________ ____________
___ __ \______ ___ /___ /_____ ________
__ /_/ /_ __ \__ / __ / _ _ \__ ___/
_ _, _/ / /_/ /_ / _ / / __/_ /
/_/ |_| \____/ /_/ /_/ \___/ /_/
_________ _____
__ ____/______ ______ ___________ /______ ________
_ / _ __ \_ __ `/__ ___/_ __/_ _ \__ ___/
/ /___ / /_/ // /_/ / _(__ ) / /_ / __/_ /
\____/ \____/ \__,_/ /____/ \__/ \___/ /_/
.___.
| . _. _ _ ._
| \_|(_.(_)(_)[ )
._|
RollerCoaster Tycoon
Hints, Tips, and other General Suggestions
If you haven't read the Game Manual and are reading this, I highly recommend
that you read the manual first, since it has many helpful tips of its own that
are not included here. In this file are only the tips that I came up with on
my own by playing the game. Enjoy!
If you don't actually have the game you can get the demo at:
English: ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/demos/rollercoaster/rct-edl.exe
Non-English: ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/demos/rollercoaster/rct-mdl.exe
Contents:
1. Scenarios
2. Your Park
a. Queue it up!
b. Maintenance
c. Guests
3. Rides (non rollercoaster)
4. Rides (rollercoaster)
a. Crashes!
5. Landscaping
6. Shops
7. Common Problems (frequently asked questions)
8. Bugs
9. Final Words...
Note: The game year starts in March and Ends in October (8 months)
1. Scenarios - * indicates that these scenarios aren't immediately available
** indicates that this scenario must first be downloaded from
the official web page "http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com"
Forest Frontiers - a forest area with no rides, passing the tutorial also
counts as passing this one
600 rating, 250 guests by October Year 1
Dynamite Dunes - a desert area with one ride, a mine roller coaster called
Dynamite Blaster, also has some large hills.
600 rating, 650 guests by October Year 3
Leafy Lake - an empty park with a giant lake in the middle.
600 rating, 500 guests by October Year 3
Diamond Heights - an already nice theme park that needs to drum up some new
business. Starts with 2 Steel Roller Coasters, 1 Mini Rollercoaster,
1 Log Flume, 1 Slide, 1 Merry-Go-Round, 1 Railroad, 1 Wild Mouse.
$20k dollars by October Year 3 (park value)
Evergreen Gardens - a large and complicated Botanical Gardens with no rides
and an excess of scenery. First thing to do here is to cut a path to
prevent people from getting too far from the entrance (they'll get lost).
600 rating, 1000 guests by October Year 4
*Bumbly Beach - a very small beach front park, surrounded by houses. Starts
with a Wooden Roller Coaster, a Ferris Wheel, and a Merry-Go-Round.
600 rating, 750 guests by October Year 2
*Trinity Islands - this time you get 3 small islands in the center here. You
start with no rides. Destroy the paths to the other 2 islands until you
are ready to expand there to keep guests from getting lost.
600 rating, 750 guests by October Year 3
*Katie's World - an oddly shaped smallish park with seven rides: a Railroad,
Swinging Ship, 3 Rollercoasters (one completely underground!), a Boat
Hire, and a Go Karts. Very Rainy.
$15k by October Year 3
*Dinkie Park - The smallest park yet (you can expand... across the street)
comes with 6 rides: Ferris Wheel, Swinging Ship, Merry-Go-Round, Slide,
Merry-Go-Round, Scrambled Eggs.
$10k by October Year 2
*Aqua Park - Small park with a lake and 5 rides: 2 Log Flumes, River Rapids,
Boat Hire, and a Water Slide.
600 rating, 900 guests by October Year 3
*Millenium Mines - Medium sized park that was once a working Mine. Has only
one ride, a Railroad.
600 rating, 800 guests by October Year 3
*Karts & Coasters - a Large park with 4 rides: 2 Go Karts and 2 Very Large
Wooden Roller Coasters.
600 rating, 1000 guests by October Year 3
*Mel's World - Large park with 4 rides: 2 coasters, Whoa Belly, Gravitron.
600 rating, 1200 guests by October Year 3
*Mothball Mountain - Small park with no rides.
600 rating, 800 guests by October Year 3
*Pacific Pyraminds - Medium-Large park that is heavily themed Egytian (count
those 4 pyramids!), but no rides.
600 rating, 1000 guests by October Year 4
*Crumbly Woods
*Big Pier Obviously these aren't finished yet!
*Lightning Peaks
*Ivory Towers
*Rainbow Valley
*Thunder Rock
**Fort Anachronism - a medium sized theme park with a large fort in its
center. Comes with several rides: Single rail roller coaster, a Boat
Hire, 2 Mazes, and a Railroad.
600 rating, 1250 guests
Note: Whenever you pass a scenario, all the guests in your park will applaud,
and also they will all let go of their balloons. Which means that they
have to buy NEW balloons, so you get twice the balloon money!
2. Your Park
-First thing to do in your new park is to set Research up to maximum funding
and if you do not have Information Kiosk already, then uncheck all boxes
except for "Shops and Stalls". (Information Kiosk is the most useful shop
in the game, since it sells maps and umbrellas)
-Next you will want some rides. Build a good mix of rides, some gentle, some
exciting, and of course a rollercoaster. Place one, and only one, roller
coaster by the entrance to get the guests' hearts pounding early. It also
increases their happiness. (you build only one by the entrance since they
will have to travel to the others, and will sometimes see other things on
the way) You want at least one indoor type ride, like the Haunted House.
Note: Forest Frontiers is the only scenario that sets prices as you build
new rides (any ride already in the park has a price already), so be
sure to charge the guests! You probably will want to check the
price of every ride you build at all times, as well as rides that
already exist in the scenario.
-Third, hire one of each type of people. Uncheck the handyman's option to
mow the grass. You don't need that yet.
-Fourth, jack up the entrance price to the park to around $15-$20. You want
it cheap enough to get their goodwill, but high enough to get you some
money. Generally, for every 4 new rides that you build, add $5 to
admission. $10 if one of those rides is a roller coaster.
Note: Once you get over $30 thousand dollars, you don't need to increase your
admissions price any more! I always keep my admissions price around
$50 at that point. (the absolute maximum that you can set your
admission price is $100)
Once you get the Information Kiosk build it close to the entrance, as your
guests will want a map to avoid getting lost (and an umbrella if it rains).
Buying Land:
If you want to expand the park, you can buy land (in the Main Entrance
window). Land that is for sale has a little white sign on it, and costs
$90 per square.
Common Viewpoint:
Ever wish that you could visit your wonderful theme park? Well one way is
to view a guest just before they enter your park, name them, and click the
"i" button to receive updates on them. By following around several people
like this you can get a new viewpoint on your park, and it may help you
solve problems that you didn't know existed! If you leave his window open
you get to see how long a queue wait really is, how hard it is to find
a place in the park, and if you really have enough facilities like bath-
rooms and food and drink stalls.
Money Making:
Remember that you can take a loan. If you need a new rollercoaster RIGHT
NOW, then take out an extra $5k or so (keep your loan under $20k total, the
max loan possible is $30k but you shouldn't need that much). Also use the
Rides button (press "R") and slide the marker down to "Profit" to see where
you are making, and losing money. If a popular ride isn't making money, it
may be that you are charging so much for the ride that people won't go on
it. You want to get all of their money, but you don't need it all at once,
so lower the rates. (see sections 3 and 4 for a pricing guide to rides)
Later in the game you may want to consider only charging for admission
(say... $90) and giving the rides away for free, or maybe you want to let
them in for free and charge them more on rides. Well there are problems
with both. Since your ideal is to get every cent from the guest charging
$90 at the gate is a problem, 1) what if a guest doesn't have $90? and 2)
what if the guest has more than $90? The first guest can't come in, and
the second will probably leave your park with money. (there's only so many
ice creams he can buy!) Your other option is to let them in for free, and
charge them more on rides. This option is even worse. Here's why:
Suppose Guest 1 enters your park with $100 and he's happy. Then he gets in
a long line for a log flume that was poorly designed. By the time he gets
off the log flume he is very unhappy. Since he didn't pay to get into the
park he's getting outta here. I usually stay with the $50 admission and
still charge for rides. I get all their money, and they usually leave only
when they run out.
Awards:
Best Value Park in the Country
Tidyest Park
Safest Park
Best Roller Coasters
Note: If you click on a duck, it will quack.
Note: To slow the game down, click and hold the right mouse button.
2a. Queue it up!
I'll discuss Line Queues here, before I even talk about the rides themselves!
The first thing to building the ultimate Queue is Ride Placement. Place the
ride well away from the nearest path, at least 2 or 3 squares. Then start
building the Queue, and don't put it near a path until you are satisfied with
the length. Only after you have the entrance Queue to a ride should you
build the path to the Exit. So, how long should your Queue be? That depends
on the type of ride mainly. For example, a roller coaster is a very popular
attraction, PLUS it loads a lot of people at once, PLUS its a short ride,
and can also have multiple trains. So for a Rollercoaster build a long
(10-20 squares) queue line. Long waits in line are fun for no one, so if
the "people" tab on the ride window say a queue wait of 10 minutes or more,
cut the line down.
Here's the breakdown:
Rollercoasters - 10 to 20 squares
Exciting Rides - 6 to 15 squares
Gentle Rides - 5 to 9 squares
Log Flume - 6 to 9 squares
Boat Hire - 3 to 5 squares
Transport Rides - 5 to 15 squares (depending on the type of transport)
Even if you see a very full line, don't overdo it and make it longer, then
the people will wait in line a long time, and they will lose a lot of
happiness; and if the ride isn't so hot (like the Log Flume) they'll have
been worse off for going on the ride.
Finally, don't just wrap the queue around itself, try to open up some holes
to the side to place trees, fountains, etc. This will help keep the guests
comfortable, and happy.
_____ ride entrance ________ ride entrance
| | | | __ | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |__| |
| |_____| | | |________|
Example of a boring Queue Example of a better Queue
Note: Entertainers can help make people in line happy.
2b. Maintenance
It is my theory that for every 4 rides you build you should hire a new
Mechanic. This keeps a "net" of coverage on your park, as there will usually
be a mechanic nearby if a ride breaks. (for every roller coaster you build
you should hire a new Handyman to help with the added vomit)
As your rides age, their reliability will go down tremendously. To help
alleviate this problem, swap the Inspection rate down to "every 10 minutes".
At each inspection the reliability will go up a little. Also if your rides
are REALLY old (5+ years) you need to take drastic measures to insure that
they don't crash. Consider replacing the ride. Or, just reduce the number
of trains on a rollercoaster down to 1. (this will avoid a crash) Another
way to tell if it is time to replace a ride is "Down Time".
Finally, you need security guards to stop Vandalism. But since you can't
always stop it, you need to know what to do afterwords. Vandals strike only
3 things, benches, garbage cans, and lights. The vandalized bench will be
broken in half, the garbage cans will be tipped over, and lamps will have
their lights broken. Simply replace the old items with new ones to fix.
(Don't right click to remove! That will get rid of the path as well)
Overkill Maintenance:
One way to guarantee a good response time from your mechanics is to hire
one mechanic for every ride (yes, EVERY ride) and give them ONE route
marker right by the exit of the ride. Then set all the ride inspection
times to 10 minutes. Too bad there's no "Constant Inspection" option.
2c. The Guests
To better serve your park guests, you will need to understand them. For one
thing they are all male, and exactly the same age. The following is a small
breakdown of your park guests stats:
Happiness - happy people stay in your park and will be more willing to
part with their money. Happiness is increased by fun rides, like
roller coasters, and maintained by normal rides. The guests become
unhappy if they are: Tired, Sick, Hungry, Thirsty, or have to go to
the bathroom. Other things that contribute to unhappiness are: Long
waits in line, and inability to find good rides.
Energy - a tired guest won't go on anything but the most exciting rides to
"wake up", but once he has done that will go on other rides. Tired
guests also walk slower than others, and are less happy. Place a
good roller coaster by the entrance to wake up these sorry fellas.
Hunger, Thirst - this always starts out at Zero as the guest enters the
park and increases with time. Thirst is also affected by what the
guest is doing. Eating Fries increases thirst, as does a high nausea
rating.
Nausea, Nausea Tolerance - guests always underestimate their chances of
getting sick off of a ride. Nothing you can do about it except provide
numerous benches, and clean any vomit up. Also note that sick guests
become very unhappy and walk very slowly (to the point of slowing down
the launching of rides).
Bathroom - need I explain?
Other Complaints:
"I'm Lost!" - reduce the number of paths that don't lead to rides, provide
more Information Kiosks (if you priced the maps high, then reduce that
price).
"I Can't find XXX Ride" - same as above. Also Observation Towers can help
the guest spot the ride. Or you could take them there directly via
pincers.
"I'm not paying that much for XXXX" - reduce the ride cost, OR change the
ride around.
"I can't find the Park Exit", "I want to go home" - you've lost these
guests, and they want out. Pick them up with the pincers and get rid
of them before they become even MORE unhappy.
Compliments and How to get them:
The guests want a nice clean park to visit, good rides to go on, and short
lines. Also pricing things affordably gives the guest a good feeling that
translates into happiness. When the guest likes something, they will give
you the "good thought" (check the people button, and look under thoughts).
Happy patrons, when they leave, promote your park to their friends.
Big Problems:
Every once in awhile you will want to check the People button and look at
a summary of their thoughts (the second "Group" tab). Checking here will
give you a good idea of areas to improve in your park. If a lot of people
complain of hunger, build some food shops; if people complain of having
to go to the bathroom, build a bathroom; if lots of people complain about
waiting in line forever, consider cutting the line down.
3. Rides (non-roller coasters)
Before we get to the Complete Ride Listing, a few words. All rides have many
customizations in them. From the amount of time the ride will take, to the
amount of people crammed into it, it is usually all contained in the ride
Information under the Gears tab. Any ride with independent vehicles, like
the Chair Lift, or the Boat Hire, has a maximum of 12 vehicles.
Music rides influence the moods of people walking by, and make them happier.
Indoor rides are popular when it rains every other ride is considered outdoor
Custom denotes that you can custom build the ride
Gentle Rides: cost: size: people: notes:
Bumper Cars $440 4x4 12 Music, Indoor
Car Ride $540+ ** ** Custom
Ferris Wheel $450 4x1 32
Haunted House $340 3x3 15 Indoor
Hedge Maze $216+ ** ** Custom
Merry-Go-Round $460 3x3 16 Music
Observation Tower $592+ 3x3 20 Indoor, Custom
Slide $330 2x2 **
Space Rings $288 3x3 4
Exciting Rides:
3D Cinema $560 3x3 20 Indoor
Go Karts $920 ** ** Custom
Gravitron $580 3x3 8
Motion Simulator $440 2x2 8 Indoor
Scrambled Eggs $360 3x3 16
Swinging Ship $387 5x1 16
Swinging Inverter $424 4x1 12
Whoa Belly $800+ 3x3 8 Custom
Water Rides: a * indicates that many people per boat
Boat Hire $205+ ** ** Custom
Log Flume $1320+ ** 4* Custom
River Rapids $1840+ ** 8* Custom
Water Slide $1200+ ** 2* Custom
Transportation Rides:
Chairlift $1440+ ** 2* Custom, Indoor
Miniature Railroad $1300+ ** ** Custom
Monorail $1550+ ** ** Custom, Indoor
Custom Rides:
So what exactly makes a good custom ride? First off, each custom ride has
a saved template in the game, so you don't have to start off designing them
right away. The main problem with this is that it doesn't always fit into
your park. Well here's some notes on each ride:
Boat Hire - a station platform is all you need, you can build "Guide
Rails" if you want to control where they go, but you don't need to.
If guests get lost/stuck on your boats, then you might want to
consider putting in a guide rail.
Log Flume - keep this one short with 3 or 4 drops. 3 minutes is plenty,
any more than that and people start to get impatient and unhappy.
Also try to use the Log Flume as a showcase for your other rides.
Water Slide - keep it simple, one uphill chain pull and then just move
them around, use the complete circle tracks to keep them from flying
off the track. (the idea is similar to the Bobsled Coaster since
neither are connected to the track)
Any Transport - you need at least 2 stations for these to go anywhere,
Monorail doesn't need a complete loop, Chairlift automatically makes
a loop. Build the stations at least 6 squares and more is always
better. (well...not _always_ but you get the general idea!)
Note: You can only build 4 stations!
Now for more detailed information on transport rides.
Chair Lift - Building any more than 6 or 7 station squares is unneccessary
since the CL can only have 12 cars. Also to decrease the time it
takes to load the ride, place the Entrance near the beginning (where
it starts to become the ride) of the Station.
Monorail, Railroad - these rides really slow down going up hills, so one
idea is to make them into "subways" and only surface them at each
station. The idea with these is to show patrons the park, however,
so that may not be the best idea. Again make your stations long
enough to have large multiple trains if you want those.
Note: The monorail doesn't even need 2 stations to operate, simply
set it to "Shuttle Mode" and it will go to the end of the
track and back. Shuttle Mode also works when you don't have
a complete loop.
Any Tower - go as tall as you can! Note: on Whoa Belly if you make it
very tall you will need to increase the launch speed to keep up, but
go too fast and it will "jump free" of the tower. Oddly it may not
crash, though. (the one I built cleared the tower by a good 5 feet
but then on the way down, went right back onto the tower; however
I tried this again later and it caused a crash)
Go Karts, Car Ride - Up down, around, whatever.
Hedge Maze - there's no good advice here, except to try to make a good
maze, but not so hard as to be impossible.
Some thoughts on Pricing:
These rides fall into 3 pricing categories: freebies, cheap, and workhorse.
Freebies are gentle rides like the Merry-Go-Round and the Ferris Wheel. You
make these free to keep people happy, and in the park. Cheap rides are the
other Gentle Rides, the Transportation Rides, and the Boat Hire. Cheap
rates are .30 to .90 and keep people coming on rides that they would other
wise avoid. Workhorse are all of your exciting rides and the other 3 water
rides. These rides are consistently popular and you can therefore charge
more. Workhorse rates are .90 to 1.30.
Also be sure to remember that you can charge more for new rides than old
rides. This is due to the "Novelty Factor". You can sometimes get away
with $5 admissions on new rides.
Remember that you get most of your money from Admissions and Roller Coasters
so don't freak out about the costs of these rides.
Note: The maximum that you can charge any guest on one ride is $20.
Some thoughts on Spacing:
Some rides--the Log Flume, Monorail, etc.--launch many separate independent
vehicles. Obviously you don't want to launch them all in one bunch, as
that would be bad spacing (think of waiting in a line that either moves fast
or not at all, and you see what I mean). To increase your spacing you need
to edit how the ride launches each vehicle. The best way to do this is to
increase the Minimum Wait time. This keeps each vehicle there longer, and
increases the space between it and the previous vehicle. Another good way--
especially good on Monorails--is to set both the Minimum and the Maximum to
the same time, so that it stays at each station exactly that amount of time.
This keeps a transportation network moving.
Note: The highest setting for "minimum" and "maximum" is 250 seconds.
4. Rides (roller coasters) _____
Inverted |
Wooden Crazy Rodent |
Wooden |
Steel Mini |
Mine Train |
Steel |______ Each is good, exciting and expensive!
Standup Steel |
Steel Corkscrew |
Suspended |
Suspended Single Rail |
Single Rail |
Bobsled _____|
When designing your tracks pay more attention to Lateral G's than Vertical,
as this will increase the Nausea rating of the ride--which you want to keep
low. (Lateral G's are created when you take turns while going very fast)
Some strategies to keep in mind about L. G's are to slow the coaster down
before taking turns, and try to avoid using the sharp turns. And especially
don't combine the two. Test your roller coaster, and if the L.G's exceed
about 3 or so several times in quick succession, you may need to go back to
the Drawing Board. I'm not saying to avoid L.G's completely, as they are
quite intense and exciting, but keep it within reason. Also try to have only
one steep incline w/chain per roller coaster as it isn't as exciting to go up
hills at 4 mph.
To keep things interesting (and expensive) periodically shut down the roller
coaster and refit it with something new. On a wooden roller coaster, try to
add an On Ride Picture, or a "Splash" section; on a Mini Steel, change the
cars to Spinning, etc.
Further Thoughts on Design:
If you want to create a Roller Coaster (or any custom ride) and save the
design, one good way to do it is to follow this idea:
- Start the Forest Frontier scenario
- Take out the maximum loan ($30k)
- Set Research to Maximum, AND take off all options except "Rollercoaster"
(or if you are doing another ride, check the appropriate option)
- Design your roller coaster (don't open the park)
- Test the Design out, try for High Excitement
- Save the design (open the ride window, click the Disk button, select
save design; Note: you must have named the ride!)
The idea here is to use this scenario as nothing more than a canvas for
creating rides. Then you can take your saved design and place it into
whichever scenario you are working on. This should save you time, and
money. An alternate idea is to use a scenario that you have already
passed that has a lot of money. Close the park (takes awhile to get those
guests out of the park, however) and bulldoze the rides. Save the blank
park as something else (Test Park works) and start experimenting. Remember
that practice makes perfect.
Note: Intensity of over 10 is unridable.
What the *&#$% is Intensity Anyway?
Excitement - is a measure on how exciting the ride looks to a guest and is
based on Intensity--between 6 and 9 is usually good, anything higher
and the excitement plummets--and the Aesthetics of the ride itself.
Large rides with loops generally look more exciting than something that
is small and flat. Also try to weave the ride through previous sections
of the ride--like sending the track through the hole of an earlier loop.
Tunnels and Scenery will also help. Finally excitement lowers over time
but one way to get it back up is to change the ride--like changing the
type of train on the coaster.
Intensity - is a measure on how intense the ride is. So what does that
mean? You want to keep the ride moving fast--have only one lift hill--
and add elements like loops and corkscrews to increase intensity.
Simply having a tight turn is not in itself a bad thing, it only becomes
bad if its too fast, and followed by a turn in the opposite direction.
(think of shaking a soda can, if you simply move it fast in one
direction it doesn't fizz so much, but if you move it back and forth
fastly, it fizzes quite a bit) Have the coaster go up and down, take
sudden drops, and above all keep the speed up!
Nausea - is based on the Intensity partly, and on the how you get the
intensity. Fast speeds on hairpin turns that go left then right, is
generally a good way to get people sick. Try to keep nausea below 7.
Thoughts on Pricing:
Roller Coasters are the big money makers, and are very consistent. When
it is new, charge $3 to $5 (depending on size and excitement), and as time
goes on, drop it to the $2 to $3 range. You shouldn't have to drop it
further, unless you want to. On Ride pictures help to increase profits.
Note: Guests will only buy ONE on ride picture, period.
Further Thoughts on Nausea:
Some people just shouldn't ride roller coasters, but do it anyway. For
them you need at least 3 benches right outside of the Exit, as well as a
Bathroom right by the exit. It is also wise to have a Handyman on patrol
by the Exits to popular (and pukey) roller coasters. Also sometimes a
Drinks stall nearby helps.
Rain Delays:
Guests don't like to go on roller coasters (or any other outdoor ride for
that matter) in the rain. Doesn't mean that they won't do it, however.
There are 2 notable times when guests get over their aversion to outdoor
rides in the rain:
1. If the ride is new, people will still line up for it.
2. If they just got off the ride and want to go on it again (repeat
business)
Anyone else who lines up in the rain is a freak.
Note: The cheapest roller coaster (pre-made) is the Shuttle Launch Steel
Roller Coaster.
Note: Spinning cars on Mini Steel Roller Coasters increase Nausea more than
Excitement.
Note: Naming your Coasters different names, not only helps you differentiate
between them, but can also help your guests out!
4a. Crashes!
If you are lucky, you won't ever have to deal with a crash. However, it is
likely that you will eventually.
Preventing:
Constant Maintenence! On your old rides, decrease the inspection time down
to 10 minutes (this may require more Mechanics). This increases your
reliability rating on the ride, and may help avert major disaster.
The most common crash is that of Station Brakes Failure on a Roller
Coaster. To prevent this you can build more brakes by the station to slow
the train down (UNTESTED), decrease the Maximum wait time so that the
other train isn't at the station when the first comes crashing in
(UNTESTED), or finally remove all the other trains completely. (if you do
that make sure that the train has the maximum amount of cars allowed)
Note: If you crash something in the "Test" mode, guests will still fear the
ride ("I'm not going on that, it isn't safe!").
Recovering from a crash:
The best way to recover, is to scrap the ride and build a new ride there.
This is because crashed rides have horrid reputations and people will avoid
it like the plague. However, it isn't always feasible to replace rides
(cost, or maybe you really like the ride), so there is a plan to save it
and get it back to being popular. Close the ride for 3+ months. Give it
only 1 train. Repaint the entire ride to a different color scheme (I don't
know if this helps them forget that people died here, but it couldn't
hurt), and if necessary, advertise the ride. After your Mechanic has had a
look at the ride, double click the Close button on the roller coaster to
reset the ride, and then you can re-open it. Your roller coaster should be
a big hit again! Also be SURE to give it a 10 minute inspection time. And
if you feel like it, you can edit the ride a little. (add that On Ride
Photo you always wanted!)
Note: Besides dying in crashes, guests can also drown. The only way that
I've seen a guest drown was when I destroyed the path that he was on
that was over water. He fell in and drowned. This also works for
employees. (you can also use the Pincers to drop them in directly)
5. Landscaping
Landscaping is a very important aspect of RCT, as it makes a park a theme
park rather than a ratty old carnival.
Paths:
Place benches on every 5 to 10 squares of path, more if there is a shop or
a rollercoaster nearby. Also place garbage cans on every 10 to 15. And
although it isn't as important, place Lamps by all the benches. And for
fun you can put "Jumping Fountains" on paths. (even more fun if you put
10 or so in a row)
Trees:
Lining a path with trees is a very good idea in the Summer to keep guests
from sweltering in the heat (which contributes to them feeling sick). Also
place trees around rides to add to their atmosphere.
Gardens:
Flowers, Gardens, etc. are the final piece to the puzzle, and make the
guests a little happier.
Rides:
Try to build rides on hilly areas, and use the land to customize your
rides. Have a log flume go down a hill and into a tunnel. Have a steep
cliff by a sharp turn on a rollercoaster ("oh no we're going to hit that
cliff!"), etc.
6. Shops
The important thing here is saturation. What do I mean? You must have at
least one of each type in every segment of your park. A large park would
have 8 segments, medium 6, small 4, etc. In each segment place a food stand
(pizza, burger, fries) or two, a drinks stand, a desert stand (cotton candy,
ice cream), a bathroom, and either a Information Kiosk or a Souvenier stand.
This allows the guests to easily find what they need when they need it. The
longer they need it the more unhappy they become. Also buddy shops up, place
a drinks stand by a fries stand. Finally by every shop that sells a food
item of any kind, place numerous benches, and a few garbage cans. People
like to sit when they eat.
Note: Variety is somewhat important when building food shops. People like a
choice between whether to have Cotton Candy or a Burger, so build more
than one food shop in the same area. You may often want to build 3 or
4 even.
Note: Placing Souvenier Stands and Balloon Stands near the exits of your
most popular rides may help you sell those items better (happy people
are more likely to buy things!)
7. Common Problems
My park rating is going down!
The park rating is just a composite of how the guests feel about the park.
If it is raining, this may experience a small dip (they can't go on roller
coasters in the rain). Also your park may be dirty, overcrowded, and have
long lines. Hire a handyman, build a new ride to siphon people away, and
cut the lines. Also hire an entertainer or two to patrol your longer line
queues. Finally overhaul your rides, paint them, add to them, advertise
about them, whatever it takes to get people excited again.
My Park Value is going down!
Park Value depreciates when your rides get old. Replace the really old rides
with new ones (even if its the same ride), and keep on developing the park!
Build scenery, shops, and new rides. To even stay in place you must add to
the park.
People are avoiding my Rides!
Chances are they think that ride is too expensive. To find out for sure
what is wrong with the ride, check the People tab on the ride and click the
thought bubble. You will see exactly what people are thinking. If you see
"I'm not paying that much for XXXX" then slash prices. Remember that if it's
raining that they will tend to avoid outdoor rides like rollercoasters.
The other reason people avoid roller coasters, is if it is too intense (10+).
To tone down the ride, remove sharp turns and replace them with larger,
banked turns (not available on all coasters). You can also add brakes before
you hit the sharp turns.
8. Bugs!
The first bug that I know about occurs after a daylight savings time time
switch (who knows why) which causes your data to become "lost". Your saves
will still be there, but your progress through the scenarios is gone. Fear
not! If you have saved each scenario after having completed it, then go
to the official web page "http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com" and download
the small utility:
"http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com/test/patches/rctrec.exe"
Then merely run it and everything should be fine.
Note: Your name will disappear from the scenario listings.
I just caught this one:
I wanted to kick everyone (2000+ guests) out of my park so that I could
experiment with custom rollercoasters. It took forever to get people out.
But finally I noticed that I had gotten into "Negative Guests", that is
it said I had "-1 guests" then "-5 guests" all the way down to "-22 guests".
I'm not sure why this happened, but I'm pretty sure that this is a bug.
JR Brewin sent me this:
"Now, I'm not sure if you can replicate this, But what I did was there
was park with a go kart ride, and I wanted to reverse which way the cars go
round it, without rebuilding the whole ride. So, I removed the station
sections. Added a new station by building a NEW ride. and then joined the
tracks together. This totally froze my pc. Which wasn't nice.
note, the station from the new ride joined up to the track of the old ride
just fine."
9. Final Words...
If you still haven't read the manual, SERIOUSLY, go read it!
You can find the Game Editor (cheat) at these 2 places:
http://rtc.gagames.com/ or http://gamersfury.hypermart.net/rct/rct-trnr.exe
An HTML version of this FAQ can be found at:
http://strategyshrine.future.easyspace.com/index.html
Online Resources:
Official Page -- http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com/
RCT Central -- http://rtc.gagames.com/
"The First" RCT Page -- http://coaster.gamestats.com/
GameFAQs (where this Faq is!) -- http://www.gamefaqs.com/
ASCII Art created using SigZag by James Dill: (freeware!)
"http://www.geocities.com/southbeach/marina/4942/sigzag.htm"
