Planet Coaster Alpha 2 Adds Terrain Sculping
Pretty pretty
Frontier Developments launched their new theme park sim Planet Coaster [official site] into early paid alpha in March but, while it was fun, it lacked some of the features that made the game look so exciting. The much-vaunted terrain sculpting and fancy coaster-building tools, for example. Those have now arrived with the launch of alpha 2, so players could - I don't know - make a vast statue of themselves with a rollercoaster winding through their guts. Just throwing an idea out there.
Frontier haven't put out patch notes, so I'm afraid you get the press release blurb:
"Alpha 2’s new Terrain Sculpting toolset lets players reshape the earth itself, forging hills, mountains, craters and caverns to create something truly unique. Whether building the coaster park of your dreams, re-creating a natural wonder or crafting impossible floating islands in the sky, Planet Coaster lets you bring any creative vision to life.
"And Alpha 2 players can now build their own rollercoasters with Planet Coaster’s advanced construction toolset. Planet Coaster Alpha 2 lets players build high into the sky, tunnel below ground and even carve through mountains as they build without limits. Alpha 2 introduces more authentic coaster types, new stations and all-new paint options to offer unprecedented opportunities for customization and creativity."
In short, Planet Coaster now has a lot more of the stuff that makes it look cool.
Frontier have been quite clear that this isn't your regular early access release, mind. They're definitely selling it for serious coasterheads who want to build now now now, as it costs more in alpha than it will at launch. Right now, the 'Early Bird Alpha' costs £49.99/67,99€/$74.99. When Planet Coaster properly launches later this year, some time from September onwards, it'll cost £29.99/39,99€/$49.99.
If you've splashed out to get in, how are you finding Planet Coaster? If not, hey, here, this recent dev livestream looked at alpha 2's terrain tools:
And this one got into its coaster-building:
