for the first time in my freshman year of high school. It turns out that a lot of math goes into designing the best rides. At a certain point the simple wire frame design process isn’ t not enough and I was forced to move on to use an equation based designer.
While I was neglecting my schoolwork because of my love of roller coasters, it turns out I was actually learning some useful math. When I started taking calculus two years down the road I had a very small jump on my peers( If you want to see some of the rides I ended up designing, check out www. youtube. com / user / HCLcoasters).
After two or three years of designing roller coasters, my interests in simulating rides faded, but my love of roller coasters still lived on. Over the course of my time in the roller coaster simulator community, I was drawn into the wider world of roller coaster enthusiasts. Surprisingly, literally thousands of people were just interested in roller coasters as I was.
“ My secret life as a roller coaster designer and enthusiast kept me going.”
Roller coaster enthusiasts gather online to share stories of their travels across the world, riding as many rides as possible and tracking construction of the next big ride engineering innovation. They’ re some of the strangest people you’ ll ever meet but they are absolutely dedicated to their hobby. Some of the most prolific enthusiasts have taken a ride on the majority of the nearly 4,000 roller coasters that have existed at one point or another. I quickly joined their ranks.
I desperately began attempting to convince my parents to let me travel to rack up my roller coaster count and to a certain extent I was successful. As of now, I’ ve been on over 110 roller coasters, taken a ride on the best wooden ride in the world, the tallest ride in the world, the first roller coaster to break 200, 300, and 400 feet, and even managed to get on a ride in Germany.
During the time I became interested RollerCoaster Tycoon I didn’ t have too much going for me. There are usually a few kids in every grade in middle school who are constantly picked on emotionally and physically; I was one of those kids. I didn’ t have many real friends, just three or four at a time. Even when people did want to have me around I never expected to be treated as an equal, I was often just a verbal punching bag. I had no confidence in myself. Because really, who would in that situation?
RollerCoaster Tycoon was a new world to escape to. The community I found in the simulator community respected me even though I was young by their standards. Behind my keyboard I wasn’ t judged by anything other than the quality of my creations. As my skill at building imaginary rides and my notoriety in this cyber community grew, so did my confidence. In middle school, my secret life as a roller coaster designer and enthusiast kept me going. When I got to high school, I escaped the toxic environment that made me miserable for years. I finally used my newfound confidence from my secret life to forge friendships in this new environment.
One downside from my now bearable social life was that my hobby and the community that I had once valued so much began to matter less. I didn’ t need it anymore to just get through the week. By the time I was a junior in high school, roller coasters just weren’ t as interesting as they once were. I still visit my online stomping grounds to say hello to old friends now and then, but it doesn’ t feel quite the same. They’ ve moved on and so have I.
I’ ll never completely abandon the RollerCoaster Tycoon series though. Around a year ago I booted up RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 for a burst of nostalgia. It turns out the game hasn’ t aged a bit. I started playing with the intention of spending around an hour building rides but instead I used that entire week to build a massive theme park.
When I say RollerCoaster Tycoon changed my life, I’ m not exaggerating. I don’ t think I’ d be the person I am today without it. It helped me through some of the most difficult times of my life and put me down a path I never thought I’ d follow.
Some games are good; they’ ll take up a few days of your life. Some games are great; they’ ll occupy you for a few months. The truly great games, though, will stay with you for years once you’ ve turned them off for good.