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Interview with Alf
In this interview, Red Phoenix interviews
Alf, webmaster of Tycoon
Planet.
Red Phoenix:
Where did your first hear about Hasbro's Rollercoaster Tycoon?
Alf: One day while at my cousin's
I was checking through his programs on his computer and found this
game called RollerCoaster Tycoon. So I asked what it was and he
said it was a pretty cool game. So I tried it out.
Red Phoenix:
After you had a chance to play it, what did you think of it?
Alf: Within 15 minutes of playing
it I got really bored because I was limited to only so much money
and only so many rides. So this is when I started to look for trainers!
Yea I know… only 15 minutes of playing it and I was already cheating…
The First Trainer I tried was Techno's Original RCT Trainer. This
was back when it was only RCT out there.
Red Phoenix:
What do you think of all the "anti-cheat" code Chris Sawyer placed
in the RCT games?
Alf: Well, when it was only
RCT I never had any problems with the anti-cheat code. Now that
we've got CF/AA and LL the anti-cheat code is much more than just
there. It's given me and probably all the other webmasters out there
so much more to answer on the forums. It's also because trouble
for people like Dragon's IOA and other trainer makers. I'd just
like to say thanks to Mr. Drexler for fixing most of this problem.
Red Phoenix:
Recently, Infogrames publicly announced the production of RollerCoaster
Tycoon 2. What are some things you'd like to see added?
Alf: They are many things that
I'd like to see added. At TycoonPlanet.com we even had our own forum
section dedicated to this. I'd really like to see most of the ideas
in that forum come true in the game. Then again, a whole theme park
sim with 3d coasters that you could ride is asking a little to much
isn't it? However one thing I don't think I've seen in the forum
was the ability to build anywhere just not on a square grid so you
could be able to position things differently.
Red Phoenix:
How did you get involved in Tycoon Planet?
Alf: Late December in 2000 I
sent an e-mail to Zet asking to be hosted. After he replied I requested
rctstation.tycoonplanet.com. On January 3rd the next year it was
set up! I was one of the biggest sites ever on TycoonPlanet.com
and this was before all the other sites… They were maybe 10 other
hosted sites that actually had anything and about 50 or so hosted
sites total. One day I got a message from Zet asking me to take
over the main site. The main site was getting less than 50 hits
a day and so was I. So I told Zet that I'd gladly accept the part
of webmaster at TycoonPlanet.com. So I pulled everything off of
TycoonPlanet.com except some images and a few files and started
all over.
Red Phoenix:
How happy are you with the success of Tycoon Planet?
Alf: I was (and still am) very
please at what TycoonPlanet.com has become. I never expected that
I'd be able to 'play with the big boys' such as RCTuk, TycoonResource,
and RCT Station. I am still amazed at what I've turned TycoonPlanet.com
into. I'd like to so thanks to all the peeps out there that have
helped support us.
Red Phoenix:
What's the most difficult aspect of maintaining Tycoon Planet?
Alf: The most difficult aspect
was maintaining all those HTML pages and what one went with what.
Since I learned ASP it had been a walk in the park for the design
and page part. Uploads on the other hand, I'm still stuck on a slow
28k phone line which really slows me down.
Red Phoenix:
What can we look forward (in the future) to at Tycoon Planet?
Alf: Well, one thing that Zet
and me were thinking of was turning TycoonPlanet.com into more of
a gaming site rather then just RCT. However RCT would still be a
main focus. The new site is currently in progress and will contain
mostly sim type games such as ScreamMachines (www.screammachinesgame.com),
RCT, and Sim theme park.
Red Phoenix:
What RCT-related sites do you visit on a typical daily basis?
Alf: Usually I visit all the
big site's main pages to see what's going on. Sometimes after that
I sort of base my updated by what they have done.
Red Phoenix:
If you could be someone (alive or dead) for one day, who would it
be, and why?
Alf: I'm not too sure who I
would really be as I don't really know too many people and what
they're like.
You can find Alf at Tycoon Planet -
http://www.tycoonplanet.com
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