Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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444 of 464 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The ups and downs of Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, November 4, 2004
Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars
I am certainly impressed by the sexy new 3D graphics, but sadly, some features from RCT2 have been lost, and some old problems still exist or have gotten worse. I hope most of these issues are just bugs that will be corrected shortly with an update or two, although I'll never understand how such a popular game was ever released in such a state. So here are a few good news/bad news review points of RCT3.
Good News: The 3D graphics really are impressive and riding the coasters via the all new coaster cam feature is a lot of fun, especially on coasters you build yourself. The ability to zoom in and out and view your parks from any 3D angle and see some parks lit up at night is great. You can even zoom right down on a path and see your park from a Peep's perspective. Bad News: You'll need plenty of horse power in terms of CPU, memory and graphics card to get the full effect. I have a 2Ghz 2900+ Athlon processor, 512MB of memory and a 128MB GE Force graphics card. I can run the game satisfactorily at the Medium graphics settings, although refresh rates start to drop as you add more rides to a park and your park fills up with Peeps. I'd hate to see the graphics and responsiveness (or lack thereof) on a PC with minimum published requirements. The game has locked up or dropped back to Windows on me about a half dozen times in less than a week.
Good News: Peeps and/or park inspectors now respond to park esthetics, and will even complain if your theming is inconsistent or your fireworks displays are stingy. They can also recognize VIPs that visit your park and hound them for autographs, a new feature RCT3. Bad News: AI for Peep navigation has taken a few steps BACKWARDS! THIS IS THE MOST DISAPPOINTING ASPECT OF RCT3 and needs to be addressed before I can ever endorse this game. Peeps can't navigate parks very well unless you keep the pathing system extremely simple, as in a simple straight midway. Put a turn or two in a ride exit path and some peeps will have difficulty finding there way back to the main path and you'll get an alert messages to check your exit path for the ride. Peeps tend to wander aimlessly around the park, or worse yet, huddle in their groups without moving for days (and days and days and days), without queuing up for rides. Hungry Peeps walk right by food stands even when prices are free, and they zoom right past rest rooms while holding their groins because the really, really need to go to the bathroom. I'm NOT making this up!
Good News: The Terra Forming tools are fantastic, a major improvement over RCT2. Hills and mountains and canyons and craters are incredibly easy to make and look great. Bad News: Aligning sloped or raised paths with uneven terrain is a big headache, and I don't find the raised/sloped pathing tools to be very intuitive or friendly. Building structures on uneven terrain is also quite a chore and can even be tricky on seemingly level terrain. Put down two shops side by side, the first sits level with your path and the second levitates inexplicably above the path level and Peeps can't get to it.
Good News: The system for assigning patrol areas to janitors and mechanics is much easier and precise to a single square. Very slick. Bad News: Janitors and mechanics stray from their assigned areas and there's no way to see what areas of the park have already been assigned to other staff. On top of that, park staff can now get tired, bored, and/or cranky, so now you have to try to keep them happy too along with your Peeps. Oh, shops and stalls break down and need maintenance just like rides in RCT3. "Information Booth 01 has broken down"???? Yes it all adds new levels of complexity to the game, but I'm not too thrilled about it.
Good News: You can easily zoom in, zoom out, or view the park from any angle while placing rides and coasters, and they've added new track pieces like zero G rolls and hyper banked curves. Bad News: The handy feature in RCT2 that allowed you to flip the coaster to a mirror of itself image is gone. All you can do is rotate the coaster 90 degrees at a time, resulting in a lot less flexibility in building/placing coasters in your park. The new interface for building coasters, in fact the whole interface for RCT3 in general, seems clunky to me. It doesn't adhere to Windows standards. Tool tips would be nice. The game also circumvents the standard Windows save file dialog when saving coasters. If you've already saved a file with the same name, it automatically appends a sequence number to the file name rather than giving you the option to overwrite the existing file.
Good News: You can now program fireworks displays and Peeps love them, especially expensive, extravagant displays. Peeps complain if you're stingy on the pyrotechnics. Beside the 3D graphics, this is probably the most interesting new feature in RCT3. They evidently put a lot of work into this new feature, hoping to provide something more than just a 3D version of RCT2. Bad News: I have yet to find an Undo feature anywhere, something people have been suggesting in RCT forums for a long, long time. The fireworks are great, but I feel should have been saved for an expansion pack while other issues and requests from RCT2 were addressed in this release.
Good News: There's a sandbox mode built right in as promised. You don't need to use a cheat code or solve all the scenarios. It's on option on the game menu where you can build and play with out regard for funds or attendance or park ratings. Bad News: There doesn't seem to be a way to figure out why your Park Rating is dropping like a stone while playing scenarios. The Peep thought summary window from RCT2 is nowhere to be found in RCT3. The documentation states that an Opinions window is available by clicking the Park Rating on the dashboard, but there seems to be a bug because nobody has been able to make it work yet. Park Rating is much more volatile in RCT3. I've actually received an award for Tidiest Park immediately followed by and award for Best Toilets, immediately followed by a fine (yes an $800 FINE!) for Most Disappointing Park. Weird!
If and when you buy RCT3, be prepared for some frustration. The interface has changed quite a bit, and not for the better in my opinion. I would say there are a LOT of bugs, a lot more than I would expect from a game as popular as the RCT series. When I play the game, I can't help but get the feeling that it was never really played or tested by any member of the original RCT fan base before it was released. According to the official game forum, the first update will be released within days. I think it may be the first of 2 or 3 updates before the hard core RCT fans are satisfied. Don't get me wrong. This game really does have a lot of potential. But it is a pretty buggy release and I feel has lost some of what made previous versions of RCT so much fun to play.
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148 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, but imperfect, November 6, 2004
Anyone who enjoyed Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 (RCT2) will enjoy RCT3, though there are some problems with the game.
The joys - Ride The Rides! Design your own ride, full the surrounding area with appropriate items, and then ride the ride in 3D. This is a lot of fun, and RCT3 is the first RCT to offer this feature.
Gamespeed control! For those who would walk away (leaving the computer running) because they had completed an RCT2 scenario, but the time was not yet up, this is a huge benefit.
Career Mode - Now there is more of a purpose to each scenario, though not everyone will like this aspect of the game (there is still sandbox mode).
Music - Import your own MP3s and use them in the game. Whatever music you have in MP3 format can now be the music of each of your rides, or the park itself.
Fireworks - You can design your own fireworks display You can even time the fireworks to music of your choice. This means you can have fireworks to co-ordinate with MP3s you import into the game. Very cool.
All in all there are a large number of very good improvements in RCT3. The graphics are a huge upgrade, while the basic gameplay is still something any RCT veteran can jump into and use.
Life is not perfect in RCT3, however. Along with the benefits, especially in graphics, comes a cost. The game runs sluggishly on mid-level machine (well above the recommended, never mind minimum, requirements, e.g. 512meg system memory, 128 video). Stuttering is fairly common, the computer will "freeze" for one second, then resume. It's not awful, but it's not good either.
Clumsy interface in places - Example, the only readily accessible button in some tutorials is "quit", so you'll have to restart a few times if you're not careful. If you meet a scenario's achievements while you are on a ride, getting out is difficult. Also, the overall user interface is, well, clumsy.
Harder - the game might prove frustrating, especially for younger players. While RCT2 was arguably too easy, in terms of making money, that's what made it great for younger kids. Now, with frequent penalties for "Most Disappointing", and an overall harder economic model, the game may not be playable long term for younger kids who really enjoyed previous RCT titles.
Overall I have to say that the game is a great deal of fun. The new features are not simply new paint on an old box, they really add to enjoyment of the game. The problems, while noticeable, will not stop most people from having fun. Further, the problems are the type of thing a patch can repair, so the game might well be five-star in a few months.
If you don't mind a little more challenge, a little harder interface, and higher system requirements, then Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 will be a great experience. For the rest, it is still more fun than a great many other games out there.
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Radically different, November 3, 2004
Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars
The GOOD STUFF:
Yes, the camera function for the coasters and rides is wonderful. Also love the new selection of thrill rides.
Also appreciate the "autofinish" for designing coasters, so i dont have to spend an hour trying to get the end of the track to line up with the station.
Ride extras like volcanos and sharks jumping out of water...fantastic.
And, getting down to eye level and looking at your park is just a thrilling experience.
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT:
Moving around the park and zooming in is a pain in the *@!. Yes, I figured it out, but I hate it. It is a chore.
The scenarios are ludicrous. The sandbox mode is the ONLY way to go here.
The employees dont do their jobs, need training, have to be fired, etc. And drink stands and food stalls break down. I did not buy Rollercoaster Tycoon to learn to be a human resources manager. I want to play with an amusement park. This aspect of the game is largely a nuisance.
Fireworks...nice, but I'd rather have more rides.
You can't make tunnels!
Love the night scenes, but you cant put lights in the coasters, so they are just these dark blobs in the middle of the park.
In all, the sandbox mode will keep you occupied. But after playing a few times I'm fairly bored with the game. It's radically different from the previous games in spirit and execution, and will really take some getting used to. I'm just not feeling that urge to play with it again.
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