Theme Park World Ready to Amuse

The original Theme Park, released in the US to critical acclaim and very little mainstream success here in the US several years ago. Now, Bullfrog and Electronic Arts are making sure that its upcoming Theme Park World will not have the same mistakes as its predecessor's. On Thursday, the game's producer Simon Harris stopped by the GameSpot offices to show us an early alpha build of its theme-park builder.

Like all world building titles, the premise is simple: Build something that works efficiently and prosper. Unlike other world builders, Theme Park World's slant is on building an amazingly detailed world with a dose of Bullfrog-esqe humor.

You become managers and builders of a theme park where you must choose one of four themes and start building a park that is so attractive to kids that they start cracking open their piggy banks to pay for entrance. And you'll have access to four themes with which to entice the kids: The Lost Kingdom (with a Lost World-like theme), Space, Halloween, and Fantasy (more of a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids feel with giant ladybugs and such).

Building is pretty simple, you choose objects from rides, stores, sideshows, and features, and place the object on your land. Rides need to be placed off your main paths, and you'll need to construct paths for park goers to stand on while waiting to get into line. If the line looks too long to attendees, they could walk away and you'll lose money. To shorten lines or just make attendees come back for me, you can also micromanage the rides for duration, speed, capacity, and other options to help get more people on and off the ride or give them more for their money. Rides come in all shapes and sizes - from massive roller coasters to inflatable gorillas for kids to jump on. As you become more successful, you can buy land around the park and make ample use of natural geography, like lakes, waterfalls, and mountains. And like all good games, money and research will help to update your rides with the latest thrills or help to create even bigger and better rides.

Roller coasters are the ultimate attraction in Theme Park World. You lay your track out and place pylons at different points where you'll rise them up or drop them down for setting the track height. Players can also add several loops and bank tracks to give kids even better rides. As you gain more money, you'll be able to build bigger and better coasters from wooden to free hanging. Right now, the physics are pretty realistic with the coasters - you have to have ample height to power a full coaster around several loops but the team is debating the addition of less realistic physics for differing gameplay. Once it tries a few options out with players testing, it will make a decision. Regardless, the more structures and rides you build require maintenance, and you have to employ teams to keep the machines up and running. And if you don't take care of them, they could picket at your gate and scare off potential customers.

Stores cover everything from costumes (each one appropriate to whichever theme you've chosen) to restaurants. And users will be able to micromanage the cost of costumes, the amount of ice in the soda, the amount of salt in the fries, and how much fat is in the hamburgers. For instance, too much fat in burgers makes kids so sick that they won't return, and too much salt makes kids thirsty. Kids communicate with the user by using thought bubbles that float above their heads, much like in the Dungeon Keeper series. For example: When kids think something is too expensive, you'll see several dollar signs in the bubble.

Bullfrog's humor shines throughout the title, kids who become bored with the park knock down costumed employees or break down equipment. So your security team has to take them and toss them out of the park. If you're ride is too fast, kids will vomit and you'll see little spots of lunch all around at times. You can also take a first person view of your park and actually ride on your amusements - be careful because you may get dizzy. And when starting a Halloween theme, your advisor (a character that informs you about what needs to be done) appears on screen with an axe embedded in his skull.

EA and Bullfrog are also planning to build a huge online presence with Theme Park World as well. While some of the specifics are still a little hazy, we were told about some pretty interesting things you'll see when the game releases. Part of the official Theme Park World will be somewhat similar to the SimCity model with special online tutorials, new equipment, and maybe new themes. One of the biggest features will let gamers upload their creations for others to visit. While visiting someone else's park, you'll be able to send a postcard to others with a link to that particular park in case they want to check it out. Bullfrog is also hoping to encourage users to go to others' parks by rewarding them with Theme Park World money to buy better equipment.

Gamers will have to wait until the coming holiday season to enjoy the game, but from what we've seen so far, the wait will be worth it.