Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 - 10 hour Review

[Raedon]

I'm a nut for RCT 1. Those games really wasted my time when I wasn't
playing Everquest. :) The gameplay was fun, the park challanges were
amazing!


But this is about RCT 3, and I'll start off by saying this game could have
been something AMAZING. Could have been..


This game is yet another BUG-gy game pushed out the door to meet a
deadline. It's become the PC game tradition, "release it, and they will come
but patch will come after you come!" In the world of the one release
console DVD no updates needed, this type of flim-flam razzle-dazzle just
makes me feel.. hoodwinked? I mean, I can understand a small bug like the
Minus world.. but this is just sad..



Ok.. This is RCT3.. all the rides are set to FREE as is the park and are
BRAND new.. What is wrong with this picture?


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/bigbrother_200uk/queues.jpg

Yep, there is a bug here.. no matter WHAT you do people will not ride your
attractions. So you can't make money so you loose.


And this is just the big bug..

This is a Major release! RTC3!! What the hell is going on!! *RUNS AROUND*


Other bugs.. PEEPS (people at the park) stop and stare at nothing.
happens all the time. Pick them up and they run back and stand around..
they just get mad and your park rating drops to nothing.. making the game
UNPLAYABLE!!! :angry:


Like to Micromanage? well, all your staff has to be trained by you every 30
minutes or so. not only that but they are lazy. You can put 4 rides down
and 6 servicemen in a world.. something breaks and never.. gets.. fixed..


Speaking of breaking, rides fall apart sure, but now even the KIOSK
breaks.. Some guy drops some maps and you need a serviceman there.
Burger problem.. serviceman..


This could have really been something to. The jump to 3D was perfect
and being able to ride your coasters is amazing.


SLAP AN ATARI LOGO ON THIS BUG AND SHIP IT!!!

[mikeetler]

Did you download the Beta Patch in the official RCT forums? It fixes a number of issues (though not all) including the non-riding peeps. Only catch is it won't work with saved games. I agree that something went seriously wrong and it really looks like the game went gold before being beta tested.

-Mike

[Raedon]

You are looking at the Beta patch review. heh.. a BETA patch..

[Iron Draggon]

What are your system specs? I'm still very curious why some people have this problem while others don't. It hasn't happened to me yet, and I don't have the patch installed. So I'm wondering why the game works so well for me.

My specs:

Compaq 8000T Desktop
Intel Pentium IV 3.0GHZ
800MHZ FSB Hyperthreading
128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AGP
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy LS
512MB PC3200 DDR RAM
Windows XP Pro SP2
DirectX 9.0c
Compaq FS7550 Monitor
(1024 X 768 X 32 @ 100HZ)

I'm running the game at the above resolution with ALL OPTIONS MAXED and the only thing that's happened to me so far is a few random crashes.

[Raedon]

game "runs" fine. 1600x1200 2xAA and never get slowdown and the game has never crashed..

2.4ghz XP nforce 2 mobo 1.5gig ram usual 6.1 sound Radeon 9800 pro..






.. and I know they will get it all fixed in a few patches but this is just sloppy.

Whats next? They get the 3d engine and options up, one map and you buy the game?

The fact that the game hit shelves with blatant flaws, not crashes or 3D
glitches but gameplay flaws is unforgivable.

[Joelius]

That definatly sucks...thanks for the review, i was contemplating on getting that game!

[Raedon]

just a little FYI:

Look at what gaming mags/internet review sites gave this a good rating and it will tell
you who you should read and who has no idea.

[Raedon]

IGN final quote:


Yeah, there are some bugs and problems with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3.
Were they enough to stop my fun? Not really. They certainly can be frustrating
at times. It's not particularly nice feeling helpless when none of your rides have
any peeps in line and you have no idea why.


But when it comes to the creative aspect of the game, it's hard to find much
fault.


How about the fact that you can't complete the career mode as shipped there IGN?

It's like reading a reviewer with a gun to his head, "Everything is fine.. I'm,..
Good.. They say my head gets chopped off in 24 hours but all is well.. I
just needed to say they are great guys to live.."

[Raedon]

I got to using the building designer and coaster designer last night to take a
deeper look at the backbone of the game and they are just so solid. The
coaster auto-complete was on my wish list for RCT1 and there it is..




If they fix this game in the next two weeks I will recommend it.

[mikeetler]

You are looking at the Beta patch review. heh.. a BETA patch..

Either I'm not getting your joke or you're missing the point. It's a Beta patch as in it's not a Final patch. It was quickly thrown together to address some of the more serious issues and complaints (ie non-bugs that there was a lot of negative feedback on). Since it's not considered "final", there is no tech support and it's not available through the "check for updates" feature in the game. The point it, it works. So if you're having problems with no peeps on your rides, the answer is there.

-Mike