Signs and Items for Footpaths

Path ornaments are objects that can only be placed directly on path pieces. Some of them serve a function, while others are purely decorative. There are six different categories: Benches, bins, lamps & other decorations, jumping fountains, queue line TVs, and signs. Each category has a different function and a different number of variations, but every variant within a category will function the same and the difference is purely aesthetic.

You can only place one path ornament on every path piece, and if you do try to place multiple, the existing one will be deleted in favor of the new one. With the exception of jumping fountains, the number of items you get depends on how many available sides there are. For example: On a single-wide stretch of path you will get two benches, one on each side, but on a dead end you’ll get a third one. This doesn’t affect the cost, you always pay the same no matter how many you get. Signs are an exception to all of this. They are placed between two connecting path pieces and don’t interfere with any other path ornaments.

Unlike all other decorations, path ornaments are susceptible to vandalism. If a guest is unhappy and your paths are dirty, they may decide to break a path ornament they come across, after which they become a vandal. While they are a vandal they may break more ornaments until they have cooled off, and you can recognize vandals by their very angry red faces. Security guards will prevent guests from breaking ornaments in a certain radius around them. Once an item is vandalised it can only be repaired by the player building a new one on top of it.

Different types of path ornaments have different properties, and below is a table listing some properties of every type.

Path ornament properties

Ornament type	Vandalisable?	On sloped path?	On queue lines?
Bench	Yes	No	No
Bin	Yes	Yes	No
Lamp / decoration	Yes	Yes	Yes
Jumping fountain	No	No	No
Queue line TV	No	Yes	Yes
Sign	No	Yes	Yes

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Benches

Benches allow your guests to sit down to regain some energy, calm down their stomach, or eat some food. Every bench can seat up to two guests at a time, which means that one path tile can seat a maximum of eight guests. The default bench item comes with the “Signs and Items for Footpaths” theme, and there are five themed variants that come with other theming sets. They are quite cheap, with every version costing just $5. Unlike all other ornaments, benches cannot be built on sloped path pieces. They also cannot be built on queue line paths.

Guests will use a bench when one of three following conditions is true:

• They have a food item, are fairly hungry, and are fairly happy.
• Their nausea is very high
• Their energy is very low

If they happen to encounter a bench that has at least one unoccupied space and is not vandalised while one of those conditions is true, they will sit on the bench. While the guest is sitting on the bench their nausea value will decrease and their energy level will increase quite quickly. Despite the bench needing to be unvandalised for the guest to start sitting on it, it can get vandalised while in use, and when it is the guests will keep sitting on it. OpenRCT2 has changed this and benches that are in use can no longer be vandalised.

The amount of time before the guest gets up again depends on a few things. Firstly, if they have any food or drink item they have to finish that first before they can get up. Secondly, they will always stay seated for a minimum amount of time, and this minimum time depends on the energy of the guest when they sit down. The lower their energy value, the longer the minimum sitdown time. Once the guest has no food or drink and has exceeded the minimum sitdown time, there is a random chance they get up every so often.

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Bins

Bins are used for guests to throw away empty food containers. It is a common myth that guests can also use them to throw up in, but that is not true. There is again one standard variant of the bin, and there are four variations that come with various theming sets. Bins are even cheaper than benches, with the default variant costing just $3 and the themed ones costing $4.

If a guest has an empty food container in their inventory and they happen to come across a tile with a bin that is not full, they will use it to throw away their item. This means that guests do not actively search for bins to use, they will only use them if they randomly stumble upon them. If the bin is full while a guest tries to use it, they will throw away their item on the ground immediately, so it is advised to have enough handymen to keep the bins empty. As long as the guests don’t encounter a bin they have a random chance to throw the item on the ground every couple of seconds.

The capacity of a bin works in an interesting way. A bin can only fit three items, which may seem like incredibly few, but the trick is that not every item counts. When an item is thrown away there is only a 12.5% chance that the bin gets filled up. This means that while it is possible for a bin to be full after just three items, the average bin will fit 22 items. If a path piece has multiple bins they operate independently, so if you place bins on a single-wide path section, each tile with bins can hold an average of 44 items.

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Lamps & other decorations

There are seven different path ornaments that serve no function other than being decorative. These seven items consist of six different lamp types and a fire hydrant. Two lamp types come with the default scenery set, while the other four and the fire hydrant come with different theming sets. The cost of these decorative path ornaments ranges from $4 to $6. OpenRCT2 does have a night mode where lamps give off light, but this is still purely a visual effect and doesn’t affect gameplay.

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Jumping fountains

Jumping fountains are mostly decorative path ornaments that have jets of water jumping from one corner of the path to another. There are two types of jumping fountains: The standard water jet one that comes with the water feature theming and costs $20, and the snow themed variant that shoots snowballs instead of fountains is slightly more expensive at $25. Whereas the number of items for other path ornaments depends on how many connecting paths there are, jumping fountains will always give you four jets, one in each corner of the tile. The main role of jumping fountains is to look pretty, but they do have a small effect. If a guest sees enough of them they can think that the jumping fountains look nice, which in turn increases their happiness level a little bit.

The unique thing about jumping fountains is that having multiple next to each other can create more intricate sequences. Fountains and snowballs have the same sequences available, but they do not work with each other. In total there are eight possible different sequences, and Chris Sawyer's website describes them as follows:

• Continuous Chasers: A single water jet appears to 'chase' in a straight line, changing direction only when it reaches the edge of the fountain area, and then carries on in a different direction.
• Bouncing Pairs: Pairs of water jets bounce back and forth along the sides of one square.
• Sprouting Blooms: A single water jet starts a 'blooming' sequence, sprouting jets in all four directions, which each then sprout four more jets when they land.
• Racing Pairs: A pair of water jets race each other continuously in a straight line across the paved area.
• Splitting Chasers: Single 'chaser' jets travel in a straight line until they reach the edge of the paved area, then split into a pair of chasers to travel around the edge of the area.
• Dopey Jumpers: A single water jet jumps randomly from one jet to another.
• Fast Random Chasers: Same as ‘Dopey Jumpers’, but the jets run faster, creating a continuous looking effect.
• Cyclic Squares: The four water jets at the corners of a square all start at once, squirting in a clockwise direction to create a square pattern.

Source: https://www.chrissawyergames.com/feature4.htm

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Queue line TVs

Queue line TVs are queue line path ornaments that will keep people that are waiting in queue lines happy. Unlike all other ornaments, TVs cannot be placed on normal path and instead are only for queue lines. The default variation of this is the only available one and it costs $15.

After guests have been queuing for a certain amount of time, they will slowly start losing happiness, and if that happiness gets too low they may give up on waiting and leave the queue. Queue line TVs prevent this from happening, as when the tile they are standing on has TVs, then they slowly gain happiness (up to a point) instead of losing it. This will prevent the guests from ever leaving the line, no matter how long it takes.

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Signs

Banner signs can be placed across paths to display a custom message to the guests. Unlike all other path ornaments, signs are placed between two path pieces instead of on a single one, and they don’t interfere with any ornaments that are already on either of the pieces it is in between. The default variant of the sign costs $25, and the eight different themed variants each cost $30.

Players can put their own custom message on signs and have it displayed in a variety of colors, but unfortunately this has no effect on the gameplay. What does have effect is the “no entry” function. If a sign is put into no-entry mode guests will never walk under it from the direction that they can see the words from. This can be used to create one-way paths, prevent guests from walking into exit paths, or trap them somewhere. Staff will ignore no-entry signs.

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Path items are accessories placed on footpaths that provide comfort to your guests and beautify your park. Each type of item has a different effect. Path items are placed at sides of a path which are not connected to other paths, nor to ride entrances/exits or shops. Connecting a path will remove the path items on that side. Path items, except for fountains, cannot be placed on 4 way intersections. All path items (besides signs and jumping fountains) can be vandalized if a guest becomes angry. All path items (except signs and jumping fountains) are free to remove and do not provide a refund.

Types of items

Cost: $4 Cost: $5	The two types of lamps do not serve any vital purpose in RCT1 and RCT2 because there is no night feature, and are therefore considered purely decorative. In RCT3, lamps are required to light paths during nighttime.
Cost: $5	Benches allow guests to rest. Guests usually sit on benches when they are low on energy, are nauseated, or are consuming food or a drink. Placing too many benches can cause guests to delay fulfilling their bodily needs (food, drink, bathroom), causing them to have unhappy thoughts and lowering the park's rating. Benches cannot be placed at sloping paths or queue lines.
Cost: $3	Litter bins allow guests to dispose of food waste and rubbish. These alleviate the litter problems in your park. They require frequent emptying by handymen/janitors after being used by a large number of guests. These cannot be placed on queue lines.
Cost: $20	Jumping fountains launch water over the path in programmed patterns. They are solely decorative. If many of them are placed adjacently, the guests will think: "These jumping fountains are great." Jumping fountains cannot be vandalized.
Cost: $25	Banner signs display custom messages, broadcasting over the path. Banner signs cannot be vandalized like other path items. Custom messages have absolutely no effect on the guests whatsoever. Banner signs also have a "no entry" function that prevents guests from passing under it (staff members, however, are not affected by this). They are used to seal off sections of the park the player does not wish to be overcrowded (ride exits) or to prevent the guests from getting lost. Placing a no entry sign near the park entrance will prevent guests from leaving. This will help retain guests to meet the goal, but can also dramatically reduce the park's rating.
Cost: $15	Queue Line TVs are introduced in RCT2. They can only be placed on Queue Line Paths.
Cost: $7 Cost: $12 Cost: $20 Cost: $20 Cost: $20 $Cost: $20	RCT2 Signs and Posts, despite being listed under Signs and Items for Footpaths, cannot be directly placed on footpaths. Their colors can be customized, the text on the signs can be changed, and some of the signs have scrolling text. These objects are purely decorative.

Themed Signs and Path Items

Lamps

Cost: $6	Cost: $6	Cost: $6	Cost: $6
Egyptian Themeing	Martian Themeing	Giant Garden Themeing	Pirates Themeing

Benches

Cost: $5	Cost: $5	Cost: $5	Cost: $5	Cost: $5
Egyptian Themeing	Martian Themeing	Space Themeing	Sports Themeing	Dark Age Themeing

Litter Bins

Cost: $4	Cost: $4	Cost: $4	Cost: $4
Mine Themeing	Space Themeing	Wild West Themeing	Panda Themeing

Jumping Snowballs *

Cost: $25

Snow and Ice Themeing

* Has the same features as the Jumping Fountains.

Miscellaneous

Cost: $4

Roaring Twenties Themeing

Banner Signs

Cost: $30	Cost: $30	Cost: $30	Cost: $30
Jungle Themeing	Classical/Roman Themeing	Egyptian Themeing	Mine Themeing
Cost: $30	Cost: $30	Cost: $30	Cost: $30
Jurassic Themeing	Pagoda Themeing	Snow and Ice Themeing	Space Themeing