Dear RCTW Tycoons,
What a crazy week it has been here at Atari HQ. We are earnestly involved in prep for GDC, the show that kicks off the convention season for us, and so things have really started to ramp up in intensity. Team RollerCoaster Tycoon World is busy working on the game as well as filming some amazing footage that we hope to feature soon. It will be straight from the game so you can see the awesome product we have been working on and get as excited as we are about it.
Building – Part 2 – Coasters:
In my last post, I spoke about the first half of the Building foundation, highlighting some of the tools you will have at your disposal and the great variety of buildings, themes, and detail we are putting into the game. Now it is time to talk about what is arguably the main attraction – Coasters!
What you can build:
RCTW is jam-packed with new coasters to build! We have three main track types: Steel, Wooden, and Hanging. These are your raw materials rather than entire coasters like in the previous games. With those three types of tracks you will be able to create a number of different coasters, as each track type has an enormous amount of varying coaster cars associated with it – this gives the flexibility of selecting a base coaster track type and then essentially specializing how the coaster will look based on the car. These cars add a tremendous amount of variety to the coaster system, giving you the freedom to build the coaster that looks the way you want! The number of combinations are enormous and will ensure that everyone’s park looks unique!
How you can build them:
A question we receive often is, how will players place and build these amazing new coasters? The answer is a really exciting one for us. The team has spent an incredible amount of time building an entirely new coaster editor from the ground up. The first thing we did was create an all-3D-based coaster building tool and converted all of our coasters to be fully spline-based. This means that each track now has a “node” on either end that allows you to manipulate it in 3D space! Thus instead of being limited only to pre-built tracks like in the previous games (although we have those too), in RCTW you can truly design and build the coaster of your dreams – in any direction! Note that before locking down this feature, we will share it with the community so you can provide feedback and make it even better! It is, in our opinion, one of the most difficult yet important things to get right in the game, and we want your feedback on it once it’s ready to be shared.
Our next innovation concerning the coaster editor, was to throw out the notion of “grid based coaster building” altogether. For the first time ever in the history of the franchise you will be able to build freeform coasters. Although the ground will still feature a grid, it is simply there to help place park elements where you want them. This combined with our new 3D coaster editor makes it as easy as dreaming something and then simply drawing it in the game in the air with your mouse – it’s really incredible. While your coaster station, something we consider a park element, still needs to be placed at 90 degree angles, the game no longer forces the coaster tracks themselves to conform to the grid below and will automatically place pylons where needed to support it. So if you want to place that corkscrew at some odd angle because you think it will increase the excitement rating of your ride, you can! It’s a super cool feature that we’re really proud of. It’s now up to your imagination.
Additionally, since we know not ALL of our fans will want to use the fully 3D freeform compliant building system, as mentioned before, our coaster editor will also include tools that will allow you to place standard tracks and pre-built special pieces, similar to previous RCT games. This makes our new tool easy to use and accessible to all but gives “power players” the ability to create something truly special and unique – something we think that will become very important when certain planned post launch feature updates are added. Additionally, switching between the two modes is seamless and done on the fly.
Architect mode:
Another important improvement to our coaster tool is that now you no longer pay for pieces the moment you put them down. We have created what we are calling an ‘architect mode’. This allows you to layout and place an entire coaster before building it. This way you don’t need to worry about mistakes, or how well your park is doing financially, and can simply enjoy the process of building an amazing coaster. It’s like we took the sandbox coaster editor and placed it right into your live park, eliminating the need to switch between the two.
Playing with the coaster editor on a daily basis, I must say, it’s awesome. I’m able to build coasters that were simply not possible in any previous iteration of RCT. Once you combine it with our brush-based terrain tool you really do get the ability to make some phenomenal layouts.
Building in RCTW unlocks the power of 3D and freeform design while keeping it accessible for all. We cannot wait to see what fans create with these powerful new tools, rides, and objects. We can’t even fathom the possibilities!
Selection of Fan Questions About Coasters:
I would like to also take the time to answer a few selected fan questions that I have seen on the forums recently concerning coasters.
Will there be coaster destruction or the possibility for “mishaps”?
In short, yes! Be careful not to build something too crazy or your peeps might have a rough time staying in their seats as the coaster goes around that bend…
Are there different coaster loading stations – what do they look like?
Carrying the idea of theming through, we have stations and cars that fit into our 4 main themes for the game. You now have a variety of different loading stations to choose from and can even match them to a theme – same for the coaster cars.
Will tracks and coaster cars have the ability to have their colors changed?
Yes, however, at launch it will be the entire track or the entire car rather than individual pieces.
What about length, height, and speed restrictions on coasters?
We will have some soft limits in place simply based on the needs of the game engine (of course) but essentially you are able to design the coaster any way you want and certain designs could cause your coaster to not be suitable for what I would call “safe riding” – what you make for your peeps is up to you. That’s the beauty of a 3D coaster building tool.
Will there be pre-built coasters not just pieces?
Yes! Our awesome design team is busy creating some truly fantastic pre-built coasters for you to place in your park.
Can you ride coasters?
Yes, and more about that in our upcoming foundation blog on “Playing”.
A Word About Custom Scenery in RCTW:
We noticed a number of fans asking about custom scenery and whether or not there will be any in RCTW. The answer is a complicated one, as it can be divided into two categories. In one category, you have the ability to take pieces of buildings (roofs, walls, floors, etc.) and place them within the game to create new objects and scenery. The second is the ability to create your own textures and objects outside of the game and import them in. We really want both but we will not have enough time to finish implementation before launch. We will instead be providing them as a free updates to all players once the features are ready. Additionally, there is a heavy dependence on a special feature from one of our partners and, without giving too much away, we think it will change the longevity of the game dramatically by really giving people even more of a reason to build amazing things on their own and share them with the world than ever before. We know how important this is to our most dedicated fans.
Next Time:
We know fans have more questions and we have more blogs to post. So stay tuned and see you on the forums! Join them today!
Best,
Mattlab
Executive Producer – Atari
Team RCTW