KillerChiller

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this! I'm glad to have people read this who play the game and understand the process. You have some good advice. It was definitely a learning experience too. Custom scenery would be very helpful. In the past I've been too lazy to really look into it, however in the future I would like to if I ever get the time to do this again. I've never really done much custom scenery except a little bit in RCT3, and I used to use a website called modstothemax on games like Ultimate Ride Disney Coaster many years ago. Planet Coaster seems like a great game, years ago I pre-ordered a game I was very excited for at the time... Roller Coaster Tycoon World. I haven't played it much. So you've built GA on RCT2 before, I can see! And it sounds like you've done the whole park?

Oh yeah, custom scenery changes the game to a whole different level than I think even Chris Sawyer imagined when he programmed the game. For instance, it's astounding how much the game opens up as a design tool when you can build details on quarters of a tile instead of being forced to use a full tile as the smallest build space (it's how a lot of my Fort/Runaway Mine Train re-creation was built, a lot of quarter tile objects are at work there!)

Yeah, I heard RCTW tanked in spectacular fashion. It's a real shame that they seemed to miss the mark with that one. Its rather amazing that the original RCT and RCT2 have been able to stand the test of time better than the two sequels that have succeeded them, particularly because -- as you said in your original post -- it's a 2D sprite-based game limited to four isometric views. I suppose that's what it means to be a classic, haha.

Yes, I am currently in the process of building a 2006 re-creation of Great Adventure in RCT2, I have been working on it on-and-off for the past 12 years (but that's more indicative of my procrastination, and the evolution of the RCT2 community's skills that -- over those years -- have presented solutions to problems I otherwise would have never thought possible in the game) It's around 77-80% completed now. Now that I can actually build consistently again since I migrated all my files to a new computer, I'm hoping to finally have it completed and released by the end of this year.

If you click the link in my signature it will take you to it's topic at GADV.com's Forums. I don't want to clutter up your topic with my own pictures, but I am considering starting my own topic for it here in hopes of gaining additional references / feedback from that specific year.

KC

I've wondered what the scale of Great Adventure Scenario in RCT2 is to the real park

I have tried for years to figure that out, but so much is just completely backwards that it's extremely difficult to tell. They got the gist of the landscape right, but the peep's (or guests) themselves are roughly 5 feet, (and each unit of measurement is in increments of five) but so many of the buildings and ride footprints do not even attempt to follow this scaling architecture. The scale is just all over the place in the default RCT2 scenario and landscape.

As a kid one of my favorite memories was when my dad handed me the Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, Six Flags computer game. This probably got me into theme parks, and over a decade later I still play it. If you’ve ever played this version of the game than you know that some of the Six Flags parks are recreated as a scenario. Great Adventure is in there, but it always bothered me how inaccurate it was. Like it just felt like no love or passion was put into this place that is so awesome.

Ah! A kindred spirit!

So I decided that I wanted to make my own, but rather than re-create a modern version, go for a simpler version the way the park appeared in its opening season. I spent a few hours a day for about 3 weeks. I’m pretty proud of the results but I made a few goofs and there’s always room for improvement.

How I did it:

So I spent a decent amount of time framing what was and wasn’t there using the spotlights on this site. The yearbook was my main frame of reference. Sometimes I printed out photos, other times I sketched out diagrams on paper and for some of the modern-day remaining features I went by memory.

The spotlights here are an absolute LIFESAVER, aren't they?

It was not easy replicating things in this game. Although it’s in 3D, a player is given only given four angles of perspective and you can’t construct anything on an angle except for 90 degrees. The controls aren’t the simplest either. Any time I wanted to place down an elevated wall section, I had to hold down shift and slide it into place. It’s long and tedious.

Eh, you get used to it...

...After 15 years of hardcore playing, it'll become second nature.

I also had to make a lot of judgement calls on what things to keep and what things to redesign to look aesthetically pleasing in such a simple game. I started from scratch using the game’s scenario editor. Every tree, every piece of path, every track was crafted in the game manually by me.

Yup, that will happen when you re-create in RCT2; it definitely becomes an exercise in executive decision making.

Biggest suggestion I can make when it comes to building in RCT2: don't worry about diagonals. Instead, "play by the game's rules" so to speak. Map everything out as if it had to be on a 90 degree angle. Yes, this will cause some pain and heartache (I'm sweating bullets about the Movietown curvature myself as I install Lakefront into my rec), but it will end up looking much better and probably lay out better overall if you only worry about things that are facing dramatically different directions.

 

Runaway Train, custom built. The game’s version is very inaccurate so I did it myself. Guests seem to really like it. I used a Circus as the attraction for the Great Arena. So one big glitch in the game is that guests don’t do well with dead ends like the one that’s in the Fort. I ended up having to build a tunnel that goes under the lake to the entrance. You can see that in the next shot.

 

The Guest AI is definitely wonky at times. Good job figuring out a place to use what we call a "rabbit hole" to get them out of the trouble area.

Yum Yum Palace was a pain to build but I made it work.

Yum Yum Palace is hands down the most frustrating building to recreate from the park in RCT2, and I say that having used custom scenery for mine! Bravo for your attempt using default scenery coming out as well as it did!

It ended up exceeding my expectations all things considered. Some things I goofed up on and others weren’t in my control. One day I might try and do a better version on a newer Roller Coaster Tycoon game.

That's what matters, and I wish more people just built for themselves. If I had to suggest a platform if you move on, Planet Coaster would be the way to go if possible. Some of the things people have made in that look absolutely incredible! Of course, in my biased opinion, I would say stick with RCT2 and see what else you can conjure up. You have a very solid RCT2 skill-base; the creative solution of representing the hot air balloon with an observation deck was great! I would suggest trying to find some custom scenery and seeing what you can add with a second version, and then a third and so on. Just my two cents though. Great job on a very unique RCT2 project! Hope to see more work from you in the future!

KC

Heh, I love how the back-story makes perfect sense and has a hint of Time Warner's theming attentiveness for SFNE but is the most lame-brained move for GADV. It's right along the lines of something Premier Parks would've pulled when they owned the parks before they caught on with Ka and Toro. I mean, the "crown jewel" park of the chain can't even get a legit back-story for it's ride refurb? Did it really have to be Bizzaro Superman? Priority failure?

Lolz at Chiller's scenery getting TLC after they remove the ride...

Chiller when it was around. I'd have a blast messing with riders in the overhead control room, launching them when they're not expecting it!

This. I did all that and then some when I was up in that booth (like using all 5 of the good lines from the crappy source material as launch spiels. I must've watched that movie like five times in April looking for lines. Oh the things I did for that ride... )

That's easy. Hands down Cables.

Cables would've been awesome when I worked there if it wasn't for the need to catch the damn cars...