Theme Park

Development took about a year and a half, with the team aiming for as much realism as possible. Certain features, including multiplayer, were dropped. The game was released in June 1994 on numerous computer systems. Park received generally positive reviews and has been listed among the greatest video games ever made. Critics praised its gameplay and humor, with minor criticism directed at the console ports' lack of save and mouse support. In addition to the game selling 15 million units, it received several rereleases; The game received a Japanese localisation (in addition to normal Japanese releases), Shin Theme Park, released in 1997 for the Saturn and PlayStation, and remakes for the Nintendo DS (2007) and iOS (2001). Theme Hospital is Bullfrog's thematic successor to the game, and two direct sequels followed: Theme Park World (known as Sim Theme Park in some territories) and Theme Park Inc (also known as SimCoaster).

• Title — Theme Park • Developer — Bullfrog Productions Krisalis Software (PlayStation, Saturn) EA Japan (Nintendo DS) • Publisher — Bullfrog Productions Electronic Arts Mindscape (CD32) Ocean Software (Jaguar, PAL SNES) Domark (Mega-CD) • Programmer — Peter Molyneux Demis Hassabis • Composer — Russell Shaw • Platforms — 3DO, Amiga, CD32, Classic Mac OS, FM Towns, Genesis/Mega Drive, Jaguar, Mega CD, MS-DOS, PlayStation, PC-98, PC-88, Saturn, Super NES, X68000, Nintendo DS, iOS, Windows • Released — MS-DOS Amiga 3DO Mega Drive/Genesis Sega CD, CD32 Mac Jaguar March 1995FM Towns 22 September 1995Saturn PlayStation SNES Nintendo DS iOS 8 December 2011 • Genre — Construction and management sim • Modes — Single-player

• Illustration — A typical Theme Park Starting with a free plot of land in the United Kingdom and a few hundred thousand pounds, the player must build a profitable amusement park. Money is spent on building rides, shops, and staff, and earned through sale of entry tickets, merchandise, and refreshments. Shops available include those selling foodstuff (such as ice creams) or soft drinks, and games such as coconut shies and arcades. Their attributes can be customised, which may affect customers' behaviour: for example, affecting the flavour of foods (e.g. by altering the amount of sugar an ice cream contains) may entice customers to return. Facilities such as toilets, and items that enhance the park's scenery (such as trees and fountains) can be purchased. Over thirty attractions, ranging in complexity from the bouncy castle and tree house to more complicated and expensive rides such as the roller coaster and Ferris wheel are available. Also available are shows (called 'acts') with themes such as clowns and mediaeval. Certain rides, such as roller coasters, require a track to be laid out. The ride complement varies between platforms: for example, the PlayStation version is missing the mediaeval and dolphin shows. Rides require regular maintenance: if neglected for too long they will explode. Depending on the platform, it is possible to tour the park or the rides. Visitors arrive and leave via a bus. The entry price can be set, and loans can be taken out. The player starts with a limited number of shops, rides, and facilities available. Research must be carried out to purchase others. Research can also make rides more durable, staff more efficient, and buses larger with increased capacity. The topic of research and how much funding goes into it is determined by the player. Staff available for employment include entertainers, security guards, mechanics, and handymen. Lack of staff can cause problems, including messy footpaths, rides breaking down, crime, and unhappy visitors. If visitors become unhappy, thugs may come to vandalise the park by committing offences such as popping balloons, stealing food, and beating up entertainers. Occasionally, wages and the price of goods must be negotiated; failure to reach an agreement results in staff strikes or loss of shipment. Theme Park offers three levels of simulation: the higher difficulties requiring more management of aspects such as logistics. For example, at full level, the player must manage research, negotiations, stocks, and shares. On sandbox, the game does not involve those aspects. The player can switch mode at any time. Game time is implemented like a calendar: at the end of each year, the player is judged on that year's performance against rivals. Game speed can be adjusted, and staff can be moved by the player. Cash awards may be earned for doing well, and trophies may be awarded for achievements such as having the longest roller coaster. The goal is to increase the park's value and available money so that it can be sold and a new lot purchased from another part of the world to start a new theme park. Once enough money has been made, the player can auction the park and move on to newer plots, located worldwide and having different factors affecting gameplay, including the economy, weather, terrain and land value. The Mega Drive and SNES versions feature different settings (e.g. desert and glacier) depending on the park's location.

Peter Molyneux stated that he came up with the idea of creating Theme Park because he felt the business genre was worth pursuing. He said that Theme Park is a game he had always wanted to create, and wanted to avoid the mistakes of his earlier business simulation game, The Entrepreneur: He wanted to create a business simulation game and make it fun so that people would want to play it. In an interview, he explained that the primary reason he created Theme Park was because he wanted players to create their dream Theme Park. Another reason is he wanted players to understand the kind of work running one entails. The three difficulty settings enable players to choose the desired depth: simply having fun creating a theme park, or making all the business decisions too. Molyneux stated that the most difficult part to program was the visitors' behaviour. The story was originally to have the player play the role of a nephew who had inherited a fortune from his aunt, to be spent only on the world's largest and most profitable theme park. The graphics were drawn and modelled using 3D Studio. Molyneux stated that each person takes about 200 bytes of memory, enough for them to have their own personality. The team travelled the world visiting theme parks and taking notes, and sound effects were sampled from real parks. Molyneux explained that they were going for as much realism as possible. There was to be a feature where a microphone is placed on a visitor, so the player could hear what they were saying, and multiplayer support was dropped two weeks prior to release because of a deadline. Multiplayer mode would have let players send thugs to other parks. Theme Park took roughly a year and a half for Molyneux and co-designer and chief programmer Demis Hassabis to develop. Much of the code was used in Theme Hospital, and an animation editor was improved by Theme Hospitals designer and producer Mark Webley, who dubbed it The Complex Engine. Artist Gary Carr did not think the game was a good idea, and disliked the art style. Molyneux wanted him to create a colourful style to appeal to a Japanese market, but Carr disagreed and left Bullfrog. Carr later retracted his beliefs and, in 2012, stated that he considered the game a classic. In 1994, Molyneux was developing both Theme Park and Magic Carpet. The game was mostly complete by January 1994 and scheduled for release on 28 March, but this was pushed back to June, and then August. Theme Park sold over 15 million copies, and was extremely popular in Japan (the Japanese PlayStation version sold 85 thousand copies within weeks), as well as Europe. Theme Park did not sell well in the United States; Molyneux hypothesised that this was because the graphics are too childish for American audiences. The game is the first instalment in Bullfrog's Designer Series, and it was intended for the series to use Theme Parks engine and for each instalment to have three simulation levels. The PC version was sponsored by Midland Bank. The PlayStation port was developed by Krisalis Software, and released in 1995. The Mega CD port features CD soundtrack, and was developed by Domark and released in the same year. Bullfrog developed the Mega Drive port, which was mostly complete by April 1995, and the Sega Saturn port, released in November 1995. Other ports include the Amiga CD32, Atari Jaguar, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Macintosh. Mark Healey handled the graphics for the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo Entertainment System versions. The graphics were completed in three days. The PC version was released on GOG.com on 9 December 2013.

In 1997, Theme Park appeared jointly with Theme Hospital at No. 61 on PC Gamers list of top 100 games. In 2004, Theme Park was inducted into GameSpots list of the greatest games of all time. In 1995, Total! ranked the game 36th on their Top 100 SNES Games. In 1996, GamesMaster rated the Sega Saturn version 6th in its "The GamesMaster Saturn Top 10."