StaffReturn to The Definitive RCT Reference Guide homepage
StaffGuests always want to see a clean park with working rides, so you should employ some staff if you want to keep guests happy {s}. Each of the 4 staff types can be assigned patrol areas. Different staff members patrol areas may overlap if desired. Each patrol area is a 4x4 grid, and should be adjacent to the same staff members other patrol areas (so the staff member can travel between all his assigned areas). It is good practice to keep the patrol area below six grids when only a single contiguous path passes through the grids. If more paths are within the patrol area (don't forget that ride entrance queues are also a paths), reduce the number of patrol grids. Note that staff members always ignore "No Entry" signs. Staff that sticks to paths that have also been assigned patrols will not enter adjacent paths within their patrol area if the connection between the adjacent paths falls outside their assigned patrol area (this could be used to your advantage if you have multiple staff overlapping the same grid).
Note that adding staff could be problematic in a crowded park. This is because there can only be 10,000 individual "sprites" (guests + staff), and so you may have to wait until a guest leaves (or dies) in order to add an additional staff member (temporarily closing the Park may help, as Guests will then graciously slowly leave). Also always keep in mind that each staff member has to be paid at the end of the month, and with large amounts of staff, it is easy to wipe out your treasury.
Cost = $35 per month
Uniform = (Red) Color can be changed
Assignable Tasks = Sweep Footpaths, Water Gardens, Empty Litter Bins, Mow Grass
Water Gardens may not be necessary if the park is very rainy.
Note that any Handyman that does not mow grass (mowed grass makes no difference to guests over un-mowed grass {s}) will almost always stay on paths like guests. Be careful however if you use paths as roofing tiles. If these roofing tiles fall within the Handymans patrol area, the Handyman may jump up on the roof and get stuck there (you have to use your pincers to put them back on the real path, or the real path will never get cleaned, because he never jumps back down)! Also keep in mind that if the Handyman always stays on a path, he may not be able to reach some of your gardens.
If the Handyman is given lots of work (lots of gardens to water, trash to sweep, or vomit to clean), keep the patrol area very small. Note that if a Handyman is allowed to mow grass along with other tasks, he will spend most of his time mowing, to the detriment of his other tasks. It is best therefore to make certain Handymen just mowers (or mower-waterers) and never assign mowing duties to your trash collecting and sweeping Handymen. If you do assign certain groups of Handymen to specific duties; for ease of tracking purposes, it is a good idea to give all the Handymen in that group their own distincive color uniform.
It appears that vomit does not occur in tunnels, so these areas may not have to be patrolled as much (remember that chance of vandalism is directly related to the concentration of litter/vomit on the ground). Also the food shops of Cotton Candy Stall and Ice Cream Stall do not produce litter.
Cost = $55 per month
Uniform = (Blue) Color can be changed
Assignable Tasks = Inspect Rides, Fix Rides
Note that a mechanic must have access to the EXIT of a ride to make inspections/repairs.
It is a good idea to assign one mechanic to each roller coaster (place him on a single patrol square that covers the station exit building and first path square leading from the exit) and set the rides maintenance schedule to 10 minutes. Adjust the roller coasters exit paths accordingly if the Mechanics patrol square would overlap another ride (for non-roller coaster rides, it may actually be good economics to have two rides overlapping a single patrol square to be serviced by the same mechanic).
Mechanics (not necessarily the same one) should have access to every station on a multi-station ride. Don't assign more than one dedicated mechanic to a station, as only one mechanic can service a station at a time (scheduled inspections are deferred while repairs are in progress, so the same Mechanic can do both).
Mechanics are never required for Miniature Golf.
Using the pincers to move a mechanic to a trouble spot is usually not a good idea, as this breaks radio contact, and he will not proceed to the trouble area until radio contact is re-established (and in the interrum, some other farther away mechanic might get the call instead) {s}. Note also that it is important for Mechanics to have a non-confusing pathway choice to reach the ride, because unlike Guests, they can inapropriately choose to use ride exit and entrance paths when making a bee-line to their assignment.
Cost = $45 per month
Uniform = (Yellow) Color can be changed
Vandals will not cause vandalism if within [NOT TESTED] 3 squares of a Security Guard. It has not yet been tested whether not having any Security Guards may affect the games algorithm, so "the prudent approach is to hire one (roving) Security Guard as soon as you open a new park {s}" (and besides, there is a random chance he may be in the right place to deter some vandal). One Security Guard for every 100 people should cover your park adequately {s}.
Vandals only damage benches, garbage cans, and lights, so if you have these items consentrated in only one area, it would be a good idea to have your Security Guard put on a patrol covering just that area.
It appears that vandalism does not occur in tunnels, so these areas may not have to be patrolled as much (remember that chance of vandalism is directly related to the concentration of litter/vomit on the ground).
If a guest becomes tired in the rear of the park, he may fail to find his way out due to his sleepiness, and this may lead to him getting mad about his predicament and cause him to resort to vandalism (which will drag your Park Rating down) {s}.
Beware of "Phantom Vandalism".
Note that the 'Safest Park' award refers to ride maintenance and reliability, not security.
Cost = $40 per month
Normal Costume = Panda, Tiger, Elephant
Theme Costume = Roman, Gorilla, Snowman, Knight, Astronaut
Park Value is boosted for each entertainer you hire (until you reach aproximately 10 Entertainers) {s}.
Entertainers can increase the happiness of nearby Guests {s}.
Have Entertainers patrol the end (closest to ride entrance building) section of long queue lines (lines over 9 minutes) to keep guests from complaining about the wait and to increase the time before guests leave a long queue in disgust. Also have Entertainers patrol long walkways without rides and areas of high trash/vomit potential to divert guests from making negative comments or desire to create vandalism.
An Entertainer set to a single patrol square in front of the park entrance can help to boost the pleasure of guests both entering and leaving the park.
Marketing Campaigns (2-6 weeks)Your Park Value is simply the worth of your park. Factors affecting Park Value include how many rides your park has, the age of the rides, the number of Entertainers, vandalism, and excessive litter {s}. Your Company Value is equal to the total of your Park Value added to your Cash-on-Hand, minus the amount of your Loan. You can affect these figures with a successful Marketing Campaign (and you can track the effect of the Marketing Campaign in the Expenditures and Income Window):
Coupons for Free Entry to the park = $50 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum]
- you collect no money on Park admission, but guests using the voucher are a little more willing to spend for attractions once inside the park. Will typically attract between 75 to 100 new Guests to the park, but will NOT attact any new guests if your park entry is already Free {s}. Good trick at the end of some Scenarios.
Coupons for Free Rides on a particular ride = $50 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum, ride selected by player]
- an effective way to raise the popularity of a particular ride or to get some benefit out of an older, less profitable attraction. Lowering an older rides price (or setting it to Free) right after the campaign will help to keep the ride popular for a while. If you choose a ride near the back of your park, it forces guests to pass other attractions they may afterwards decide to spend their money on.
Coupons for Half-Price Entry to the park = $50 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum]
- similar to the Free Entry voucher, but you get some money for Park admission (less ethical park managers raise the Park admission to compensate, but be sure to set it back after the campaign). Can be helpful near the end of some Scenarios to meet attendence goals. Guests realize that they still must pay to enter, so running this campaign while your park is experiencing a Litter or Vandalism problem may actually DECREASE attendence {s}.
Coupons for Free Food or Drink = $50 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum, food or drink selected by player]
- similar to the Free Rides voucher, but for Food or Drink stalls (encouraging the patronage of Salty Food stalls, will also increase your drink sales {s}).
Advertising Campaign for the park = $350 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum]
- very effective at attracting Park guests, and it costs you nothing in terms of lost income.
Advertising Campaign for a particular ride = $200 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum, ride selected by the player]
- works best when it's a new attraction you're touting. An effective "non-income losing" campaign for drawing guests to a "headliner" ride at the back of your Park.
Note that there is a Free ongoing marketing campaign in the form of Guests leaving the park. Happy guests leaving the park will "tell" their friends about how great your park is, encouraging them to patronize your park (but beware, unhappy Guests will also tell their friends about how lousy your park was) {s}.
The amount of your loan will directly affect your Company Value (a lower loan is better). The total amount of money you can borrow from the bank will vary by the scenario. Try to keep your loan UNDER $20,000 total, because at that point interest payments will start to creep up over $25 per month {s}. Loan payments are NOT automatic, so be sure to regularly lower your loan whenever you can. Not only will it lower your interest payments, but the Company Value will start to climb as well (there is a slight lag between when you pay down a loan, and when the Park Value or Company Value goes up).
If you decide to temporarily raise prices to generate quick cash, make sure you write it down on a notepad, so you will remember to change them back later (high prices lead to unhappy guests, which by extension leads to a lower Park Rating).
Research & DevelopmentResearch Funding choices; No Funding @ $0 per month, Minimum Funding @ $100 per month, Normal Funding @ $200 per month, Maximum Funding @ $400 per month. Higher funding makes results come faster.
Research Priorities; Roller Coasters, Thrill Rides, Gentle (& Transport) Rides, Shops & Stalls, Scenery & Themeing, Ride Improvements.
The 15 supplemental themes and 2 scenery elements that can be researched under "Scenery & Themeing" are listed below under Scenery.
The 17 researchable track element "Ride Improvements" are: Banked Curves; Vertical Loop; Steep Twist; In-Line Twist; Half Loop; Corkscrew; Banked Helix; Helix; On-Ride-Photo; Water Splash; Vertical Drop; Barrel Roll; Launched Lift Hill; Large Loop and Large Half Loop; Reverser Turntable; Heartline Roll; Reversing Sections.
Note that the Research & Development prospects are different in each Scenario - you cannot discover all the possible items and improvements in every one. Items in each "Category" will only appear in the order pre-determined by the Scenario creator, but you have the option of prioritizing the order in which "Categories" are reserached. Note however that if you provide funding, but leave all the Priority boxes unchecked, no research goes on - but you will still be charged!
LandThere are 16 types of Top surfaces; brown dirt, brown dirt & clumps of grass, grass land, grey rocky land, roofing tiles, grey roofing tiles, sand, martian land, checkerboard land, snow/ice, log roof, iron roof, red grid lines, yellow grid lines, purple grid lines, and green grid lines.
There are 15 types of Edge surfaces; rock edges, brick edges, rusty iron edges, wooden edges, black wooden edges, grey wall edges, yellow wall edges, red wall edges, purple wall edges, green wall edges, brown stone wall edges, grey stone wall edges, ice wall edges, skyscraper edges (3-window), and skyscraper edges (4-window).
A land tile will hold 5 Guests.
The dimensions of each land tile is a rectangle 15.1 x 14.62 feet [23.9 square yards].
An RCT land plot (with the exception of the Loopy Landscapes Micro Park scenario) has 116 x 125 tiles [dimensions are 1,757 x 1,783 feet or 71.9 acres].
You can not modify the surface of land the Park does not yet own; but if you acquire Construction Rights, you can build over or dig under it. The usual "sea level" ground height set at the start of a game is six blocks of height (although this can sometimes vary between five to eight depending on the scenario). The maximum height to which you can raise the land is 24 blocks, and the max depth to which you can lower the land is 0 blocks.
Height Mark to Feet Conversion Chart
WaterWater can only be placed on a flat surface, and must "fill" a hole at least one level deep. Open water rides (Boat Hire and Jet Skis), Lily, and Water Spouts can only be built on water. Large pools of water will attract migrating ducks (note: if you "click" on a duck it will quack). If you don't want the waterfoul around, build fences, trees, or hedges around the water {s}.
Water beside a path provides a cooling effect on guests [NOT TESTED], reducing the possibility of guests becoming nauseas from the heat of a hot day. Water alongside pathways, or near benches, gardens, or eating areas, may contribute to winning a "Most Beautiful Park" award {s} (this award has similar effects to advertising you park, without any of the costs {s}). Strategically placed water (such as at the base of hills on rides) can increase a rides Excitement, especially if guests feet are allowed to come close to its surface {s}.
Try to prevent Guests from drowning (rescue them quickly with the "pincers" if they do fall in the water), as dead guests decrease the Park Rating.
PathsThere are 4 types of "Queueing Lines"; blue, red, yellow, and green.
There are 11 types of "Footpaths"; 4 Tarmac (gray, brown, red, and green), 2 Dirt (brown and black), 1 Crazy-Paving, and 4 Tiled (brown, gray, red, and green).
There are 4 types of "Support Structures"; plain style Wood, castle style Stone, space style Girder, and abstract style Pipe.
Keep the distance between attractions short, so that no guest has the opportunity to become bored or overly tired while walking from one to another {m}. Guests who must walk too far before encountering an entrance will complain. When a long walk is inevitable, provide benches along the way, especially at the tops of hills {m}. If possible, build tunnels through the grade to reduce path length. Avoid putting a single attraction at the end of a long branching path. Even if they choose the attraction, its a long walk back to the main path, and what if your guest didn't use the attraction? Its best to make branching paths short, and curve back to the main path like chain links. To prevent crowding, provide alternate routes through the busiest areas {m}.
Paths are a tool to steer guests in directions you desire. For example, if a guest wants to Exit the park, they will always choose at a decision point (Path intersection, Shop/Stall/Ride entrance or exit, and to a minor degree Benches) a path pointed in the direction of the Park Exit, even if the path ultimately will never lead there! If then the only way to the Park Exit is to choose at a decision point a path that appears to be leading away from the Exit (even though it will actually ultimately reach the Exit), the Guest with NEVER choose the correct path. Cul-de-sacs then should only branch in a direction that leads away from the Park Exit.
Guests are only aware of a small area around themselves, and as such, will not think to patronize a ride they don't know exists {m}. Use the paths to intentionally guide guests within visual (awareness) distance of rides {m}. Arrange the paths so Guests can see the most exciting portions of your most intense rides (such as through the loop of a Roller Coaster or in the "splash zone" of a Water Ride), so that the Guests' excitement will build for that ride, and the ride's Excitement Rating will increase overall {s}.
Add plenty of the path specific scenery items of benches, lamps, litter bins, and jumping fountains, to assist your guests and increase your park ratings. Bare paths bore Guests, so it is suggested that you place benches every six to eight tiles (or more frequently if you path runs close to an exciting ride), so guests have a place to sit if they get tired (tired guest don't spend money or ride rides) {s}. Place a lamp near each bench {s}, and place a trashcan aproximately every eight tiles {s}.
A tree-lined footpath provides shade for your guests, and prevents them from getting too Tired or too Sick {s}. Flowers add to your guests' Happiness, and increases your Park's overall Rating {s}. The "Jumping Fountains" add to your guests Happiness, while also cooling off hot visitors during the Summer months {s}.
Simple, straightforward paths help prevent guests from becoming lost in your park {s}. Lost guests become unhappy guests {s}. Guest have trouble navigating paths wider than a single-square width, so two paths that must run parallel (for esthetics or otherwise) should be separated by a fence or land square. A practical design for a parks main path is the "midway design". Build a ladder like path as the main artery or spine of the path system. All other single type paths that shoot off from this "midway" should connect back with it at some point further down the line. The ladder shaped main path is formed by making two parallel paths separated by one square of land/water. Every six squares or so of path length a cross path is added like the rung of a ladder. Ideally, you want to have this path going through the park in such a way that one maintenance man 4x4 patrol grid falls across BOTH parallel legs of the path (also make sure that when you setup your patrol grids, at least one cross path falls within the grid so a maintenance man can get to both sides).
Paths (including paths in tunnels) may cross each other at grade, or they may cross over each other if there is enough vertical clearance between the two paths so that a guest can comfortably walk along both paths. Like with ride tracks, a path can only tunnel through a vertical land face that is at least two levels high. Tunnels inherently add excitement to your park, and make your guests happy {s}. Naturally your Guests can not see your exciting rides while in a tunnel, but you can always provide open segments or tunnel exits that provide an exciting view. There is a limit to how high above the land you can safely raise paths using supports {m} (maximum height not yet tested). In general, the more support a path section needs (the higher a bridge or the lower a tunnel), the more expensive it is to build {m}.
Never use a Queue Line path tile for anything other than a ride queue {m}! For maximum loading efficiency, plan the queue so that you can place the ride entrance in the middle of the (first) trains access door {s}. Guests will find an underground queue exciting {s}. Avoid placing queue lines adjacent to each other, as no one in line likes to stand in the middle of a smelly, tightly packed crowd {s}. If 'S'-shaped queues are necessary, it is a good idea to leave space between parallel walkways (like the open space that occurs inside a real letter 'S') so attractive and shady/cooling scenery can be inserted. It is good practice to lay the queue tiles from the Ride Entrance outward, because queue tiles function like regular path tiles until they are "activated" by touching the ride Entrance (this helps to prevent Guests from accidently using your still-under-construction queue as a footpath).
Queue line lengths are critical. Try to keep queue lines limited to 50 guests and/or 9 minutes long, or guests will begin complaining (after 15 minutes guests will start to leave the queue). As a last resort, you can increase the rides Ticket Price so fewer guests will choose to stand in line {m} (although this tends to generate other problems). Remember, you don't "need" a queue (because at least 1 guest will stand in front of a queue-less Entrance), so you DO have the option of connecting a ride entrance directly to a normal path square (actually, quite effective for some rides, such as the "Space Rings"). Guests will refuse to enter a "full" queue line, so shorter queues help to prevent guest bordom on rides that have long waiting periods before latest arriving guests can load. The queue lines themselves can be very long, but maximum number of guests that will stand in a queue is 255 (even if they couldn't possilby see the waiting guests, additional guests will always refuse to enter the queue line until the number of guests waiting drops below 255). If uncertain about optimal queue length, it is a good idea to initially make the queues for Gentle rides approximately 7 squares long, Roller Coasters approximately 15 squares long, and all other rides approximately 10 squares long (and then later adjust the length as circumstances, including Rain or Ride Novelty, dictate).
Here is a summary of proper queue design.
Use paths creatively. Paths going over a ride track can increase the rides Excitement (head-chopper effect) and may stimulate the guests desire to try the ride. Walkways can also be used to simulate awnings or roofs. Path types also can be used to beautify the landscape, such as making the queue lines and their corresponding exit paths different colors on a synchronized ride (blue=gray, red=red, yellow=brown, green=green), using Crazy-Paving for seating nooks, and using black to simulate asphalt walkways around maintenance areas (remember: beauty is for your eyes only, the guests don't have any preference in the matter). Note that a walkway on solid ground will not have railings, but railings will appear if the walkway spans hollow ground (remember that a walkway has a maximum height of 20 squares above ground). You can therefore make a flat path from a ride exit heading back to the main path look more like the flat queueing line leading from the main path to the ride entrance by dropping the land one level directly under the path.
Don't forget to also put a properly facing No Entry sign at the main path intersection to prevent guests from inadvertently wandering up the exit route (If for some reason you do not use a No Entry sign, keep your Exit path to no more than four squares, so Guests inadvertantly using this path are less likely to get confused {s}). Placing the Exit (path) near the head of the Entrance queue will make it easier for jubilant Guests to get right back on the ride {s}.
Finally, consider how your Staff patrol areas will fall in relation to the way you intend to lay out your paths. This should be done before you even make your first path leading from the park entrance (as it may be in your best interest for patrol reasons to shift the entire park path layout in relation to the entrance gate by one or two squares).
SceneryThere are 7 categories of scenery: Trees; Shrubs and Bushes; Tropical and Desert Trees; Gardens; Lamps, Litter Bins, Benches etc. for Paths; Walls and Fences; Statues and Fountains.
There are also (after researching) 15 supplemental themes and 2 scenery elements: Classical/Roman Themeing; Egyptian Themeing; Mine Themeing; Martian Themeing; Wonderland Themeing; Jurassic Themeing; Spooky Themeing; Jungle Themeing; Abstract Themeing; Snow and Ice Themeing; Medieval Themeing; Space Themeing; Creepy Themeing; Urban Themeing; Pagoda Themeing; Jumping Fountains; Garden Clock.
The Garden Clock will actually keep computer time (but unfortunately can only be built on flat ground).
Scenery can affect Ride Excitement {m}. Edge elements (walls, hedges, fences) have no effect on ride statistics. Note that to influence ride statistics, scenery must not be more than 4 squares distant (see "What makes an Exciting Flat Ride"). Scenery from different Themes can be mixed and matched without any penalty (Guests have zero sense of esthetics, but they will notice whether a piece of Scenery is there or not {s}).
Plant big, leafy trees along your pathways and near benches and eating areas to cool you guests during the Summer months {s} (a cool path lined with shady trees much more pleasant on a summer day than a ribbon of melting asphalt baked under direct sun {m}). Jumping fountains also help (and can also elicit positive comments from the guests). Also, strategically placed trees can hide the more exciting parts of a ride from guests on a path, which makes guests on the path wonder about the unseen parts, and so will boost the rides Intensity {s}.
Flower gardens make guest happier, so plant them near queue lines and other areas where large crowds can see them {s}. If you use flowers in an arid setting (where there is insufficient rain), make sure that you provide Handymen to keep them watered and alive. Guests will complain about dead flowers, and you Park Rating will decrease {s}. Toparary has inherent entertainment value, so for maximum effect, also plant them where large crowds can see them {s}. Statues and fountains provide NO shade or cooling, but they do add to your guests overall enjoyment of your park, so also place them where large crowds will see them {s}. Guests who like how our park looks will often take pictures to show the folks at home {s}.
It is good practice to place benches at least every 7 squares and litter bins at least every 10 squares (more frequently near nauseous rides and food/drink stalls). Insufficient benches can lead to guests complaining about crowding. Both lamps and litter bins can be built on either flat or sloped paths, and should be placed there when possible, to free the flat paths for benches or jumping fountains (which can only be built on flat paths). Vandalized path objects should be promply removed (and replaced), because they negatively affect guests {m}.
Litter Bins will only be used if they are not full (and not vandalized). Full litter bins can only be emptied by a Handyman (or demolished and replaced with an empty one). Suggested locations for Litter Bins are near food srevice areas, outside bathrooms, and at the exits from the rides with the highest nausea factors {m}. They seem to work especially well at intersections {m}.
Placing a lamp in a path square adjacent to a bench (even if on [NOT TESTED] an unconnected adjacent path or ride queue) will [NOT TESTED] encourage guests to use the bench. Lamps increase the Park Rating, and can be placed in ride queues (leaving room on regular paths for benches, litter bins, and jumping fountains). Lamps are only effective if not vandalized.
Benches can only be built on flat paths. Guests like to sit on benches when eating food. Guests use benches to help them recover from fatigue or nausea (so place them at the Exits of rides with a Nausea Rating of 5.00 or higher {s}). Benches will not be used if vandalized.
The Jumping Fountains are flat path elements, and if placed on adjacent connected path squares, will try to synchronize their squirts into a pattern (and guests may comment on their attractiveness). There are actually eight individual pattern sequences, each taking about a minute to complete. These patterns are easily seen if you create a six square by six square patch of path tiles, and then fill the paved area completely with Jumping Fountains.
The eight Jumping Fountain sequences are:
"Dioramas" can be a lot of fun to create. A construction popular with styrene model builders, a diorama is a single scene used to show off a model (or grouping of small models) in a lifelike setting. Compare in your mind this picture of what could be your newest roller coaster all surrounded by themeing to the same roller coaster simply sitting on flat, undecorated terrain. Dioramas are particularly useful in Loopy Landscapes, where themeing around the ride can significantly increase the rides statistics.
Avoid sudden, jarring transitions between theme areas. Note how the use of jagged lines, raised land, and fencing between the desert and grass (and on the opposite side, the use of water) minimizes the shock of crossing over. Notice also how the theme elements (tree types in this example) diminish in quantity and size as they get near the crossover, to further help blur the borderline.
Themeing elements are not limited to rides, but can also be used to dress up shops/stalls. Are your guests worthy enough to sit on this throne?
Tasteful use of the Coloring Tool can allow you to turn the rides themselves into themeing elements.
Entertainers can be used in a comical way. Here a gladiatorial arena has been created for some Roman Entertainers and a Tiger. A pit was built with underground entrances, surrounded by a fenced viewing walkway, and the Entertainers placed inside. Selecting a patrol area for the entertainers keeps them inside the pit, where the appear to combat each other and walk in and out of the pit entrances.
If you are curious about what graphics are built into the game itself, you can view them all with the 
RCT graphics inspector.