RollerCoaster Tycoon: A Timeless Design ~ Design Doc

[@georgeprout42]

Chris Sawyer did an incredible amount of research for RCT, including joining the European Coaster Club. He went on many trips, rode countless different coasters and got to chat with coaster nerds, park owners and ride designers. His attention to detail made the game what it is.

[@karelpipa]

never knew that. He is one of the greatest developers we had.

[@cleitonfelipe2092]

Well the reason he made the game in the first place is because he is a roller-coaster aficionado, he has already ride on almost all coasters around the world

[@technicolortabby4239]

Wow that is cool! I did not know that.

[@karelpipa]

@ i dont think he develops anymore

[@XXXM0777]

that’s heart. That’s love.

[@WaterCrane]

The shuttle loop is such a great money maker! My favourite configuration, although probably not quite as efficient, was what I called the "Double Loop" pair. Two synchronised rollercoasters that accelerate out of the station around a pair of loops, then up a steep incline side-by-side before rolling around the loops again and back into the stations. Even if there was a Station Brakes Failure, the train wouldn't go off the end of the track, but instead just stop, and accelerate off again. (Not sure if this was addressed in the sequel and forced you to put a run-off behind the station). By having two synchronised rollercoasters, one a mirror image of the other, not only did you get double the income even if you set the entrance fee at £1.00 and a few extras with the on-ride photo section, the excitement is boosted significantly because of the 'duelling coaster' element.

[@craigauclair4026]

I still play RCT Classic. So many awesome memories of playing my first computer "drug". I'd be in front of my pc, and play for hours. Now, since the first two games are on mobile, as RCT Classic, I can spend hours playing it on my phone, anywhere.

[@AshBashVids]

Quick point out: Christ Sawyer didn't work on RCT3. He only advised Frontier at certain points during development.

[@thelemonfreshexperience1603]

I still play RCT to this day, it's so much fun to boot up every now and then and play through. The designs leave little to be desired, especially for it's time. It was cool watching your vid and hearing what other people about the genre as a whole :)

[@Teflora]

RTC 2 with all Add-Ons is still the best experience of the genre today imo! It's one of these games just like Minecraft, Sims, Mario Kart etc, that every few years you just have to get back to to relive some good memories! Just dig it out, play it for 2 weeks and then completely forget about it again until the next time :D I love games like that

[@pedrogeraldi7540]

Hi! I am a brazilian indie game developer and your videos are a great inspiration and bases to analyze and design better my own work. Thanks for the videos, keep it up !!! Ps:Do a Design Doc specific about character design plzz

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

I love this sort of in depth design video too. Even if it's just to see someone present their opinion on something in a well thought out manner. They're great.

[@zodayn]

RCT3 without mods looks so weird. I'm used to seeing it on the Shyguys World forum with so many mmods that there are no ingame objects anymore what so ever.

[@KingRCT3]

Zodayn I know right? And with CSO, the graphics aged a bit better.

[@annaisntcool]

god i loved RCT1, RCT3, and Thrillville Off the Rails when i was a kid. wish i could go back and play old RCT

[@aleeoid3410]

Mod it to run in native 1080p, and even this games graphics havent aged a bit. It's truly stunning.

[@coolbrotherf127]

On GoG, it shows the average person spends 5 hours and 30 minutes in RCT2. These games will suck you in for hours and you'll be having fun the whole time. Chris really captured some magic with these games that no one else has done better in 20 years.

[@vontosmagicmurderbag2611]

Planet Coaster was a huge step forward as a design sandbox game but a small step backward as a park management game. I have a hard time picking between RCT1, RCT3, and PC as my favorite theme park game.

[@justinlininger8123]

These games are my childhood ;) I once stayed up until 5 A.M. on a school night to build up my park. I got busted by mom.

[@bassplayertaylor6983]

I never played this game but I did play Zoo Tycoon and it was very similar. I had to search for my old disc at my parents house last year because that game is really expensive to buy used. It's so good and nothing has been able to capture the feeling of the first game

[@writerpatrick]

Sometimes trying to improve something winds up making it worse. The only good thing about RTC3 was being able to ride the coasters.

[@revimfadli4666]

writerpatrick what made the previous ones better?

[@MagnumForce51]

Yeah I wish RCT3 was just a port of the old assets into 3D that kept the tile system. Maybe it would look a bit janky, but perhaps it would have played better/aged better then what RCT3 ended up being. I recall before RCT3 came out there was a project where some people were trying to convert RCT into a 3D engine. I wonder how far that got.....

[@TomBoi]

You forgot to mention the RCT port to phones and Steam, called RCT Classic, its essentially RCT2 but with all of the expansions and OG RCT parks. It has a fast forward function that is much needed to speed the game up, that I feel is one thing I wished for in the OG, but its still great, and Classic can fit in your pocket and isn't riddled with microtransations. Best $6 I have ever spent with the amount of content you get.

[@DRY411S]

I enjoyed that critique thanks. Just a couple of things I noticed. You say that RCT2 was the last game Sawyer wrote. It's not. He published Locomotion after RCT2, and has also worked on RCT Classic which is a perfect reimplementation of RCT1+2 for Android + iOS. Check it out. There's also Transport Tycoon for Android and iOs in which he was involved in some capacity. It's also perhaps thinking about the continuity in the different branches of RCT. Sawyer worked on Elite space sim before RCT, a game written by a certain David Braben, who went onto form Frontier Developments. Sawyer was bored with RCT after RCT2 and did not want to work on the expansions. Guess who stepped in? Frontier Developments. So I guess they would have had access to all the source. When Atari decided they wanted RCT3, it was developed by... Frontier Developments again. Frontier also developed Coaster Crazy for android and iOS, Screamride for XBox, and ThrillVille for PS2 and PSP. So that leaves Planet Coaster and RCTWorld. Planet Coaster is another product by Frontier Developments, and therefore has links back to the original code and author. But Atari retained the rights to the "Rollercoaster Tycoon" branding and commissioned RCT World from other developers (more than one, before it was released). That's why the lack of pedigree in RCT World shows, in my opinion. I believe that Sawyer is (or was) also a shareholder in Frontier Developments. As for Sawyer's 'team' that you referred to. He wrote the code, somebody else did the graphics, and a third person wrote the music. That's it. Team of 3. Unbelievable when you think how long it takes the credits to roll on Planet Coaster!

[@stevethepocket]

Don't the Planet Coaster credits also include every single person who donated to the crowdfunding campaign? Crowdfunded projects almost always do.

[@simpsonsfanatic777]

Great video! RCT is one of my favorite franchises of all time! A campaign is currently being worked on for Parkitect. It will be included in the official release!

[@KayoMichiels]

Man, i love your videos: informative and sometimes a couple of laughs, subbed!

[@JamesBrisnehan]

I LOVE Rollercoaster Tycoon 2. It took everything that was great about the first one and made it amazing. I played the S@#$% out of that game as a kid, and I still play it every once in a while. I might have to try out Planet Coaster though. Looks pretty good.

[@jordanwolfson8378]

IMHO, I think RCT 2 is better than RCT 1. The interface was more friendly, it had more ride options, and it was easier to build (you could build scenery up higher by holding down shift instead of having to waste money raising the ground itself). RCT 2 was the pinnacle of the series to me.

[@Larry98]

and openrct2 adds the things which they removed from rct2 compared to rct1.

[@damntrain5249]

Rct 2 is pretty much a upgraded version of rct 1. Rct 1 is still as enjoyable as rct 2 imo

[@theyellowarchitect4504]

Before even watching the video, I know this is going to be a rollercoaster of a video!

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

You could say it was..... (drum roll) One hell of a ride. (ba dum tis 🥁)

[@coyraig8332]

Would be pretty clever to get park ads from watching ads

[@qbmac2306]

Looks like a fun game. Maybe I should play it.

[@Tacom4ster]

A Youtiber called The Davoo shreds Rollercoaster 2 and 3 with great reviews

[@myrosclayton4737]

7:49 "wtf have you done at"

[@DefiantTurtle21]

Lovely work as usual

[@Same_ol_jee]

Wow $3 for a hamburger + drink . Today that’ll be $12+ at a sixflags .

[@happycompy]

Parkitect is a wonderful game. Highly recommended for that classic RCT feel. Planet Coaster...idk. I really don't like how they've pretty much given up on making the management half of the game balanced. There just isn't much "game" there (I have 80 hours played) and I get bored very quickly. It's more of a sandbox than a theme park management game & that's a shame. As much I want it to be RCT4, it just isn't.

[@MrSuckeragi]

You could say RCT's history has a lot of ups and downs :)

[@zerotrooper1991]

Reminds me of The Movies Yet another management plus something else blend game

[@jeremysalonga9999]

"Design a quick loop, and the game will tell you it's boring" *Guests proceed to ride multiple copies of the same shuttle loop I've built over and over anyways*

[@yasfilms2149]

9:18 That's attacking tucans I think

[@DesignDoc]

Legend of Blenders: Blades of the Wild credited in the corner

[@StarBeam500]

Anyone else play the roblox adaptation? No? Was that only me? Alright. I was a little suprized it didn't show up in this video, but you've also probably never heard of it so that's probably why.

[@seriouslee4119]

Wait, so you're saying that rct 1 used only 2d sprites?? 0_0

[@Knuxfan24]

I just can never get into anything beyond RCT2. I really can't figure out why though.

[@Grovion]

Just found your channel and i really like your content. There is just one thing that really irritates me: What's the point in those text animations that are exactly telling, what your just saying? It feels like you are trying much too hard to catch the viewers attention when the gameplay scenes combined with your narration are communicating your points just fine. Besides of that: Keep up the good work :)

[@p_mouse8676]

RCT is the most evil game ever created. One moment you're just starting with a cup of coffee and cereals, the next moment you watch the clock it's 3 at night all of a sudden.....

[@Aryanbloggs]

Haha, ive been there.

[@ClickItYT]

I'm still there with RCT3 and Planet Coaster. :}

[@anyonebacon8387]

I just played it for like 4 hours without really realizing hahaha

[@peddersmeister]

Haha, I didn't do this as much with RCT but did it a lot on Transport Tycoon!

[@Jump-n-smash]

With civilization, one moment you are starting with a cup of coffee and cereals, the next moment your alarm clock is going off.

[@austinkreider4916]

“Why wasn’t your math homework done” “I was running a Business”

[@mallenwho]

I'll argue RC2 isn't just an expansion. While the graphics and UI look derivative (they are), RCT2 had a complete engine overhaul, using the engine from Locomotion, which while it was the same coaster building and management aspects, were updated to be more powerful, make better use of system resources, could manage scenery objects standing and stacking, and could handle higher resolution sprites. Overall the game is smoother and crisper than RCT1 at an engine level, not just in features or content. There's a reason why OpenRCT2 builds on RCT2, not RCT1.

[@Ocarina654]

I know this is a year old comment, but absolutely true. RCT2 looks very much like the same game, just with more content and some UI tweaks, but it is absolutely a more robust and better functioning game. The original was phenomenal. The sequel was a refinement on every level to make it that much more beyond.

[@vgamer164]

What blows my mind as a programmer is the fact that RCT is programmed entirely in assembly- for perspective it’s only one step up from coding in 1s and 0s

[@MagnumForce51]

Yeah. Chris had to completely rewrite the engine when he ported it to mobile in the form of RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic.

[@MickdeRaad]

Yeah, that's why it runs fucking amazing. Never skips a beat even if you play on a single core Pentium! No game comes close to the performance of rct 1 & 2

[@AshBashVids]

Ran amazing even on a 350mhz pentium II

[@zadarthule]

@@AshBashVids i was running rct 1 on a 75mhz and later a 133mhz pentium. With the second cpu i realizied that the simulation actally was running to slow on the first. You could abuse this with artifical cpu clock speed reduction to save ingame time, while building a bigger coaster.

[@Flowtail]

Good lord why the fuck would anybody do that Edit: good point, no wonder it runs so flawlessly

[@Durbikins]

4:03 You do not truly know the powers of the Shuttle Loop

[@Smokecall]

Durbikins just add a turn or two to the shuttle loop, really boosts the fun rating

You mean the V8 Money Engine? Just charge $7.50 per ride and put 2 of them in sync

[@hauntedshadowslegacy2826]

And in RCT3, the Powered Launch Coaster can be a stupidly small oval and be praised to high heaven. It's even more hilarious if you cheat off the max launch speed and max circuits. I named it 'Billy'. Ten 'Billy's should be enough for an entire park.

[@UTKP5]

only 2? really? beginner...

[@vasred4265]

When I was younger, I was position the top end at the lake. Then named the guest after my dad & uncle. Watching them crashed into the lake was..... [insert evil laughter]

[@ieatatsonic]

Planet Coaster almost sells itself as more of a creative tool, and I think that's okay. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on parkitecht, though, since that seems more in line with the traditional concept.

[@tedioustotoro4885]

He said that it was too much like a sandbox in the video

[@zodayn]

I played the campaign once in the beta stage and felt bored and limited. So I went back to the sandbox. Also the game doesn't lend itself to creating realistic parks as that would work against the objectibe by wasting a lot of time and money.

[@alexliu5806]

It's no surprise Parkitect doesn't seem fleshed out yet, it's still in Beta! The game has made some good progress, though.

[@binarysignals9593]

ieatatsonic yes, I have never played Planet Coaster, however it seems to be orientated much more towards the creative elements as opposed to park management which the first rct1 mixed so well.

[@SeekerLancer]

Planet Coaster is definitely more of a sandbox. It's not a true RCT successor but it's an amazing theme park builder.

[@StillConfusing]

how did you not manage to talk about OpenRCT2?

[@MysteryCJgamer]

I'm guessing cuz It's a mod and isn't official. Might be better fit for it's own video about how mods improve games.

[@Leubast]

I agree with both points. 20 more years? Thanks to OpenRCT2 it'll go 20 MORE!

[@Dan-TechAndMusic]

+MysteryCJgamer, It's not a mod. A mod is as the name suggest, a modification to the original game. OpenRCT2 is not that, it merely uses the audio, text strings and graphics from RCT2 for copyright reasons. It is completely its own thing other than that, running on brand new code that replicates the original game.

[@stevethepocket]

@@Dan-TechAndMusic So it's just a one-to-one remake, right? Hardly worth mentioning except maybe as a way of acknowledging that it's an option for people who, for one reason or another, can't just play RCT2.

[@creeperhunterD]

@@stevethepocket Have you even used OpenRCT2? Here is a quick rundown of some of the new features: TL;DR: It's a LOT. Try it out. -Plugin System -Tile Inspector that allows you to make ride pieces invisible, copy-and-paste pieces, and rotate objects -In-game cheat system, allowing you to make any ride use any vehicle, switch the ride type to anything, switch the operating mode to anything, infinitely fast chain hills, boost platforms, and brakes, chain hills on any track piece 255 million dollars instantly, disable vandalism, maker all guests happy, make all guests ignore intensities, etc. -Full multiplayer, with modifiable player roles and abilities, allowing both full anarchy sandbox servers with cheats and people banning eachother at will, and spectator servers where you just watch the admin build, and everything in-between, with very low lag and easy and free servers that require no external tools and can be advertised publicly with the press of a button. -Allows changing of scenario options in-game, like turning on "no money", changing enabled ride and scenery types, and easily filtering out mods -Full compatability with Android and all Windows versions after Vista, plus MacOS and Linux -Custom themes and coloration of menu buttons -Custom opening sequences -Full RCT1 support, and you can mix and match features from RCT1 with features from RCT2 -Requires RCT2. It's not just some remake with retextured assets so cheap people can get it for free, it's a full expansion upon the original RCT games. If you ARE too cheap to buy it, you can just get RCT2 demo and it will remove the timer for you -OpenGL rendering -Hardware rendering that allows special effects like a day/night cycle and lighting from vehicles, entrances, rides, path lights, and other objects -Full custom panda-themed scenery set that comes with OpenRCT2 -With all this new content, it still keeps all the original content and features from both games -All of OpenRCT2, besides the original game that's required, is free. You don't have to pay money for any of the features I have just mentioned, especially if you use the demo version -Bonus gimmicks like being able to pop balloons and quack ducks in the title sequences -And much, much more. I recommend you just try it out. Considering these are only just the new features I could remember off the top of my head, it's a pretty good sign as to how much they added. And before you ask, no, I don't have anything better do.

[@Soandnb]

I think part of the reason the Scenery Rating is as lenient as it is is because the devs wanted you to create something that actually looks pretty from a human standpoint. We see it all the time with people creating magnificent buildings in the game, they often use scenery pieces from completely different sets or in completely new and innovative ways to add detail to their buildings; a generic "theme" system would stifle the creative freedom of these park designers to create custom queue paths that, even if "technically" not coordinated and themed, looks beautiful and stunning to the human eye.

[@LB_]

Nice work :) That RCT3 song at the end is still one of my favorites, excellent choice

[@defaultmesh]

was about to comment the same thing

[@thdenwheja756]

Ah, SUCH a nostalgia trip. Every time I install RCT3 on a new computer, I have to copy all of the music files onto the computer to listen to it on repeat.

[@TemperanceL2]

I'm pretty sure some youtubers that focus on video games music could do a video on that too. Like, me and my brother spend quite some time playing and making our own probably not efficient park in the sandbox, and wow does that music never get old. Just, the way the music comes and goes, Idk, it felt right. Just hearing it in this video made me want to go back to it.

[@XGaming1]

Summer Air...

[@manshoe1738]

summer air, the song, is one of the few songs that can get me completely mesmerized and relaxed, I absolutely love it

[@Techtastisch]

4:02 The "Quick Loop" Coasters were the money machines :D

[@DaJodad]

I put 35 of those things in a single park, not a SINGLE complaint. 10/10 would rip-off guests again.

[@alvardo3000]

The shuttle loop you mean?

[@DerAlfredman]

Omg du hier XD

[@CaveyMoth]

Gotta make sure you put at least 8 of them side by side, synchronized...and also add more at different angles, interlinking.

[@Lysuko]

cobra

[@saedt]

Hahah the background voices from RCT1 are ingrained into my brain. Good video!

[@eriklakeland3857]

Tuh tuh Torah!

[@MetallicalCatastroph]

Playing Planet Coaster: Lots of fun doing 1 coaster Finish it Get bored 2 hours later, close the game Playing OpenRCT: Lots of fun doing everything Start micromanaging everything Miss meals stay up until like 4am without realizing

[@aydoss46]

depends what you like, I prefer spending long and slow amounts of time on planet coaster because everything is so beautiful when time is put into it, and realistic = beautiful

[@RmonikMusic]

Planet Coaster is just too overwhelming. There's too much to do. I keep sitting down to start something, take hours building just my entrance building, decide it's crap when i'm done with it and scrap the whole thing. It's hard to get a quick park going like you would've in RCT and the management UI is kinda flawed.

[@sulphuric_glue4468]

Planet Coaster is a game for people with a creative mindset who enjoy finely tuning details over many hours to create a grand whole. It requires you to work, and you have to enjoy working - or at least be able to power through it to get to the satisfying result - to enjoy the game. OpenRCT is more casual.

[@mintydog06]

I've tried to play planet coaster, I've got about 19 hours on it, but I don't seem to have progressed enough and it seems to be too vast for me, as you have to be creative to get the best out of it. I enjoyed RCT more, I enjoy the graphics more.

[@MotoAtheist]

Planet Coaster doesn't have to be complicated. It has tons of stuff that you can throw around and design quite an amazing park without a lot of custom work. It's just that so many people are designing mega parks so detailed it can simply overwhelm people in to just giving up. RCT3 was similar in a way, but it also worked a bit easier since everything was grid based, you couldn't get crazy. That is until the modders got involved and then it got crazy. But you could do amazing things with a stock RCT3 without a lot of difficulty. Planet coaster just allows so much freedom that it can be hard to focus and allows for unlimited creativity that's it can overwhelm the player quickly. Have to train yourself to focus and develop patience. Don't force your builds. Work on your entrance for awhile until your creative juices are depleted and then switch gears to a ride skin. Mix it up so your brain doesn't overload.

[@TheNN]

The reason why spline systems are so bad, is because they haven't been reticulated. Sim City 2000 understood this, you NEED to reticulate your splines!

[@StardollDJ]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Reticulating splines is a programming joke.

[@TheNN]

I am joking around, and I know it is, but Sim City 2000 back in the day had the line of 'reticulating splines' when altering your city, so I was just applying that bit to here.

[@Nemireck]

Poor Scott...

[@thomasgraf1986]

Oh man, I can totally hear the audio clip of that woman saying "reticulating splines." Ah, childhood.

[@og3171995]

TheNN yup haha they still used that for the sims and I think the sims 3 loading screens

[@freundlichermensch7540]

RCT 1/2 is for me one of the best games ever created. When i was 7 i played it everyday, when i was 16, I was kind of ashamed that i still preferred to play that game instead of doing thing you usually do in that age. And now with 24 i still play the game, just on my phone, which is actually one of the best phone games i ever touched. Even when its just a port from PC to android. It's a classic game and didn't got outdated. Games like PlanCo are nice, but as easy and once you see "professional" players like Silvarret, you just watch there videos and stop playing, because it takes tons of time and passion to create something amazing.

[@MattRoszak]

I love this game. I keep wanting to go back to it, but I've played it to death and there's really nothing I haven't tried to do in it yet. Also you never mentioned that RCT1 was apparently written in assembly code, which is why it runs so well!

[@AlryFireBlade]

You ever heared about OpenRCT2? It brings back the good games on modern Systems with new Features. And it can combine RCT1 and 2 Scenarios!

[@axelperez2917]

what is doing a epic fantasy battle character here?

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

This is like a genre post mortem talk. Really enjoyable even if I haven't played the old RCT games. Closest I got was Zoo Tycoon. All the lions.

[@Wirmkiller]

Would love to see something like this analysis with Age of Empires

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

I could get behind that. Sounds interesting and would be a nostalgia hit in the childhood.

[@jefffinkbonner9551]

Age of Empires II still has an enormous player base online. Still new DLCs with new civilizations, balance patches, and campaigns being released!

[@KaeKalaeleo]

8:51 A loading screen that uses an infinity sign... The designers didn't see the connection, did they.

[@SupersuMC]

This is one of those games, apparently. Heck, I'm thinking about picking RCT2 back up after having a poor experience with Planet Coaster. 23 minutes and I was done, and not even half of that was actual in-game time.

[@Coaster-Toaster]

Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 is an all time classic which will never be reached by any other themepark-game. Planet Coaster is awesome, nothing to discuss, but RCT2 has the special feel.

[@UnexpectedGamer7]

Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 was probably my most-played PC game in my childhood! I have so many good memories with that game

[@Superstarearth]

Please please please. Give some credit to the multiplayer mod for RCT. We need more people playing the mod. I love the game to death.

[@carkpop]

aye! I see Flabaliki and Toadlet ;) Making the video

[@imlegos2153]

The description you give of a management game sounds more similar to how one would describe Factorio then creative. Little disappointed you didn't mention the folks over at OpenRCT2 which is a project created by fans to basically expand readd old and create new features, and fix and improve the game. Also multiplayer works, surprisingly.

[@Intaminator]

It's nice to see these videos about RCT popping up as of late, but I kind of wish they'd touch upon the fact that there's still a very active community surrounding the older titles on places like New Element Design that are keeping the games alive through custom content and things like OpenRCT.

[@AlryFireBlade]

Yeah i joined the Discord from marcel Vos and wow over 500 People O.o

[@nejc1821]

Finally, some love for an under appreciated game! (underappreciated right now, at least.) Wish I still had it cause I really wanna have a go at it again seeing as Im competent now.

[@DesignDoc]

Do it!

[@Stephen-Fox]

The entire management sim genre is underappreciated right now, not just RCT, sadly. Most sim games (ignoring the parody/meme ones) these days are stuff like Euro Truck Simulator, or farm simulator - Nitty gritty simulations of jobs romanticized in some circles.

[@robertlozonne2012]

go to GOG.com there are a number of DRM free options to choose from, mine cost me like 7$USD

[@robertlozonne2012]

GOG.com, DRM free, and inexpensive

[@landen1044]

Chloe Stephen dude get rct classic it's a mobile version and it's a mix of rct and rct 2

[@Exnem]

Love this game, but after OpenRCT2 added good stuff including speeding up the game I can't really go back. You can import the old scenarios though so it's all good, but I still want old coaster train graphics like the ones on the Wooden Coaster and Steel Coaster from RCT1 to OpenRCT2. Does anyone know how to do this? Googling yield few results for me...

[@boogabuga7657]

I'm pretty sure they are going to add that feature eventually.

[@Exnem]

Ah, looking forward to that then. I would also like a way to copy path limits from handymen so I don't have to do it for each every time. Would be sick.

[@bradennelson2436]

You should add a issue on the github for this. They'll listen and may put it on TODO

[@Larry98]

+Braden Nelson It is already planned since almost the beginning. Currently other things are more important.

[@Lugmillord]

I loved RCT 1 and 3. RCT3 really wrecked my PC back in the day, though. Too much to handle.

[@thegamer5367]

If you stil want to play RCT there is a oficial remake called roler coaster tycoon world

[@Enoxix.]

Haha, yeah I had the same problem. I wanted to play RCT3 on the same PC I played RCT1 + 2 on, but that didn't really work out.

[@VeeTHis]

the gamer Rollercoaster Tycoon World is HORRIBLE. Instead of RCTW, how about trying Planet Coaster or Parkitect?

[@majamystic256]

I still play RCT 1 and 2 and sometimes 3 along with Simcity 4 because Planet Coaster and Cities: Skylines are too much for my PC

[@CaveyMoth]

I love RCT 1 so much... I'm not a fan of any of the other RCT games, or even Planet Coaster. I like the simplicity and focus that the original has. Get this many guests and this park rating by this date. Simple.

[@Nikkeftw]

I still havent bought Planet Coaster, but I still play RCT2 and 3. The lack of economy and management makes it way less interesting to me.

[@wylie2835]

You mean the lack of fake fluff text that means nothing and has no bearing on the actual game. 90% of RTC is a lie.

[@Nikkeftw]

Should be really easy to implement then. What exactly is a lie? If you dont earn money, you cant pay back the bank. If the streets are dirty, people complain. If the park has low rating, fewer people show up and you earn less money. Im wouldnt be surprised if theres some truth to what you say, but 90% sounds like a number you pulled out of your ass.

[@ViewtifulBeau]

I remember competing with my younger brother on who could build the more successful theme park. It was like Monopoly, it never ended. We're 26 and 24 now, ooph i feel OLD!

[@SupersuMC]

Still playing RCT Monopoly? ;)

[@The_Jovian]

Sad you didn't bring up thrillville more than in a couple clips, mostly because it was the only coaster sim I played as a kid

[@revimfadli4666]

NeonFish710 while the minigames and being able to ride/play competitive ridea like golf and karts are decent, as well as the addition of whoa! tracks, the spots where you can build coasters, the space you're provided, and the uneditable terrain severely limits the creative part of the game. Plus the editor's basically the same

[@The_Jovian]

Revi M Fadli oh, yeah it's far from great. It's just nostalgic

[@revimfadli4666]

NeonFish710 yup, and the factors i mentioned (whoa trackpieces and playing playable rides) deserve at least a mention

[@vasred4265]

Similar to the Halo franchise, the later iterations of RCT tried to overcomplicate a simple, usable formula that already had depth.

[@concretecurse6594]

I wanted to relive RCT so I did some research, and found with RCT3 they went 3d which some may like, but it limited the game to me, so I bought RCT2. And loved it, it was what I remembered of the game, just more. RCT2 on the switch please, as it was but with better graphics and more stalls and rides if I'm gonna be a beggar, which I am

[@123chris0]

No mention of Transport Tycoon? That was were it all started.

[@SupersuMC]

Would like to see a video on how the design of "disease management" games like Plague Inc. Evolved and Pandemic make for many hours of play. (I've played PIE for a total of over 72 hours. Those were three days of my life well spent.)

[@Pipiundkakiinpipikakaland42]

Love the video but i just wanted to say that RTC3 was to be honest pretty bad. It was designed for younger audience and is much less complex and closed than RTC2. It's just a poor version of previous games but in 3d.

[@Kakwann]

i just found RTC classic on Google Play Store. Its a complete port of RCT 1 on mobile. (cost 5-6$) but no ads at all, no microtransaction just the plain old game.

[@TheShadowscale]

I think I still have my copy of RCT2 in a box somewhere XD

[@thekornwulf]

Roller Coaster Tycoon is great, but I've always preferred RCT2. Screw RCT3 and beyond though.

[@hubblebublumbubwub5215]

Funny how during the age of minecraft devs didn't figure out that a grid-based system is better

[@Stephen-Fox]

Great point about RCT being two great flavours that taste good together (Creative gameplay and management sim) that I hadn't noticed before you mentioned it. And while all management sims with a spatial component allow for some level of creative freedom, the 'build your own coasters concept' is something that goes beyond the constraints of what the gameplay allows you when you're just working with pre-fabs in, say, Sim City, Startopia or Theme Hospital, since some designs work and others go horribly wrong, quickly - Even Startopia's terrain editor for the Bio deck was more an exercise in 'try and find something that grows the plants you want and then leave it be' than a creative gardening exercise. (I'd have gone spreadsheet rather than progression system for management sims when you strip away the theme, but sure. We can stop a layer above that. Probably more useful to not break it down fully.)

[@isthisrumo]

RollerCoaster Tycoon, one of my favorites!

[@jazeroth322]

Rct is easily my favourite management game. I’ve rebought the game on steam last year and I regularly play an hour or two a week trying to finally beat all the levels :)

[@thirdpedalnirvana]

4:29 is that someone pretending a monorail is a roller coaster? lmao what a useless design.

[@AdamAarts]

I loved RCT, and still play it occasionally. It’s a great game to show the kids along with the original sims. I remember trying RCT3 and it was terrible. Never tried anything past that. I like the idea of the newer 3D offerings, but I think you’re correct in that the original had a good balance of creativity and boundaries. The way the roller coasters were built was simple and logical. RCT3 just let you drag and drop tracks in whatever direction and angle you wanted, and just looked terrible and frustrating to work with. I’m sure in 20 years I’ll still pop in my RCT disk and enjoy it.

[@mattice5971]

5:15 "both use the mechanics" as he drops mechanics into the park

[@prismaticat]

lmao good catch

[@0hate9]

Park guests weren't called peeps until RCT3.

[@ravageduckmanguy]

Great video with some really good points, but I kind of disagree that the first 2 games have aged well. I loved them when they came out and every now and then I really want to play through them again, because of all the things they got right, and because they run smoother than RCT3 or Planet Coaster ever could even on a top-of-the-line rig, but there's just one fatal flaw that ruins it for me. Unlike RCT3 onward, and even Chris Sawyers Locomotion that's very similar engine wise, there's no way to fast forward time. Combine that with the vast majority of scenarios having goals that are only checked at the end of a specific year, and there's just so much time spent just running out the clock with no real incentive to do anything other than enjoy extra creative building time, which is great up to a point but there's so many scenarios to go through. It really bummed me out the last time I wanted to play RCT2 and I realized soon after starting what an unnecessarily huge time sink it'd be.

[@simpsonsfanatic777]

Check out OpenRCT2. You can even download the original RCT scenarios.

[@ravageduckmanguy]

Thanks. I'll definitely consider that next time I get a craving for old-school RCT.

[@simpsonsfanatic777]

James Anderson No problem! It has a lot of improvements, one of which being a fast-forward feature. There’s also RCT Classic on mobile.

[@Exnem]

I agree a lot with this, it's personally why I cannot go back to RCT1 and 2 after playing OpenRCT2 with the RCT1 scenarios. Fast forward is a must with the lull times when you know you're going to win.

[@Robbedem]

Another flaw of RCT1 and 2 was the pathfinding for the peeps. It was basically a hardware limitation of the time, but it could really mess up your parks. Possibly resulting in hundreds of peeps walking in a circle, all wanting to go home...

[@ronnielenroberts6136]

Next simcity to cities skylines.

[@nathanielthomas2502]

I'm currently working on my 20th recreation of Cedar Point in RCT2

[@karmatt3098]

Gotta post that! Cedar Point is my favorite theme park.

[@Possseidon]

You won't believe, what just gave me the biggest bunch of nostaliga in a long time... The RCT3 OST in the outro... Holy maccaronie has it been a long time, since I heared that soundtrack *-*

[@justiceforsethrichwwg1wga160]

Chris Sawyer is a fucking legend

[@MagnumForce51]

Dissappointed that you didn't mention RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic. Chris worked on that one and is a port. He rebuilt the engine with C code instead of assembly to easily port it to mobile. It was soon ported to PC so there is a PC version available. It runs more or less like the originals. Same graphics and gameplay. Merged RCT1 and RCT2 content into one and a few additions/improvements to the gampelay. (shop/stalls auto-rotating to face a path for example). There are a few issues like mouse lock not being a thing for users of multiple monitors. (so attempting to side scroll in a direction that takes the mouse to a adjacent monitor causes the cursor to leave the monitor and the scrolling to stop.) Placing path objects on raised path bridges is more finicky then the original game for some reason. It also seems to incorperate the money system of RCT2. That is, you can't charge entry fee for park at the same time as charging for rides on the same map. That's really the only thing I didn't like about RCT2. :( Aside from that I have no complaints about it. :D RCT1/2 is a bit finicky on modern PCs/Windows. So despite the few pitfalls of the RCT Classic, it's worth it for me to run instead of trying to get RCT2 to play nice on Windows 7 or 10. :P

[@TubeCody]

2019 still playing this!! BEST GAME EVER

[@BigDBrian]

My issue with Parkitect is mostly asymmetry in coaster design. There's certain 'moves' you can do, that you can't do backwards. For instance, when you want to do an overbanked turn, one element will be easily possible, but you can't make a symmetrical exit to it. It drove me mad, so I stopped playing it, and instead went back to OpenRCT2.

[@JakeCoasters]

HD remastering please haha

[@Brainfly-]

The fact that RCT1&2 were so good that people are not only keeping it alive but still building on top of its fundamentals with OpenRCT is incredible. Those original 2 games were absolute magic and none of the new ones really manage to capture that essence.

[@CESTLEDU]

I'm surprised you didn't talk about theme park world at all, much more casual but my favorite because it felt easy to play and enjoy with little knowledge

[@DeadRebornKid]

Woah, can't let you disrespect Thrillville like that... Both were developed by the Frontier. If anything it was just pasted lol

[@michaelmonstar4276]

Breh... I've known this game since the beginning and never did I hear or read the terms "peeps" in context of this game or its guests. That's actually what I know they're called, "guests". - Where did "peeps" come from??...

[@stevethepocket]

Didn't _RollerCoaster Tycoon 2_ increase the prices for everything? Or was it just my imagination? They didn't increase the size of the initial loan, or the default price of the tickets and items, so I always assumed I'd been dumped into a sort of Hard Mode where I was expected to do more with less. That, plus the lack of scenarios, was what put me off about it despite the improvements. _Classic_ fixed the second issue by including all the scenarios from both games, but they forgot to import the first game's track layouts.

[@weckar]

Why are all theme park games really just about the rollercoasters though? One of the most successful theme park franchises in the world (Disney) has always de-emphasized them...

[@AceAviations2]

There are only a few deign flaws in RCT1, those being the lack of banked curves on a slope (added in RCT2) and the RNG bullshit that is Station Brakes Failure, something that I swear I have PTSD from. Also Harmonic Hills can go fuck itself. Though without RCT1 there's no way that I'd be the gamer that I am today. Nor would I be a coaster enthusiast either, the game was that important to my life. Nor would I have played the Poekmon games, or Dark Souls 3 which I've put over 540 hours into. In fact RCT made it into my revitalized username, where do you think the Tycoon part of AshenTycoon comes from? All because I saw my brother play it ages ago when a friend of his brought over a CD burned copy of the original. It was for him, but I have possession of the original CD burned disks now. Yet I got RCT2 and it's expansions RCT3 twice (once disk and other Steam before it was pulled) and RCT Deluxe as well. Oh and I can't forget RCT Classic either.

[@1wwtom]

Just getting back into RCT1 again since way back. Always go by Rule 1! Keep it Simple, Stupid! Same as I'm getting back into Sim City 3000 Unlimited. Both those games kept me at the PC for hours and I'm going back to when I had Fun!