I just HAD to voice my opinion somewhere and this looks like a good place so...

To say I am disappointed in RCT3 is an understatement. The scenery groups are limited, poorly organized and confusing. The various editors for peeps, tracks, etc. are just as bad. Atari and Frontier should have taken lessons from Maxis (The Sims) before even attempting this release or better yet, sold the game to Maxis. Maxis would have done a better job and made the game more customizable. There has already been one major patch with a second due on January 3rd.

The game could have been improved greatly if:

1 - The peeps were customizable the same way The Sims are customizable. Then my peeps could have all kinds of new clothes, shoes and hair styles.

2 - The company needs to give more thought to the interface. Obviously they are trying to keep it from interfering with game play, but they have gone overboard. Again, the could take lessons from Maxis.

3 - Building is cumbersome at best and there is little variety in the types of buildings and materials available. I vote we cross The Sims interface and material swapping capabilities with RCT3's.

4 - I have no trees available to me in the beginning scenario. Does this mean I have to research the trees? If so, why? Trees grow without my assistance in nature. Why should I have to research them to make them grow in the game.

5 - Opening and closing rides and shops is just a chore. A game should be easy to learn and difficult to master. This game is just plain difficult!

The good news:

I found a trainer for it though I haven't used it. Has anyone else?

What I know:

The program is written in C++ I believe and uses overlay files (all you programmers will know what this is) to "call" the files it needs. This is why all the files for tracks, scenery, etc., have the .ovl extension. The game uses images called "sprites" which are actually 3D images made to look 2 dimensional. The trick will be to create an editor that can convert those images for the game but the game may already have that built it as it uses basically the same method to convert your RCT1 and 2 tracks which then become .ovl files.

Anyone want to put in their 2 cents, correct me on details, etc.? Please feel free. I'd love to write and editor for RCT3 but need to brush up on my C programming first.

I am disappointed in much. Playing the scenarios is almost needed to learn the mechanics of manipulating everything.

It is really lacking in scenery.

<ENTER SOAPBOX MODE>

First off, I'm just gonna say that I'm incredibly disappointed in the game. I doesn't even work on my computer! I can only play it when I'm at my dad's on the weekend (and even at that, I still play RCT2 more.) It says that I need to use a regular disk, and not a backup, even though I am using the regular disk! Grrr.....

Secondly, I would have NEVER suspected that the game would be even more unrealistic (physics wise, and visually) than the first two. This is where the game gets the most points off from me. It's horrible. I about cried when I looked at the zero gravity roll and the supports it puts on the strata-coaters (and all other coasters at that...) And what's the deal with the train going way fast when it enters the station? Ugh!!!

Third off, the interface is horrible. They should have kept it similar to the first two games because that interface was tried and tested, and it worked! The visual ques the game sends you and trying to make a ride and find what you want to do is absolutely horrible. I wish they'd bring back the old interface.

I really wish I wouldn't have made my dad waste 40 bucks on this piece of a game. It's the worst thing I've ever played. I daresay it's worse than Sim Theme Park in certain ways. At least that interface didn't have me wondering "What the _(Insert Angry Word Here)_?!?"

<EXIT SOAPBOX MODE>

My turn, I guess. I was able to play the game only for a few hours. Now I can't even play at all, because it freezes & locks up the whole computer after about 1 minute in the game.

However, before that, I found the micromanagement to be too much. You have to really monitor every minor detail from disgruntled employees to how much ice to put in each drink. I think there is such a focus on the management that it takes away from the "fun" of the game for me. Some folks like the management part, I just like building a nice coaster, a nice park & watching the little guys have fun.

So far I haven't been impressed with the sound files either. They seem extremely repeatitive. I know the previous versions repeated sounds as well, but I keep hearing the same child's voice saying the same thing over & over. Ugh! Almost makes me feel like I'm listening to Muzak! Also, the main menu music is very dull & nothing like the previous versions, which at least played "amusement" type music. This music reminds me of Sim City, which is nice, but certainly not amusement park music.

As for the interface, I'm having troubles as well. I'm sure I could learn to adjust...if I could play for awhile. I'm not impressed with the coaster building (yet), I find it rather difficult to use. I'm sure I could learn...see first paragraph!

I used the "import tracks" function, but the game did not find my RCT2 tracks at all. I'm going to try other suggestions mentioned elsewhere in our forum to import them. I'll let you know it that works!

I agree with others who have mentioned the pitifully small amount of scenery available. It is not going to be easy to make a beautiful park with such limited choices. I agree there are not nearly enough flowers!

I do love the coaster cam, which is very cool. Again, I haven't played with it very much. Seeing the ride pics of my "in game family" is funny!

Overall, it is okay. If I could play longer I could possibly change my opinion. It seems that all the things I've loved about RCT 1&2 are missing from this game. Chris Sawyer has a great sense of humor & it showed in his games. It brought charm & fun to the previous versions. It is obvious to me that Chris Sawyer's touch is not in this game.
<End Rant Mode>

AND YOU GUYS WERE JUST GOING TO LET ME BUY THIS GAME?!!

I can't believe you all! I'm so glad that I bought some games and clothes instead. I heard this game was going to bomb. And I can only trust you all. The only good thing about this games is the fact that you can ride the rides with the camera. And it is quite fun to watch those movies that that Mike Yee guy does. It's in the other topic. RCT3 Videos or whatever. They rock!

I can't stand RCT3. The coastercam was the best part of it. I don't like the micromanaging either like mentioned above. I like to sit back and do scenerios and watch my park get bigger and bigger until I reach the objective. By sitting back, I mean RELAXING and not micromanaging every little thing. I went back to RCT2 and have never looked forward again.

I actually like park management, but worrying about a janitor who is pouting about a boring job is just a little too much.

Right now I would be happy if one my my scenarios did not lock every single time I play it.

<SYTHDUDE RANT TIME>

I haven't even played this game yet and I know what it is going to be like. They should have done NOTHING to rct2. They should have just made rct2 into a 3D game, take out the custom scenery , and throw a coaster cam on there and I'd be satisfied. I don't really care for peep costume design or bird's eating puke. Ugh, I'm so mad at RCT3.

<END SYTHDUDE RANT TIME>

I only played it 2 or 3 times until now, and I'm having quite a bit of trouble with simply operating the game: placing paths and rotating the screen. I can't find how I can advertise to make money. But I will learn all those things somehow, and luckily I have 2 sons who can help me. They like the game very much, especially the youngest. The oldest likes the new coaster types and features.
I thought is was fun and more realistic that you can add different sauces on burgers, have different sizes of food and so on. If you don't care you can just leave it on the default. Also the thoughts of the staff and of the peeps are, on the whole, more fun. They are more like real people, though a bit weird sometimes.

Funny you should mention the thoughts of the staff and peeps. I hired one entertainer who was unhappy because he could see his house from the front of the park. I moved him to the back of the park and he cheered up!

I've played several times now, usually in sandbox mode. While the game does have its limitations, I have to admit that I am getting used to it. I've started tinkering with the fireworks though I have not gotten brave enough to build a coaster yet. Despite its faults, the game kinda grows on you. Oh geez! Did I just say that?!?

I can see where it would grow on a person, but I'm not convinced it is worth purchasing. The game industry is full of flops, this is just another.

Advertising is easy to do but hard to find.

Click on the park management icon.
Then click on the TOP icon on the group that opens up.


That top icon has a row across the top, and the next to the last icon is a square of sorts. Click on it.

This shows active advertising and should be blank.

At the bottom are two icons. The first one is for "free" stuff--rides or food. You can run up to three of these programs. Pick a national, college, or parent publication and the attraction, the any number of weeks one-six.


The second icon is advertising for the park as a whole and is more expensive. You select one fo the above publications and the duration.


It really does seem to pick up the number of peeps in this game.


Other than the technical glitches, my biggest complaint is that the peeps just don't like to get on the rides.

I've noticed the peep-ride relationship too, though when I view the stats, it says that the ride is very popular. How can a ride be popular if no on rides it?!?

Thanks for the tip on advertising. I'll have to play with that when I get the chance.

I've been trying to play different aspects of the game, just so I can get the full feel of it. I was working in the sandbox mode, I made a lovely park area. Beautiful fountains, flowers (the few there are to choose from), bushes, trees, statues. Folks were walking through saying they didn't like the mismatched scenery or they preferred more consistant themeing. They were unhappy about it so my park rating was low. I tried one of the scenarios in the career mode, all themed in western scenery. They were still complaining of the inconsistant themeing? What the?!

Speaking of park ratings, I have yet to get a good rating in this game. I never had this happen in RCT 1 or 2.

Some things have been changed that I don't understand. Block brakes were changed with the patch so they can actually boost the trains speed. Frontier says this is what people were asking for. I haven't seen anyone ask for block brakes to boost speeds. I have seen people ask for more realism. Looks like they forgot that part. You probably already read my rant about the mouse coasters!

One of the biggest complaints when RCT2 was released was things being left ot from the first game. Did they forget this? They left sooooo much out of RCT3. Such as varied & interesting scenery pieces, ability to auto-remove scenery when placing a ride, etc. The game is sorely lacking in scenery & I'm sure that there will be some very costly expansion packs later to bring back some of the missing things.

I'm surprised how much different this game is from the previous versions. I am having trouble getting used to the track building controls. I think the scenery function is very difficult to place pieces accurately. I think I have it right, then find out its not even close. In a scenario where money is involved, this is a costly venture. I also think the pathing leaves much to be desired. Again, I have problems placing the paths correctly, & when its wrong, I pay to remove it. It seems that it goes to the wrong spot no matter how hard I try to get it right. Sometimes, I'm right-clicking to remove the "bad" piece several times before it actually removes it. It is annoying & frustrating.

It is still early in my experiments with the game. I dont' want to say it hasn't been fun, because some of it is fun. I dont' think it is as fun as the 2 previous, beloved games have been. Time will tell if this gets better or not. I'll keep posting as I go along!!

Spnuky, for what its worth, I have found to trainers. One just gives you money. The other is supposed to eliminate the need to micromanage shops among other things. I'll test both and if they work, I'll post them here in the proper section.

The only way I like to play is in sandbox mode. Otherwise I have to research stuff. Why should I have to research trees when they grow naturally everywhere? I just don't get that.

I have played around with creating groups, which is fun, except the avatars are extremely limited. Unlike The Sims, I have few options when dressing my peeps. Frontier could have done a much better job with this.

What has happened to RCT3 is much the same as what happened with SimCity went 3D. You went from having fun, building large cities and watching out for tornadoes to micromanging waste water systems and underground electrical lines. Where is the fun in that. If I wanted to do those kinds of things I go to work for my City Manager.

Seems we are all screaming at the top of our lungs about the incredibly bad issues in this game. Hopefully the 2nd patch will address at less some of these issues. On thing is clear - Frontier and Atari ain't no Chris Sawyer.

Spunk, I misss that auto remove also, it just won't let you place a game at all till you clear the space. I liked putting rides down in forest areas and saving as much of the forest as possible.


One plus once you learn how to use it is the large delete you can do with the trash can at the bottom of the menu on the left.

Click on it and then click on the three trashcan, highlight huge areas of land -- ot those bad paths ( I have trouble there also) and with a click they are gone.

Ok, I'm going to throw in my opinion now. Having played then demo I'm am now far happier with RCT3 than I was and I can see it has some excellent oppatunities. I also don't think it will flop certainly not in Britian, it's been in the top ten charts for a bit. I like the 3D perspective as well as the new rides. However there are a number of things I don't like.
The lack of the ctrl key to lock scenary at a particular height
The complaints when you mix different scenary types. I'll decide what looks good not an algorithm. Besides I think the group meants you can blend Pirate and Arabain scenary together!
The so called minimum specifications. IMO They need to be higher, that way many people would not have bought a game the their machine can barely run and then feel disappointed. I however am annoyed that I can't view a full park in anything more than 'Slideshot Mode'. And my machine is at least double and in some cases quadruple the minimum specs! A patch to make the game run smoother would be better.
Overall I look forward to finishing my first park in RCT3

I like the game, but not as much as RCT2. It also doenst run smooth on my Computer, but hopefully ill be able to upgrade and explore the game more

I've been playing the scenarios for RCT3D for around a month and have to say this for them.

First off, the scenarios are too narrowed in their objectives for the three levels. (At least the first 5 are. lol)

Second, Even though the game lets you import some of your rides from RCT2 & 1, they will sometimes cause your saved games to crash when you restart them.

And finally, I find the pathing and scenery building way too cumbersom by far.

Overall I'd give this game a C-.