Guests and Staff

In the series, no theme park would be complete without guests.

Guests

Normal Guest

A guest is the term given to a visitor within your park, going on rides and purchasing goods. All Guests have needs; Hunger, Thirst, Tiredness, Bladder and Nausea which affect their mood. (Which is shown on their Needs tab. Happier guests tend to enjoy better facilities, rides that are easy to access and the features within the park otherwise they will get moody and leave.

Roller Coaster Tycoon

In RollerCoaster Tycoon, they all look like brown-haired male guests whose basic "names" are Guest #, with the # being the number of the guest who has crossed the beginning of the path to the entrance (spawn point). In the expansion packs, an option on the Options menu lets you change their names so they can have "realistic" names (Bob H., Marie Q. etc.). They also have different ride tolerance and can have different thoughts/moods depending on their surrounding environment.

Rollercoaster Tycoon 2

In RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, the "real" names option inherited from the RCT1 expansions is enabled by default but the over appearence of the guests themselves are basically the same. However, their AI has been somewhat improved, as they won't get lost on double-width paths and smartly seek facilities to serve their needs, such as seeking the Food Stalls when their hunger drops low. Guest AI also allow them to watch rides being built or being used by other guests, often taking photographs as well.

RCT2 also brings along the feature to specifically name guests and even track them by clicking the 'i' symbol within their window. Doing so brings up updates in the News feed.

Rollercoaster Tycoon 3

In RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, the game engine allows guests to have major upgrades in their designs; Instead of the brown-haired people in the game, now people appear in different sizes and looks, and ages. They also have more varied thoughts and are characteristically more interactive with each other. They usually come in "families", and they are divided in three ages: adult, teen and child. There is a Peep Designer available in the game's options menu..

Special/Cheat Guests

In the RCT series, naming guests certain names will give them unique characteristics that gives them special abilities or unique comedic quirks. Guests can have multiples of the same name, from changing lower cased to uppercased, and vice versa, meaning you can have several cheat guests.

Celebrities/VIP Guests

In RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, famous celebrities occasionally appear in your park as part of a scenario objective. They need to be directed to a certain ride with a minimum statistic, specified in the list of scenario objectives.

The player can create waypoints for the celebrity to follow, although they don't always adhere to your will. Celebrities usually are followed by a horde of fans, which will pester him/her for autographs. If they are harassed enough, the celebrity will become unhappy and leave the park. Certain celebrities have low rubbish or breakdown tolerance which can cause them to leave the park also.

Vandals

The guests can also commit vandalism. The concentration of vandalism is directly connected to the level of litter and/or vomit in a certain part of the path. Vandals can be recognized by their red face expression in the guest window. They will destroy nearby benches, lamps and litter bins, regardless of their happiness level. A temporary solution are the security guards, who forbid destroying things in their vicinity. However, a more common and permanent tactic is making a 1x1 island (also known as the prison among the players) in the water, placing a footpath in it, and then putting benches on the path. Then, drag the potential vandal to that island, and he will eventually cool down.

Staff

Staff play a crucial role in the smooth operation of a park. Each other tends to various conditions such as collecting litter, fixing rides or generally contribute to the rating of the park. All staff require wages to be paid so make sure to balance the number of staff vs. the financial balance to avoid going into debt.

Handymen

• Cost per month: $35 (RCT1), $50 (RCT2), $28/$35/$42 (RTC3)

• Default uniform color: Red (color can be changed), Teal (RCT3; color can be changed)

• Assignable tasks: Sweep Footpaths, Water Gardens, Empty Litter Bins, Mow Grass

Handymen are essential members of your staff. They are responsible for cleaning up the messes that your guests make; both trash and vomit. They also perform maintenance on your landscapes, by mowing grass and watering flowers.

Notes

• By default, Handymen are set to perform all four tasks in RCT1. However, in RCT2 they are not set to mow grass by default, possibly because Handymen regularly mow grass instead of performing other duties and hence deselecting the "mow grass" option in RCT1 is almost essential.
• Handymen that do not mow 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 Handyman's 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!
• Handymen are present in RCT1, RCT2, and RCT3.
• On RTC3 you can assign optional 3 task: emty trash can / sweep the floor / watering plants
• In order to keep the park clean, there should be one cleaner per 15-20 path plates.

Mechanics

• Cost per month: $55 (RCT1), $80 (RCT2), $45/$55/$65 (RTC3)

• Default uniform color: Blue (color can be changed)

• Assignable tasks:
  • Inspect Rides. Inspecting Rides prevents them from breaking down.
  • Fix Rides

Mechanics keep a parks' rides operational. They make sure that rides continue to run, and fix them when they break down. If a ride requires inspection or fixing, the mechanic enters through the ride exit, so it is important that they can access that area.

Mechanics generally roam randomly around the paths of your park. If a mechanic is heading to fix a ride, this will be noted in the staff window. In RCT1, mechanics heading towards a ride to inspect it appear as 'walking' just like an unoccupied mechanic.

In RollerCoaster Tycoon, a mechanic will be dispatched to a ride via a radio call. Only one mechanic is dispatched per broken-down ride. Typically, the closest unoccupied mechanic will be dispatched to the ride, though this is not always true. If a mechanic en route to a ride is picked up and placed back down, they will no longer head towards that ride and another mechanic will be dispatched. Mechanics may get lost or stuck on the way to a ride, as mechanics will attempt to find the most direct route to a ride and can inadvertently head down a dead end. If a mechanic is far away from a ride that breaks down, gets stuck on the way to the ride, or cannot access the ride exit, the player will receive warning messages that the ride has not been repaired. After a long period, a mechanic unable to reach a ride will give up, and another mechanic will be dispatched instead.

Notes

• Since Roller Coasters are susceptible to catastrophic station brakes failures, it is a good idea to assign a mechanic to each Roller Coaster, and set the Roller Coaster's inspection time to 10 minutes.

• Mechanics should have access to every station on a multi-station ride.
• Mechanics are never required for the following rides: Miniature Golf, Crooked House, and Maze. The Boat Hire only breaks down when using powered vehicles like Bumper Boats or Jet Skis.
• Mechanics are present in RCT1, RCT2, and RCT3.
• On RTC3 you can assign optional 2 task: maintenance and/or repair
• To keep (RTC3) the attractions (maintenance interval 10 minutes) and stalls running, should be ~0,33 mechanics per attraction and ~0,10 mechanics per stall to be available.
• To ensure that there is always a mechanic nearby, a workplace should be assigned to him. This keeps the downtime of attractions/stalls low. Rule of thumb 3 attractions and 10 stalls per mechanic
• In order (RTC3) to ensure that water slides in swimming pools have as short a donwtime as possible, a dedicated mechanic for the swimming pools should be assigned. The same applies to well-visited attractions especially in the entrance area of the park.

Security Guards

• Cost per month: $45 (RCT1), $60 (RCT2), $10/$15/$20 (RTC3)

• Default uniform color: Yellow (color can be changed), Beige (RCT3; color can be changed)

Security guards are a more passive unit than the other staff members. They prevent path items in their vicinity from being vandalized. Usually, security guards are not necessary if handymen are keeping the areas around the path items clean.

Notes

• Security Guards are present in RCT1, RCT2, and RCT3.

Entertainers

• Cost per month: $40 (RCT1), $55 (RCT2), $32/$40/$48 (RTC3)

• Normal Costume: Panda, Tiger (also appears in Wild!), Elephant

• Theme Costume: Roman, Gorilla, Snowman, Knight, Astronaut, Sheriff, Bandit, Pirate, Princess, Wizard, Cowgirl (RCT3), Pumpkin (RCT3), Alien (RCT3), Shark (Soaked!)
• Entertainers should be assigned a seperate workplace so they don`t block the flow of visitors on unfavorable pathways. Ideally, the entertainer moves on his own path tiles next to a main path, but not directly on the main path.

Entertainers boost the happiness of guests in their vicinity, making them useful in crowded spaces such as queue lines, or long stretches of road.

Have Entertainers patrol the end 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.

Many Entertainers have unique animations that vary on their costume.

Park Inspector (RCT3)

The Park Inspector is a senior citizen that provides updates about situations in the park. He will alert you about long lines, prices, and scenery.

Cost: Free, and comes with each park, and he cannot be fired! Given that beings in RCT3 cannot die, you cannot kill him, which in some cases is unfortunate.

Assignable Tasks:

• Check rides: The inspector goes on rides to ensure they function correctly.
• Check shops: This allows the Park Inspector to check shops and tell you their price. However, there is a gimmick - he will also tell you if the shop matches scenery and will complain until you fix it.
• Check vista: He will evaluate scenery at Photographic Spots, and tell you whether the guests, or "peeps", like or dislike it.

The Park Inspector may be unfireable, but you can make him "unhireable". The very moment the game starts, pause the game (shortcut key "P"). Delete the gray path that projects into the park, right up to the gate. With no path for the inspector to appear on, the inspector will never show up. Unpause the game and wait a few moments. You can then replace the path if you wish.

Notes

• Park Inspectors are only present in RCT3.
• At high graphics load can it be advantageous to cancel the duties of the inspector, cause the status window above needs many graphic load, in addition, the inspector annoys over time with his messages. Alternatively, you can put him in any hole in the ground as well.

Vendors (RCT3)

The cashier is present at all ride entrances, shops, and stalls. They perform tasks such as taking the guests' money, serving food and drinks, and handing the guests their purchased items. They can be fired and trained to make them quicker.

• Default uniform color: Red (RCT3, can be changed)

Notes

• Vendors are only present in RCT3.
• The monthly salary can be chosen between $2 or $3

Other Information

• In RCT3, guests were referred to as "peeps" and can travel in groups, typically families.
• In RTC3 is it not necessary, to pay the staff the highest wages, because the algorithm/artificial intelligence between middle wage and highest wage makes no difference, if the staff has the highest education.