The climb. The drop. The speed. The terror. The laughter. For these reasons and more, rollercoasters continue to inspire and delight us. But strapping in for a loop-filled thrill ride isn’t something one can just do at the drop of a hat on a Thursday afternoon… or is it? Developer CGMatic’s Madcoaster delivers the white-knuckle action without the overpriced admission. Now, Chin Chentanez of CGMatic talks us through the other inspirations behind this certified hit as well as offers a peek into the future.
Chillingo: What inspired the creation of Madcoaster?
Chin Chentanez: We love to ride rollercoasters in real life! One concern we always have in our minds is whether the coaster is safe to ride our not. Therefore, we always wanted to create a crazy rollercoaster game with disconnected tracks. When we started the project, the endless runner started to become popular so we gear the game toward that genre.
Chillingo: Are you much of a rollercoaster fan in real life? Have any favorites?
CC: Yes, of course! One of our co-founders lived in the United States for many years and went to a bunch of Six Flags parks. His favorite ride is Medusa at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA.
Chillingo: Madcoaster is an endless runner, but with a cool twist. As you developed Madcoaster, how did you decide to tweak the genre?
CC: Initially, the player has to avoid birds and animals. During a play test, one of our testers complained, “Why can’t we hit those d–n animals? It would be much more fun.” We tried that and it was indeed more fun, so that stuck.
Chillingo: What player feedback influenced the development of the 1.1 update?
CC: First, thank you very much to all players for providing us the helpful reviews! We read all of them and take them seriously. Based on the reviews, there were certain objectives that were too difficult, so we adjusted them. We always wanted to add shop to the game, and the reviews also confirmed that, so we worked day-and-night to get the shop system up as soon as possible.
Chillingo: Soaring into the top three is a fantastic achievement. Beyond the new update, what’s next for Madcoaster?
CC: We worked hard on 1.2 update with the underwater theme and secret bonus space theme. It also features ability to change the riders and tracks. More coaster decorations are also available. Please stay tuned for more!