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Atari scrambles to address horrible RollerCoaster Tycoon graphics

If there is one thing we can agree on, it's that in the latest trailer release for the upcoming Rollercoaster Tycoon World (RCTW), the graphics were not impressive. If anything, they were a worrying potential indicator for the effort that went into making the game, so the publisher Atari is now hoping to explain it all away and placate fears with an announcement of a graphical upgrade.

“We have heard you and we concur; the trailer did not show the final game and the game everyone should expect from the RCT franchise,” reads the Atari blog post from late last week. It goes on to explain that the game is currently in the pre-alpha stage and that features and graphical fidelity will improve before the game is released.

rollercoaster
The lack of shadows in the original trailer were the most obvious

To address some of the concerns too, Atari has said that developer Area 52 will be updating the version of Unity that the game is built in, from four to five. Although there are performance benefits to such a move, the important part that Atari is focusing on is that it will improve graphical fidelity. This will come with “shadow improvements,” as well as tweaks to lighting and better environmental details, according to the publisher.

Other graphical updates that RCTW will have includes a more “realistic” art style, that will make the rides “feel like they can be found in real life.” This suggests a much bigger overhaul than a few tweaks to the aesthetics of the game, as giving it a whole new visual style would be quite a task.

Indeed, the release date may now have been pushed, as Atari confirmed that the game would not be released until it knows that it's ready.

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KitGuru Says: It will be interesting to see what the next trailer for the game looks like and whether things have improved enough to impress fans of the RCT series. 

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7 comments

  1. God forbid a game where graphics aren’t the defining feature. This just worries me when people start complaining. Yeah, okay, graphics are nice, but graphics aren’t the game. That’s like complaining about Interstellar because you can’t tell the actors what to do. A game is meant for playing, not watching.

  2. Charles Charalambous

    Had the same argument with some friends the other day. Their logic is, if it looks terrible and/or has terrible art style, then they can not play the game even if the gameplay is good. However if the art style is good and the gameplay is bad to average they can play the game… For me it is the polar opposite..

    With you on this one fully.

  3. I agree also but when they start putting out poor graphic’s in a game like this it makes you wonder what else did they hold back from development just to make a quick buck from an old series.

  4. my issue was it looked worse then roller coaster tycoon 3 and looked like a mobile game i get what you mean and i agree graphics over gameplay….but i am greedy i want both also i loved going on the rides in Rct3 and i would love that to look decent

  5. I take a good combo of the two, if it looks good but plays awful then obviously its a no, same to be said for looking awful but playing well.

    However if the graphics are supposed to look “bad” so to say then i will still play it, for example minecraft, graphics wise, its awful, but its mean to look like that

  6. the fact the games build on unity and not there own in house engine or a more stable refined engine like Unreal makes this next installment a complete waste

  7. Dont trust this product!

    God who wants to play a piece of crap game like this franchise anyway…just does ya fucking head in that companies like ATARI churn out shit like this EVERY single day!