Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Features

Fully 3D Environment
Roller Coaster Tycoon had simple, pleasant graphics. A few years later when Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 was released, most fans of the series were dissapointed to find that the graphics looked the same as the original. This time around however, the graphics are taking a huge boost and switching to a 3d Game engine. This means more detail everywhere, especially as far as lighting is concerned. Fans have long been requesting night time for the Roller Coaster Tycoon series and they are finally getting it. All the other bells and whistles you would expect from 3D are there too: shadows, textures, reflections.

Coaster Cam
Another benefit of the fully 3D graphics is the new coaster cam. Mounted on the front of every roller coaster, you can get a first person view with the click of a button.

Shows And Attractions
RCT3 steps into new territory this time around by adding shows and attractions to the parks. Guests line up and fill the bleachers to watch events such as the Wild West Stunt show. I'm assuming there will be more.

Fireworks Mixmaster
Fireworks are now confirmed for Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, coupled with the fireworks mixmaster. Fireworks shows can be created to attract guests and increase their happiness. Using the mixmaster you can sync up your shows to either in game music, or mp3 files that you choose to import into the game.

Sounds Like Fun
The new speaker object allows you to choose sound effects, music, and even mp3 files from your harddrive and have them play from the speaker for that location in the park. That means you can use music to help create a mood even without having a ride in the area. Should open up lots of doors for creativity with your parks.

Greater Guests And AI
Rememeber in Roller Coaster Tycoon how guests would get lost if your paths were too wide? Ever notice that they all looked like men? Well no longer will either of these be a problem. In fact, you're not likely to find any two guests in your park that look exactly the same. Guests now range from men and women to children and teens. The way they act and think about your park has changed too. Simulating real life, guests now visit the park in groups such as families, teens, couples, and tour groups. This will effect the types of rides they go on, the areas of the park they enjoy more, and possibly what types of things they purchase. You can also create your own groups and watch how they act as they visit your park. The way your guests view your park is also more realistic now. They will no longer be satisfied with a mix of scenary and theming scattered everywhere. Theming plays a much higher role, so keeping in with themes and styles for certain areas of the park, much like many real life theme parks, is the best way to build.

Sandbox Mode
Do you want to just build a park and not have to worry about managing your money? Now you can. Sandbox mode takes off money and time limits in order to just let you mess around and have most. Most of the rides and scenery will already be unlocked at the start of your game, and more become unlocked as you reach certain goals.

Plenty Of Rides
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 is going to feature most of the rides that were available in the previous Roller Coaster Tycoon release only this time they are much more detailed and interesting. For rides such as bumper cars and carousals you'll actually be able to see your guests riding and enjoying (or disliking) the rides instead of just seeing the ride from a closed top view.

Manage Your Staff
This time around you'll have to be aware of the happiness levels of your staff, on top of managing the park for your guests. Your handymen, security guards, entertainers, and repair men will need to be kept content with their job. This will likely be affected by their wages, and possibly how much of the park they are assigned to work.

Theming And Customization
On top of being able to control colors and place scenary objects like in the earlier RCT titles, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 will aso feature theming for the rides. There will be 5 themes available to players including Science Fiction, Adventure, Spooky, Pirates, and Western. The rides also come in unthemed "Vanilla" versions. New themes will likely come out in expansion packs later after the release of the game.

Construction
The way you build your parks has taken a few steps forward as well. While you can still design coasters in the same way as before, you can also choose to do it in first person perspective to help you make choice and see just how your coaster is going to turn out. You are no longer required to make changes to the shape of the ground before building on it. That means that if you have built an area of your park already and want to make some landscaping modifications you can go right ahead. A nice change over the older versions where you would have to do remove anything that sat on a tile where you wanted to shift the ground.