Roller Coaster Tycoon -- Still fun!

[Inky]

About a week ago, I reloaded RCT on my PC. Just the first game -expansion packs.. And I still have as much fun with it today, as when I first bought it. Truly a great game, and the best simulation game ever made. Better than the (IMHO) decent 'The Sims', and better than SimCity2000 (Another great game, and best of the Sim City series.)

 

I could easily play this thing forever!

 

Who else has mega-love for this game?

[shadow460]

I gained a lot of respect for it when Busch Gardens' summer hours ended in 2000. I love roller coasters, and the game gives me a good diversion from standing in line in the heat.

Right now, I'm not within 1500 miles of any good coasters (read: Alpengeist and Hypersonic XLC), so RCT is a decent fill in.

I wish it has better ways to build Ultra Twister and Hypersonic, but I'll take what I've got.

Try RCT2. It's far streamlined from the first one, and once you get used to it, you will wonder how you ever lived with the dinosaur the first one is.

[pitfallaimee]

Stan and I crank this up at least twice a year, play like mad, then need to take a break. The graphics, in my opinion, will always be ageless and clean, and the game play is such that you need never get tired of it.

 

I am a theming whore, though, so I have to have the expansions.

 

The second RCT is pretty good, but the scenarios are too limiting to be as much fun.

 

When I was younger, my main mission was torturing and punishing my guests. I ruled my parks with an iron fist! Smash a bench on MY watch, will ya?? But now I like being successful as well.

[shadow460]

Smash a bench, ride The Vomit Machine. Simple, really. You just gotta get those 13 batwings in there without going outside the park.

Flip a trash can, go chill in Leafy Lake without a boat.

 

Actually, with the limits in place from RCT2, I learned to be more successful. I never exceed those limits on the first one now, and my wallet grows even faster.

Edited August 18, 2006 by shadow460

[Inky]

I've got the Loopy Landscapes expansion, and it does fix some issues I've had with the game.. I need to install that.

 

I was told that RCT2 was just about the same as RCT1, with little in the way to rec it over 1. 3, IMHO, is completely unplayable.

[supercat]

Truly a great game, and the best simulation game ever made.

 

I wonder if anyone else has discovered the "slingshot coaster" as a moneymaker. Build the highest legal hill and put a pair of launch platforms there for two parallel coasters (catapult launch 60mph). Then build the steepest legal descent that goes down to the lowest legal depth (smooth out the changes of slope to avoid excessive G's) and from there go up to the highest legal altitude.

 

I think the pair of coasters worked out to something like 20 seconds per full load of people, but had a good thrill rating and low nausea rating (it reached a very high top speed but had minimal vertical G's and zero lateral G's). The short ride duration meant that lots of people could pile in (paying money to do so of course).

[n8littlefield]

I loved all three RCT games, even 3. The 3d was tough to get used to, but I really like landscaping the parks and doing it in 3d was extra fun.

 

Oh, but it's not the best sim game, that honor goes to Monopoly Tycoon - the most awesomest sim game ever.

[shadow460]

I've got the Loopy Landscapes expansion, and it does fix some issues I've had with the game.. I need to install that.

 

I was told that RCT2 was just about the same as RCT1, with little in the way to rec it over 1. 3, IMHO, is completely unplayable.

 

RCT2 looks the same as 1, and has similar objectives, but most of the mundane tasks are automated. It also has a roller coaster designer, which allows you to concentrate solely on making a mega coaster without people puking up the paths for you. It's a design scenario, without you having to create one.

RCT2 allows you to fully create the ride here, queue lines, pathways, theming and all, and save that as a unit. That way you just plunk the ride down in a park without having to rebuild lines and theming each time. It lets you get back to the important stuff quicker, like price gouging your guests out of sheer greed.

I feel like it plays a whole lot smoother than RCT1 does. The RCT1 scenarios are downloadable for it.

It also has a scenario creator where you can make your own objectives. It's got a bulldoze feature that allows you to level junky rides like the Shockwave in seconds. It clears ride paths automatically while you're either custom building, or when you decide to place a pre made ride of any sort. It'll clear trees without hesitation. I think it also clears unwanted theming objects, footpaths, and it may automatically raise and lower the land for you.

RCT2 has less bugs that even the final patch of RCT1 did.

 

The downsides are that you can't import much from RCT1. You can't import your old rides, you have to remake them in the roller coaster designer. Also, the timing is different. The scenarios seem to take longer. For instance, if you play Dynamite Dunes in RCT1, it's done in a couple of hours. In RCT2, it seems to take the whole afternoon.

 

Go play RCT2. It's not possible to not recommend RCT2 without playing it. I think you can get all three of them in a set with their respective expansion packs.

[Inky]

Finally got RCT2.. I have to say that I like it! Scenarios (even the easy ones) are hard than RCT1, and I love all the new things you can do with the scenery. I'm having a lot more fun with this one!

[Shannon]

2 is alot better than one. Only thing I don't like is the way they divy up the coasters it is extremely confusing. But all of the annoying flaws in RCT2 in regards to limitations can be got around with several PD trainers and other goodies that you can download.

 

Plus there are alot of cool custom stuff that people have created for it. Just look around you should be able to find it easy enough.

 

I like 3 but it's a friggin' monster and there is no computer on the planet that can run this thing full speed. Frontier really screwed up in that regards in addition to their group peep AI which is hurrendous.

Edited October 2, 2006 by Shannon