Timelapse Modular Building

[Coasterfan312]

^ That. The Sims is based on building houses and managing a family - this is about building an entire theme park. While it'd be cool, I don't think you can expect Sims-level building when it's only one part of the game. What they've done seems like it'll work just fine - it's never going to be absolutely perfect, but it's better than in RCT3.

One thing I do think would be cool is the ability to put walls and things in the terrain, so you can have buildings on a lakeside or something, or stretching down into a large hole (when I say hole I mean hollowed out area like you can see in the Dev Diary). There isn't really a massive downside to being able to do that, but I might be missing something.

You could do things like this:

 

[Angelis1]

Oh, I suppose choosing width and height of objects would be nice, but it would also make the system more complicated.

The "width and height" system in Sims4 is veryyyy simple. So I dont think so. It's more about the UI after that.

The floors thing I get now too, but it would require quite a lot of new programming since they've only done pathfinding for paths (because that's all the guests need to walk on at the moment). I'm also not sure how you'd actually make a floor for each level with stairs or something leading up to each. Just sounds a bit crazy.

Yes you right. This require more time ...

... Or they need to be "crafty", because the path system is a very good basis. [yesnod]

Why are you people comparing this game with The Sims 3 so often?
I mean, we all know that it has an awesome building system, but building houses it's certainly not the main focus of a theme park sim game!

Nope !

1) About "The Sims BUILDING TOOL" and not the entire game.
2) Sims4 is a better reference than Sims3
3) A theme park is mainly composed of ... wait for it .... Buildings.
4) TheSims Bulding Tool is best reference to use (and the closest we have to date), just after "old RCT games", and before "Cities:Skylines" (regarding other mechanisms)

+ If you think that theSims is not close to ThemePark Sim Games compared to the mechanisms (I'm not talking about the gameplay) then you need to look closer.

You're basically asking for a full game mechanic as a small part of another game and that, other than being extremely unnecessary, would cost Frontier a ton of economic resources.

I'm 100% not agree with you. In fact, in fact it's the oposite, the building tool is one of the pillars of the game (like the "coaster building tool", the "path system", the "crowd management", etc...)

 

[Zerobyte]

Everything depends on what the engine can handle ,and what they can add to the game in 12 months.
We will see a bit in 3 months.
And then ad more and more i hope ore change it to final release.

 

[Angelis1]

Everything depends on what the engine can handle ,and what they can add to the game in 12 months.
We will see a bit in 3 months.
And then ad more and more i hope ore change it to final release.

I agree.

but without forgetting to make a maximum of noise, if we want they improve their tools [up]

Because when we are developing a product, it's always difficult to have enough perspective to know when we make a mistake or that we are not going in the right direction. Anyway, that's my philosophy. And I think it's important to be as critical as possible.

And never (ever, ever) say "That's perfect like this, congrats" (even if we want to say that sometime because we are all fans)

 

[Manu1]

The mechanics do look good but the graphics are so 2008[ugh]

 

[Zerobyte]

I agree.

but without forgetting to make a maximum of noise, if we want they improve their tools [up]

Because when we are developing a product, it's always difficult to have enough perspective to know when we make a mistake or that we are not going in the right direction. Anyway, that's my philosophy. And I think it's important to be as critical as possible.

And never (ever, ever) say "That's perfect like this, congrats" (even if we want to say that sometime because we are all fans)

That's right [up] but we need first our hands on the alpha [big grin] before we can complain ore beg (fore more) we need more info for the hole picture . And start the battle from there that is my modest opinion !

 

[Coasterfan312]

Terrain timelapse!

[video=youtube;yyK0aIuflZ0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyK0aIuflZ0[/video]

I think they have allowed the objects-in-terrain thing I mentioned earlier

One thing I do think would be cool is the ability to put walls and things in the terrain, so you can have buildings on a lakeside or something, or stretching down into a large hole (when I say hole I mean hollowed out area like you can see in the Dev Diary). There isn't really a massive downside to being able to do that, but I might be missing something.

I just love the landscape textures so much <3
Trees look fantastic too.

 

[Zerobyte]

Terrain timelapse!


I just love the landscape textures so much <3
Trees look fantastic too.

I like it a lot to [big grin]

 

[coencoensmeets]

^ That. The Sims is based on building houses and managing a family - this is about building an entire theme park. While it'd be cool, I don't think you can expect Sims-level building when it's only one part of the game. What they've done seems like it'll work just fine - it's never going to be absolutely perfect, but it's better than in RCT3.

One thing I do think would be cool is the ability to put walls and things in the terrain, so you can have buildings on a lakeside or something, or stretching down into a large hole (when I say hole I mean hollowed out area like you can see in the Dev Diary). There isn't really a massive downside to being able to do that, but I might be missing something.

You could do things like this:

http://www.besudesuabroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/tokyo-disneysea.jpg

I wanted to build this too. Disney's sea is beautifull!

 

[Stream]

I don't mind the RCT3 style of building, however it would definitely be nice to be able to do something similar to what's in The Sims 4. Click and drag would be useful when making big stuff, and a way to be able to easily raise all walls of a building upwards would be nice too. I do like that it seems like we'll be able to move object pretty freely around to place on exterior walls. That will really open up a lot of possibilities.

However, it is just one aspect of the game, and The Sims is such a huge franchise that they probably have a huge team of people working on their games, whereas Frontier sort of have to compromise slightly because of it. Still hoping for some more options on this aspect, but even if we can't have all of that, this will satisfy me very much.

 

[Diabo44]

Why are you people comparing this game with The Sims 3 so often?
I mean, we all know that it has an awesome building system, but building houses it's certainly not the main focus of a theme park sim game!
You're basically asking for a full game mechanic as a small part of another game and that, other than being extremely unnecessary, would cost Frontier a ton of economic resources.

That being said, I'm a HUGE fan of modular building and I loved spending hours building good looking stations and food areas. What I'm trying to say is, even though this could be an old building system in the genre, it surely isn't outdated. With some small polish, I'm sure it'll work like a charm (as it's already doing to me, but that's just my own personal opinion).

In the end, we should all call ourselves lucky for even just being able to play with modular piece-by-piece buildings in PC, as for the moment it's the only WIP title that let us do that without the need of mods, add-ons or post launch patches (I know TPS gives us the possibility to do that, but I'm not considering it a game at all).

A good thing would be the possibility to save our buildings and being able to paste/move them wherever we want, as RCT3 can already do.

This is how I think too applez but you know people always want more and more. I'm just happy by what I saw since the beginning.

 

[Angelis1]

This is how I think too applez but you know people always want more and more. I'm just happy by what I saw since the beginning.

Ok, I give up ...

Do not make any upgrades ! Everything is perfect !

[sad]

 

[Diabo44]

Ok, I give up ...

Do not make any upgrades ! Everything is perfect !

[sad]

LoL don't give up Angelis we need people like u with great idea but I personally think they're going in right way even if it miss some "new" feature that some people want. Every people can have and say their opinions???[happy]
Ps: Why you don't make your own game? [big grin][big grin][big grin]

 

[Zerobyte]

Ok, I give up ...

Do not make any upgrades ! Everything is perfect !

[sad]

LoL don't give up Angelis we need people like u with great idea but I personally think they're going in right way even if it miss some "new" feature that some people want. Every people can have and say their opinions???[happy]
Ps: Why you don't make your own game? [big grin][big grin][big grin]

Indeed don't stop Angelis we need a clear light on the road ! [yesnod]
You got a good eye for things [up]

 

[Angelis1]

LoL don't give up Angelis we need people like u with great idea but I personally think they're going in right way even if it miss some "new" feature that some people want. Every people can have and say their opinions???[happy]

Saying "they're going in right way" (meaning: it is a good start) is different to "I'm just happy by what I saw since the beginning" (meaning: do not change anything).

A company (not only Frontier) is motivated by money (which, in a capitalist world, is normal, I do not question this system)

And this will make the difference between a "good game" and a "amazing game".
Although it is sociologically more acceptable : If our comments are contemplative = no improvements will be made, because financially not interesting enough in the short term, because the audience is already happy (and they tend to forget the long term)

Simple as that ...

Ps: Why you don't make your own game? [big grin][big grin][big grin]

ps : One of my dreams but off topic [big grin][big grin][big grin]

 

[0BobTheJanitor]

It's definitely a good system, BUT it can surely be improved. Asking for more isn't a burden, it shows the developers where to place the bar, where to try and reach, and as long as you praise along the way than surely nobody will be hurt. We aren't entitled to a stronger system, but we still have the right to make suggestions.

 

[SPRidley]

Im glad is not like the sims.
You cant do theme park buildings on the sims. As much as Angelis likes to trot that system, it always has limitations becuase it was designed to build habitable houses as easy as possible, and not much else (you can do some silly fantasy things with some imagination, but the limitations are clearly there, like all buildings having the same floor height or windows and objects that go in walls needing to be attached to the height and grid the game wants).
You want to make the top floor have less height like Disneyland Main Street buildings? you cant. You want to make super strange structures like in Tokyo Disney Sea or Islands of Adventure? Nope!
Some of those limitations its what gives easiness of us to the sims style (yes, even the sims 4). In Planet Coaster they give you maximum liberty, at the expense of some of the easiness. It actually looks more like a 3D program now with things to make life more easy I would kill to have in programs like 3DS max.

In fact, the only thing you can really fault here, is the game not having a click and drag sytem, something that would have been welcomed.
And still, Planet Coaster has made it much easier. This video doesnt show (but the dev diary 2 did) that you can copy a room or wall you've made and rotate it, elevate it, and paste it anywhere you want. So that makes it less of a pain than RCT3 already.
And being really nitpicking here, the roof system of the sims 4 would be really welcomed also, becuase thats what I liked more from the new game.

 

[Angelis1]

Im glad is not like the sims.
You cant do theme park buildings on the sims. As much as Angelis likes to trot that system, it always has limitations becuase it was designed to build habitable houses as easy as possible, and not much else (you can do some silly fantasy things with some imagination, but the limitations are clearly there, like all buildings having the same floor height or windows and objects that go in walls needing to be attached to the height and grid the game wants).
You want to make the top floor have less height like Disneyland Main Street buildings? you cant. You want to make super strange structures like in Tokyo Disney Sea or Islands of Adventure? Nope! [...]

Of course this system also has limitations

I never said that the "Sims4 Building Tool" is perfect neither [big grin].
But is the "PC Building Tool" perfect for now ? No more, at least not for now !

This tool need improvements, and they need to learn about the best (and also the most known) existing reference (not my fault, sorry, but it's the best reference for now, maybe one day it will be PC, who knows)

Oh, and yes, of course, you cant make theme park with theSims ... It's a reference about a specific tool, nothing related with the gameplay [rolleyes]

 

[pwc1]

I loved your idea Angelis. Just wanted to let you know. [up]

 

[Applez]

1) About "The Sims BUILDING TOOL" and not the entire game.
2) Sims4 is a better reference than Sims3
3) A theme park is mainly composed of ... wait for it .... Buildings.
4) TheSims Bulding Tool is best reference to use (and the closest we have to date), just after "old RCT games", and before "Cities:Skylines" (regarding other mechanisms)

1) Yeah, I was referring to the building system indeed!
2) -
3) And you're perfectly right, but it's still not the main focus. Remember, they're not trying to deliver us a "build the most realistic theme park ever tool", as if you think about it, 90% of the users would find boring spending hours on placing bushes, building houses and making their theme park pretty. They're developing a videogame that should be fun, easy to learn and with the main objective to catch the largest target market possible. In order to do that, they have to balance rides construction, scenery placing and management.

Don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to understand (and let people understand) the reasons of Frontier's developing choices, as they're the professionals here and the ones who know what's going on and how to manage a big project like PC.

Therefore, I highly doubt that they'll be able to implement a so huge and sophisticated building system, but I'm NOT saying that it shouldn't be optimized and polished.

Friends? [heart]