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Ski Resort Tycoon
by Jolex Del Pilar
Tuesday, December 12 2000
Activsion looks to capitalize on the popularity of the greatly popular Roller Coaster Tycoon from Hasbro Interactive. The gameplay is nearly identical, except for the trade of engines for snowboards, however it all comes together with fairly good results.
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Title:
Ski Resort Tycoon
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Platform:
PC Windows, Pentium II 500, 128MB Ram, 16mb video card,
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Publisher:
Activision |
Developer:
Cat Daddy Games |
#
of Players: 1 - 12 |
Genre:
Simulation
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Origin:
United States
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Expected
Release:
December 2000 |
Grapevine:
It's not a surprise, these games are damn fun. In fact, if it weren't for the variety of Sim games available on the PC, I might not be a PC Gamer, as it is, I'm as rabid a PC gaming fan as they come. |
Activision is a triple-A company. Both in software and marketing. In software, they have, the now classic, Mech Warrior 2, the Heavy Gear Series, and who can forget Interstate 76 ? As for marketing, is it not obvious ? Ski Resort Tycoon. Make no mistake, this game shamelessly copies the "formula" for success directly from Hasbro Interactive's Roller Coaster Tycoon. Developed by Cat Daddy Games (published by Activision), the game is an obvious attempt to capitalize on the current success of PC Sim-based games. Just look at your recent Top 10 Best Selling PC Games list, and titles like The Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Sim Theme Park will all have their own place within that list.
It's not a surprise, these games are damn fun. In fact, if it weren't for the variety of Sim games available on the PC, I might not be a PC Gamer, as it is, I'm as rabid a PC gaming fan as they come. I don't care that you console folks get to sit in your plush, leather lazy boys while sipping a soda, and get to control your fast paced fighting games with those "game pads". I love my uncomfortable desk chair and mouse. I don't see Master of Orion 2 on the PS2, do you ? No, I didn't think so.
So, what is Ski Resort Tycoon ? Well, the title says it all, the game is a Skier's or, Snow Boarder's (seems to be more popular these days), dream. Your basic goal is to start and run a successful Ski Resort. You get a variety of pre-made mountains with which to develop your winter wonderland. Personally, since it doesn't cost money, I pick a flatter map and just create my own mountains (although clearing trees will cost you money). Once that's done, it's probably a good idea to start making buildings with which to support the population of your Ski Resort. There's a nice variety of buildings with which to choose from. You need Cabins to house vacationers who are on those 3 day trips to conquer the "extreme". You can build tiny two room cabins and charge about $20 a head, or even large luxury complexes and charge $60. You can charge whatever you want (it's changeable) but I find the economic model is simple enough that you can keep it at the preset default, unless you're hurting for cash then you can increase it.
Other buildings include a pancake house to feed your Skiers, an ice skating ring for those who don't fancy running the slopes, and a variety of Ski shops for rental equipment or even purchasing new "kickin" boards. Everything, even the bathrooms, has a cost modifier button. What I found was useful was to decrease the gate cost, then jump the prices of everything inside up a bit. It has two effects, you get more people inside your park, and once they're inside they have to eat and sleep right (or use the bathroom if you were sadistic enough to charge for that) ? Whatever losses you incur for the cheap gate price (probably around $15), you reclaim on your Skiers buying that $18 pancake. Yes I know it's evil, but it's business. (Editor's Note -- "Eat that Bill Gates !", Christopher Thomas).
One problem in gameplay that may go unnoticed is the fact that, much like in real life, Skiers and Snowboarders get too adventurous sometimes and find themselves lost or injured in a secluded place of your Ski Resort. Your skiers will die of hypothermia from either being lost, or being captured by a yeti and left for dead. To resolve this, you need to build a few "Ski Patrol" buildings. These guys will go out and look for lost skiers and are quite good at what they do if I might say so myself.
Ski Patrol personnel is only one type of staff you can hire. You also can hire maintenance staff to, what else, maintain the various parts of your resort from the ski lift machines, to the warming houses. The facilities with which the maintenance staff are housed in can be upgraded giving them more capabilities such as adding artificial snow to the slopes during a slow season, or even adding "moguls" (bumps and dips) to more advanced runs on the slopes.
The most entertaining part of the game is the slopes, incidentally. Once you find a mountain, you can survey it to find out which parts of it are appropriate for beginners, intermediates, or advanced skiers. Slopes with a degree of incline lower than 15 degrees are usually reserved for Beginners. 15 degrees to 30 degrees are slopes more suited to intermediate skiers. Anything above that is for the advanced skiers, I.E. - the studs. You can signal whether a run ( a run is a preset course down the mountain FYI) is advanced or for beginners by placing markers at the beginning of the runs. Sometimes though, you'll come upon a situation where you've either found or built a mountain and you can't modify it anymore and you're left with all advanced type runs. Well, build a ski school and snowboarding school and you'll get those skilled skiers and boarders to tackle that mountain in no time. Also, it might be worth mentioning, you can check out your slopes in 3D, although I found that it chugged a bit, but it's admittedly an extra feature that didn't have to be included in the game.
Ski Resort Tycoon may not be the most original game out there, but is it fun ? Yes. I found myself playing from 9pm to 5am this morning to make my resort successful. It's fairly addictive and takes the axiom, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" to a different level. It's only $19.99 (part of Activision's "Value" line of Software) and is probably going to occupy your time a lot more than you'd think, should you purchase the game of course.
Also, since I'm recommending that you purchase Ski Resort Tycoon, I thought it would be only fair to plug the game with which it takes so much, Roller Coaster Tycoon. Both games are great games and deserving of your gaming dollar.
--- Jolex Del Pilar, VGLN Warlord
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