Saturday, January 28, 2017

Quick Tip: 'Sandbox Mode' (Unlimited Building) in Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 [Steps with Screenshots]

I had picked up Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 again over The Holidays during a sale at STEAM and I already saw some people in the Steam Forum ("Discussions") asking if there was a 'Sandbox Mode' - which is a way to play with either 'Unlimited Money' or 'Free Building' - so I wanted to quickly share a Quick Tip about playing RCT2 in a "Sandbox Mode", as in, 'Unlimited Money' and/or 'Free Building'...


While RCT2 has a 'hard limit' on buildings [128 rides as I understand - but I have not personally tested this], it does have a way to 'create a Sandbox Mode' - where you can build as much as you want, not limited by money - by making your own Scenario...



If you press on the "Game Tools" Toolbox at the Main Menu (initial startup menu, with the four large buttons to click on, at the bottom) and choose the "Scenario Editor" from the pull-down menu, you can create your own Scenario ("park level/map").



After setting up things like available Rides, Land and initial layout, you can choose for the Scenario to use "No Money" (a checkbox, later in the process), which is an option that effectively disables finances (and thus the need for money to build, etc), making everything 'free' when you go back and Play that Scenario.




There are also 'Trainers' you can run (which are small programs that run in the background of the game, that let you alter Money, let you bypass other normal limits of the game, etc.. [I haven't used these in a while, but have done so in the past - as always, I mention a quick caution about trying these out, as although there are many, many Trainers and programs out there that are designed by helpful people and even whole communities, there is always a non-zero chance that there might be malicious software thrown in the bunch]); if you don't feel comfortable doing that (downloading a file from somewhere unknown and running it), the above seems to be the closest RCT2 gets to a true 'Sandbox Mode' that I saw, at the moment.


Have fun with it!




Personal Version/Log


I had typed this up the other day and have recently been feeling like I have been 'fighting something' (an incoming cold/etc) so wanted to try finally finish it and quickly get it posted - so there are no Graphics/Screenshots at this time, sorry. I have taken a couple and may return here to add some in....Soon™


Edit: I have now added in the Screenshots, showing some of the steps for clarification, as well as a Header graphic. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 01, 2017

Happy New Year from The Game Tips And More Blog! [NewYears' Greetings 2017]



"Happy New Year 2017 Greetings"
by The Game Tips And More Blog
(Just Cause 3 capture, Highest Settings and FXAA, with Text and Effects added)


I personally wish you all much better things in 2017!


[To help celebrate the end of a crazy 2016 (for almost everybody, it seems) and the beginning of a hopefully-better 2017, this was simply a fireworks celebration captured in Just Cause 3 (Highest Settings, FXAA). I then added a 'crowd' overlay that had a bit of 'glitter' effects in it (used with License from CyberLink's PowerDirector 12) and put some Just Cause 3 - styled text  on top of it all (using a free font called "Dirty Old Town" which looked somewhat like the JC3 font and another one whose name escapes me at the moment). Lastly, I put a "Text FX" Overlay effect to show the year, an effect that was also in PowerDirector 12. As always, it was seemingly simple to think of, but took longer than expected to complete the composition (almost a day late for NewYear's, heh). 
HAPPY NEW YEAR ! ]


Game Material by Avalanche Game Studios (avalanchestudios.com) and Square Enix (square-enix.com)
Captured and Edited by Troy from The Game Tips And More Blog