A big interview with Chris Sawyer, the creator of RollerCoaster Tycoon

[Administrator]

These days Scottish video game programmer and designer Chris Sawyer flies under the radar. The inventor of RollerCoaster Tycoon seems happy to let Atari build new games in the much-loved strategy series while he gets on with other, pressing matters, such as riding real-life roller coasters and helping out at his local school. And yet, despite this radio silence, Sawyer's games are as fondly remembered now, over 20 years later, than they ever were.
In the early 1990s, while converting Amiga games such as Elite Plus, Frontier Elite 2, Birds of Prey and Dino Dini's Goal to the PC, Sawyer created his first management simulation game, Transport Tycoon. His idea was to take Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon further by combining its gameplay elements with his isometric code to create a new kind of map. MicroPose picked up Transport Tycoon, released it in 1994, and scored a hit. An expanded and improved version, Transport Tycoon Deluxe, launched just a year later.
While plotting a Transport Tycoon sequel, Sawyer fell in love with roller coasters. And so his next project became RollerCoaster Tycoon, which released in 1999. It was a hit. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 followed in 2002. It was an even bigger hit. Despite partnering with publishers such as Hasbro, Sawyer retained ownership of the RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise, and, reportedly, made a killing as its success grew.
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