246 replies to this topic

[coastercrew]

I tried to keep (at least this one ) "simpler" : all paths that exit a coaster, are "exclusive" for the leavers of that coaster and have no connection with any other path whatsoever, untill they arrive in the next cell. So if you see anyone on that path going in the other direction, there must be something wrong. Rather clear.

I'm just so so so used to playing with money and the more park staff you have the less profit you make, so just about all of my coasters had a path intersection where mechanics could service the coaster from the current cell yet peeps were prevented from going back. After quite some time, I abandoned the 'conserve on park staff' method, but nevertheless still had these 'service' paths.

Of course at some points, even the leavers of the coaster want to turn around and return to the coaster they just left. Well, than they can only come at the exit again and have to turn around again as they cannot enter the exit. Still, to keep them in the one-way direction and make sure no one is walking into the wrong direction on these paths, I placed no-entry signs at the points they where liked to turn around, but in fact these signs are not really necessary.

I noticed that peeps behaved (followed the yellow brick road) as long as there were no intersections or shops. If a peep came to a shop, it might turn around and go back to the coaster. A few instances, I added 'no entry' signs by these shops to keep them moving along in the right direction.

So nice, all those different solutions!

At one point I noticed that more peeps were riding the coaster in my second cell than my first. That is, from opening my park to say around year 5 or so, the total number of peeps that had ridden coaster 2 was greater than coaster 1. I was like, what is going on here? Then I checked my 'special' flat ride in cell 3 that had the exit which lead back to cell 2. It had a 'high' popularity and had a lot of guests riding it.

The exit path had three choices (not counting backwards) for which peeps could walk, one of which lead to another two chioce ('T') intersection, and one of these paths lead to yet another 'T' at which if the peep went right, he/she went back to cell 2. Now if these peeps' decisions were random, then probability theory would state that a peep had 1 in 12 chance of making it back to cell 2 (1/3 * 1/2 * 1/2).

So I watched in amazement as groups of peeps would exit the ride and like greater than 9 out of 10 would go right back to cell 2. I figured that I would trick them by making a ride that they wouldn't like and it worked, but then I said, well, most of them want to ride cell 2's coaster over again, so if I make them happy, and give them a ride they like, then maybe they'll come back and ride cell 3's coaster.

I never did go back and experiment with this. Hard to believe that they had that much AI.

You're right so many solutions.

[Emergo]

I noticed that peeps behaved (followed the yellow brick road) as long as there were no intersections or shops. If a peep came to a shop, it might turn around and go back to the coaster. A few instances, I added 'no entry' signs by these shops to keep them moving along in the right direction.

Yes^ this is , as far as I know, an established fact of RCT: every shop, ride-entrance/exit and every path-intersection form decision-points at which certain percentages of peeps choose another direction (if you let them!).

At one point I noticed that more peeps were riding the coaster in my second cell than my first. That is, from opening my park to say around year 5 or so, the total number of peeps that had ridden coaster 2 was greater than coaster 1. I was like, what is going on here? Then I checked my 'special' flat ride in cell 3 that had the exit which lead back to cell 2. It had a 'high' popularity and had a lot of guests riding it.

The exit path had three choices (not counting backwards) for which peeps could walk, one of which lead to another two chioce ('T') intersection, and one of these paths lead to yet another 'T' at which if the peep went right, he/she went back to cell 2. Now if these peeps' decisions were random, then probability theory would state that a peep had 1 in 12 chance of making it back to cell 2 (1/3 * 1/2 * 1/2).

So I watched in amazement as groups of peeps would exit the ride and like greater than 9 out of 10 would go right back to cell 2. I figured that I would trick them by making a ride that they wouldn't like and it worked, but then I said, well, most of them want to ride cell 2's coaster over again, so if I make them happy, and give them a ride they like, then maybe they'll come back and ride cell 3's coaster.

I never did go back and experiment with this. Hard to believe that they had that much AI.

You're right so many solutions.

^ No, Lol, good thought but I really think they don't have that much AI. (I think they don't have hardly any at all, but.... eh....).
Anyway, if they left your popular ride, after that they may have had a good "direction" feel for the way back to the coaster in cell 2.
And as many peeps tend to always like the coaster that they have ridden last the most, lots of them want to return to the coaster they've just done!! That's why I made the "special" rides have as small a capacity as I could think of, like a slide with just admittance for one person at a time and with unlimited rides (most peeps do it 3 or 4 times then, and as there is no q-line the througput is nice and low; and a space rings, with just one ring, also not for lots of peeps in a hurry

[coastercrew]

Wow, I never knew that a Spaces Rings could have only one ring? Nice.

I had a Roto-drop that went up like 500 ft (as high as I could go), then I didn't like that NOBODY rode it (it's intensity was like 24 something). So I changed it to like 220 ft and a few of them rode it, but it kept them numbers down. It lead back to my first cell so it was hard to decide on this one.

[coastercrew]

Oh, one more thing on 'special' rides, the one in my last cell I made so that if peeps didn't ride the coaster right away, they had a good chance of riding the 'special' flat ride so as to stay in the last two cells! And the exit to this ride lead directly to the second to last cell.

They thought that they were going to crowd my first cell did they?

[Emergo]

Oh, one more thing on 'special' rides, the one in my last cell I made so that if peeps didn't ride the coaster right away, they had a good chance of riding the 'special' flat ride so as to stay in the last two cells! And the exit to this ride lead directly to the second to last cell.

They thought that they were going to crowd my first cell did they?

^ Good solution!!

[coastercrew]

Here's another interesting one......

My 'special' flat ride in cell 6 was a boat ride (row boats). It had one entrance station platform then it had track that went straight across the lake to the other side (at the edge of cell 5) where there was one exit station platform. Then the track came all the way back to complete the circuit.

I was hoping that only one guest would be able to ride it and the boat would stay at the exit platform. But after the first guest got off, the boat, all by itself, went back across the lake.

So I named the ride "Morgan's Ghost, after the cell name "Morgan's Sea". I mean it must have been his ghost rowing back to the other side. Don't you think?

An interesting and lucky discovery.

[Todd Lee]

Hmm, haunted row boats... That's an interesting themeing idea!

[Emergo]

Here's another interesting one......

My 'special' flat ride in cell 6 was a boat ride (row boats). It had one entrance station platform then it had track that went straight across the lake to the other side (at the edge of cell 5) where there was one exit station platform. Then the track came all the way back to complete the circuit.

I was hoping that only one guest would be able to ride it and the boat would stay at the exit platform. But after the first guest got off, the boat, all by itself, went back across the lake.

So I named the ride "Morgan's Ghost, after the cell name "Morgan's Sea". I mean it must have been his ghost rowing back to the other side. Don't you think?

An interesting and lucky discovery.

^ yes, that´s also a very nice one
All rides that can have more stations, work this way when you only make an entrance at one station and an exit at the other one. Otherwise they could never work. Anyway, you could make the route between the exit and back to the entrance endlessly long, with all kind of curves, etc, etc!!

So, you do have a big lake then....? Yes me too.

I also wanted to place a boatride on it ,though not as the "special" flatride, but just because I like the view of these tiny boats going around on the water (does not matter to me if they are "ghost boats, I still like them). Only, I find those tracks that you have to make for them (preventing that these boats never come back again and making sure they go along the nice spots I want to have them), that track I find disgusting. So that's why whenever I use them I always make the track invisible with the trainer. But doing so you have to set the ride to "continuous circuit" (to make sure that they go around), and this also makes that they never break down again. Although boats are not a coaster, I was not sure if this would be against the rules, had no more time to ask, so it is one of the many things I still would like to change in this park.

Edit: about the ghost boats: if you wanted nobody/hardly anybody could ride it, you could also have set it to "never" being inspected and without any mechanic on it to repair it. This would mean, at least when all your other mechanics are assigned to an own ride-area, that it would not have been repaired once broken down, so no one could ride it anymore, Lol!
(a working, but not very elegant solution!)

Edited by Emergo, 01 February 2006 - 07:13 PM.

[coastercrew]

So, you do have a big lake then....? Yes me too.

I wouldn't call my lake big; it's more a medium sized lake, like maybe 35x60 tiles at the widest point. It turns into a river and runs across the rest of the park from left to right about 2/3rd the way back.

whenever I use them I always make the track invisible with the trainer

I guess I should have investigated the trainer more closely. I didn't know I could make tracks invisible; I thought a different trainer had this function. Oh well, that would have been a nice touch. I didn't know much about trainers until like halfway though this contest, nor about the 'control' key for placing scenery, so I was handicapped early on. I sure did learn a lot though. Thanks

you could make the route between the exit and back to the entrance endlessly long, with all kind of curves, etc, etc!!

I thought about this trick, but this ride was in my 6th cell and, well there wasn't a lot of peeps to be tricking anyway. I also didn't want it to take away from the rest of the feel in that cell ; boy I wish I used that invisible track.

I think that really would have looked cool; the boat zig-zagging around islands and coaster track all the way back. I'll add it to my "all-cells-accessible-from-anywhere" version and rename it "Morgan's Drunken Ghost".

about the ghost boats: if you wanted nobody/hardly anybody could ride it, you could also have set it to "never" being inspected and without any mechanic on it to repair it. This would mean, at least when all your other mechanics are assigned to an own ride-area, that it would not have been repaired once broken down, so no one could ride it anymore,

Good trick, not to repair the ride!

I guess I assumed that not repairing the ride would lower the park rating. Also, I wouldn't have felt right about a non-functioning ride.

Like I mentioned about the extreeeemely intense Roto-drop, I changed it so at least a few peeps would ride it. The peeps who probably wound up riding it probably didn't have enough patience anyway to make it all the way through my park, since the higher intensity peeps always wanted to ride 'Gold Rush' and this Roto-drop was in cell 2, so they probably got tired of wining around cell 4 or 5 anyhow and went home.

[Emergo]

I guess I should have investigated the trainer more closely. I didn't know I could make tracks invisible; I thought a different trainer had this function. Oh well, that would have been a nice touch. I didn't know much about trainers until like halfway though this contest, nor about the 'control' key for placing scenery, so I was handicapped early on. I sure did learn a lot though. Thanks

I thought about this trick, but this ride was in my 6th cell and, well there wasn't a lot of peeps to be tricking anyway. I also didn't want it to take away from the rest of the feel in that cell ; boy I wish I used that invisible track.

I think that really would have looked cool; the boat zig-zagging around islands and coaster track all the way back. I'll add it to my "all-cells-accessible-from-anywhere" version and rename it "Morgan's Drunken Ghost".

Good trick, not to repair the ride!

I guess I assumed that not repairing the ride would lower the park rating. Also, I wouldn't have felt right about a non-functioning ride.

Like I mentioned about the extreeeemely intense Roto-drop, I changed it so at least a few peeps would ride it. The peeps who probably wound up riding it probably didn't have enough patience anyway to make it all the way through my park, since the higher intensity peeps always wanted to ride 'Gold Rush' and this Roto-drop was in cell 2, so they probably got tired of wining around cell 4 or 5 anyhow and went home.

Don't worry; when making my first "real park" (after using a 256x256 bench to experiment and get acqaintanced with the game) I did not have any trainer either - let alone use it's possibilities - until halfway.
Still the park won VP (Certainly not the best VP ever, but still.... ) The rest I learned afterwards.

Yes, that zig-zagging boat......and then call it "Morgan's Drunken Ghost".... that's a great one

And, not repairing a special ride, gave me the same feeling you had: may-be lowering the park-rating, but even if not, it just "does not feel okay".

And I think you are quite right about the Roto-drop: once when peeps "want to go home" you hardly can change their thoughts, whatever you do.

Intriguing contest.....eh