LucasArts-Chris

Glad you like the game, Chris. And yes, we're the same LucasArts that's been known to make a Star Wars game or two (or three or four or five or six...)

--Robb I think you nailed what Frontier was trying to do with this, Robb. Glad you're digging it so far!

Atari is releasing the game in the UK. According to their website, it's out this Friday... http://www.uk.atari.com/index.php?pg=product&id=179

You can place and move buildings, I believe, but I don't think you can build them from scratch.

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but there is scenery outside of the rides themselves, if that's what you mean.

My apologies! And for the record, SNES games STILL look amazing!

I work for Activision, currently the Senior Producer on Transformers: The Movie. Been doing games for many years: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0994791/ Which is how I know Chris Sawyer. Although I very much keep my "day job" and my theme park stuff quite seperate! --Robb COD2 AND Aladdin?! Loved those games! And I totally understand keeping the day job separate from the theme-park stuff. Very cool!

A very mature younger audience.

It makes perfect sense to me the platforms that have been chosen. XBOX, PS2, and PSP to some extent can share the same game code base because the systems have similarities. Creating a game for the DS is a completely different beast all together (I'm going through that right now!) I'm sure if the the franchise takes off, Wii and DS would be good options for Lucas to consider. Well, saying it's coming out for the PC via an emulator really isn't "coming out for the PC." I think fans of the RCT series need to understand that this game isn't RCT, it's ThrillVille. Having spoken to David Braben myself about the game, this was something they've wanted to do for a long time ever since they ported the original RCT to the XBOX. A 'point and click' game just didn't work right on the console systems (and if you've played RCT on the XBOX I'm sure you'll agree), and they really wanted a "roller coaster/theme park game" for consoles and the only way to do that right was to build it from the ground up. From what I've played of the game a year ago I thought it was GREAT! Especially the ability (if it's still in the game) to create interactive dark rides, shooting galleries, go kart tracks, and then play them against friends. From the version I've played, it seemed a lot more like The Sims or Animal Crossing meets RCT. But it's NOT "RCT" and you guys need to take that into consideration when you first play. The only thing that I'm a bit disappointed about (if this is the case) is the lack of connectivity to XBOX Live to be able to share your tracks/parks with other people. But knowing first hand the difficulty that adding multiplayer can create for development schedules, QA testing, etc, I can understand the reasoning for not including it this time around, but would hope that would be a high priority for any future versions. Thanks for posting Chris! We look forward to hearing more news about the game! --Robb Thanks for your comments, Robb! Xbox Live was in the plans for a while, but it was ultimately decided that, because the game is being targeted at a younger audience (which in turn lowers the already-low 10% of Xbox owners who have Xbox Live), the developer's time was better spent refining the rest of the game. Just out of curiosity, what company do you work for, Robb? (If you can say, of course...)

I wouldn't rule out that we'd NEVER release it for a Nintendo system -- we definitely have franchise plans for Thrillville. However, we haven't made any announcements for anything beyond what's coming out next week.

I don't believe it's the same thing, but there are a couple of different "sandboxy" things about Thrillville. For one, the last park in the game, after you've "beaten" it, is totally open to you to create and change to your heart's content. There's also a "Blueprint" mode, where you can create super-high, crazy coasters that take up so much memory they can't fit into your true parks. Also, though there is a mission structure, you have a lot of freedom as to how you go about accomplishing them. You don't have to complete every mission, so if, say, you don't want to play a certain minigame or establish a love connection between two guests, you don't have to. Plus, each park gives you a certain set of missions that you can accomplish in any order you please. You can even just mess around in your park the whole time and not bother with the missions if you so desire. But that prevents you from moving on to the next park.

Understood. I was certainly hesitant about making this post in fear of backlash, but it seems that many of you have embraced it. Thanks for your interest! Yes, the game is mission-based, but by the time you're at the end (anywhere from 10 to 30 hours, probably -- it totally depends on how much time and effort you put into building), you're given a park that gives you total freedom. Actually, you can finish the story, but the game is never really "over" until you decide to stop playing it. Back of the box says 650KB. I hope that works for you. There's a total of 101 attractions. From the fact sheet for the game: "Thrillville boasts the simplest, most intuitive development tools available for all 75-plus ride types, from wooden, corkscrew and inverted coasters to merry-go-rounds, trains and all your favorite carnival rides." The other 20-plus attractions are the minigames. Honestly, I'm not familiar with RCT3 enough to make comparisons, so I'm not sure if it's more flexible. I can tell you that there are designated "build areas" within each park, and, for example, if there's a tree within the topogrophy but you want to put your ride there, the game will automatically move the tree. Again, I can't give you a definitive answer on that (there's still quite a bit of this game for me to play myself), but I can tell you that, with an emphasis on fun versus realism, you can create some pretty wicked rides that defy the laws of physics. Yes, I quite like visiting amusement parks and riding the rides within. I grew up in Houston and visited AstroWorld (may it rest in peace) about seven or eight times, though it wasn't until the last few of those that I finally overcame my fear of the Texas Cyclone. I've also been to Six Flags Over Texas in Dallas, Libertyland in Memphis (which I believe is also closed now), Six Flags Great America in Chicago, Disneyworld (including Epcot, MGM, etc.), Disneyland, both Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Fiesta Texas in San Antonio... that might be it, though I may have forgotten one or two. One of these days I'll make it to the parks out here in the Bay Area. Anyway... Thanks for asking.

Right now it's just those three platforms. We haven't announced anything for DS.

The PSP version has everything the console version does, but the missions are shorter for the purpose of on-the-go gaming. It requires firmware version 2.81.

It's $39.99 for all three platforms (Xbox, PS2, PSP). There's no online except for ad-hoc Wi-Fi on PSP, which you can also use to trade your coaster designs.

Glad to help. As I said in an earlier post, this game isn't going for realism as much as it is "fun."

Ah, silly me. (Can you tell I'm a total newb when it comes to hardcore roller-coaster chat?) I'll see if I can find out an answer on that for you -- I've dabbled in past theme-park games, but not to the extent that I'm 100% sure I know what you're referring to. Perhaps the answer to your question lies in one of our videos about the game. You can check out a bunch of them on YouTube now here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=LucasArtsVideos There was also this one just added to GameVideos.com: http://gamevideos.com/video/id/7344

Y'know... I haven't seen much of the PSP version yet, but we just got ours in. Give me a day or so and I'll check on that for you. Alright, was wondering about the banking too. Is it still really quick? Money is easily earned throughout the game simply by running a good park and by completing missions, which takes you through the game's story (something you won't find in most PC theme-park games). If I get what you're asking, "banking" is as simple as spending money on the rides that are available to you. If you really want to get into things, you can also use money to do things such as market your park and do some R&D. It's all very user-friendly and intuitive.

Thanks for all the feedback! You sound very passionate about roller coasters, and that's great. However, I'm afraid that many of the very particular nuances you mentioned will not be in this game. There are shades of simulation in Thrillville, but it was never intended to be a pure simulation. In fact, the game allows you to design coasters that defy the laws of physics -- it's all about the fun of it as opposed to absolute realism. (If you play racing games, this is kind of like "Burnout" as opposed to "Gran Turismo.") I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear. The focus of this game is purely the fun of being at a theme park -- and doing everything there is to do at one. Beyond just riding the rides, this includes walking the park at ground level, where you can actually talk to your guests for tips on how to make the park better. You can also play more than 20 minigames, from arcade-style games to nine holes of mini-golf that you can design yourself.

The game won't be for PC for the reasons I described in my first post: Thrillville has been designed from the ground up for console gamers. This holds true everywhere from the control scheme to the minigames, which, generally speaking, is not what PC gamers expect from a game like this. It's an entirely different approach.

Y'know... I haven't seen much of the PSP version yet, but we just got ours in. Give me a day or so and I'll check on that for you. I've gone back and checked out he PSP version, and I'm happy to report that the load times are very reasonable. Playing for about 30 minutes, I never waited more than 5 seconds...usually only about 3. I hope that's what you wanted to hear!

Y'know... I haven't seen much of the PSP version yet, but we just got ours in. Give me a day or so and I'll check on that for you.

Hello everyone, My name's Chris, and I work for LucasArts helping to promote Thrillville, our upcoming theme-park game. I understand if you consider this message as "spam," but we have genuine intentions of reaching out to all theme-park enthusiasts and actually speak directly with you as much as possible, and this seems like the perfect vehicle for such a thing. I'm going to try and check back here every day until the game's release on Nov. 21 (maybe even later), and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for your interest! A few things to note: The official website is http://www.thrillvillegame.com And here are a couple of videos about Thrillville: http://gamevideos.com/video/id/6759 http://gamevideos.com/video/id/7108 And if you're wondering how it relates to the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, the developer Frontier has done an excellent job establishing itself as a premier developer of theme-park games with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and its expansion pack. It continues this excellent pedigree with Thrillville, but in an entirely different way. Unlike RCT3, which has thrived on the PC platform, Thrillville has been designed from the ground up as a console game, including a different way of handling all building mechanics, plus more console-friendly activities such as minigames. At the same time, the game is in no way a "dumbed-down" version of a PC theme-park experience -- it's just a totally different approach. Best, Chris