Hey fellow peeps! I am trying to get more involved on the website and get to know you guys a little better, but I have an interesting topic that I wanted to start.

What was your favorite thing to do as a kid in the RCT games?

For me personally, it was making scenery. Coasters was a second, and of course, a bit of drowning guests and making coasters crash, lol!

I always tried my best to make a ride, pathway, or any of the theming in my parks to look nice, even though they weren't necessarily realistic. It taught me to use my unique creative style that always resembled something old and aged, with an added charm that seemed to be untraditional.

Out of the many years I did play, I have only completed two full parks in RCT2, two in RCT3, & one park in Planet Coaster.

I didn't play any of the coaster games since coming back in 2025 from 2018. I and a few members have seen how my skill from back then has changed to now, and even how a 7-year gap somehow made my creations better.

I started with RCT1 where my brother showed me Dynamite Dunes and Leafy Lake and I was immediately drawn into the game while watching him play the game. I was gifted RCT2 when I turned 7 and couldn't pronounce "scenario" to save my life while trying to make my own scenarios. I never really touched the campaign parks too often, even when I received RCT3 on my 9th birthday. RCT3 was the most nostalgic for me, and when I learned about Shyguy's world, it was a game-changer.

I would love to hear about your favorite things that you enjoyed doing in these games! Cheers!

• Xecronius - "Park Master" 😉

Edited July 16Jul 16 by Xecronius

But many of us were never 'kids' when RCT first came out.

Some, like citytrader for one (and likely the ONLY one...), weren't even middle aged but counting down to that birthday where the President of the United States sends you a card congratulating you on reaching the century mark.

I, myself, was a youthful person on the cusp of 'middle age' - where I've miraculously remained ever since...

However, like that jar of moldy mayonnaise at the back of the bottom shelf of my frig, I've been around the community for a long time. The old sites - RCT Station, RCT Depot, RCT.com, shyguys...all the best ones at one time or another considered a restraining order...or two. I build parks, create CSO and TMTK, cause havoc...none of them all that well but I do enjoy doing them even for just my own benefit, although some may frankly wonder 'why???'.

There's friends I've known for more than 25 years through RCT, and that's the most important thing from these games I sincerely think.

I'll join in with the "What do you mean, when I was a kid?" crowd. (yes @Wabigbear, I'm calling you a crowd :^þ ) By the time RCT2 came out, I already had a kid of my own and a 2nd on the way. However, I will still endeavor to answer what I did when the games were new.

For the most part, after replacing the music files with ones I had from the Disney parks, I just played the campaigns over and over. With the release of RCT3 and custom content, I went nuts downloading hundreds of new rides and CSOs... that I then used in the campaign scenarios. :^þ

I'm nothing if not consistent. ;^)

When I was a kid, we played with dirt. (Seriously, among other things of course.) RCT games didn't exist yet. No computer games of any sort existed yet. No computers existed yet! When I was in my late teens we played with lawn darts. We sharpened the metal tips so they would stick in the lawn better. It's surprising we survived.

I started playing RCT3 (vanilla) shortly after it came out. Then I got RCT1 and RCT2. And then the RCT3 expansions when they came out. (I'm using Platinum now.) I've played all the scenarios from all the RCT games multiple times. I've downloaded a ton of custom scenery, CFRs, and CTRs. I also DLed the CTR Creator and made my own CTRs using other peoples' cars. trains, and tracks. I've downloaded tons of user-made scenarios. I usually modify the user-made scenarios somewhat so that certain rides and scenery are available from the get-go; it's more fun that way. And fun is what it's all about, right? I also have tons (at least 700) music/sound effect files. The RCT3 graphics, while good, aren't all that realistic, given the game restrictions. So I make the game more like real life by enveloping the park in lots and lots of music and sound effects.

Favorite thing? Probably just walking through the park as Jonny Watts, taking in all the sights and sounds of the world I created.

I was too young too play RCT1 and 2, so to this day I've never really played them. It wasn't until I was in middle school when I was allowed to be on a computer for a few hours a day and at that time I had gotten RCT3 Gold for the first time. I tried doing the scenarios but never really cared for it and always found myself in sandbox mode instead, started out with just doing my own random stuff (they weren't good) and then tried recreating real life parks (didn't know CS was a thing yet at this point, so you can imagine how great these turned out). I always had an interest in the fireworks/mixmaster system in RCT3 and I remember viewing a tutorial online on how to make a firework in the AFE, so I tried it and got more into the pyro side and then ended up strictly only messing with the mixmaster until I discovered online community for RCT3 when I was like a freshman in high school!

I have played all the games in the franchise with RCT3 being my most played since it came out in 2004. I would always make really bad Disney and Universal parks using in-game scenery and terrain forming. Then I got into some of the older forums and learned how to install custom content and the rest is history. Started posting projects in 2016 that I would have drooled over as a kid. I remember losing my mind seeing custom pyro and custom scenery so to see everything we do now would have been a shock back then.

I was hardly a kid when I first played RCT3. I was already over 40. And my favorite thing to do, I guess, was killing the Park Inspector, Mr. Jobsworth. Err, maybe I was still a kid. 🤔

Well, I guess I enjoyed a few other things as well, like making CS, Wonder World, the outrageous soap opera that was Water World, and fighting with the mods at the Atari forums.

Edited July 30Jul 30 by shyguy

The Skipper and her name I can't recall...

47 minutes ago, Wabigbear said:

The Skipper and her name I can't recall...

Are you quoting Gilligan's Island? Mary-Ann? Lol.

4 hours ago, Xecronius said:

Are you quoting Gilligan's Island? Mary-Ann? Lol.

LOL! THAT 'Skipper' was at least funny...the one at Atari less so...

The Atari RCT Forums were noted for a certain degree of 'drama'...actually a GREAT deal of 'drama'. Other than meeting some friends there that remain friends until this day, the one good thing that came out of it...was Shyguy's World.

The name I can't recall was "Something-Girl" maybe? Oh there was drama galore with those two back in those days...lol!

4 hours ago, Wabigbear said:

LOL! THAT 'Skipper' was at least funny...the one at Atari less so...

The Atari RCT Forums were noted for a certain degree of 'drama'...actually a GREAT deal of 'drama'. Other than meeting some friends there that remain friends until this day, the one good thing that came out of it...was Shyguy's World.

The name I can't recall was "Something-Girl" maybe? Oh there was drama galore with those two back in those days...lol!

That's funny. Interestingly and unsurprisingly, when it comes to online drama, a lot of that tends to be in favor of anonymity. But still funny nonetheless!