RCT3 History
Soon after RCT2's release, people began waiting for the next sequel. People posted threads on the official RollerCoaster Tycoon forums, The most famous being “Camping out and waiting for RCT3.” The thread, started by Geardy, was very popular with RCTers, and lasted for a nice long time. In this thread, you would live an imaginary life, where you camped out in the parking lot of Best Buy with everyone else, waiting for RCT3 to come out. There were many twists and turns, and all kinds of different people and happenings. When RCT3 finally came, people had mixed feelings about the game. They were happy that the game was out, but some people hated it because it had many bugs and glitches due to rushed release. But most RCT veterans liked it just the same.
In RCT3, many new features were added, like the Fireworks Mixmaster, The Building Editor, and the Peep Editor, along with many rides and attractions. On the right, you see a fireworks show made in RCT3, as it displays its vast library or fireworks. This became another popular feature, and people posted their fireworks shows for others to see, and hear. Of course, for you to be able to see the fireworks, you needed a night mode, which puts your park in a whle new perspective. You might know what it looks like during the day, but at night, the lights turn on and give the park a whole new look. Another new feature, the building editor, allows people to use pieces of scenery such as walls and ceilings, to build buildings to save, put into their parks, and share. One loved feature of RCT3 is the Coaster Cam, where you can ride all of the coasters you build, and then, if you want to, you can ride the flat rides as well.
The most notable part of RCT3 was its 3D environment. Along with its load of various features, came wonderfully rendered rides, and lighting effects. Although the game looked much better with its 3D scenery and peeps, there were also FPS (Frames Per Second) problems.
Soon, Atari released the first patch. This fixed some bugs, improved the FPS, and added a feature or two, like the guest window. The RCT community continued to love the game. Atari later released the long awaited patch two, which brought joy to RCT3ers. Patch two fixed more bugs, and added more features.
Shortly after the new year came the announcement of the first expansion to RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Soaked. At first everyone thought it was Cape Typhoon, but that was only a development name, and later it was announced as "Soaked!" This summer expansion would enable you to create and then run a waterpark. It was announced that you were able to build magnificent pool complexes, as well as aquariums, and many other new water themed rides. In addition to all of this water was more than 50 new flat rides, and also new coaster types to build with. Soon a beta was announced, letting selected people test out this expansion.
Every Friday you would be able to see something new, because that was when David B released Soaked screenshots. At first these screenshots came from the developers, but once the beta started, the beta testers would post their screenshots in the private Beta Testers forum, and then 8 screenshots were selected each week to be shown.
After the release of Soaked, information on the next, second expansion for RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 came out: Wild! This expansion is a "zoo" based expansion, letting park owners have animals in their parks, but there are still several other new features. Another prominate feature is billboards; for the first time allowing users to put their own content into RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. Other additions to the game is several new coasters and flat rides.
What awaits the RollerCoaster Tycoon series is yet to be heard. Some rumor that there will be another expansion pack, possibly a "Resort" theme. Others think that they will go straight to RollerCoaster Tycoon 4, and still others think the series is done for good, possibly succeeded by the Thrillville series. What happens next is unknown - we'll have to find out when the time comes.
