RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Soaked! is the first expansion pack to last year's main game, which itself was the latest sequel in the popular and best-selling RollerCoaster Tycoon series. The original RollerCoaster Tycoon was one of the first major mainstream computer games, thanks to its universal appeal and addictively fun and charming gameplay that let you design the theme park of your dreams. After all, who doesn't like theme parks? RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, developed by British studio Frontier Developments, updated the series with a fully 3D graphics engine, as well as a host of new features and options. Development of Soaked! wrapped up recently, so the game is headed to store shelves soon. Luckily, we managed to catch up with producer Jonny Watts to ask some last-minute questions about the expansion.

If you've ever wanted to create a water park, this is the expansion pack for you.

GameSpot: Well, Soaked! is now finished. How's it feel? Any urge to go to a water park? How long did it take to put the expansion together, and when did you start? Were water parks a natural extension to the existing game, or did you winnow the idea from several other choices?

Jonny Watts: I always have an urge to go to a water park! Soaked! was started around a year ago, but the majority of the team joined the project once they'd finished RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 last fall. I think there are several natural, major extensions of the existing game, and after discussing it with Atari, we felt that water parks was the right first choice, especially as it ties in so well with the summer launch date.

GS: Obviously, water parks and water rides are just a part of the expansion. Care to briefly run down what other new rides, buildings, and features are in Soaked!? We understand there's a whole bunch of regular theme-park content as well.

JW: The thinking behind our expansion packs is that we want to give people more of what they liked in the original game, but we also want to extend the gameplay in a new, but relevant, direction. So we really are trying to put a tremendous amount of effort and care into the expansions, and I genuinely think that Soaked! is much more than any expansion pack from this or any other game has ever been. It's almost a new game in its own right. So as well as the water-park content (swimming pools, diving boards, Jacuzzis, loungers, waterslides, and other water rides) there are, of course, new roller coasters and new types of roller coasters, including some really cutting-edge ones. There are new-to-RollerCoaster Tycoon flat rides, and there are two new water-based scenery themes (Paradise Island and Atlantis), more wall sets for building, the ability to create waterfalls, dancing fountains, laser/water shows (including drawing lasers), whale/dolphin shows, customizable aquariums, water-transport rides, passports, a new VIP, entertainers and lifeguards, widescreen support... I could go on, but hopefully you get the idea.

GS: What was the general reaction to the main game? Are there any features in Soaked! that have been included as the result of user feedback from the main game? Were there any fixes or features in particular that the community clamored for or desired?

JW: Overwhelmingly positive. It's interesting, actually, because before we released RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, we were deliberately keeping "radio silence" with the game's community. We are all fans of Chris Sawyer's original game, so we were pretty sure that what we were doing was on the mark. But since the release, we've been going out of our way to interact with the community via the official Atari forum and by offering our own customer support. Literally, almost all the comments are prefaced with, "Love the game, but have you considered XYZ?," so we think we did something right in the first place, and we have been--and will continue to be--engaged with the wider community to keep things on track.

There are tons of new coasters, rides, and other features in Soaked!.

So as well as looking at people's wish lists regarding what new rides to add and so forth, there are general improvements, such as being able to use the mousewheel (where available!) to scroll menus. We've introduced the ability to use the Ctrl key to place building pieces at the same height automatically, and we have introduced tunnels (that is, the ability to construct your coasters underground), which were always going to be introduced into this generation of the franchise. But they weren't within the scope of the main game release. Finally, there are many new cheats, including that if you rename a peep "M Brookes," you can place wall pieces and other scenery items on the edge of path tiles. This may not seem like a big deal, but believe me, the phrase "often requested" doesn't begin to do it justice! (For the curious, "Michael Brookes" is a member of the development team who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in his efforts to support the community.)