Rollercoaster Tycoon

[Sam]

Nicked off Reddit. Enjoy!

[Pennywise]

Haha! I remember playing a similar game to that with my peeps when I was younger, but I could never get anybody on the final coaster. :P

Thanks for sharing.

[Blaze]

How creative! I just build a launch coaster with the fastest possible speed, and put the end of the launch next to the path, bowling with peeps!

[gosling]

hahaha. i also torture peeps who don't get on insanely intense custom coasters. it's get on those or use the pussy rides, where the exits lead to big holes in the ground that i fill with water.

i also used to make all food and drink about 50p for everything, then charge £10 for the loos.

[CogWork]

Don't know if anyone else knows about this but John Wardley wrote an introduction to the manual for the original RollerCoaster Tycoon. Its nothing special, he echoes a few things he has said before and gives tips on the gameplay, but it should still be of interest to some people:

A word from John Wardley.

The world of theme parks is one of the most exciting businesses to be in. Now, you too can be a roller coaster tycoon and make your fortune by designing, building, and operating some of the biggest and most sensational theme parks in the world.

There's much more to a theme park than roller coasters, height, speed - and making people feel sick!
You are about to become a real-estate developer, an engineer, an accountant, a landscape architect, a manager of people and an entertainer. You must provide a fun day out for everybody, at a price they can afford. They must be kept comfortable and happy, well-fed and amused - but you have bills to pay, advertising costs, wages and big problems ahead of you. You will need to use all your skills to be successful.

Here are some tips. As a ride designer, think of yourself as an entertainer; you can make your riders laugh or cry, you can amaze them, mystify them, scare them, amuse them, or terrify them - its all under your control. Just think of the power you have!

But entertainers need to understand their audience. Who are you trying to entertain? ...families with young children? ...teenagers who want the ultimate in white-knuckle terror? ...or everyone who comes to your theme park, including grannies and little kids?

Think of a ride on a roller coaster as a journey through an adventure. It must have variation - not just its ups and downs, but also its suprises and shocks, its gentle scenic sections to lull you into a false sense of security, and its wild mean parts to scare the pants off you.

A ride should be immersive, yet fun to watch, and it should fit into the layout and landscape of the park. Your guests must be able to see some of it from the walkways, but keep some bits hidden so they come as a complete surprise during the ride. An adventure journey must take your riders through an exciting, disorientating, and spectacular enviroment. Position trees, tunnels and other obstructions so as to enhance the thrills. Use water for effect, and create hills and valleys through which your ride will race. All these elements are at your fingertips, so use them.

Remember, any fool can build a roller coaster with an impressive first drop, but can you keep the fun and action going right through to the end of the ride? When I designed Nemesis at Alton Towers, I wanted to ensure that there was speed and exhilaration even right to the last section of track before the station, so I dug a hole just in front of the station brakes and dropped the ride down through a corkscrew below ground level. It comes as quite a shock when you ride it. If the riders get off feeling that the ride has dulled-out halfway through, they will be dissapointed, but if they get off on an emotional high, they'll come back for more - and they'll be more likely to buy an on-ride photo of themselves. (Position the camera in the best place for good expressions on riders' faces to maximise sales.)

Locate your big spectaculars towards the back of the park, to draw the guests right through the park past as many 'spending opportunities' (food kiosks, etc) as possible.

Once you've designed your coaster, you've got to operate it at maximum efficiency. Should you wait till the train is full before you send it out of the station? Keeping riders waiting is boring, and the more frequently the guests walking around the park can see the ride running, the more attracted they'll be to ride it, but a full train is the most efficient way of running the machine. Even the best-designed roller coaster won't make money unless it is operated and maintained efficiently.

It has taken me 25 years of hard work to gain my expierience in the theme park industry. With RollerCoaster Tycoon, you can get there in 25 minutes!

A plot of land is out there waiting...rides are available for you to design and build...and guests are ready to visit you and spend lots of money.

Good luck, and have fun.

[DiogoJ42]

Ah, I remember this. Sound advice that I still follow to this day. Thanks for posting.

[themealgang]

I remember it well. Hard to believe that was in 1999! Thanks for posting by the way; nice to take a trip down memory lane.

[fredward]

the nostalgia! Thanks for that!

[Jordan]

I love this introduction. I've still got the game manual with it in.

RollerCoaster Tycoon was the first PC game I ever had, and I remember sitting in the car on the way back from PC World (those were the days!) reading through the manual and not being quite sure who this John Wardley guy was, but being quite impressed nonetheless. At that point, I'd never been to Alton Towers and I think the only coaster I had ever been on was Avalanche at Blackpool.

Sometime last year, after I became very interested in Alton Towers and theme parks, I was searching around for my copy of RCT1 and found this gem in the guide. Obviously it meant much much more to me now that I knew of and admired John a lot, and could relate to the rides and ideology he talks about so much more. Things like "a journey through an adventure" is what I'd so typically consider Wardley.

I only recently learned too that the Alton Towers recreation included in Loopy Landscapes was created by John, with his name planted in trees behind the Corkscrew.

[Rob]

According to the following and a number of other sites Rollercoaster Tycoon is coming to IOS and Android devices:

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/10/24 ... d-android/

Set to be released early 2013

[ImURNemesis]

Brilliant!! 

Be interesting to see what they do with Touch screen controlls.

[DrReeve]

Well that means ill will be inside for a few weeks

[emdotdee]

Woo. This is hat I was hoping for when I'd seen that it was released on the DS.

[Rob]

Shame it's going to be a port of the first version rather then number 2

[Rob]

If you have never played this game or have lost the disk then now is the perfect time to buy.

For less then a fiver - http://www.gog.com/promo/atari_weekend_promo_220313

Enjoy!

[DrReeve]

does anyone have any more info on this the last ive heard is months ago

[Marcus]

Yeah is there anymore info about this?

[Themeparksandy1981]

I wonder how much it will cost

[DrReeve]

Ive heard somewhere that the game has been delayed and is now a summer release. Note in gaming release dates its now it Q2 aswell.

I just hope this game isnt a free to play time money naff thing

[jamesc]

The RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise is being sold for $3.5 million.

http://m.uk.gamespot.com/news/atari-to-sell-rollercoaster-tycoon-test-drive-franchises-at-auction-6408794