Interview with Carrie Holsinger

In this interview, Red Phoenix interviews Carrie Holsinger, former webmaster of Tycoon Resource.

Red Phoenix: Where did your first hear about Hasbro's Rollercoaster Tycoon?

Carrie Holsinger: I have always been interested in roller coaster/theme park games. I thought Disney's Coaster was the best. I was searching for some more information about it on the Internet one day and I came across The First RollerCoaster Tycoon Site. I started looking through the site and I found some great information about a new game by Hasbro called RollerCoaster Tycoon. I decided to download the demo and I have been hooked ever since.

Red Phoenix: Once you got your hands on the game, what did you think of it?

Carrie Holsinger: I was so impressed. I had played games like Theme Park and Disney's Coaster, but neither of them had the options and graphics that RollerCoaster Tycoon has. I found myself playing it until all hours of the night. I was totally hooked!

Red Phoenix: How did you get involved with MGON?

Carrie Holsinger: Once I had gotten familiar with RollerCoaster Tycoon, I decided to start my own website so I could show everyone my parks and rides. I decided to name it RCTopia. I found a great host at The SimGamer's HeadQuarters and a lot of people started sending in their designs. During this time, I was also starting to get hooked on The Sims. I decided to start my own website for that too. I was surfing the net for a host and noticed that The Sims Resource was offering hosting. I e-mailed Steve Bonham with the idea of combining my two sites into one. I then decided to keep them separate, so I named my new site Simtopia. After a couple months, I realized that running two sites at the same time and working 8 hours a day was kind of tough. I decided to see which site everyone wanted me to keep online, so I started a poll. Steve had visited RCTopia and read of the problem I was having, so he asked me if I would like to be the Site Manager of a new site MGON was developing called Tycoon Resource. I immediatly said yes, since I had a much better knowledge of RCT and was leaning towards keeping RCTopia open. We then took everything from RCTopia and put it into Tycoon Resource. I guess you could say that for the most part, RCTopia was the basis for Tycoon Resource. I then closed Simtopia and here were are!

Red Phoenix: When did Tycoon Resource launch?

Carrie Holsinger: November 2000

Red Phoenix: What are your thoughts on the Official Rollercoaster Tycoon site?

Carrie Holsinger: I am very disappointed in the way it has been run. When the game first came out, it was updated all of the time or at least once in a while. Now, it's like it is just taking up space on the Internet. I believe that if you have an official website for a game as popular as RollerCoaster Tycoon, then you should show as much support for it as you can.

Red Phoenix: I was just recently able to get an interview with Chris Sawyer for RCT Station. What are your thoughts on his responses for some of the questions?

Carrie Holsinger: I was very impressed with some of his answers. It was really cool learning about how he got started in the gaming industry and the kinds of tools he uses. It was also great to hear his thoughts on different topics, such as the official RCT website and the possible expansion of RCT. I really liked the variety of questions that were asked too. They covered a wide range of topics and Mr. Sawyer gave some very well thought out and thorough answers.

Red Phoenix: What do you see in the future of Rollercoaster Tycoon, and give some examples of new things you would like to see integrated into the game, should the series continue.

Carrie Holsinger: I definitely see a bright future for RCT. Mr. Sawyer himself has said that there is a possibility of a new version of RCT. I for one would be thrilled if RCT 2 ever came out. After seeing what he has done with the original RCT and it's expansion packs, I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve for the next go-round. If there were to be a new version of RCT, I think I would definitely like the see a night and day mode, a ride the rides option, and of course new rides. The thing that would make me the most happy though, would be for RCT to get the support that it deserves.

Red Phoenix: What has been the most difficult thing with keeping Tycoon Resource up and running?

Carrie Holsinger: I think the most difficult thing has been dealing with the major delay of the Monopoly Tycoon release. Since the site was also launched with the intent to cover Monopoly Tycoon, it has been disappointing that we have not been able to provide any new information for quite a while. I'm afraid that it is causing people to lose interest in the game.

Red Phoenix: Do you have any plans for new features on Tycoon Resource that you'd like to share?

Carrie Holsinger: Yes, we have lots of things that we would like the add. There has been some talk about adding an Intense roller coasters section. We have also been discussing the addition of two more games, Venture Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon. We also hope to be able to add more information on Monopoly Tycoon very soon. And as always, we are still looking for ways to add more great things for RollerCoaster Tycoon!