Frontier Developments has partnered with another amusement park to give players a recreation of a real roller coaster. Thanks to a deal with North Carolina’s Carowinds park, the next update for Planet Coaster will have Copperhead Strike added to the game for free. Copperhead Strike debuted in March of this year, and is the state’s first “double-launched” coaster, meaning it has a second powered launch midway through the ride, allowing for longer, more gravity-defying stunts. If this rendition is as good as the previous Steel Vengeance recreation Planet Coaster gave players, then virtual coaster enthusiasts will be getting a real treat. Plus, it’s nice to see some of the less famous amusement parks getting exposure.
Copperhead Strike will come to Planet Coaster on April 16th, along with the release of the Classic Rides DLC.
Planet Coaster has partnered with the real-life amusement park Cedar Point to release a free addition for the game. The 1.3.6 update includes in-game assets and blueprints to build the Steel Vengeance roller coaster, which will join Cedar Point’s collection of rides in May 2018. The wood and steel hybrid design will be the tallest and fastest coaster of its kind when it opens, and will feature the most airtime of any currently existing coaster. You can check out a first-person rendition of the ride here, or you could just build the darn thing in Planet Coaster and “ride” it there.
This partnership is notable for bringing an officially licensed coaster to players. The genre is chock full of generic amusements and fan interpretations of rides, but where are all the sponsored El Toro, Goliath, or Apollo’s Chariot DLC? Will we see the various Six Flags or Busch Gardens parks in video game form? There are a ton of independent amusement parks throughout the world that could use this platform to advertise their rides. Plus, we can have the guilt-free thrill of derailing licensed coasters into crowds of virtual people.
Remember when cheats were free? A hidden developer mode or Easter Egg that you didn’t have to purchase in a season pass or unlock in a loot chest? The infamous Konami Code, IDKFA, or “cheese steak jimmy’s” come to mind along with “show me the money” and dncornholio. Infinite money, invulnerability, and dog rocket attacks all without buying a 99 cent coin pack. For a good while, (before achievements and always online persistent stat tracking) cheats were an expected part of a game. Making good cheats is almost a lost art.
What kind of cheats could you want in a sandbox theme park game? Money isn’t really much of a concern, and neither is there a need for a God Mode, so you’ll probably value cheats that just make things go nuts. Frontier Developments has declared today as Cheat Day and unleashed a pack of cheats on its Planet Coaster fans. Rename a go-kart ride as “BOLLARD” and you can control a go-kart in first-person view with the WASD keys. Rename a shop to “MCLINTHE” and every guest will start vomiting. There are ten largely pointless cheats in all and they’re free to use from now on.
