Staff StaffEach of the 4 staff types can be assigned patrol areas. Different staff members patrol areas may overlap if desired. Each patrol area is a 4x4 grid, and should be adjacent to the same staff members other patrol areas (so the staff member can travel between all his assigned areas). It is good practice to keep the patrol area below six grids when only a single contiguous path passes through the grids. If more paths are within the patrol area (don't forget that ride entrance queues are also a paths), reduce the number of patrol grids. Note that staff members always ignore "No Entry" signs. Staff that sticks to paths that have also been assigned patrols will not enter adjacent paths within their patrol area if the connection between the adjacent paths falls outside their assigned patrol area (this could be used to your advantage if you have multiple staff overlapping the same grid).
Note that adding staff could be problematic in a crowded park. This is because there can only be 10,000 individual "sprites" (guests + staff), and so you may have to wait until a guest leaves (or dies) in order to add an additional staff member. Also always keep in mind that each staff member has to be paid at the end of the month, and with large amounts of staff, it is easy to wipe out your treasury.
Cost = $35 per month
Uniform = (Red) Color can be changed
Assignable Tasks = Sweep Footpaths, Water Gardens, Empty Litter Bins, Mow Grass
Water Gardens may not be necessary if the park is very rainy.
Note that any Handyman that does not mow grass (mowed grass makes [NOT TESTED] no difference to guests over un-mowed grass) will almost always stay on paths like guests. Be careful however if you use paths as roofing tiles. If these roofing tiles fall within the Handymans patrol area, the Handyman may jump up on the roof and get stuck there (you have to use your pincers to put them back on the real path, or the real path will never get cleaned, because he never jumps back down)! Also keep in mind that if the Handyman always stays on a path, he may not be able to reach some of your gardens.
If the Handyman is given lots of work (lots of gardens to water, trash to sweep, or vomit to clean), keep the patrol area very small. Note that if a Handyman is allowed to mow grass along with other tasks, he will often focus too much on mowing to the detriment of his other tasks. It is best therefore to make certain Handymen just mowers (or mower-waterers) and never assign mowing duties to your trash collecting and sweeping Handymen.
It appears that vomit does not occur in tunnels, so these areas may not have to be patrolled as much (remember that chance of vandalism is directly related to the concentration of litter/vomit on the ground). Also the food shops of Cotton Candy and Icecream do not produce litter.
Cost = $55 per month
Uniform = (Blue) Color can be changed
Assignable Tasks = Inspect Rides, Fix Rides
Note that a mechanic must have access to the EXIT of a ride to make inspections/repairs.
It is a good idea to assign one mechanic to each roller coaster (place him on a single patrol square that covers the station exit building and first path square leading from the exit) and set the rides maintenance schedule to 10 minutes. Adjust the roller coasters exit paths accordingly if the Mechanics patrol square would overlap another ride (for non-roller coaster rides, it may actually be good economics to have two rides overlapping a single patrol square to be serviced by the same mechanic).
Mechanics (not necessarily the same one) should have access to every station on a multi-station ride.
Mechanics are never required for Miniature Golf.
Cost = $45 per month
Uniform = (Yellow) Color can be changed
Vandals will not cause vandalism if within [NOT TESTED] 3 squares of a Security Guard. It has not yet been tested whether not having any Security Guards may affect the games algorithm, so it is good practice to hire one roving Security Guard just in case (and besides, there is a random chance he may be in the right place to deter some vandal).
Vandals only damage benches, garbage cans, and lights, so if you have these items consentrated in only one area, it would be a good idea to have your Security Guard put on a patrol covering just that area.
It appears that vandalism does not occur in tunnels, so these areas may not have to be patrolled as much (remember that chance of vandalism is directly related to the concentration of litter/vomit on the ground).
Note that the 'Safest Park' award refers to ride maintenance and reliability, not security.
Cost = $40 per month
Normal Costume = Panda, Tiger, Elephant
Theme Costume = Roman, Gorilla, Snowman, Knight, Astronaut
Have Entertainers patrol the end (closest to ride entrance building) section of long queue lines (lines over 9 minutes) to keep guests from complaining about the wait and to increase the time before guests leave a long queue in disgust. Also have Entertainers patrol long walkways without rides and areas of high trash/vomit potential to divert guests from making negative comments.
An Entertainer set to a single patrol square in front of the park entrance can help to boost the pleasure of guests both entering and leaving the park.
Marketing Campaigns (2-6 weeks)Coupons for Free Entry to the park = $50 per week
Coupons for Free Rides on a particular ride = $50 per week
Coupons for Half-Price Entry to the park = $50 per week
Coupons for Free Food or Drink = $50 per week
Advertising Campaign for the park = $350 per week
Advertising Campaign for a particular ride = $200 per week
Note that the amount of your loan will directly affect your Company Value (a lower loan is better).
Research & DevelopmentResearch Funding choices; No Funding @ $0 per month, Minimum Funding @ $100 per month, Normal Funding @ $200 per month, Maximum Funding @ $400 per month.
Research Priorities; Roller Coasters, Thrill Rides, Gentle (& Transport) Rides, Shops & Stalls, Scenery & Themeing, Ride Improvements.
The 15 supplemental themes and 2 scenery elements that can be researched under "Scenery & Themeing" are listed below under Scenery.
The 17 researchable track element "Ride Improvements" are: Banked Curves; Vertical Loop; Steep Twist; In-Line Twist; Half Loop; Corkscrew; Banked Helix; Helix; On-Ride-Photo; Water Splash; Vertical Drop; Barrel Roll; Launched Lift Hill; Large Loop and Large Half Loop; Reverser Turntable; Heartline Roll; Reversing Sections.
LandThere are 16 types of Top surfaces; brown dirt, brown dirt & clumps of grass, grass land, grey rocky land, roofing tiles, grey roofing tiles, sand, martian land, checkerboard land, snow/ice, log roof, iron roof, red grid lines, yellow grid lines, purple grid lines, and green grid lines.
There are 15 types of Edge surfaces; rock edges, brick edges, rusty iron edges, wooden edges, black wooden edges, grey wall edges, yellow wall edges, red wall edges, purple wall edges, green wall edges, brown stone wall edges, grey stone wall edges, ice wall edges, skyscraper edges (3-window), and skyscraper edges (4-window).
A land tile will hold 5 Guests.
The dimensions of each land tile is a rectangle 15.1 x 14.62 feet [23.9 square yards].
An RCT land plot (with the exception of the Loopy Landscapes Micro Park scenario) has 116 x 125 tiles [dimensions are 1,757 x 1,783 feet or 71.9 acres].
Height Mark to Feet Conversion Chart
WaterWater can only be placed on a flat surface, and must "fill" a hole at least one level deep. Open water rides (Boat Hire and Jet Skis), Lily, and Water Spouts can only be built on water. Large pools of water will attract migrating ducks (note: if you "click" on a duck it will quack).
Water beside a path provides a cooling effect on guests [NOT TESTED], reducing the possibility of guests becoming nauseas from the heat of a hot day. Water also can increase a rides Excitement, especially if guests feet are allowed to come close to its surface.
PathsThere are 4 types of "Queueing Lines"; blue, red, yellow, and green.
There are 11 types of "Footpaths"; 4 Tarmac (gray, brown, red, and green), 2 Dirt (brown and black), 1 Crazy-Paving, and 4 Tiled (brown, gray, red, and green).
There are 4 types of "Support Structures"; plain style Wood, castle style Stone, space style Girder, and abstract style Pipe.
Not only does distance traveled on paths to reach an entrance affect guests, but [NOT TESTED] the height of hills they have to climb. If guests must walk up a long hill with steep gradients, put benches and a drink stall at the summit. If possible, build tunnels through the grade to reduce path length. Avoid putting a single attraction at the end of a long branching path. Even if they choose the attraction, its a long walk back to the main path, and what if your guest didn't use the attraction? Its best to make branching paths short, and curve back to the main path like chain links. Note that guests who must walk too far before encountering an entrance will complain.
A practical design for a parks main path is the "midway design". Build a ladder like path as the main artery or spine of the path system. All other single type paths that shoot off from this "midway" should connect back with it at some point further down the line. The ladder shaped main path is formed by making two parallel paths separated by one square of land/water. Every six squares or so of path length a cross path is added like the rung of a ladder. Ideally, you want to have this path going through the park in such a way that one maintenance man 4x4 patrol grid falls across BOTH parallel legs of the path (also make sure that when you setup your patrol grids, at least one cross path falls within the grid so a maintenance man can get to both sides).
Queue line lengths are critical. Try to keep queue lines limited to 50guests and/or 9 minutes long or guests will begin complaining (after 15 minutes guests will start to leave the queue). The maximum number of guests that will stand in a queue is 255 (additional guests will always refuse to enter the queue line until the number of guests waiting drops below 255). If uncertain about optimal queue length, it is a good idea to initially make the queues for Gentle rides approximately 7 squares long, Roller Coasters approximately 15 squares long, and all other rides approximately 10 squares long (and then later adjust the length as circumstances dictate). For maximum loading efficiency, plan the queue so that you can place the ride entrance in the middle of the (first) trains access door. If 'S'-shaped queues are necessary, it is a good idea to leave space between parallel walkways (like the open space that occurs inside a real letter 'S') so shade giving scenery can be inserted.
Use paths creatively. Paths going over a ride track can increase the rides Excitement (head-chopper effect) or the guests desire to try the ride. Walkways can also be used to simulate awnings or roofs. Path types also can be used to beautify the landscape, such as making the queue lines and their corresponding exit paths different colors on a synchronized ride (blue=gray, red=red, yellow=brown, green=green), using Crazy-Paving for seating nooks, and using black to simulate asphalt walkways around maintenance areas (remember: beauty is for your eyes only, the guests don't have any preference in the matter). Note that a walkway on solid ground will not have railings, but railings will appear if the walkway spans hollow ground (remember that a walkway has a maximum height of 20 squares above ground). You can therefore make a flat path from a ride exit heading back to the main path look more like the flat queueing line leading from the main path to the ride entrance by dropping the land one level directly under the path. Don't forget to also put a properly facing No Entry sign at the main path intersection to prevent guests from inadvertently wandering up the exit route.
Finally, consider how your Staff patrol areas will fall in relation to the way you intend to lay out your paths. This should be done before you even make your first path leading from the park entrance (as it may be in your best interest for patrol reasons to shift the entire park path layout in relation to the entrance gate by one or two squares).
SceneryThere are 7 categories of scenery: Trees; Shrubs and Bushes; Tropical and Desert Trees; Gardens; Lamps, Litter Bins, Benches etc. for Paths; Walls and Fences; Statues and Fountains.
There are also (after researching) 15 supplemental themes and 2 scenery elements: Classical/Roman Themeing; Egyptian Themeing; Mine Themeing; Martian Themeing; Wonderland Themeing; Jurassic Themeing; Spooky Themeing; Jungle Themeing; Abstract Themeing; Snow and Ice Themeing; Medieval Themeing; Space Themeing; Creepy Themeing; Urban Themeing; Pagoda Themeing; Jumping Fountains; Garden Clock.
The Garden Clock will actually keep computer time (but unfortunately can only be built on flat ground).
Note that to influence ride statistics, scenery must not be more than 4 squares distant (see "What makes an Exciting Flat Ride"). Edge elements (walls, hedges, fences) have no effect on ride statistics. Trees placed along paths will [NOT TESTED] keep guests cool on hot days, reducing the possibility of guests becoming nauseas from the heat. Jumping fountains also help (and can also elicit positive comments from the guests). Scenery from different Themes can be mixed and matched without any penalty (Guests have zero sense of esthetics).
It is good practice to place benches at least every 7 squares and litter bins at least every 10 squares (more frequently near nauseous rides and food/drink stalls). Benches can only be built on flat paths. Both lamps and litter bins can be built on either flat or sloped paths (and should be placed there when possible, to free the flat paths for benches or jumping fountains). Placing a lamp in a path square adjacent to a bench (even if on [NOT TESTED] an unconnected adjacent path or ride queue) will [NOT TESTED] encourage guests to use the bench. Lamps increase the Park Rating, and can be placed in ride queues (leaving room on regular paths for benches, litter bins, and jumping fountains).
The Jumping Fountains are flat path elements, and if placed on adjacent connected path squares, will try to synchronize their squirts into a pattern (and guests may comment on their attractiveness). There are actually eight individual pattern sequences, each taking about a minute to complete. These patterns are easily seen if you create a six square by six square patch of path tiles, and then fill the paved area completely with Jumping Fountains. The eight Jumping Fountain sequences are:
"Dioramas" can be a lot of fun to create. A construction popular with styrene model builders, a diorama is a single scene used to show off a model (or grouping of small models) in a lifelike setting. Compare in your mind this picture of what could be your newest roller coaster all surrounded by themeing to the same roller coaster simply sitting on flat, undecorated terrain. Dioramas are particularly useful in Loopy Landscapes, where themeing around the ride can significantly increase the rides statistics.
Avoid sudden, jarring transitions between theme areas. Note how the use of jagged lines, raised land, and fencing between the desert and grass (and on the opposite side, the use of water) minimizes the shock of crossing over. Notice also how the theme elements (tree types in this example) diminish in quantity and size as they get near the crossover, to further help blur the borderline.
Themeing elements are not limited to rides, but can also be used to dress up shops/stalls. Are your guests worthy enough to sit on this throne?
Tasteful use of the Coloring Tool can allow you to turn the rides themselves into themeing elements.
Entertainers can be used in a comical way. Here a gladiatorial arena has been created for some Roman Entertainers and a Tiger. A pit was built with underground entrances, surrounded by a fenced viewing walkway, and the Entertainers placed inside. Selecting a patrol area for the entertainers keeps them inside the pit, where the appear to combat each other and walk in and out of the pit entrances.
If you are curious about what graphics are built into the game itself, you can view them all with the 
RCT graphics inspector.