Planet Coaster (PLC) Discussion Thread

[Dante80]

http://www.gamestar.de/ posted some new screenshots from alpha 3 today. Since some of those were in 16k(!), I rescaled them for ease of use.

 

Click on the thumbs for full res.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ZeroGravity55]

As Fdev is ramping up for Gamescom, two new things..a new dev diary for sound..

 

 

I love that the reference audio was recorded at Holiday World. Seems like a perfect fit for the tone of the game. Since they are a British developer, I'm interested to know how they ended up at HW over somewhere like Alton Towers.

 

This is just a random guess, but maybe it has to do with the fact HW is independently owned and operated? They're probably more willing/able to share their rides and attractions for a project like this than some corporate parks are. Plus, HW has never been the type to turn down a way of getting positive attention lol.

[Dante80]

Frontier is showcasing PC in Gamescom this year. They have already done a couple of livestreams. You can watch those in the video below:

 

 

On the first developer stream (starting at 17:47), they went over some of the new features coming in Alpha 3. They also posted the videos from that to their youtube page.

 

Coaster track selector tool to choose which parts of the track to edit after building them.

Custom supports! You can remove the default supports, place them elsewhere or build your own!.

Editable ride entrances. No longer having that yellow arch, you can build anything on them.

Blueprints used to select and place whole buildings where you want (shown some fairy tale styled buildings).

Walls can be recolored. Showing a palette of 85 colors for the wall.

Props can be recolored too. Showing a sleeping dragon prop getting re-colored.

Using the recolorable wall pieces to make giant paintings/murals.

Showing water, with reflections and some bridges over it.

Building road sections in a grid! Fantastic for interiors.

Showcasing the desert environment and props.

 

Here are the videos that were shown in the stream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the second part of the stream (starting at 1:20:10), about an hour of gameplay with youtuber Flabaliki was shown. During that, we show things like:

 

Fast passes and fast pass queues for rides.

Animated parts in buildings like a windmill.

Multiple track type selections for one coaster.

Ploppable blueprints for coasters and buildings.

The ability to make your own blueprints.

The new lights with configurable colors.

Benches/trash bins that can attach inside or outside the path.

Coaster stats and testing, staff.

Park management features like price etc.

People thoughts after riding a coaster.

The ability to scale the tunnel width while making a track.

 

and a lot more. I think I have missed some things.

 

Last for the day was Silvarret (starting at 2:47:15). Showed some building skills, making a couple of cool castle towers and a launch coaster running between them.

[Dante80]

Second day on Gamescom today. We got a developer stream talking about managing our parks, and two community streams with fans playing the game.

 

 

During the developer stream, some of the following subjects were discussed.

 

The management overlay, tabs and quick views.

Coaster live stats and monetization.

Coasters and rides economics (building and maintenance cost).

Fast passes, and how they will work.

Guest thoughts, needs and behavior management.

Staff overview (vendors, janitors and mascots were shown), training and motivation.

ATM usage.

Path extras (benches and trash bins) and how they tie in to the simulation.

 

Seven new videos were posted on the Frontier youtube page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2016 by Dante80

[COASTER FREAK 11]

So many things they have thought of are so great!

[Risky]

Still no sign of dark rides.

I remember them saying a while back that there will be dark rides, and they were going to show some off soon, but still nothing. I want a lot of dark rides in my parks.

[Dante80]

Third day on Gamescom today. We got a developer stream talking about blueprints and online sharing, and another two community streams with fans playing the game.

 

 

 

During the developer stream, some of the following subjects were discussed (after a recap of the two previous streams).

 

Pre-built shops, coasters, buildings and prop sets.

Multiselecting objects, prop sets, buildings and rides.

The ability to make blueprints with your selected objects.

The ability to screencap, tag, categorize and add titles+descriptions when managing your blueprints.

The front-end flow of the game.

Uploading and managing your blueprints on Steam Workshop.

Creating an avatar via a character menu and adding it to the shared online globe.

Choosing your avatars headquarters.

Adding friends to the game via Steam and being able to share your creations with them.

Being able to rate, subscribe to and download blueprints from your friends, and from the Steam Workshop.

Placing other peoples creation into your own park.

 

Four new videos were posted on the Frontier youtube page.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2016 by Dante80

[Midgetman82]

Finally nice to see some management aspects slowly make its way into the game, along with an abundance of other things being thrown our way. The fast pass system made me laugh hard! I guess you couldn't have a super-modern theme park builder without taking something like that into account!

 

Really looking forward to Alpha 3!

[Dante80]

Last day on Gamescom today. We got a developer stream talking about the alpha 3 in general, doing a quick Q&A, and another two community streams with fans playing the game.

 

 

 

(the second part will be posted here when Frontier Uploads it).

 

During the developer stream, some of the following subjects were discussed (after a recap of the previous streams).

 

UI (asset filtering, categorization, tagging, browsing options etc etc)

Global lighting improvements (light bleeding and bounce, real time radiocity).

Guest AI and pathing improvements (navigating plaza-like areas, pathfinding through blocks and obstructions).

 

Thirteen new videos were posted on the Frontier youtube page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTOBXRL6cjU

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjyrB4eKhYY

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlD8el1hr6c

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUsmIz8UjYg

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqtB1OtzqOQ

Edited August 23, 2016 by Dante80

[Garet]

It's a a really minor nitpick but I'd love to see them group the B&M wing-riders to allow launch and chained with this next update and just let you choose the train. It's a bit strange to have 3 on the coaster screen at once (this new one plus the current chain one and launched one). But then again i'd be very happy to see that for a lot of the previous flat rides, have a generic air race or uni-coaster and then a selection option for the theme.

[TheJewelOfJool]

Wait a minute...

 

 

THEY HAVE AN EL LOCO, EUROFIGHTER, AND T-REX TRACK!?!?!

[Dante80]

The RMC T-Rex indeed caught me off guard. You can also see the track for it in the Janitor video Frontier showed in Gamescom, around 19 seconds in.

 

Having a monorail type all-steel coaster in the game would be marvelous. Do we have any idea when we are going to see that train in real life? I wonder whether Frontier is going to inform the design (especially as far as sound is concerned) after they get a real life equivalent to study.

 

What they showed off for the train looks pretty close to the RMC renders too.

 

 

[Midgetman82]

Setting objects on the sidewalk and watching guests move around them is a mior, yet VERY effective improvement in the game when it comes to scenery! I found it quite fascinating seeing the user try to block folk's path and seeing the masses seek the less congested path!

 

The new rides also all look great! It's super-awesome to see them implement the T-Rex and Eurofighter coasters as well as the ABC Rides Tourbillion into the game!

[Cj1990]

I am loving everything. This is not a complaint at all, I am just curious when we might start seeing multi-train operations and maybe dual stations even.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

I know there has been mention of dark rides and that they are coming (I cant wait to see them!), but I am surprised that nothing was announced about them for Alpha 3. Maybe they just didn't talk about them for some reason. Also, what of water rides? I have not heard a single thing about any water rides being in the game at all, does anyone else know more?

[Dante80]

They said that multi-train functionality is coming. Not in alpha 3 launch though. Maybe beta.

 

In other news, heads up. The Workshop is online.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/518340/workshop/

 

Alpha will be available for download in the following hours I presume.

 

I know there has been mention of dark rides and that they are coming (I cant wait to see them!), but I am surprised that nothing was announced about them for Alpha 3. Maybe they just didn't talk about them for some reason. Also, what of water rides? I have not heard a single thing about any water rides being in the game at all, does anyone else know more?

 

None of those in alpha 3, so why would they talk about them?. The game will release with 1 or two water rides. Dark rides have been hinted too (we've seen renders of tracked cars for them).

[COASTER FREAK 11]

^That's why I was asking, I did not know specifically what was/was not going to be in Alpha 3, or any other release.

[Dante80]

Alpha 3 out now.

https://forums.planetcoaster.com/showthread.php/9420-Planet-Coaster-Alpha-3-launch-and-Update-notes

 

Planet Coaster – Alpha 3 Update Notes

 

General Overview / Intro:

The change log below isn’t exhaustive but gives you an idea of how big a step Alpha 3 is on the way to release on 17 November; don’t forget there are many other things being worked on for release.

The highlights of Alpha 3 are the beginnings of our simulation, the first sight of our community and sharing functions built on Steamworks, even more support for creation with the 400+ pieces of the new Fairytale theme, more coasters, more editing improvements, water, more customisation, more flatrides, (you get the idea) … and, of course, general performance, visual and audio quality improvements.

We can’t wait to see what you do with it!

 

Here we go:

 

Simulation

 

• New Park Management tabs where the player can Hire Staff and track their Overviews.
  
• Guests are even more like real humans and drop litter everywhere…unless they see a bin of course.
  
• Janitors can be hired to keep the parks clear of litter, vomit and empty bins when full
  
• Mascots are available for hire to entertain your guests
  
• All Staff can be fired. Sacked. Shown the door to Adios City.
  
• Staff can now be trained to increase efficiency. Trained staff work and move faster.
  
• New Guest behaviour makes them more reactive than ever to Mascots.
  
• Economy System is getting serious now where all items have a placement and running cost
  
• Improvements to the Guest Brain
  
  • Guests actually make considered decisions by assessing the value of rides, coasters, shops and facilities
    
  • As Guests make these decisions and experience the park they give feedback through Guest Thoughts

   

  [*]ATM are now available for your guests to withdraw even more money, keeping them in the park for longer

  [*]New Mascots added – Cosmic Cow and Princess Amelie

  [*]Detailed analysis is now available through Info Panels for Guests, Staff, Rides, Shops and Facilities including price adjustments, custom settings and recent thoughts

  [*]Ability to focus camera on Attraction, Shop or Facility relating to a specific Guest Thought

  [*]The expanded and improved Park Rating now incorporates Ride Rating, Scenery Rating, Park Balance and Guest Happiness

  [*]Added Summary Overview tooltips to status bar for Total Guests, Park Rating and Current Cash

  [*]Priority Pass system allows players to create priority lanes for rides and coasters

  [*]Priority Passes are available to Guests from the new Information kiosks

  [*]Staff become less efficient when demotivated by being underpaid, overworked or both, which can be easily seen in the awesome animations played.

  [*]Players can be true gods by picking up and moving groups of guests and staff too.

  [*]Staff now have all the same camera functionality available to Guests

 

Main menu

 

• Curated Planet interface brings all your content into one place, including Steam Workshop
  
• New “My Parks” screen uses screenshots from your Save Games for fast navigation
  
• More appropriate game-mode flows for Sandbox and Challenge mode
  
  • Sandbox still offers total freedom with unlimited cash-flow
    
  • Challenge Mode won’t allow you to go into negative money, heralding the first steps to fully functional park management

   

  [*]Brand new 3D globe interaction populated with a host of charming, animated Avatars

  [*]Our new “Desert” terrain pack offers a new proving ground for park creators to explore

  [*]Planet Coaster’s Community get personal with first glimpse Avatar Editor and HQ placement tools

 

Blueprints

 

• You can now save local blueprints of buildings, scenery, coasters and combinations of all three!
  
• Get a name for yourself in the Community by sharing local blueprints via Steam Workshop

 

Steam functionality

 

• Steam Workshop integration to access blueprints/parks from in-game
  
• Steam Workshop is fully integrated into the Main Menu making park sharing simple.
  
• Planet Coaster Steam Friends appear in-game with their Steam Workshop content
  
• Planet Coaster “Celebrities” debut in Alpha 3 with Steam Workshop content
  
  • Celebrities include Frontier developers and select members of the community
    
  • Contains new parks and blueprints created by Frontier staff

Coasters

 

6 new coaster types have been added

 

• Barghest - Is a Euro-fighter style coaster. The trademark feature is its beyond-vertical drop. This is an excellent compact looping coaster.
  
• Basilisk - This has a distinctive look and sound and creates amazing silhouettes over the landscape like a beautiful flowing ribbon.
  
• Loony_Turns - With 2 cars placed close together with 4 riders per car and 8 riders per train, this steel roller coaster is characterised by a vertical or beyond-vertical drop, tight corners and abnormal banking.
  
• Test_Pilot - This is a 4th dimension roller coaster were the riders are suspended either side of the track. The car then spins on a horizontal axis 360-degrees forward and backwards. There are new widgets in the track editor for adjusting 4D coaster to control the car rotation round each section of your track.
  
• Tiamat - This is a prototype wing coaster featuring a high-speed cable lift mechanism. This coaster is all about speed, airtime and high g-force along twisty track layouts.
  
• Torque - The Torque is the only coaster to feature a loop with a top hat element connected to the top of the loop. This coaster also features a reverse launch mechanism which stops the train then propels the car backwards down the track and then gives it another boost forward.

 

1 modified existing coaster type

 

• Black Falcon - Planet Coaster fans asked for a chain lift variant of the wing coaster so we gave them one - we now have a LIM launched and chain lift wing coaster variants. Now has Black Falcon adornment on the coaster car.

 

New Track Special Pieces

 

• Over 40 new, Special Pieces are available to terrify your guests including:
  
  • The “Top Hat Loop” with two entrances and two exits in the same piece
    
  • “Heartline” rolls, huge news for all the fans desperate to see this included
    
  • Vertical Chain Lift with a 120 degree drop making it the world’s steepest coaster!

   

  [*]Improvements to making Specials smoother than ever

 

New Utility pieces

 

• Blocks sections - ability to have multiple trains on a single track
  
• Cable lift variant for the Tiamat coaster
  
• Stackable vertical chain lifts on the Eurofighter tracks
  
• Dive drop – This has had some graphical and usability improvements

 

New animated stations

 

These stations now work with glorious detailed engineering just like the real thing

 

• Werewolf
  
• Aetheon
  
• Stingray
  
• Boa

 

Roller Coaster Blueprints

 

• Move and reposition existing tracks
  
• Save your coaster layout
  
• Load it into any park
  
• Share with your friends

 

Track Editor Improvements

 

• Disable supports option - Tracks now have a toggle to have their supports disabled when placed which was a request from the fans, you asked and we listen.
  
• Improved the “tweaky-tweak” behaviour when editing a placed piece of track
  
• Ability to smooth track banking without changing the position of the track
  
• Updated banking widget provides angle feedback
  
• Moved track selection controls into in-world rather than UI buttons to make it easier for you to select your existing track pieces for editing
  
• Dual direction booster that slows the train to a stop, launches it backwards then propels it forwards as it comes back over it
  
• Default track lengths for different coaster types
  
• Ride cameras added to coaster construction
  
• Ability to adjust load rules for smoother loading and unloading of rides
  
• Initial testing mode containing live readouts of your excitement, fear and nausea ratings
  
• Testing mode provides a final readout of key information and statistics about your ride once complete
  
• Coasters must be tested before they can be ridden by guests
  
• Special pieces can now be rotated, scaled and moved in situ without the need to delete any track

 

Amusement Rides

 

• 5 new amusement rides ranging from the classic Teacups to the ultra-contemporary Cube, including the towering Sundial swing, guest-flown Wild Blue and the steel beast they call the Gears of Fear
  
• Amusement rides even more faithfully realised with controls booths on all bases
  
• We give players more control allowing you to adjust individual load rules of each ride
  
• Existing rides have been given greater polygonal detail and improved surfaces.

 

Scenery/Buildings

 

• Introducing our new ‘Fairytale’ theme consisting of over 400 original assets.
  
• Nature packs get even more varieties of tree and plants, including decorative topiary and a fantastic rock-set to support the new Desert theme.
  
• Pre-built blueprints of scenery and buildings lovingly created by our artists are included for creators to modify and managers to bit beautiful parks straight out of the box.
  
• Advanced Move and Rotate gizmos can now switch World and Local making creation of blueprint smoother than ever.
  
• The new “Duplicate and Advanced Move” allows creators to clone complex structures and blueprints quickly and precisely.
  
• New particles offer ever more freedom and movement to your theming, including mysterious Mist, explosive Splashes, and plumes of rising Steam.
  
• Ability to change the grid size of your buildings offers far greater flexibility when planning park spaces.
  
• Players can create an entirely new building simply by selecting a section of an existing one and choosing Split, making creation of complex structures
  
• Grid items have a different Browser background allowing seasoned players greater expectation of how an item will function when used

 

Shops and Facilities

 

• Alpha 3 comes complete with pre-generated blueprints of shops and facilities in various themes to allow players to quickly build evocative parks.
  
• Shops and Facilities now have their own Browser tab to speed navigation
  
• Shops are now internal buildings ready and waiting for custom wall pieces to be added
  
• New First Aid shop included to help control Nausea in Guests
  
• New ATM to supply Guests with cash for new clothes if the First Aiders fail J
  
• New Info kiosk to sell the Priority Passes to impatient guests
  
• New, clean and a well-tiled Toilets

 

Customisation

 

• Players can choose custom colours for Amusement Rides, Scenery, and even Building Pieces.

 

Paths

 

• Placing bins and benches along paths is now simple with the soft snap-to-edge feature
  
• Paths now have an toggle to prevent supports being dropped when the path is raised
  
• Running paths through buildings has never been easier now we have the Align to Grid toggle when laying paths.

 

Guests

 

• Guests throw litter into bin (like b-ball pros!)
  
• Guests sit down at benches when tired
  
• Guests may vomit if they’re nauseous
  
• The new pattern system for guest clothing increases variation
  
• We’ve added more varied body-types to increase the diversity of the crowd
  
• If a guest becomes trapped in busy areas of the park they play a trapped animation
  
• Guests Thoughts now take account of congestion in your park

 

Terrain

 

• Our new Roughen tool allows players of all abilities to sculpt natural-looking noise into the landscape.
  
• We introduce Water including 4 different types of water to suit most requirements with more to come on release.

 

Global

 

• Improvements to the browsers target categories and sub-categories for all items make navigation easier
  
• Improvements to filtering options for theme, materials and sets for targeted browser searching
  
• New multi-select mode allows you to select multiple types of items
  
• Global vertical grid has been made optional, increasing player freedom when placing structures while still offering precision placement you’ve come to expect, with the Vertical Grid moved to a toggle (the default is Off)

 

Lighting/Shader

 

• Significant improvements to the lighting and shader systems
  
  • Real-time, screen space reflection for water and reflective surfaces
    
  • Adaptive exposure gives greater lighting realism when going between dark and light areas.
    
  • Improved lighting makes tunnel darker the deeper they go and prevent surface atmospherics from brightening subterranean areas
    
  • Bounce lighting is more advanced, with rich surfaces reflecting hues upwards to structures built upon them.
    
  • Lights turn on when underground
    
  • Volumetric atmospheric effects, such as cones, appear on placable lights
    
  • HBAO has been improved to occlusion to be visible further from the camera, making the large structures feel far more solid and guests more ground to surfaces.

   

  [*]Added advanced graphics options to allow players greater control over their gaming experience

 

Audio

 

• Obstruction/Occlusion our audio is now aware of the space it is in and will change accordingly!
  
  • Buildings, tunnels and caves will alter the sound according to how you build them.
    
  • Made a huge cave? Well prepare for an echo! Move the camera into a narrow passage and there will be early reflections to simulate such a small enclosed space.
    
  • Sounds that are outside will be muffled, making it much easier to create underground or indoor rides.

   

  [*]We have started adding sounds to special track pieces such as the Drivetrain and Chainlift. This is ongoing.

  [*]We are replacing placeholder sounds, like the mechanical brake noises on magnetic brakes.

  [*]We are beginning to diversify the audio on coasters, which up until now where all using the same sample set.

  [*]The Cloudrunner, Rival, Wendigo and Sprint 500 have bespoke sound design layers.

  [*]Small objects close to the tracks produce little swooshes when a coaster goes by them at speed.

  [*]We have recorded over 46 voice actors for the game, all speaking the language specifically designed for Planet Coaster.

  [*]Previously close-up animations didn’t have any sounds, we’re beginning to add these. This is ongoing.

  [*]Guests in the park react to the sounds that mascots make. Move in closer to King Coaster see the Guest react when he makes noises.

  [*]Not only will players be able to see the happiness of guests at a glance, but they’ll now start to hear them emoting and reacting to their surroundings

  • (Note: this is not just mascots performing – this is coasters racing by, opening new rides, etc.)

   

  [*]Loads more Planco is spoken throughout the park now, replacing placeholder background “walla” layers.

  [*]Added a lot more music to the rides. We personally love the teacups ride, give it a spin!

  [*]We have changed how far music carries (just like in a real park!) so take this into account when placing your rides. Close together for a fairground feel, further apart for that theme park feel.

  [*]We have added layers to existing music, check out the Whirly Rig

  [*]A huge pass on scenery, there are sounds for placing and moving it around and even more pieces of scenery have unique sounds now.

  [*]Loads more bespoke sounds for animated scenery and new scenery pieces.

  [*]New ambient soundest for the desert biome.

 

Game Optimisations

 

• Guest optimisation. Updates now 3-4 times faster and uses half the memory overhead from Alpha 2
  
• Optimisation and LOD pass on all ride and coaster assets
  
• Optimisation and LOD pass on existing scenery and building items
  
• As well as improving the visuals, we optimised materials on rides, coaster cars and tracks by removing the clip material from surfaces that did not require it and moving the alphas onto a separate, smaller texture.
  
• Audio systems now use less resources
  
• Optimised and improved the model renderer system
  
• Optimised and improved the animation rendering system
  
• Optimised and improved the crowd rendering system
  
• Optimised and improved the particle rendering system
  
• Reduced the cost of rendering the reflective shadow maps used to populate light propagation volumes.
  
• Softer shadow filters.
  
• Reduced memory usage of the terrain system.
  
• SIMD optimisations to improve terrain editing performance.

 

Enjoy!

 

Zac

[SixFlagsAstroworld]

I'm so hyped for the game release! This is the best Theme Park game I've seen in my life!

[djackson]

Does anyone know if Planet Coaster will have Expansions like soaked and wild in the future or will they be implemented into the game like with rct3 platinum.

[Dante80]

They have hinted about a possible water park expansion.

 

Btw...I had a weird crash at startup. Removing my keyboard and starting the game solved it lol...

 

Also, five biomes confirmed for launch. Fingers crossed so that we can mix and match them in sandbox.

 

[COASTER FREAK 11]

I really hope that you can, one day, mix them. If you wanted to really make a heavily themed diverse park, we'll need to!

[Dante80]

Btw...the new alpha is slightly bugged (as expected) but ridiculously good. Especially the new lighting shaders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Midgetman82]

Those pictures are sick, especially the last few! I'm loving the new alpha as well. Haven't gotten into making a new park so much as opening old parks and testing the waters. But the new coasters look quite nice!

 

I had some minor new bugs as well, but nothing too severe to detract from gameplay imo. One thing I thought was weird was opening two older parks, and seeing a large mass of people come storming into the park! I'm talking hundreds all at once auto-spawning!

 

Edit: Also, I hope i'm not the only one who plays it, then get's a rare (and out of no where) loud shrieking noise from the game?!

[Cj1990]

I am going to have to download my copy tonight