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Planet Coaster 2: General Discussion

DistortAMG

DistortAMG

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Team edit: This seems worthy of its own thread so we’ve split if from the Favourite Video Games topic. :)

The Frontier development interim results were very interesting that were released the other day.
I cannot post right now as it is blocked on works computers.

They have basically confirmed Planet Zoo will be coming to console in the upcoming April to March Financial year. They basically said something along the lines of an established Frontier CMS, (creative management sim) from PC will be coming to consoles, there is literally nothing else this could be apart from Planet Zoo.

They also said a new CMS game will be released in the same period, given the restructuring and financial struggles and wishes to go back to their roots and what they are good at, (CMS games) it is highly likely this will be Planet Coaster 2.

In the current state the company is in. It is highly unlikely to be a new IP. Planet Coaster 2 is a safe bet, the game is highly anticipated and will sell very well like it's predecessor. It is an extremely safe bet and ticks all the box's at a time when they have recently spoken out about returning to what they are good at and what they know sells well. They had a few non CMS games flop recently.

It is highly unlikely to be a Planet Zoo 2 yet, if that was to come, it would be much later. It would almost be suicide to bring an 'existing PC game' (not franchise) to consoles and then release the sequel to PC very soon after.

Planet Coaster 2 is almost certainly on it's way when you read between the lines. It is the current Planet game that would also benefit from the substantial engine upgrades that their in house Cobra engine has seen over the last decade too. Some of them are in Planet Zoo and make some of the tools and systems work far, far better in that game over Planet Coaster, so these would be a welcome upgrade and additions, there are so many now that I struggle to play Planet Coaster because it just feels so outdated when compared to Planet Zoo and it's systems. I am not even keen on zoo games either.
 
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Owing to the success of Planco and it's console counterpart, it does look like a safe bet and I'm pretty sure 2 will already be in development.

I just hope it doesn't take so long to appear on console. Planet Zoo is likely to appear on console 5 years after its PC release. Planet Coaster was already showing its age when it came to console 4 years after PC. Admittedly it doesn't perform well on last gen in terms of performance but is by no means unplayable. It was very buggy for the first 2 years on console as well, but performance wise it ran very well and it's very impressive how they've managed to convert a game that was clearly designed for PC.

Frontier have been developing other projects in that time which they now seem to be dumping to focus on the core of Planco, Zoo and Jurassic World. So once Zoo is done, could we see Planco 2 development on console and PC at the same time like most other multiplatform releases? I understand that Frontier didn't have consoles in mind when they developed both games originally, but they'll need to cash quickly for Planco 2. They can't wait until a potential 2029/30 release (which would be next gen) surely? They won't have the struggles they had initially as they'll now be familiar with developing for consoles now, and the intuitive way they mapped the menus and button layouts to a console controller without loosing any in game features at all is little short of genius.

What improvements would we like to see in Planco 2? Personally I think the game really is showing its age now.
 
There is a possibility they will release side by side now that they have built the 'framework' needed for the console versions, then again, the extra man power needed may dictate other wise, it would make financial sense to release side by side though...

For me, the things I am mostly looking forward to for Planet Coaster 2 over the original, would be the sort of things summed up in the video below. The refinement of tools and better features. It does seem like a lot of the tools and features that have recently gone into Planet Zoo are in preparation for them to go into Planco 2. This makes sense, because as said earlier, the original tools in Planet Zoo are refined from Planet Coaster. It is exactly the same sort of iteration of refinement improvements, makes perfect sense they will carry this on. There is of course the rides, nicer graphics and all that good stuff, but a lovely refinement of the tools, making park building better, is my most anticipated thing.


From: https://youtu.be/rzoGefOSfY8?si=gJdoFhtDGHIR3f9v
 
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I expect there will be lots of back-end updates for PlanCo 2, but I’m really hoping they introduce enough new features too. Simple things that were missing but they had in the likes of RCT, like having an offload station option on coasters, whilst also offering dual-stations, pre show options, better pathing tools… just stuff to keep us geeks happy!
 
Burbs said:
I expect there will be lots of back-end updates for PlanCo 2, but I’m really hoping they introduce enough new features too. Simple things that were missing but they had in the likes of RCT, like having an offload station option on coasters, whilst also offering dual-stations, pre show options, better pathing tools… just stuff to keep us geeks happy!
Click to expand...

The way stations work or do not work is probably one of my most missed features. I would love to see an improvement to water rides, the physics of them in PlanCo just felt rushed and a bit rubbish. A bit more care spent here would be great.

Also proper occlusion of the sun inside buildings would be great. We can mimick this now by building underground and or using the trigger machine to turn the night of day when using on ride cam mode. I know why they did it like they did, performance. Computers are far faster now and would provide much more flexibility for dark rides.

Finally, I would love to see weather!! 100% over. Alongside all the gameplay mechanics that come with this, such as people wanting to ride indoor rides, buy brollies etc. I really miss overcharging peeps on those stormy days.
 
Yeah I think weather and shading inside buildings is a must. If at @Matt N tells us we have to build something for Towers in the speed build, it just looks odd basked in bright sunshine when you'd expect to see it overcast. It's bright and sunny everyday in Planco.

Station options is a good shout. Unlike the above, it shouldn't be a problem to deliver performance wise to implement at least 2 stations for offload or for building dueling coasters.

Path building is terrible in Planco. I haven't played Zoo but apparently I've heard it's much better, so I hope that's an improvement on its way.

The good thing about Planco is it's attractive to a wide range of gamers. Casual gamers will have fun playing it's campaigns but I think the AI currently leaves a lot to be desired and has moved on very little since the RCT days. The game plays by very simple rules that once you know them, they're easy to manipulate. The cartoon characters are as annoying as they've ever been. Whack a nice scenic lake next to them and on ride theming and they don't seem to notice. Just put any old theming tat next to half the queue line and you get 100% scenic rating. Unless you build a gift shop they'll complain there isn't one, build one and they complain about that as well. It's just too easy to predict the game AI and manipulate the rules it plays by.

It's also carved itself a large fan base from those who aren't really in to coasters but like building pretty things. But as for the hard core coaster builder fans, it's also showing its age here too. Coaster building needs to be easy enough to pick up and play like it always has been, but also attractive to those that want to build intricate custom coasters. I mostly use the 4mtr smoothing method for custom inversions and intricate manoeuvres otherwise the smoothing tool just ruins your original profiling. Even using the 4mtr method though and there's still a problem with jerky movements between track pieces. If you look closely, even very seasoned builders have this. You have halve this one built by deleting 2 track pieces and auto completing the gap but it only halves the jerkiness.

As for console, I know the irritating piece counter will return. But at least make it a bit more dynamic. Some things are more intensive on performance than others, but it doesn't seem to care. A piece is a piece. And the only other thing that appears to be missing from PC is the scenario editor. I can't think of a single logical reason for this? In fact, it makes more sense to have it on console as they always start you off with a park that is about 3 times too big for the piece counter anyway. Surely the ability to load up a smaller park with a shape of your choosing could actually help performance?
 
The main positive of Plan Co 2 will be new Career Mode levels. I don't know how popular they are but it's the best way to play the game (outside of the @Matt N challenges).

I've completed them all a few times but there aren't enough of them. Would love to see a fresh batch.
 
I haven’t got too much to complain about with the current iteration of Planet Coaster overall, but if we’re being really finicky, there are a few things I’d love to see in Planet Coaster 2:
  • Switch tracks/trick tracks: Modern coasters are integrating switch tracks far more, so I’d love to see some kind of switch track functionality in Planet Coaster 2. I’d love to be able to build modern coasters with backwards sections, along the lines of Thirteen, Hagrid’s or even something like Toutatis. Along these lines, I would also love to see the ability to put some trick tracks into coasters in the game. For instance, I reckon a drop track or a tilt track on some coasters would be a great addition. This isn’t really a trick track, but I also think that it would be great for realism if the ability to have a swing launch of some description was extended beyond the impulse coaster, as quite a lot of modern coasters of varying types contain swing launches now. Seeing as even RCT3 in 2004 had various ride types with trick tracks, I can’t imagine that this capability would be too hard to integrate.
  • More station options: As others have said, I’d love for there to be a wider range of station options on rides. This isn’t so much of a problem for rides with high train capacities to begin with (for example, the full-train coaster types), but the inflexibility of tracked ride stations definitely rears its head when you’re building a ride with small cars. Single-car coaster types such as Maurer spinning coasters definitely suffer from this capacity-wise, but my key pet peeve with this is more in the non-coaster department. The game’s water rides often have mediocre capacity as a result of the station inflexibility, and if you build any kind of dark ride, you can basically guarantee that it will have low capacity.
  • More ride types, particularly family/children’s rides: As much as Planet Coaster already has a fairly wide range of ride types on offer, there are some key omissions. The most notable one, which was even in RCT3, is any kind of powered coaster, but I also feel that there is a lack of family/children’s rides in the game in general. As an example of what I’d love to see, family launch coasters are becoming ever more common, but there aren’t really many ways you can build this style of ride in Planet Coaster, particularly if you’re interested in replicating some of the newer Intamin rides with funky trains (such as Hagrid’s or Juvelen). All of the launch coasters in the game are for thrillseekers. I’d also love to see some newer thrill coaster types, such as Mack XTREME Spinning Coasters and S&S 4D Free Spins (or some kind of smaller, free spinning 4D coaster type).
  • More flexible water rides: As others have said, the game’s water rides are not overly flexible. I’d love to see the flexibility of the log flume and rapids in particular improved to be more in line with modern rides.
I would also strongly concur with some of the suggestions others have already made, such as properly shading dark ride buildings.
 
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I hear a rumbling that Frontier Unlocked today is just about Planet Zoo on Console and Warhammer, however I'm hoping
"We'll have exciting details on TWO upcoming games, as well as a sneak peek at what’s in store throughout 2024." indicates a tease of PC2 at least! The coaster contest here has really reignited my love for the game, but it has been showing its age for a good while now, and we're close to 10 years since its release now (scary tbh). It's time. Give me object size scaling and a smoother, more refined coaster building experience and I will happy as effing larry.
 
I personally doubt we would see anything about any potential PC2 until Planrt Zoo is released onto console. I would imagine they would want to get the other Planet release out the way before igniting the community, media outlets etc.

Happy to be proven wrong however.
 
A good friend of mine works for Frontier and she said a while back she was working on a new game. She didn't say what it was because of her NDA but I always suspected it was Planet Coaster 2. It's a much needed sequel, the first game is fun but I think a lot of the stuff like the pathing, ride types, ease of building could be improved.
 
Poisson said:
One thing I'd like to see is being able to edit the prebuilt elements. If I am playing PlanCo I want to take advantage of them, but for example adding a corkscrew causes a flat point, then the start of the inversion.
Click to expand...
The Zero - g and vertical loops are particularly bad at this. The former requires you to build a quite exact incline going into it. A loop will give you a straight incline and decline in and out of it regardless of what you do. I don't like the game inversions because they are so inflexible but they have an important role in making custom building accessible to all. So customise them is a good shout as even a novice could amend them to fit in to their layout.
 
Matt.GC said:
The Zero - g and vertical loops are particularly bad at this. The former requires you to build a quite exact incline going into it. A loop will give you a straight incline and decline in and out of it regardless of what you do. I don't like the game inversions because they are so inflexible but they have an important role in making custom building accessible to all. So customise them is a good shout as even a novice could amend them to fit in to their layout.
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I don't have so much of a problem with the pre-built vertical loop, but I definitely agree with the pre-built zero-g roll. I often find that the transition into the zero-g roll is really quite jerky and exerts overly large g-forces if I'm not careful and don't do things like lengthen the track piece going into it beforehand.
 
I'd also like to see visuals for speed and Gs like NL2, with the combs on the track that dynamically change as you edit it.
 
Poisson said:
I'd also like to see visuals for speed and Gs like NL2, with the combs on the track that dynamically change as you edit it.
Click to expand...
The game does this already, doesn’t it? You can enable g-force heatmaps when you test the ride, and this shows the g-forces across the length.
 
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