What are you hoping to see most in Planet Coaster

[SimConnection]

I have been thinking about what I have been wanting to see in Planet Coaster for the last couple of weeks, have we have seen our first Developer Diary and seeing animations getting posted to Planet Coasters Facebook account.

I am interested to see what they will do with the management side of the game. Theme park builders are most often than not about the design of your park, the coasters, flat rides, scenery and keeping your guests happy, but not many have a deep management side to the game.

I can already gather that there will be breakdowns and reliability, but seeing upgrades to some of the parts to reduce the breakdowns the ride has, making them more reliable. I would also like to see players being able to control stock levels and stalls being restocked with said stock.

It would also be awesome to see parades, even if there are only a couple of presets, even if not customizable, would just be great to see a franchise do this. Fireworks, something a little easier to work with though, as RCT3 firework editor was not all that user friendly.

I am also hoping they have themed stations, with queues inside the station. I would prefer not to have a spline based rollercoaster builder, as after playing with RCTW builder, it is a great idea in theory, but doesn't really work all that well when you are trying to build a certain way. However, if they could use a piece by piece, but also incorporate a dragging system to make it easier.

Transport rides, if the player chooses to lay a track over a path, it should automatically be added with a boom gate or something.

Anyways, What do you want too see in the game.

 

[RandyChimp]

If you mean what do I want to see before release in dev diaries, I'd like to see the coaster creation system, dark rides and the building system. If you mean what I'd like to see in the final game, check out the suggestions and ideas forum, it's got loads of great ideas from everyone here.

 

[Kerrash]

...I would prefer not to have a spline based rollercoaster builder, as after playing with RCTW builder, it is a great idea in theory, but doesn't really work all that well when you are trying to build a certain way. However, if they could use a piece by piece, but also incorporate a dragging system to make it easier...

On that note, you should check out another game Frontier made; ScreamRide.
I am sure some of those concepts will make it over

EDIT: Skip to 1:40 for the building part

[video=youtube_share;lqs64EyVPNM]https://youtu.be/lqs64EyVPNM?t=1m41s[/video]

 

[pwc1]

I have been thinking about what I have been wanting to see in Planet Coaster for the last couple of weeks, have we have seen our first Developer Diary and seeing animations getting posted to Planet Coasters Facebook account.

I am interested to see what they will do with the management side of the game. Theme park builders are most often than not about the design of your park, the coasters, flat rides, scenery and keeping your guests happy, but not many have a deep management side to the game.

I can already gather that there will be breakdowns and reliability, but seeing upgrades to some of the parts to reduce the breakdowns the ride has, making them more reliable. I would also like to see players being able to control stock levels and stalls being restocked with said stock.

It would also be awesome to see parades, even if there are only a couple of presets, even if not customizable, would just be great to see a franchise do this. Fireworks, something a little easier to work with though, as RCT3 firework editor was not all that user friendly.

I am also hoping they have themed stations, with queues inside the station. I would prefer not to have a spline based rollercoaster builder, as after playing with RCTW builder, it is a great idea in theory, but doesn't really work all that well when you are trying to build a certain way. However, if they could use a piece by piece, but also incorporate a dragging system to make it easier.

Transport rides, if the player chooses to lay a track over a path, it should automatically be added with a boom gate or something.

Anyways, What do you want too see in the game.

Thanks to RCT3, the field has opened up to making parks or recreating parks or rides. Not everyone is interested in the management aspect.
I think a combo piece-by-piece/spline system is a good combo. To be fair, RCTW was beta testing the coasters and are making adjustments.

 

[etapley0687]

I'm hoping to see a wide variety of flat rides. Of course I like the coasters and all, but the thing is I KNOW they will take care of us in that aspect. That leaves me with my second love, the flat rides. I'm looking forward to seeing new flat rides and if they are appropriately scaled to the peeps, trees, and so on.

 

[alexalexalex]

+1 for very wide variety of flat rides! Hope to see 100 or more

 

[RandyChimp]

Thanks to RCT3, the field has opened up to making parks or recreating parks or rides. Not everyone is interested in the management aspect.
I think a combo piece-by-piece/spline system is a good combo. To be fair, RCTW was beta testing the coasters and are making adjustments.

Taking this into consideration, does anyone think it would be a good idea if we had a Civ 5 system, where at the start of a game, you can turn on/off options based on how you play the game? Sometimes I want to immerse myself in the management side of running a theme park, but other times, I just want to build. In the same way Civ 5 lets you adjust a bunch of starting conditions, game settings, options (like barbarians being on the map, victory conditions, resource rates), maybe PC could let us turn off things like in depth management for those who just want to build a silly park without consequences.

 

[SPRidley]

About the spline based coaster buidling.
Im pretty sure that Coaster Crazy and Screamride were used as base state for easy spline based coaster buildings to attach to a bigger game. You can see there that it still uses the piece by piece system, but blend with the splines. So for example, you add a loop, or a corckscrew, os an s-curve. And then you can actually touch, banck, make them bigger, smaller... with the spline points.
Coaster Crazy was done with a tocuhscreen and that was super easy to use, just imagine how much better wwwould be with a mouse and how realistic you could crate a ride usign that type of system but expand.

Taking this into consideration, does anyone think it would be a good idea if we had a Civ 5 system, where at the start of a game, you can turn on/off options based on how you play the game? Sometimes I want to immerse myself in the management side of running a theme park, but other times, I just want to build. In the same way Civ 5 lets you adjust a bunch of starting conditions, game settings, options (like barbarians being on the map, victory conditions, resource rates), maybe PC could let us turn off things like in depth management for those who just want to build a silly park without consequences.

Options on sandbox could be really interesting. Starting from the typical infinite money (that RCT3 already had), you putting the quanityt you want to start, and maybe adding things like Yes/No micromangement of stalls, yes/no guests.... And of course you can activate them any time you want in sandbox mode. Also creating parks with hand made missions (to choose froma list) so you can make your own campaign and upload them on the internet so people can try them.

 

[Angelis1]

To answer to SimConnection :

Back in RCT1 time, the "Theme Park Sim Games" was 20% design / 80% management. Things have changed with RCT2 (where the design was more important in the game, with more "scenery items" and "themes" but it was still minor). Then, with RCT3, it was almost 50 / 50 (at the release of the game), but ... modders arrived and changed everything.

Now , the "management aspect" became "a reason to play" (which gives a goal) more than the "main gameplay element". The real thing now is to design the parc of your dream (the RCT3 Sandbox is still played today for this reason). Players want to "do things by themselves" now. Players want to play lego, and this explains the "Minecraft" effect, all the survival/crafting/building games, or even so many games with an important "housing" part, Fallout4 is the last in date. This also explains why there is manyyyyy modders (in many games) and why the steamworkshop is now something important (same with the "indie market" where old players become the developers)

Even Nintendo understood, and they gave us : Mario Maker !

Anyway, all that to say that the majority of people want one thing : Freedom ! Freedom to explore (The "open world" wave), Freedom to craft (and mix items together), Freedom to build (As i said with Minecraft, and co.), Freedom to do what they want (even if it's stupid and ugly, it's not important because you made it, and you are proud of it).

And this is EXACTLY what I want, i want freedom to build the coaster of my dream, the park of my dream, the restaurant of my dream, the darkride of my dream, etc... And to do that : I need tools, simple but powerful tools that allow me to do exactly what i want.

Dont get me wrong, the management part is VERY important even now (especially in this game, it's just impossible to miss), and many players are interested by this specific part of the game, but : not the most important in 2015, and the majority want to "build a theme park", more thant "manage a theme park".

This is why, i think, PlanetCoaster need to be a perfect compromise between two game : TheSims4 (for the building part) and Cities Skyline (for the management part), and all, of course, adapted to the theme park universe, with this "Cartoon" style they showed us (which is, by the way, very smart, and Blizzard has already shown on several occasions that this strategy works)

The biggest mistake would be to focus a little too much in the management, and not the creation tools.
Because many will bought the game for the management, but will stay for the unlimited power of design.

(sorry for the long post)

 

[Milkman1]

There is such a thing as too much freedom, and Mario Maker proved that. There are about about 2 quality levels for every 1,000- which is far from good and fun. Then there's no limits...which is just a coaster designer but is far too complex with a steep learning curve. A realist roller coaster creator would be nice but it's difficult to find a good balance..
That said, I would love to see more scenery/decorations, themes bring a park to life....and something I would not like to see...are RCT 3 expansion type rides and coaster trains that are 3x bigger than the track. Those rides/scenery were horrific.

 

[Marvin1]

To answer to SimConnection :

Back in RCT1 time, the "Theme Park Sim Games" was 20% design / 80% management. Things have changed with RCT2 (where the design was more important in the game, with more "scenery items" and "themes" but it was still minor). Then, with RCT3, it was almost 50 / 50 (at the release of the game), but ... modders arrived and changed everything.

Now , the "management aspect" became "a reason to play" (which gives a goal) more than the "main gameplay element". The real thing now is to design the parc of your dream (the RCT3 Sandbox is still played today for this reason). Players want to "do things by themselves" now. Players want to play lego, and this explains the "Minecraft" effect, all the survival/crafting/building games, or even so many games with an important "housing" part, Fallout4 is the last in date. This also explains why there is manyyyyy modders (in many games) and why the steamworkshop is now something important (same with the "indie market" where old players become the developers)

Even Nintendo understood, and they gave us : Mario Maker !

Anyway, all that to say that the majority of people want one thing : Freedom ! Freedom to explore (The "open world" wave), Freedom to craft (and mix items together), Freedom to build (As i said with Minecraft, and co.), Freedom to do what they want (even if it's stupid and ugly, it's not important because you made it, and you are proud of it).

And this is EXACTLY what I want, i want freedom to build the coaster of my dream, the park of my dream, the restaurant of my dream, the darkride of my dream, etc... And to do that : I need tools, simple but powerful tools that allow me to do exactly what i want.

Dont get me wrong, the management part is VERY important even now (especially in this game, it's just impossible to miss), and many players are interested by this specific part of the game, but : not the most important in 2015, and the majority want to "build a theme park", more thant "manage a theme park".

This is why, i think, PlanetCoaster need to be a perfect compromise between two game : TheSims4 (for the building part) and Cities Skyline (for the management part), and all, of course, adapted to the theme park universe, with this "Cartoon" style they showed us (which is, by the way, very smart, and Blizzard has already shown on several occasions that this strategy works)

The biggest mistake would be to focus a little too much in the management, and not the creation tools.
Because many will bought the game for the management, but will stay for the unlimited power of design.

(sorry for the long post)

Well said. I really agree with the part about Planet Coaster being a hybrid between The Sims 4 and Cities: Skylines. I think that would satisfy both types of players.

Having the freedom to do whatever we want in this type of game is very important. The sandbox aspect is the most important part. Personally, I would rather Frontier focus solely on creating powerful tools that allow us to create anything rather than coming up with scenarios for us to play. The scenarios are nice for a few months, but the sandbox is what will keep this game relevant.

I want to be able to recreate Disneyland and then manage the park. I want to be able to create a popular amusement park and watch what happens after years of not adding new attractions (the attendance should start to shrink somewhat). I want to be able to spend hours creating the perfect dark ride and see how happy the guests are after they ride it.

Both sides of the game are important if we want to create realistic, good-looking parks and I think Frontier knows that. If we get powerful tools that allow us to create whatever we want on top of a powerful simulation, we will have the best theme park game ever.

 

[Angelis1]

Absolutly Marvin. [up]

 

[Sawyer1]

It sounds simple but I think it is key, you know on RCT3 (and older), when you place a path and then one next to it to the side, it joins to make it thicker? That, now I know, like I said it seems simple, but I can see this being over looked and just having certain path sizes. The issue with building parks and recreating them at that matter is that without the control over the size of them, they just don't look right. (That one needed explaining more than a bullet point)

- Dark rides, that are dark inside!
- Grabbing Machines
- A variety of coaster track (seemingly obvious but B+M track looks different to Vekoma)
- Building tools, the RCT3 style of building things is fine, wouldn't even change it.
- Tunnels at launch
- Audio/ scenery to perform when the train or car hits a certain trigger.
- The feel of freedom from RCT that was lacking in Frontier console games (I love Thrillville/ Zoo Tycoon, just for the record and I know the limits were there for a reason, but I hope we don't have that for PC)

Honestly, the bottom line on everything I say, and I really think most people want... it just a more up to date RCT3, not that I'm complaining about 3, far from it. I guess to simply put it... RCT3 in the visuals we have seen so far, I would be happy!

In frontier we trust!

 

[Sylvester1]

Throwing my hat in the ring:

Scenarios. A lot of scenarios. And a strong scenario editor so that scenarios can be created and shared.

I don't really play the sandbox mode that much, so the option for having lots of scenarios is really important... either, already in the game, or creatable by others

 

[danplayer01]

I have only played scenario mode once or twice in RCT3, i always hated not being able to do what i want. I would be perfectly okay with only having a sandbox mode. But i know other people like scenario mode. I hope we get custom built building using a system like Sims 4, i also want gift shops using the same building system. I hope we get concerts and parades as well. And a great selection of scenery.

 

[pwc1]

Very good long post Angelis.

 

[Diabo44]

Throwing my hat in the ring:

Scenarios. A lot of scenarios. And a strong scenario editor so that scenarios can be created and shared.

I don't really play the sandbox mode that much, so the option for having lots of scenarios is really important... either, already in the game, or creatable by others

Same here so i agree. [up]

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Very good long post Angelis.

LOL

 

[0BobTheJanitor]

I beg to differ about the piece-building system being good enough, I think it could be made even better. With that system, indoor areas were never "indoors" but more-or-less simulated indoors. If you wanted to make a giant wall, good luck spending 10 minutes doing tedious placing?

It was good for building exactly what you want, but an even better system can do that, while being: easier to use, faster, more detailed, and have actual functionality to the game.

 

[SPRidley]

I beg to differ about the piece-building system being good enough, I think it could be made even better. With that system, indoor areas were never "indoors" but more-or-less simulated indoors. If you wanted to make a giant wall, good luck spending 10 minutes doing tedious placing?

It was good for building exactly what you want, but an even better system can do that, while being: easier to use, faster, more detailed, and have actual functionality to the game.

Well, John Laws said its their version of piece by piece and that they are trying to do it as easy and fun as possible to use. Let it be copy paste of walls, modular pieces, click and drag options... Im sure they are implementing something to make the building better.
He is right that piece by piece is still the version of easy building that has less restrictions to players to build anything they want. The Sims constrution has LOTS of restrictions, great for building realistic houses, but not much out of that, and we nknow that theme park buildings are completly different than houses.
You want to do a Toon Town type of twisty building? Impossible trying to make it with the Sims building style.

 

[Marvin1]

Well, John Laws said its their version of piece by piece and that they are trying to do it as easy and fun as possible to use. Let it be copy paste of walls, modular pieces, click and drag options... Im sure they are implementing something to make the building better.
He is right that piece by piece is still the version of easy building that has less restrictions to players to build anything they want. The Sims constrution has LOTS of restrictions, great for building realistic houses, but not much out of that, and we nknow that theme park buildings are completly different than houses.
You want to do a Toon Town type of twisty building? Impossible trying to make it with the Sims building style.

A lot of theme parks are modeled after real-world places, and thus have a lot of buildings that are basically just houses, or other buildings that you could easily find in real life.

Even Six Flags is like this (best picture I could find)

Now imagine having to place each wall one by one, each roof piece one by one. It would take hours. A building tool like The Sims 4 would make this stuff much easier.