General Scenario Guide: Difference between revisions

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This general scenario guide provides a very generic walkthrough for most RollerCoaster Tycoon scenarios. Guides for specific scenarios can be found on this page.

Starting Out

Most RollerCoaster Tycoon scenarios automatically open the park details window, set to the scenario objectives tab, when you first load the scenario. You are also strongly advised to pause the game at this time so that you are not distracted by anything else happening in the park.

If this is your first time playing a scenario, read the objective to get an idea of what you must do in order to successfully complete the scenario as well as how much time you have to reach said objective and, if the scenario's author bothered to write a Chris Sawyer-ish park description, any scenario limitations in effect and/or specific details relevant only to this scenario, such as:

"...won't allow any landscape changes..."
"...badly in debt..."
"...can't build too high above the ground..."
"...land is cheap but loan interest is high..."

Next, scroll around the map to get a general overview of your park. Things you may wish to take note of at the start include existing rides in your park, its boundaries, the scenario's loan limit and interest rate, and the variety of rides already available for construction.

After that, identify any problems already existing in your park, such as excessive litter, lost guests or unsafe or broken down rides. Although you cannot clear litter with the game paused, you can hire and place handymen so that they will immediately start cleaning up any mess already existing in your park once the game is unpaused. Lost guests can be picked up by you and placed on footpaths close to the park entrance. Any existing ride in your park that you feel is unsafe can be reset by closing it twice. If there are already broken down rides in your park, hire 1 mechanic (if there isn't one already) and place them near a broken down ride—they will set about fixing any broken down rides once the game is unpaused.

If your park has any rides already running, hire 1 mechanic (if you haven't already done so in response to a broken down ride). For the time being, this mechanic does not need to be set a patrol path, since they are only a temporary measure to handle any (additional) ride breakdowns while you set up your park. You may also wish to take note of what kind of rides these are (i.e. transport, gentle, roller coaster, etc.) as well their statistics (such as their ride rating, admission fee and queue time) and, for tracked rides such as roller coasters or go-karts, their size. At this point, it may be necessary to unpause the game and modify some pre-built rides or their queue lines for more desirable ratings.

Finally, before unpausing the game, check the Research & Development window. Several scenarios give you a small selection of rides and stalls to work with, but you will often be missing something that may be important in the long-term (e.g. Information Kiosk, Toilets, more rides of a certain type), so you may wish to consider adjusting your research funding as well as priorities in order to get the rides/stalls you need faster or reduce the amount of money spent on research per month at the cost of researching new rides/stalls at a slower rate.

Building Rides

Unless certain conditions in a scenario create the circumstances, your park should have a mixture of low and high intensity rides to cater to as many guests as possible. A park that is starting out will generally have 1-3 gentle rides, 1-2 thrill rides and 1 roller coaster, so build the first new rides in your park accordingly. If the park's geography permits, build your first few rides on flat land, near the park entrance, with your least intense rides being placed closest to the park entrance. In addition, try to place the ride exit for your rides such that they connect directly to the main pathway from the park entrance. It may even be beneficial to relocate the ride entrance/exits of existing rides to facilitate guest movement around the park, while allowing a well-thought queue to hold as many guests off the main path grid without killing their hype.

Expansion

While you are expanding your park by building new rides, you may need to construct additional footpaths. Try not to construct long footpaths (about 5 tiles long or more) that lead to a dead-end or ride exit as guests are likely to get lost along these stretches. As a general rule of thumb to keep in mind, no path should be only connected to the park's entrance through a 180-turn. Avoid dead-ends at all if possible.

Reaching the Objective

Every once in a while, review your scenario objectives—it is very easy to lose track of what you are supposed to do during a scenario if you are busy managing and/or expanding your park. If the objective is to reach a high park value, consider building more rides to attract more guests; if the objective is to have a large number of guests, you can also consider taking out a marketing campaign or two if the scenario allows it. Keep an eye on the date as well ; the results of anything you do will only be seen after a period of time. For instance, if your objective has a deadline of 31 October, Year 3, constructing many rides or starting a marketing campaign on 26 October, Year 3, will not miraculously cause your park value or the number of guests in your park to skyrocket within a few days.

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+This '''general scenario guide''' provides a very generic walkthrough for most ''RollerCoaster Tycoon'' scenarios.
-==General==
+Guides for specific scenarios can be found on [[:Category:Scenario Guide|this page]].
+==Starting Out==
+Most ''RollerCoaster Tycoon'' scenarios automatically open the park details window, set to the scenario objectives tab, when you first load the scenario. You are also strongly advised to pause the game at this time so that you are not distracted by anything else happening in the park.
+If this is your first time playing a scenario, read the objective to get an idea of what you must do in order to successfully complete the scenario as well as how much time you have to reach said objective and, if the scenario's author bothered to write a Chris Sawyer-ish park description, any scenario limitations in effect and/or specific details relevant only to this scenario, such as:
-*The first step in a new park is to pause the game and have a look on your park. You can set up a few things as long as the game is paused and get a general overview.
+*"''...won't allow any landscape changes...''"
-*Many scenarios already have prebuilt paths. Be sure to block off unused paths so your [[Guests & Staff#Guests|guests]] don't get lost. Avoid long walks and dead ends, so your guests don't have to wander around aimlessly.
+*"''...badly in debt...''"
-*Also check for [[Path_Items|Path Items]] to make sure there are enough benches (every 3-5 tiles) and litter bins (every 10-12 tiles).
+*"''...can't build too high above the ground...''"
-*You need enough [[Guests & Staff#Staff|Staff]] to keep your park running and clean. Set patrol areas to coordinate your handymen, while mechanics are usually good to run around freely (unless your park is kind of mazy). You can set mechanics to a certain areas, only if you have at least 3-4 rides close to each other.
+*"''...land is cheap but loan interest is high...''"
-*A handymen can keep about 30-40 tiles of path clean, depending on how nauseating the rides next to them are are. Be sure to keep your park clean from litter and vomit as much as possible, otherwise guests will vandalize. If your park is kept clean, you don't need security guards at all.
-*Each mechanic can keep 3-4 rides running, keep adding as soon as they are fully stressed. You will have to reduce maintenance times once rides get older, so check your mechanics' status now and then.
-*Build enough stalls so your guests don't have to search long when they get hungry, thirsty or need to visit a bathroom. Bathrooms are also welcome if guests are very sick, so consider placing some of them near your most nauseating rides.
-*Place food stalls near less nauseating rides to prevent your guests from vomiting all over the area. Stalls with souveniers should go to your most exciting rides, since happy guests are more inclined to buy balloons etc.
-*Keeping your guests [[Guest Moods|happy]] is always first priority, a higher [[Park Rating|park rating]] attracts more guests.
+Next, scroll around the map to get a general overview of your park. Things you may wish to take note of at the start include existing rides in your park, its boundaries, the scenario's loan limit and interest rate, and the variety of rides already available for construction.
-==Research==
-You can setup [[Research]] as long as the game is paused, so do that as one of the first steps after beginning a scenario. Usually you start with a low variety of rides to build, so consider researching with maximum funds at the beginning. You can reduce that once you feel your park is doing well.
-*Most important is to fulfill the basic needs of your guests, that means you should research [[:Category:Shops_and_Stalls|Shops and Stalls]] until [[Bathroom]], [[Drink_Stall|Drink Stall]] (or similar), [[Information_Kiosk|Information Kiosk]], [[Cash Machine (ATM)|A.T.M.]](RCT2) and at least one Food stall are available.
-*Next consider researching [[The_Complete_Rides_List#Roller_Coasters|roller coasters]] until you have a good design available. Examples for good roller coasters are [[Steel Roller Coaster]], [[Steel Corkscrew Roller Coaster]], [[Wooden Crazy Rodent Roller Coaster]] and [[Steel Wild Mouse Roller Coaster]] since they allow to build cheap, compact and popular rides.
-*Since your guests have different needs, consider building a variety of [[The_Complete_Rides_List#Gentle_Rides|Gentle Rides]], [[The_Complete_Rides_List#Thrill_Rides|Thrill Rides]] and roller coasters and set up research accordingly.
-*Researching Theming and ride upgrades isn't that important usually.
-==Finances==
-Money isn't usually that much of a problem in RCT, but still there are some common guidelines which help being succesful on a scenario.
-*As soon as you have a gate fee, even $1, your guests will pay less for your rides. The higher the gate fee, the less you can charge for your rides. Be sure to adapt to that and lower the prices of rides which have empty queues.
-*Bathrooms should always be free, it's just not worth it charging for them.
-*[[Guest Thoughts|A guest thinking]] "... is really good value" means you can increase the price of the ride if you want to, but can also help you getting the Best-Value-[[Awards|Award]].
-*As a rule of thumb, you can raise the price for coasters up until the excitement rating, but you have to discount shorter coasters. For tracked rides, the standard fee is usually ok. Keep an eye on ride admissions if you have a gate fee, since they are set to free by default then.
-*Your rides will get stale over time, so you have to drop the ride fees continually to keep attendance high. You might even have to offer a ride for free after some time or have to replace it. Some rides get stale quicker than others, like [[Twister|Scrambled Eggs]] or [[3D Cinema]].
-*A good way to judge the price of your rides is satisfaction, so regularly check your ride list. You should aim for about 75%.
-*The amount of money guests have can vary between scenarios, so keep an eye on that. In a scenario, this amount also varies by $30. Make sure that even the most poor guests can afford your gate fee and still ride some rides afterwards, otherwise they will leave very unhappy.
-*As soon as a guest is out of money, he will usually leave your park, unless you provide free rides, food, drinks and bathrooms for him. If you need a high number of guests, earning as much money as possible can contradict to the scenario goal.
-*You should always spend all your cash and maximize your loan! More rides attract more guests and usually every ride earns far more than it costs, even when including the (tiny!) interest rate. Keep building as long as you can afford and have room.
-*Before starting larger projects, you should provide a basic park with shops/stalls and a few rides.
-*If a scenario starts with one or more very large roller coasters or other tracked rides, consider demolishing it and building a few cheaper and smaller ones instead.
-*If you should ever run out of money and don't have an income to cover that, consider selling a ride or two. This shouldn't happen, though.
+After that, identify any problems already existing in your park, such as excessive litter, lost guests or unsafe or broken down rides. Although you cannot clear litter with the game paused, you can hire and place handymen so that they will immediately start cleaning up any mess already existing in your park once the game is unpaused. Lost guests can be picked up by you and placed on footpaths close to the park entrance. Any existing ride in your park that you feel is unsafe can be reset by closing it twice. If there are already broken down rides in your park, hire 1 mechanic (if there isn't one already) and place them near a broken down ride&mdash;they will set about fixing any broken down rides once the game is unpaused.
-==Creating good rides==
-Roller Coasters are the bread and butter of any park, so [[Building A Ride|building good coasters and other custom rides]] is very important. The [[Ride_Ratings|Ride Ratings]] show how well you designed a ride.
-*While most scenarios are about squeezing your rides in ungentle terrain, consider preparing some compact rides and save the track design to use in scenarios. You will usually find a spot for those rides and it gives you a head start in scenarios. Consider checking the [[RollerCoaster_Tycoon:Ride_Exchange|Ride Exchange]] for track designs you can use.
-*Rely on [[Powered Launch]] to create cheap, compact coasters with a high capacity. The most efficient rides are steel roller coaster with a steel hill that leads to a loop. Power the coaster just right so the train goes halfway up the loop , then down again. Even though the excitement won't be too high (about 4) , the coasters extremely low ride time (< 10s) would allow the coaster to be vastly more profitable than normal continuous circuit coasters. The coasters are also very cheap,less than $1000, and it is possible to abuse this system to get a very high number of guests and earn a lot of money in a very short time.
-*[[Queue_Lines|Queue Lines]] shouldn't be too long or too short. Guests will start complaining after a while and will finally leave after about 11 minutes in a queue. Entertainers can help with that, but consider also that waiting guests don't spend money. On the other hand, the line should be long enough to fill at least a complete train/all seats on a flat ride, otherwise the boarding process might take too long.
-*Try to interlock your queue line with the ride to increase its excitement rating.
-*[[The_Complete_Scenery_List#Roller_Coaster_Tycoon|Scenery]] increases the excitement of your rides when placed 5 tiles around the "yellow arrow", this also counts for tracked rides (for multi-station rides, this works only on station 1).
-*Consider building underground when possible. Tunnels increase the excitement of any tracked ride, for some more than for others. Note that the number of tunnel entrances/exits counts for excitement and not the lengh of a tunnel. Any tracked ride which is more than 40% underground counts as indoor. Having some [[Indoor_Ride|Indoor Rides]] is generally a good idea, so your guests can hide from the rain. Finally, you can conserve space by building underground.
-*Your guests have different needs you need to cater, so consider building rides with mixed intensity ratings.
-*If a ride offers more than one operation mode (like [[3D Cinema]], [[Whoa Belly/Launched Freefall|Whoa Belly]] or [[Gravitron]]), you can build multiple versions of this ride and have them operate differently. Your guests won't get bored of this.
-*To prevent a [[Crash]] from station brake failure, have the cars of a roller coaster enter the station at no more than 45 km/h (28 mp/h). Note that the brakes on track can also break down, so keeping a mechanic close every potentially dangerous roller coaster is advised.
+If your park has any rides already running, hire 1 mechanic (if you haven't already done so in response to a broken down ride). For the time being, this mechanic does ''not'' need to be set a patrol path, since they are only a temporary measure to handle any (additional) ride breakdowns while you set up your park. You may also wish to take note of what kind of rides these are (i.e. transport, gentle, roller coaster, etc.) as well their statistics (such as their ride rating, admission fee and queue time) and, for tracked rides such as roller coasters or go-karts, their size. At this point, it may be necessary to unpause the game and modify some pre-built rides or their queue lines for more desirable ratings.
-==Attracting and keeping more guests==
-If you are missing guests for the scenario objective, there are several measures you should consider using:
+Finally, before unpausing the game, check the Research & Development window. Several scenarios give you a small selection of rides and stalls to work with, but you will often be missing something that may be important in the long-term (e.g. Information Kiosk, Toilets, more rides of a certain type), so you may wish to consider adjusting your research funding as well as priorities in order to get the rides/stalls you need faster or reduce the amount of money spent on research per month at the cost of researching new rides/stalls at a slower rate.
-*Marketing helps a lot and you should consider doing that from the 2nd to the last year. This will bring in more guests and depending on if they can afford being in your park that long, they will stay until the end of the scenario. Always select the "Coupons for free entry to the park" rather than "Advertising Campaign For the Park" which is hideously expensive and not worth it if money is an issue (at $1200 , that can easily exceed your profit margins . per month)
-*Lowering [[Admission|admission and ride fees]] increases the time guests can spend in your park before running out of money. With enough free rides and free stalls, guests might even not leave at all if your park can keep them happy. Also lower ride fees increase the satisfaction with your rides. Altogether, pricing can have a drastic effect on your guest count.
+==Building Rides==
-*Building new rides makes people curious to visit your park.
+Unless certain conditions in a scenario create the circumstances, your park should have a mixture of low and high intensity rides to cater to as many guests as possible. A park that is starting out will generally have 1-3 gentle rides, 1-2 thrill rides and 1 roller coaster, so build the first new rides in your park accordingly. If the park's geography permits, build your first few rides on flat land, near the park entrance, with your least intense rides being placed closest to the park entrance. In addition, try to place the ride exit for your rides such that they connect directly to the main pathway from the park entrance. It may even be beneficial to relocate the ride entrance/exits of existing rides to facilitate guest movement around the park, while allowing a well-thought queue to hold as many guests off the main path grid without killing their hype.
-*Having a high [[Park_Rating|park rating]] raises mouth-to-mouth propaganda for your park, that is basically free marketing. The happier your guests leave your park, the better the word they will spread.
-*Getting [[The_Complete_Awards_List|awards]] also attracts new guests and some of them are quite easy to get. Consider putting additional effort in getting awards and prevent getting bad awards.
+==Expansion==
-*As a last measure you can block the exit with a sign or by removing a path tile. Note that your park rating will drop very fast if guests are trapped in your park! Still this can help if it gets tight at the end of a scenario.
+While you are expanding your park by building new rides, you may need to construct additional footpaths. Try not to construct long footpaths (about 5 tiles long or more) that lead to a dead-end or ride exit as guests are likely to get lost along these stretches. As a general rule of thumb to keep in mind, no path should be only connected to the park's entrance through a 180-turn. Avoid dead-ends at all if possible.
+==Reaching the Objective==
+Every once in a while, review your scenario objectives&mdash;it is very easy to lose track of what you are supposed to do during a scenario if you are busy managing and/or expanding your park. If the objective is to reach a high park value, consider building more rides to attract more guests; if the objective is to have a large number of guests, you can also consider taking out a marketing campaign or two if the scenario allows it. Keep an eye on the date as well ; the results of anything you do will only be seen after a period of time. For instance, if your objective has a deadline of 31 October, Year 3, constructing many rides or starting a marketing campaign on 26 October, Year 3, will not miraculously cause your park value or the number of guests in your park to skyrocket within a few days.
+==See Also==
+* [[Hints and Tips]]
 [[Category:Cheats and Hints]]
+[[Category:Scenario Guide]]
+[[Category:Strategy Guides]]
+[[Category:Descriptions]]
+[[Category:Lists]]