all the way round though the hysterical sobs were lost amidst the roar of steel, wind and rickety wood. Aficionados of the coaster will know there is, or was, a low wooden beam close to the end of the circuit which gives the impression you may be decapitated. Oh, how we laughed after the therapy.
What’s the biggest stand out memory for you about theme parks?
The Pepsi Max at Blackpool 30+ years later and, as the car climbed the big hill, fearfully yelling down to friends on the ground (I'm not great with heights). The two blokes behind me were not impressed by the wimpy antics but, to be honest, I think it's important to go with the terror in these situations. There's only the stubborn calmness of these two guys and simple physics to guarantee the car won't fall off the track at any moment.
Great coaster though.
What tends to be your favourite type of ride at a theme park and why?
Rollercoasters. I can't stand spinning rides. Or Drop Towers which are just insane.
What exactly are you working on with Planet Coaster?
I'm working closely with Matthew Preece, the dedicated if shy art director on Planet Coaster, closing the decisions that define the long term art direction on the game. Planet Coaster is so much more than this first release.
At a practical level I'm focusing heavily on the guests, staff and entertainer side of things from creating character concept to advising on performance. Honestly though the art team is amazing so I'm usually found standing on the shoulders of giants.
What does an average day at work look like for you?
In these early days it can be quite random. The Alpha release in March has helped focus the features we want people to play with first so I focus on those.
In regard to my day, I try not to dump myself into email until the first hour is through, preferring to do something creative first so when I eventually start going through mails my mind is in a good place.
This is followed by company tasks such as personnel and any external requirements outside of the game.
Afterwards it'll be back onto the game, reviewing the builds, participating in meetings, and working with Matt to make Planet Coaster as lovely as it can be.
Are you excited to work on a game like Planet Coaster, and why?
Hugely excited. Our previous coaster games have captured a surprisingly broad fan base.
When visiting Uni's, looking for the next generation of game makers, it's surprising to hear how many twenty year olds know Frontier through our coaster-making legacy at an age where you'd never expect them to care about the price of a milkshake or how happy Geoff the Janitor is in his daily job, but they certainly did.
This game carries an expectation with a lot of the kind of people you don't find on a forum, or commenting on YouTube clips, as well as the traditional core gamers. I think the unifying factor that will grab old and new fans is that we don't want Planet Coaster to dumb down the simulation or believe "broad appeal" means an unsophisticated customer. We didn't target an audience with our seminal coaster games, we just wanted to make an entertaining, challenging, deep but fun experience and in doing so we inspired a massive audience in the process to play that game. The broad appeal in in quality and depth, demographic terms like "casual" and "core" become irrelevant.
Planet Coaster is exciting because it's not a remake, it's an original made by the dreamers who took the simulation genre a long time ago and said "What if…?"
What aspect of Planet Coaster are you most excited about?
The crowds are exciting and feel like they are already on a good path… literally.
I'm liking that we have a more diverse crowd including body-types which normally get dropped due to tech restrictions or publisher input, including larger-framed people in crowd for example has always been frowned upon in case you offend larger-framed players.
The uniquely exciting feature-set for me is the ground-breaking way we are integrating the terrain, park building and amusements in a way never been done before. A theme park is so much more intimate than a city, there are so many more creative options to stage the world and have it meaningful to the gameplay experience.
We'll be doing our customary deep-dive into this aspect in the future and I absolutely cannot wait.
What have you worked on before Planet Coaster, and what did you do on those projects?
Twenty-something years ago, I trained as an illustrator before taking a "short" job creating hand-drawn, 3d environments for Sensible Software's Sex'n'Drugs'n'Rock'n'Roll. The summer job became a 4-year odyssey on the irreverent, interactive rock opera, but included working on Sensible Soccer too.
Next was Sony third-party studio Picturehouse and the PS1 space epic, Terracon. I learnt a lot working with a small talented team growing to the position of studio art director.
The temptation to work with Aardman, not to mention David Braben, was such that I joined Frontier in 2001 to take on the Wallace and Gromit series, soon becoming studio art director at Frontier.
I've been involved at the inception of practically all Frontier's output since 2001, such as RCT3 and Elite
angerous, but with the level of brilliance within Frontier's teams I am allowed to hold on to any project for too long!
My most direct or practical involvement has been on Wallace and Gromit Project Zoo and Curse of the WereRabbit, the Thrillville series, LostWinds, Kinectimals, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Coaster Crazy, Tales from Deep Space, and ScreamRide.
I think I've tended toward the non-realistic, character driven games simply because of my drawing style and deep interest in visual narrative.
I get very focused upon and specialise toward on producing concept art, animation direction and storyboarding.
How does working on Planet Coaster compare to working on other games you’ve worked on?
It's very, very enjoyable. I'd actually say it's shaping up to be the best. The game's aspiration is definitely shifting to becoming reality.
I think any game IP, Eliteangerous for example, which has deep aspirations is an honour to work on. Kinectimals was an awesome achievement to the dev and publisher teams working so well together.
I really enjoyed Tales From Deep Space too and I think if we still owned the IP I'd have like to take it further but given how hard it is to make a game in this industry I'd never complain, after all having held plenty of "regular jobs" I think only an idiot forgets how lucky they are to be a) a professional artist and b) creating games.
In your opinion what makes Planet Coaster special?
It's a detailed sim game with a soul. It'll intrigue you, challenge you and give you freedom to create whilst all the time making you smile.
What have you learned so far from working on Planet Coaster?
That I swear in interviews and journalists print swear words.
Tell the community a fun fact about yourself.
For a university job I was a model for life-drawing classes. Admittedly you were standing naked in ridiculous poses, often in some pretty chilly rooms, but it was four times the hourly rate of delivering pizza or pulling pints.
If you could ask the Planet Coaster community one question, what would it be?
What's the one path feature Planet Coaster can't do without?
====
You can watch John in our first Dev Diary here!
John Laws
Director of Art
What’s your earliest memory of visiting a theme park?
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach.
Around the age of five, still wet from the fantastically brutal Water Chute ride, my mum and dad took me on the 1923 Scenic Railway rollercoaster and I think I screamed all the way round though the hysterical sobs were lost amidst the roar of steel, wind and rickety wood. Aficionados of the coaster will know there is, or was, a low wooden beam close to the end of the circuit which gives the impression you may be decapitated. Oh, how we laughed after the therapy.
What’s the biggest stand out memory for you about theme parks?
The Pepsi Max at Blackpool 30+ years later and, as the car climbed the big hill, fearfully yelling down to friends on the ground (I'm not great with heights). The two blokes behind me were not impressed by the wimpy antics but, to be honest, I think it's important to go with the terror in these situations. There's only the stubborn calmness of these two guys and simple physics to guarantee the car won't fall off the track at any moment.
Great coaster though.
What tends to be your favourite type of ride at a theme park and why?
Rollercoasters. I can't stand spinning rides. Or Drop Towers which are just insane.
What exactly are you working on with Planet Coaster?
I'm working closely with Matthew Preece, the dedicated if shy art director on Planet Coaster, closing the decisions that define the long term art direction on the game. Planet Coaster is so much more than this first release.
At a practical level I'm focusing heavily on the guests, staff and entertainer side of things from creating character concept to advising on performance. Honestly though the art team is amazing so I'm usually found standing on the shoulders of giants.
What does an average day at work look like for you?
In these early days it can be quite random. The Alpha release in March has helped focus the features we want people to play with first so I focus on those.
In regard to my day, I try not to dump myself into email until the first hour is through, preferring to do something creative first so when I eventually start going through mails my mind is in a good place.
This is followed by company tasks such as personnel and any external requirements outside of the game.
Afterwards it'll be back onto the game, reviewing the builds, participating in meetings, and working with Matt to make Planet Coaster as lovely as it can be.
Are you excited to work on a game like Planet Coaster, and why?
Hugely excited. Our previous coaster games have captured a surprisingly broad fan base.
When visiting Uni's, looking for the next generation of game makers, it's surprising to hear how many twenty year olds know Frontier through our coaster-making legacy at an age where you'd never expect them to care about the price of a milkshake or how happy Geoff the Janitor is in his daily job, but they certainly did.
This game carries an expectation with a lot of the kind of people you don't find on a forum, or commenting on YouTube clips, as well as the traditional core gamers. I think the unifying factor that will grab old and new fans is that we don't want Planet Coaster to dumb down the simulation or believe "broad appeal" means an unsophisticated customer. We didn't target an audience with our seminal coaster games, we just wanted to make an entertaining, challenging, deep but fun experience and in doing so we inspired a massive audience in the process to play that game. The broad appeal in in quality and depth, demographic terms like "casual" and "core" become irrelevant.
Planet Coaster is exciting because it's not a remake, it's an original made by the dreamers who took the simulation genre a long time ago and said "What if…?"
What aspect of Planet Coaster are you most excited about?
The crowds are exciting and feel like they are already on a good path… literally.
I'm liking that we have a more diverse crowd including body-types which normally get dropped due to tech restrictions or publisher input, including larger-framed people in crowd for example has always been frowned upon in case you offend larger-framed players.
The uniquely exciting feature-set for me is the ground-breaking way we are integrating the terrain, park building and amusements in a way never been done before. A theme park is so much more intimate than a city, there are so many more creative options to stage the world and have it meaningful to the gameplay experience.
We'll be doing our customary deep-dive into this aspect in the future and I absolutely cannot wait.
What have you worked on before Planet Coaster, and what did you do on those projects?
Twenty-something years ago, I trained as an illustrator before taking a "short" job creating hand-drawn, 3d environments for Sensible Software's Sex'n'Drugs'n'Rock'n'Roll. The summer job became a 4-year odyssey on the irreverent, interactive rock opera, but included working on Sensible Soccer too.
Next was Sony third-party studio Picturehouse and the PS1 space epic, Terracon. I learnt a lot working with a small talented team growing to the position of studio art director.
The temptation to work with Aardman, not to mention David Braben, was such that I joined Frontier in 2001 to take on the Wallace and Gromit series, soon becoming studio art director at Frontier.
I've been involved at the inception of practically all Frontier's output since 2001, such as RCT3 and Elite
angerous, but with the level of brilliance within Frontier's teams I am allowed to hold on to any project for too long!My most direct or practical involvement has been on Wallace and Gromit Project Zoo and Curse of the WereRabbit, the Thrillville series, LostWinds, Kinectimals, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, Coaster Crazy, Tales from Deep Space, and ScreamRide.
I think I've tended toward the non-realistic, character driven games simply because of my drawing style and deep interest in visual narrative.
I get very focused upon and specialise toward on producing concept art, animation direction and storyboarding.
How does working on Planet Coaster compare to working on other games you’ve worked on?
It's very, very enjoyable. I'd actually say it's shaping up to be the best. The game's aspiration is definitely shifting to becoming reality.
I think any game IP, Elite
angerous for example, which has deep aspirations is an honour to work on. Kinectimals was an awesome achievement to the dev and publisher teams working so well together.I really enjoyed Tales From Deep Space too and I think if we still owned the IP I'd have like to take it further but given how hard it is to make a game in this industry I'd never complain, after all having held plenty of "regular jobs" I think only an idiot forgets how lucky they are to be a) a professional artist and b) creating games.
In your opinion what makes Planet Coaster special?
It's a detailed sim game with a soul. It'll intrigue you, challenge you and give you freedom to create whilst all the time making you smile.
What have you learned so far from working on Planet Coaster?
That I swear in interviews and journalists print swear words.
Tell the community a fun fact about yourself.
For a university job I was a model for life-drawing classes. Admittedly you were standing naked in ridiculous poses, often in some pretty chilly rooms, but it was four times the hourly rate of delivering pizza or pulling pints.
If you could ask the Planet Coaster community one question, what would it be?
What's the one path feature Planet Coaster can't do without?
====
You can watch John in our first Dev Diary here!
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