Frontier Developments has dropped a nice, meaty 15-minute gameplay overview from Planet Coaster 2, the theme park design sim sequel that's folding water parks and water features into the core coaster-ing from the first game. It was announced just a few weeks ago, and it looks like Frontier's going to waste no time in showing off what's new with Coaster 2.
The main focus is on water attractions, which includes both static features and modular slide and flume design ala the rollercoaster tracks of the first Planet Coaster. Those all dump visitors into modular pools of various sizes and shapes which you'll need to properly equip with ladders and stairs and lifeguards—a new kind of staff member to keep plenty of around. That also means you'll want to build changing rooms, kiosks for purchasing a swimming pass, and even shops to hock inflatable toys for pool-goers.
"We wanted an aesthetic that is kind of that vibrant blue water that you see in that idealistic water park that we all have in our minds," says game director Rich Newbold. "Making sure that it looks amazing and interacts well with your guests, whether it's on a flume or as they're jumping in."
The video also dives into how customizable the park features will be compared to the first Planet Coaster. The base version of many rides—like the spinning teacups, for example—has far fewer doodads and greebles on it than before. That's so you can add your own parts using the library of stuff that Planet Coaster is known for. The examples shown in the gameplay video are pretty neat, with the visuals, colors, carts, and periphery of the rides having a ton of personality—gone are the days of being forced into a theme by the preset aesthetic of a flat ride.
That customization will also come with new tools for doing it: An example given is the ability to mirror customized extra lights on either side of a coaster cart, then batch apply those customizations to every single train of carts running on that coaster.
An interesting new bit of park layout here is that there's now infrastructure required for running your attractions. Pools will require pump houses to filter and treat all that sunscreen-and-sweat-filled water for people to frolic in. Coasters don't get off easy either, and will need electrical substations to tie them into the grid and make sure they keep running. That new stuff will then, of course, require further maintenance from your technicians to stay in top shape.
Anyway, by far the best part of this video is when the game director of Planet Coaster 2, a videogame about things that go high and fast, admits he gets motion sick and is afraid of heights. Extremely relatable content, in my humble opinion.
You can find more about Planet Coaster 2 on planetcoaster.com. It already has store pages on Epic and Steam, where it's listed as "coming soon."
