RollerCoaster Tycoon (Windows)

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Description

Rollercoaster Tycoon is a real-time isometric amusement park simulation, in which the player takes the role of a theme park manager, creating rides and attractions to amuse his guests, as well as shops and stalls in case the guests are hungry.

Ride stats differ, with some being gentle and meant for "waking up" tired guests, and others being rather intense. Each and every guest has his own excitement and nausea tolerance, which will reflect on the rides' popularity and the park's tidiness. Hence, handymen are employed. Rides can also break down, and some of them can even crash, leading to a tragic ending. Mechanics can be employed to inspect rides for possible errors and to fix already broken rides. Security guards prevent vandalism in their line of sight, and entertainers keep guests happy while waiting in a long queue line.

Guests are also impressed if there is some wonderful scenery scattered around the park, leading to an increase in the park rating. They all have their opinion on the park, so it is a good idea to check their thoughts every now and then, as the park rating depends on the guests' satisfaction.

All these features require money. Loan can be raised from a bank, but the more one borrows, the more the bank asks in return. Certain rides, or even the park itself, can also be advertised, while vouchers are also available for discounts or free rides or food.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "过山车大亨" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
• "White Knuckle" -- Working title
• "RCT" -- Common abbreviation
• "Guoshanche Daheng" -- Chinese title

Part of the Following Groups

• Covermount: Fullgames
• Games made into books
• Microprose Tycoon series
• RollerCoaster Tycoon series
• Theme: Amusement park
• Video games turned into board / card games

User Reviews

Simple, elegant, and (most importantly) fun!	Afterburner (477)
Please someone pull me away from this game. I cant stop playing!	William Shawn McDonie (1088)
If it were up to me, it would be game of the year for at *least* three years!	Meg C (7)
(One part Bullfrog's Theme Park + One part Disney's Coaster ) over Micrpose's Transport Tycoon's Interface = Rollar Coaster Tycoon and a lot of fun	Andrew Grasmeder (205)
Everything one could want in a theme-park simulation	Null McNull (29)
Greatness takes time.	Horny-Bullant (56)
A great way to kill time	Jennifer Johnson (15)
A terrific, classic game any gamer will be addicted to	Rick Jones (108)
One of the best games ever!!	Wolfang (133)
A Sim game for those who don't like a ton of micro-management.	Chris Martin (1094)

Critic Reviews

Game Revolution	Mar 01, 1999	A	100
GameGenie	1999		100
FiringSquad	Apr 30, 1999	90 out of 100	90
Adrenaline Vault, The (AVault)	Apr 19, 1999		90
GameTrip.net	Aug 29, 2013	9 out of 10	90
Gameplay (Benelux)	Apr 30, 1999	85 out of 100	85
IGN	Apr 02, 1999	8.5 out of 10	85
Power Play	Mar, 1999	80 out of 100	80
JeuxVideoPC.com	Oct 08, 2001	15 out of 20	75
PC Joker	Mar, 1999	74 out of 100	74

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Trivia

RCT's format is to give you five possible scenarios to play. Each time you successfully complete a scenario, a new scenario becomes available. Interestingly, there is no "sandbox mode" (i.e a blank landscape where you can simply build an amusement park without having to worry about meeting scenario requirements) until you complete all the scenarios. Once you complete all the scenarios, a "Megapark" scenario becomes available. Equally interesting, and running completely counter to prevailing marketing wisdom in the computer game industry, RCT doesn't come with a scenario editor. This has prompted the fans of the game to make up for these perceived deficiencies, and there are 3rd-party, fan-created programs available on the Internet that will let you play any scenario, or let you play in unrestricted sandbox mode, or let you create your own scenarios.

But for reasons which have never been adequately explained (at least, not that I've seen), Chris Sawyer seems to really really dislike 3rd-party, fan-created add-ons to Roller Coaster Tycoon. He regularly puts out patch updates for the game, many of which serve no other purpose than to defeat the 3rd-party, fan-created programs. Of course, the same fans who created the 3rd-party programs in the first place quickly release updated versions of their programs, versions which will work around the latest patch. Thus resulting in an ongoing, never-ending war of escalation between Chris Sawyer and the fans of his game.

Related Web Sites

• RollerCoaster Tycoon | Wikipedia (Information about the game at Wikipedia.)