RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 vs RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 - Part 1: Introduction

[Alolan_Apples]

Recently, I was playing an old game called RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, a game where you can not only build amusement parks, but also your own roller coasters. It's easily one of the better "tycoon" games (if not, the best "tycoon" game). It was the sequel to the original RollerCoaster Tycoon, and the predecessor of another RCT game I owner, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3.

Before I explain the details, my final verdict is that RCT2 is better than RCT3. The reason is that despite RCT3 having more (and cooler) features than RCT2, there are enough fatal flaws with RCT3 that pushed RCT2 to being the better of the two. And I never played the original RCT. I hear they are trying to make an RCT Switch (Nintendo Switch game), but I think they are better off as the older computer games. They may be old, but they live forever (as well as Zoo Tycoon).

Today's entry is about the general details. I can't go over the rides, scenery, terrain, or the shops. The blogging feature has a 10,000 character cap, and by doing that, I would exceed that amount. So I will share the general details today and the rest the next three days, everyday.

What RCT3 did better:

Like I said above, RCT3 has both more features and cooler features than RCT2. There are a lot, but what I don't plan on sharing Thursday, Friday, or Saturday is what I am sharing today. Here are some examples:

• Better Expansion Packs - first of all, I may like the idea of time travel or world travel like what RCT2 did, but RCT3 introduced new features in their expansion packs. All RCT2 did in their expansion packs is add new scenery and variations of the same ride rather than just new cars for each train. All RCT3 did in their expansion packs, is add new features that aren't traditional Amusement Park features. RCT3: Soaked added pools, pool slides, and other objects for a water park. RCT3: Wild added animals, exhibits, and other objects for zoos. When it came to making zoos, RCT3 is even better than Zoo Tycoon on some of the stuff.
• Sharks in the water - if a low area of terrain is covered in water and along an edge, you may get wild fish in the water, including sharks. You can't even place objects underwater in RCT2.
• Day/Night mode - another cool feature is that the park changes the time of the day. It may be inconsistent with the time of the year, but when it gets dark, everything that lights up lights up, such as path lamps. The nights look better, but it's much easier to see in the day. RCT2 doesn't have that, but that's neutral.
• Staff Customization - when it comes to organizing park staff, RCT3 is much better. Patrol zoning is freer, you can train or discipline your staff members, and you can customize their outfits. RCT2 has limited customization options for outfits, and the patrol zoning thing is odd.
• Custom Guests - you can make your own families of guests, which will always appear in your parks.
• Park Shows - not just the whale shows, dolphin shows, lion shows, and tiger shows. You can also make your own fireworks shows, laser shows, and water jet shows. You don't have that in RCT2, but that's reasonable.

What RCT2 did better:

Because of what I listed here, RCT2 beats RCT3 when it comes to being better. Here are some examples:

• Framerate - one of the biggest flaws with RCT3 is that when you build more rides, the framerate begins to drop. An empty park has a more smooth framerate, but as you build more rides, it starts to affect your performance when you're trying to move around in the park, change the camera's rotation, or zoom in. RCT2 has limited view options, which makes the whole framerate thing meaningless, regardless of how full your park is.
• Graphics - no, 16-bit graphics is no better than 32-bit graphics, but RCT2 had no intentions of 3D graphics while RCT3 did. The problem is that RCT3 is that it had 32-bit graphics while it was made around the time when the GameCube, PlayStation2, and the original Xbox were the dominant consoles, which had better graphics than their predecessors. 32-bit 3D graphics are very cringeworthy graphics. They were good for the time, but now they seem very blocky with paper objects compared to todays. I would care less about graphics, but that doesn't make PS1 graphics any good. What makes this even worse is that the framerate drops as more is being added to the park. So the framerate is bad, and with bad resolution as its highest resolution. RCT2's graphics aren't any better, but they are more reasonable.
• Bugs - I don't remember RCT2 being glitchy, but RCT3 was very glitchy at launch. It also had a lot of missing features (like saving objects on rides, waterfalls, underground paths, and climate options for scenario editor before the update. Thanks to the update, we have the features, but RCT3 is more buggy than RCT2.
• Loading a game - even if RCT3 is running on a good Windows 10 computer while RCT2 is running on an old Windows XP computer, it takes a longer time to load a park you made in RCT3 than in RCT2 because of the loading screen. It's like this. RCT2 says "Here you go, enjoy!" while RCT3 says "Hang on, let me get ready." when you start a game.
• More costumes for entertainer - even if RCT3 had better staff customization, you have more costumes available in RCT2. There are only 7 in RCT3. You can have more than that in RCT2.
• Colored text - RCT3 may have more features, but what's missing is colored text, something RCT2 had. For instance, if you go bankrupt, the money value turns red with a negative sign. RCT3 doesn't do that. Also, the messages in RCT2 come in different colors, where blue means new items unlocked, green is guest data, orange is new awards, yellow means rides break down or advertisement session ended, and red means bad news. And if you try to do something you can't do, a red pop-up box will appear, telling you that you can't do it. RCT3 has all their messages in the same color, as well as other text.

How I would do it:

If I were to make a game about building amusement parks, I would try to have some of the same things seen in RCT3 (day/night mode, fireworks, and more customization options, but RCT2 was better when it came to technical issues. I would refrain from using the 3D graphics, and make it 2D like in RCT2, but with better graphics. But you can see the game in 3D when you ride the rides like seen in the Coaster Cam feature. Of course, I'll also make it day and night, but those two modes are permanent. And you can see fireworks coming from the park.

 

[Ghostkid]

I played the first one i loved to make mazes on it!

 

[MapleSilver]

I personally prefer RCT3 but that's just me. I think the 3D offers a lot more freedom when it comes to designing parks. Though I mostly like to watch other people build parks since they do a much better job at designing them than I can.