How do I actually make money??

[mildredalien]

In most of the scenarios, I'm having trouble getting to tycoon level purely because it asks for more/bigger/better rollercoasters or whatever, and I never have enough money left!

I never seem to be able to make decent cash out of my park, even if my rides are popular and there are tons of peeps... any tips?? Should I be charging a lot more for stuff (generally about £6 for rollercoasters, £2-3 for other rides, maybe £1 for some of the gentle ones)??

[Rachee]

I think your charges for rides sound right, and if you say they are popular then there should be no problems. So, are you loosing money on your shops, or have you installed too many toilets etc. Look at your finances and see where you are loosing money ( too many staff)...
if all is well, then fast forward the speed of the game, to generate income quicker, then slow the speed down again when building or have problems. Check your park entrance fee aswell, you might be able to raise that ( not all senarios allow this). Have Fun.
:biggringr

[mildredalien]

Thanks, I'll look more carefully at my finances and see where I'm going wrong! I might use the trick of blocking off some of the long windy paths that lead to nothing, so peeps have to stay near the rides and shops too...

[Silkius]

couple of other suggestions:

On scenarios check your stores (especially those put in by the game i.e. souvenier stalls and other goods (except information stall) you will find that 'until' you have the park running smoothly (i.e. peeps fed/watered & generally happy) they do not buy things. So these stalls often LOOSE money. - They are worth it later, but only once you start to get lots of happy peeps all fed/watered and ride happy.

On food - check your items and tweak (especially now we can synch the stalls) I tend to put most to peeps choice (the smiley face at the end) - and then chuck up the price a little - especially cold items in hot places and vice versa.
Peeps sometimes do not buy your food/drinks because they do not like the options or they think your being stingy with the toppings. So if you leave it upto them, they don't have so much to complain about.

Check how much cash they have when they come in - i.e. in Valley of the Kings they have over £100 = aren't gonna need an ATM for some time then.
Loos - I know its a little cruel - but charge em 10p - it won't make you a profit, but it will nearly cover the cost (and they don't complain, but they do start to at 20p)

Try to get rid of loans ASAP - especially those with high interest rates, a lot of the scenarios make it an objective later anyway. I often get rid of it straight away and only take money AS i need it.

Same with research - £200 a month is a bit ouch! (at the start) and you often have enough stuff to get on with for some months - so a new find every month isn't desperate £100 will still give you one every other month - £50 = every 4 months. (approx) - that money would be better spent on your park and training staff. (2x fully trained mechanics are worth more than 4 untrained in work ability - same with janitors a fully trainined Janitor only takes one sweep to get rid of rubbish and is happier doing it)

I normally pause at start and set things the way I want them, get rid of what I don't want etc., before I even start building. I do get a coaster in asap (and normally a cheap to build one - cos they are also cheaper to run) so i can get some steady funds coming in.

But do make sure your food and drinks are in BEFORE they all start getting hungry and that you have enough to cover the rush (you will get one) stalls can only serve 4 peeps at a time - (okay they can do it faster when trained, but it is still only 4)
Peeps in RCT3 can get into a hungry/thirsty/need the loo loop where this becomes all they want to do, but the stalls are too crowded to cope. These peeps won't ride anything until they are happy again.

double/triple paths, food courts, and double loos cost a little more but do work. (get enough double loos around and you start getting best loo award - which is £200 - not a lot, but if your also charging 10p pays for itself = peeps are not all complaining they need the loo.)

Not sure I should be giving all my secrets away - :D

[The Machine]

Originally posted by Rachee
I think your charges for rides sound right,

You can charge £6 for rolllercoasters?! :eek:

I've been charging between three and four pounds, depending on the excitement rating.

[Silkius]

High excitement i.e. 7.0+ (but low/med nausea) coaster will take £7.50 easily - With peeps still saying it is good value :D
(not when you charge for park entrance though)
Older rides need to sometimes drop a bit - but with a good balanced park I am still getting profits after 6 years. and on all but base rides (i.e. merry go round- which I sometimes drop to a nominal 10/20p i.e. just about enough to cover running cost)

[The Machine]

Originally posted by Silkius
High excitement i.e. 7.0+ (but low/med nausea) coaster will take £7.50 easily - With peeps still saying it is good value :D
(not when you charge for park entrance though)

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Actually, the coasters I build tend to end up with excitement ratings of 6.x and medium nausea. What do you reckon I could get (away with :D ) for them?

[Hooch]

Ok, I feel a right idiot now. Thanks Silkuis for pointing me on one of the funniest mistakes I’ve made in this game.

When Peeps say “hotdog is stingy with toppings” they actually mean I am a Penny-Pinching Scrooge!!

NOT – “this hot-dog is burning (stings) my mouth”.

I have been misreading that thought since the game came out and thought noting on it. In actual fact I have in some cases even decreased the amount of chilli sauce available on kebabs etc. Sissy peeps.

I will go home immediately and rectify my mean ways. I will open up an eat as much as you can buffet for them for a month – no week – or day – and pour on the chilli sauce.

[mildredalien]

Thanks for the tips! I think I need to be a little more patient, lol, when I want to build something I want it NOW!! heh heh.

As for rollercoaster charging, I tend to keep raising it a little as long as the peeps are still riding it and especially if they say it's good value. If the lines are really long too, I'll raise it a little so maybe not so many peeps will ride at one time and they won't start complaining.

With food and drink stalls, is there a certain amount you should build for a certain amount of peeps? Should they be placed close together like a "foodcourt" or spread out as much as possible? No matter how many I put down, I still get hungry peeps wandering round....

[mildredalien]

Well I finally managed to start making money on Vanilla Hills, lol!

I guess it's just about being a little patient... not spending all your money on a couple of rollercoasters...

[mildredalien]

Well I finally managed to start making money on Vanilla Hills, lol!

I guess it's just about being a little patient... not spending all your money on a couple of rollercoasters...

[Silkius]

Originally posted by mildredalien
Well I finally managed to start making money on Vanilla Hills, lol!

I guess it's just about being a little patient... not spending all your money on a couple of rollercoasters...


This has always been the secret of RCT - not that I am any better than you - I see a nice space and picture a coaster there and I want to build it NOW - not next year.
I'm even worse with theming - I want to theme a ride when I build it - instead of getting it to pay itself back and use the excess to theme it later (which keeps the ride excitement up and therefore keeps its popularity to some degree).
However I do think the games scenarios concentrate on money a little too much rather than building & park management skills. Personally I would've done them a little diferent (and I will one of these days - if I ever get the time _ i did have a couple in production, but abandond them when I found out we were getting some editor improvements in patch 2 - now it is just finding the time to rebuild them)

[The Machine]

Originally posted by Silkius
This has always been the secret of RCT - not that I am any better than you - I see a nice space and picture a coaster there and I want to build it NOW - not next year.

Provided you have a positive cashflow, the Super Fast Forward button is your friend. :)

I'm even worse with theming - I want to theme a ride when I build it - instead of getting it to pay itself back and use the excess to theme it later (which keeps the ride excitement up and therefore keeps its popularity to some degree).


I don't bother to theme my rides very much at all a lot of the time; unless the scenario specifically demands it. I'll use themed entrances, exits and fences, and maybe themed lights and bins on the queue and exit paths, but that's all. No scenery.

In fact, sometimes using themed cars on the coasters can actually reduce the excitement rating because the themed cars tend to be larger, so you can't have as many of them to a train, and in my experience, the more cars a train has, the higher the excitement rating it's coaster will have.