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RollerCoaster Tycoon 3

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 cover
Developers
Frontier Developments
macOS (OS X) Aspyr Media
Complete Edition QLOC
Publishers
Original Atari
Windows, Complete Edition Frontier Foundry
OS X Aspyr Media
Engines
Cobra[1]
Release dates
Windows November 2, 2004
macOS (OS X) November 25, 2005
Reception
Metacritic 81
OpenCritic 75
IGDB 84
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Bird's-eye view, First-person
Controls Point and select
Genres Building
Art styles Cartoon
Themes Amusement park
Series RollerCoaster Tycoon
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 on HowLongToBeat
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 on IGDB
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 guide on StrategyWiki
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 on MobyGames
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 on Wikipedia
RollerCoaster Tycoon
RollerCoaster Tycoon 1999
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 2002
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 2004
OpenRCT2 (Engine fanport) 2015
RollerCoaster Tycoon World 2016
RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic 2017
RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures 2019

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is a 3D amusement park building game by Frontier Developments. Aside from freely controlled view, the game introduces first-person view on rides, deeper staff management, a proper sandbox mode, customizable guests and a fireworks editor.

The game was released in November 2004, but in a rather unstable state. Aside from patches which introduced bug fixes and improved construction controls, the game received two expansion packs - Soaked! in June 2005 which introduced pools and water park attractions, and Wild! in October 2005 which introduced animal enclosures akin to those in the Zoo Tycoon series (which the developers would later create a game in). These expansions gradually stabilized the codebase as well. The Platinum! release (released in retail in Europe as the Deluxe Edition) included the base game and both expansion packs, and was the first release of the game on major digital stores like Steam and GOG.com. The Platinum! version was removed from digital sales in May 2018 due to a legal dispute between Atari and Frontier Developments over unpaid royalties.[2][3]

Frontier Developments and QLOC re-released the game in 2020 under the name RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition and was published by Frontier Foundry. This version differs from the original Platinum! release in that it has a larger range of resolutions available in the menu (up to 1080p), certain copyrighted branding (i.e. Hershey's and mainly Atari) has been removed, and the red cross on the first aid room is now green. However, the technical side is untouched and saves from Platinum! are compatible with the Complete Edition. The Windows version of the game was not automatically granted to previous RCT3 owners. This excludes the Mac App Store version, which Aspyr released as a free update to the version they already published.

The Mac App Store and the Steam Complete Edition version received an update on September 13, 2022 to add native ARM support to fix issues users could possibly encounter on Apple ARM hardware.[4][5] On Steam, this update got released only for Complete Edition owners and not for Platinum! edition users.[6]

All versions of the game struggle with handling large amounts of objects on the map simultaneously, as highly-populated parks need a lot of time to load and can even crash the game past a certain threshold. Bloom is poorly implemented and causes a significant performance decrease regardless of the system configuration.

General information

RollerCoaster Tycoon Wiki - A wiki dedicated to everything RollerCoaster Tycoon related
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions Original
Steam Community Discussions Complete Edition

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
Original version. Base game: SecuROM 5 DRM.
Expansions and re-releases: SecuROM 7 DRM
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Amazon.com
DRM-free
RollerCoaster Tycoon Mega Pack
Windows
Amazon.com
DRM details are not known
Platinum Edition.
Windows
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
Platinum Edition.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Platinum Edition.
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
RollerCoaster Tycoon Mega Pack
Windows
Mac App Store
Icon overlay.png
Was updated to the RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition
macOS (OS X)
Epic Games Store
DRM-free after installation through Epic Games Launcher (notes may include more details)
Complete Edition
Windows
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
Complete Edition. Sold by Frontier Developments.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
Complete Edition. Sold by Aspyr Media.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Complete Edition
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Green Man Gaming
Icon overlay.png
Complete Edition
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Complete Edition
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Steam
DRM-free after installation through Steam client (notes may include more details)
Complete Edition
Windows
macOS (OS X)
GOG.com (unavailable)
DRM-free
Platinum Edition.
Windows
Steam (unavailable)
DRM-free after installation through Steam client (notes may include more details)
Platinum Edition. Does not require the Steam client to run.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
A free demo version is available from GameFront.

Version differences

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Gold! includes the base game and the Soaked! expansion pack fully patched.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Gold Edition, despite the name, includes the base game and the Wild! expansion pack, but not the Soaked! expansion.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum! (known also as the Deluxe Edition in Europe) includes the base game and both expansion packs fully patched. Steam macOS version did not receive an update that added ARM support.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition includes everything from the Platinum! edition and additionally includes support for selectable 1080p resolution, removed copyrighted branding (i.e. Hershey's and mainly Atari), red cross on first aid room is now green and its Steam macOS version received an update that added ARM support.

Monetization

Type Notes
Expansion pack The expansion packs include new scenarios, scenery, rides, mechanics and quality-of-life improvements.
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Soaked!
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Wild! Not available for PowerPC OS X versions.
Windows
macOS (OS X)

Essential improvements

Patches (original version)

Installing patches for mismatched editions causes problems, be sure to get the correct update.
Platinum! and Complete Edition releases come fully pre-patched.
Full information on patches is available on the Frontier Developments forum.
  • "Soaked!" expansion: There is only one patch for this expansion pack: US and EU. Those who own the Scholastic version of the game should pick up this patch instead.

Skip intro videos

Edit configuration file to skip intro videos[8]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open options.txt.
  3. Add the following line to the file:
SkipBannerSequence 1
  1. Save the file.

Experiencing issues on Apple ARM devices

When running the default variant of the game on Steam on Apple ARM hardware, users may encounter issues. Aspyr officially released a new version that added native Apple ARM support on September 13, 2022.[9]
The Mac App Store version updates automatically to this new version when appropriate since update 3.3.5.[10]
Steam: switch to Apple ARM branch[11]
Old MacOS-port is still available as the default option on Steam, requiring Apple ARM users to switch to a Steam Beta branch to acquire the update.
Steam-only: new update only available for Complete Edition owners, not Platinum! owners.[12]
  1. In the Steam Library, right-click on RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition.
  2. Click on Properties
  3. Click on Beta.
  4. Type applesilicon into the beta access code field.
  5. Click on Check Code.
  6. Click on Opt-in.
  7. Wait for the app to update.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %APPDATA%\Atari\RCT3\[Note 1]
%APPDATA%\Frontier\RCT3[Note 2]
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Containers/com.aspyr.rct3.appstore/Data/Library/Application Support/RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Platinum/AppData/[Note 3]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1368820/pfx/[Note 4]
OS X location may vary depending on the version of the game you have.
Saved games produced with original version can be used with Complete Edition.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\RCT3\[Note 5]
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Containers/com.aspyr.rct3.appstore/Data/Library/Application Support/RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Platinum/[Note 6]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1368820/pfx/[Note 4]
OS X location may vary depending on the version of the game you have.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
OneDrive
Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.
Video settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
For unlisted resolutions see Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
For resolutions higher than 1080p, see Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
MSAA
High-fidelity upscaling
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Limited to 100 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

Edit file[13]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open options.txt.
  3. Edit Resolution XXXX YYYY line to your desired resolution.
  4. Save the file.

Input

Keyboard Remapping
Keyboard Remapping
Camera Controls
Camera Controls

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Ride cam can be inverted
Touchscreen optimised
Right-click or keyboard is required to move the camera. Mousewheel or keyboard is required to zoom out. Many HUD and menu buttons are small and hard to press at 2560x1440.
Controller
Controller support
Controller types

Audio

Audio and General Game Settings
Audio and General Game Settings

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Music, GUI, and game volume controls.
Surround sound
Subtitles
No spoken dialogue.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
EAX Advanced HD[14]
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Italian
Korean
Local retail only.
Traditional Chinese
Local retail only.
Norwegian
Brazilian Portuguese
Local retail only.
Spanish
Swedish

Issues unresolved

Crashes caused by too many objects

All versions of the game struggle with handling large quantities of objects on the map. Loading save files with such parks takes a long time, and the game will reliably crash after enough objects are present at one time. This occurs regardless of the user's system configuration.[15]

Bloom issues

Bloom is poorly implemented, and can significantly overbrighten parts of the terrain.[16]
Might cause significant performance issues until disabled. Particularly noticeable around water surfaces, including pools in the Soaked! expansion pack.[17][18]

Issues fixed

Crash on start

In Windows Vista or Windows 7, users may experience a crash while attempting to start the game for the first time.
Modify config file[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game> and open options.txt.
  2. Locate the line FirstRun 1, found under the TWEAKS section, and change it to FirstRun 0.
  3. Save the changes.

Generic crash issues

Some crashes can be caused by manually setting the resolution.
Modify config file[citation needed]
  1. Go to %APPDATA%\Atari\rct\, and open options.txt.
  2. Find the following line (values may be different): Resolution 1600 1200
  3. Replace the numerical values with the desired resolution. The first value is width, the second is height.
  4. Save and close the file.

Notes

It may be necessary to show hidden files in order to see the config file.
Administrator privileges are recommended to ensure the fix is applied to all users.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9
OpenGL
macOS only
Shader Model support 3
ExecutablePPC 32-bit 64-bitARM Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Original macOS port: install the version 1.2 Rev A patch for Intel support. The Wild! expansion is only available in the Platinum edition of the game on OS X that was Intel-only.

Updated version of port: support for 64-bit was added in August 2019. Native ARM support was added on September 13, 2022 only for the Mac App Store version and Steam Complete Edition version only.

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio Windows Media Foundation Music only.

Import track designs from previous games

Track designs can be imported from RollerCoaster Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2.
Instructions for the Windows version[19]
  1. Copy all the desired files with either a .TD6 or .TD4 extension into %USERPROFILE%\Documents\RCT3\Coasters.
  2. Run the game and start a new game (sandbox or any scenario).
  3. Click on the button immediately below the rides button (it looks like a wrench and hammer).
  4. When you click the button, a list of all the .TD6 and .TD4 files currently in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\RCT3\Coasters will appear.
  5. Click on the desired track from the list to import it.

Notes

Due to differences in how RollerCoaster Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 handle track designs, not all tracks will be compatible.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum[20][21] Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98, ME, 2000
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium III 733 MHz
AMD Athlon 800 MHz
System memory (RAM) 128 MB (256 MB for XP and higher)
Hard disk drive (HDD) 600 MB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon
Nvidia GeForce 2
32 MB of VRAM
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.3.9
Processor (CPU) G4 1 GHz
System memory (RAM) 256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 2 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon 9000
Nvidia GeForce FX5200
32 MB of VRAM


Notes

  1. Original release.
  2. Complete Edition.
  3. Original release.
  4. 4.0 4.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1368820/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (1368820) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
  5. Original and Complete Edition release.
  6. Original release.

References

  1. COBRA Development Technology & Tools - Frontier Developments - last accessed on May 2023
  2. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 mysteriously delisted from Steam & GOG - last accessed on 2022-08-14
  3. Atari Pulls Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 From Steam After Lawsuit - last accessed on 2022-08-14
  4. M1 Compatibility Updates - last accessed on 2022-08-14
  5. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Version History - Mac App Store - last accessed on 2022-09-15
    "RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 is now optimized for Mac with Apple Silicon."
  6. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum! - SteamDB - last accessed on 2022-09-15
  7. Aspyr Support Center - last accessed on 2011-06-04
  8. Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-10
  9. M1 Compatibility Updates - last accessed on 2022-08-14
  10. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Version History - Mac App Store - last accessed on 2022-09-15
    "RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 is now optimized for Mac with Apple Silicon."
  11. How to access the Apple Silicon update on Mac Steam - RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 – Aspyr Support - last accessed on 2022-09-15
  12. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum! - SteamDB - last accessed on 2022-09-15
  13. Verified by User:Silent on 2017-02-04
    Tested with 1080p
  14. RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 - SoundBlaster.com - last accessed on 9 June 2023
  15. Verified by User:Plok on 2022-11-25
    Can be replicated with the save file from the playthrough of YouTuber NerdCubed
  16. Verified by User:Mrtnptrs on 2022-11-25
    For example the coast near water has applied far too much bloom to it, over brightening it and drowning out details.
  17. Verified by User:Plok on 2022-11-25
  18. Any better way to play on Windows 8.1? :: RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum! General Discussions - last accessed on 2022-11-25
  19. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 - FAQ - last accessed on 2016/07/18
    "Q: How do I convert tracks from RCT or RCT2 into RCT3?
    A: Simply drop the TD6 or TD4 files in the My Documents\RCT3\Coasters folder; then when you run the game a new button will appear at the bottom of the rides button (it looks like a wrench and hammer). When you hover your pointer over new button, the tool tip reads "Import Track Designs From Previous RollerCoaster Tycoon(r) Games." When you click the button, a list of all the TD6 and TD4 files in the My Documents\RCT3\Coasters folder will be appear. The issue with some rides not importing is that the clearances are different in RCT1 and RCT2 so not all old coasters work. The game may have issues if you import an old coaster and the tracks run into each other. Hopefully most of the coasters import ok.
    "
  20. RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3: Platinum - Steam Store Page
  21. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 - Wikipedia