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| | Publisher: Mad Data  Genre: Simulation | | | Min OS X: 10.2.4 CPU: G3 @ 350 MHz RAM: 128 MB Hard Disk: 50 MB Graphics: 8 MB VRAM |
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No Limits Roller Coaster
April 22, 2004 | Tom Burns | |
Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of roller coasters in real life. I am a complete wuss, and my stomach turns inside out at the mere thought of strapping myself into a little car that I know is going to be doing 5 Gs in just a couple of minutes. That said, I do love simulators. It all started with games like SimCity and F/A-18 Hornet (man, I’m old), and to this day I will play almost any game in the genre. While I may not have the gall to ride the real thing, No Limits Roller Coaster still sounded very interesting to me.Gameplay and Graphics and Sound... Oh My! The easiest way to get a first look at this beast is to fire up the simulator and play with the provided sample tracks. They’ll let you get a feel for what the program can and cannot do. Once you choose a track from the menu, it will get loaded up and you’ll be dropped into the front seat. The coaster will start moving without any user prompt, but if you’re a geek like me you’ll want to take manual control of the cars, model train style.The thing that shocked me most was the feeling you get when the roller coaster really gets going. The sound effects are good enough to make the experience convincing, and when the camera whipped around corners I found myself turning my head with the motion (which, to my family, was at least good for a few laughs). Unfortunately, many people who come into this game used to lush environments and GPU-melting polygon counts are going to find that the devil is in the (lack of) details. The graphics are admittedly lackluster, and most of the in-game objects are textured in solid colors. I would argue that the game is meant to do one thing well: simulate roller coasters. That part of the simulator is superb, and the graphics are adequate to get the idea across. Once you’re done looking at other people’s coasters, you’ll undoubtedly be filled with creative inspiration. You’ll fire up the coaster editor application included with the simulator, and … hit a brick wall. The editor is somewhat unfriendly and unforgiving to the newbie, and the learning curve is steep. This is not, however, meant to imply that it is insurmountable. After about an hour of fumbling I had a pretty good grasp of the design tools and the interface. This allowed me to create my first simple coaster, and from there I quickly moved on to hanging/suspended designs, corkscrews, and loops. The moral of the story: If you’ve got some time and some patience, this is your simulator. If not, you may want something simpler. Conclusion This game was clearly designed for a specific audience: People like me with time on their hands. While I continue to enjoy it immensely, it will probably seem to be more of a novelty to most folks. It is certainly worth having a look at the demo, since at the very least it is entertaining to run through the sample tracks.Pros: - Amazing simulation, real-time speed and g-force measurements
- Detailed, powerful editing
- Variety of coaster typesCons: - Somewhat lacking variety-wise
- Graphics lacking by modern standards
- Appeals to a limited audience
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