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Jun. 9th, 2002 03:21 pm
Rollercoaster Ride
Things to do before playing Rollercoaster Tycoon:
1: Install the game. (if you miss this step, please make sure you have opened the box, if not, please return it for a full refund)
2: Go to http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com and make sure you have the latest version. If not, PATCH!
3: While at http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com go to Downloads and download every single last track available. They are very useful later on in this guide.
4: Go to http://www.chrissawyer.com and repeat step 3.
5: Unzip those tracks into your "Tracks" folder.
6: Make sure you have the CD in the CD Rom drive. Make sure it's the version you're playing.
7: Launch the game.
Ok, now you've started the game. Now what? Pick a scenario! Any scenario! Well, any scenario that is currently unlocked for you.
First thing to do when starting a new scenario: Make sure the game is paused!! If it isn't, PAUSE IT!!! This leads directly to the next step.
10 times out of 10, your park does not have anything remotely resembling a decent staff. Even a park that is just starting will need staff.
It's always a good idea to hire 2 or 3 random security guards and just let them have free reign of the park.
Handymen are your friend. Make sure you're covering all the bases with them. Unless you really are desperate for that freshly manicured look, don't let any of them mow the lawn. The guests won't care.
If your scenario comes with rides built in, hire some Mechanics. Trust me, the park won't come with them. Or, if they do, they have 1 mechanic for 9 rides. Some guides say have 1 mechanic per rollercoaster and 1 per 2 or 3 other rides. Uh-uh, no-way Jose, you are much better off with 1 mechanic per ride and give them a one square patrol area that contains the exit for whatever ride they are assigned to. That's all. Yes they will look sad and pathetic pacing back and forth, but better that then the alternative.
Entertainers are usually fluff. If you have long queue lines for coasters (or any ride) and consistently have 30+ people in line, hire an entertainer for that queue. Give him a path so he doesn't wander off to the burger bar. If you have a crowded park, hire a few roaming entertainers and set them loose on the populace. It'll make guests less grouchy.l
Other things to do while paused at the outset. Check the cost to get into your park (unless you're doing the Loopy Landscapes scenarios, in which case you can't charge to let people into your park if you wanted to). If you have a good number of rides already and it's free to enter, buck the price up to $20 or so.
Check the costs of your rides. Some of them are insane. Coasters up to $5 or $6 is fairly common. Notice the lack of people in line for said coasters? In Loopy Landscapes, this isn't bad, actually. They'll pay more for rides if they don't pay at the door. If they pay at the door, limit your new coasters to $3, but drop them in $.50 increments as their popularity wanes. Lowest you should have to drop a coaster during a scenario is $1.50. Non-coaster rides lose value fast. Except water rides. You can leave those at high costs and still get a ton of turnout for them. Especially in the desert scenarios.
Food costs should be more or less the same throughout. With Corkscrew Follies/Added Attractions and Loopy Landscapes, you can set the price to the same throughout. Do it. Yeah you could bilk more money out of guests at the back of the park, but they could also decide you're a money hungry jerk and leave. If one of your food items is a hot commodity (soda and ice cream in the desert) then by all means bump the price up a bit. But don't go too crazy. You do need guests to actually buy the stuff after all. Same goes for other items bought.
Money. Ahh, money, that thing us people aren't used to having to actually watch in a video game. You know who you are, oh "Rosebud Anonymous" dropouts. Money can be a painful issue in RCT. You always start out with a loan. Most of the time, you'll still have it when you complete the scenario. Not a big deal. Interest payments on loans are negligible in this game compared to the amount of money you are taking in. The only times you need to worry about money are the scenarios that have a very low loan limit. One that comes to mind is Pacific Pyramids, which limits you to $15,000 in loans, $5,000 of which you start the scenario with.
Max funding on Research and Development. Just do it.
What rides should you build first? I'll give you a hint: The game is NOT named for them. My first ride is a Merry-Go-Round and is invariably right by the entrance. Add a Haunted House, a couple small Thrill Rides, and you have a small, but steady, income stream for building your first coaster with.
Guess what, if you just want to win the scenario as fast as possible, start plopping down those coasters you downloaded onto flat spaces of land. Some are a little pricey, but charging $3+ entry fee when they first open, plus finding spots to add In Ride Photo panels, can net you more than enough to pay it back in no time. And they're fast. The most time consuming part of it is making the queue so you can get guests in line. Make sure to have 3 non-cardiac-arrest inducing rides for each coaster you make. Or, at least, a gentle water ride for every couple coasters. The more rides you have, the more you can raise your park entry fee. This is a good thing. Park entry = faster money = faster ride placement.
One thing to avoid when doing a scenario: destroying the pre-placed theme objects. Again, with Pacific Pyramids. I beat this scenario last night and only took out one pyramid. It was an accident, but was a good thing cuz I fit two custom-built coasters in the space it occupied. One steel mini and one regular steel coaster. Wind your custom built coasters around the theme elements already in place. The rides will be more exciting and more popular, and your guests will like the thematics of the park more.
Be pretty! Add scenery! Add trees! Add flowers! Add theme-ish type stuff! You'll get awards! Awards are free advertising!!!
Hire more Handymen.
Oh, and make sure to find that one really really ticked off guest and drown him in a lake. ^_~
1: Install the game. (if you miss this step, please make sure you have opened the box, if not, please return it for a full refund)
2: Go to http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com and make sure you have the latest version. If not, PATCH!
3: While at http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com go to Downloads and download every single last track available. They are very useful later on in this guide.
4: Go to http://www.chrissawyer.com and repeat step 3.
5: Unzip those tracks into your "Tracks" folder.
6: Make sure you have the CD in the CD Rom drive. Make sure it's the version you're playing.
7: Launch the game.
Ok, now you've started the game. Now what? Pick a scenario! Any scenario! Well, any scenario that is currently unlocked for you.
First thing to do when starting a new scenario: Make sure the game is paused!! If it isn't, PAUSE IT!!! This leads directly to the next step.
10 times out of 10, your park does not have anything remotely resembling a decent staff. Even a park that is just starting will need staff.
It's always a good idea to hire 2 or 3 random security guards and just let them have free reign of the park.
Handymen are your friend. Make sure you're covering all the bases with them. Unless you really are desperate for that freshly manicured look, don't let any of them mow the lawn. The guests won't care.
If your scenario comes with rides built in, hire some Mechanics. Trust me, the park won't come with them. Or, if they do, they have 1 mechanic for 9 rides. Some guides say have 1 mechanic per rollercoaster and 1 per 2 or 3 other rides. Uh-uh, no-way Jose, you are much better off with 1 mechanic per ride and give them a one square patrol area that contains the exit for whatever ride they are assigned to. That's all. Yes they will look sad and pathetic pacing back and forth, but better that then the alternative.
Entertainers are usually fluff. If you have long queue lines for coasters (or any ride) and consistently have 30+ people in line, hire an entertainer for that queue. Give him a path so he doesn't wander off to the burger bar. If you have a crowded park, hire a few roaming entertainers and set them loose on the populace. It'll make guests less grouchy.l
Other things to do while paused at the outset. Check the cost to get into your park (unless you're doing the Loopy Landscapes scenarios, in which case you can't charge to let people into your park if you wanted to). If you have a good number of rides already and it's free to enter, buck the price up to $20 or so.
Check the costs of your rides. Some of them are insane. Coasters up to $5 or $6 is fairly common. Notice the lack of people in line for said coasters? In Loopy Landscapes, this isn't bad, actually. They'll pay more for rides if they don't pay at the door. If they pay at the door, limit your new coasters to $3, but drop them in $.50 increments as their popularity wanes. Lowest you should have to drop a coaster during a scenario is $1.50. Non-coaster rides lose value fast. Except water rides. You can leave those at high costs and still get a ton of turnout for them. Especially in the desert scenarios.
Food costs should be more or less the same throughout. With Corkscrew Follies/Added Attractions and Loopy Landscapes, you can set the price to the same throughout. Do it. Yeah you could bilk more money out of guests at the back of the park, but they could also decide you're a money hungry jerk and leave. If one of your food items is a hot commodity (soda and ice cream in the desert) then by all means bump the price up a bit. But don't go too crazy. You do need guests to actually buy the stuff after all. Same goes for other items bought.
Money. Ahh, money, that thing us people aren't used to having to actually watch in a video game. You know who you are, oh "Rosebud Anonymous" dropouts. Money can be a painful issue in RCT. You always start out with a loan. Most of the time, you'll still have it when you complete the scenario. Not a big deal. Interest payments on loans are negligible in this game compared to the amount of money you are taking in. The only times you need to worry about money are the scenarios that have a very low loan limit. One that comes to mind is Pacific Pyramids, which limits you to $15,000 in loans, $5,000 of which you start the scenario with.
Max funding on Research and Development. Just do it.
What rides should you build first? I'll give you a hint: The game is NOT named for them. My first ride is a Merry-Go-Round and is invariably right by the entrance. Add a Haunted House, a couple small Thrill Rides, and you have a small, but steady, income stream for building your first coaster with.
Guess what, if you just want to win the scenario as fast as possible, start plopping down those coasters you downloaded onto flat spaces of land. Some are a little pricey, but charging $3+ entry fee when they first open, plus finding spots to add In Ride Photo panels, can net you more than enough to pay it back in no time. And they're fast. The most time consuming part of it is making the queue so you can get guests in line. Make sure to have 3 non-cardiac-arrest inducing rides for each coaster you make. Or, at least, a gentle water ride for every couple coasters. The more rides you have, the more you can raise your park entry fee. This is a good thing. Park entry = faster money = faster ride placement.
One thing to avoid when doing a scenario: destroying the pre-placed theme objects. Again, with Pacific Pyramids. I beat this scenario last night and only took out one pyramid. It was an accident, but was a good thing cuz I fit two custom-built coasters in the space it occupied. One steel mini and one regular steel coaster. Wind your custom built coasters around the theme elements already in place. The rides will be more exciting and more popular, and your guests will like the thematics of the park more.
Be pretty! Add scenery! Add trees! Add flowers! Add theme-ish type stuff! You'll get awards! Awards are free advertising!!!
Hire more Handymen.
Oh, and make sure to find that one really really ticked off guest and drown him in a lake. ^_~
