Rollercoaster Tycoon, the beloved theme park sim series that started it all. Build, design, ride and manage your very own theme park.
- Mar 27, 2012 You could spend the money on rides that are missing from the real park. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 comes with six additional parks, which are all based on the previous Six Flags scenarios.
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Beverley P is stuck in a maze. She's spent the last 50 years toiling away near its entrance. Starving, thirsty and exhausted, Beverley ekes out a desperate, endless existence, alone and without hope. If she were able to talk, she might whisper: 'kill me'.
Regina F. managed to make it past Checkpoint 1, and is currently circling Checkpoint 2. 47 years after she began her journey through the maze, there is a sliver of hope that she may find the exit. But she still has a long way to go; there are five checkpoints in total. Miserable, exhausted and desperate for a drink, Regina soldiers on. Maybe, in another 50 years, she'll have reached the half-way point.
Is this the most evil RollerCoaster Tycoon creation ever? Probably.
It is the brainchild of a particularly mischievous fan who created a park that's home to just one attraction: a massive maze - and let 16 AI guests inside to see if they could find their way to the exit.
Over the course of 50 in-game years, none of the guests have managed to make it out the maze. In fact, some seem stuck in endless loops, destined to toil away forever in a virtual purgatory.
Just A Walk In The Park is the work of 'RogueLeader23', a 28-year-old from the east coast of America who recently got stuck into the excellent mobile game RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic. He tells me he used to draw mazes to pass the time as a child, and the name of his park was inspired by Jurassic Park 'and how it relates by going through hell to escape'.
A couple of years ago, after downloading RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 from Steam, RogueLeader23 had the idea to construct a maze to see how long it would take for a basic, 15-year-old AI to successfully navigate. 'There was no cruelty involved, as every guest who entered the queue (maybe?) knew what they were up against,' he says.
But the devilish plan was shelved as real-life took over. It only became a reality after RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic came out in December 2016. Classic is a mix of RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 and 2 - the brilliant originals designed by Chris Sawyer - ported to iOS platforms. 'The idea again immediately surfaced and I began making plans to construct a maze that fit just about the entire park.'
What resulted was 'an abusive, 14 hour project', RogueLeader23 says.
The maze was created with the ultimate goal of directing one unlucky maze-goer through the entire park. Checkpoints were incorporated just as a way to keep track of the progress of the guests. It took 20 in-game years of cutting through a massive hedge to build Just A Walk In The Park. It is as enormous as it is complex. To give you an idea of just how enormous and complex, 36 pathways become available at Checkpoint 1 alone.
'The only design challenge when creating a maze is to always remember to keep a route open,' RogueLeader23 explains. 'If you close off every route, your maze cannot be completed. And, when near completion (especially with RCT), keep track of where you're building. One slip up could mean that your long and windy route to the finish is countered with an unexpected 'shortcut' you were unaware of.'
The experiment began with the injection into the maze of just one AI guest, to see how long they'd take to fully navigate it. The first guest to walk through the entrance to Just A Walk In The Park was Beverley P. RogueLeader23 observed her behaviour, using the mobile version of the game's accelerate time option to speed up proceedings.
'At first, my findings were that the AI chose a completely random direction to take at every intersection,' he explains. 'Bev had 'decided' to wander close to the entrance after two in-game years, so I decided to open the flood gates and let an additional 15 guests in.
These additional guests seemed to behave according to RogueLeader23's 'random direction' theory until, about 15 in-game years later, a couple of guests made it to the first checkpoint. This sparked a thought:
'Now, it could definitely be a correct number of random choices that brought them there, but once the guest Regina F. made it all the way to checkpoint two, leaving most of the other guests in the dust, I either thought it was a huge random guess that was made correctly, or something else was up.'
Was something up? RogueLeader23 struck upon a theory.
'Anyone who's played the Rollercoaster Tycoon series is aware that every guest has a certain preferred ride intensity. In order to please every guest in your park, it's necessary to include both your 'merry-go-round' and your 'I think I might die' rides.
'Allow me to use our sweet Beverley P. and Regina F. as examples. Beverley has a tolerance and preference for more intense rides. She came looking for rollercoasters, but she all got was a lousy hedge maze. She continues to linger around the entrance, possibly hoping someone will let her back into reality.
'On the flip-side, Regina came looking for less-intense rides. Hedge mazes are clearly her specialty, as she's already navigated to the second checkpoint.'
But are hedge mazes really Regina's speciality?
The hedge maze in Rollercoaster Tycoon is the only ride a player can build that allows guests to navigate themselves. Would the developers have taken the time to code the AI with less-intense ride preferences just to navigate mazes easier? RogueLeader23 doubted this was the case, but remained curious.
He checked the preferences of the other 14 maze challengers, and, it turned out, those who had a preference for more intense rides were trapped closer to the start of the maze, and the guests with a less intense preference were able to work their way through it.
The question was, could this all be a coincidence? Could it be an unexpected byproduct of the AI's programming, something even the developers were unaware of?
Whatever the case, the guests cannot simply give up and disappear from the maze. Unable to die, they are trapped in a kind of virtual theme park purgatory until they reach the end. While their hunger and thirst levels can drop to minimal levels, and they do show signs of fatigue (although, curiously enough, the guests all have steel bladders), they must soldier on - theoretically forever.
It's not all doom and gloom. A total of 3857 umbrellas have been sold since the park opened, and the information kiosk at the entrance has seen a total of 20,039 guests come through (although only 16 guests were allowed in the maze itself, with over 200 crammed into the queue). In order to accommodate guests further, the park has added a delicious seafood stall, accompanied by a hot chocolate stand. 'A delightful combo for guests during those hazy summer days,' RogueLeader23 says.
RogueLeader23's Just A Walk In The Park experiment is now at year 70. Essentially, every guest is only able to crawl around, so exhausted are they by their unending plight. Their only chance to get out is if the player pulls the plug by closing and editing the ride. This would trigger a purge, forcing every guest to the exit.
Or, the guests could succeed by reaching the exit.
So, what will RogueLeader23 do? Will he put his guests out of their misery?
'I am a man of science,' he says, 'and I must see the experiment until the end. So reaching the exit is their only chance of hope.'
At the time of publication, Regina F. is closest to escape, but she's really not that close. She's been in the maze a total of 48 real world hours, or 47 years of in-game time. Currently, she has been circling around Checkpoint 2, possibly checking off every wrong route she follows. There are five checkpoints in total.
As for poor Beverley P, she's still wandering close to the start of the maze, some 50 years after she began her journey. 'We assume Beverley has lost all hope as she circles around the same familiar pathways,' RogueLeader23 says. But her effort has not gone unnoticed. A Walk In The Park has designated a month every year to sell yellow umbrellas as a tribute to Beverley being the first and most likely oldest guest in the hedge maze.
'I believe, with enough time, someone will successfully navigate the maze,' RogueLeader23 says.
'I honestly couldn't tell you how many routes there are to take throughout the maze or the chances of succeeding (a Reddit user said the chances were quite astronomical), but I will keep the internet updated every 25-ish in-game years on the progress of our maze challengers (about every week).'
While we wait for a year 100 update (previous updates can be found on Imgur here and here), I thought I'd check in with Chris Sawyer, creator of RollerCoaster Tycoon, to see what he thought of RogueLeader23's handywork. In short, he was impressed.
'Just when you think you've seen everything in RollerCoaster Tycoon something comes along like RogueLeader23's jaw-dropping maze spanning an entire park,' he told me, over email.
'I'm not sure what I admire most, the amount of patience and dedication needed to design and build this massive maze or the trudging determination of the poor little guests exhausted from years of desperatelyand hopelessly trying to find their way out.'
(I also asked Sawyer about the RollerCoaster Tycoon AI programming, in a bid to shed some light on how it operates in a maze, but he declined to comment.)
As for RogueLeader23, once - if - a guest reaches the fifth and final checkpoint, he plans to stream RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic on Twitch. The problem is, he doesn't know when that will happen. It could be anything from a week to five years from now.
'It's all up to Beverley P., Regina F. and the other 14 guests who thought they'd be taking Just a Walk in the Park..'
Walkthrough & Strategy Guide
Completing all 21 scenarios in Rollercoaster Tycoon requires serious amounts of practice. This strategy guide offers tips on how to build bowel-shaking rollercoasters, as well as more general hints on the day-to-day management of your would-be Alton Towers. Finally, there's a brief walkthrough of each scenario to put you firmly on the right track. Let's roll..
Building A Successful Rollercoaster
Building intense, exciting, non-nausea-inducing rollercoasters is the Holy Grail of theme park design. To achieve this golden aim you need to learn how to manage G-force.
Finding The G-Spot
While standing motionless, you are experiencing 1G. That means if you weigh 12 stone, you weigh.. well, 12 stone. If you add speed and resistance to the equation, such as you dropping 100 feet at 70mph and shooting straight back up into an inverted loop, you are being subjected to a force greater than gravity. In fact you're probably pulling about four vertical Gs, which means you now weigh four times your usual weight. That's some force. And, as you'd expect, it hurts.
Generally speaking, in Rollercoaster Tycoon it's best not to exceed 4G too often -and especially negative Gs, which occur when cars come off a straight section of track and hit a bump at high speed, or plummet down a drop with too much initial velocity, which causes weightlessness. While it's extremely exciting for a brief moment, prolonged experience simply causes your guests to spew. If one of your coasters has a high negative G rating, sort it out immediately.
G-force also works laterally (side to side). (Are you sure about all this? - Science Ed.) If you design a ride that hits about 5G laterally, you're basically snapping necks. Overall, you want to keep your Gs to a level that's reasonably pleasant for people to experience. By all means give the punters a bit of a shock and a thrill, but excessive exposure to high Gs is the wrong way to do it.
Excitement
Exciting rides are not necessarily fast, nor do they have loads of twists, loops and turns. A high rating in the 'exciting' category usually comes from building a ride that goes over water, through tunnels, past themed scenery or close to another attraction. For example, a section that dives into a tunnel after a sharp drop, emerges into bright sunlight, performs a sharp 90-degree banked turn and darts back into the darkness rates highly on the excitement scale, but doesn't make the passengers vomit.
Also, build uphill sections of track so that cars have just enough momentum to get up and over. If passengers think they're not going to make it, and are going to plummet backwards down the track, they become even more excited. Indeed, later add-ons enable you to do just that, but to do it safely. But beware: going too fast backwards is likely to be messy.
To keep the interest factor high on slower sections of track (usually near the end), use banked helix turns. This type of curve maintains speed, and gives the rider the impression of speed.
Intensity
The trick is to study the graph when you first test a ride. Look at the places with high and sudden G-forces, then smooth them out. Inserting banked corners - or, God forbid, even brakes - can usually do this. Above all, make sure the car doesn't come into the station too fast. Coming out of the last turn at 50mph and then suddenly braking to Omph in less than a second is pretty intense; unfortunately it's also the equivalent force of a fatal car accident. Sure, the guests want some intensity in their lives, but giving it to them like that is a sure way to make them leave the park completely -possibly in a body bag.
Nausea
Beginners usually find that most of their rollercoasters have high nausea ratings simply through a lack of understanding of rollercoaster dynamics and physics. Follow the guidelines outlined in the Excitement and Intensity sections above to reduce the nausea rating.
The Price Is Right
Never charge more than Pound-2 for any food or drink item, and try not to go above Pound-1 for a map, and Pound-3 for an umbrella. When it comes to rides, 50p for a gentle ride, Pound-1 for a thrill ride and Pound-2 for rollercoasters, go-carts, and water rides is about right. Try not to charge for the toilets, or transportation rides like the monorail. That's just greedy.
The admission price should start at about Pound-10 and increase gradually from there. Let's say that each attraction (including stalls) is worth Pound-1.50 on the entrance fee. This means that a park with ten attractions should charge Pound-15 quid, Pound-30 for 20 attractions, and so on. Basically you'll know if the price is right anyway, because your punters will no doubt squeal about it if they're unhappy.
Watch the animations of your guests. If they wander up to an attraction and leap backward in surprise with their eyes popping out of their head, something is wrong. Check out the price of your ride and put it right. On the other hand, if people come off a ride and jump with joy, then you know a ride's popular, so maybe jack up the price a little to maximise revenue.
Workforce And Patrol Zones
Always give your workers relatively small patrol zones, otherwise the good-for-nothing slackers just wander about aimlessly, reducing park efficiency. When you employ a handyman, order him not to water the gardens or mow the grass -it's a waste of time. Instead assign him to areas near ride exits, food and drink stalls and litter bins, and get him to sweep the pavement and empty the bins.
Mechanics should be given zones that cover maybe five or six rides. Inspections of the rollercoasters should take place every 20 minutes, and everything else every 30 minutes.
Not all parks need security patrols, but if you do require their services, position them around vandalism hot-spots such as benches and litter bins.
The Scenic Route
Try not to destroy ready-made scenery and themes; guests are absolute suckers for something that looks pretty. Try to add fountains, statues, lamps and other gadgets, which all go towards making a more scenic environment that people are less likely to leave. Most useful of all are themed rollercoasters and other rides. Not only do they look cool, they also actually increase the excitement factor of the ride.
Right On Queue
When you site an attraction, remember to leave enough room for a queuing area. Rollercoasters, go-carts and water-based rides tend to be among the most popular, and so need the longest queuing areas (7-10+ blocks), then it's thrill rides (4-6 blocks), and finally the gentle rides (2-3 blocks).
Even though it's fairly common practice at most real-life theme parks, in Rollercoaster Tycoon you don't actually need to queue at any of the refreshment stalls, so don't bother building queuing areas by them.Another thing: if a ride takes about two minutes, people are going to be queuing for longer than a ride that takes only ten seconds. Think about this and plan appropriately.
Occasionally guests complain about long queues. If this happens you can do one of two things: either extend the station platform (rollercoasters etc), or raise the price of the ride to scare a few people away. On the flip side, if a ride has no queues at all, reduce the price to attract people to it. It's usually the gentler rides that guests start to lose interest in, and if this happens just swallow your pride and keep reducing the price. Don't worry about making a loss, there are
The Path To Success
Rollercoaster Tycoon Real Parks For Sale
Pathways obviously enable guests to get from one part of the park to another, but they also serve as viewing platforms. Position your paths so that they meander tantalisingly near rollercoasters and other interesting-looking rides. Put a few benches down as well so that people can gaze at the ride while they eat their pizza or whatever. Dig some tunnels. Do anything humanly possible to make the pathway an attraction in itself.
Marketing Talk
If all else fails you can always spend a bit of extra cash on marketing campaigns, although generally speaking they are most effective at the start and end of a scenario. One cunning tactic you can use if you're short of guests with about six weeks to go is to have a massive blanket advertising campaign and entice revellers that way.
Scenarios In Brief
Because the tactics for the completion of each scenario are essentially the same, here's a quick walkthrough outlining the main points.
Forest Frontiers
Set the park entrance fee at around Pound-15. Go for the 'woodchip' rollercoaster and spread a selection of gentle and thrill rides around it. Employ a mechanic and two handymen to keep things ticking over. Only research ride improvements.
Dynamite Dunes
Increase entrance fee to Pound-20. Build a selection of rides around the initial rollercoaster. Employ four handymen and two mechanics to keep the park in shape. Finally, reduce the ride prices towards the end of the second year, and start some marketing campaigns to attract punters.
Leafy Lake
Build a pre-made rollercoaster near the entrance, and another on the other side of the lake. Pad out the rest of the park with a varied selection of gentle and thrill rides. Security is needed, as well as some handymen and mechanics.
Diamond Heights
Hire three mechanics, two security guards and about five handymen. Build an information kiosk, food and drink stalls and some toilets near the entrance. Introduce some gentler rides and a few thrill ones. Start a marketing campaign for the new attractions, then sit back.
Evergreen Gardens
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Research stalls early so you can get the information kiosk, otherwise your guests will become lost. There's loads of room available, so spread your rides around the park; position them between scenic areas so guests have exciting walks. Build a steam train or monorail to help guests get around the park. Flatten the land, and add minor rides along the existing pathways. When you can, build a wooden rollercoaster somewhere in the middle of the islands. Advertise it and the punters should start flooding in. Raise the admission fee to Pound-20. Create more land. Add new rides.
Katie's Dreamland
Rollercoaster Tycoon Games
Set the admission price at Pound-20 for some quick cash. Get your guests eating food, and hire more mechanics. Raise the price of Runaway Plumber to Pound-3. Research thrill rides and place them in the area just outside the rollercoaster.
Pokey Park
Demolish the Twister in the corner and replace it with a wooden rollercoaster. Raise the admission price Pound-10. Gradually replace all the rides with more exciting ones, and aim for another rollercoaster to finish off.
White Water Park
Research nothing but thrill rides, and add them to the vast array of water-based outings. There's loads of room for expansion, so try to get in a coaster or two. Add two clusters of refreshment stalls - one near the entrance and one near the log flumes.
Millennium Mines
At first the only thing in this massive mine area is the train. Add another station towards the far side of the mines, then start adding a selection of rides around the two stations. Aim for about 30 attractions, and make use of the underground.
Karts & Coasters
One mechanic in this place? That's a joke. Hire another one, and assign them to two rides each for now. Clear away some trees and add some thrill rides -keep this park for the hard-core adrenalin addicts only.
Mel's World
There's nothing really too abnormal about this scenario apart from the vast number of people you have to entice in. Basically, work faster than usual and add a few gentler rides to appeal to families.
Mystic Mountain
Ultimately you want to set up a meaty mine car rollercoaster around the original scenery on the mountain. There's loads of room for park expansion, and this should enable you to create some hugely enjoyable rides.
Pacific Pyramids
Another one to build from scratch, but yet again there's acres of room for expansion. Wrap some tracks around the sphinx for added effect, and also expand upon the existing underground tunnel system.
Crumbly Woods
Not long after you begin, Double Trouble crashes, and soon other rides meet the same fate. Hire an army of mechanics to keep the old attractions going while you build new ones. Add themes wherever possible to attract the 1200 visitors you need.
Paradise Pier
Don't worry about the lack of land, you can build wherever you want. There's loads of space for everything, so go for some huge rollercoasters. Be careful with your money though - building on water is more expensive than building on land.
Roller Coaster Tycoon Real Parks
Lightning Peaks
There's scope for some giant drops and intense underground rides here. Concentrate your attractions around the top of the three peaks and include refreshment stalls and other vital amenities. The main problem here is rain, so build plenty of information kiosks where your visitors can buy umbrellas.
Rainbow Valley
The local authorities won't allow you to demolish trees or change the landscape, so tread carefully. Go underground or high above ground. Alternatively, build in the water - there's enough of it.
ThunderRock
Rollercoaster Tycoon Pc
A great place for a mixture of open-air and underground rides. Stick all the thrill and gentle rides around the base and on top of the rock. Build the rollercoasters inside, and clinging to the outside walls.