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You know what I HATE about these darn E-Views? I don't really get to look my guest in the eye and say I met them face-to-face. But still, I was plenty nervous when I went to put THIS interview together. After all, I was warming up and getting up to speed for an Interview with the man who interviewed "The Man" himself, Red Phoenix! Red's interview with CHRIS SAWYER posted at his site on May 7th, 2001, and was like fresh water on parched earth, it was sucked right up! Everyone who knew about RCT was eagerly waiting for this special interview with the Grand Pope of RollerCoaster Tycoon.
Red Phoenix didn't let us down. The interview was great! Chris had to be happy... and so did Red. So here I was, a year later, nervous about interviewing the interviewer. Red and the staff over at cool running RCT Station have always been good to us at our new little site. Red was courteous and quite prompt in his replies and has a way of making one feel comfortable and at ease. But that had NO effect on me. I was still nervous; this was Red! Course that name probably meant more to me then it did to most for at least three reasons. ONE... Red Phoenix knows everyone and has become a well-known name straight across the RCT board. TWO... Our little rct:2 site lay directly in the shadow of mega-sit RCT Station, anchored by the "Big Red", himself. No intimidations there, right? Yeah right! THREE... (And the most effective one) He had interviewed.... DA man, Mr. Sawyer Personally!
No.. unh ah... no need to be nervous about what I say. Nope; just cool and calm. The first stupid thing I did was promptly and proudly shoot of a list of E-Interview questions to the wrong E-mail recipient. A reply back from my rather stupid but excited friend saying, "Well Hell Ya, I'll do da interview, what's it about anyway"? That reassured me that I was off to a really good start.
Once I got going on this though it turned into a really interesting and provocative "inside" look at our strange RCT universe and the many signs of life that exists throughout it. I wanted to get this inside slant on what the RCT forums and Internet sites were collectively thinking about RCT 2... what was the buzz? Who better then long time rct site master and veteran player and interviewer of Chris himself, Red Phoenix?
So I queried for information and searched for something, anything that might be of interest and help shed some light on this darkly shrouded bubble of great news, the release of RCT 2. In this interview we will get a feel for what the excited peeps are thinking as well as some perceptive considerations from Red Phoenix.
Red lives in the USA and say's he like to eat Chili, pizza, spaghetti and tacos. At 20 years old I guess he can handle this spicy "International Cuisine". He likes to play PC games and his interests are Atlantis, Ancient Rome and Egypt. Red's favorite shows are The Simpson's, Junkyard Wars, (two of my favorites also) and Gladiator. For fun and Amusement you can sometimes find Red Phoenix hanging out at his favorite Amusement Park, Six Flags Great America.
Okay, enough waiting in line. The interview train is at the station. All Aboard. Keep arms and legs in the car and please remain seated for the entire ride and... no cameras please!
| Boomer |
Good evening to you and thank you for your time on this project. As the site master of a big RCT site AND all the other things you've got going, I know you're busy and I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. That being said; let's get down to it and ask some questions. Do you think that as a site master of a large RCT site, that the release of RCT 2 coming this fall is going to have an impact on your site RCT Station that would cause any changes to or make the site even bigger? |
| Red |
"RCT II can only make RCT Station bigger. I have no intentions of stripping down the site to cover only RCT II. I will cover the original RCT and its expansion packs". |
| Boomer |
Yes, I'm sure that complete coverage of RCT, both 1 and 2, will be a top priority for your site. There are many different people playing many different levels and versions of RCT and there will always be a demand for info and advice about all aspects of the game and your site RCT Station has always been a good place to go for everything you need for RCT. What, in your opinion, is what the people in the RCT community wanting to see most in RCT 2? |
| Red |
"A lot of people seem to be begging for a 3D graphics engine, although that's not something I'd want. A sandbox mode, scenario editor, new track pieces, and more flat rides seem to be the other major requests". |
| Boomer |
As much as I like roller coasters, I would like to see more flat rides too. What would you personally want to see most in RCT 2? |
| Red |
"Larger maps would make a great addition. This would allow people to make recreations of real parks on ONE map. Improved AI would be a very important addition, especially when it comes to pathing. There aren't that many rides available in the game, so additional flat rides would help make it more complete. To stay on top of technology, it would make sense to work on the 4D coaster concept". |
| Boomer |
Yeah man, I'm with you on that! I would love to see a RCT reproduction of the amazing X, a new 4D coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. A lot of times I hear people asking, "I wonder if Chris Sawyer ever visits these RCT forum and sites to find out what the people really want". Do you think that the Sawyer design team know what people really want and will give it to them? |
| Red |
"I do believe that they visit the sites and have a general idea of what people want. When I interviewed Chris Sawyer, I asked him about this, and this was his response: "I have very clear ideas about how to take the game forward, both in terms of what I want the game to do, and in terms of what players want. What's more important for me though is that a new version of the game should not lose the features which make RollerCoaster Tycoon the game it is, like the crispness of detail, the variety and depth of the rides, the amount you can see on screen at one time, and the open-ended nature of the gameplay". |
| Boomer |
3-D or not 3-D, that is the question, do you think it will be there? |
| Red |
"No, I don't think it will be there. One of the beauties about the original RCT was its low system requirements. This was great for those people who haven't upgraded their PCs in several years. The 3D engine has that initial WOW effect, but it doesn't offer a whole lot of gameplay. Empire Earth, from Stainless Steel Studios is an example of this. If it doesn't help with gameplay, don't include it, and I don't think Chris Sawyer will bother with it". |
| Boomer |
4D coasters or FORTY coasters could be another question, think there'll be lots of new state of the art coasters or rides In RCT 2? |
| Red |
"I have no idea how far Chris Sawyer will go in terms of ride technology. Obviously, it would be nice to see this in RCT II, but he may save 4D coasters for an expansion pack. From a marketing standpoint, arguments could be made for either way, but I think the main changes in RCT II will involve the re-writing of the code and probably a more refined graphics-rendering engine". |
| Boomer |
What about the Infrogames RCT site? Do you think they will update their site better this time round and have better support and information then Hasbro did with RCT I? |
| Red |
"I believe they will to be honest. Hasbro didn't have the site going very long (a few months) until it had to shut down the ride exchange. I'm confident that it will work out well. If this ends up being true, I hope the fan sites don't start shutting down like they did for Sim City and SimGolf. Official site support made the majority of the fan sites vanish". |
| Boomer |
Any chance of some kind of on-line interactive feature on this new release to let players inter-react and build community parks, perhaps online park building competitions? |
| Red |
"No, I don't believe we'll see that type of feature for a very long time, if ever". |
| Boomer |
Do you think there will be a number of patches and trainers made for RCT 2 such as the many available on your site right now for RCT, Corkscrew Follies and Loopy Landscapes? |
| Red |
"This is all up to Chris Sawyer and his design team. The more anti-cheat code they insert, the harder it is to develop a trainer, but I'm sure there will be something on the site for this". |
| Boomer |
What's the buzz on the message boards and forums now? Are people going to buy this game, are they excited about it? |
| Red |
"Most people seem to be psyched about RCT II and are willing to buy the game". |
| Boomer |
I know what you mean Red, I am one of them! How will you handle sales of RCT 2 at your site? Will it be available there or will you have a link to it? |
| Red |
"I'll probably link to an E-tailer (Amazon, for example)". |
| Boomer |
Well, you have been very patient sir and I know you have a million things to do so I'll let you go, but before I do just one more question. Do you think there will be any Easter eggs or hidden surprises in RCT 2? |
| Red |
"Of course. It's those little bonuses that make games even better". |
| Boomer |
(laughing) Yeah, kind of like an E-toy birthday gift or something. Thank you for your time Red. Happy Coastering to you. |
Red has left the house! As if in a puff of smoke this Red bird has vanished; in much the same way he appeared. Keeping his private life private assures Red Phoenix some sort of safety net, a buffer of sorts from all the internet hazards and viruses encountered by large game sites, on a daily bases. So not a whole lot of private info or Bio do I know or would I share if I did, BUT... I know this; Red is always just a few clicks away at RCT Station! And that's what counts, he, and his talented staff (I.E. KaiBueno Coasters) are there pretty much 24/7 for ALL your RCT downloads and park making needs.
(Boomer yawns and turns for the basement door, but something catches his eye there on the floor. For a moment a mirage appears and then shimmering, vanishes into the edges of Boomers vision. But in the darkness of the basement left behind the closing door lay the outline of something strange, perhaps prophetic, the image of a small red feather lying on a gray pile of ashes!
---Boomer--- |