YouTuber Builds 135-Year-Long ‘Century Ride’ in RollerCoaster Tycoon 2
One YouTuber stretched RollerCoaster Tycoon 2's game mechanics to their absolute limits. | Source: Chris Sawyer Productions/Steam
- YouTuber beats standing record for longest RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 ride.
- The coaster takes 135 real-time years to complete.
- The record was broken thanks to a newly-discovered game mechanic.
A YouTuber has succeeded in besting the standing record for the longest ride in RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 with a coaster that takes no less than 135 years to complete.
There’s a fascination with players who stretch games beyond the parameters of what the developers originally intended. The games take on a life of their own, spawning dedicated communities that revel in pushing the mechanics and design to their limits.
From self-assigned challenges like no-hit runs of the Dark Souls Trilogy or the spawning of the MOBA genre from the player-created Warcraft III Defense of the Ancients mod, there’s no shortage of examples.
New RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Mechanic
In this case, YouTuber Marcel Vos toiled away at constructing the longest possible roller coaster in nearly 20-year-old sim title RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 . Released in 2002, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 has players let loose on virgin land and tasked with building and managing the theme park of their dreams.
Vos also held the previous record with a build that saw unfortunate virtual theme park attendees rot away on a hellish 45-year long ride .
Thanks to a newfound mechanic within the game, he was able to extend the ride time threefold. By daisy-chaining three different ride types together through shared, synchronized stations, Marvel Vos manipulated the departure times of the carts. This exponentially ballooned the ride time.
This Virtual Coaster Ride Takes 135 Real-Time Years
Short of sitting there watching the ride complete a single rotation, which is longer than the longest known human lifespan, a bit of math was needed to estimate the ride length.
By Marcel Vos’ calculations, the new build has riders stay on board for a staggering 323,599,680 RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 days. Converted to real-time, that’s 49,472.5 days – or 135 years, 197 days, and 12 hours.
As to whether Vos can best the new record, he explains that the current build maxes out the permitted park elements. Short of a new mechanic surfacing, the record should hold for as long as it takes the first “Century Coaster” thrill-seekers to complete their 135-year ride.
