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I had the pleasure to interview Ken Allen on Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, Soaked, and Wild!

1. What is your position at Atari and what does it include?

A: My title is Senior Producer; I manage the RCT franchise, as well as some other games. My chief responsibility is to ensure the delivery of a high quality game on the dates promised. I also act as a logistical coordinator making sure marketing and PR have all the assets they need, that the necessary approvals are carried out, that the manual is accurately produced, that testing is done, that the installer us executed properly, that compatibility testing is performed, to ensure the accuracy of the text on the packing is correct and compelling, review contracts, assess games concepts, assist in focus testing, talk to the press, represent the game and the developer to the executives, and to represent the game and Atari to the developer. The buck stops with me, and I’m all about the game!

2. How are your involved with Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 (RCT3) and RCT3 Wild?

A: My involvement with RCT goes back to the expansion packs for RCT2, where Frontier were, for the first time, developing content for Chris Sawyer’s game. When the time came to plan for RCT3, I worked with Frontier to come up with the best way to bring RCT into the 3D realm and to the modern gamer, but to also keep the heritage of the game pure for the loyal fans of the series. Frontier and I were eye-to-eye in agreeing what new features to add, such as adding peep groups, day/night cycles, the fireworks editor, the three levels of difficulty (apprentice, entrepreneur and tycoon), photo spots, custom family editor, park inspector, sandbox mode and so on. We hoped that loyal players would embrace all the new ideas as long as we kept the essential game-play to their true to the RCT experience. From what I can tell, we did a pretty good job – the biggest complaint being the requirement for some to upgrade their computers to play RCT3. In deciding how to approach expansion packs, I really wanted the new content of the expansion packs to take RCT3 into new areas the game hadn’t offered before. Adding a waterpark for Soaked!, the first expansion pack for RCT3, was practically a no-brainer. But with Wild!, I was a little less confident – I didn’t want people to think we were trying to copy Zoo Tycoon, so we took our inspiration from Busch Gardens and Disney Safari Adventure in deciding how to design Wild! Frontier has been an excellent partner in all of this. They completely understand not only how to extend the gameplay with expansion packs, but they also understand how to do this and stay true to the original inspiration of RCT and what makes it great!

3. Could you give an overview of RCT3 Wild including new features to the game, new rides, shops, themes etc…

A: Of course, RCT3: Wild! includes animals - in animal pens, shows and safari settings. The new themes in Wild are prehistoric and safari, plus some new shops like French fries. We’ve also got billboards and custom shops where you can import your own graphics and include advertisers. We’ve also kept tunnels, waterfalls and the improved building tools introduced in Soaked, and have added a new employee (animal caretaker) a safari celebrity VIPeep, and dartcam so you can re-capture the occasional animal escapee.

4. What are you looking forward the most to this expansion?

A: I’m really hoping we’ll entice new players to try-out RCT3 by introducing Wild! and the animals found within the expansion pack. It wouldn’t hurt to have those Zoo Tycoon players expand their horizons a bit, and Wild! may just be the ticket. I also really love the reaction of the peeps when an animal escapes. Good times! I can’t wait to see what kinds of coasters players create using Wild!, too. We’ve got some of the wildest coasters ever designed showing up in this installment, so it’s not a Wild! expansion pack just because of the animals.

5. How do you feel RCT3 Soaked did?

A: Nothing but positive. We got high marks from both the gamer press and the consumers

5a. Was this a surprise to you?

A: The single thing that surprised me the most was the machinima phenomenon finding a home within RCT3 fandom. I’d seen movies created by players of Halo and some MMOs. But when I saw my first RCT3 machinima, I was floored! It is really cool what the fans have done with the game camera.

5b. What is your best feature in Soaked?

A: By far, the water effects. I cannot think of another game that has water effects as good as what we have in RCT3: Soaked! Hats of to the fella’s at Frontier for really pushing on this feature!

6. What new coaster types will we see in RCT3 Wild? We have already seen some ‘off the drawing board’ designs but can you confirm what coaster types these are and what others we will see?

A: The splitter coaster (inspired by The Seismic) is probably the most requested new coaster, but we’ve also added the Expedition Ge-Force - a German coaster regarded by many as the most intense coaster in the Europe, and maybe even the world. There are 8 new coaster types in all, and I really hope you try your hand at building them all.

7. What new flat rides will be added to Wild? Will they mainly be ‘thrill rides’ or a mix of all ride types?

A: A lot of classic “flat” rides have been included, like one that resembles the tilt-a-whirl, the topple tower (resembles a giant version of that water drinking bird you see on some people’s desks), plus a collection of other classics familiar to fair-goers. There are several gentle attractions, like the insect house, the dinosaur-go-round, lion tamer show, giant Ferris wheel; and a few new transport rides, like the everglades boat, elephant ride and the giant paddle wheeler.

8. In Soaked we saw a sponsorship deal, e.g. The Hershey deal. Will we be seeing a partnership with any other products or theme parks?

A: This is a very delicate situation; on the one hand, players have expressed that having real brands make their parks feel more life-like. But these same players don’t want to be inundated with ads. So this time around, we are giving players new elements, like the shops and billboards I mentioned previously, that have signage that can be updated if you are connected to the Internet. These shops are completely optional, so if you don’t want this, it is not required. But we have a list of advertisers who’ve signed up, so, if you want, your billboard may advertise a new movie or clothing line.

9. We have heard about the ‘billboards’ which will be included in Wild! Could you give some more information about these?

A: Yes, well, we are very sensitive that RCT3 is a family friendly game, so the billboards will be updated only with brands that are also family friendly. Atari has absolute approval rights on what ads will appear in the game, and we will watch this with extra vigilance. But, as I mentioned in my previous answer, you are never required to include advertisements in order to win at playing a scenario. The good thing though is, you will earn RCT3 cash when you include billboards that can be updated.

9a. Will we be able to import our own images to the ‘billboards’ if so, what file types will it support?

A: Yes, your images can be imported to show up on billboards in RCT3. Pretty cool, eh…

10. How many animal types will Wild include? Can you name them all ?

A: I haven’t got the game running in front of me at the moment, so I’ll have to answer to your question from memory. Each of animal types, each with a male adult, male child, female adult and female child selections. In the feline category, there are the lion, tiger, and leopard. Among the primates are apes, chimps, orangutans and mandrills. Then there are kangaroos, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, gazelles, zebras, horses, ostriches, bears, and polar bears. I think I’m missing a couple but any Wild tycooner will be happy with the vast selection.

11. Will the animals react to different surroundings? E.g. will they stay away from rides and coasters?

A: Animals react to each other, some (like the gazelle) play with each other, and apes groom each other. When a lion encounters a gazelle, for example, you’ll see the gazelle flee as the lion acts as a predator. When the animals escape, the peeps go running for cover. All good fun…

12. In soaked we saw tunnels and waterfall as well as pools! In wild, which features will be carried across from soaked?

A: I’m glad you asked that. Waterfalls and tunnels are included with Wild, as are the improved building construction tools from Soaked. Pools, lasers, fountains and dolphin-shows, however, are not and remain a unique feature of the Soaked expansion pack.

13. With the speakers added to Soaked, will there be a way to set up a ‘Play list’ and be able to shuffle the songs played and repeat songs?

A: Speakers are also included, as they were in Soaked, but no play lists. I can see why this might be a cool idea, but we opted to dedicate a single sound loop to a single speaker as this makes speakers part of the immersive ambience of the environment you can create. You can dedicate crickets to one speaker, the sound of a bear snoring to another, the howling wind to yet another, and pretty soon, the sound becomes as much of the décor as the visual scenery.

14. Will arcades/sideshows/midway games be included in Wild?

A: I know this is an oft-discussed topic in the Atari RCT3 forums. But, alas, no, arcades and carnival games are not included.

15. What other new features will be added to Wild?

A: new safari celebrity VIPeep wanders the park looking to see how you are caring for your animals. The entertainer now has 4 new costume choices, tiger, leopard, panther and cougar. The dartcam, for shooting tranquilizer darts at the escaped animals, animal breeding, and the animal protection league which acts as a watchdog, confiscating any of your animals that become neglected.

16. Will we be able to build the same coaster pieces on a diagonal, e.g. like the storm runner coaster? So we have all the coaster elements for all directions?

A: The eight new coaster types in Wild give players the widest selection yet on how to build coasters. I’m not prepared to list all the new features here, but take my word; you have not seen these elements in RCT3 before

16a. What new coaster elements will be added to Wild?

A: I’ve mentioned the splitting coaster, and there’s the coaster with a robotic arm with seats mounted at the end of the arm – the movement of the arm is fully programmable by the player. There’s also a coaster that hold the train at the top of a tower as the tower rotates, and then drops the coaster car down a whole new section of track.

17. When is the release date for Wild?

A: Worldwide, (US, Europe, Asia and Brazil) Fall 2005.

18. What is Chris Sawyer’s involvement in Wild?

A: Chris Sawyer and David Braben are the executive producers for RCT3: Wild, as they have been on Soaked and RCT3. Basically, nothing gets into the game without Chris’ “thumb’s up.”

19. Will there be another expansion?

A: It’s too soon to discuss what comes next for the RCT franchise, but we are exploring all the options.

20. Will there be a RCT4?

A: Again, what comes next in the franchise is being analysed, so even for me to hint or express my personal opinion would be premature at this stage. I love RCT3 and the expansion packs and I can only hope players are just as enthusiastic about the RCT phenomenon as I am. We won’t remain closed-lipped about the future of this franchise forever. So I urge you to stay tuned and get all your friends to buy this game and the expansions.

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