Roller Coaster Tycoon Mobile (RCTM) Discussion Thread

[piedude81]

NoLimits is still the best coaster game ever.

 

where is my NoLimits for iPad ....

 

Robb, I know you said this isn't on topic, but I would like to point out that there was a pretty good coaster building app for 99 cents that was released around the 3rd iPhone generation. It was actually completely customizable as far as the track went (no terrain features except trees), and it had a really great way to share your tracks with the other players. Then the developer ditched the game and the community went to s***. It was called Aircoaster. Here's a YouTube video:

 

As you can see, it's not the prettiest game, but it was a decent track simulator. If you still have an older Apple device that it runs on, it's definitely worth the 99 cents.

[CedarPoint27]

^ Yeah i remember looking for decent coaster games for mobile devices and noticed Aircoaster, i ended up buying it and i really liked it.

[Garet]

Out of interest how is this doing on different countries charts, it seemed to be creeping up to the high 20s when I last had the chance to check but I think the chart my iphone shows is only UK.

[boardwalkbullet91507]

Well, I've been playing for a couple of days now, and here is my honest review:

 

To begin, I feel that Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 Mobile was not the best name to give this app. It's should be Roller Coaster Tycoon Mobile, with no 4, that way it won't be compared to a full on PC version, but other mobile aps.

 

Now, I wasn't expecting too much out of this. Regardless of the lack of realism, the fact that the flats have RCT2ish animations while the coasters defy gravity and have much smoother and nicer animations, and the fact that there are no RCT style goals we know and love, [i'll discuss that in a minute] . . . it's actually not that bad of an app.

 

Currency wise; you really don't need the tickets too much unless you are impatient. You began with a $5 USD amount of tickets (I think around 50), and you only use them to build custom coasters, or use special elements in them (even then, you only use 2 or 3). If you want to speed up construction or unlock material from higher levels, you can use tickets, but if you stay pacient and play the game, tickets will be used very seldomly, and coins are generated quickly. You can gain more coins and tickets and XP to level up by accomplishing goals, and when you level up, you gain more coins and tickets. There really isn't any use to purchasing tickets with actual money.

 

Goals replace the objectives from the previous games. They aren't "x-amount of guests by x-date." It's build a custom wooden roller coaster, build this restaurant, build a hotel."

 

Yes, there are hotels now. This is new to the games, and they serve the purpose to add peeps to your park's maximum amount. You begin with a peep max of 200, but for every hotel you build, you add peeps to that max and generate money quicker.

 

Each ride you add adds to a percentage (park rating I guess you can say) and the higher it is the better, but it's proportional to the peep max. For example, many rides with a low peep count = higher percentage (rating). Lower ride count with higher peep max = lower park percentage (rating). So you have to keep up with your peep max.

 

Designing coasters is fun. You can actually design it, then move it, and then build it. (Building for all rides is a certain amount of time you must wait before opening.) you can design the coasters even if you are broke, but it won't let you build it until you have enough coins (and tickets if necessary).

 

Also, you are given a of of land to start with, but must expand if you want to grow. Expansions start at 1k coins and go up after each one.

 

Overall, it's a mobile app. I wasn't expecting much, but more could be implemented, and I'm hoping that in the future, Atari will update the app to feature more.

 

One thing to note is that is the credits, they do mention Chris Sawyer.

 

Lastly, I hope this is nothing like the PC version. I hope it is completely different than this because you can do so much more than with a mobile app, but for a mobile app, honestly, it's a pretty nice time killer.

 

If you need me to elaborate on anything, let me know. I'd be glad too.

 

3/5 stars

Here is a screenshot of my park so far. I decided to pay homage to my former home park.

[robbalvey]

One thing to note is that is the credits, they do mention Chris Sawyer.

I believe that legally, they have to.

[Mrlittle]

Designing coasters is fun.

I have found that to be the only fun part so far.

[cwsr]

http://www.nowgamer.com/features/2355603/the_truth_about_rollercoaster_tycoon_4_for_pc.html

 

Quoted from above article. Take it for what it's worth. "Chris Sawyer is involved with the PC project, though, which should give fans hope to hold on to." Is this just for legal purposes?

[Shavethewhales]

I wonder if Chris' name is on some sort of trademark or proprietary tech that they are re-using? From what Robb has said, he isn't actively involved in it, so I think there's something else that people keep pointing to in order to say he's "involved".

 

I think this section of the article should give us some hope though:

 

“I’ve been working on it for more than a year,” said Chesnais, “because I bought the company back officially in January 2013 and Rollercoaster Tycoon was clearly something that was part of my plan.”

 

“When I arrived it was a mobile game,” admitted Chesnais, “so we kept working on the mobile game – but the point is not the mobile game, the point is that we have a PC game in production.

 

“Let me try to put it as clearly as possible, and this is something that we’re going to post at some point on the Facebook page, what we are seeing with the PC game is that players are passionate about it.

 

“We’re going to start engaging with the community really quickly, right now.”

[robbalvey]

http://www.nowgamer.com/features/2355603/the_truth_about_rollercoaster_tycoon_4_for_pc.html

 

Quoted from above article. Take it for what it's worth. "Chris Sawyer is involved with the PC project, though, which should give fans hope to hold on to." Is this just for legal purposes?

Please read the thread. I've already mentioned that I've been talking to Chris personally and he told me he's not involved.

[Kooky]

here is a short article that states that chris sawyer has no involment in this project,too...seems that he got his answer directly from chris sawyer:

 

http://www.pockettactics.com/news/ios-news/chris-sawyer-involvement-rollercoaster-tycoon-4/

[traincrossin]

Do you think they'll eventually make RCT4 free?

[JonnyRCT3]

^I wonder if they'll turn RCT4 (PC) into the new Sim City. The new version is great, but they limited the building space heavily. It's literally less than 1/10 of what was previously offered.

[A.J.]

^I wonder if they'll turn RCT4 (PC) into the new Sim City. The new version is great, but they limited the building space heavily. It's literally less than 1/10 of what was previously offered.

We better hope that Atari has been paying attention to what happened with the new SimCity. The launch of that game was absolutely dreadful.

Edited April 14, 2014 by A.J.

[kidcoaster 2]

^I wonder if they'll turn RCT4 (PC) into the new Sim City. The new version is great, but they limited the building space heavily. It's literally less than 1/10 of what was previously offered.

 

The more I hear about the new RCT the more they do sound similar. Especially now that they mention the ability to visit friend's parks and send stuff back and forth.

 

I really hope this is not the case because Sim City has been a complete disaster.

[robbalvey]

Do you think they'll eventually make RCT4 free?

You would HOPE. I mean, what the hell, Atari??? How many "freemium games" do you have to pay $4 for??? Isn't that the point of FREEmium???

 

I guess you have to charge when your game isn't good enough for people to want to buy the in-app purchases.

[BCTom]

I bought it, and it's pretty much what I expected it to be. I might go into more detail later, but it's basically CoasterVille or any similar game, but for mobile.

 

For anyone else playing (based on comments, I'm guessing very few of you), my friend code is C2ECPC.

 

The good news, is that at least for now, there's a decent amount of content that doesn't require premium currency (tickets). All of the food/souvenir buildings and attractions can be bought for coins. Building a coaster costs a minimal amount of tickets. I wonder however, if this will change as they add more content (not an uncommon tactic for this type of Freemium game).

 

You can spend tickets to speed up construction, but I've never understood why anyone would spend real money to do so.

 

Some decorations will cost tickets (90 tickets for a pirate or rainbow flag?!), but not all.

 

The game seems to be somewhat generous with the tickets as well - you can earn five a day by sending to friends. I also earned a lot by shamelessly agreeing to spam all of my Facebook friends with game invites (one ticket per invite).

[coasterkid21]

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

[Midgetman82]

^Having been a subscriber to Nerd^3 for a few months, I was not surprised at all to hear what he had to say on this game. I mean... my goodness.

 

Edit: "My goodness" as in RCT4. As a guy who loved the previous RCT games, I think this is a fair reaction.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Midgetman82

[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.

[djboss302]

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

 

I would say that's a pretty fair reaction.

[robbalvey]

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.

What frustrates me about this commentary is, yes on one hand I "get" where you're coming from, but on the other hand, by saying this is an acceptable version of the RCT franchise just allows future versions to be built off this mentality if people are "ok" with this version of the game.

 

Essentially what it does is wipes the slate clean from any previous versions and makes this the new benchmark going forward.

 

Sure, the game is supposed to be "entertaining", but isn't also supposed to be "Roller Coaster Tycoon???"

 

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.

 

Just my thoughts...

[Generational]

^ I think the overall games industry has started to spear head that mentality for a while now. A name sells, and unfortunately, most people are in it for the money. Take for example the Call of Duty Series. The gap between games for the first two was about three years. Since then, due to the fact that it has become a Triple A title, the overlay between games is less than a year, with marginal differences. The same thing is happening with Assassin's Creed. Atari was sitting on an IP that hadn't been touched in years, so rather than create a new one, slap the old name on it, and it'll sell, or at least, that's the mentality behind it.

[robbalvey]

^ Oh, trust me, I know all about the Call of Duty series. Remember, I was involved with the first three releases of that franchise. I saw exactly where it was and where it was going. It was probably the turning point of my decision to finally get out of the games business.

[fraroc]

We're going to have the REAL RCT4 very soon, Theme Park Studio.

[A.J.]

We're going to have the REAL RCT4 very soon, Theme Park Studio.

No we won't. Theme Park Studio is NOT the same kind of game the RollerCoaster Tycoon series is. The whole point of the original RollerCoaster Tycoon was to play through the levels and get to the end (Mega Park). RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 let you make custom scenarios for the game, but that was it. All of this custom content stuff was a result of the community basically hacking into the game and figuring it out. That wasn't the intention of the developers, I'm sure.

 

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, and if RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 gets put on Early Access and turns out to be garbage I will have lost all hope in humanity...