October 31, 2005.: Trick or treat! I've got a treat for you. I've updated my very first scenario especially for Halloween. The new version is called, logically enough Bald Mountain 2005. This time around it using MidwestBoyInLA and ilgmk's Lord of the Rings scenery, the UCES Autumn Leaves pack and some of MBLA's Harry Potter scenery just for good measure.

I hope your peeps are ready to party!

March 6, 2005: Green Zone does not exactly conjure up images of a theme park. A kickin' track pack is probably not the first thing that pops into mind when you hear "Full Tactical Array".

You're not in Amity Airfield anymore, Dorothy. You're not in Kansas, either. You're in Emerald City II! Don't miss this one, it's the best work I've done since "The Magic Academy," LOL! The track pack is my biggest (25 - yes - 25 rides), most heavily themed pack ever. You could probably play the scenario twice just with this pack and never repeat a ride.

September 12, 2004: Welcome back! The Magic Academy is now in session. School's open, drive those Magic Brooms carefully! This new scenario is my most elaborate ever. I tried to break some new ground in scenario play. It features MidwestBoyInLA's Harry Potter scenery, available at RCTMart.com. Dowload it, try it and discuss it in the forum!

A scenario as loaded as this one deserves some nice rides. Spunknit and Neeltje have kicked things off with some nice work. See Spunkit's exciting new release. Please also visit Spunknit's Coaster Corner on RCTMart.com. Her other work is located there. I have started a Rides Page for the scenario. Neeltje's "Wizard Golf" is the first item.

July 21, 2004: My gracious host, RCTMart, has set up a forum for The Dig Site. So if you'd like to hurl some pies, go ahead. I'm hungry. :)   Comments, feedback and suggestions are welcome, too.

July 20, 2004: A nomad wandering in the wilderness, are you. Hmmm...wisdom in 900 years you may achieve.

Thanks, Yoda! I needed that. The Dig Site is now in its third home. A fond wave to my mates at the departed URCT site, my former host. I wish you all well. A big "Thank you" to MidwestBoyInLA for graciously bailing me out of my hostless purgatory, and welcoming me to RCTMart. I'm glad to be here, and hope that my content will continue to be helpful to the RCT community.

I have nothing new on the site at this time. If you've seen it before at the previous location, it's all the same. But don't count me out completely. You never know...

February 9, 2004: I actually built a complete park! Oh my, what's up with that? It was a nice change of pace. While it did not win any awards, I was happy with my effort. Pictures and download are in the Candy Dreamland page.

Finally, we come to the end - or should I say the beginning? I have written what will probably be my last strategy article for RCT2. It's called Conquering Crazy Castle, a strategy guide for the very first scenario in the game. Read it and you'll understand why I felt the best place to end was at the beginning.

Working on this site has been an absolute blast, from its inception until now. I have become aquainted with a whole bunch or really great folks, whom I never would have met otherwise. The site led to my participation in the UCES project, which was an amazing experience. I am so proud of everybody in the group, and what we were able to accomplish.

I have been delighted by the reception that my site has received by the RCT2 community. Honestly, I didn't know quite what to expect when I started. To see my work referenced as often as it has...well, it leaves me speechless.

So is this it? Am I done? Maybe not, since I still play the game, just not as frequently these days. Should the spirit move me, I may come back. I'll still be visiting the forums. As always, your comments and feedback are invited and appreciated.

Happy tycooning!

- Fossil

October 17, 2003: Has it been that long since an update? Sad but true. If you've been following the RCT2 news, you may know that I was hard at work on the User Created Expansion Set project. The project is complete, finally! If you have not yet done so, I encourage you to check it out. We worked really hard to bring you a worthwhile expansion to Roller Coaster Tycoon 2.

It may take me awhile to decompress and recover, but I've written up a few mental notes about three scenarios from the project, two solo outings and one joint effort. My UCES Notes may give you a little insight into the thinking that went into the design of these scenarios.

Fossil wanders off into the warm tropical night, mumbling something about islands filled with dragons....

July 17, 2003: Welcome to my new home. The gang at URCT made me an offer I couldn't refuse, so here I am!

Hey you...yeah you....this is Tony Soprano. I gotta a rep-u-ta-tion to protect. You're not gonna re-fuse me now, are yous?

Anything you say, Mr. Soprano. Here I am.

The decision to move was pretty easy. Angelfire took the old site down six times in the last two days for "excessive bandwidth consumption." Zentrait and Company came knocking at the same time, promising me more bandwidth than the worlds's fattest rock-'n'-rollers (snare drum rim shot puleeze).

OK, there is no update this month. I've been busy - really busy - with the UCES (User Created Expansion Set) project. I don't want you to go away completely empty-handed, so...here it is folks...the first sneak peak of a UCES scenario! Don't tell anybody...it's a secret.

June 28, 2003: The UCES project is making good progress. There are interesting story lines and cool new objects. Scenario development is progressing nicely, and some nicely themed rides using custom scenery are being built.

If you are an experienced RCT'er who does quality stuff (objects, scenarios or rides), and have some samples of your work available for review, there's still time to get involved. PM me at Atari's forums (user: eFossil), URCT, or RCT2.com (user: Fossil). You'll be held to a high standard if you participate, but you'll have a lot of fun, too.

June 19, 2003: I've become deeply involved in the User Created Expansion Set project. The goal is to create a set of 15 - 30 scenarios that are woven together with an extended story line. The project will make extensive use of custom objects, and includes several object makers in the group. I was recruited to be the story line editor. A nice library of rides will round out the package. We don't have a target date for release, but are hard at work.

June 1, 2003: When I played last month's scenario, Pebble Beach, I completed the game without building a single coaster. To do that, I had to build a lot of gentle rides. Even using my gentle ride track packs, I still needed more. So I settled on the idea of filling up the park with hedge mazes. This soon became its own project, and led to this month's Spotlight, the Maze Track Pack. In building and testing the pack, I got a shock - the lowly hedge maze is a powerhouse in disguise. Check out the page for details.

Designing the paths for your park is one of the most important considerations in creating a successful park with the coveted "999" rating. The new article Pathing Systems describes how to do it right.

I'm working on a new scenario now. I'm not sure if it will be done this month, but I hope that I'll be able to give you a preview soon. Thanks for stopping by!

May 4, 2003: You guys gave me a lot of positive comments on the Mini Golf track pack last month. I also posted on Infogrames asking if you liked track packs "wider" (variety of rides) or "deeper" (many rides of the same type with different themes). In addition to some colorful commentary (you know who you are!), the results came in: "deeper" was a clear preference. Also mentioned was a track pack emphasizing a single theme - good idea!

As a result of all that good feedback, I decided to do another one-ride-many-themed track pack. This time, it's the Ghost Train in the spotlight. Check out the Ghostbusters Track Pack.

With this new track pack and last month's Mini Golf pack, you'll need a park to use them. The month's scenario is just perfect - it's a park where peeps prefer gentle rides. Put as many of these track pack offerings as you want in this park - the peeps will love you for it!

Oh, and, by the way...about that new scenario... Hey folks, if you want to play a landmark RIGHT NOW, check out Pebble Beach. Once the expansion pack is released, you'll have a bunch of landmarks - I hope their quality is as high as this one. Time will tell.

Rounding out this month's lineup is a new article on Park Rating. It is an edited and improved version of a post I made at the late, great RCT Station.

I updated the link to Steve Franks' track packs - its former location at RCT Station is gone. RCT2.com is its new home. If you haven't yet done so, give it a look - really nicely done.

Thanks for dropping in. I hope you enjoy your visit!

March 30, 2003: As the snow melts away - at least in certain pars of the northern hemisphere - young men's fancy turns to ... golf! At least some young men. Some not so young. Some women too - they're giving the guys a run for their money on the PGA tour these days. A far cry from the origin of the game, when golf was an acronym - Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden.

So where am I going with this ramble? The April site update is dedicated to the fine art of Mini Golf. I have an article called Mini Golf Tips that shows how to avoid the dreaded "I want to get off Mini Golf 1" message. I have not seen this information published anywhere else - I figured this out the hard way, by trial and error. Since this is new and original information about the game, it's worthy of the April Spotlight.

Evidently the issues surrounding Mini Golf also eluded the game's developers, as the only Mini Golf course included with the game, Garden Golf, suffers from the "I want to get off" problem. No worries, read the article and you'll never have this problem again.

The second helping is the Mini Golf Track Pack, a dozen nicely decorated courses for your peeps' amusement.

To round out this issue, there's one more article, Block Brakes, which provides an in-depth review of this important topic. I've seen several articles on block brakes, but none that provided complete coverage of this topic, so I felt this was worthwhile.

Thanks for stopping by!

March 15, 2003: The Son of Beast Trainer was released today. I downloaded it, and have spent a couple of hours testing it out. I've written up a "first look" review, including a description of its most important features, and pictures of a few effects that I was able to achieve.

March 2, 2003: [edit] In testing the site today, I found that I got a lot of page loading errors - the files are there, but my host, angelfire, seems to running a server powered by gerbils on a wheel. If this persists, I'll be looking for a new host. Sorry, please bear with me.

Sometimes, you've just gotta rock!

I've got a couple of big, and I do mean big, items for you this month. Only two, as both were massive efforts. Together, they took the entire month to develop.

First up is this month's spotlight, a brand-new scenario called Pixie Dust Park. It's my first venture that uses custom objects. The custom objects help make the scenario unique. I think you'll agree that it's a different RCT gaming experience than you've ever had before. The testers found it exciting and compelling.

Next up is a new track pack, the Pixie Power Pack. This is not just another track pack, folks. When these tracks are stat-pumped, and I show you how to do this, the lowest excitement rating is 9.48. They all have intensity ratings under 8, and have a small footprint relative to their stats. Fossil says, "check it out!"

I've moved older news here.