I pre-ordered Planet Coaster 2 for Steam the day it was announced. From the start it was understood that we'd be essentially going back to scratch with two or three base themes (all of which can easily be associated with water parks) and that all the themes and content from the original PC would not be compatible due to a brand-new engine. Even so, the promise of water parks and the presumed eventual return of all that content or some variation in some form made the decision to buy immediate for me personally.
That said, as the launch approached my anticipation actually began to wane a bit because I realized that we're talking months and probably years before PC2 adds enough themes and content to become as fully realized as its predecessor (and even it had several glaring omissions, such as prehistoric and animal/zoological theming, presumably to avoid cannibalizing Frontier's sales of Jurassic World: Evolution and Planet Zoo). As someone who spent the entirety of my time in PC in Sandbox Mode, the promise of Planet Coaster 2 had caveats, the most obvious of which was delayed gratification.
Well, launch day came, I installed Planet Coaster 2, fiddled with the settings to get them tailored to my tastes, and then jumped into Sandbox Mode. My reaction quickly became one of intense concern as I noticed only maybe a half dozen ride types of each category available; "What gives", I thought. A quick Google search confirmed my worst fears: Frontier had apparently decided to lock most of the Sandbox content behind progression in the other modes. So, not only are we starting out with a very limited palette of theming for Planet Coaster 2, but those of us who regularly only play Sandbox Mode have found ourselves getting royally shafted, forced to jump through hoops in modes we don't care about in order to be able to add more content to create with. This was an ATROCIOUS decision, Frontier.
I know the development team put a lot of time, effort, and passion into this game and I'm not out to tear them down, but I just can't see myself bothering to play it until A) the Sandbox Mode has ALL CONTENT UNLOCKED FROM THE START and B) there are more themes to draw upon. I'll admit, one of the reasons I jumped immediately on pre-ordering PC2 was the bonus rides, but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have held off until Frontier had enough time to clean up the inevitable rough edges. That's the thing that really chafes, the fact that PC2's launch was never going to be the end of the waiting, but just the beginning. For a truly complete theme park sim, for the features so many of us want or have come to expect. And not knowing how long that wait is going to be is the hardest part of all.
That said, as the launch approached my anticipation actually began to wane a bit because I realized that we're talking months and probably years before PC2 adds enough themes and content to become as fully realized as its predecessor (and even it had several glaring omissions, such as prehistoric and animal/zoological theming, presumably to avoid cannibalizing Frontier's sales of Jurassic World: Evolution and Planet Zoo). As someone who spent the entirety of my time in PC in Sandbox Mode, the promise of Planet Coaster 2 had caveats, the most obvious of which was delayed gratification.
Well, launch day came, I installed Planet Coaster 2, fiddled with the settings to get them tailored to my tastes, and then jumped into Sandbox Mode. My reaction quickly became one of intense concern as I noticed only maybe a half dozen ride types of each category available; "What gives", I thought. A quick Google search confirmed my worst fears: Frontier had apparently decided to lock most of the Sandbox content behind progression in the other modes. So, not only are we starting out with a very limited palette of theming for Planet Coaster 2, but those of us who regularly only play Sandbox Mode have found ourselves getting royally shafted, forced to jump through hoops in modes we don't care about in order to be able to add more content to create with. This was an ATROCIOUS decision, Frontier.
I know the development team put a lot of time, effort, and passion into this game and I'm not out to tear them down, but I just can't see myself bothering to play it until A) the Sandbox Mode has ALL CONTENT UNLOCKED FROM THE START and B) there are more themes to draw upon. I'll admit, one of the reasons I jumped immediately on pre-ordering PC2 was the bonus rides, but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have held off until Frontier had enough time to clean up the inevitable rough edges. That's the thing that really chafes, the fact that PC2's launch was never going to be the end of the waiting, but just the beginning. For a truly complete theme park sim, for the features so many of us want or have come to expect. And not knowing how long that wait is going to be is the hardest part of all.
