RCT Discussion / Creativity

I want to start a discussion around the topic of creativity. I hope for the discussion to be open to all facets of the topic, however I am personally interested in your individual experiences with creativity and how the concept has related to your parkmaking.

Many years ago when I was designing theme parks in RCT, creativity was paramount. Through the eras of both Danimation and New Element I felt that the only way to receive recognition was to introduce something new that would push our collective notions of what was possible. I felt that there was no way I was ever going to win a "Spotlight" accolade without at least one new creative idea (and you can be sure that I was consumed by the desire to win Spotlights during the first few years playing the game). By "something new" I mean a technological concept, if you will. A new hack with the Beast trainer, or some architectural innovation. I remember putting great effort into developing ideas such as the rotating loading platform for rapids rides, or raven turns, or even small details such as smoking barbeques. Sometimes, the idea of creativity was more conceptual. In retrospect, I found that I devoted much more effort into technological developments than conceptual development. The challenge of the technological concept was to work between the limits of what was enabled by the trainers and what hadn't been done before. I remember this threshold as challenging, almost a struggle, but certainly a lot of work. I was inattentive to lessons in high-school because I was madly sketching technological ideas in my binder, and working through how I could accomplish them using the trainers. After class I would make my way home and try them out. It almost became an obsession.

How do you, or have you, related to creativity? Do you struggle for it? Do you work at it? Does it come easily? Is it as relevant today as I felt it was 10 years ago? Where do you invest your creative efforts, in conceptual matters, technological matters, or other matters?

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts and experiences!

Holy shit, Nate's back.

I guess to contribute to the discussion, I tend to search for creativity in the execution of things, much like what you've described in terms of creativity through technological innovations. I'll be the first to admit that I'm nowhere near the most creative person here on NE (I'll save that for design studio), but I do feel that execution is just as important of an aspect of creativity as the more conceptual stuff. Great execution adds a certain depth to a park or a design, and can mean all the difference between a Disney or Universal park executed by a newcomer who doesn't quite have the ability to translate the feel of the chain and an established parkmaker who has gained experience in RCT execution through numerous releases and years of playing. Likewise, an out-there concept seems no more creative than a well-executed detail; it merely differs in creative approach.

The greatest thing about the point you bring up in the initial post is a bit of a defense for realism, whether intentional or not. Just through experience here at NE, I've seen that realism, while probably the most popular style and the most prolific, gets slated for having a lack of creativity due to it relying so much on the replication or derivation of existing concepts. Essentially, realism is much more about execution than elaborate "creative" concepts; the creativity is there, but expressed more subtly through the execution of a small detail, like smoking barbecues or rotating platforms. Like you said, finding solutions can be just as creative as a fantasy concept, but it's a different form of being creative.

It's interesting to discuss this in the context of RCT/NE after talking about it for so long in my architectural studio, so it'd be interesting to see what some of NE's other "designers" would think of this in the context of their studies.

creativity is simply how your mind controls your brain. that's why RCT is so awesome. use it like a man-made brain, and the more rules you apply stating "RCT is this" or "RCT is that" the more limited your own brain is.

people should think more in 'zeros' than 'ones'.

You've come back at just the right time

To me creativity is just the urge your brain has to express itself. Like getting ideas when you see a blank paper.
The only thing that can held back creativity are the things you have and the experience. Creativity will scream whenever it needs to be let out and will be quiet when it's not doing its thing.

People will always look for new ways to express their creativity, but there are also people that like to use an older medium (RCT, e.g.).

So if I understand correctly, it seems both chorkiel and FantastiCo take creativity to be an intuitive act that takes place within and about the self, rather than in relation to the community and the work it has produced. It sounds very different from my approach, which makes it all the more interesting to me! If you don't mind me asking, what drives your interests in RCT? What are your goals as designers?

robbie92, it sounds like we have similar backgrounds. What have your experiences been in the difference between execution of details and larger creative concepts? Have you found that you spend more time developing larger concepts? Is conceptual development less rigorous than technical development (at least in the world of RCT)?

(And just for clarification, I would say that I am visiting rather than 'back.')

Personally and honestly, I barely even open RCT. Mainly on some sundays when I just start building a coaster or some half ass buildings then I don't save because I'm not satisfied and I know I won't build on it again. I did start it again about two years ago out of nostalgic reasons. Then I found that there are some nice communities and because I like the stuff that's being released on here and the community I come here quite often.

To me, like I have already said, creativity comes from some part of you that wants to express itself. I have found that I personally have tried a lot of forms, (Powerpoint videos, paint+windows movie maker, maplestory videos, sony vegas, I have tried but failed on adobe after effects) and rct was one of the latest tries on creating something. Before I found that I'm just not good at making something creative but that I'm an imaginer so a year or two ago I have always felt like I'm a director type of person but since I hate doing something that's just on a piece of paper. I lately have found myself to be aspiring at writing a serie. I can't seem to get further than a pilot and a shitload of ideas for later episodes.

I have been, and always will be, a person that has a creative instinct. But I also found out that creativity comes as an outburst and can't be forced.

I hope this answers your questions a bit.

For me, I've always wanted to become a professional roller coaster designer and that's what's been my driving force (RCT just doesn't happen to be my primary vehicle atm). I have always been surprised though that more people at this site haven't expressed that this was their dream as well, so I'm wondering why you're all here. Has RCT been the easiest/most effective way to capture your brain on computer? Was it some love for amusement parks or architecture that got you into building your own themed worlds? Is it that this somehow offers you some escape from a period in your life that isn't going well?

idk I kind of just feel compelled to post here cause Nate did and if he did then snowballs affecting and all of NE's little ducks come back

To me RCT has been a different medium of artistic creation. No different than when I was very young and using crayons to draw what I saw. I play and I build just because, there's no explanation I can offer as to why I started drawing when I was little and there's no explanation for why I play this game. I just...do.

I just find that the game is just made for pure creativity. I find that creative comes best from areas that have limits, but these limits are there to guide and have no challenging effect on what you can and can't create.

For example, we are bound by the object selection limit, so we have to be creative to build what we want to build with minimal objects, we have to be creative in our choice of those objects and if that fails we have to be creative enough to produce our own custom object.

I think that RCT is a great canvas for anything to be built upon, if it had endless possibilities, the creativity wouldn't be there.

For example, RCT3 has practically no limitations, the screens we get are indeed amazing, but not as creative as they don't have the limitations that RCT2 or LL have.

Can't believe this is actually a new topic. I thought someone had bumped an old treasure. So cool to see you post again Nate!

It's interesting that you would say you focused so much attention on technological innovation. You sure did, yet it seems small compared to your aesthetical innovations with the game. No one was capable of creating the visual effects you did. People just loved the kind of atmospheres in your parks and they were uniquely attached to your name. Everyone had an easy time detecting your style during supposedly "anonymous" H2H park seasons. That I find is the greater achievement compared to pure functionality through hacking. To have managed to create such intense aesthetic value in your parks. Phatage, this is the function I play RCT for and that fascinates me. And I hate designing layouts

I feel creativity is something that needs to be discussed more, as it's lacking more and more in recent releases. To me, creativity is the quality of solving the problem how to signal a desired reality of what is it you want to create. The desired reality is your vision, the state of being you consider ideal. You will find yourself with tools ands means to create it. This can simply be a pen and a surface to draw onto. People have endeavoured to create more sophisticated tools tailored to specific areas though, which usually resulted in a multitude of tools. Modern CAD programs are good examples of this. If you combine the tools offered, they often multiply into unlimited ways to achieve your goal. Thus, finding a good of those many ways, where good is often measured on functions such as utility, economic value and aesthetic appeal, is the skill called creativity in my opinion.

Applied to RCT: your desired reality (vision) is that of a certain park or coaster design. You can see rough images in your head of what you want things to be like. Depending on how close you are to real life or the game itself, the images in your head move on a certain level of abstraction from real to RCT-ish. To capture initial visions of something you want, it is best to draw quick sketches. You then turn to the tools RCT offers you, namely the objects, and combine them in ways that help you model and realise your vision. The closer your vision is to real life, the more difficult it will be to find ways of creating an accurate representation of it with the game.

To answer some of your questions: I feel I struggle with creativity in RCT, as I've played the game pretty much detached from real life images, but not in other areas of design I do. I think creativity is something that can be trained, and depends mostly on fascination for a certain topic. I think to help innovation you have to put yourself in the situation where you see how well already established solutions perform. It's then much easier to get new ideas for improvement. Thus surveys and feedback loops are essential in any design process. I think technology will only make it easier for you to achieve your desired solution. For example it will make it faster for you to click something together, or a machine can more economically produce a prototype of your design, etc. But as long as you manage to keep your mind open and not tied to what technology allows you, technology itself doesn't improve the quality of your ideas, so I would say it's more important to invest creative efforts on the conceptual side of things.

I'd love to see some of your architectural designs btw. Do you have an online portfolio somewhere?

And tell me, do you ever feel like playing some LL at times? In hindsight, how do you feel about the game and what you have created with it?

I'm with Phatage on this one. I've wanted to be a roller coaster designer since I was 8, and this is just a means of me having fun with what I want to do later in life. It's been a passion for roller coasters that has driven me to play the game and all the athestetics and such that come with it have been something I've grown to enjoy. This had been why I like building designs more than parks (along with the fact that I can't stay motivated to finish a park) I prefer to build rides alone and not have to worry so much about having it have to fit with a bunch of other pieces of a park. Is it kind of a lazy way out, perhaps, but I play for fun and I'm having fun so I'm happy.