RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 demo is out

[Rafal Dudek]

... for all you tycoon fans: http://www.3dgamers.com/games/rollerctycoon3/#filelist


grabbing it now =]

[SupaTroopa]

Hmmm, will have to check that out - thanks!

[Ojnod]

I tried it last night and it was a blast! I had to get used to the UI because I hadn't used it for a while, but it was very fun and I liked all the features.

[Drewby]

The game runs horribly on my system, thanks to this 9000P I am stuck with. I couldn't bare to get too deep into it, so I just gave up. Pity, cuz everyone says it is really amazing. :mad:

[Dan Speziale]

I really enjoyed the demo in the little time I had to explore it. The best parts for me were the ability to ride the rides you build. I built the Swings ride and rode that... What a feeling it was to ride that! I actually got a little dizzy.

Riding the coaster was also great fun and seems to work pretty good.

It is a bit sluggish on my system (P4, 512M, ATI Xtasy 9200 256M), but I haven't played with it much yet. I'm hoping it will run a bit smoother in the retail version, which I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting. The graphics seemed to look a bit off, kind of blocky. I've yet to play with the offered resolutions.

BTW, does anyone know anything about Chris Sawyer's involvement or non-involvement in this game? I'd read in PC Gamer that this was done w/o him. It seems to have a sandbox mode, which I think he'd been against in previous games.

Personally, I can't wait for a full-game with a sandbox mode! And I absolutely LOVE the fireworks.

[Drewby]

I really enjoyed the demo in the little time I had to explore it. The best parts for me were the ability to ride the rides you build. I built the Swings ride and rode that... What a feeling it was to ride that! I actually got a little dizzy.

Riding the coaster was also great fun and seems to work pretty good.

It is a bit sluggish on my system (P4, 512M, ATI Xtasy 9200 256M), but I haven't played with it much yet. I'm hoping it will run a bit smoother in the retail version, which I'm pretty sure that I'll be getting. The graphics seemed to look a bit off, kind of blocky. I've yet to play with the offered resolutions.

BTW, does anyone know anything about Chris Sawyer's involvement or non-involvement in this game? I'd read in PC Gamer that this was done w/o him. It seems to have a sandbox mode, which I think he'd been against in previous games.

Personally, I can't wait for a full-game with a sandbox mode! And I absolutely LOVE the fireworks.

What speed P4 is that?

I am on a AXP 2500+, 1GB of RAM, and a 9000Pro 128MB (same card as the 9200, only AGP4x instead of 8x). Either your extra VRAM or a faster processor is helping you out. I ran it at medium/low settings at 1024x768 and it was horribly sluggish. I would estimate around 10-15FPS. :eek:

[Dan Speziale]

It's a P4 at 2.6GHz. I've been holed up in a cafe most of the weekend, so I haven't had any time to play it.

[Drewby]

It's a P4 at 2.6GHz. I've been holed up in a cafe most of the weekend, so I haven't had any time to play it.

Well after I looked around for a bit, it seems more like a bug then poor performance. A lot of people are complaining... it doesn't really lag it just skips, like the frame is jumping around instead of running in fluid motion. Really odd...

Too bad, I thought this game looked decent. :rolleyes:

[Dan Speziale]

Well, I hope whatever it is gets fixed. I also hope they add a way to adjust the brightness or gamma within the program.

[Nyghtfall]

I just watched the trailers and one of the coaster cams, and wasn't really able to get into the excitement of it. It's a neat feature to be able to ride your own coasters, but it's not anywhere near as thrilling a ride if you can't feel wind across your face, the g-forces tugging at your body, or the rails beneath your car.

I may give the demo a try before finally deciding yea or nae.

[Ojnod]

I just watched the trailers and one of the coaster cams, and wasn't really able to get into the excitement of it. It's a neat feature to be able to ride your own coasters, but it's not anywhere near as thrilling a ride if you can't feel wind across your face, the g-forces tugging at your body, or the rails beneath your car.

I don't think they are really trying to bank on the idea, because there are other games that do it and do it better (although still not real feeling). People like me will be buying it for the building sim strategy, and the ability to ride yorur coaster is just an added bonus. It has been one of the biggest community demands.

[SupaTroopa]

I always enjoyed seeing "your" coaster that you built from scratch, from a 1st person perspective, as well as the riders' reactions while riding it - I could care less about the stock rides.

But yeah as far as it being a "riding SIM" of some sort, I don't think it was ever intended to come off that way...just that it's interesting to see what it's like to ride the coaster you built from a passenger's perspective.

[Nyghtfall]

I was just reading the Game Info from the dev's web site, and saw this:

Add music to rides and fireworks shows from your own mp3 library

I may have to check this out after all. Imagining using Nightwish as theme music for a rollercoaster ride is fueling my head with all kinds of wicked ideas for coaster designs!

DAMN!

:D:

EDIT: Ok, just finished what I could stomach of the tutorial... final verdict: WAY too much micromanagement. Where's the fun in building rollercoasters if I have to test them first, build walkways connecting them to the rest of the park, and then hire staff and position mechanics needed to run them? No, thanks!

:rolleyes:

[SupaTroopa]

EDIT: Ok, just finished what I could stomach of the tutorial... final verdict: WAY too much micromanagement. Where's the fun in building rollercoasters if I have to test them first, build walkways connecting them to the rest of the park, and then hire staff and position mechanics needed to run them? No, thanks!


If you think that's bad you should play the original game, this new version seems to streamline a lot of the tedium out of the original actually! But, that's what SIM games do I guess - land development/planning, staffing, budgeting, it's all included. The worst part about it is the lack of time you were given in the original scenarios, too much racing around clicking on things helter skelter...I need to give this new demo more time when I get a chance.

By the way I haven't had any technical problems with it or slow-downs, it looks great.

[wildwildwest301]

I'm definitely gonna get the full version of this game. While the demo has a couple flaws, I'm sure they will iron them all out before the game is released. This should be a sure buy, in my mind.

[neilv]

the new demo seams to be a bit better some of the flaws have gone