RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and the art of the single developer
I'm sure there are other roller coaster geeks out there besides me, but not one game has ever consumed as much of my time as RollerCoaster Tycoon. Now we'll get it in 3D with on-ride POV, as Atari just announced the development of RCT3.
If you aren't familiar with the first two games, they were, and continue, to be among the best selling titles of all time. Their appeal was so insanely broad. Way back in '98 or '99, Chris Sawyer developed this game, in machine language no less, all by himself. That never happens in light of multi-million dollar budgets, celebrity voice talent and armies of code monkeys. He only got help with the graphics and sound. I remember when the demo went out, every coaster dork on the planet played it over and over and over, despite not being able to save and losing your work to the timeout. It didn't matter... it was cool.
As a recreational gamer (and coaster enthusiast), the game was great because you got to nurture something and watch it develop. No one would “die“ and you didn't shoot anything. It was hours and hours of fun. The scenarios that Sawyer developed were well thought out and tons of fun. RCT2 added a lot of scenery, a scenario editor and some other stuff, but most of the scenarios were terrible and not Sawyer-designed. The expansion packs for RCT2 were all terrible. It was clear that Hasbro/Infogrames/Atari was milking the franchise.
As a developer, you have to cheer for a lone guy that can create something that amazing (and did I mention in machine language?) and execute everything so well, from coding, to design, to gameplay. It's inspiring in a world where we frequently have some little task to turn into code as part of a bigger picture. If anyone has been able to “feed the soul“ writing code, it's Sawyer.
RCT3 is being developed by a software house under Sawyer's watchful eye. While it cuts down on the charm level of one guy writing the insanely popular app, there's no doubt in my mind that his oversight will keep it inline with his vision of what makes the gameplay so special.
I'm really looking forward to this game!