I played all of the Bullfrog games upon release then, and from before then all the way back to Populous.
I'm not sure what "how does the feeling of playing it was." means.
Perhaps if you ask the questions slightly differently or with more focus on what you want to understand I can help you.
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slightly differently or with more focus
<3
so true, and sorry. thought to elaborate more cause Description looks cryptic and confused as usual :)
this is about AI. dev of Theme Park is Demis Hassabis now DeepMind CEO.
in 1994 he was 17 and in a kinda sabbatical year, worked at Bullfrog (also earning sufficient funds to pay all his future studies)
i'm completely "lost" in this new AI world is popping up. and want to go to source of things, and Demis is one hella good source, the fact he started from games is huge and i like to think that if AI has born from a game, then, it will end on being a game! (disgressin already)
there's a lot to read if you want to know more about AI. like, too much. and i've thought SG to be a source of precious info and personal experience, stuff you won't find elsewhere, not even in academic articles.
really hope it's clearer, now. thank you so much for using kind words. i'll appreciate any info you might want to share!
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That's a bit clearer now, thanks Icacio!
I'm not sure that Theme Park did much by way of AI development but it certainly took aspects of understanding what players were happy to spend time on making, and showing an output which may or may not have worked due to the inputs made by players. How players reacted to upgrading, repairing and dealing with the logistics of running a theme park are pretty similar to many of the resource development games which use microtransactions as the basis of their business model. One could say this was the progenitor of how to make such games.
As a game itself it was more robust than many which were around at the time. The entire notion of gaming be it racing, platformers, adventure games, shoot em' ups or more abstract were very popular in subcultures and with bright sharp graphics, good sound and a WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer) system to remove typing commands it made the entire process of playing much more accessible. These were times when a personal computer could be hooked up to an analogue cathode ray television set, write protecting a disk required either clicking a widget on a 3.5" floppy or sticking some tape over it and a mouse ball was needed to navigate across biscuit crumbs and occasionally had to be taken out and cleaned to maintain accuracy when using a mouse.
With new technology coming in quick and fast lots of games and particularly big names from cinema or TV finding their way onto systems many people were wanting to be the first on the next platform which saw consoles and PCs make a distinct departure from each other and create their own rivalries. Sega and Nintendo being the big boys of that realm until Sony came along. Handhelds were also very popular with Gameboy being the number one system but Atari Lyn and Sega Gamegear offering colour and larger capacity games.
Back onto Theme Park, so with all these new, unheard of and exciting systems becoming available after the 1980's had much fewer by comparison and the PC finding its way into many more homes than previously expected the Internet was starting to become close to what we know it to be today. Still in its HTML infancy with no Google search or reliable browsers many who were into earlier gaming took the route of exploring the virtual space outside of their PCs while newer blood will filling the ranks left behind. I would say this is where system like Theme Park probably guided a lot of minds into creating database platforms for things like Customer Relation Management, Quality Control, Payroll programs and Inventory stock programs which where all based on a central server and accessed by systems like Microsoft Windows
If you ever read The Road Ahead by Bill Gates you'll see that it wasn't just the compatibility between programs or computers but also peripheral things like printers, scanners and time machines for clocking in. Games like Theme Park presented similar problems which led players to manage these things in internal systems which may have evolved into thinking about external systems which would be viable in the workplace. There was lots of exploration of what would work, what was popular and what was easy at the time (Apple sticking to the one button mouse is a great example of a good idea but wrong).
Anyway, I could probably spend hours more but in short everything was new. The game was initially met well by both magazines (Which were a very important way of making important decisions like what to spend money on) and word of mouth with hobbyists (That's what we were called then) but short lived in a world which saw new things come out which shook the foundations of what was normal all too often.
I'm not sure much A.I. development was done then, but the groundwork for how we might start to compartmentalise and prioritise what would eventually be what we currently consider A.I. to be was being laid down. Things such as AIML (Artificial Intelligence Markup Language) and voice commands were still only the stuff of science fiction.
Right, my dog wants a walk. That's me done for now. Take it easy and good luck!
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That's a load of nonsense, Theme Park is 1994 game, you can't present 1994 as some age of primordial computer soup. Just take a note that Sim City 2000 and Pentium came a year before and computer database systems were already established for more than 20 years.
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Sim City 2000
real, honest question: does anybody else, here around, feels that something reading this?
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Again with the language Icaio, not hating on you here just work it a little better (I know I'm on to talk!)
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94, let's see. Arcades were at their peak, handheld gaming systems are getting out of hand (Pardon the pun) and computers aren't just word processors or things geeks have locked away in their bedrooms.
Yes, this is probably when the hobby that was computing became the problem that we see today.
Couple it with 2008 when everyone got an iPhone and access to the Internet and what the world of computing was versus what it is today are miles apart.
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I did not play it, but I remember it was super well received back then. There was this "World Charts Foundation" that kept a Top100 list of PC Games back then (votes by users), and... let me check.... Theme Park stayed on the list for nearly 1 year, topping at position 29. I guess you already checked the Wikipedia page, which has critical reception at launch?
Cheers!
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... launch?
does "lack of a save option" rings a bell... lol ... like something very vey new?
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Hm... wasn't that a problem with the console versions only? But again, I did not really play it, so I do not know very well.
Now, I am curious -- which new game has this, huh, no-save feature? :D
Cheers!
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I also played many the Bullfrog games when they released. Theme Park was a really fun game for me and I played it a great deal. As far as AI I'm not really sure. I know you play with the entry fees and prices of shop items to try to maximize profits and you build walkways and que lines and place direction signs to try to maximize park population and keep people from getting lost. There were other things as well such as how long a ride would last and enjoyment versus safety factor. Then you can also consider proper maintenance and park cleaning, security and entertainers. A lot of stuff to juggle around to increase profits and move on to the next park scenario. I don't think I ever actually beat it because it gets quite difficult on later parks. It was a very good game though. Another good one from this company that maybe has good AI you are looking at is called Genewars and it is also quite an old game but very enjoyable. You can download it free on abandonware sites and run it on dosbox. There is some bs with the same name on steam but this is not the right game.
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Well, I didn't play Theme Park, but played Theme Hospital when very young (and also Constructor). Was an amazing experience, exciting, funny and frustating and the same time because not knowing well how to play and the few tips or guides are coming in videogames magazines. I loved when I saw a game with a new thematic or playstyle that I dind't see before.
I miss the days when a few games are available, but all where charming and entertaining. I find that today the catalog it's to much extense and there is too much info and the vast majority of games feels the same when playing.
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No, but TH i played a lot and had very fun. I even prefer it over TPH, personally. But, both are great games.
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I played Theme Park in 95 or 96 for the first time. I have only found memories of the game and enjoyed playing it a lot, but that is probably because I was young.
You wrote above that you are interested in the games -> AI connection. My guess is that it is a correlation with no causality. Something along the line of this thought:
Who are the people developing AIs? Mostly people with an informatics or maths background. What do those people like? Clear rules. Where do you find clear rules as a child? In games. What are your first steps into programming? Games, because you enjoyed them.
From my time in university (physics), most STEM students enjoyed board or computer games. At least one of those is in AI development (last I heard).
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meraviglia!
didn't thought about you, when writing this. big luck i have you read everything :)
...now, O., i have one thousand and a half questions for you, cause you know, you're the math man!
but, i need to read again and again what you wrote.
i already have a few answers/questions but want to think about this the slooow way.
(you'd need an hour or so, but i think you won't regret: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y)
thanks so much, my big mate.
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I felt it with a feeling of discovery and wonder. There I was, playing with something completely new. I could do anything I wanted. So I did a crazy loop, trying to get people killed.
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Bullfrog Productions
🙄With the name of this developer, it is not hard to imagine that it is definitely a good work.
Unfortunately, I don't think I played it at the time because the localized language version to space language was very expensive.
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The game was great back then, quite unique, I must have been around 15yo when i played it. Also a fan of theme hospital. I do not remember something similar for the pc back then. It was fun to be in control and add content to the park and watch random events happen. Not sure how it can connect the the present progress of AI though.
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I played it at the time. In addition to other comments here you could do things like increase the level of salt on the chip vendor which would then increase the customer need for drinks which would increase the sales at a conveniently placed drinks vendor. I don't think this kind of mechanism would qualify as AI. You would need to look to strategy games for the root of AI (as pertains to gaming) I suspect, not management games.
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I do seem to remember the "salary negotiation" screen (where you had to join hands) was sold as having underlying AI algorithms "learning from the player's actions" in press previews at the time. Looking back it seems pretty clear this was just Molyneux hogwash before anyone recognised and labelled it as such.
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I played the demo a lot and remember the intro cinematic.
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I played a lot of the Bullfrog games back in the day. I don't think I played Theme Park specifically, but I had Sim Theme Park (the sequel) in the PSX and played the hell out of it. I particularly enjoyed it vs. other theme games because it was focused on fun - compare it with Theme Hospital, which always felt stressful since you were taking care of other people's lives and health instead of their entertainment. Designing roller coasters and being able to switch to first person also felt very immersive (lol) back in the day and I loved it.
That lasted until I played Roller Coaster Tycoon, and I never looked back. While Sim Theme Park was more impressive visually with its 3D graphics and first person view of guests, the management part of it felt lackluster and a bit haphazard/all over the place compared to RCT. RCT felt like a game made for an engineer and for optimization, where your precision is rewarded and you made your park run like clockwork. Sim Theme Park felt more like a clay toy you create during lunch break, all rough around the edges, that resembles what you envisioned but you know it's not. RCT allowed me to fulfill my visions in a more complete way.
I think Theme Park and its sequels are easy ways to introduce the tycoon genre to new audiences (or at least it was at the time) and console players, while RCT is an idea taken to its extreme and delivered in the most complete and satisfying package. Sorry for the comparison between the two, I know you asked specifically for Theme Park but I can't think of it without thinking of RCT and the contrast between the games
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I had Sim Theme Park on the PS1. I never played much of it because it took an entire memory card (15 blocks) to save a game.
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I played it. Maybe not right at release date, but certainly around that time. That and Magic Carpet were the two games I was fixated on for a while. I have fond memories of it, and definitely a lot of nostalgia for it today, though it's been a long time and I don't know how well it holds up today. I guess other games like Planet Coaster and Parkitect fill that same void now. So the feeling of playing it was...I dunno? Fun. Addicting. Interesting to figure out all the mechanics. Not sure what adjectives you're looking for here.
I remember being super disappointed when I eventually realised the first-person roller-coaster ride was just a pre-rendered video and not the track you actually built.
You're asking how it was received at the time, but the thing is 1994 was a different time. PC gaming as a whole wasn't that big that you could easily find people to talk about it. There was no internet or social media for the average person. You got all your gaming news and reviews from magazines, so you could easily get that historic info from your local library.
As far as changing the gaming world, I don't know that it did. I mean sure it must have been influential enough to spawn its own genre of park management sims. It's been a long time but I can't think of anything about it that was amazingly ground breaking. It did a few different things, and it did them well enough to keep the player engaged.
I don't know what Theme Park has to do with AI. So some dude who worked on the game as a teenager now runs an AI company. Ok? Video game "AI" is technically so far removed from current day "AI" that they're almost completely different fields. All it really says is someone with a good education, industry connections, and an obvious interest in AI, did various AI things in his career. Plus the opportunities for programmers back then were a lot different compared to today. I think you're reading more into it than is actually there. I doubt you will get any deeper understanding of this guy's life or the evolution of AI tech by tracing it all the way back to this particular game.
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Only played Theme Park World (on PS2) when i was child.
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I was more of a Rollercoaster Tycoon kind of guy back then :) The best part was making a roller coaster that launched the passengers to a fabulous flying death
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Good memories of playing Theme Park on the SNES. Didn't own it but borrowed it for a long time off my cousins. Later got the game on PS1 which I still have. One thing I wanted to do was ride the attractions we made and that was where Theme Park World came in.
That sense of fun is lost as you get older I think though some people seem to be able to retain it. I can't feel that magic anymore in more modern versions like Planet Coaster.
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• • • • • • •
hello!
i need some of your famous SteamGifts Community Help :D
i'm searching for older folks that have played "Theme Park" at time of release or in its very first 4/5 years. i need to know how it was accepted, what has really changed in gaming world and, most of all, how does the feeling of playing it was.
i know this is kinda hard stuff to find but SG is one of the best places i know to find such info.
thanks The so much in advance!
Theme Park at GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/game/theme_park
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