RCTLounge

From reports on Wired

That’s right. Roller Coaster Tycoon is heading to the silver screen.

Sony Pictures has purchased the rights from Atari to produce a Roller Coaster Tycoon movie. What exactly will the movie be about? We’re not sure either. However, we do know that this could be huge for the Roller Coaster Tycoon community.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 was released nearly 6 years ago and hasn’t seen any new updates since the Wild! expansion pack was released in 2005. Could this bring new players to the community?

We’d like to hear your thoughts on this. It could potentially great, or disastrous, for the RCT Community, especially RCTLounge. Would new players catch on to Custom Content? Or would we step back in time and start seeing un-realistic coasters with nothing but in-game scenery?

Leave your thoughts in this thread on the RCTLounge Forums. Not a member yet? Join today!

Till now, we really haven’t seen many interesting in-game pictures of the much anticipated NoLimits 2, mostly just landscape shots, showing nothing more than water, grass, and trees. While they look great, we all wanted to see what really matters, the coasters. The development team has finally released some pictures of what track will look like in the upcoming game, and it doesn’t disappoint, looking as detailed, if not more so than the professional V.I.P. animations created for theme parks.

…and here they are:

(Click to enlarge and see the amazing detail, it’s worth it!)

Discuss this on our forums or comment below!

Have you ever found it hard to find the YouTube video of a Spotlight? It should be easier now! I’m excited to announce today that you can now watch YouTube Videos right from the Spotlight’s page! (You must have a modern browser with Javascript enabled to watch from the page. If you do not, it will automatically take you to the YouTube page.)

Simply go to a Spotlight, click on the “Watch the Video” button…

And the YouTube video will automatically load and play in HD! (if available) You can even go full screen! You can click on the video itself to view it at YouTube. Talk about easier to watch videos!

We hope you enjoy this exciting new feature on the RCTLounge Spotlight! (We are currently working on adding videos to older Spotlights. We hope to have them all indexed very soon.)

-Doug, RCTLounge Technical Administrator

If you don’t know yet, we are a member of the Amusement Park website and show network 1scream.

1scream is currently doing a survey to find out what our potential visitors are interested in and what we should adapt our content for. Please take the few minutes to help us build a network of websites and shows unlike any other before.

You can take the survey here.

Make sure you tell your friends, and Retweet this status on Twitter.

Thanks,
Doug, 1scream Owner and Founder

It’s been a busy past couple of months here at RCTLounge. Here’s a bit about what’s been going on and what you’ll be seeing in the future:

Change of Ownership

Starting February of 2010, RCTLounge will be owned by the newly formed 1scream Network. 1scream is an online network of roller coaster websites and shows focusing on Amusement Parks and Roller Coasters. There will be no changes in staff, however the site will be hosted on the 1scream server to keep costs down. We will begin moving to the server in pieces so we don’t disrupt any activity on the Forums.

New Rules and Terms of Service

We are currently drafting new rules and terms of service that will go into effect February of 2010. These will help clarify the confusion often on what is acceptable and what’s not, and it allows you to know better about what goes into moderation decisions. When these go into effect, all members must abide by them or not use our services. Not following the terms of service will not be tolerated in any way.

New Official Contest, Theme It!

We’ve launched a huge new contest called Theme It! Theme It! is a monthly contest that challenges participants to theme a coaster or ride to specific guidelines. You will be given a park file with a coaster or ride, and you will be given 20 days to theme it to the guidelines for that round. Theme It! is a fun and fair contest that is officially managed and endorsed by RCTLounge. Make sure you check out the Theme It! Forum for the latest on each round!

Design Refresh

It is in plan to have a design refresh in 2011. We’ve already started with our new logo we launched in November of 2009, and if everything goes to plan, we will have a huge new design in store for the site. You’ll see more interactive features on the Spotlight and general improvements in the site.

It’s going to be an exciting year for RCTLounge! We’ve already had two great years, and we hope this third one will be just as great! Keep posting on the forums, and if you haven’t joined yet, make sure you do so you don’t miss out on the most active coaster simulator community in the world!

It is unfortunate that I have to announce that on September 3rd, RCTLounge was hacked. I’m posting this myself in the wee hours of the morning to let everybody know what has happened with the site. As of now, the home page is unavailable as are our forums. Looking at the situation, no data has been lost, only the files. Park Thoughts is currently down as well. There is no time table as to when these issues will be remedied.

Hello everyone,

We have decided to cancel the planned hiatus. We will explain below:

Why are you canceling?

We have determined that the site does not need to be closed while we re-work our rules, guidelines, and such. The hiatus would have been nothing to do with technical issues. We will only close the site down from now on if there are technical issues/updates that need to be done.

Is there anything new planned still?

No, not at the moment. We have a new design, and features possibly, planned for next year, but we do not expect any big new features within the next 6 months.

Doug will also be leaving the moderation team. He will only be on the Management Team for technical aspects of the site. Please only contact him for technical issues.

Thanks for your cooperation, and we hope you’re excited as we are!

RCTLounge Team

Discuss this Announcement

We’re excited to announce the newest member of the RCTLounge family, Park Thoughts!

Park Thoughts is an Amusement Industry Blog giving opinions and reviews about everything dealing with Amusement Parks and Coasters. We will posting all kinds of stuff on a wide range of topics. We will also be posting with our personal thoughts, not the generic “praise” writing style other blogs post in. We’re aiming to make Park Thoughts the most honest blog about Amusement Parks on the web.

We hope you subscribe to the RSS Feed and follow on Twitter!

parkthoughts.com

Thanks,
RCTLounge Team

We’d like to welcome the following people to the RCTLounge Team:

Blog Writers

• Atem122
• Tigerlemurguy

Beta Testers

• Belloman
• Chris
• Kablary

The Blog Writers will be helping out the rest of the staff posting at both the RCTLounge Blog and our new Amusement Park Industry Blog, Park Thoughts.

The Beta Testers have been chosen to help out with testing of new features here on RCTLounge. Their first major feature to test will be the new Downloads Center, which will be launching to the public in August.

Please note: None of the new Team Members are on the Moderation team. They have the same powers as a regular member, so do not contact them for any Moderation. If you need help with Moderation, please visit the Forum team page for a complete list of the Moderation Team.

Thanks, and congratulations to everyone,
RCTLounge Team

Congratulate the new Team Members here or comment below

The Blog Writer applications are now closed. Thanks to all who applied!

Ever dreamed of writing for a Roller Coaster Gaming or Amusement Industry Blog? Now is your chance!

You may know how boring and useless our blog is in its current state, but we think we’ve found a way to fix that, while getting the community much more involved in the site at the same time.

We’ve decided to open up our blog to the community, now anyone has a chance to get involved and post on the official RCTLounge blog.

The blog will used for any of the following:

-Coaster Gaming News
-Custom Scenery Releases/ Major Updates
-Quick Tips (Simple Tips that users may find useful)
-Project reviews
-Other general thoughts/ideas for the games

We’re also accepting writers for our upcoming Amumsent Industry Blog, “Park Thoughts.” This blog will be focused around theme park news, ride/coaster/park reviews, ideas, park tips, and more! So if you have an intrest in what’s happening in the amusement industry, be sure to apply to write for the for the Park Thoughts blog.

Park Thoughts will be launching very soon, but you may start sending in applications now!

So how do I apply?

It’s easy! Simply fill out this form:  Applications are now closed