How to save the RCT Franchise

Maybe we should put a strike on RCTW mobil or touch against Atari. Who is going to buy that game but us that love the game. Just don't buy it at all in fact let us just strike Atari and Nvizzio both. Let us hurt them so they can see what it is like. They both bear their names on the product they should both pay the price of not making this game right. I understand one thing. They have my money and I lived up to them by playing the game. They should live up to us starting right now and make this game complete and finish it like they promised. May I also point out if we take down what we made we are not hurting Atari or Nvizzio at all. We are taking our frustrations out on the people that is still playing the game. Please think about them as well. If we take down what we made for our community then we are no better then they are.

Denny

I think the damage is already done. The bad reputation is public knowledge. Don't bother with saving the franchise...invest in something else...another brand...the competition... ;)

Friendly Bump. Slight change of topic.

Anyone want to take a stab at "realistically" brainstorming on what RCTW needs to move forward. From Marketing to in-game developmental changes, let's set aside wishes and hopes and focus on simple barebones thinking here; as if you we are in the boardroom trying to salvage RCTW and turn it into a functioning and enjoyable game built on a shoestring budget. If you were running Atari and had a spare bit of $ to spend on RCTW and the RCT brand what would you do to make this game and the brand better? What would you repair, what would change?

How would YOU save the RCT Franchise? And RCTW? (if you were head of Atari)

I think step number 1 would be to strip the code right back. Look for areas where the code can be optimised and how critical bugs can be fixed. Right now for me the game has a menu, a loading screen then a crash to desktop at approx 95% loading.
Also fix things like the PxP deco item rotation never changing from 0 degrees.(these are 2 examples of the many bugs)
After that they can start looking at new content - the transport rides that must have been well into development by November if they had been planning to release them earlier this year, revisit ride models for animations and other cosmetic improvements - replace the wall and fence on the Haunted House with the spooky variant of the wall.

I think the core as Ive said above is run deep code review and intense QA before looking at other things.

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Originally Posted by Beaker86

I think step number 1 would be to strip the code right back. Look for areas where the code can be optimised and how critical bugs can be fixed. Right now for me the game has a menu, a loading screen then a crash to desktop at approx 95% loading.
Also fix things like the PxP deco item rotation never changing from 0 degrees.(these are 2 examples of the many bugs)
After that they can start looking at new content - the transport rides that must have been well into development by November if they had been planning to release them earlier this year, revisit ride models for animations and other cosmetic improvements - replace the wall and fence on the Haunted House with the spooky variant of the wall.

I think the core as Ive said above is run deep code review and intense QA before looking at other things.

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I agree. The code needs a good scrubbing! From there it's a matter of fixing bad code then moving on to address problematic in-game features. So much of the game was optimized rather poorly, IMO. Content was always a core problem but that's since changed as the game has expanded past it's original Vanilla state. Cosmetic changes are certainly needed; if only to restore much of the game's original beta-level texture detail. Although the game went through optimizations the developer took the easier route by slashing detail and lowering resolution vs doing thorough internal code rewrites. I imagine some was done just not at the scale needed. For this game to be salvaged true-optimization needs to happen on the game's core then graphics can be bumped back up as was the original plan.

Cleaned code. New Code and returned Texture fixes most of the game. Content can come later and gradually Atari can focus on improving visuals and animation. Realistically though; the only thing Atari truly needs to do is repair the community and repair their brand image. Doing that may require them to think outside the box, or seek partnerships (something they are capable of doing) to bring in new funds. Without support from any party the game and RCT the brand will die.

On a shoe-string budget; I would look at repairing the community and fixing this game at the code-level as first priority. Then work toward improving the game, in patchwork stages over-time. This of course should have been done post launch but instead we received Content updates in the form of PxP sets. Nice to look at but rather useless when the game remains unstable. I'd like to think that Atari is aware of mistakes made and would like to rectify this game's more obvious shortcomings. Will it happen? well that remains to be seen.

I'm enjoying this discussion and hope more tycoons chime in to voice their thoughts on how RCT the brand and RCTW can be returned and made stable.

first thing,hire people who will actually care about the franchise and are passionate and willing to get ideas from the fans of the base and work together and not in it just for a quick buck,and realize that even then there would have to be alot of effort to get people to have any trust

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Originally Posted by DonSPa

first thing,hire people who will actually care about the franchise and are passionate and willing to get ideas from the fans of the base and work together and not in it just for a quick buck,and realize that even then there would have to be alot of effort to get people to have any trust

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^ This. An excellent suggestion to start with.

Oh people... just stop... how many times are we going to discuss this over and over again... This is it...

First and foremost - admit your errors. Pretending that the past couple of years of RCTw drama didn't happen just won't work. Accept that your choices have alienated huge numbers of people, especially the core people of the community that stuck with you through three previous games. And for gosh sakes STOP PASSING THE BUCK! Trying to place the blame on the community for your errors is ridiculous...and you wonder why people were so angry? You may not like it but it WILL require Atari to eat some crow and to at least sound apologetic before many people are even going to bother listening to you again, let alone be willing to give you another chance. Secondly - learn what the word 'communication' actually means. Hint: it doesn't mean posting once in a blue moon and then abandoning the forums for the next few months. It also doesn't mean bushels of excessive hype or PR-speak that sounds like it's coming from an over-eager first year college intern. Thirdly - follow through on promises, even if they were just meant as 'possibilities'. Don't wait until rumors or those possibilities grow into 'certainties' to set the record straight. Once again it's that 'communication' thingy... Fourth - Stop being so overly protective of your work. It's not all that and a matching handbag. You may have promised a AAA title, but that's NOT wwhat RCTw is...not even close. There's a ton of stuff wrong with it with everything from flat rides that would kill you from the excessive rotation speeds to a UGC system that needs serious tweaking to come close to being the feature that was so hyped as setting this game apart. Stop taking it as being personal or act dismissive when people point out what's wrong or what they'd like changed. Doesn't make a hill of beans if you think your game is the greatest thing since sliced bread if your customers don't. On the flip side of this celebrate the things in the game that are done right - of which there are many but they get overshadowed by what's wrong. Fifth - engage your community. Do what's outlined in the first four steps above and then honestly and truly listen to the community. Bringing in someone to tweak gameplay is/was great...IF that person actually understands how the fans WANT TO PLAY, and doesn't decide to go with how he or she THINKS the game should be played, there's a huge difference. RCT isn't a normal game, fans have a great passion for it, tap into that passion. No, you can't give them everything they might suggest, but there's been years worth of want-lists out there that show the same things being requested over and over. And don't answer tech support questions with a canned response to submit a ticket when many people say they get no response to those tickets. Finally - Everyone is aware that Atari doesn't have endless resources to make this game, but that also doesn't mean that you have to settle for assets that just plain look cheap. Case in point - the game's peeps. Before adding another garbage can or partial themed pnp set, spend the money to fix them. Same with the flat rides and coasters already in the game. Fix them before adding more! Fix the games coding as much as possible. Do these things and you'll have a solid base to start over with.

There's some good suggestions but I honestly think it's beyond saving on a shoestring budget. Atari would have to invest millions and even then it would be a huge uphill battle to get the review scores even to an average rating, let alone anything resembling a positive score.

The recent deletion of a post which showed that RCTW logo with Mac/XB1/PS4 logos featured (from the publicly available Shareholders presentation) probably highlights Atari's future plans. Take it cross platform where they'll be free of the stigma of the PC version and have no real competition. They could in turn use that income to improve the game in the future but it's not without risk. If the game is perceived just as badly on the console markets Atari will likely put it out to pasture rather than investing any further money in it.