Does the weather really affect what types of foods and drinks peeps enjoy more? I've seen people buy coffee in the desert and eat ice cream in the arctic.


Does the On-Ride Photo matter whether it is placed at an exciting point in the ride or one where it is going 2MPH? I like to think it does matter, but on the other hand I tend to add on-ride photos as an afterthought with that extra space right before the station platform.


How far can peeps see depending on how high they are?


What does the "satisfaction" rating really mean? It makes sense with rides and stalls, but bathrooms? What can you do to a bathroom to break a 25% satisfaction rating? I placed a Sphinx on top of it -- that didn't help.

=========================

QUOTE  
Does the weather really affect what types of foods and drinks peeps enjoy more? I've seen people buy coffee in the desert and eat ice cream in the arctic. 


Guests will become thirsty in hot weather and will want to buy a soft drink... I'm pretty sure about that. I don't think the temperature will affect what food items they buy, just what drink items. 

QUOTE  
Does the On-Ride Photo matter whether it is placed at an exciting point in the ride or one where it is going 2MPH? I like to think it does matter, but on the other hand I tend to add on-ride photos as an afterthought with that extra space right before the station platform.
 


I would assume the AI is set so that guests will want to buy pictures of them at exciting/fast/intense parts of the coaster, rather than when they are sitting there waiting to get going. I have never studdied this, but I will just assume for this one.

QUOTE  
How far can peeps see depending on how high they are? 


I believe a guest can see a few yards (squares) in front of them. But a guest will want to go on a coaster across the park if he/she "hears" about it. And they will also see coasters being built as well. But this does not mean they always see where they are going. A guest will get off a ride and venture anywhere if he has nowhere in particular to go (bathroom, bench, advertised ride).

===================

I have done the same thing as you at times with the onride photos and they still buy the photos...so I would have to say it doesnt matter "much"....

thats funny....bathrooms almost always have 100% rating in my parks but hey...maybe I dont have enough...who knows???

====================

In RCT2, one person can have more than one ride photo, which I think is a VERY good option.

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Excellent. Also, how far is the security guard's range? I've had a guard assigned to a single straight path using just two patrol blocks (so he only has 8 tiles to cross) and my benches and lamps have still been vandalized.

Note: This doesn't happen often, but it does happen. 

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I think the satisfaction rating may be the proportion of peeps who leave thinking "_____ was great" - though that doesn't make sense for toilets. If you have vandalism, try to find out why - often I find it's a handyman problem. 

======================

How far peeps can see is a really important issue (e.g., ramifications for Observation Tower height, etc.). Since the early days of RCT1 I have been searching the Web for an answer, but it appears that NO ONE has investigated it! Now that we all can easily build workbenches, could someone please do experiments to find the answer. Thanks.

Other areas worthy of scientific testing:
1) Salty/Sweet food is supposed to make peeps thirstyer faster. If this is true, specifically, which food stalls qualify?
2) Is there any difference between food stalls with substantial food (e.g., Hot Dog stall), vs insubstantial food (e.g., Cotton Candy stall) in regards to Hunger satisfaction? 
3) In a related question to question 2; given the choice of either stall (similar cost/value), which will the peeps prefer?
4) In RCT1 it was alluded that shade trees in hot weather would keep peeps from getting thirsty or tired. What is the formula assuming this is true (e.g., does a full sized tree have to be next to a path square, and what is the maximum acceptable interval of separation between trees)?
5) In RCT1 it was alluded that benches should placed on top of upward sloping walkways because guests would become tired. What is the maximum distance a peep can climb (or travel in a straight line) before he desires to sit down (and is this somehow linked to the peep Energy bar)?
6) In RCT1 it was alluded that lamp posts should be placed near benches. What is the effect of Lamp Posts on peeps (especially since they can be placed in queue lines, and therefore may cause a benifit)? 

===================

QUOTE  
1) Salty/Sweet food is supposed to make peeps thirstyer faster.  If this is true, specifically, which food stalls qualify? 


Salty

Fries
Popcorn
Pretzels
Wonton Soup

Sweet

Cotton Candy
Ice Cream
Candy Apples
Lemonade (even though it is a drink, it is counted as sweet)
Donuts
Cookies
Funnel Cakes
Fruity Ices
Star Fruit Drinks

I think I got them all -- If not please correct me before I GO TOO FAR.


QUOTE  
2) Is there any difference between food stalls with substantial food (e.g., Hot Dog stall), vs insubstantial food (e.g., Cotton Candy stall) in regards to Hunger satisfaction?  


I used to think this was the way it is, but apparently it's not. In RCT, cotton candy fills someone up as much as a sub or a hamburger.


QUOTE  
6) In RCT1 it was alluded that lamp posts should be placed near benches.  What is the effect of Lamp Posts on peeps (especially since they can be placed in queue lines, and therefore may cause a benifit)? 


They make the guests' happiness bar go up slightly as they walk past them, or when they are sitting next to them (the longer they are near the lamps the happier they get, so sitting on benches eating helps)

=======================

 was re-playing Crazy Castle to do some experimentation and noticed something about food profits when I was checking on how the stalls were doing.

There's only a choice of Hot Dogs or Submarine Sandwiches for substantial food. The Hot Dog stall is located on a heavily travelled path leading to some popular rides. Thre's no theming and just some benches tossed onto the path nearby as well as drink stall. It does good business.

The Sub Shop is loacted in a food court just off a main path with different path tiles from the normal one used for the park. There's lots of flowers, and fences theming the area. And of course benches and litter bins. It's also paired with a drink stall. The Sub Shop does twice the business that the Hot Dog stand does.

Do the peeps make a deliberate choice to patronise a shop in a nicely themed area?

======================

About shop customerism, I have experimented with several different shop placements, and I can conclude that putting a shop on a path so that people basically 'walk into' the shop gives the shop a mayor boost in customers. 

Also, the slower a lift hill is on a coaster, the more excitement it gets. (Has been tested!)

A coaster gets more excitement by letting it go underground than encasing the same lenght of track in scenery (like placing roofs etc.) (Has been tested!)

I'll have to find out what the 'satisfaction' bar means. I'm going to do some experiments right now....

======================

Magenta Said: Do the peeps make a deliberate choice to patronise a shop in a nicely themed area? 

A: Although I have not scientifically tested it, they supposedly do. This was mentioned a number of times by the old RCT1 manual and the old RCT1 website. Specifically, a water feature (fountians also?), lots of benches, and shade trees (gardens also?) were supposed to be factors inducing peeps to take time out to eat. 

=======================

Can the peeps tell that they are under a roof, and will not be affected by the rain? I like to provide little covered areas for my guests to eat and sit down, just in case.


How exactly does water affect the excitement of a ride? Many a lonely night spent playing the original RCT, I spent large sums of money carving out craters and filling them up with water, hoping to give my stand-up-steel coaster a boost, because water is neat. Much to my surprise, the excitement tended to drop a few points. Anyone have any tips on using water well? 

=======================

Yes they definately can. To prove, do the following: build two rides, one with a covered (walls & roofs) queue line, one without... When it rains, you'll notice the peeps in the covered queue will not whip out their umbrellas, and peeps walking into the line with an umbrella out will eventually put it away.

However, I'm not sure peeps on the main footpaths will necessarily seek shelter in the rain. Most of them seem content with just their umbrellas.

=======================

OK here is some of my 'research':

Placing TV's along qeue lines makes guests happier (obvious) but also attracts more visitors tot the ride, and increases the satisfaction percentage...

======================

Great research oppie. I will definately consider adding queue TVs to some of my less patronized rides that are needing a boost. 

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QUOTE (aetherwave @ Nov 25 2002, 07:00 AM) 
Magenta Said: Do the peeps make a deliberate choice to patronise a shop in a nicely themed area? 

A: Although I have not scientifically tested it, they supposedly do. This was mentioned a number of times by the old RCT1 manual and the old RCT1 website. Specifically, a water feature (fountians also?), lots of benches, and shade trees (gardens also?) were supposed to be factors inducing peeps to take time out to eat. 

hmmmm

Shade trees, that's interesting

I pressume building roofs over a food court would give some shade too. So does that mean that placing roofs does benefit the shop's popularity?

=======================

I never knew if CS added a check to see if you had Security Guards, and then penalized you if you didn't. To be on the safe side, I always hire ONE Security Guary and just let him roam the park at will.

As for Roofs, in most cases (queue line excepted as noted below), they do NOT provide relief from sun/rain. Experimentation has shown that they do NOT affect whether a peep considers a ride "covered" (e.g. like the Haunted House is considered "covered") or not.

Note: It would be extremely helpful if someone took the list of rides [ http://www.rct2.com/forums/index.php?act=S...acc6f24a66c6ba4 ], and found out which ones are "covered" rides (don't forget alternate vehicles, such as on the miniature railway, may also change the rides "covered" status). Use peeps thoughts (e.g., "I'm not going on ride __ in the rain") as a guide.

=======================

If you are going to spend the money on a security guard, then you should try to get the most value of the guy. Letting him wander freely means that he is likely not anywhere near where the hotspots.

Check the traffic pattern on your paths and have him patrol the areas with high traffic that can get peeps mad.

I had a situation where I ended up with a junction of paths with lots of highly desirable rides. It was a crowded mess, and vandalism was really bad. I didn't want to deal with it right then, so I hired a security guard to patrol the small area. Vandalism went way down.

Eventually, I fiddled with the paths to distribute the traffic better and fired (oops, I mean workforce right-sized) the security guard. 

========================

The problem with security guards, and their inability to prevent vandalism, lies in their design; their area of influence is too small. You could have virtually the entire park covered with guards, but as soon an angry steps outside of their area of influence, BAM!, vandalism! Well this isn't entirely correct, peeps have a random chance of vandalising when they are outside of guards area of influence, but sooner or later, it will happen. Now of course, in small parks, with tons of guards, you will be able to decrease the amount of vandalism, during a set time period, but you will never be able to eradicate it; You will just slow it down a bit.  

The only way to prevent vandalism is too make the most peep friendly park possible. Keep all the peeps from entering "****ed Off Angry Mode", and you have a vandalizm-free park.

========================

Well, at least you can prevent it in high-traffic areas like food courts and areas you want to remain "scenic" while you're off at another part of the park. I hate getting that vandalism message while I'm off building a coaster or something. I mean, at least if a guest breaks a bench somewhere on a fairly empty path, the effect is less than if they smashed a bunch of benches and lamps and trash bins where people need to sit down to eat. 

=========================

My custom parks very rarely become vandalized (usually only where a cleanup man "jumps the path" and garbage starts piling up), so I don't bother setting a patrol area for the Security Guard. I just like the little surprise I get when I am looking at my park and he wanders into view (call him animated scenery).  

Sometimes in Scenarios when I don't have a lot of time to plan, I do get bottle necks where vandalism starts to become an issue. In these cases I find an ENTERTAINER the best remedy. Peeps just passing by an entertainer have a chance of becomming happier, so mad peeps passing an entertainer are likely to become not-so-mad, and therefore won't vandalize (security guards just keep the peep from vandalizing at his current location, they do nothing about changing the peeps mental attitude).

TIP: I sometimes place an Entertainer on a small patrol Right At the park entrance. This way any peep entering the park has good chance of getting an immediate happiness boost. It also has a chance of lessening the anger of peeps leaving the park, so the park satisfaction rating will stay higher. 

========================

Same for me.
I remember the first time I got an angry guest. It was on Megapark. I saw this weird face on the guest window, clicked on it, and actually jumped at it 
 
Quite often on my current park I check through the thoughts summary for needs (mainly "The scenery here is wonderful" - I like to know how I'm doing), and I sometimes see things like "This path is disgusting" or "The vandalism here is really bad" - which gets me to check around the guest for problems. Occasionally there's a lot, peeps seem to vandalise the same area. Usually I get a couple of vandalism hot-spots, which I stick guards in. This tends to be areas covered by suicidal handymen. However, after a while, they seem to stop leaping off paths if you keep putting them back. I noticed that in Leshp Cove, and after a while the guards were probably unnecessary. I left them though, because their names were fun  
I had an angry peep a few days ago in Malton Towers, and rather than drowning him, I did some experiments. First, put him on an empty path. He didn't vandalise anything in the short time he was down. Then I took him to his favourite coaster. He rode it and went to unhappy. Then he rode another coaster. Medium. Again. Happy. So much more satisfying.

My main use of entertainers is in long queues. Peeps still think they've been queuing for ages, but they get happy and seem less likely to leave the queue. You can't satisfy them all, some think 2 mins is an eternity.

============

Welcome to Happy Land. Be Happy or else...  

To expand on Dolphins point about Entertainers, peeps loose happiness the longer they stand in line. Therefore, it is more effective to have the Entertainer patrolling at the end of the line beside the ride entrance building, rather than where the queue meets the normal pathway (where peeps are still at their maximum waiting-in-line happiness level).

I try to keep my queue lines short enough that the peeps always stay in line without complaining. Sometimes though you have to have a long walkway connecting the ride entrance to the main path. Although I prefer not to do it (becuase of the dead-end path effect for peeps changing their minds about a ride), you can shorten the beginning of a queue by using regular path tiles. Leaving the queue the full length is dangerous because, although peeps may not be filling it up right now, during a rainstorm or advertising blitz they MAY fill the line, and then get mad from the long wait.

=============

Running lift hills slower allows your guests to look at the scenery longer, and makes them happier (this is not necessarily reflected in the excitement rating, but in the total satisfaction your guests get from riding the coaster) So if you have scenery, it probably is best to keep it at the lowest lift speed, unless you want to shuttle as many guests on and off the ride as fast as possible.

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QUOTE (paljoey @ Dec 2 2002, 04:55 AM) 
Faster lift hill: more peeps less excitement
Slower lift hill: less peeps more excitement

Simple as that. Mostly. 

It also affects the speed of the entire ride. A faster coaster at the top of the hill, the faster the coaster will ride through the ride, baring breaks. So, if you are going to drop then head right into inversions, you may find a 2-3mph difference makes a great difference in the Intensity department. Also, if you have a turn at the top of your coaster before a drop, you may need the faster speed to prevent stalling before reaching the drop... in particular with mini-flying coasters (laydown or sit-down). 

=============

The other thing that I use the lift-hill speed adjustment on, is the simple aging effect on ride friction. Over time, I have noticed that some of the coaster types are really affected by more friction the older it gets. I just keep the lift speed low, and then increase as the ride gets older.

=============

That's a very interesting observation. I hadn't even thought about this. Thought it was my imagination.

=============

In RCT AI, the fact that a ride/stall is FREE makes NO difference as to whether a peep will choose to investigate using it or not. 

FREE only applies once a peep decides to investigate a ride/stall entrance, and then compares the posted price to his value system (e.g., is he is shocked by the price?) and his pocket money (e.g., if he likes the price, does he have enough money on his person to buy it [FREE garantees he can afford it]?). Note that a peep still might not pass the entrance if he decides it is not up to his standards (e.g., the ride is not intense enough, he is not hungry enough, etc.). 

=============

A good check to see if you have enough bathrooms is to be able to see at least one on each side of the screen (assuming a relatively straight path path layout), when you are at the closest zoom ratio (assuming 800x600). With just this amount, I often get the Best Bathroom award. 

================

QUOTE (paljoey @ Dec 4 2002, 03:05 PM) 
Do guests check to see if there is available seating around a stall before they buy food or drink from it? 

The manual seems to hint that this is true. In another post, I mentioned that I noticed that my food stall in a heavily themed food court outsold another food stall located on a high traffic path with no theming.

So it seems that benches and theming make a difference in decision to buy food from any particular stall. 

================

I've made several 4D coasters in the track designer and put them into my testing parks. It seems to me that the seat rotation does have an effect on both excitement and intensity, but not much. The biggest problem I have is not being able to tell if I've rotated the seat correct or actually have it at the correct angle for where the train is on the track. It would be nice to have a picture of the seat position in relation to the train/track while creating the ride. 

==================

If you rotate the seat angle quickly and weirdly.

ex. -15, 95, 225, 45, -5, and then the intense goes through the roof, especial if the track pieces are right next to each other.

==================

Here's some of my research:

I wanted to know how much scenery affects the excitement of a coaster. So I built a small oval testing coaster.  I placed scenery withing varying radius' from the coaster, and I discoverd some remarkable things. 

Scenery effects extended in a 5 tile radius from the station. Scenery effects also extended for a 1 tile radius around each section of straight track.  However, scenery placed near the curved track sections did not affect the excitement rating at all!

================

The following large scenery (DAT type 2) objects have a certain flag set:
'Goliath' Sign
Pirate Ship
Roman Colosseum
Ice Palace
Martian Building
Pagoda
Pyramid
Sphinx
Space Rocket
Volcano

None of the other large scenery objects have this flag set. There are flags for remap color 1 and remap color 2; there's a flag for a scrolling text sign and a flag for 3D letters imbedded in the file. The base outline, height, clearance, etc is in another part of the file. So what do these particular objects have in common - that other objects don't have? :blink: All large scenery objects are rotatable, stackable and can be built on slopes with visible unpaintable supports. But I just don't see what feature these particular objects have that could be represented by that flag. :unsure: Please offer any suggestions or observations that may elucidate the meaning of this mystery flag. 

====================

Landmarks , maybe?

====================

I changed a pyramid file to reset this flag bit. I then built a simple park and placed the two types of pyramids at various locations. The peeps will stop and admire (and photograph) the original pyramid - but they pay no attention to the modified pyramid. So it appears that is the function of this bit. It makes sense that objects like the bank and gas station and houses would not have the bit set - they are supposed to be routine items. But I'm dissappointed that the dinosaurs don't have this flag. 

===================

The pyramid needs to be no more than two tiles away from the path. Guests will occasionally stop and admire the scenery - and take photos as evidence by the flash bulbs. Its another gem tossed into RCT2. Also, most walls cannot be seen through. If you put solid walls along the path, guests wont be able to see the pyramid. If you put mesh fence, however, they can see through it. If you use the arch wall, guests will be able to look through it.

===================

Does that mean there's a flag in each wall's dat file that says whether or not the peeps can see over/through it?

====================

Yes, there is. Go check one of the previous wall object threads for more details. The Effects field {09} to be specific.
----------
{09}Effects: byte; // first nibble = visibility (0 = opaque), upper nibble: 1 = animated (8 frames)

====================

Walls can have up to three remap colors. The third button appears only when editing walls. Banners allow one remap color. Path additions do not allow remapable colors. The code and images for the jumping water and jumping snowballs is part of the main program; its not including in DAT files. So you could make a different fountain/spout but the animation for the water jumps would be the same.

One observation that I find quite curious... lamps have a specific flag bit set which no other path addition object has. I take this to mean that lamps really do have some affect within the game - although I've never been able to tell what that affect was.

=========================

There are some names that you can call your guests that make them do or think strange things. The original RCT and expansions included, amongst others, the following names: - 

Chris Sawyer - Takes Photos 
Katie Brayshaw - Waves to guests 
Simon Foster - Paints pictures of the rides 
John Wardley - thinks "wow" 
Mr Bean - Drives slowly on the Go Karts 
Michael Schumacher - Drives fast on the Go Karts 
Damon Hill - same as Michael Schumacher 
Melanie Warn - Cheers up unhappy guests 

For RCT2 Chris Sawyer added another four special guest names. 3 of these have been known for ages...these are: - 

Andy Hine - thinks nice ride but not as good as the Phoenix 

Elissa White  Loves coasters designed by Intamin (e.g. Giga Coaster) and thinks Im so excited  Its an Intamin Ride 

David Ellis (me)  thinks and here we are on  followed by the name of the coaster. 

The 4th name was discovered by me yesterday and is 
Nancy Stillwagon 

I won't give away yet what she does but as a clue, watch what happens around her in the queueline! 

==================

Well here name does do something to the peeps in front and behind her. I think I counted about 5 in each direction. That is what you should be looking at. It is quite funny to see this when it happens.

=================

If you watch her walk around it happens to those she passes as well. It's quite amusing to watch. I wonder if it affects their moods as well? I'll have to keep an eye on her and them to find out!

====================

If you give this name to a person in a line for a ride, the peeps behind Nancy Stillwagon will get icecream.

===============

In fact the mechanics are a lot more intelligent in RCT 2 compared to RCT 1.

In RCT 1 when you zoned them they would only get 'paged' when a ride was broken. In RCT 2 they still get paged for that but also for when a ride's inspection time is due.

I'm not sure whether unzoned mechanics get paged for inspections, maybe somebody else knows. 

================

