Fanclub Das Freakmagazin 1/FANCLUB1.ISO/losung/themeprk.txt

Text File | 1996-05-13 | 21KB | 413 lines

~Theme Park

~A complete selection of hints and tip  -  By Simon Burrows

(Also check out the hints given for the CD version of the game)

Well I've done it again folks!  After the successes with Populous
2, UFO: Enemy Unknown, Simcity 2000 and many more, here's my huge
collection of  tips covering  all you  need to know in the latest
craze: Bullfrog's Theme Park.


~                      *             *             *


~PART ONE - RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING

A newcomer  to any game like this will often find it difficult to
get into  it at  the start, so Bullfrog's inclusion of a tutorial
really helps  things.  I recommend the first destination for such
a beginner  should be  this tutorial, as it gives you information
about the  basic elements  of the  game such  as rides and paths,
followed by  showing you  all about a fully working theme park as
well.   These two put together should really put you in the know,
and, what's  more, the fully working park can be studied and used
as a base for your first park!


~PART TWO - YOUR FIRST PARK

After viewing  the tutorial  you will  obviously be ready to make
your first  park.  The main thing to remember at this early stage
is that you musn't try to build anything too big otherwise you're
in for  quick financial  ruin.   Instead, start  small  and  very
basic.   Perhaps only a circle of path, a couple of rides, a shop
and a  stall. This  may seem crap, but at least you will get some
punters and you can't lose too much in one go.

As soon  as you get to the main park-designing screen, you should
reduce the  game speed  to a  minimum, allowing you to build up a
few things  without losing  too much  time.   This gives  you the
chance to  get a few rides in place straight away, and throughout
the time  you're park's open it allows you to deal with incidents
without them getting too out-of-hand.

Another thing  to remember  is that  mistakes are  far better put
right than  left and  prayed for.  The main example of this would
be the  incorrect positioning  of a ride.  It's far better to re-
position these  than  to  leave  them  because,  especially  when
talking about  major rides,  being incorrectly placed can lead to
less attention  by the mechanics which leads to things blowing up
in your face.

One thing  that you  must do,  of course, is to open your park as
soon as  you have  something there because even if the outcome is
very small, you are still likely to get some profit from the gate
which will help future developments.

During the  whole game  you must  remember that  the happiness of
your visitors is the most important thing of all.  Unfortunately,
these people  are really  hard to please, so, to keep them happy,
you must  really listen  to what  they say  and act upon it.  For
example, if  you find many people complaining about the cost of a
particular stall, then lowering the cost is important.

In terms of research, I recommend you split your time between all
of the  options (rides,  staff training, larger warehouses, etc.)
You may  think that  researching rides  all  the  time  would  be
better, but  actually, this  can be  very expensive. Besides, you
need the other things as well to keep a successful park.


~PART THREE - RIDES

Of course,  in this game money is very important.  Unfortunately,
getting money  is not  the  easiest  thing  to  do.    Obviously,
improving your park with cool rides is the best way of attracting
punters which  will, in  turn, produce  more capital.   The first
thing to  remember is that all new rides should be bought because
keeping ahead of the competition and improving things to keep the
punters coming in is the best way to success.

Remember that  you must  get a  variety of  rides in your park to
make it  more successful.  Try to get at least one from each type
of ride,  and, if  you want more than one of each type, make sure
they are put at opposite ends of the park to avoid overkill.  One
really big, star ride is good, but beware of the long queues that
this will produce.

You must  also be  aware of  ride's condition.   As soon as rides
begin to  get old  they will  begin to  break down  more and more
often and  soon they  will be  less than cost effective, shall we
say.  Instead, I suggest that these older rides should be sold-on
as soon  as they  begin to  deteriorate.  This will also have the
plus-point of  piling less  work onto  your mechanics,  which, as
well as making them happier, will give them more time to keep all
your newer rides up to scratch.

To make  sure you  have a  steady supply of new rides you need to
make sure  that you  research at every possible moment.  Later on
this will  give you  the 'Most  Advanced Park'  award because all
this research  is guaranteed to put you ahead of the competition.
Research is  good when  you've got  a good  park  on  your  hands
because you will need variety of rides to keep the punters happy;
but be  careful as  this can  be expensive  - if  you seem  to be
getting low on funds, reduce your reasearch level straight away.


~PART FOUR - BUILDING YOUR OWN ROLLER COASTER

This must  be one of the most fun things to do in a park but also
one of the most difficult.  At first there are the general rules.
Firstly, trains travel clockwise  -  remember that.  Secondly, it
is easy  for punters  to be thrown from the trains as soon as you
have dangerous  corners of  whatever.   The main danger areas are
unflattened summits  to hills  and corners  on, or  just after  a
slope or hill.

When you  decide to  make a  roller coaster,  follow these simple
rules:   First of  all, start  your track off with an oval.  Make
the track  that goes  left-right on  your screen  longer than the
top-bottom parts  because these  top-bottom bits  can't really be
raised otherwise  you won't  be able to see what's being going on
behind.

After you've  got  this  done,  start  making  some  hills,  with
flattened tops,  but make  sure you  don't make the 'up' bits too
steep otherwise the trains will really struggle up them.  You may
also make  loops or  leave room  for loops  to be added later on.
Now make  sure the  hills aren't too near the bends, or dangerous
in any  other way,  before allowing  the punters on it to try the
new design out!


~PART FIVE - SHOPS

As well as having plenty of rides to haul in the punters in order
to gain  capital, shops can also be a major source of cash.  They
have both  advantages and drawbacks and are a must in an aspiring
designer's park.

The advantages are obvious.  Firstly, as I've said, they can make
a lot  of money if positioned well.  In addition, they will serve
to keep  your punters  happy by  piling them  full of cakes, ice-
creams and burgers and making them generally happy-spenders!

The draw-backs  are plentiful  but don't necessarily outweigh the
advantages if you plan properly.  Firstly, all this fast-food and
ices can  cause a real litter problem.  As this litter builds up,
popularity will  decline and you'll soon see cash-flow disappear.
Instead, hire  plenty of  handy-men to clear up the problem.  The
alternative, of  course, would  be to  only have  shops like  the
coffee bars which control their own litter by providing their own
bins, however,  this source  of refreshment  is much less popular
than the cola so isn't the best option.

The other  main drawback  with shops is making sure that they are
always well  stocked-up; though, of course, not if you're playing
in 'sand-box'  mode!   If you  don't manage  to  keep  the  shops
stocked, you'll  soon notice  the losses  in sales  and this is a
real waste  of resources.   Instead, keep a tab on all your shops
and re-order  'merchandise' as  soon as  they begin  to run  low.
This is  a lot  better than waiting for an adviser to tell you of
the problem because, by then, it will be too late and by the time
new goods  have arrived, the shop will have been empty and losing
custom for some time.

If this  arises, make  sure you  immediately re-order to minimise
damage.   After a while, the more conscientious players among you
will begin  to learn  the patterns of time taken for each shop to
run its  stock down,  so allowing  you to re-order at predictable
intervals and save undue worry.  In fact, it's often best to have
new stock  on order  all the  time -  you can  always re-order to
delay unwanted goods.

If you  get bored  with all  this stock-taking  business then the
simple answer  is to  research larger warehouses which reduce the
number of  times you  need  to  re-stock.    Beware,  though,  as
research costs  a lot,  and it  may not be worth it unless you're
doing really well.

When positioning the food shops, take into consideration the fact
that if they're put near to the entrances of fast or scary rides,
customers  are  likely to throw-up when  they get off.  This will
make  more mess  for your handymen  to  clear up.  This, in turn,
means  either  recruiting  more  of them, or suffering from  more
as they get over-worked.

The positioning  of shops  is important and so is what you put in
them.   Little tricks like increasing the amount of sugar in ice-
cream to  make kids  want more, adding caffeine to coffee to make
the drinkers  speed up  a little,  and adding  salt to chips then
putting a  coke stall  next door will all help, and make you feel
more devious too!!

You can  also be  quite devious  with the locating of gift shops.
If they  are to  make a  good profit  then you  need really happy
punters passing  them and  to get this you need to put them where
the happiest  punters are.   This  is simply  a matter of putting
them at  the exits  to your  really cool  rides like  the roller-
coaster and  the rubber  tubing.   You may  also consider selling
balloons by  the entrance  'cos you'll catch the happy ones there
as well.


~PART SIX - STALLS

Stalls are  another way  of generating some pennies although they
aren't usually  quite as good as shops.  However, if you weigh up
their advantages, you can see how good they can be.

Their first  advantage has to be that they will produce no litter
'cos they're  not actually selling products - this helps cut down
on annoying  handyman costs.   Also,  they take  up little  space
allowing you  to slot  them in  between the  rides to make use of
every space.   Further  advantages include  keeping  the  punters
happy and  making the  park look  better on  your screen  (if you
like the odd coconut shy, that is!!!)

The main  disadvantage is  that  they  will  often  make  punters
unhappy as  well.   Your visitors  will soon get cheesed off with
you if they think they're being fiddled with the cost compared to
prize value. I recommend you make each stall cost little to play,
have a  small(ish) prize-value,  and a modest chance of winning -
that's usually the best formula for success.


~PART SEVEN - GENERAL FINANCE RULES

Dealing with money can be the most boring part of running a theme
park and  it certainly  makes sure  you're pressed  for time  for
spending on  making good  rides.   The first thing to remember is
that because  you're in  control of  your park,  buying your  own
shares is  a good idea.  Doing this means that as your park grows
and becomes more successful the share prices will increase and if
money gets tight you will have them to fall back on.

Another factor  of money is your entrance fee.  Because all rides
are free  once your  punters have gone in, you can afford to make
this quite  high although  you should  only put  it  at  a  price
comparable to  the amount  and quality  of rides  you have.  As a
general rule, keep the price low at the start to drag the punters
in, then  increase it a little each time you get a new ride.  You
should also look out for advide from your advisor as he will tell
you if he thinks the entrance price is too high or too low.


~PART EIGHT - 'FILL-INS'

The importance  of these  can be  underestimated dramatically  on
many parks,  where the cost of planting trees, building lakes, or
constructing fences is not budgeted for.  However, these features
will greatly  enhance the  appeal of  your park  and, as  well as
helping you  to win awards, they will make punters more likely to
come to  your park, and keep them happy while they're there.  For
fun, why not try combining trees and lakes with the 'track' rides
(roller-coasters, rubber-tubing  etc.,) to make things look nicer
as they go round, and scare your punters silly as they flash past
within inches of a tree!!


~PART NINE - STAFF

Employing staff  is obviously very important, and so is employing
the right  amount of labour to cover each job that needs doing in
your park.   There are four different types of staff available to
take on and here is a brief guide to each one :-

~Handymen
These are  vitally important  in keeping  down litter.   In fact,
because of  the negative  effect litter has, as soon as it starts
appearing it  should be  dealt with  by employing  some of  these
handymen.   Just  remember  to  look  after  the  newer  handymen
because, stupid  as it  may seem,  they can  get really  lost  if
you've got  a more complicated layout and miss important areas of
the park.   If this begins to happen, use the waypoint navigation
system on  the icon  bar to control their movements.  If you find
any spare  handymen at any time, make sure you post these outside
shops because,  of course,  this is  where you'll  find the  most
litter appearing.   Hendymen are also needed to clear up the mess
that sick  punters make  after going on a really terrifying ride.
If you've got food stalls near to these sorts of rides, make sure
the handymen are on patrol right outside the exit!!

~Mechanics
Mechanics are just as important as handymen, if not more so.  You
MUST employ  one as  soon as  your  first  ride  shows  signs  of
breaking-down, and  after this,  as a  general rule, one mechanic
can look  after three  rides, less if they're big or old.  If you
have only  one mechanic  and more than one ride is breaking down,
send him along to the more important one straight away, and while
he's fixing  it, either  temporarily close the other down or hire
another mechanic  to deal  with the  problem.  Just remember that
rides exploding  is a  real disaster  and it's  well worth having
what you think is 'too many' mechanics to protect against this.

~Entertainers
These chaps  are useful  to have  but not vital.  They help cheer
people up  if things  aren't going  right for you're little guys,
and can  even hand out umbrellas if it starts to rain!!  The best
place for  them is  by ride  queues where  punters can  often get
exasperated at the long waits.

~Guards
These are  also important but only in some situations.  Their job
is to  escort thugs out of the premises but they can only do this
if they  see these  thugs doing  something wrong.   To  find  out
whether you've  got thug  problems: look  around the  entrance of
your park  to see  if there  are any nasty looking bikes or hard-
lookin'  geezers;   look  out  for  beaten-up  entertainers;  or,
alternatively, you  can look  out for an increase in ride-damage.
As soon  as you  see these  signs, hire plenty of guards and make
sure they  follow the thugs, just waiting for any trouble so they
can get  them out of the park.  If you actually see a thug around
your park,  use the  claw icon to 'escort' your guard near to the
man.   If you  want to  cut down  on damage,  make sure  you keep
entertainers away  from the  trouble spots!  Just remember, thugs
can ruin  a good  park so,  although they aren't the most regular
occurrence, be on your toes.


~PART TEN - PARK LAYOUT

Park layout  can be  a problem once you start thinking big, so be
careful.   A mass  of paths, queues, rides and stalls can confuse
punters so  make sure  that you  keep everything well signposted.
Signposts are  also a  good way  of influencing  the movements of
punters because  if you  signpost a popular ride it's likely that
nearly EVERYBODY will use it, not just the few that find it.

Another thing  to signpost is the exit so that unhappy people can
leave without  making mischief  elsewhere.  You  may  think  that
keeping as  many  people  in  the  park  is  a  good  thing,  but
dissatisfied customers  are very  unlikely to spend any money and
more likely  to worsen  crowding problems  in the  area and  make
others unhappy too.

At the  start of your park you will only be able to get the basic
rides and  these will  probably  be  placed  near  the  entrance.
However, later  on, as  the rides get better, you will still need
the best  ones near  the gate  to make  a good impression.  Think
about placing  the star  attractions in  place of the dated stuff
and moving this nearer the back of the park.

One thing to remember when laying out a park is that you may wish
to change  the position  of the entrances and exits at some time.
Because of this, the positioning of rides all around one area can
sometimes limit things later on.

One good  layout I've found is the one where punters basically go
down one  straight path  with rides going off on both sides.  The
entrances to  the rides  are round the back and accessed by small
queues going  off the main path, and the exits join straight onto
the main path.  Opposite these exits the punters will immediately
see the entrance queue for the next ride on the other side of the
path, which, in-turn, leads to another ride, and so on.  This, in
basic terms, leaves every punter going down the path, zig-zagging
their way to every ride and staying happy the whole time.

Another thing  you need  to think  about whilst  laying down your
park is  distances between rides.  Punters won't be happy if they
have to  walk a  long way  between any attractions so try to pack
things in whilst still making the  place look good with the trees
and stuff.  Try  to get a  good  spread of  both: fill-ins,  and,
short  distances.   Of course, because  they don't  like walking,
they won't walk, and this means things at the back  of your  park
will invariably be unused.  Because of this, stick the  old stuff
there and don't put stalls and  shops there  at all unless you've
got good money to burn.

Another layout  you may  like to  use is  a one-way  system where
punters are  advised to  travel around  the park  in a circle and
would find  it difficult  to do  it in any other way. This allows
you to  control where  your visitors  go  (just about)  which, in
turn, allows you to put things in the right order to keep them as
happy as  possible.  You will also be able to forego the need for
signposts because  there will  be few  or no  junctions.  The two
main problems are:  one, punters may get unhappy if the park gets
busy because  this particular  layout leads to blocked paths; and
two, they  will find it difficult to go back to a ride because of
the system, so might get unhappy if they miss a star attraction.

One last  thing you  may think  about is  the  possibility  of  a
monorail later  on.    This  requires  space  just  the  same  as
everything else,  so even  if you don't plan on having one in the
near future,  it's always  worth leaving a gap all the way around
your park for better days.


~PART ELEVEN - AWARDS

At the  end of  each year,  as well  as being  shown an  array of
statistics about  the last  twelve months,  you will  be up for a
variety of  awards concentrating  on differing aspects of a basic
theme park.   Each  of these  awards is for an elite park so it's
nearly impossible  to win more than one award each year.  Because
of this, I suggest you concentrate on one award each year because
you can  then use  the prize  money from that to help try and win
another award  next year,  and so on.  The awards ARE worth going
for, of  course, because  they will  improve your  reputation and
bring in more punters, not forgetting their effect on your ego!!


That should take you from a dopey lamer to a high-class
entrepreneur in no time at all, hee hee.


I thank you.....

~                             =============
~                             SIMON BURROWS
~                             =============