Roller Coaster Tycoon Mobile (RCTM) Discussion Thread

[robbalvey]

Also, we already have Theme Park Studio. They put it on Early Access instead of doing a traditional beta test, which means they essentially released it to the public and are making money off of it. Because of that it should be reviewed as a finished game, which in that regard it's woefully incomplete

Oh, c'mon. That is INCREDIBLY unfair. I'd like you to put yourself in the shoes of ANY game developer. Live what they go through for even a few weeks, and then come back and say your comment is fair.

[A.J.]

I guess I don't see the full picture because I'm merely a 3D artist, so please excuse me if I come off as unfair. I'm just still a little disappointed with the whole "launch". Yes, plans change and yes, things happen and yes, it's probably been a whole lot of hard and exhausting work for Pantera to get Theme Park Studio out there. My own 3D work mentally exhausts me on a daily basis and drives me insane sometimes.

 

I pledged my $50 on Kickstarter way back last year with the expectation that I would be part of a closed beta test and that I would receive a physical copy of the game (with the extra "platinum" feature content) in several months, which I thought would have probably been $40-50 MSRP when it hit store shelves anyway. They made it sound like development was pretty much nearing completion and I understand that that's what you have to do to promote your game, but here we are today. I'm just not entirely sure that the game in its current form, as it sits on Steam Early Access, is worth the $30 that they're charging for it. Will it be worth that $30 down the road? Most likely.

 

I'm not trying to hate because the game is what fans have been wanting for years and that it shows a heck of a lot of promise, but I'm a little let down. I also certainly hope that RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 publicly releases as a finished game too, but I wouldn't put this past Atari based on how RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile apparently has ended up...

[robbalvey]

^ You gotta remember that game is being developed by ONE GUY out of his home with a team of mostly volunteer artists. While I get the disappointment of the closed beta and release not going quite as planned, HOLY COW, the guy has done something many of us have wanted, and only DREAMED about doing, and he actually moved forward with! The challenges, risks and scope of pulling something like that off is HUGE. I mean, indescribably HUGE.

 

Cut him some slack and show some support. That's all I can say...

[MrJohnny]

I guess I don't see the full picture because I'm merely a 3D artist, so please excuse me if I come off as unfair. I'm just still a little disappointed with the whole "launch". Yes, plans change and yes, things happen and yes, it's probably been a whole lot of hard and exhausting work for Pantera to get Theme Park Studio out there. My own 3D work mentally exhausts me on a daily basis and drives me insane sometimes.

 

I pledged my $50 on Kickstarter way back last year with the expectation that I would be part of a closed beta test and that I would receive a physical copy of the game (with the extra "platinum" feature content) in several months, which I thought would have probably been $40-50 MSRP when it hit store shelves anyway. They made it sound like development was pretty much nearing completion and I understand that that's what you have to do to promote your game, but here we are today. I'm just not entirely sure that the game in its current form, as it sits on Steam Early Access, is worth the $30 that they're charging for it. Will it be worth that $30 down the road? Most likely.

 

I'm not trying to hate because the game is what fans have been wanting for years and that it shows a heck of a lot of promise, but I'm a little let down. I also certainly hope that RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 publicly releases as a finished game too, but I wouldn't put this past Atari based on how RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile apparently has ended up...

 

 

It seems you don't quite understand the principle of "Early Access". You cannot expect 30$ of value out of an early access game. You are basically paying to be beta testing the game and for the full game down the road.

 

No one forced you or anyone else to buy while the game is in Early Access or to tag along the kickstarter campaign.

If the game is not satisfactory for you at the moment. Just let it sit for a couple of months and come back. It will most likely have been updated with the fixes and features. I think that is what makes the early access process cool.

 

As far as RCT4 goes, i'm not impressed and i'm scared for the PC version...

[BCTom]

An article on the making of RCT4 Mobile: Making of Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 Mobile

 

I imagine the picture of this new game next to the classics may feel some with rage, but the article gives a bit of insight as to what they were going for. I'll grant them that the coaster building is fairly well done for this type of simple iOS game. You can build some fairly complex coasters, even if there's no realism to them.

 

The initial idea was to re-create RollerCoaster Tycoon® as a modern mobile game. That’s why it adopted the basic economy model modern mobile city-buildings games have. It’s not as much as a modern take on RCT, as a mobile take on it. What the modern take for full fledged RCT game is we will all see later this year when the PC game is out.

 

If the initial idea was to re-create the original, why oh why didn't they do it?

 

Fingers crossed that the PC version will deliver.

[CPSFMMCW]

I too got the game. And honestly, I enjoy it. It's entertaining, and really, isn't that what it's meant to do? I really don't care that it has the RCT name slapped on it. It's just a cute little game where u can design your own park. It's not realistic, but it's fun and CAN become addicting. So I'm fine with it. I just think some of us here need to calm down with this whole thing. Yes, it would have been better if he made a more realistic and accurate mobile version, but who knows? Maybe he will in the future, maybe he won't. Oh well.

I dunno, I guess if there is a battle to be fought here it's to show Atari enough people want a game more like what the original series was, and if the reaction that Atari gets is "Well, it's not like the original, but it's still 'OK'", then you'll never see anything again like the original series. And who are we kidding? We probably won't anyway, but that still doesn't mean I would be "acceptable" with what they have produced.

I definitely agree that I wish we had seen the PC version come to mobile. I would've preferred that. Its just that I don't mind the version we got. But I will agree on the fact that it pretty much ISN'T RCT.

[Diamondbacker27]

An article on the making of RCT4 Mobile: Making of Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 Mobile

 

I imagine the picture of this new game next to the classics may feel some with rage, but the article gives a bit of insight as to what they were going for. I'll grant them that the coaster building is fairly well done for this type of simple iOS game. You can build some fairly complex coasters, even if there's no realism to them.

 

The initial idea was to re-create RollerCoaster Tycoon® as a modern mobile game. That’s why it adopted the basic economy model modern mobile city-buildings games have. It’s not as much as a modern take on RCT, as a mobile take on it. What the modern take for full fledged RCT game is we will all see later this year when the PC game is out.

 

If the initial idea was to re-create the original, why oh why didn't they do it?

 

Fingers crossed that the PC version will deliver.

 

Then why wouldn't they just call it "Roller Coaster Tycoon Mobile?

[JonnyRCT3]

What the modern take for full fledged RCT game is we will all see later this year when the PC game is out.

 

Well, hello!

[liftsifter]

An article on the making of RCT4 Mobile: Making of Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 Mobile

 

I imagine the picture of this new game next to the classics may feel some with rage, but the article gives a bit of insight as to what they were going for. I'll grant them that the coaster building is fairly well done for this type of simple iOS game. You can build some fairly complex coasters, even if there's no realism to them.

 

The initial idea was to re-create RollerCoaster Tycoon® as a modern mobile game. That’s why it adopted the basic economy model modern mobile city-buildings games have. It’s not as much as a modern take on RCT, as a mobile take on it. What the modern take for full fledged RCT game is we will all see later this year when the PC game is out.

 

If the initial idea was to re-create the original, why oh why didn't they do it?

 

Fingers crossed that the PC version will deliver.

 

Then why wouldn't they just call it "Roller Coaster Tycoon Mobile?

 

 

I don't know what marketing you've seen, but everything carries the "mobile" moniker.

[fraroc]

A.J, I'm siding with Robb on this, You can't expect such a small, indie gaming company like Pantera to be able to release games at the same pace that Activision does COD or Ubisoft does Assassins Creed. Those are much bigger companies than Pantera with more resources and employees.

 

Nevertheless, I'm still stoked for the full release of Theme Park Studio because I backed 50 bucks on kickstarter.

[Midgetman82]

Not too get too far off-topic, I had an idea that Pantera was a small company, but when Robb described it as basically one guy and other volunteers working on it, I was pretty surprised. I imagined a game developing team working soely on it, so props to the guy working on TPS.

 

As for RCT4 on the PC, I especially hope it will be "decent" and somewhat redeem what they did on the mobile version... I'll keep my expectations kinda low until then, so I can at least be surprised if it's better than expected.

[Zem]

A.J, I'm siding with Robb on this, You can't expect such a small, indie gaming company like Pantera to be able to release games at the same pace that Activision does COD or Ubisoft does Assassins Creed. Those are much bigger companies than Pantera with more resources and employees.

 

Nevertheless, I'm still stoked for the full release of Theme Park Studio because I backed 50 bucks on kickstarter.

 

Exactly. Plus who cares if the final released product isn't amazing. With the amount of modding support that has been promised the fans will almost assuredly turn it into a completely different beast within a couple months. I just hope RCT4 isn't just a dumb facebook game but the future for the series looks quite grim.

[fraroc]

A.J, I'm siding with Robb on this, You can't expect such a small, indie gaming company like Pantera to be able to release games at the same pace that Activision does COD or Ubisoft does Assassins Creed. Those are much bigger companies than Pantera with more resources and employees.

 

Nevertheless, I'm still stoked for the full release of Theme Park Studio because I backed 50 bucks on kickstarter.

 

Exactly. Plus who cares if the final released product isn't amazing. With the amount of modding support that has been promised the fans will almost assuredly turn it into a completely different beast within a couple months. I just hope RCT4 isn't just a dumb facebook game but the future for the series looks quite grim.

 

I hope it isn't either, because look at Theme Park Studio. You really think that a stupid little CoasterVille-like game would be able to compete against that?

[traincrossin]

Atari to RollerCoaster Tycoon Fans: “We Are Not Deaf”

 

You can’t please all of the people all of the time, as Atari is finding out with its new mobile take on RollerCoaster Tycoon.

 

The long-awaited sequel to the classic PC game series has been poorly received since it launched last week, averaging 2.5 stars out of five in the App Store, with reviewers pushing back against the $3 game’s adoption of micro-transactions. But Frédéric Chesnais, CEO of Atari’s parent company Atari SA, said it’s too early to throw in the towel.

 

“We don’t pretend that we know everything,” Chesnais said in an interview with Re/code. “But it’s very rare for a game to hit five out of five [stars] on first launch.”

 

He acknowledged that the company is listening to fans’ responses and looking at in-game analytics to fix bugs and possibly change the in-game economy “if needed.”

 

“We are not blind and we are not deaf,” he said.

 

A common thread in the negative reviews has been the way RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile asks players to either wait for new attractions to be built, sometimes for hours, or instead pay real money to buy “tickets” that speed up construction. In game jargon, this is known as an “energy mechanic,” and is found in free-to-play games ranging from Angry Birds Go! to PBA Bowling; last year, Disney abandoned an energy mechanic in its puzzle game Where’s My Water 2 when it came under fire from critics.

 

The monetization tactic is also common to many mobile simulation games that are like RollerCoaster Tycoon. But Atari’s use of the RCT name, albeit without the involvement of the games’ original creator, Chris Sawyer, means many gamers came in with specific expectations, and having to pay repeatedly was not among them.

 

Chesnais said those expectations should have been different.

 

“Yeah, you have to wait a little bit, but so what?” he said. “The world was not built overnight. They’re reviewing a mobile game, and a mobile game can’t be a PC game. … People are mad we did not release the PC game first.”

 

By that, he’s referring to a new computer entry in the RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise for PC, slated for release later this year, which Atari has already promised will be a “completely different game.” Chesnais said it would have “multiplayer and social features” but couldn’t say for sure if the PC version would use the same micro-transaction model as the mobile game.

 

“We have not made a decision on the PC game,” he said. “It’s entertainment, but it’s also business.”

Link

[JonnyRCT3]

RIP RCT

[jedimaster1227]

I love how much ignorance that guy's comments show.

 

"We're not blind and we're not deaf..." Followed by "Yeah, you have to wait a little bit, but so what?” Makes me think they are both blind and deaf to the feedback. Saying "so what" to critical response is hardly active listening.

Edited April 19, 2014 by jedimaster1227

[fraroc]

I love how much ignorance that guy's comments show.

 

"We're not blind and we're not deaf..." Followed by "Yeah, you have to wait a little bit, but so what?” Makes me think they are both blind and deaf to the feedback. Saying "so what" to critical response is hardly active listening.

 

I think they meant that they know that we want the official Roller Coaster Tycoon 4. For Chrissakes, we've been waiting TEN YEARS. Hard to believe it but it's been a decade since RCT3 came out.

 

Atari wants us to cool our jets and stop with the vitriol, but to reiterate, we've been waiting a decade for RCT4. If you're promising that the PC version is completely different, we want details. Back up your claims.

[Golddisk]

We've really done this to ourselves though by making games like Farmville and Flappybird so popular. The games don't require any where near the expense a larger, longer developed game requires but still can draw in a huge amount of revenue. Its quite sad.

[Koasterking48]

That guy sounds so arrogant saying, "so what if you have to wait a little bit?" How douchey of him to say stupid crap like this. These literally makes me have no hope for the PC version this fall. Plus, only using the words "multiplayer and social features" (WHICH ARE TWO THIHGS THAT SHOULD NOT BE IN AN RCT GAME IMO) already makes the game sound unappealing. As stated above, RIP RCT.

 

Also, he refused to say if the PC version would have microtransactions. Wow.

[fraroc]

We've really done this to ourselves though by making games like Farmville and Flappybird so popular. The games don't require any where near the expense a larger, longer developed game requires but still can draw in a huge amount of revenue. Its quite sad.

 

On the flipside, we have tiny little indie gaming companies making what I feel is some of the best games of the 21st century, Pantera and TPS included.

[Cyrbuzz]

Nice to see RCT in such great hands, eh?

[MrSum1_55]

I do not even know why Atari is even trying anymore. With every question and answer given, this sounds more like an interview with a politician than a game publisher. I think we can safely assume that the PC experience will have micro transactions, therefore meaning that the PC game will probably be met with as much backlash as the mobile one. Atari would have to be 'blind and deaf' to not understand this.

[Shavethewhales]

Atari to RollerCoaster Tycoon Fans: “We Are Not Deaf”

Chesnais said it would have “multiplayer and social features” but couldn’t say for sure if the PC version would use the same micro-transaction model as the mobile game.

 

“We have not made a decision on the PC game,” he said. “It’s entertainment, but it’s also business.”

Link

 

... and with that, my optimism has faded for this project. Even if they can come out with acceptable graphics and a semi-realistic playing atmosphere, micro-transactions are a deal-breaker and the fact that they are openly considering them for A PC GAME shows that they truly don't have a clue and aren't going to make a user-focused game. I mean, really; they destroyed the whole purpose of the article right there.

[A.J.]

Plus, only using the words "multiplayer and social features" (WHICH ARE TWO THIHGS THAT SHOULD NOT BE IN AN RCT GAME IMO) already makes the game sound unappealing.

In fairness, the uploading and sharing of parks is one of those "social feature" things...

[Coaster19]

We've really done this to ourselves though by making games like Farmville and Flappybird so popular. The games don't require any where near the expense a larger, longer developed game requires but still can draw in a huge amount of revenue. Its quite sad.

 

On the flipside, we have tiny little indie gaming companies making what I feel is some of the best games of the 21st century, Pantera and TPS included.

 

First, that is why flappy bird developer removed his app. He was upset by its popularity. So I agree that "we have done this to ourselves" but we need developers to stop thinking about money and thinking about the art of developing.

 

Second, I agree the indie market is becoming big!! I love "Sometimes you die", "A Dark Room" and many others!