RollerCoaster Tycoon 3

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RollerCoaster Tycoon 3
Developer(s)	Frontier Developments
Publisher(s)	Atari, Steam
Platform(s)	Mac OS X, Windows
Release date	October 26, 2004 (NA) November 5, 2004 (EU)
Genre(s)	Strategy/Simulation
Mode(s)	Single Player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone PEGI: 3+
Media	CD-ROM

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is a simulation and strategy computer game that simulates amusement park management. The title is the sequel to RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 and is the third game in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series. Although RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is based on the previous games, Chris Sawyer, the developer of the first two titles, acted only as a "consultant" and was not involved in the programming of this game; the title was developed by Frontier Developments and published by Atari. The title was released on October 26, 2004 in North America and November 5, 2004 in Europe.

[edit] Gameplay

Like the previous two games, the objective of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is to complete a series of preset scenarios by successfully building, owning, and maintaining amusement parks. Players can choose from over 50 unique types of roller coasters like wooden, steel, looping and inverted coaster and can also build merry-go-rounds, chairswings, enterprises, Skywheels, bumper cars, swinging inverter ships, gravitrons, log flumes, and ferris wheels, among other rides. Players can also build their own roller coasters, laying out individual track pieces, choosing direction, height, and steepness, and adding elements such as corkscrews, loops, and even on-ride photos. Furthermore, the player can modify the foliage, landscaping and themeing of the park. Players must also balance the needs of the park's visitors by placing concession stands and facilities. The player also must manage the park's budget in the costs of their staff, ride construction and operations, and the income from rides, concessions, and the park entry fee.^[1]

Returning to the third game in the series is the "career" mode. Each scenario has 3 sets of goals: Apprentice, Entrepreneur, and Tycoon. In this game, as requested by fans for years, a Sandbox Mode has been added. It allows players to create their own amusement park without any money restrictions or objectives. This has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the park ideas and for the game itself, improving it by a longshot. Players can also design custom scenarios and coasters, as in RollerCoaster Tycoon 2.

The 3D graphics and 360 degree camera are a large change from the sprites and isometric viewpoint of the previous 2 games.

The game marks the series' shift to fully 3D graphics, doing away with the isometric viewpoint of the previous two games. However, the player may choose for the game to be viewed on an isometric viewpoint if they wish, meaning the isometric camera hasn't been completely abandoned. For the first time in the series, players can rotate the view of the park 360 degrees, as well as zoom in and out to any degree. One of the most notable additions to RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is the "CoasterCam", or the tool allowing players to 'ride' their own creations. Firework shows are new to the game, allowing the player to make shows and time them to in-game music. Another feature was the ability to import coasters from the previous games into RCT3. The dashboard and build menu were also both redesigned. Water is reflective, and with the new terrain tools - with options specially created for hill and lake creating - hills and ponds look natural. Rain is handled differently, and can happen at any time of day. Hours and minutes have been added, and parks have hours they are open. The player can also speed up the game's time. Physics are more exact, so rides look and move realistically and coasters have more realistic intensity ratings.

The importance of themed scenery and path lighting has greatly increased. The game will announce when scenery items do not conform to a theme, and with the new day-night cycle, path lights are the only source of lighting for guests walking at night. Staff now have different levels of happiness, and will quit if left disgruntled for too long. Scenery items that are specifically for created buildings have been added. Photo spots allow peeps to take a group snapshot.

In RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, guests are called "peeps". The guests have been significantly improved on those from RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, with enhanced artificial intelligence, appearance variation (There are 883,109 varieties according to Sawyer) , and the ability of guests to be grouped together into families, dates, and other types of groups. The game has three age groups of peeps: children, teens, and adults. The intensity and type of rides must be balanced, as visitors' preferences vary significantly from person to person; some prefer intense rides and have very high nausea tolerance levels, while others are just the opposite. In some scenarios there are also VIPeeps (Very Important Peeps) that need to be satisfied to complete the objectives. Should the player fail to impress the VIPeep, the VIPeep will always return to the park several months later and will keep returning until they are satisfied. Four VIPeeps came with the original game, two are added with expansion packs.

[edit] Customization

Players can import their own music into the game. They can also create their own custom peeps, fireworks shows, and such.

[edit] Development

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Expansions

Frontier developed two retail expansion packs after the game's release. The first expansion, Soaked!, adds the ability to create water parks with water rides, swimming pools, and other amenities to pools including hot tubs, lounge chairs, and diving boards. The expansion also made the amount of sun peeps receive affect their happiness levels. The second expansion, Wild!, features animal enclosures and safari-like attractions, as well as prehistoric creatures.

[edit] Reception

Overall, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 was well-received. The game averaged a average rating of 81% at Metacritic and 84% at Game Rankings.^[6][7]

Publications such as Gamespot and Computer Gaming World judged RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 the true sequel to the original game, stating that the second title had merely been a retread of the same game but that RTC3 broke new ground and offered a substantial graphical overhaul.^[2]

The interface when making rides has been criticized for being overly complicated and difficult to use. Reviewers reported a large number of bugs in the initial release of the game, including workers getting stuck, sensitive land editing controls, and the game crashing.^[5][3][4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Official Website
• RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 for Mac OS X
• RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 at GameSpot