Please add a terrain generator for new sandbox maps in Planet Coaster 2.
The current sandbox maps start as a blank slate. One flat canvas in which you can do anything you want if you have the time to carve all that detail into the terrain by hand. This can be simultaneously overwhelming and frustrating at times. The experience of sandbox mode would improve if you could have the game generate lakes, rivers, hills, canyons, beaches, or other geology to build upon. I find using a heightmap or starter terrain in other games to give me some direction when trying to lay out a park (or city). Using random or algorithmically shaped terrain further adds variety to building out parks.
Implementation of this idea could take inspiration from SimCity 3000. That game featured a square sprite representing the map to be generated. You could click to have bare land, a lake, or a river in the center-ish area of the map. You could also click each of the 4 edges of the square to apply a coastline to the edge of the map. Having 3 coastlines made a peninsula and 4 coastlines created an island. There were additional sliders for the concentration of hills, trees, and additional water (ponds, smaller lakes, and bays). Planet Coaster 2 could implement a similar system or innovate with something derivative given that more complicated geology is possible (cliffs, canyons).
I think a terrain generator would elevate the sandbox experience by automating the things that players have to shape by hand at the moment. I would definitely start more parks if I had more terrain that gave me natural features to work with. I hope this comes to Planet Coaster 2 some day!
The current sandbox maps start as a blank slate. One flat canvas in which you can do anything you want if you have the time to carve all that detail into the terrain by hand. This can be simultaneously overwhelming and frustrating at times. The experience of sandbox mode would improve if you could have the game generate lakes, rivers, hills, canyons, beaches, or other geology to build upon. I find using a heightmap or starter terrain in other games to give me some direction when trying to lay out a park (or city). Using random or algorithmically shaped terrain further adds variety to building out parks.
Implementation of this idea could take inspiration from SimCity 3000. That game featured a square sprite representing the map to be generated. You could click to have bare land, a lake, or a river in the center-ish area of the map. You could also click each of the 4 edges of the square to apply a coastline to the edge of the map. Having 3 coastlines made a peninsula and 4 coastlines created an island. There were additional sliders for the concentration of hills, trees, and additional water (ponds, smaller lakes, and bays). Planet Coaster 2 could implement a similar system or innovate with something derivative given that more complicated geology is possible (cliffs, canyons).
I think a terrain generator would elevate the sandbox experience by automating the things that players have to shape by hand at the moment. I would definitely start more parks if I had more terrain that gave me natural features to work with. I hope this comes to Planet Coaster 2 some day!