Posted April 21, 2014
So rollercoaster tycoon. I have owned the game for absolute ages - won it in a giveaway no less - and only ever played it for couple of minutes as I've not been in a mood for a tycoon-styled game back then. And then I sort of ... Forgot about it (which is also the time I stopped participating in giveaways as I felt kinda sorry for not playing it properly straight away).
Story's a bit longer than that tho, I could have bought it many times over even before - but I didn't. I always thought that it's going to be really clunky, difficult to get into and ... To be honest, neither of those would stop me, but the thought of constructing a theme park has never quite excited me as much as the thought of constructing, say, a transport network. And now I have to say: Boy was I wrong.
The game is absolutely brilliant. Obviously, it does have its problems, like I wouldn't mind tooltips and some in-game help, but I suppose this kind of stuff is improved upon in the sequels. And that's the first weird thing - aside from sequels, I don't know of any game quite like this! There have been some attempts to knock if off, but apparently, they all ended up ... Not that great. Anyway, I'm rambling, I created this thread to talk about Rollercoaster Tycoon.
So first of all... The gameplay is absolutely amazing. When you learn the UI, planning and constructing the park is pretty damn easy, surprisingly so for a game this old. The game is very good at conveying important information to you, and everything you ever need to know is just a couple of clicks away. On top of that, the game doesn't really rely on you automatically finding everything out by yourself - if there's a persisting problem that you have failed to notice, the game will tell you. If there's something you should do and don't know about it, the game will tell you. Simply put, it's very good at conveying information, it's generally very polished in spite of its age, and it does all of that without sacrificing any of its complexity.
And that's the awesome thing about it - it's very complex, but relatively easy to pick up and learn, and you're free to go and discover the different layers of complexity at your own pace. To pile on top of that, I do love how the game doesn't hold your hand at all. Now it is absolutely possible to fail an objective and lose, but even when you do, the game doesn't end and you're absolutely free to carry on and find out what you did wrong. And even when you decide to restart, monotony does not come - you have so many options at any given time to construct a completely different park every single time that I don't give a crap about repeating the same level over and over, repetition just means that I can build more awesome attractions! The biggest issue I've had with StarTopia was that it was limiting me far too much for far too long, until I have lost interest. Doesn't apply to this game. I can build whatever, whenever, whereever, so no matter how many times I play a map, I do something entirely different. Awesome.
And now, for the thing that has amazed me the most... Graphical presentation. The game looks amazing. Graphics are dated, obviously - but it does right something else entirely, something that vast majority of tycoon games almost never get right - feeling that you're actually working on a living, breathing place. The game's just so awesome in this department - every single visitor has his own unique needs, goals, personality (inventory, even!), and it shows on how does the entire place run. They pick attractions based on what they have visited and what have they came for, they are believably picky at what they do and what they don't want to try out, even turning around at too high prices or too exciting ride, which then leads them to seek other based on their previous experiences - and all of that plays role in park layout and design! As I said previously, so complex, but there's so little you actually need to actively worry about at any given time - yet, it gives you enough things to worry about to constantly keep you occupied.
I... All right, I suppose that's enough praise. I fell in love with that game. It just works so bloody well. I ... I don't know what else to say. I don't think I need to say anything else after that wall of text. Now excuse me, there are customers to please!
Story's a bit longer than that tho, I could have bought it many times over even before - but I didn't. I always thought that it's going to be really clunky, difficult to get into and ... To be honest, neither of those would stop me, but the thought of constructing a theme park has never quite excited me as much as the thought of constructing, say, a transport network. And now I have to say: Boy was I wrong.
The game is absolutely brilliant. Obviously, it does have its problems, like I wouldn't mind tooltips and some in-game help, but I suppose this kind of stuff is improved upon in the sequels. And that's the first weird thing - aside from sequels, I don't know of any game quite like this! There have been some attempts to knock if off, but apparently, they all ended up ... Not that great. Anyway, I'm rambling, I created this thread to talk about Rollercoaster Tycoon.
So first of all... The gameplay is absolutely amazing. When you learn the UI, planning and constructing the park is pretty damn easy, surprisingly so for a game this old. The game is very good at conveying important information to you, and everything you ever need to know is just a couple of clicks away. On top of that, the game doesn't really rely on you automatically finding everything out by yourself - if there's a persisting problem that you have failed to notice, the game will tell you. If there's something you should do and don't know about it, the game will tell you. Simply put, it's very good at conveying information, it's generally very polished in spite of its age, and it does all of that without sacrificing any of its complexity.
And that's the awesome thing about it - it's very complex, but relatively easy to pick up and learn, and you're free to go and discover the different layers of complexity at your own pace. To pile on top of that, I do love how the game doesn't hold your hand at all. Now it is absolutely possible to fail an objective and lose, but even when you do, the game doesn't end and you're absolutely free to carry on and find out what you did wrong. And even when you decide to restart, monotony does not come - you have so many options at any given time to construct a completely different park every single time that I don't give a crap about repeating the same level over and over, repetition just means that I can build more awesome attractions! The biggest issue I've had with StarTopia was that it was limiting me far too much for far too long, until I have lost interest. Doesn't apply to this game. I can build whatever, whenever, whereever, so no matter how many times I play a map, I do something entirely different. Awesome.
And now, for the thing that has amazed me the most... Graphical presentation. The game looks amazing. Graphics are dated, obviously - but it does right something else entirely, something that vast majority of tycoon games almost never get right - feeling that you're actually working on a living, breathing place. The game's just so awesome in this department - every single visitor has his own unique needs, goals, personality (inventory, even!), and it shows on how does the entire place run. They pick attractions based on what they have visited and what have they came for, they are believably picky at what they do and what they don't want to try out, even turning around at too high prices or too exciting ride, which then leads them to seek other based on their previous experiences - and all of that plays role in park layout and design! As I said previously, so complex, but there's so little you actually need to actively worry about at any given time - yet, it gives you enough things to worry about to constantly keep you occupied.
I... All right, I suppose that's enough praise. I fell in love with that game. It just works so bloody well. I ... I don't know what else to say. I don't think I need to say anything else after that wall of text. Now excuse me, there are customers to please!
