Planet Coaster 2 preview: a game that made me miss a summer I’ve never had
Nice console games
As
a
huge
fan
of
both
theme
parks
and
computer
games,
2016’s
Planet
Coaster
was
in
many
ways
a
dream
game
for
me.
Since
playing
Bullfrog’s
seminal
game,
Theme
Park,
back
in
the
mid-90s,
first
on
the
Amiga
and
then
on
PC,
I
have
been
obsessed
with
theme
park
management
strategy
games.
As
you
can
imagine,
then,
the
announcement
earlier
this
year
that
Planet
Coaster
2
was
to
come
in
late
2024
(pre-orders
are
now
live,
and
it
launches
on
November
6,
2024),
made
me
very
happy
given
my
history
with
the
PC
game
and
theme
park
sims.
For
context,
in
Planet
Coaster,
I
vividly
remember
plotting
my
parks
on
paper,
then
creating
them
in
the
game,
dividing
the
map
into
different
themes,
just
like
the
beloved
theme
parks
I
visited
as
a
kid.
Building
the
parks,
and
rides,
of
my
dreams
(and
sometimes
my
guests’
nightmares)
captured
some
of
the
magic
from
those
magic
kingdoms,
but
Theme
Park
also
reminded
players
that
these
parks
aren’t
just
for
fun:
they
are
made
to
create
money.
By
placing
a
French
Fries
stall,
hiking
up
the
salt
content,
and
then
putting
a
drinks
stall
next
to
it
with
inflated
prices
(and
extra
ice),
I
was
able
to
squeeze
extra
money
out
of
my
thirsty
punters.
As
a
kid,
it
was
my
first
lesson
that
capitalism
can
be
evil…
but
also
fun.
But
anyway,
while
the
original
Planet
Coaster
gave
me
hundreds
of
hours
of
enjoyment,
there
were
plenty
of
things
that
could
be
improved.
So,
when
I
got
the
opportunity
to
have
some
early
time
with
the
sequel,
I
was
keen
to
jump
the
queue
and
see
what
was
new.
(Image
credit:
Frontier
Developments)
Splash
back
The
biggest
change
with
Planet
Coaster
2
is
the
inclusion
of
water
park
features,
including
pools,
flumes,
and
new
themes.
Frontier
has
experience
with
this,
having
worked
on
the
Rollercoaster
Tycoon
3
expansion
pack
(old
person
speak
for
DLC)
Soaked,
which
added
flumes.
Weirdly,
I’m
not
as
interested
in
water
parks
as
theme
parks,
but
being
given
more
things
to
play
with
when
designing
a
park
is
always
welcome.
While
water
park
features
aren’t
the
only
new
things
in
Planet
Coaster
2,
it
would
have
been
understandable
if
Frontier
had
called
it
a
day
there.
During
my
time
playing
the
game,
it’s
clear
just
how
big
an
undertaking
adding
water
rides
has
been.
Of
course,
there
are
all
the
additional
art
assets
and
models,
but
it
also
introduces
an
entirely
new
physics
system
to
accurately
simulate
water,
slides,
and
more.
For
players
of
the
original
game,
creating
pools,
adding
features,
and
building
water
slides
will
feel
familiar.
Slides
are
built
piece-by-piece
in
the
same
way
as
rollercoasters,
and
while
new
players
may
feel
a
bit
lost,
it’s
intuitive
enough
to
get
the
hang
of
pretty
quickly,
while
also
being
flexible
enough
that
you
can
create
some
pretty
spectacular
rides
in
not
much
time.
(Image
credit:
Frontier
Developments)
Whether
or
not
your
guests
will
want
to
ride
your
creations,
however,
is
another
question.
By
testing
your
rides
before
they
open,
you’ll
be
able
to
see
if
the
ride
works
as
intended
(I.E
it
doesn’t
launch
the
test
dummy
into
the
stratosphere
due
to
a
misjudged
hump),
and
you’ll
get
feedback
on
how
exciting,
scary
and
how
nauseous
it’ll
make
the
riders.
It’s
here
where
the
real
art
of
constructing
a
theme
park
ride
comes
in
–
you’ll
need
to
balance
all
of
those
aspects.
Too
scary
and
few
people
will
want
to
ride
it,
if
it
makes
people
too
ill
then
not
only
will
it
put
people
off
riding,
but
you’ll
also
have
to
deal
with
people
throwing
up
all
over
your
lovely
park.
You
can
lower
these
values
by
making
adjustments
to
the
ride
–
lowing
drops
and
banking
corners
for
example
–
but
if
you
make
the
ride
too
tame,
its
excitement
will
drop
and
people
won’t
want
to
ride.
As
with
the
first
game,
I
can
tell
this
part
of
building
your
park
could
be
a
huge
–
and
enjoyable
–
time-sink
as
you
try
to
build
the
ultimate
ride.
In
Planet
Coaster
2,
more
customization
options
allow
you
to
add
design
elements
to
the
ride,
including
coaster
cars,
and
while
I
only
had
a
short
time
with
the
game,
it’s
clear
that
it’s
going
to
offer
a
huge
amount
of
tools
to
help
you
craft
and
tweak
almost
every
aspect
of
your
park.
While
I
wasn’t
overly
excited
by
the
inclusion
of
pools
and
water
slides,
I
ended
up
really
liking
them.
Building
both
was
fun
and
intuitive,
and
the
pools
especially
looked
fantastic.
I
didn’t
notice
much
of
a
visual
upgrade
over
Planet
Coaster,
but
that
was
still
a
fine-looking
game
that
was
both
realistic
and
cartoony.
However,
the
pools
in
Planet
Coaster
2
look
fantastic.
Clear,
realistic
water
that
sparkles
under
a
cloudless
sky
made
me
want
to
crawl
through
the
screen
and
dive
in.
It
made
me
nostalgic
for
the
summer
–
before
I
remembered
that
here
in
the
UK
we’d
just
endured
one
of
the
wettest
and
miserable
summers
in
recent
memory.
Interestingly,
it
seems
like
the
weather
in
Planet
Coaster
2
won’t
always
be
perfect.
I
didn’t
see
it
in
action,
but
the
launch
trailer
shows
guests
running
for
shelter
during
rainy
weather,
and
I
noticed
a
weather
forecast
icon
in
the
game’s
menu.
While
the
eternally
sunny
weather
of
the
first
game
gave
us
UK
players
a
nice
bit
of
escapism,
including
different
weather
conditions
for
the
sequel,
more
realistic
weather
in
the
sequel
will
add
to
the
realism
–
and
could
bring
some
interesting
challenges
–
and
opportunities.
Rainy
weather
could
make
guest
numbers
drop,
but
some
carefully
placed
umbrella
stores
could
help
raise
profits
–
especially
if
you
can,
like
in
Rollercoaster
Tycoon,
up
the
prices
when
the
rain
starts
to
fall.
There’s
that
evil
capitalism
working
again.
(Image
credit:
Frontier
Developments)
I
also
got
a
glimpse
of
a
few
new
themes
–
Mythical
and
Resort
–
and
my
mind
is
already
fizzing
with
ideas
of
how
I
can
use
them
in
my
parks.
Plus
ça
changing
room
As
I
mentioned
earlier,
the
original
Planet
Coaster
did
a
lot
of
things
right
–
but
there
were
plenty
of
things
that
needed
improvement,
and
from
my
short
time
with
Planet
Coaster
2,
I
found
some
of
those
were
indeed
fixed
–
but
I
still
had
a
few
concerns.
Making
paths
in
the
original,
for
example,
could
sometimes
be
annoyingly
fiddly,
and
you
could
end
up
with
some
ugly
bodge
jobs
when
trying
to
make
certain
things,
such
as
large
plazas.
The
good
news
is
that
Planet
Coaster
2
mainly
fixes
this
with
new
path-making
tools
that
make
things
much
more
simple,
and
give
you
additional
settings
to
tweak,
to
help
you
get
the
desired
effects.
I
found
this
made
creating
paths
easier
–
when
on
the
ground,
at
least.
Creating
stairs
and
bridges
seemed
to
be
more
complicated
–
but
that
might
just
have
been
me
being
a
bit
rusty.
(Image
credit:
Frontier
Developments)
Putting
down
shops,
food
stalls,
and
guest
services,
such
as
toilets
and
new
changing
rooms
(which
need
to
be
added
for
your
guests
to
use
the
pools),
seems
a
bit
over-complicated
as
well.
In
the
version
of
Planet
Coaster
2
that
I
played,
some
shops
and
facilities
were
just
‘shells’
–
basically
empty
buildings
that
were
elaborately
themed.
Placing
them
in
the
park
didn’t
give
me
the
actual
facilities
themselves
–
I
would
have
to
find
those,
then
either
place
them
in
the
park,
place
the
shell
over
them,
or
add
them
by
editing
the
shell’s
blueprint
(the
name
for
ready-made,
yet
customizable,
pre-built
elements).
Confusingly,
some
facilities
in
the
default
Planet
Coaster
theme
were
included,
while
other
themes
just
included
the
shell.
I’ll
clarify
with
Frontier
about
whether
this
is
just
because
I
was
playing
a
limited
preview
version
of
the
game,
or
if
this
will
be
the
case
in
the
full
version
as
well.
I
hope
not.
By
searching
for
the
actual
shop
or
facility
to
add
to
the
shell,
I
was
reminded
about
another
issue
that
I’ve
had
with
the
original
Planet
Coaster,
which
seems
to
be
still
present
in
the
sequel.
It
can
be
difficult
to
find
certain
building
parts,
and
while
there
is
a
decent
tagging
system
in
place
that
lets
you
search,
you
still
need
to
remember
where
certain
things
are
located,
as
there
are
a
few
different
menus
where
the
item
could
be.
Sometimes
things
are
in
the
‘Shops
and
Facilities’
menu.
But
then
there
are
also
the
‘Scenery’
and
‘Building’
menus,
which
can
also
have
items
you
need
–
and
you’ll
need
to
remember
which
menu
they
are
in.
When
you
start
expanding
the
game
with
DLC,
which
will
be
inevitable
considering
the
various
expansion
packs
the
original
game
got,
these
menus
become
more
unwieldy,
so
finding
things
can
take
even
longer.
(Image
credit:
Frontier
Developments)
I
was
also
shown
a
level
in
the
campaign
mode.
I
felt
that
the
campaign
of
Planet
Coaster
was
not
that
engaging
–
I
usually
spent
my
time
playing
in
sandbox
mode,
with
unlimited
money.
While
this
gives
you
more
freedom,
it
also
means
you
miss
out
on
the
challenge
and
management
aspects
of
the
game.
So,
with
Planet
Coaster
2,
I’m
hoping
to
have
more
reasons
to
play
the
campaign
and
to
dig
into
the
(hopefully)
more
expansive
management
options.
From
what
I
played,
that
might
not
be
the
case.
The
level
required
me
to
build
a
park
but
only
in
a
certain
part
of
the
map,
for
reasons
that
didn’t
make
too
much
sense.
However,
unless
I
was
being
thick
(a
likely
possibility),
once
in
the
game
I
wasn’t
given
any
onscreen
guidance
for
where
to
build
or
suggestions
on
how
to
hit
the
goals
to
allow
me
to
progress.
Eventually,
a
kindly
press
representative
of
Frontier
took
pity
on
me
and
informed
me
I
was
building
in
the
wrong
part
of
the
map.
This
confusion,
along
with
not
being
sure
where
to
find
parts
to
build
facilities
and
how
to
make
paths
on
higher
levels,
makes
me
worried
that
the
interface
of
Planet
Coaster
2
needs
a
bit
of
a
rethink
with
more
onscreen
help
and
tips.
After
all,
if
an
(admittedly
a
bit
stupid)
longtime
player
of
the
original
game
can
get
lost,
what
hope
do
newcomers
have?
(Image
credit:
Frontier
Developments)
Open
for
business
While
some
doubts
remain,
from
the
time
I
had
with
Planet
Coaster
2
I
am
very
excited
to
play
the
full
release
when
it
launches
in
November.
It’s
a
charming
and
fun
game
that’s
clearly
been
made
by
people
who
love
the
subject
matter.
I
can
see
myself
playing
this
game
a
heck
of
a
lot,
and
I
can’t
wait
to
see
what
the
imaginative
community
makes
with
the
new
and
improved
tools
–
as
before,
PC
gamers
will
be
able
to
easily
add
other
user’s
creations
to
their
own
parks
via
the
Steam
Workshop.
As
a
fun
toy
that
lets
my
imagination
run
wild,
my
inner
child
could
not
be
more
excited
for
Planet
Coaster
2.
The
part
of
me
that
enjoys
playing
challenging
games,
however,
will
need
a
bit
more
convincing.
Planet
Coaster
2
releases
on
November
6,
2024,
on
PC,
PS5,
Xbox
Series
X,
and
Xbox
Series
S.
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