I have been accused! It's true, I have been accused from time to time of slowing down in my old age. And it must be true because I may have been the last to hear about a man called Tim Miller and about his butt-kicking RCTGL 3-D viewer!
I have spent many nights gazing up at the northwest night skies and the shimmering diamond like patterens of stars and light laying beatiful but predictable agenst the black velvet backdrop of space. But every now and then my upward vigil will be rewarded by the spectaculer disply of a seemingly close shooting star, blazeing away through space, showering the night sky with a trail of fire and light.
This is what has happened in the RCT Universe. Things have been just going along like normal as we bear the boredom waiting for RCT2. And then a shooting star comes blazing through the RCT night named Tim Miller. Even now as you read this there are many who don't even know what the RCTGL is, we are going to get into that. But before we do I would like to just give you my 2 cents on this most remarkable new 3-D viewer.
I downloaded ALL of Tim's demos from his site www.rctgl.com and using my own saved game parks I clicked the final click on the mouse and a whole new world of RCT in 3-D opened up for me! I still can't get my mouth to shut and my wife had to put a bib on me as I drooled over this GREAT new RCT program still under development by this new RCT "shooting star" Tim Miller.
The news is starting to spread like wildfire about the RCTGL and those that don't know about it, soon will. Wouldn't be surprised if Chris Sawyer himself doesn't raise an eyebrow on this one. I don't want to bore you any longer with my excited pysho-babble. Read this E-View with Tim and get to know a little more about him and his viewer then go to his site and download a demo. But be prepared for a most refreashing new way to stay and play in YOUR wicked parks.
You've waited long enough, the E-View park is now open, step right in and enjoy this interesting interview with a bright new RCT star called Tim Miller.
| Boomer |
It is a real pleasure to get to talk to you Tim! RCT in 3-D is a dream come true for me. I can't wait to look at ALL my saved games in 3-D! Is this true? Is this really going to be possible to do with your new viewer RCTGL? |
| Tim |
"Yes, that will be possible with RCTGL. You'll be able to look at any
saved game from any angle you wish. There are no limits to how you will be
able to explore RCT saved games". |
| Boomer |
(Laughing) You say that so matter of fact Tim yet I still can't beleive my eyes when I view the demos. You know of course what the next question has to be, WHEN? When can we expect this hot little puppy to be completed and ready for release to the general public? |
| Tim |
"I'd like to know that answer myself. The truth is that this program
still has a lot of work in store for it. There are a lot of rides to add,
features, sounds, enhancements, optimizations, etc. Because of the long
development time, I release milestone demos from time to time". |
| Boomer |
I know that it will be available at your site www.rctgl.com when
released but I am curious, as are many others, will the viewer be free or
will there be a charge to have this great download? |
| Tim |
"For now I am planning on making it free. I don't think I could get away
with charging people for it since it is heavily-based on someone else's
work". |
| Boomer |
Man, 3-D AND free, now thats a good deal! Anywhere else that it might be available for download other then your site? |
| Tim |
"Sure, if someone else wants to mirror it". :) |
| Boomer |
One thing that comes to mind Tim is that RCT2 will be coming out soon, is there any way this viewer will work on the new RCT 2 parks? |
| Tim |
"I won't know until I get the file specifications for RCT2 (and a copy
of the game itself). It shouldn't be that difficult to add the new rides to
my engine. It's just a matter of being able to read the new format for saved
games". |
| Boomer |
(Beaming) Okay, Iv'e died and gone to RCT heaven, the new enhanched graphics of RCT2 AND the possability of of a 3-D saved games,viewer! This is the part I hate, I need to ask you some questions now, that I know the answers will be way over my head, but nevertheless I must ask them for those who DO know what they are doing. How much PC power and memory are we going to have to muster up to run this 3-D viewer? Will it drag or slow down the game or the computer? |
| Tim |
"You want a reasonably fast computer with an up-to-date video card (say
a 1+ ghz processor and GeForce class video card). Ideally, you want the
fastest thing on the market, but that's true with any game, really. RCTGL
will run on a slow Windows computer w/o a 3D card, but you're going to
measure performance in seconds per frame instead of frames per second. :)
Of course, I'm always trying to improve performance in RCTGL. A
configuration that's almost unbearable now might prove to be very worthy in
future demos". |
| Boomer |
Sounds like a lot of work, How long has it taken you to develop your RCTGL program? |
| Tim |
"I've been casually working on it since October 2001". |
| Boomer |
What's the newest developements in RCTGL? |
| Tim |
"Honestly, not much has changed noticably since
the last demo. I've added portions of the tower rides, and I'm currently
adding DirectInput support for enhanced mouse and keyboard support, but
that's about it". |
| Boomer |
I know this sounds stupid but I ask everybody this, are you looking forward to the release of RCT 2? |
| Tim |
"Of course. Who isn't? I think it's overhyped in the RCT community, but
it will still be a lot of fun to play". |
| Boomer |
Yes indeed, a VERY fun and addicting game! What have you seen so far Tim that you really like about RCT 2? |
| Tim |
"Banked inclined curves, and a bigger map. The ability to stack scenery
without using a trainer is a nice addition too". |
| Boomer |
It sure is! Do you think Chris Sawyer will ever release an add-on that includes 3-D? |
| Tim |
"Chris Sawyer will never do that himself because his roots are in 2D
programming. All of the games he has ever written are in 2D. However, he
might hire a company to write a 3D viewer, slap his name (or the Infogrames
name) on it somewhere, then throw it in an Ultimate RCT package of some
sort". |
| Boomer |
I would think that Chris might want to contact YOU about the 3-D thing. Do you think he (Chris Sawyer) will ever contact you personally with his feelings about the RCTGL viewer? |
| Tim |
"I wish he would, and I imagine he will eventually. I'd like to hear
what he thinks about it, and maybe get some assistance from him. It would be
nice to have access to the 3D models and high-res textures he used to make
the sprites in the game". |
| Boomer |
We'll be keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for THAT match-up! I know you have to go Tim, you have much to do and I have taken enough of your time. Thank you so much for giving us a 3-D viewer and for your time and thoughts here tonight. It has been a real pleasure having this E-View with you and learning a little more about you and this most interesting development of the RCTGL program. |
| Tim |
"My pleasure. Hopefully your visitors enjoyed reading this and gained
some insight into the world of RCTGL.". |
Tim has left da house! Tim puts new meaning in the old phrase, "It's Miller time". Until RCT2 comes out I consider this RCTGL viewer to be the most significant developement in this strange but delightful RCT Universe, to come along in a long time. At least that is MY humble opinion. It's late, I'm old, I'm going to bed. Goodnight and sweet RCT dreams.
Before turning in Boomer turns out his bedroom light and stares out the window at the beauty of the northwest night sky. And then suddenly it happened, it sent goosebumps down his arms as Boomer watched the spectacular shooting star display overhead. A blazing shower of fire and light that rained down in 3-D patterens of orange and yellow. Then, as quick as it came it was gone. But there, in the eyes of Boomer, long after his eyes were closed with sleep, the images lingered on, transformed now into dreams, sweet dreams.... sweet RCT 3-D dreams.