13 replies to this topic

[CleoSombra]

Okay, so here's my problem.

It seems that whenever I make a park, I always pack the rides close together. I have a subconcious fear that I'm gonna run out of space. But then I finish the scenerios with half the land left for use.

Is there any tips to help me get over this? xD

[rcthelp]

Build the rides further apart.

Maybe you should build the first ride, then build the second ride so far away from the first that you *know* you'll be able to fit a ride in the space in between, if you need to later.

Anyway, if this is to win scenarios, what's the problem with "winning ugly"?

[Wolfman]

Been there. Done that.

Almost everyone comes to this point. The start out so "Space Conservative" that it ends up looking rather "compacted", rather than a theme park. Yup! All that "theme" has to go somewhere. And you need space to add it. I'd try leaving a circle of space, or 1 tile around an attraction or footpath. This will give you a 2x width of space between a path and attraction. Plenty of room for structures and theming. Leave more space if structures need it.

Plan Ahead:
This sounds daunting, but it depends how far ahead you plan. If you plan ahead, you can create a very basic outline of what the park contains. What coaster types, what flat rides, and scenery. Refine the plan whenever required. Pretty soon, you'll be setting up some ground rules for yourself.

Practice:
Try making a few small parks with a coaster or two. Nothing really spectacular. But just enough to give you the training you need to visually place attractions and space around the attractions. Start with a 100x park, and just start in the middle and work your way out to the edge. This puts your park in the center of the template, and leaves any unused portion outside. Which is good, if you ever decide to expand.

Trust your feelings:
Only you have an idea to what you want as far as the added space you desire. It won't happen overnight, but eventually, you'll become a better judge of how much space you want between attractions.

Design & Save Coaster Tracks:
Nothing's worse than having to move a coaster. But wouldn't it be great to move a coaster like you would a flat ride? Save the track designs, and you can place the coaster exactly where you need it. Save tracks and you can reposition a track if things get too tight.

Take the Time:
A lot of people rush things, then they run into problems. Take as long as you want, to develop a coaster or an attraction. There is no deadline to complete the park. It's not a competition. Relax, take the time you need to create something good. Some park makers take months to create a decent park. So there is no need to rush through something if it's going to be good.

Take a look at what's out there:
Check out parks that other's have created. How much space is between attractions? Is there too much or too little space? I'd find a park with what you think is the proper space allotment. Then refine your technique. "Technique" is a set of rules that you have that guide you while building parks. It's an ongoing everchanging set of rules that you've establish for your own abilities. As your knowledge increases, so does your Technique Rules. A good example of technique rules are...

Never building paths or create areas of a path larger than 4x4. Never lay path flat upon the water.

Always create a body of water that has slopes to the water's edge. Never bring the water right up to the surrounding ground level.

All exterior walls of a structure are placed on the inside edge of the tile.

Poke all ducks, pop all balloons, Drown all angry peeps.

Edited by Wolfman, 11 June 2008 - 05:09 PM.

[wabigbear]

I'm afraid I've broken every single one of your 'Technique Rules" Wolfman...well, except drowning all angry peeps, but then that's just plain fun. LOL!

[ClockworkMyr]

And cruel, don't ever forget cruel. =V

[Wolfman]

I'm afraid I've broken every single one of your 'Technique Rules" Wolfman...well, except drowning all angry peeps, but then that's just plain fun. LOL!

>sigh<
Like I care if you follow my general park building rules. I'm not the RCT Police. And it's not like I wanna be either.

But I have seen my share of DLed parks that are... shall we say, "Never got past the planning stages,
but built anyway"? Same thing for a lot of the coasters I've seen in the past 10 years or so.

Besides, those were just a few of my guideline rules to parkbuilding. I mentioned those because they
seem to be the most common among parkbuilders. However, it's tough to try and figure out just how
space is used in RCT. The only thing to do is to keep building with the new "rule" that space is needed
throughout the park and how to strike that balance that makes a pleasing effect.

Thing is about space in RCT. There has to be something there to fill it.

[rcthelp]

<snip>Design & Save Coaster Tracks:
Nothing's worse than having to move a coaster. But wouldn't it be great to move a coaster like you would a flat ride? Save the track designs, and you can place the coaster exactly where you need it. Save tracks and you can reposition a track if things get too tight.

After you save it, then find it won't 'fit' in the new place because the landscape is slightly different, upload it to our Ridex, then download what you uploaded. That way you get a free set of step-by-step build instructions, and we get another ride in our Exchange!

Take the Time:
A lot of people rush things, then they run into problems. Take as long as you want, to develop a coaster or an attraction. There is no deadline to complete the park. It's not a competition. Relax, take the time you need to create something good. Some park makers take months to create a decent park. So there is no need to rush through something if it's going to be good.
<snip>

Actually, in the context of the original question, there IS a deadline, because this guy is playing scenarios.

[Wolfman]

Scenarios? What's THAT??
I've been in sandbox mode since I beat RCT 1.


I must of missed that part.
Still...
Experience will give you the ability to work out the space issue.
In a scenario, nobody really cares, because their penny-pinching &
nickel & diming the scenario to save money. So this tends to make
paths shorter, and thusly, makes everything closer together.

All I can say is try and figure out how to make as much money as possible,
as quickly as possible. This will give you the needed money to spread things out.

I'd put photo ops along the tracks of coasters, Set up prices for rides that will keep
people riding the flats. Simple diminish the admission price for rides. Eventually...
you'll get to the point where the ride costs more to operate, than it brings in.
At that time, remove the ride, and replace it with something that takes
up the same space. Like, replace a Scrambled eggs with another ride of
the same size. You can always bring a new scrambled eggs somewhere else
down the line.

Build smaller coasters. This will save & make money, faster...
Because the ride is short, and it'll have more patrons per hour,
thusly, more money is made. Not shelling out for huge coasters
is a great space saver, and saves $$$. Just put a few inversions in
the track designs. I know I don't have to remind you this, but the
peeps?? Their not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

They don't seem know that a small exciting coaster is just as good as a large & exciting coaster.
This is why I think it's best to keep them small, and only a few inversions. A coaster only has a few
inversion types. So it makes sense to ensure that the coasters don't duplicate the same inversions
between them. This will make them individualistic. Not carbon-copies of the one they just rode.

Let me know if you want a few small custom tracks. I'm pretty good at creating smaller coasters.
I'll be happy to share whatever I got. I have a coaster park that just has my best small coasters in it.
Just a saved game file. Flat land, and a LOT of different tracks. I must have about 20 to 30 in a single file.
It may have a few water ride tracks too.

One other thing...
More money is made when the peeps stay in the park longer. I discovered back in Diamond Heights, that
if you work on the scenery, (flowers, trees and structures etc.) The peeps tend to stick around longer and
spend more money. Diamond Heights was all about Park Values, than making a quota on peep numbers, or
making a cirtain amount of money or ticket sales by a deadline. DH really made me look at how I build parks.
DH made me see that the scenery is just as important as the rides. I started to get a real technique/style going
while in DH. Much of what I learned and discovered, I STILL use today in RCT 2 & 3.

[CleoSombra]

Scenarios? What's THAT??
I've been in sandbox mode since I beat RCT 1.


I must of missed that part.
Still...

I cut out the post because I don't want to stretch the page. :3

But thanks for the help. It's all appreciated.
It's not that I have trouble pooling in money - I've found money making to be very easy in most of the scenarios (which, yes, I'm still on. ) While I look to finish the scenarios, I also want a park that is aesthetically pleasing. I try to make nice train rides or roller coasters, but I always end up squeezing them into little space as possible - leaving little room for creative scenery. "Space Conservative" is a perfect description for me right now. I also waste a lot of money on landscaping to lower hills and raise valleys to keep rides on the same (or nearly same) level so as not to waste space on creating complicated paths to reach them.

[Sherlock]

There is always the option to just win the scenario ugly as was suggested just to have the win and then take what you learned from that and go back. Another option is to screenshot the park at start and print it out (or just sketch the basics). Then you can sketch in lightly with pencil where you plan things for. One thing about your particular "problem" is that it has the advantage with coasters of having overlap potiential which has some nice advantages in some cases. I have to admit that I have yet to create what could be concidered a beautiful park in RCT1 or 2 though some day I might stumble upon a passable imitation of one.

Kudos to Wolfman on the nice answer. I didn't take the examples of technique rules as you being RCT police but rather as an example of how someone would set style guidelines for themselves and some examples from your own style that others can use or discard at their pleasure for their own parks. At least that was what I saw in it.