OpenRCT2 – Phase 2

Name = ファンタスティックパレード (Fantastic Parade)
Location = Japan – after a Korean overdose fuelling the first major park, I had a bit of a J-Pop phase in 2017, centred around two groups in particular. The music videos aren’t anywhere near as thematically inspiring, so there was opportunity to go a bit more freestyle on decoration here. Features include the seafront/beach, a replica of Tokyo Tower as an observation deck and a shopping mall (complete with indoor and outdoor rollercoaster of course).

Check out the videos below to see some of the rides in action, or download the map to explore the park.

Coasters

An obviously very Helix inspired Mack multi launch coaster, this ride uses two angled launch sections to keep momentum as it negotiates the hillside through a combination of every element under the sun (just how I like it).
There’s a slightly jarring pause before each one as I opted to utilise active block sections and have multiple trains on circuit simultaneously.
(I could cheat and say that it’s intentional as the original (Manta @ Sea World San Diego) does this anyway).

How do you make something like Taron more visually intense? Make a racing version through a bustling city. I also threw in a bucketload more airtime because that’s how I personally believe something like this should ride. These Intamin multi launches were built before the game had updated the booster sections to have a bit more acceleration power, hence the classic chain noise on each launch.

I’ve always dreamed of having more full scale rollercoasters built indoors (the world can do better than a Vekoma looper surely). Something like a B&M invert with very high intensity and disorientating inversions, in the dark with visual effects seems like something that could take the ride type to the next level for me (further evidence to support this after riding Black Mamba at midnight).

I was beyond excited the other week when a new track type was released for OpenRCT2 – the RMC hybrid. There’s still some limitations on the track pieces available, but this previous build was the first of mine that I was able to seemlessly convert. As useful as some of the other updates and features are, I feel that increasing players abilities to create more varied content in terms of ride hardware has been rather overlooked until this point, holding the game back for all but the most innovative, or perhaps the realism purists.
As the trains themselves have existed for years I’ve been fascinated with making this ride type for a good while now, opting for standard twister track with painted rails to provide the desired effect. It’s a great opportunity to make some weird shapes and this one even has a slanted lift hill as a nod to the music video it’s inspired by. Prepare to get cosy with your neighbouring rider.

I love building sprawling terrain GCIs in the game and for me it’s one of the most satisfying processes in coaster building. As this ride is mostly inspired by Python in Bamboo Forest, this hillside in the park is my idea of a coaster paradise, intertwining my two favourite rides in the world (oh, and an RMC next door).

The Maurer Sky Loop style lift hill on this one is an usual choice for me as I usually despise this element in real life, but I like to imagine that it could be pulled off much more comfortably in a Gerstlauer Infinity train and/or with the distracting visuals from atop a building in Tokyo. With the world of city centre based thrill coasters currently leaving quite a lot to be desired on the design front, my own ideas on how to make the most of the man-made landscape led to this rooftop-bound first half of the layout, which then dives to ground level with a somewhat Kärnan-esque second section.