Roller Coaster Tycoon [solve] Submitted by: arun prakash www.gamecracks.tk,planetcommunity.tk long lines. Bad food. High prices. If you've ever visited an amusement park, you've undoubtedly experienced these frustrations first-hand. If you've ever thought that you could do a better job building an amusement park, you finally have your chance to prove it with RollerCoaster Tycoon. Starting with little more than some money and a plot of land, your challenge is to design and maintain a thriving amusement park that will keep your guests coming back year after year. As the title suggests, great roller coasters are an important part of building a great park, but they are just the beginning. Along the way, you must think about setting prices, buying land, hiring and managing a good staff, providing food and drink for your guests, laying down footpaths, and even (gasp!) dealing with accidents. Along the way, you'll discover that it takes a lot of hard work and tender loving care to build the "perfect" park, but the joyful (or terrified) screams of your guests as they experience your latest roller coaster masterpiece will make it all worthwhile. In this guide, you'll find: Advice for designing the best roller coasters Tips for keeping your guests happy Hints on how to manage your employees Everything you need to know to build a thriving amusement park Note: This guide covers strategies for building a great park. If you need help with the mechanics of setting up a park or building rides, be sure to go through the tutorial that comes with the game. Understand Your Objective:- When you start playing RollerCoaster Tycoon (RCT), several park scenarios are available for you to choose from. Each scenario is different, and each poses its own set of challenges. For instance, the Forest Frontiers scenario presents you with an empty plot of land, while the Desert Dunes scenario challenges you to enhance an already successful park. In addition, each scenario lets you build different types of rides and attractions. When you begin a scenario, you will be given an objective. These objectives range from increasing the dollar value of your park to bringing in a certain number of guests by a given date. It's important to clearly understand your objective before you begin working on your park because the objective will inform many of your decisions. Here are the two most important points to consider: 1.How long do you have to complete your objective? A year in RCT lasts about 90 minutes. If you have only one year to complete your objective, you know you must work quickly to achieve your goal. On the other hand, a three-year objective gives you time to stop and smell the roller coasters. 2.What type of objective have you been given? If your objective involves bringing in a certain number of guests, you can spend your money with wild abandon to succeed. However, some objectives involve building your park's monetary value; in these cases, you must constantly keep an eye on your cash flow and other financial details. As you achieve your objectives and complete scenarios, new, more challenging scenarios become available for you to play. These scenarios also bring with them new types of rides and attractions to work with. It's important to remember that you don't have to achieve a given objective when you play RCT. Nothing terrible happens if you decide to play just for fun. Make a Plan for Success:- When you first begin a new scenario, it's natural to want to start building your park right away. But it's definitely worth your while to take a good look at what you have to work with. First, take a look at the amount of land available to you. Do you have lots of space to build as you please, or will you need to use every square inch wisely? While you're at it, see if there are any additional land or construction rights that are available to purchase. This will help you plan for future expansion. Next, consider the terrain of the park. Is it a flat desert or a hilly forest? The more varied the terrain, the more creative you must be in designing your rides and footpaths. Are there any spots that look particularly good for certain types of construction? For instance, a valley through the middle of your park might serve well as the central thoroughfare for your guests, while the edge of a rock quarry might be the perfect place for an exhilarating roller coaster dive. If you're playing a scenario that involves an already existing park, take a few moments to examine the current state of affairs. The park may be laid out wisely and need only new rides and attractions, or it might be in such a bad state that the best strategy is to tear down most attractions and start from scratch. (Keep reading this guide to learn how to evaluate a park's success.) One last note: During the first few months of a scenario, pay close attention to the weather patterns. In some scenarios, it rains quite frequently, which causes guest to seek shelter in indoor or underground rides. You'll want to build rides and attractions accordingly. Lay Good Footpaths:- Goats have goat paths, cows have cow paths, and amusement park guests have footpaths. In fact, the only way to herd your guests from one attraction to another is to have a system of footpaths that moves them from place to place. It's easy to lay down a sloppy system of footpaths that will do nothing but confuse and frustrate your guests. So it's important to build your footpaths from the get-go with ease-of-use in mind. Lay Paths First:- As you expand your park, construct main thoroughfares through a new area first and then construct your rides and attractions to be easily accessible to these paths. Otherwise, you may have a seriously disjointed system of paths that wind their way aimlessly from one attraction to the next. Leave Room for Transportation Rides:- As you build your attractions, leave space adjacent to your paths to add a network of monorails, trains, or chairlifts. This way, when your paths become overcrowded, you can easily add transportation for your guests from one section of your park to the another. Avoid Long, Barren Stretches:- Keep your guests comfortable by placing attractions close to one another so that they don't have to walk a long way with nothing to keep them occupied. Remember the Variety of Paths Available:- Besides building paths made out of cement, dirt, or brick, you can also build paths up and down hills with uniform slopes. In addition, use raised footpaths or tunnels to get your guests from one spot to another when an attraction is in the way. Make Your Paths Comfortable and Beautiful:- Don't forget to add benches, litter bins, and gardens on your paths to make your guests comfortable. Benches and litter bins are particularly important near food stalls and nauseating rides. Build Adequate Queues:- The length of a ride's queue determines the number of guests that can line up to pay money for your ride. Be sure to lay down queues that are long enough to handle crowds. Build Great Rides:- Of course, building thrill rides is the reason for the game, but what does it take to make a ride successful? Ride Characteristics: The Measure of Success Your guests will judge your rides by three characteristics: excitement, intensity, and nausea factor. Each characteristic is rated on a scale of one to ten. The excitement rating is the most important aspect of a successful ride. Your guests will pay more to go on exciting rides and will be more willing to overlook other flaws in the ride design. A high excitement rating comes from surprises in the ride (such as a dark tunnel), effective theming (such as Egyptian statues), and variety (such as drops and turns). Of course, some rides are more exciting than others by nature: a merry-go-round is unlikely to be more exciting than a roller coaster. The intensity rating reflects the forces that your guests will experience while on your ride. Speed alone won't make a ride intense, but when you combine high velocity with sudden changes in elevations, tight curves, or inversions, you have an explosive recipe for a high-intensity ride. A ride can never be too exciting, but it definitely can be too intense. In fact, your guests will simply refuse to get on a ride that is too intense for them. (As a side note, the intensity rating can go higher than ten; you can consider any ride of this type a colon cleanser.) The nausea factor speaks for itself. Your guests must sit down after a nauseating ride... if they aren't busy throwing up. In addition, a nauseating ride creates extra work for your staff; after all, someone has to clean up all that vomit. A high nausea rating comes rides that spin or rock back and forth, coasters with turns that are too tight or too frequent, or on coasters with an excessive number of inversions. Give Your Guests Variety:- Variety is the spice of life and no less so than in RCT. There are five types of rides available: transportation rides, mild rides, thrilling rides, water rides, and of course roller coasters. Having a little bit of everything makes for an all-around pleasing park for your guests, so make sure to build a wide variety of rides. Although it may be dull to build a carousel, these family-friendly rides are crucial for those guests that refuse to ride anything too intense or nauseating. You can also get your guests interested in riding your more thrilling coasters by building transportation rides that travel near them so that they can see what they'd be getting into. Keep in mind that different types of rides perform better in different types of weather. Roller coasters are not popular when it is raining, while indoor rides provide your guests shelter during periods of inclement weather. As you become an expert ride builder, you may even be up for the challenge of building a roller coaster completely underground to provide your guests with the best of both worlds. Custom Rides vs. Off-the-shelf Rides Constantly adding new rides is what keeps guests in the park. Rides that have a track can either be custom designed or you can just purchase them right off-the-shelf. When you're just starting to play the game, these stock rides come in handy as learning tools, since the track designs of experienced ride manufacturers are sure to be popular with your guests. The problem with stock rides is that you may not have the room to place them, since their footprint may not fit your terrain. Also, if you buy only stock rides, you'd be missing out on the fun of designing your own coasters. So use stock rides to learn what makes a ride successful, then start designing your own thrill machines. Building a Custom Ride That Your Guests Will Enjoy First, find a good place to build the ride. Make sure you have room for a platform, an entrance, and an exit. Also, make sure that you don't build yourself into a corner by building too close to the park's boundary or other rides. Now it's time to lay the ride platform. The arrow indicates the direction the ride will travel. Again, think about the best course for your ride to take. The length of the platform will impact the capacity of the ride: the longer the platform, the more trains you can place on the circuit. Next, it's time to lay out the ride's course. As you're building (especially when constructing a roller coaster), keep the three measurements of success in mind: excitement, intensity, and nausea factor. Avoid sudden, sharp changes in elevations, unbanked curves at the bottom of drops, and inversions that pull too many positive Gs. Use the terrain wisely to make your ride more exciting. Take a dive off a steep hill, or have the ride plow underground when your guests will least expect it. Also, don't forget you can add theming to your ride to enhance the excitement rating. Brakes (when available) and lifts often must be proceeded by a straight, flat piece of track. It's a good idea to design your coaster with a few pieces of straight track here and there. This way, you can easily add brakes or a lift if your ride is too intense or can't complete the circuit. If the option is available, be sure to include an on-ride photo session during a particularly exciting moment on the ride's course; your guests will love spending their money to see themselves screaming. Hire a Good Staff:- As with any business, you must hire enough staff members to look after your guests and keep your park safe and beautiful. There are four types of employees available for hire in RCT; you'll want to have an adequate number of each. Having a clean, safe park is an important part of your success. Mechanics keep your rides safe and running for your guests. Besides inspecting rides on a regular basis, mechanics also fix attractions that have broken down. You should have at least one mechanic hired when you open your park, and you must hire additional mechanics as you add more rides. Broken or unsafe rides are a sure way to lose loyal guests. Handymen keep your paths free of trash and vomit and keep your lawns and gardens looking beautiful. If your paths are disgusting, your guests will howl in protest, so it's vital to have enough handymen working for you. The best strategy for employing your handymen is to assign each to a specific area of your park; this way you have all areas adequately covered. It's a good idea to scan your footpaths every few months to make sure none of your paths or gardens is being overlooked. Security Guards keep vandals at bay. Without adequate protection, your park will be overrun by undesirable elements who destroy litter bins, trash your lamp posts, and smash your park benches. Hire at least one security guard when you open your park and add more as soon as vandalism becomes a problem. If an area of your park is particularly susceptible to vandals, consider assigning a security guard to a beat in that area. Entertainers amuse your guests by giving them something to smile at. Entertainers help placate guests who are irritated at crowded conditions or lines that are too long. Start with at least one entertainer and add more as your park grows. Take Care of Your Guests' Needs: Bathrooms, Food Stalls, and Shops When guests visit your park, they are counting on you to deliver a great experience. You've undoubtedly given them exhilarating rides and a beautiful park, but there are other necessities you must provide as well. At the top of the list are bathrooms and plenty of places to eat and drink. Make sure you have bathrooms scattered throughout the park, particularly in close proximity to food stalls and nauseating rides. Although you can charge your guests for the privilege of relieving themselves, charging more than a dime for the use of your bathrooms may result in guests deciding to relieve themselves on your footpaths instead. Give your guests plenty of places to eat and drink and be sure to set benches near these locations so that they can enjoy the food you've just charged them an arm and a leg for. Guests have other needs they are willing to spend money on as well. Umbrellas are a necessity when it rains, so be sure to have them available by building an information kiosk or souvenir stall. A balloon stall will bring joy to the children in your park, and photo opportunities on rides let your guests take home a picture memory of their thrilling ride on your roller coasters. Use the Land to Your Advantage:- Each scenario will present you with a different type of landscape, some of which will be easier to build on than others. But don't feel limited by the land you are given; instead, use the powerful tools at your disposal to form the earth to your desires. However, before you flatten hills or raise valleys, make sure you aren't missing an opportunity for great ride placement. The top of a hill might be the perfect place for a Ferris wheel or an observation tower, while a secluded pit might be a perfect spot for a rapids ride. A ride that follows the natural terrain can be thrilling in its own right. But once you've decided that you need to alter the land to your advantage, don't hesitate to use your imagination to change the landscape. One of the simplest procedures you must perform is clearing trees. It's often better for the atmosphere of your ride to clear only the trees that are in the way rather than razing a whole section of woods. You may want to make other changes to the land, such as: Flattening a section of land to place a ride platform and a queue to its entrance Raising a plot of land to let a roller coaster or water ride plunge into an exciting tunnel Filling an area with water to provide your guests with the beauty only water can deliver Alternate the terrain of the land to provide your coaster riders with lots of "near-miss" sensations Converting a grassy area to a rocky texture to present a more rugged, themed look Before you start any major land-altering project, make sure have plenty of cash on hand. Changing the landscape take some serious dough. Don't forget that there may be land or construction rights available for purchase as well. If you're running out of room, it may be time to expand your park. Finally, you can use the wide of variety of landscaping tools (fountains, statues, gardens, and so on) to enhance any changes you make to the land in your park. Manage Your Finances Wisely:- Building an amusement park is like building any business: You must manage your money wisely if you wish to succeed. First and foremost, you cannot spend money you do not have. When you first begin a scenario, you are granted a loan by the bank to provide you with working capital. You can increase the amount of this loan up to a certain point, but once you have exhausted this capital, you have no money to spend unless you generate profits or tear down attractions and sell them for scrap. To make your park profitable, you must walk the fine line of charging your guests the most they are willing to bear for your rides and attractions without annoying them or causing them to leave the park. The best way to accomplish this feat is to pay attention to your guests' behavior. If the merry-go-round queue is empty, you may be charging too much for admission. Remember, some guests paying less is better than no guests paying more. One of the fundamental decisions you must make is whether or not to charge your guests for admission to the park. If you choose to let your guests in for free, you can charge more for each individual attraction. If you decide to set a price at the park's gate, your attractions must be less expensive, and some of your less-thrilling rides may need to be free of charge. The simplest way to determine the financial health of your park is to use the wide variety of reports available to you. Be sure to check your cash flow periodically to see if you are turning a profit. These reports also show your park value, the combination of your profitability, number of guests, guest satisfaction, and financial health. You'll want to use some of the money at your disposal to run periodic marketing campaigns for your park or for a specific ride. If you are having difficulty bringing guests into your park, a marketing campaign almost always helps. Another wise use of your funds is for research into new rides and attractions. Depending on the your desires, you can spend a variable amount of money on research, and you can even target specific areas (such as ride improvements) as more important than others. It's not a bad idea to pay off some or all your loan when you have the chance; this way, you can set aside a line of credit for when you really need it. Listen to Your Guests:- If your guests are unhappy, your park is doomed to failure; likewise, if your guests are happy, you are well on your way to succeeding in RCT. The park rating is the simplest way to take the pulse of your guests' level of satisfaction. A park rating of more than 600 means your guests are reasonably happy (most scenarios require a park rating of at least 600), while a number less than 600 indicates that there are serious problems. Luckily, your guests will not hesitate to tell you what you must do to make them happy. The easiest way to get in touch with your guests is to use the guest information window (accessible from the toolbar). Use the summarized tab to get an overview of what all your guests are thinking. This report is grouped by thoughts, so you can quickly see what is on your guests' minds. Take your guests' thoughts seriously and react quickly to their changing needs. Solving some guests' problems is often easy ("I need to go the bathroom" has an obvious solution: build more bathrooms!). Other guest complaints will take a little more creativity to solve. Check this window often and focus on dealing with the top two problems as the means to making your guests have a great stay at your park. Occasionally, you may simply be unable to solve your guests' problems. If you find this happening to you, click on a guest entering your park and follow him around the park for the duration of his visit. Doing so will give you a snapshot of your guests' thoughts and feelings about your park. Deal with Problems Quickly:- If you follow the strategies outlined so far, have a great shot at building parks that will make you proud. Unfortunately, no matter how masterful your park design is, certain problems are bound to pop up from time to time. It is important to deal with more serious problems immediately; failure to do so will quickly erode your guests' satisfaction. Here is how to handle yourself when such problems arise. One of Your Rides Crashes First, decide if your ride crashed due to a design flaw or simply a mechanical malfunction. If the design itself is flawed, correct it or demolish the ride. If the accident was due to a mechanical failure, it can usually be chalked up to bad luck. As a ride ages, it may become less reliable and more dangerous; deal with these problems by increasing the frequency with which your rides are inspected. If you decide to reopen a ride after an accident, it may be several months before guests are willing to ride it again. In such cases, lowering the price will often entice your more daring guests to gamble with their lives. To open a ride after an accident, you'll need to reset it. To do so, click twice on the stop button in the ride's information window. Then open it up again... and keep your fingers crossed. Guests Complain about the Disgusting State of Your Footpaths:- Nothing turns your guests off more quickly than footpaths strewn with vomit and litter. If your guests complain about your paths, you must check in on your handymen immediately. Take a look at the section of path that is so offensive. First, check to see if it is covered in one of your handymen's assigned routes; if not, assign a handyman to that beat. If the section of path is already covered by a handyman, you may have spread your staff too thinly. Some rides simply induce so much vomit from your guests, that you may need to assign a handyman strictly to deal with the bodily excretions from guests exiting the ride. Also, a grouping of restaurants may require the careful and loving attention of a handyman. Guests Are Getting Lost or Stuck in Your Park Occasionally a solitary guest will complain of getting lost; this is nothing to worry about. But if you receive a flood of complaints from lost guests, it usually indicates that there is a systemic problem in your park's footpaths. If you hear this complaint from a lot of guests, find out where the problem is occurring and make your paths less confusing and more efficient; remember to avoid dead ends and try not to give your guests too many choices of where to walk. Guests Complain about the Amount of Vandalism in Your Park Your guests have no interest in paying you to feel unsafe in your park, so when they begin to complain of vandalism, it's important for you to react swiftly. Make sure you have an adequate staff of security guards and consider hiring more. Next, repair any broken benches or litter bins immediately; vandalism tends to feed on itself. It may take a month or more to solve your vandalism problems, but keep up the good fight, and you will prevail. Remember that your park is like a living organism that requires your constant attention and nourishment to keep it healthy. Be a good park manager, and you'll have a healthy, prosperous park indeed.