RCT Discussion / Has the realistic "theme park" style reached it's pinnacle

I know the realistic and somewhat generic style we've been seeing a lot of around NE for years now is very popular, mostly being traced back to CP6's Watkins Woods Park, and progressing onward to what we see today in parks like Starpointe, Six Flags Carolina, and (though to a lesser extent) Six Flags Santa Fe.
What I wonder is, is this generic styling of realism at it's peak? With our highly detailed ways of building, can or realism truly get any better than where it is at now? In most cases, important components like architecture and foliage almost feel as if they are every bit as good as in real life.
Without the introduction of themes to break the generic styling, I wonder whether or not we have hit the ceiling of what is possible. Themes allow significantly more room for creativity, detail, and style that I feel is now one of the only ways forward.

I love realism. Themes are nice, and can help drive the atmosphere, or they can distract from the focus on the rides and realism. Well balanced is the key. Realism can be boring, but too many themes can get convoluted and confusing.


http://www.youtube.c...h?v=w2EZK-YQHZo

As far as becoming "more realistic," I think that the greatest strides we'll see in the upcoming months/years is a continuation of the deconstruction of RCT's grid-like setup. With curved paths, use of diagonal items, diagonal stations, etc., I think parks will eventually break away completely from the grid that the game was built around.

I agree with zburns, diagonals are the future of realism. My favourite real life amusements parks are run by cedar fair. There parks would probably be considered boring in rct. I find realism parks much easier to picture myself in. As a whole, that's why I play rct, to escape to a world where I can walk around with thousands of mindless peeps, ride roller coasters and be happy. Realism seems, well, real. I don't think realism has to expand more, what we have works

As far as becoming "more realistic," I think that the greatest strides we'll see in the upcoming months/years is a continuation of the deconstruction of RCT's grid-like setup. With curved paths, use of diagonal items, diagonal stations, etc., I think parks will eventually break away completely from the grid that the game was built around.

Or you just get RCT3, where diagonals and curvy shapes have been common for years. I think RCT3 is the next level in realism, especially since the graphics have dramatically improved and coaster design is now perfectly smooth with the new custom tracks and import-option throughout No Limits.
Compared to the possibilities of RCT3, the parks you just named look silly and futile.

If just some talented people would dare to make the step!

I think Leonidas makes a blunt yet valid point here. The capabilities of RCT3 over the past year or so have been incredibly enhanced by the importing of No Limits and the constant array of scenery that is available. For those who want to take the time, custom scenery can be self made quite tediously to yield a very great result. I for one would love to try out RCT3 in these most recent times. One thing that will never change however are the ugly ass peeps in that game. They kill the atmosphere of many of the projects I see advertised and I for one would not even bother putting them into my parks.

I don't really want to comment too much on realism, as it's not me thing, but i see no limit for rct2 in the fantasy direction. Brushing off my own shoulders, but i see parks like Colorflood or some of Ivo's work as a new direction for fantasy work, where we are pushing the boundaries by utilizing rct as a mode of art rather than a mode of recreation. Even work be someone like Avanine Commuter is an example of where fantasy is not withheld. Because it isn't comparable to some real life style, it allows fantasy and art-rct to continue to be innovative.

Though, overall, i think the next step is to take this "super realism" and apply it to greater styles of park creation. Sure, we can make the perfect archy building, but how can we reconfigure that into innovative new parks. As much as i joke that Pac and Robbie should stay out of fantasy, i feel like their style in a fantasy setting may make on of the greatest parks we have ever seen. Maybe one day i'll convince them!

FK

The main problem with "realism" is that it tends to be very time-consuming-per-square. What was the last major park released?

Of course, fantasy can also be fidgety, and be all about the quarter size bricks, tediously laying 'em out. But it doesn't seem like it's as dependent on it. This is why I miss the days of LL. It just seemed like more parks of a greater size got released since you couldnt fidget as much back then, before the days of codex 'n all.

I love to look at realism parks, and admire the craftmanship, but sometimes I just want to see a giant, sprawling park. And that, from what I've observed, is where realism falls short.

Anyhoo, the problem with RCT is that it's like legos, and at the end of the day you'll be limited by the gridlike nature. you could go over to RCT3, but then you'd loose that RCT charm.

I think whats attractive about "realism" in the RCT2 sense, is that it has that added charm of being an old sprite based iso game. You can keep on pushing boundaries, but the grid will always be there, bu that's what keeps it charming and appealing.

can we get some links to these rct 3 examples where talking about here please? my trusty shy guy forums arent yielding what im hearing

acheronsland's Tower of Terror

This. I can't even

I think maybe we should make more custom scenary? RCT3 has tons of CS to make it realistic.

If I figure out how I would like to make an scenery tab of the new Intamin box supports. Would anyone else be interested?

^^ Do that Pac, why not?
It will always be great and usefull.

As far as rct3... it does impress me lately, but the game play and the even greater amount of time creating something, holds me back.

yeah rct is even more tedious when going for realism than rct2 is, although I do think it might be more rewarding since you can actually visit your own park... but what do you mean the smoothness is fixed with NL being imported into the game? you mean you directly have a coaster from NL build in a park? exactly like it's layed out there?

Or you just get RCT3, where diagonals and curvy shapes have been common for years. I think RCT3 is the next level in realism, especially since the graphics have dramatically improved and coaster design is now perfectly smooth with the new custom tracks and import-option throughout No Limits.
Compared to the possibilities of RCT3, the parks you just named look silly and futile.

If just some talented people would dare to make the step! />/>

Perhaps, but from my PoV RCT3 is an entirely different game from RCT2. It's just what you prefer tbh. I like the old school charm rct1 & 2 have. While a lot of stuff of rct3 looks a lot better than before I can't escape from the fact a lot of the stuff is made just by making lots of custom scenery and then I have the question in my mind of why not build it entirely in a 3D editor in the first place where not a single limit except the polygoncap applies. This is coming from someone who models quite a bit outside of rct.
Personally I would have liked to try rct3 in it's more recent state, but it's not gonna happen anytime soon as the game still has a major flaw in it's system requirements as my computer won't run it in decent settings when a park comes even remotely of a certain size. Which is something that threw me off it in the first place as when it was released I had a decently high end game system. Also turning graphics down is a no no in a design game to begin with.

edit*

Also more on topic, pure realism is not a goal for everybody. If it leads to over-detailing it might be counterproductive. It should be to make a scene as believable as possible, not to add everything that should supposedly be there.

I like peeps. That's my problem with rct3, I don't like aliens walking around my park. it throws any atmosphere I had going on, out the window. For the time being I'm sticking with rct2 .
But who knows, maybe theme park studio will come along and be everything we everything we need for realism.

I really need to follow rct3 some more. Some of this new work is just stunning. I still have yet to see a lot of the custom imported coasters. Are most of parks on shy guys world or are there other awesome rct3 forums out there? I really just don't know where to lookout I'm fascinated with these..

... and then I have the question in my mind of why not build it entirely in a 3D editor in the first place where not a single limit except the polygoncap applies. This is coming from someone who models quite a bit outside of rct.

Yep, this. This is the very reason why I haven't made the jump over to RCT3, and a big part is that so much of it's CSO seems to have been made for a very specific purpose or style and I find it hard to make anything decent with it that doesn't match it's original intention.

Plus I hate the textureless look that everything has.

EDIT:
@nin: You're wrong on both points. First of all there's very specific scenery but also basic, more versatile objects. I use everything as everything, without any regard for it's original purpose and I'm known in the RCT3 community because no one seems to be able to see what CSO I used. More than in RCT2 even, you can mix to create your own unique looks.
To prove my point, Here's some trackitectrure + mixed scenery
Secondly, only shyguys' famous sets are texture-less. Most sets have great textures.

Don't get me wrong I love RCT2, for the exact reasons named above. I play it all the time.
But when your goal is to create something that truly feels like reality, RCT3 can come a lot more close to what you have in mind. Because in the end RCT2 will always look like RCT2, while RCT3 can sometimes fool you for being real, or something else entirely. RCT3 has gotten beyond it's own crappy gameplay and cartoonish character into quite an advanced design platform with endless possibilities. The game itself is crap, and the art is to get beyond the game. With RCT2 the game is charming and atmospheric, and your job is to exploit that energy, utilize it. RCT2 is more lively and vivid, but design wise, also a bit silly and blocky.

But somehow lately, only few designers can grasp this awesome potential. As you might have noticed if you visited SGW. If only some talent from this site, would give it try, I honestly think it could result in some of the most awesome RCT creations ever. Robbie or Pierrot doing RCT3 would be absolutely godly.

Some examples of (semi) realistic attempts in RCT3:
JRCH - coaster
mosesjd86
NGT ofcourse
where it all really started
Where it all really started II
Six flags interpretation
ZeroG - DisneySea
quite cool little parkl
Disney interpretation
etc. etc.

(PS. If you PM me, I can send you a custom scenery package.)