The 1.4 Anniversary Update for Planet Coaster is out now according to a news post on the game's Steam Community page.
A bit over a year after its original release, Planet Coaster is celebrating its anniversary with the 1.4 Anniversary Update. The update is free to all current owners of the game and brings along a number of new features, scenarios, and (of course) rides for players to enjoy. The developers have put out a trailer that highlights some of the new features in the Planet Coaster 1.4 Anniversary Update:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgv1CZtI1Eg
Perhaps the biggest item on the ticket is the introduction of the Scenario Editor. Players will be able to create scenarios with a number of restrictions set on them. You can control the availability of loans & research, set the types of guests that will come to your park, and create objectives with multiple conditions (such as time limits). The physical state of the park is up to you, too - you can lock scenery, set the park's boundaries, and even decide where exactly guests will be spawning in on the map. Other features such as staff profiles and general park settings are there for you to tinker with as well.
Speaking of staff, the staff system in Planet Coaster has had a bit of an overhaul in the 1.4 Anniversary Update. Staff must now be managed a bit more than they were before - they have an energy meter which depletes as they work. This energy can be replenished with a visit to the brand new Staff Building. Employees will head to the Staff Building whenever they're undergoing training, and the building will be able to grant them certain perks. Shop vendors will now leave their stores and have to be rotated out like any other staff, and if you underpay your workers they'll go on strike. Lastly, if you mess up quite badly and your workers decide to quit, you can re-hire them for a certain price.
Existing coasters and tracked rides can now have a bit more variety with the ability to swap cars. Different cars will perform exactly as the default ones on whatever ride you swap them out on. This new cosmetic feature will let you mix things up a bit more than you already can.
Speaking of rides, two new rides are available in the Planet Coaster 1.4 Anniversary Update. The Weisshorn is a retro theme park ride with a circular track that travels up and down a hill. The Monte Leone is a smaller version of the same ride which should give players a bit more flexibility if they're running a bit short of space in their park. As for coasters, three new types have been added to the game's repertoire of scream machines. The Cascade is a coaster that combines a tracked ride with the splash sections of a log flume ride. Hop The Gaps is a throwback to older wooden coasters that's aesthetically pleasing but functionally limited in a number of ways (including lacking the ability to invert). Finally, the Zenith is a hydraulic-launched coaster with a top speed of 175 miles per hour.
Finally, career-minded players can have a go at the newest scenario called Gulpee's Island Paradise. This remote beachfront property is beautiful but severely underdeveloped as a theme park, and it's up to you to manage the rides (and the staff) so it becomes a successful venture.
This is by no means an all-inclusive list of what's in the Planet Coaster 1.4 Anniversary Update; be sure to click-through to the patch notes to read up on all of the changes. If you don't yet own Planet Coaster, you can get it at a 55% discount on Steam right now. Do be sure to check our review to see what we thought of the game!
What do you think of the additions in the Planet Coaster 1.4 Anniversary Update? How do you think the game's development has progressed over the last year? Let us know in the comments below!
