RCT 3 PC Vanilla Hills: A Game Journal

[BauerME]

Hey all! I have been an RCTx fan since way back. For that matter, I was a Transport Tycoon for DOS fan, so I have been playing Chris Sawyer's games for over a decade.

Married life has slown down my gaming quite a bit, so instead of buying RCT3 and each expansion as they came out, I eventually came to the party very, very late. However, I now have the Platinum edition and I whipped through the tutorials and now I am working on Vanilla Hills.

However, to truly savor the game and because I peg the old geek-meter, I have been documenting my journey of discovery in the form of Park/Game Journals. You can read my journal in the forums of the new Coaster Zone website. Here is a link to the journal: http://www.coasterzone.ej.am/forum/showthread.php?tid=35

Please stop by and take a look. I would love to hear what you think (bad or good).

 

[sebar]

Better late than never!

Yeah you got here very late. RCT3 is a dying platform, but have fun as many of us did and to some extent still do.

 

[Michael Brookes]

Hardly dying if people are still buying and playing the game.

Michael

 

[BauerME]

Yeah you got here very late. RCT3 is a dying platform, but have fun as many of us did and to some extent still do.

It gives me something to do (and off the streets) until Theme Park Builder is up and running, eh?

After the drama of season 3 (the saga of the unionized researchers and their mob allies putting the squeeze on the park management and an eventual save by the feds), season 4 has taken a twist with a haunting mystery and the efforts of a semi-retired FBI agent to solve the puzzle even as all those around him think he is completely off his rocker. Yes, it is just another summer in the theme park business. Check it out at:
http://www.coasterzone.ej.am/forum/s...ead.php?tid=35

<Posts merged, please do not double post - Michael>

 

[EntropicLqd]

I love your research team. They've kept me highly amused.

It's interesting that you assign the mechanics to specific areas of the park. I found that in RCT3 it was better to let them free roam than tie them down to a particular area. They get grumpy fixing the same rides over and over again. The same with the janitors.

Having said that, I always used fixed areas in RCT1 & 2. It just didn't seem to work so well in RCT3.

Keep up the good work - the park is looking lovely.

 

[BauerME]

I love your research team. They've kept me highly amused.

It's interesting that you assign the mechanics to specific areas of the park. I found that in RCT3 it was better to let them free roam than tie them down to a particular area. They get grumpy fixing the same rides over and over again. The same with the janitors.

Having said that, I always used fixed areas in RCT1 & 2. It just didn't seem to work so well in RCT3.

Keep up the good work - the park is looking lovely.

Thank you very much for those kind words. The problem I have was that the mechanics don't do a very good job staying spread out. Having each mechanic patrol a sizable portion of the park will ensure that a mechanic is always relatively close when any given ride has a failure. I have heard grumblings about doing the same thing over and over again, but at level 2 training they generally seem to stay happy.

My problem is really the security guard. He has the run of the park to himself but is constantly unhappy and/or bored and even at level 2 training I can't seem to cheer him up.

 

[Brett C]

Hardly dying if people are still buying and playing the game.

Michael

Agreed, maybe the online community has died down, but people still playing it is still there. If the game had an online section within the game, than we would probably know more exact how active the game is.

 

[sebar]

Hardly dying if people are still buying and playing the game.

Michael

Ah, no it is dying my friend and the sooner the better for this world community. If you guys have something new to offer and its comparable with a long future ahead, than great, lets see it. Perhaps we can get some future Brooke's Shots or famous Braben Shots to see what is in the cards for ThrillVille on the PC.

But RCT3 is definitely dying right now and like I said, the faster the better. After what Atari did abandoning its userbase I couldn't care a rats behind what they offered now, cause my pocketbook is a closed account as far as ever supporting their financial coffers.

I do like your interactive rides as those I think will be a lot of fun to play against others if that is possible to do in a PC version of the game. So I will look forward to what is offered. Hopefully though, in a PC version of ThrillVille you guys will get the speed and movement of the flat rides historically correct. Ignoring that for your customers isn't smart business sense. Perhaps you guys will hire a flat ride and amusement park historian of sorts.

 

[BauerME]

... Anyway, I have updated the game journal to include preparations for season 5. If you have been following along, the next bit of content is ready when you are.

 

[Brett C]

... Anyway, I have updated the game journal to include preparations for season 5. If you have been following along, the next bit of content is ready when you are.

Read through your topic there on the initial post of this topic. Looks good by from what i read... Quite a bit to read there overall, but that wasn't too bad.

And yes, let's stay on topic, no more poking fun at RCT(1,2,3) popularity or other off-topic stuff.

 

[EntropicLqd]

...The problem I have was that the mechanics don't do a very good job staying spread out. Having each mechanic patrol a sizable portion of the park will ensure that a mechanic is always relatively close when any given ride has a failure....

Interesting. That's not a problem I've noticed. Maybe I just have more mechanics than you do

I must confess I've not used security guards. I've never had an issue with vandalism or crime as far as I've been able to tell. There again, I almost always train all my staff to level 3 as soon as I hire them.

Level three training seems to keep them happy all the time; and means I can just forget that they are there and get on with building big coasters.

 

[sebar]

Yeah level three is fine.

Also if you are in the park in sandbox mode, they are all fully trained anyhow.

 

[EntropicLqd]

Also if you are in the park in sandbox mode, they are all fully trained anyhow.

True enough.

I don't normally play in the sandbox though - I prefer to ensure my parks are actually profitable.

 

[BauerME]

True enough.

I don't normally play in the sandbox though - I prefer to ensure my parks are actually profitable.

Me too. In this particular case it is one of the scenarios in career mode. There probably is no reason to actually have a security guard any more as I have only been using marble benches (the vandals smashed up the wooden ones before I got around to scrapping them anyway). However, I am trying to run the park (generally) like a real park in addition to meeting the scenario objectives... so I need a security guard, or two. I doubt any park nowadays operates without any security whatsoever.

UPDATE (9 JUL 07)

The events for season 5 and the preparations for season 6 are now posted. I am in the middle of playing through season 6, but I have already met the tycoon level goals. I am now contemplating whether I should just play through season 6 and then close the journal, or keep the journal going until the park is finished/completely filled out.

Any opinons?