StaffReturn to The Definitive RCT Reference Guide homepage
StaffGuests always want to see a clean park with working rides, so you should employ some staff if you want to keep guests happy {s}. Each 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). Mechanics espeecially must have their patrol area cover all the footpath tiles necessary to traverse in order to reach their destination (including the ride Exit building itself... so think of this when building ride Exits). 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 path that a staff member could tread), 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).
The maximum combined number of staff which can be hired is 116. Adding staff could potentially be temporarily restricted in a very crowded park. This is because the game has only 10,000 individual "sprites" from which to generate guests or staff. Thus you may have to wait until a guest leaves (or dies) in order to add an additional staff member (temporarily closing the Park may help, as Guests will then graciously slowly leave). 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.
Note that there is a minor game glitch whereby Staff may sometimes walk through queue line railings onto an adjacent footpath. Also they may sometimes fly up vertically onto another path and possibly get trapped there. Thus you should avoid using untravelable paths as roofing (just make your archetecture with the Land tool).
Cost = $40 per month
Normal Costume = Elephant 
; Panda 
; Tiger 
.
Theme Costume = Astronaut 
; Gorilla 
; Knight 
; Roman 
; Snowman 
.
Fixed Task = Entertain Guests
Park Value is boosted for each entertainer you hire (until you reach aproximately 10 Entertainers) {s}.
Entertainers can increase the happiness of nearby Guests {s}.
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 or desire to create vandalism. Very long tunnels should also have an Entertainer on fixed patrol inside.
An Entertainer set to a single 4x4 patrol grid in front of the park entrance may help to boost the pleasure of guests both entering (not all guests enter the park in a thrilled state of mind) and leaving the park (bad reviews hurt). There must be at least 2 abutting path tiles for the entertainer to walk back and forth on within the patrol grid, otherwise the entertainer will leave the path and amble away. Since Entertainers ignore No Entry signs and will travel both queues and footpaths, choose patrol areas carefully, as Entertainers can accidentally become confused and travel in a small loop, rather than throughout their entire patrol area.
Cost = $35 per month
Uniform = (Red) Color can be changed
Assignable Tasks = Empty Litter Bins; Mow Grass; Sweep Footpaths; Water Gardens
Water Gardens may not be necessary if the park is very rainy. Handyman who are not assigned to mowing grass will stick to paths, and thus may not be able to reach some gardens that do not abut their path. When in doubt, test. Handymen are restricted like guests in that they will never walk across ride tracks or through scenery to reach a garden or a lawn.
Note that any Handyman that does not mow grass (mowed grass makes no difference to guests over un-mowed grass {s}) will almost always stay on paths like guests. Be careful however if you use paths as roofing tiles or unconnected scenery paths (never situate them with only one tile separation from a serviced path). 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 to the serviced path)!
If the Handyman is given lots of work (many gardens to water, or bins to empty, or vomit/litter to sweep), keep the patrol area very small. To ensure proper cleaning, the assigned patrol area length for non-mowing sweepers should typically be limited to not more than 12 tiles (8 tiles in complex path areas). Note that if a Handyman is allowed to mow grass along with other tasks, he will spend most of his time 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 bin emptying and sweeping Handymen. If you do assign certain groups of Handymen to specific duties; for ease of tracking purposes, it is a good idea to give all the Handymen in that group their own distincive color uniform.
Full litter bins (they visually have red trash sticking out) will not be used by guests. If a guest does not encounter an empty litter bin shortly after consuming their drink/food, they will hold on to their litter for a while, then just toss their litter onto the footpath (the game uses different icons for the various forms of litter that are tossed onto a footpath, so it is actually possible to track which stall type sold them).
Vomit (the icky splotch icon that appears on a path) and litter objects do not appear in tunnels or on sloped paths, so you never have to Sweep Footpaths there (remember that chance of vandalism is directly related to the concentration of visible litter/vomit on the ground). If necessary, it is perfectly acceptable to have more than one Handyman service the same area.
Cost = $55 per month
Uniform = (Blue) Color can be changed
Assignable Tasks = Fix Rides; Inspect Rides
Mechanics are never required for Miniature Golf.
All mechanics must have access to the inside of an EXIT building of a ride to make inspections/repairs, so keep this in mind when assigning patrol areas. Mechanics cannot be stationed in an Exit building (or elsewhere on a ride), but can be stationed on the first footpath tile just outside the EXIT building, waiting to enter.
Rather than just relying on freerange mechanics, it is a good idea to assign one mechanic to each roller coaster (place him on a single patrol square that covers BOTH 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 though 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. Don't assign more than one dedicated inspecting mechanic to a station, as only one mechanic will inspect a station at a time (scheduled inspections to a ride are deferred while the rides repairs are in progress, so the same Mechanic can be assigned as both an inspector and a fixer).
Using the pincers to move a mechanic to a trouble spot is usually not a good idea, as this breaks radio contact, and he will not proceed to the trouble area until radio contact is re-established (and in the interrum, some other farther away mechanic might get the call instead) {s}. Note also that it is important for Mechanics to have a non-confusing pathway choice to reach the ride, because unlike Guests, they can inapropriately choose to use an entrance path when making a bee-line to their assignment, and then have to backtrack.
Cost = $45 per month
Uniform = (Yellow) Color can be changed
Fixed Task = Prevent Vandalism
Vandalism does not occur in live ride queues, in tunnels, or on sloped footpaths.
Vandals while still remaining angry will not cause vandalism if within the tile a Security Guard occupies, or if wihin a square of 6 tiles radius extending beyond a Security Guards current tile location. It has not yet been tested whether not having any Security Guards may affect the games algorithm, so "the prudent approach is to hire one freerange Security Guard as soon as you open a new park {s}" (and besides, there is a random chance he may be in the right place to deter some vandal). One Security Guard for every 100 people should cover your park adequately {s}.
Vandals only damage benches, litter bins, and lights, so if you have these objects consentrated in only one area, it would be a good idea to have your Security Guard put on a patrol covering just that area (remember that a major contributor to the creation of a Vandal is the concentration of litter/vomit on the ground, a situation tht can be rectified by a Handyman).
If a guest becomes tired in the rear of the park, he may fail to find his way out due to his sleepiness (guests will select any footpath without a no-entry sign heading in the direction of the park exit, even if a path leading in that direction is actually a dead end or ultimately leads away from the park exit), and this may lead to him getting mad about his predicament and cause him to resort to vandalism (which will drag your Park Rating down) {s}. Boring paths and paths which have the potential of confusing guests attempting to leave the park, especially if they are situated far from the park exit, are good candidates for security guard patrol areas.
Excessively long ride waits can cause guests to become disgusted and leave the queue, leading to potential vandalism. Shifting a security guard near that queueing line entrance could be prudent until the cause is resolved.
Note that the 'Safest Park' award refers to ride maintenance and reliability, not security.
Beware of "Phantom Vandalism".
Marketing Campaigns (2-6 weeks)Your Park Value is simply the worth of your park. Factors affecting Park Value include how many rides your park has, the age of the rides, the number of Entertainers, vandalism, and excessive litter {s}. Your Company Value is equal to the total of your Park Value added to your Cash-on-Hand, minus the amount of your Loan. You can affect these figures with a successful Marketing Campaign (and you can track the effect of the Marketing Campaign in the Expenditures and Income Window):
The amount of your loan will directly affect your Company Value (a lower loan is better). The total amount of money you can borrow from the bank will vary by the scenario. Try to keep your loan UNDER $20,000 total, because at that point interest payments will start to creep up over $25 per month {s}. Loan payments are NOT automatic, so be sure to regularly lower your loan whenever you can. Not only will it lower your interest payments, but the Company Value will start to climb as well (there is a slight lag between when you pay down a loan, and when the Park Value or Company Value goes up).
Advertising only affects guests who have not yet entered your park. If you decide to temporarily raise prices to generate quick cash, make sure you write it down on a notepad, so you will remember to change them back later (high prices lead to unhappy guests, which by extension leads to a lower Park Rating).
Warning: If you run an advertising compaign for a particular ride, make sure the guests have a convenient way to get to the ride by walking. Just like in the case of guests wanting to leave the park, guests will head toward the advertised ride by selecting a path that appears to lead them in the correct direction, and will become frustrated if they get diverted or blocked. Any ride can be advertised, and will attract guests into your park. However just because a guest heads directly for the ride, it does not mean that they will actually choose to go on it once they arrive.
Advertising Campaign for the park = $350 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum]
- very effective at attracting Park guests, and it costs you nothing in terms of lost income.
Coupons for Free Entry to the park = $50 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum]
- you collect no money on Park admission, but guests using the voucher are a little more willing to spend for attractions once inside the park. Will typically attract between 75 to 100 new Guests to the park, but will NOT attact any new guests if your park entry is already Free {s}. Good trick at the end of some Scenarios.
Coupons for Half-Price Entry to the park = $50 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum]
- similar to the Free Entry voucher, but you get some money for Park admission (less ethical park managers raise the Park admission to compensate, but be sure to set it back after the campaign). Can be helpful near the end of some Scenarios to meet attendence goals. Guests realize that they still must pay to enter, so running this campaign while your park is experiencing a Litter or Vandalism problem may actually DECREASE attendence {s}.
Advertising Campaign for a particular ride = $200 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum, ride selected by the player]
- works best when it's a new attraction you're touting. An effective "non-income losing" campaign for drawing guests to a "headliner" ride at the back of your Park.
Coupons for Free Rides on a particular ride = $50 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum, ride selected by player]
- an effective way to raise the popularity of a particular ride or to get some benefit out of an older, less profitable attraction. Lowering an older rides price (or setting it to Free) right after the campaign will help to keep the ride popular for a while. Ideally market a ride built far from the park entrance (as a rule rides near the back of the park should be the ones with the slower queue times), to encourage guests to travel deep into your park.
Coupons for Free Food or Drink = $50 per week [2 week minimum - 6 week maximum, food or drink selected by player]
- similar to the Free Rides voucher, but for Food or Drink stalls (encouraging the patronage of Salty Food stalls, will also increase your drink sales {s}). Ideally market a "unique" stall (having such a stall helps earn the Best Park Food Award) built far from the park entrance, to encourage guests to travel deep into your park.
*Note that there is a Free ongoing advertising campaign in the form of reviews from guests who Exit the park. Guests that leave the park Happy will "tell" their friends about how great your park is, encouraging them to patronize your park (but beware, Unhappy guests will also tell their friends about how lousy your park was) {s}.
Research & DevelopmentResearch Funding choices: No Funding @ $0 per month; Minimum Funding @ $100 per month; Normal Funding @ $200 per month; Maximum Funding @ $400 per month. Higher funding makes results come faster.
Research Priorities: Gentle Rides; Ride Improvements; Roller Coasters; Scenery & Themeing; Shops & Stalls; Thrill Rides.
- The Gentle Rides category includes all the 20 rides classified under Gentle Rides and Transport Rides. The Thrill Rides category includes all the 18 rides classified under Thrill Rides and Water Rides. The Roller Coasters category includes all the 25 rides classified under Roller Coasters.
- The Shops & Stalls category includes all the 20 facilities classified under Shops & Stalls.
- The 2 scenery elements and 15 supplemental themes that can be researched under "Scenery & Themeing" are listed below under Scenery.
Not all of the facility and scenery items that can be had in a Scenario are always available at the scenrios start (and an initially started scenario may sometimes even swap an offered item with a researchable one). To get the missing ones, you must perform Research in one of six categories. You will not be given a list of what specific items can be discovered or what will be delivered next, but you will receive a notice when one arrives (it is important at that moment to check your Research dialog and make any priority or funding adjustments). If all of the scenarios researchable items in a category have been produced, that category will become grayed out and no longer selectable.
Note that the Research & Development prospects are both different and limited in each Scenario - you cannot discover all the possible items and improvements offered by the game in every one. Also even though you have the option of prioritizing the order in which "Categories" are reserached, the items in each "Category" will only appear in the order pre-determined by the Scenario creator.
If you check more then one Priority box, the game will randomly choose which checked box to research (randomly choosing again after an item is delivered). Be cautioned that if you provide funding, but leave all the Priority boxes unchecked, no research goes on - yet the freeloaders will still charge you for their unproductive research!
LandThere are 7 types of Top surfaces: Brown Dirt; Brown Dirt & Clumps of Grass; Grass Land; Grey Rocky Land; Grey Roofing Tiles; Roofing Tiles; Sand.
There are (after theme researching) 9 supplemental Top surfaces: Checkerboard Land; Green Grid Lines; Iron Roof; Log Roof; Martian Land; Purple Grid Lines; Red Grid Lines; Snow / Ice; Yellow Grid Lines.
There are 10 types of Side surfaces: Black Wooden Edges; Brick Edges; Green Wall Edges; Grey Wall Edges; Purple Wall Edges; Red Wall Edges; Rock Edges; Rusty Iron Edges; Wooden Edges; Yellow Wall Edges.
There are (after theme researching) 5 supplemental Side surfaces: Brown Stone Wall Edges; Grey Stone Wall Edges; Ice Wall Edges; Skyscraper Edges 3-window; Skyscraper Edges 4-window.
The range above the zero datum in which land can be raised/lowered is between 0-30 height marks. The dimensions of each land tile is a rectangle 15.1 x 14.62 feet [which is 23.9 square yards], and the corners can be raised or lowered to form 6 different shapes. An RCT land plot (with the exception of the Loopy Landscapes Micro Park scenario) has 116 x 125 tiles [which is 1,757 x 1,783 feet, or 71.9 acres].
Land cannot be placed above a ride (including its Entrance/Exit building) or a shop/stall (do not confuse this statement with "tunneling" track through an existing land mass). You can however raise land all around these facilities, completely obscuring them from view. If land is raised in front of an Entrance/Exit, you will need to build a tunnel for your access path. You cannot raise land under an existing facility or path tile, only lower it. You can raise land above a tunnel, but you cannot lower it below the tunnels roof. You cannot raise or lower land on which a scenery/garden object rests.
Tile Edge objects can only be placed on a land tile. Land tiles are treated independently, so both edges of abutting land tiles may hold Tile Edge objects (which can visually produce a layered effect).
You can not modify the surface of land the Park does not yet own (including changing objects on it); but if you can acquire Construction Rights, you can build over or dig under it (taking objects into account). The maximum height level for land is 24 blocks above the zero datum, and the minimum depth level for land is at the zero datum. The usual "altimeter" ground height at the start of a game is six blocks above the zero datum (although this can sometimes vary between five to eight depending on the scenario). Support Structure height is calculated from the surface of the supporting land, regardless of the lands height above the zero datum.
Height Mark to Feet Conversion Chart
WaterThe standard Scenario water color is Aqua. However a Scenarios designer has the option of setting the color to Martian Orange. The color makes no difference within the game. The range above the zero datum in which water can be raised/lowered is between 1-27 height marks, and the dimensions of each water tile is a rectangle 15.1 x 14.62 feet [which is 23.9 square yards].
Water is
Open water rides (Boat Hire and Jet Skis), and water object scenery (Fountain and Lily), can only be built on the surface of water. Paths, shops/stalls, and rides can be built over water (including exactly at the water surface) if their support structure can reach the top of the land underneath the water (footpaths will thus always have railings). Since scenery/gardens do not have support structures, you cannot build them on water (but they can be placed on a 1+ tile land island to give the effect of being on water). You can not build facilities, paths, or scenery/gardens inside water. Tunnels however may pass through the land beneath water.
Tip: Because water is
Water beside a path, in a fountain, in a ride track piece, or in a Handymans watering can, will have no cooling effect upon guests, and will not reduce Nausea. Water alongside pathways, or near benches, gardens, or eating areas, may contribute to winning a "Most Beautiful Park" award {s} (this award has similar effects to advertising you park, without any of the costs {s}). Strategically placed water (such as at the base of hills on rides) can increase a rides Excitement, especially if guests feet are allowed to come close to its surface {s}.
Guests cannot swim! Rescue Guests quickly with the "pincers" if they do fall into the water, as dead guests decrease the Park Rating. The greatest drowning hazard is a pathless ride Exit over water.
PathsThere are 4 types of Queueing Lines: Gray Tile with Blue Border Stripes; Gray Tile with Green Border Stripes; Gray Tile with Red Border Stripes; Gray Tile with Yellow Border Stripes.
There are 11 types of Footpaths: one Crazy-Paving (stone brown); two Dirt (asphalt black, mud brown); four Tarmac (brown, gray, green, red); four Tiled (light tan & tan, light gray & gray, light green & green, light red & red).
There are 4 types of shared Support Structure styles (railings): Abstract-style Yellow Pipe; Mine-style Brown Wood; Medieval-style Brown Stone; Space-style Grey Girder.
The railings on footpaths are the same height, with the exception of the Space-style which is slightly taller (and thus doesn't mesh smoothly with the other three styles). Queuing Lines will always have white railings. Footpaths will never have railings if they are built directly on a Land surface. Footpath Girder railings are grey with red trim on top, Pipe railings are yellow, Stone railings are brown stone, and Wood railings are brown. Both Queueing Lines and Footpaths share the same support structure design. Girder uses a pair of latticed towers, Pipe uses a pair of yellow pipes, Stone uses a pair of brown stone piers, and Wood uses two pairs of brown crossbraced beams. For footpaths built directly on the Land surface, it is cheaper to add scenery Tile Edge objects for the visual "railing" effect (mostly desired for indicating a ride Exit path), rather than to drop the land below the footpath.
It is crucial to consider how your Staff patrol areas will fall in relation to the way you intend to lay out your paths. This study should be performed before you begin any Scenario, as it may be in your best interest for patrol reasons to rip-up and shift the entire Scenarios path layout in relation to the Park Entrance Gate by one or two squares.
Queuing Lines (when properly being used excluviely for a queue) can never be made
Paths are a tool to steer guests in directions you desire, and once on a path a guest will never turn around until they reach a decision point intersection (so you may visually twist the path as much as you want). For example, if a guest wants to Exit the park, they will always choose at a decision point (Path intersection, Shop/Stall/Ride entrance or exit, and to a minor degree Benches) a path pointed in the direction of the Park Exit, even if the path ultimately will never lead there! If then the only way to the Park Exit is to choose at a decision point a path that appears to be leading away from the Exit (even though it will actually ultimately reach the Exit), the Guest with never choose the correct path. Dead end
Signs can be placed on either footpaths or queue lines. No Entry signs are an effective path tool, but are costly and should be used sparingly. Place them only at decision intersections, as placing them in the middle of a footpath will create a
Keep the distance between attractions short, so that no guest has the opportunity to become bored or overly tired while walking from one to another {m}. Guests who must walk too far before encountering an entrance will complain. When a long walk is inevitable, provide benches along the way, especially at the tops of hills {m}. 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. To prevent crowding, provide alternate routes through the busiest areas {m}.
Guests are only aware of a small area around themselves, and as such, will not think to patronize a ride they don't know exists {m}. Use the paths to intentionally guide guests within visual (awareness) distance of rides {m}. In practice, guests are only aware of an area around them extending to about ten tiles distant. Guests will mostly just wander, but have a chance of suddenly deciding to head for a ride within this awareness zone (with a preference for heading to taller or higher Excitement rides). If the guest has a Map, they will now become aware of all the rides in the park, and will have about a four times higher chance of suddenly deciding to head directly to one of these rides (still with a preference for heading to higher Excitement rides), rather than just wandering. But just like those fancifully drawn
Guests are easily confused, especially by "depth". Avoid paralleling footpaths directly above and below/underground each other (at decision points), as the guest will think the attraction is attached to the path tile they are on, and not the tile above or below. While Information Kiosk Maps help reduce confusion, they don't resolve this particular problem. Double-width (and wider) footpaths should also be avoided, always!
The strategy guide makes several footpath comments which in reality are not true, such as: A tree-lined footpath provides shade for your guests, and prevents them from getting too Tired or too Sick {s}. Flowers add to your guests' Happiness {s}. The "Jumping Fountains" add to your guests Happiness, while also cooling off hot visitors during the Summer months {s}.
Add plenty of the path specific scenery items of benches, lamps, litter bins, and jumping fountains, to assist your guests and increase your park ratings. Bare traveling paths bore Guests, so it is suggested that you place benches every six to eight tiles so guests have a place to sit if they get tired (tired guest don't spend money or ride rides) {s}. Avoid spacing benches too closely on traveling paths though, because the frequent offerings may entice a Guest to prioritize resting over choosing to continue traveling to relieve a bodily function (food/thirst/toilet). Although there are more optimal placements for these objects, the Strategy Guide suggests placing a lamp near each bench {s}, and placing a trashcan aproximately every eight tiles {s}. Of course it is sensible to bunch benches and trashcans near high nausea ride exits and food stalls (but do so sparingly as the game prefers it when interactive objects, especially food stalls, are spread out).
Arrange the paths so Guests can see the most exciting portions of your most intense rides (such as through the loop of a Roller Coaster or in the "splash zone" of a Water Ride), so that the Guests' excitement will build for that ride, and the ride's Excitement Rating will increase overall {s}.
Simple, straightforward paths help prevent guests from becoming lost in your park {s}. Lost guests become unhappy guests {s}. Guest have trouble navigating paths wider than a single-square width, so two paths that must run parallel (for esthetics or otherwise) should be separated by a fence or land square. 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).
Footpath tiles are considered Overcrowded if 10 or more Walking Guests simultaneously occupy that footpath tile (Staff and guests doing something else are not counted). In such a condition a guest in that tile may negatively comment that "It's too crowded here", and that guests Happiness will then drop somewhat (guests with lower happiness will lower your park rating). This happiness drop can be afterwards countered in the usual ways (such as having an Entertainer pass by the guest). Shops selling umbrellas have a possibility of their approach footpaths becoming crowded during rainfall. Park entrances and desirable rides also tend to be an area where footpath crowding can occur. One effective footpath fix is to provide sections of generally paralleling footpaths (not
Paths, including in tunnels, may cross each other at grade, or they may cross over/under each other (or ride tracks) if there is at least 2 height marks of vertical separation in the entire square between the two paths. Like with ride tracks, a path can only tunnel through a solid rectangular vertical land cube that is at least 1 square by 2 vertical height marks high (tunnelling costs $32 per square). Tunnels inherently add excitement to your park, and make your guests happy {s}. Naturally your Guests can not see your exciting rides while in a tunnel, but perhaps you could create an
Although it can be done, you avoid trouble if you never use a Queue Line path tile for anything other than a ride queue {m}! For maximum loading efficiency, plan the queue so that you can place the ride entrance in the middle of the (first) trains access door {s}. Guests will find an underground queue exciting {s}. Avoid placing queue lines adjacent to each other, as no one in line likes to stand in the middle of a smelly, tightly packed crowd {s}. 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 attractive and shady/cooling scenery can be inserted. It is good practice to lay the queue tiles from the Ride Entrance outward, because queue tiles function like regular path tiles until they are "activated" by touching the ride Entrance (this helps to prevent Guests from accidently using your still-under-construction queue as a footpath).
Queue line lengths are critical. Try to keep queue lines limited to 50 guests and/or 9 minutes long, or guests will begin complaining (after 15 minutes guests will start to leave the queue). As a last resort, you can increase the rides Ticket Price so fewer guests will choose to stand in line {m} (although this tends to generate other problems). Remember, you don't "need" a queue (because at least 1 guest will stand in front of a queue-less Entrance), so you DO have the option of connecting a ride entrance directly to a normal path square (actually, quite effective for some rides, such as the "Space Rings"). Guests will refuse to enter a "full" queue line, so shorter queues help to prevent guest bordom on rides that have long waiting periods before latest arriving guests can load. The queue lines themselves can be very long, but maximum number of guests that will stand in a queue is 255 (even if they couldn't possilby see the waiting guests, 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, including as a Rain storm or the rides Novelty age, dictate).
Here is a summary of "Proper Queue Design".
Although dead-end paths should be avoided, sometimes station constraints will dictate their necessity. Given a choice, the ride Entrance should be connected closer to the head of the
Be circumspect about placing a ride Entrance along a
Use paths creatively. Paths going over a ride track can increase the rides Excitement (head-chopper effect) and may stimulate 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 Dirt 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 footpath resting on solid ground will not have railings, but railings will automatically appear whenever ground is lowered under the footpath (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 railinged flat queueing line leading from the main path to the ride entrance, by dropping the land one level directly under the ride exit path so that railings appear. Railing style will be the one chosen when the path object was purchased, and can only be changed by replacing the path object.
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 (If for some reason you do not use a No Entry sign, keep your Exit path to no more than four squares, so Guests inadvertantly using this path are less likely to get confused {s}). Placing the tail of the Exit path near the head of the Entrance queue (where they both connect to the main path) will make it easier for jubilant Guests to get right back on the ride {s}. Note that when the tail of a ride entrance connected queueing line touches a footpath (ride queues can never be directly connected to each other), it signals the entrance of a completed queue, and a no cost banner will automatically appear at the intersection (displaying either "closed", or the rides name if the ride is open). Guests (but not Staff) will never try to enter "closed" ride queues.
SceneryThere are 7 categories of basic scenery: Gardens; Lamps, Litter Bins, Benches etc. for Paths; Shrubs and Bushes; Statues and Fountains; Trees; Tropical and Desert Trees; Walls and Fences.
There are also 3 basic Ride Entrance / Station styles: Canvas Tent style Entrance / Station; Plain style Entrance / Station; Wooden style Entrance / Station.
There are (after researching) 2 special scenery elements: (1x1 $40) Garden Clock 
; (path-item $20) Jumping Fountains 
.
There are (also after researching) 15 supplemental themes: Abstract Themeing; Classical/Roman Themeing; Creepy Themeing; Egyptian Themeing; Jungle Themeing; Jurassic Themeing; Martian Themeing; Medieval Themeing; Mine Themeing; Pagoda Themeing; Snow and Ice Themeing; Space Themeing; Spooky Themeing; Urban Themeing; Wonderland Themeing.
Some of the Scenarios that come with the game will include Scenery items that are not available to the player during the Scenario, so if demolished that exact Scenery item cannot be replaced. Making Scenery "transparent" will not affect any tinted glass (such as is found in the Abstract Themeing), as it is already transparent.
Scenery options are primarily for the players visual enjoyment. Guests have zero sense of esthetics, and do not care about the items purchase price (the player can save money this way), if or how an item is painted, or if Scenery from different Themes are mixed. Guests only notice whether a piece of Scenery is present or not {s}, and may comment appropriately upon a few very specific Scenery inclusions.
Scenery can affect Ride Excitement {m}. Read "What makes an Exciting Flat Ride" to understand the specifics. Note that Station Themeing or Tile Edge objects (Fence/Hedge/Railing/Wall) have no effect upon Ride Excitement.
The strategy guide suggests that you should plant big, leafy trees along your pathways and near benches and eating areas to cool you guests during the Summer months {s} (a cool path lined with shady trees much more pleasant on a summer day than a ribbon of melting asphalt baked under direct sun {m}). In reality, trees do nothing to cool guests. The strategy guide also suggests that strategically placed trees can hide the more exciting parts of a ride from guests on a path, which makes guests on the path wonder about the unseen parts, and so will boost Ride Intensity {s}. This also in reality is not true. Intensity boost only occurs with the "head chopper" effect, and then only when the ride is tested with the head chopping object in place. Finally the strategy guide suggests that Jumping Fountains will cool guests (which is false), and can also elicit positive comments from the guests (which is true) {s}. The strategy guide is correct though in saying that regular fountains and statues however do not provide any shade or cooling effect {s}.
The strategy guide suggests that flower gardens make guests happier, so plant them near queue lines and other areas where large crowds can see them {s}. This is
Designing Arboretums and Gardens
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). Insufficient benches can lead to guests complaining about crowding. Both lamps and litter bins can be built on either flat or sloped paths, and should be placed on sloped paths when possible so as to free the flat paths for benches or jumping fountains/snowballs (which can only be built on flat paths). Vandalized path objects should be promply removed (and replaced), because they negatively affect guests {m}.
Litter Bins can only be built on footpaths (never queues), and will only be used if they are not full (and not vandalized). Each visible litter bin is considered individually for using (more visibility equals more capacity). Full litter bins can only be emptied by a Handyman assigned to empty them (or demolished and replaced with an empty one). According to the manual, suggested locations for Litter Bins are near food service areas, outside bathrooms, and at the exits from the rides with the highest nausea factors {m}. In practice though, they will only be used to hold food/drink container litter, not bathroom waste or vomit, so they would only need to be placed near food service areas. Litter bins seem to work especially well at 'T' intersections {m}. Although highly recommended, litter bins are not required if a Handyman sweeps the path continuously clear of litter. Under most circumstances, a guest stepping away from a shop/stall will not immediately use a litter bin in that footpath tile, and will walk out of the tile instead. If you had to choose on which side of a bench tile to place a litter bin, in most cases selecting the abutting tile further from a food/drink stall would be more effective.
Benches can only be built on flat footpaths (never queues), and will only be used if they are not full [2 guests per bench maximum] or not vandalized. Each visible bench is considered individually for sitting (more visibility equals more capacity). Guests will sit on benches when consuming food/drink and when recovering from fatigue and nausea (so place them at the Exits of rides with a Nausea Rating of 5.00 or higher {s}). Long, boring, footpaths fatigue guests, so should be equipped with benches (and possibly also a Guard and/or Entertainer). Under most circumstances, a guest stepping away from a shop/stall will not immediately use a bench in that footpath tile, and will walk out of the tile instead.
Lamps serve no gaming purpose beyond esthetics other than to increase the Park Rating slightly (so consider always having at least a few for that reason anyways). Lamps can only be built on paths, but are unique in that they can be placed in ride queues (an ideal location, which leaves room on regular footpaths for benches, litter bins, and jumping fountains). A superior lamp location on a regular footpath is on the path tile directly in front of a shop/stall, as this is an inferior location for benches and litter bins. Lamps on footpaths are, like benches and litter bins, vulnerable to being vandalized (lamps in queues are immune to being vandalized).
The Garden Clock is a Garden tile. It does not require watering, and will actually continuously display the current computer time.
The Jumping Fountains (and the equivalent but slightly more expensive, Jumping Snowballs that come with the Snow and Ice Themeing) are a footpath (never queue) item which can be placed on raised footpath tiles. They appear at the very corners of the footpath tile and, unlike benches, they will remain visible and functional on a
These patterns are easily observed if you create an isolated six square by six square patch of path tiles, and then completely fill every tile with Jumping Fountains.
Caution: Although some of the patterns require forming a solid square of path tiles to be seen in all their glory, this is a problem, as guests will get confused if they are allowed to walk within a path area wider than one tile. Therefore if you choose to create such a solid path tile feature (the patterns, especially in the regular jumping fountain, still look fantastic on a single tile width scale), restrict it to being just a decoration, perhaps with several different colored path tiles, which the guests are prevented from walking through.
If you are curious about what graphics are built into the game itself, you can view them all with the 
RCT graphics inspector.
