RollerCoaster Tycoon

Missing image
SCR1.png

The "Dynamite Blaster" is an expansive roller coaster in the "Dynamite Dunes" scenerio. The ride is mostly above ground but also travels below ground for short spans.

RollerCoaster Tycoon (RCT) is a computer game created in 1999 for Microsoft Windows. It was developed by designer and programmer Chris Sawyer, artist Simon Foster and composer Allister Brimble. It was published by Hasbro Interactive (sold to Infogrames now known as Atari). Despite its title, the game is about amusement park management and development, not only about roller coasters. It spawned two sequels and several expansion packs.

RCT was a sleeper hit. The user interface of RCT borrows substantially from a much older game by Sawyer, Transport Tycoon.

Contents

5.1 RollerCoaster Tycoon 2
5.2 RollerCoaster Tycoon 3

6 Issues with modern Operating Systems

7 External links

7.1 Official
7.2 Community-based

Description

Missing image
Rollercoaster_tycoon.jpg

In this screenshot of RollerCoaster Tycoon, a go-kart ride is visible along with parts of a log flume water ride and an inverted roller coaster.

The player is given control over an amusement park and charged with improving it. Sometimes the park is merely a stub of a park with few or no rides, sometimes it is bustly with activity with numerous attractions. Unlike games such as Civilization and SimCity, each park has a goal the player must meet in order to win.

The goal of each park—the scenario—varies. But typical goals include raising the rating of a park (on a 1000 point scale), attracting a certain number of visitors or eliminating a park's debt. Most goals have a time limit (usually a few years) that the player must attain the goal within. The time limit must be met, that is, even if a player reaches the goal before the time limit expires, they still must wait until that time is attained. Depending on the goals, this of course means maintaining the achievement (such as patron numbers) until the time limit is met.

Players have the option of building pre-designed rides or building their own custom designs. The ride-building tools are fairly powerful, allowing the player to reshape land and even build parts of rides underground. Rides can also be built around others. This (as one could imagine) can have an effect on the excitement rating of the rides involved. The player may assign fees for rides or the entire park and repaint and rename rides easily. Tools are provided for building paths, designing landscaping and adding facilities such as lamps, restrooms, garbage bins, benches, food stalls and fountains.

Another critical difference between RCT and other simulation games (like SimCity, for example) is that park guests are tracked individually. In SimCity, they are calculated, so the player does not see "real" traffic, but instead just sees a general representation based on nearby factors. RTC has individual people (peeps) with specific likes and dislikes who wander through the park. In addition, the roller coasters and rides have a realistic ride dynamics calculation system that, combined with the peep system, results in a highly realistic simulation of a theme park. For example, if one criteria of a roller coaster is that it loops near a walkway, one would expect people who like roller coasters to see that as they walk by and immediately run towards the entrance. This indeed does happen. Putting an empty stretch along the same path yields different results. Also, the user should station cleaning staff near the exit of particularly intense roller coasters—depending on the user's "nausea tolerance". RCT3 even features a first aid station.

As play progresses, sometimes new rides and stalls are invented and may be added to the park's attractions. For example, when the scenario starts only wooden roller coasters may be available. Eventually, steel roller coasters may be discovered and made available to the player.

Missing image
SCR2.png

"Bumbly Beach" is the first scenario to be unlocked on completion of any of the beginning scenarios. It shows the "Big Dipper" roller coaster which is pre-built in the scenario.

Only a few scenarios are initially available. As the player wins scenarios, more are "unlocked" and made available for play.

One of the few criticisms of this game made by players is the inability to speed up time. Players must wait for time to progress even if they don't desire to make any changes to the park. Another criticism was the inability to build rides with the game paused, but some noted it as a play balancing artifact. Additionally, some players find fault with the fact that gameplay is constrained solely to scenarios, preventing players from freely being able to build and test designs in a "sandbox" mode. Several third-party patches exist that allow free building, but are not supported by the game's designer or publisher.

Trivia

Chris Sawyer wrote the entire game in complex assembly language, very unusual for a game of this complexity. Just a small portion of C was used to interface with the Windows operating system, the rest was coded in assembly.

Missing image
SCR3.png

"Arid Heights" is the first scenario with no financial limits

Expansions

Two expansion packs were released: Corkscrew Follies and Loopy Landscapes. Each expansion provided new rides, scenery, and scenarios, with few changes to the gameplay. Internationally, Corkscrew Follies is called Added Attractions.

Ports

Xbox

Missing image
RollerCoaster_Tycoon_(Xbox).jpg

The Xbox box art for the game is nearly identical to the Windows versions', save for the Xbox logo.

RollerCoaster Tycoon is now on the Xbox following its success on Windows. Rollercoaster Tycoon II has been confirmed by Capcom but there is no release date.

Sequels