Thunder Rocks/Scenario Guide

This scenario should not be hard at all, due to the presence of a transport ride connecting the two Thunder Rocks together, as long as (and especially thanks to) a well built vertical drop rollercoaster straight from the start, which should bring some solid income since March Year 1. The key element to make the difference here between success and failure, is proper planning. Overall management and construction here will be the same as in the original scenario and most of the tips below will also apply to the original scenario, at least those which do not concern the second rock.

Overall tips
This Vertical Drop roller coaster should be taken care of at the beginning, firstly by raising its entrance price so that it matches its excitement rating, rounded down. Other options would be to add lights, queue tvs and benches to ease guests experience, as well as any scenery that would push the ride's excitement rating up, and therefore it's fee.

The second thing to do when playing this park, would be to place benches and light posts along the climb from park entrance to the top of the first rock (along the chairlift), since some guests will refuse to ride the chairlift up. While at it, players should also increase the chairlift's speed, another must-do in order to maximize the ride's troughput, and therefore, benefit.

The third thing to do, will be to place two info kiosks (umbrella cheat as always) and toilets, one of each on top, the other down at park entrance.

Another interesting (yet much less vital than in original Thunder Rock) thing to do would be to build a quick-buck coaster near the park's entrance, so that guests instantly have a ride to try on, as soon as they enter the park. A Steel-Mini / Junior rollercoaster set on reverse-incline mode, would be a solid start. Again, this is much less important here than in original Thunder Rock. Yet it still is a good idea for a quick buck.

As for ride research, gentle, thrill and water rides will be much more important than rollercoasters here : four or five operating rollercoasters will easily do the job here, and Mine Train, Steel Mini / Junior, and Vertical Drop rollercoasters are all available from March 1 Year 1. Basically, as soon as the Steel Looping Rollercoaster is unlocked, researching more rollercoasters will be totally useless.

Following all this, Two strategies are available for any player to beat this scenario :

Strategy 1 : Opening the second rock to guests
The first thing to do here would be to build a footpath bridge to connect the two rocks. Not that the rollercoaster and chairlift are any bad at carrying the guests from one rock to the other, but no player would want to see guests trapped on the second rock because they do not want to (or cannot) ride one of the two back to the park's entrance, causing the park rating to plummet down faster than the vertical drop coaster.

Then, expanding the path layout on the second rock into a square just like the first rock would be a wise option, since the guests will start to flock in after riding the rollercoaster. As on the first rock, using benches, bins and light posts is recommended. Using No-Entry signs to keep the new pathes free, is also a solid idea at the present time since there would not be any rides in the area.

Then, and only then, will come time for new rides. It will be important to spread all the rides evenly, alternating between gentle and thrill rides, on the guest-accessible land, in order for guests not to wander for too long between two attractions.

A good idea there would be to keep as much space above and below the ground for the layout of tracked rides and rollercoasters, which therefore would require solid ride-building skills. Using premade designs here will quickly turn against the player, who might end up with little available space and rides too important to remove. Ideally, tracked rides should have only their stations down at ground level, then either fly above or dive under the rock. Saving as many space as possible by making roller coasters fly over flat rides, will be as useful as making them intertwine with each other for players to beat this scenario easily.

Strategy 2 : Keeping the second rock guest-free
In this strategy, the goal would be to cram the guests on the first Thunder Rock, and keeping the second one for the custom rides layout. This means that all the rollercoasters would start from the back edge of the first rock, then cross the gap to the second rock where all their layout would be, before crossing the gap back to station if applicable.

The first step for players who choose this strategy, after all initial things to do are done, is to close down the Vertical drop Coaster and delete the station on the second rock, before reopening the ride. The second step is to move every single guest that currently is on the second rock, back on the first. Once this is done, removing every path on the second rock will bring an extra buck in.

Further rollercoaster construction will involve the same process as in the first strategy : the station on the back of the first rock, facing the second one ; then a climb or a dive towards the second rock, before heading back to station. Long queues and maximum guest capacity on every tracked ride, will also be needed, in order to guarantee maximum guest capacity on the first rock.

As for flat ride placement, it will be the same as on Strategy 1 : even placement and alternance between Gentle and Thrill rides, so that guests aren't wandering for too long between two attractions.

Tracked rides such as River Rapids, Log Flume, Cycle Monorail and the like, should be built on the first rock, and circle above the flat rides on the top of the rock ; or be avoided altogether. As for River Rafts and Go-Karts, they are better left off the park due to their low capacity, or kept as small as possible.