RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 vs Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 - Part 4: Scenarios

[Alolan_Apples]

Today is the last day I'm going to cover the differences between RCT2 and RCT3 and which ways each is better. I already went over the Park Construction features. Now I'm going over one more aspect, Scenarios.

What RCT3 did better:

RCT3 is more superior than RCT2 in one more category - scenarios. Here are the points:

• Better Scenarios - RCT2 may have more challenges, but RCT3 has a Campaign Mode, which is much more interesting. RCT3 has 18 scenarios, RCT3: Soaked has 9, and RCT3: Wild has 12. You start out with six (or three in the expansion packs), and each time you complete the easy objectives, you unlock a new scenario, up until two remain. At this point, you will need to complete the medium objectives to unlock the second last one, and all of the hard objectives to unlock the last one. I've beaten all 39 before (even Saxon Farm). I also like how each scenario has objectives on all three levels of difficulty. Complete the first set (Apprentice), you will unlock the second set (Entrepreneur). Complete that set to unlock the final set (Tycoon). Complete that to finish the scenario completely. Last, they separated between Campaign Mode and Custom Scenarios.
• Sandbox Mode - while RCT3 has better scenarios, they have even another feature that beats RCT2 - Sandbox Mode. In that mode, you are free to build whatever you want without objectives to follow. You also have every object available at the start. RCT2 doesn't even have a free mode, and it's not possible for every object to appear in one scenario (included completed themes).
• Rides in Scenario Editor - while designing a scenario in RCT3, the park is just as active as it is when actually playing it. This means you can also build rides while setting up the landscape, which wasn't possible in RCT2.
• Cash in scenarios - in RCT2, the maximum amount of cash you can hold at the beginning, no matter how high the loan is, is $10,000. In RCT3, there is no limit. You could also set the starting cash to $100,000 while having no loan out at the beginning.
• Limits of Scenario Editor - RCT2's limits are pretty strict. You can only have up to 128 rides (which also includes shops and different vehicle designs), 19 themes (6 of them being required, while the rest may be partial rather than whole), four park entrances, two guest interjection points, and the guest interjection points have to be next to the edges, all in one scenario. This sucks, especially since RCT2 has better items and the ability to place walls next to paths on the same space while RCT3 can't. But RCT3 doesn't have limits. You can have every item available, you can have more than four park entrances, more than two guest interjection points, and free placement of interjection points.
• Custom Objectives - obviously one of the greatest parts of RCT3's scenario editor. In RCT2, you have a selection of objectives to choose from, but they aren't flexible. For instance, there's this one objective where you will complete it if you get enough guests. You can set to how many guests you want in increments of 100, but the park rating objective is always set at 700, and in these scenarios, you cannot have your park rating drop below or it will be forced to close down. In RCT3, you can mix and match objectives in a weird way (like set maximum number of inversions while minimum number of themed rides at once). And you have three different levels of difficulty to set the objectives to.

What RCT2 did better:

Sometimes, superiority doesn't always win. Here's what RCT2 did better:

• High Scores - if you completed a set of objectives, the company value you have at the minute is the high score. You can also write down your name when you complete it. Whoever generates a higher company value will have their names displayed.
• Scenario Editor Stages - RCT2 has a more interesting form of Scenario Editor. It starts out with selecting which objects you want in your game. Then you can design the map, including the outside of the park. Once you're done designing the map and setting up park land, you can choose what rides and themes you can have at the start and what you'll eventually unlock. The fourth step is on setting up restrictions, finances, and guest options. The last step before saving your scenario is setting up objectives. RCT3 doesn't have that. You can do things in any order.
• Selecting objects - in RCT2, you can select objects through a checklist. In RCT3, it's set up in the invention menu, where you can move objects to either you unlock later or not available at all. Basically, choosing what objects you want is easier in RCT2 than RCT3, and less complicated.
• Inventions - inventing new objects in RCT2 isn't much better than RCT3's, but when it comes to scenery, RCT2 unlocks entire sets rather than just one item at a time, which is what irritates me in RCT3.
• Entrances - I know RCT3 has more freedom of placing entrances, but I think RCT2 had better entrances.
• Preserving Rides - if you choose to convert a saved game to a scenario, you can choose what rides you want to preserve. They can't be demolished or under construction under preservation. You can't preserve rides in RCT3.

How would I do it:

I would take the item selection and inventions from RCT2 over RCT3, but I'll take RCT3's freedom and custom objectives.

And that's it for RCT3 vs RCT2 comparisons. The final conclusion is that RCT3 has many more features, but some of the missing features present in RCT2 made RCT2 the better game.