
Originally Posted by
The Stig
I still like the idea of a progression or tech tree. Although, there are some members who don't agree with having to progress through features, and would rather have everything accessible from the very beginning. Even still, that opens a whole new debate about what should be locked vs unlocked and what needs to happen to get to that level.
Allow me to dabble:
The rides and elements you mention are good examples, but my idea is to have those kinds of things unlock over the progression of time.
My tech tree would grant certain content to be unlocked strictly on a park's specification.
Take for example:
I build a brand new 150-ft multi-looping roller coaster! Hooray!
Now let's pretend I'm obsessed with scenery. I've taken the extra time and effort and planted trees, shrubs, rocks and water fountains on and around every foot of pathway in my park. And by doing this, my new coaster has a significantly higher excitement rating and increased popularity and satisfaction ratings. Not so hard to believe, since the past games did exactly this.
Now let's just say my park has a really effective staff. I went through the troubles of micro-managing and spending more time than necessary to ensure that I'm on top of my staff operations. And by doing this, my new coaster has a slightly better dispatch time and breaks down less often than if I hadn't. Not too shabby, right?
Alright. Now for the kicker. Let's imagine for a paragraph that I've put a lot of money into the new "technology" category of research. This goes beyond staff and management. This is where the tech tree comes into play. My park prides itself from offering the latest and greatest technological innovations. Fresh from the convention floor. What does this do to my new coaster? Maybe I can install on-board audio into the trains? Maybe I can include special effects like fog and lights to the ride? Little details that couldn't have been available had I not invested in the specific branch of research.
Still reading? Okay. Now let's say that instead of "technology" I invested in "entertainment". What can this do for my new coaster? How about a pre-ride show? Or interactive queue thingies? Or little water-fountain thingies that I can place in water and will simulate a splash when a train rolls by?
My idea would be to take the whole 'unlockable features' concept and apply them to improvements to be applied to your existing attractions, rather than unlockable attractions.