Planet Coaster

Planet Coaster
Developer(s) Frontier Developments
Publisher(s) Frontier Developments
Director(s) James Dixon
Producer(s)
  • Richard Newbold
  • Steve Wilkins
Designer(s) Andrew Fletcher
Programmer(s) Oscar Cooper
Artist(s)
  • John Laws
  • Matthew Preece
  • Marc Cox
  • Sam Denney
Composer(s)
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)

‹See Tfd›

  • WW: 17 November 2016
Genre(s) Construction and management simulation
Mode(s) Single-player

Planet Coaster is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Frontier Developments for Microsoft Windows, which released in November 2016. The game is a spiritual successor to the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, with the third game in that series having been previously developed by Frontier.

Gameplay

Guests riding a pirate ship ride

Planet Coaster is a construction and management simulation video game. Similar to its spiritual predecessor, the game allows players to build different theme park rides and roller-coasters. These player-created attractions can be shared through a mechanic called "global village".[1] The game also comes with ten mascots.[2]

Before starting the game, the player must create their own avatar. Afterwards, the player could choose between three game modes: sandbox, challenge, and career. Similar to Frontier's previous game, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, the sandbox mode enables players to construct their own theme park on an empty plot of land. In the challenge mode, the player must construct an amusement park on an empty lot (like sandbox mode) but with limited funds. In the career mode, the player must complete smaller things than in the challenge mode such as constructing unfinished roller coasters or hiring janitors.[3] First unveiled at EGX 2016, the game also features a dedicated mode called the "crash mode" which allows players to construct incomplete coasters and let them crash into the park's visitors.[4]

Development

Before the development of Planet Coaster, Frontier Developments had developed several other construction and management simulation video games, including 2004's commercial and critical success RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, which sold almost 10 million copies.[5] Planet Coaster serves only as a spiritual successor to RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 instead of a direct sequel, as the company considered the use of the brand Tycoon "didn’t carry the cachet anymore" due to the releases of mainly poorly-received Tycoon games in recent years.[6][7]

The game was announced on 29 January 2015 by Frontier Developments.[8] Originally called Coaster Park Tycoon, the game was renamed into Planet Coaster on 16 June 2015 during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2015.[9] Frontier Developments aimed to turn the game into the company's second self-published franchise, along with the Elite series.[10] The game uses an advanced version of Cobra Engine, which is an in-house proprietary engine developed by Frontier previously used by games like Elite Dangerous and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3.[5] Features confirmed for the game include a hybrid spline/piece-by-piece coaster builder, modular structure building, a voxel terrain editor among others detailed through Q&A's and "Dev Diaries."[11] On the second live stream, the release date of the alpha was announced. Released on 22 March 2016, the alpha emphasized on modular building and paths. The alpha contained two themes: "Planet Coaster" and "Pirate". Although disabled by default, Coaster Building was included in the first alpha through a cheat code.[12]

On 24 May 2016, Frontier released the second alpha build. This build included finances, terrain tools, improved path building, and the official release of a coaster builder.[13] Also, on 25 August, Frontier discontinued further alpha purchases.[14] On 24 September, Frontier announced at EGX 2016 that players who had pre-ordered the "Thrillseeker Edition" would be able to test the game that October.[4][15] At Gamescom 2016, Frontier announced that the game would be released on 17 November 2016.[16] The game's soundtrack, composed by Jim Guthrie and JJ Ipsen, was released simultaneously with the game's release.[17] The game was released with Denuvo's anti-tamper technology.[18][19]

To record the audio for the game, sound designer Watson Wu took over the Holiday World & Splashin' Safari theme park in Santa Claus, Indiana to record the sounds of various attractions.[20] Guests in the park speak their own fictional language, known as "Planco".[11][21]

Downloadable content

After the release of the game, Frontier announced they would include a flat ride in a "Holiday Update." The ride was determined by a community vote.[22]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic84/100[23]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Game Informer8.25/10[24]
IGN8.5/10[25]
PC Gamer (US)75/100[26]

Pre-release

The game was met with praise upon release of the alpha. Andy Kelly of PC Gamer commented that Frontier was "off to a tremendous start", adding that creating buildings with the creation tools hinted at "immense possibilities".[27] However, Mark Walton of Ars Technica noted several small flaws including the "hard to navigate" menus and the lack of custom built roller coasters.[28] On 27 April 2016, about a month after the release of the alpha, Frontier announced that Planet Coaster had grossed nearly two million dollars.[29]

Release

Matt Wales of Eurogamer recommended the game, concluding that the game is "the finest simulator yet".[30] Meanwhile, Ben Reeves of Game Informer praised the game for its creative mode but criticized the game's career mode, referring it to as "boring" and "tedious".[24] TJ Hafer of IGN compared the game's integration of Steam Workshop to Minecraft and Second Life.[25] In a critical review of the game, Jody Macgregor of PC Gamer praised the game's challenge mode but criticized the game for not innovating enough from RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. The original score (70/100) was retracted due to miscommunication between Frontier Developments and PC Gamer with the game version they received; its reevaluated score is 75/100.[26]

Sales

Upon release, the game topped the Steam "top sellers" charts.[31]

References

  1. ↑ Greene, Gavin (16 June 2015). "Elite: Dangerous studio debuts Planet Coaster theme-park simulator (update)". VentureBeat. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Livingston, Christopher (25 November 2016). "The Planet Coaster mascots ranked from worst to best". PC Gamer. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Harker, Clover (19 November 2016). "Gamereactor UK". www.gamereactor.eu. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 Minotti, Mike (24 September 2016). "Planet Coaster announces a mode dedicated to crashes". VentureBeat. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  5. 1 2 Campbell, Colin (22 June 2015). "Planet Coaster is getting ready for a big ride". Polygon. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  6. ↑ Lopez, Jason (16 June 2015). "Roller Coaster Tycoon spiritual PC successor Planet Coaster announced". GameZone. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Hutchinson, Lee (18 June 2015). "Elite: Dangerous developers talk to Ars about Planet Coaster". Ars Technica. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  8. ↑ Cassidee Moser (29 January 2015). "Frontier Announces Coaster Park Tycoon for 2016". IGN. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  9. ↑ Wilde, Tyler (16 June 2015). "Frontier announces Planet Coaster with trailer". PC Gamer. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Matt Purslow (29 January 2015). "Frontier Developments lay-off fifteen staff, Coaster Park Tycoon announced". PCGamesN. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  11. 1 2 Developments, Frontier (11 November 2016). "How Planet Coaster takes SIM gaming to exciting new levels of realism (Paid content by Frontier Developments)". Mashable. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  12. ↑ Tucker, Jake. "Planet Coaster Reinvents The Theme Park Genre". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  13. ↑ Wales, Matt (24 May 2016). "Planet Coaster's Alpha 2 Arrives with Landscaping, VFX and Sexy Paths". Kotaku UK. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Purslow, Matt (26 July 2016). "Planet Coaster will require Steam and use the Workshop for community creations". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  15. ↑ Doctor, V (27 September 2016). "'Planet Coaster' Crash Mode Trailer, News & Update: What Happens When a Roller Coaster Goes Off The Rails?". Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  16. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (17 August 2016). "Planet Coaster out this November". Eurogamer. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  17. ↑ Slingerland, Calum (18 October 2016). "Jim Guthrie & JJ Ipsen to Release Score for 'Planet Coaster' Videogame". Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  18. ↑ "Planet Coaster z wymaganiami sprzętowymi i Denuvo" (in Polish). 26 August 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  19. ↑ Saed, Sherif (8 November 2016). "Dishonored 2 Steam page reveals the use of Denuvo DRM". VG247.com. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  20. ↑ Paget, Mat (20 November 2016). "To record Planet Coaster's audio, a sound designer took over an entire theme park". pcgamer. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  21. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (17 August 2016). "Whooooo! Planet Coaster Rolling Out In November". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  22. ↑ Stougie, Leon (22 November 2016). "Planet Coaster nieuws: Holiday Update voor Planet Coaster laat spelers een gratis nieuwe attractie kiezen". GamersNET (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  23. ↑ "Planet Coaster". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  24. 1 2 Reeves, Ben (22 November 2016). "Planet Coaster Review – A Walk In The Theme Park". Game Informer. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  25. 1 2 Hafer, T. J. (23 November 2016). "Planet Coaster Review". IGN. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  26. 1 2 Macgregor, Jody (17 November 2016). "Planet Coaster review". pcgamer. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  27. ↑ Kelly, Andy. "Planet Coaster: hands-on with Frontier's theme park sim". PC Gamer. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  28. ↑ Walton, Mark. "Planet Coaster: A theme park sim so good its developers forgot to develop it". Ars Technica. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  29. ↑ Walker, Alex. "Planet Coaster Has Nearly Made $2 Million Already". www.kotaku.com.au. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  30. ↑ Wales, Matt (21 November 2016). "Planet Coaster review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  31. ↑ "PC download charts: 'Planet Coaster', 'Dishonored 2'". 23 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.

See also

External links

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