Enchanted Forest Recreation – RCT2

[ThemeParkRider]

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. 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.

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.

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.

 

Building it from start to finish:

So I built Rootin’ Tootin’ first. Because it was a scenario editor, I couldn’t build any rides. This meant that for the Fort, for example, I had to pre-designate a spot for the Sky Ride to go. I did this by marking the ground with different colors of land.

The tents were hard because there’s no real 3D canvas structure in the game. Once the park opened I did end up putting souvenir shops inside all of them. The only way to fit them was by lowering the elevation of the land, so most of the structures like Tower of Pizza also have this.

The Aqua Spectacle was one of the easier structures. I ended up putting a 3D theater inside the arena, which doesn’t look at all like the actual thing but served the purpose for guests. Incidentally this is one of the few structures I did from memory, although it won’t exist starting next season.

Here you can see how I marked out the antique cars using a different colored ground. I made the mistake of not placing enough space in-between the fountain and the other parts of Dream Street. A lot of the things got squeezed too close together. Happy Feeling didn’t really translate well so that became more of a garden and food area.

 

So once I completed constructing the scenario I had to take some time to get the park running and patching some issues that I looked over when making it. One thing I looked over was that there are no diagonals. So I had to compensate by building this weird looking layout on the Sky Ride.

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.

I didn’t really know what the parking lot was like so I didn’t build this path. I ended up having to add other scenery and a tram so guests wouldn’t get bored/tired and would actually want to see the rest of the park.

There’s no hot air balloon in this game so I used an observation tower.

Yum Yum Palace was a pain to build but I made it work. I barely fit ride-o-rama into the space.

Wasn’t quite sure how to approach Swiss Bob but the closest I could get was by making a very small looping coaster design and putting it on a low-speed launch with multiple cycles. Ended up being another hit with the guests.

You can’t really see but I made Garden of Marvels a golf course. Not sure why, but wasn’t a huge hit with the guests.

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. I started a project on Disney’s Tomorrowland a few months ago but I haven’t worked on that in a while. I’ll have some more pics of this project posted in the gallery if you’re interested.

If anyone has any recommendations on the details/accuracy they’d like to comment on or just general feedback I’d love to know.

And of course I want to thank Harry and Tom and anyone else who helped get all the involved historical info together because I probably wouldn’t have even fathomed this idea if it weren’t for greatadventurehistory.

Also Fgcassady did an awesome recreation of GA in Minecraft, just by coincidence a few days before I posted this, so check that out.

 

 

 

[29yrswithaGApass]

Wow, that is fantastic! And of course, I love that you went with the earliest days of the park. The screenshots are great and it must be really cool to watch the game play out and see how the guests traverse the park.

 

You guys have a lot a patience putting these mock-ups together but I am sure just like this site you sort of get hooked on it!

[Pineracer]

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

[Mr.Six]

I've started a 1995 RCT3 GADV recreation. It's looking okay so far. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

[ThemeParkRider]

That's awesome, can't wait to see it!

[Mr.Six]

I have Scream Machiene, Rolling Thunder and the parachutes done so far.

[KillerChiller]

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.

 

The tents were hard because there’s no real 3D canvas structure in the game. Once the park opened I did end up putting souvenir shops inside all of them. The only way to fit them was by lowering the elevation of the land, so most of the structures like Tower of Pizza also have this.

 

 

That is a pretty good job on those, especially considering you are using original scenery. I do admit, it is quite shocking when you realize just how many things weren't included with the base game. Thank goodness for RCT2's ability to have custom scenery!

 

 

So once I completed constructing the scenario I had to take some time to get the park running and patching some issues that I looked over when making it. One thing I looked over was that there are no diagonals. So I had to compensate by building this weird looking layout on the Sky Ride.

 

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

 

[ThemeParkRider]

That is a pretty good job on those, especially considering you are using original scenery. I do admit, it is quite shocking when you realize just how many things weren't included with the base game. Thank goodness for RCT2's ability to have custom scenery!

 

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.

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

 

 

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?

[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

Edited May 30, 2017 by KillerChiller

[ThemeParkRider]

Awesome, I'll check it out!