Play Sim Park online, free Sep 09, 2015 Download this game from Microsoft Store for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows Phone 8. See screenshots, read the latest customer reviews, and compare ratings for Real Roller Coaster Simulator. In an obvious attempt to cash in on the RollerCoaster Tycoon phenomenon, Electronic Arts decided to take what could only have reasonably been called Sim Theme Park 2 and named it SimCoaster.It’s got the same engine, the same core gameplay, and many of the same flaws. Download this game from Microsoft Store for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows Phone 8. See screenshots, read the latest customer reviews, and compare ratings for Real Roller Coaster Simulator. Rollercoaster Tycoon, the beloved theme park sim series that started it all. Build, design, ride and manage your very own theme park.
Overview
A couple of years ago I caught a show on the Discovery Channel about designing and building roller coasters. They went into the intense detail and engineering that is required to put together a modern scream machine and get it off the drawing boards and into reality.
I love riding roller coasters -- the rush of wind and dizzying wrench in the gut when the track drops out from under me on a hairpin curve -- but I know I don’t have the skills to build coasters for real. I was really looking forward to trying my hand at a miniature version in SimCoaster, unfortunately the game suffers from performance problems to the point that most of the enjoyment is thrown out the window like my lunch after a ride on the Tilt-O-Whirl.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
At its heart SimCoaster is a lot of fun. You’re the new kid on the corporate ladder and it is your job to take three theme parks from nothing to the pinnacle of roller coaster filled excitement. You start with a futuristic techno park and as the game progresses you get to expand into a snowy winter theme and an Arabian Nights-style desert park. All three have unique rides and features and each offers a unique challenge when it comes to getting the paying customers through the gates.
When you start the game you’ve got a very simple park layout, a stack of starting capital, and a half dozen rides ready to be built. Your overall goal is to build a profitable park, but to get there you’ll have to overcome several challenges along the way. Some are fairly easy (building up park attendance or selling off an overstock of hot dogs), but some of them get downright nasty -- I still haven’t managed to keep all my staff happy enough for long enough to beat the Employee Happiness Drive.
Beating some of the challenges will require working in all three parks at once. For example, skills that you learn to clear out the swamp in the winter zone are used in the Techno Park to revamp an old lake into a bumper boat ride. To get each promotion during my rise to the top of the company, I found myself constantly switching between the parks -- tweaking ride ticket prices and pushing my staff through ever more complicated improvement projects.
On top of the other challenges you have to keep your research staff busy coming up with new rides and improvements for your existing ones. Failure to keep up with the competition will cause your guests to leave for other parks. My one big complaint with the park research model is that things don’t always move from one park to the next. The overall skills (landscaping, water drainage, etc) can be used across the parks, but after I researched a hot dog stand in one park I still had to spend the time and cash to research it again in the next.
When you’re not working on building your park's value and popularity you can spend time in the Coaster Design Kit. Here you get to take all the track styles in the game and concoct scream machines from your own twisted imagination. Once you’ve created that masterpiece you can take it into your theme park and let your customers go for a spin (if the budget can handle the expense).
Graphics & Audio
Choppy. Disjointed. Slow. These are words you don’t want associated with the audio and video in your games, but that’s exactly what you’ll see here. The truly sad thing about the poor graphics performance is that the 3D modeling doesn’t look all that complicated. The textures are fairly simple and the roller coasters and other attractions look blocky when you select the 'Ride' option to get a virtual experience.
My system cranks out a frame rate of well over 60 FPS (frames per second) playing Quake III at 1024x768 with all the detail options at max, but SimCoaster was hard pressed to do 15 FPS at 640x480 at its medium quality setting. Add to that audio that is constantly stuttering and looping and you’ve got an experience that is akin to when I tried playing Under a Killing Moon on my 486/66
System Requirements
The listed systems requirements (Windows 95/98/ME, Pentium 233 MMX or faster, 32 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, and DirectX 7.0a or later) aren’t all that demanding, but frankly I don’t believe them. Every system I tried the game on had a least double the recommended processor speed but the only system where I saw decent performance was a 800 MHz Pentium III with a top-of-the-line Voodoo card. Even on that system performance was only acceptable at the lowest screen size (640x480). The slowest system I tried was a Celeron 466 and playing SimCoaster there was completely frustrating -- choppy frame rates and broken audio plagued the game constantly.
And that Pentium III that ran the game acceptably? Its also running Windows 2000, an operation system the specs on the box say isn’t supported. I generally don’t expect the minimum system requirements to allow the game to play seamlessly, but when they they’re as far off base as they appear to be with SimCoaster it screams either dishonest marketing or shoddy testing.
Bottom Line
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I enjoy playing SimCoaster, but after fighting its poor video performance and choppy sound for several hours, the game became more frustrating than fun. Underneath all the bugs there is a great game here, but Bullfrog sent it out to the stores way too early. Compared to the other Sim titles developed by Maxis, SimCoaster looks like an illegitimate, redheaded stepchild.
If you’re looking for the depth and quality that we’ve come to expect from the Sim line of games then look elsewhere, as it’s nowhere to be found in this latest entry. Hopefully we’ll be seeing patches in the coming months to correct the performance problems in the game -- the gameplay lurking underneath this buggy exterior deserves better.
Ever since I played Theme Park on my Sega Mega Drive back in the early 90s I have loved games that let you make a theme park. There have been a few over the years, but I honestly think that Planet Coaster here could be the best we have ever had!
If You Build It They Will Come!
The main goal of Planet Coaster is to build the most rad and most awesome and let’s not forget profitable theme park on the planet! You start off with just some land and very few resources at your disposal. Little by little though you will expand your park. Finally getting enough money to get that new ride or make an expansion is a really cool experience.
Mo Money, Mo Problems!
Money management is a big part of Planet Coaster. You will need to take out loans in the early part of the game to be able to buy things to get your park up and running. You also need to pay employees wages and set the price for entry and things inside your park. You can charge sky-high prices for stuff which may sound great at first, but it can make your park patrons not happy and that is the last thing you want.
Building and managing your park gives you a lot of ways to play around. What I liked was how simple the game kept things. While you have a lot of options at your disposal, Planet Coaster never makes you feel overwhelmed.
Your Park, Your Way
The way that the game lets you micromanage every part of your park is really cool. you do not like the color of that gift shop? Well, you can change it. After some thought, you think the carousel would be better on the other side of the park? You can change that too. I got super addicted and was obsessed with my footpaths being just the way I wanted! You can get really in depth with the layout of your park and I found that to be a lot of fun.
What About The Roller Coasters?With a name like Planet Coaster, you know that roller coasters play a huge part in the game. You have all kinds of roller coasters that you can make. There are some pre-made ones which are great for your first couple. These are made in different styles so there is plenty of variety with the default coasters.The real fun though comes from making your own coasters! You can make them faster than a jet engine, crazy high and have more loops than it should. There is a delicate balancing act as you need to make the roller coaster fun, but if you have your riders puking or if it lasts too long their excitement and happy level will go down. There is a lot of trial and error with the roller coaster building, but that is a huge part of the fun.
Three Game Modes
I was surprised that Planet Coaster did not just have one game mode. Challenge Mode is the mode that is most like a game like Theme Park. Career Mode will set you different challenges as you play, make and run your park. Sandbox is a mode where you can go nuts and just do whatever you want!
I think that Planet Coaster is a truly fantastic game. It is the best evolution of the theme park building sim that I have seen. It is very easy to get the hang of, but they have made it so the UI and all of the things you can do are very easy to learn. If you love games like Theme Park, Sim City, and other building type games. Planet Coaster is a game that you have to play. Just be warned, you are going to get very, very addicted to this game!
Pros:
- The visuals are much nicer than they needed to be
- Tons of choice for creating the dream coaster
- Run your park your way!
- Offers you three different game modes
- Offers hundreds of hours of fun!
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Cons:
- It is easy to get addicted to this game
- Getting your dream coaster just right can be a little tricky at first