The first footage from the next installment in the ever-popular Rollercoaster Tycoon series dropped earlier this month, and it’s fair to say the reception from fans was a little… lukewarm.
In response, Rollercoaster Tycoon World’s executive producer ‘Mattlab’ has penned a blog post explaining that the footage was very much pre-alpha, and therefore not representative of the final product.
Which sort of begs the question, why release it? Acccording to Mattlab (I’m 80% sure that’s not his real name), “to show that there is progress being made.”
“The game is currently in what we are calling a pre-alpha stage – features and graphics are still being coded.” he writes. “Since the switchover of our development team this past Fall, we have focused on core functionality and “under-the-hood” engine work. This is why there has not been significant visual progress on the title.”
Atari and developer Pipeworks Software are in the process of upgrading the game’s engine to Unity 5, says Mattlab, which should spruce up the game’s visuals a little. He also points out that there’s a lot of time still to go, and that the team won’t release the game until it’s nice and ready.
“There will be lots more new content released with many visual upgrades,” he promises, “and as the game progresses we will share them. As we have said previously, there will be Alphas, Betas, hands-on previews at gaming events, developer chats, blogs, and more. We look forward to your feedback to make sure we are headed in the right direction.”
Rollercoaster Tycoon World is expected out sometime later this year.
