Past readers of this column know about my rollercoaster game addiction, which can be traced back several years to Disney's "Coaster", still one of the finest CACD (Computer Aided Coaster Design) programs. In this three-part article, I'll go over the 5 major rollercoaster-creation games that have been released over the years. Note that this is not a "Top 5" list, since, well, there are only 5 CACD games I know of, several of which are pretty darn bad.
Anyway, here we go:
5. Rollercoater Factory (ValueSoft, $10)
I had a sneaking suspicion when picking up this title that it would be crap. Indeed, the name "ValueSoft" isn't really equated with quality -- hence the name, emphasizing "value".
As one might guess, Rollercoaster Factory is a half-baked rollercoaster creator and simulation. It seems to have at least some potential (the graphics engine, while horrible, is semi-fast), but like other ValueSoft products (such as the under-rated '100,000 Clip Art Images' and phenemonal 'Hong Kong Mahjongg'), the game seems to have been ripped out of the developer's hands about 1/4th of the way through: Designing a coaster is an exercise in frustration. The interface is terrible, mouse buttons and keyboard presses seemingly do nothing, and creating a complete track is almost impossible. You only have a few different types of track parts to choose from, though most are the typical up and down and curves, and not many special parts like loops or corkscrews. Find-tuning the track angles is also very difficult, if not impossible.
Once you've managed to build something that might resemble a rollercoater, the game puts you in the front seat. Like I said before, the graphics engine is 3D and runs at a fine speed. But perhaps that's because there's not much to render: the track is horribly ugly, portrayed by muddy texture maps and a few haphazardly placed polygons. The physics of the game is likewise questionable: the coaster just doesn't *feel* right, and the motion of the train is jumpy and unnatural.
Anyway, that's Rollercoater Factory, a good illustration on how not to make a coaster game. Perhaps it could get points for it's support of force feedback joysticks (not sure how that would work), but I don't have one. Sorry, ValueSoft.
