Having played a lot of business sim games over
the years, it was appealing to me to try a new theme. I recently got a chance to
run my own (cyber) Hunting Lodge, and now I get to be the Master designer and
"Trump" of a mountain paradise. In
Cat
Daddy Games’s Ski Resort Extreme, you get the opportunity to build,
run and maintain your own ski lodge and slopes. While there’s not too much
"Extreme" about this game, it offers some chilly slices of reality and
challenge for the most jaded of sim-Masters.
Once upon a gaming time, I was introduced to the
amazing "Theme Park" game for my new Pentium II system. It was not the
first sim (think Sim City), but the most appealing to me. It took a
recreation I loved– theme parks, and blended it with something I love to dream
about– running a (successful?) business. I was hooked for months. Since then,
we have been given a chance to simulate everything from ant farms (Sim-Ant)
and Sea Monkeys; to playing God a la The Sims, which reigns as the greatest sim franchise
out there. I love Maxis’ The Sims a great deal, but find myself looking
for the "old school" business sims from time to time. As much as I
love meddling with cyber-lives, I yearn for the chance to reap fortunes via
dreaming up and building vast businesses and seeing how well my knowledge of
that genre and money-making savvy can blend. This time, I got to mix one of my
favorite recreations with that business drive. Though I do not snowboard, and
haven’t "needed" a kiddie-slope in many years, I was very curious to
test my meddle in the arena of cold-weather sporting. I got my chance, and did
OK.
There is a tutorial, which I highly
recommend for novices anytime they get a sim of any kind. It’s a good way to
introduce you to building, layout and removal of objects. They do not teach you
how to think, which is the most critical aspect of sim-success, but knowing how
to build comes in a strong second. If you don’t think about which direction the
front door of your guest’s cabin is situated, you will make your customer very
unhappy. So, if you’re new, spend some time on the tutorial.
Ski Resort Extreme (does everything
nowadays have to be Extreme?)
provides you with several landscaped to choose from right from the beginning.
From the tranquil "Gentle Slopes" to the more aggressive "Powder
Peak", there are many places to start your journey. Gentle Slopes is a
"bunny slope", or one made with a minor grade for new skiers (my first
real-life experience was on a slope called the "Potato Patch"). I started
with Instant Action, which provided a quick start right into the
experience. Using available start-up funds ($10k-100K range), you layout
your entrance, additional parking if needed, maintenance facility, first aid
center, snack place, etc. You have to think about every detail and get as much
as you can with every penny available. That is where a lot of gamers fail: not
spending wisely and thinking things through by putting yourself in the game and
asking questions about every little detail. This game has you even create a
power station, which is realistic. You’re on a mountain… it’s hard to get a extension
cord running up that far! You need workers to turn the generating machines on…
and keep them running. Get the idea? Little details like that made this more
in-depth than I anticipated.
Once my toilets, ski lifts, equipment rental
buildings and various structures were in place, I had to make inviting walking
paths to all of them. Clear away trees with a "eraser" type tool and
then replace them later on with more aesthetic landscaped foliage so your guests
have something pretty to look at. Trust me, this isn’t big on their needs
list! More importantly, you have to put the right slopes in place, and make sure
you have good human traffic flow all over the resort.
By watching guests comments and
"listening" to them you can get this game running smoothly rather
quickly. You will be quite broke for a long time, however. But, it does take
money to make money. There are details such as advertising via various
signage that will enhance your success. How else will people know what they can
do and where to go to do it? As with any sim game, once you start making money,
more options for structures will be unlocked and your once-limited offering of
bathrooms will grow into lavish options. Take advantage of them, but keep things
balanced. You may start with a simple taco stand, but if you buy a fancy eatery
and do not also enhance parking and other details, you will fail. Everything
must grow in balance. That comes from playing, watching and experimentation.
Your guests may want more slope options, but your funds are too low to undertake
such a expanse. If you don’t do something, you will lose business. So, you may
have to sell a portion of your property and replace it with something cheaper,
in order to build what the customers want– to keep them coming back. Balance.
The sounds were rather subtle and forgetful. you
can adjust your music, environment and other audio settings in your Options
area. I suggest tinkering with that after playing it for a short while. I almost
always end up turning the music completely OFF. Other sounds are kept at a
minimum, to help my PC handle other things more efficiently.
The video is rather nice. It’s a lot of white
(snow)! That actually made my vision kind of fuzzy after a while. I do not
recommend playing this with all of the lights off. You may get headaches and
have issues. This is something I had not anticipated, but felt it after a while.
Odd. They should label the game: Consult your Optometrist before undergoing
any skiing simulations. You can adjust the view from a close-up zoom to a
far away pan shot. You will use both, as you need to see the big picture, as
well as what kind of activity is going on at the bottom of your ski lift. Maybe
it’s time to splurge on a double-lift? Take a look, read comments and take
action. The images are not mind-blowing, but in this type of game, it’s not
about such things. They provide enough detail to make it appealing, without
taking resources away from more critical areas.
It was a fun diversion from the usual sim games I
have been playing. There will surely be more sim games with focused target
audiences. Cat Daddy seems to be directed in the way. As long as all of the
various developers can make their games stand out as unique, and not feel like
the same game– different title, the public will continue to give them a try.
Even the mighty Sims underwent a major overhaul before it became stale. I do not
see there being a ongoing, lavish series of Ski Resort Extreme sequels in
the future, but this is a good base game that’s worthy of a try for skiing
enthusiasts. Obviously, if you do not ski, nor have any interest in it at all,
this will be boring and hard to master. But, if you need something to keep you
warm and fuzzy in between trips to the real slopes, give this a try.
Gameplay: 7.5
It plays predictably like most other sim
games out there. No better or worse, which is a good thing. Once you know the
basics of clearing land and building what you need in that space, you can focus
on your guests and operations management. Doing that well will translate into success,
which is the point of the game. I found the learning curve in this one to be
fairly easy. Maybe it’s sim-experience. For someone totally new, it will be a
lot to handle once the grounds are flooded with parka-wearing adventurers
looking for a rad snowboarding tube to grind.
Graphics: 7.0
Keeping in mind that the point of the
game is to successfully create and manage a ski resort, the graphics are good.
There is an option to select between two graphical shading scenarios. One taxes
the system less, but does not take full advantage of how nice it can look. I
played in that mode a lot, as the looks do not matter to me as much as speed and
the ability to select building options without making the system slow down or
(worse) possibly crash. If you have a beefy gaming machine, by all means… use
the full Shadow Maps option and enjoy the view.
Sound: 6.5
The sound exists, though
after a while I forgot about it. I typically turn down the various sound options
to help the processor manage more critical tasks, so it was easy to forget the
pretty audio was there. The music was dull and I turned it off quick. The
environmental sounds were good, though I don’t have much to compare it to in
real life. I don’t pay much attention to sounds when I ski, so I
overlooked them here as well. TREES get my attention when I ski.
It’s not easy to master, and
I am not sure I have even done that. However, if you have played a lot of sim
games in the past, this will be comfortable– fast. Otherwise, it may be more
stressful and frustrating. As I mentioned, it’s all in the balance of the game.
If you know how to spread out your funds, and yourself in the game, it rolls
fairly smooth. Like most focused niche games, you don’t want to play this if you
know nothing about skiing. You may still do OK, but probably won’t catch on as
fast to a skier’s varying needs. You can only ski so many hours before you want
to sit back with some hot cocoa and maybe take a dip in the hot tub. Being in
that situation makes you more aware of that need, which translates into success.
Concept: 7.0
Creating a sim is a lot of work, but
the idea of a Sim-whatever is no longer new and as exciting as it once
was. The developers are left to just make everything we do into a sim. Maybe
someone will do a sim-job and I can do that instead of the real thing. Sim games
are not new, and the novelty is worn out, but that does not mean they should not
be created anymore. They have the challenge, now, of making them stand out and
not feel too much like one another. I don’t want my skiing sim to feel
like feeding my virtual Sea Monkeys.
Overall: 7.0
This is not a bad game, but maybe a bit
lacking on gaming "freshness". I liked playing it, and it
had a good replay factor. I always like trying to take something like this
higher and higher, but after a while it feels the same. The selection of sites
to tinker with is somewhat small in comparison to what Cat Daddy offered in
their recent Outdoor Life hunting simulation. Many of them felt the same, but
nonetheless fun to play around with. I do not see a long history of this title
in the future. Perhaps if they only tweak it every couple of years to keep up
with technology. Otherwise, it’s as good as it can be in this present form.
Maybe some terrain upgrades will be made available via their web site? It’s
always fun to see how good you are at turning your starting budget into profits
and building the best resort possible. I’ll still play it beyond this review,
which is a testament to its fun factor. But, it is a niche interest game and
will leave other sim enthusiasts wanting something more vast. If you need
something to fill your needs until you can get back up the mountain, I’d
recommend this game easily. It’s priced right and will provide some quality
entertainment when you want to get a view into the nightmares and benefits of
running your own (Extreme!!) ski resort.
