__________________________________ / _ | . | . | ___| ___) ___) / __ | |--| |--| _)_|___ |___ | _/ `| | ' | ' | ` | ` | ` | `----`--`-----`-----`-----`-----`-----' Released Today: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -^/- FULL DOCS FOR THEMEPARK -^/- PART ONE --====-- Docs typed by KaRin NOTE: These docs were typed up in Wordperfect 5 on a PC (Yeaugghh!) So I apologise for any formatting errors!! ReNeGaDe --A((eSS-- Contents Epilepsy Warning 1 Chapter 1: Welcome to Theme Park 6 The Aim of the Game 8 The Main Menu 9 Chapter 2: Designing a New Park 10 Your Player Details 10 Your Player Details are: 10 Where in the World? 12 Site Details Screen 13 To Leave the Site Details Screen: 14 Park Details Screen 15 To Leave the Park Details Screen: 15 Tutorial 16 Following the Tutorial: 16 Chapter 3: In the Park 18 Using the Icon Bar 18 Laying Paths 19 To Lay Paths: 20 Forming a Queue 20 To Place Queues: 21 Selecting Rides 21 To Access the Rides Purchaser: 21 To Access the Quick Menu 22 To Place a Ride: 22 To Place the Entrance: 22 To Place the Exit: 23 Buying Shops 23 To Purchase a Shop: 23 Park Features 24 To Purchase Park Features: 24 Toilet Training 25 Hiring Staff 26 To Hire Staff: 26 To Place Staff in the Park: 26 Overview Map 27 Query Mode 27 Park Status Icon 28 Check Finances 28 Tune-Up Icons 28 Tune-Up Icons Specific to Staff are: 29 Using Quick Menus 30 User-Definable Rides 31 Building a Raised Track Ride 31 Adjusting Height 32 Modernising Raised Track Rides 32 Building a Flat Track Ride 32 Ride Cost 33 Open for Business 33 To Open Your Theme Park Either: 33 To Pause the Game: 33 Chapter 4: People in the Park 34 Staff 34 Entertainers 34 Handymen 34 Mechanics 34 To Repair a Ride: 35 Guards 35 Zoning Staff Icons 35 To Zone Routes: 36 Staff-Check Icons 36 Customers 36 Thugs 37 Consumer Association Reps 37 Chapter 5: Purchaser Screens 38 Ride Purchaser 38 The Ride Purchaser Tells You: 38 Purchaser Screen Icons 39 Shop and Side-Show Purchaser 39 Side-Shows 40 Staff Purchaser 41 On the Staff Purchaser Information Includes: 41 Features Purchaser 41 Information Screens 42 Ride Information Screen 42 Shop Information Screen 43 Side-Show Information Screen 45 Staff Information Screen 45 Customer Information Screen 46 Ranking Screens 47 Ride Rankings 47 Staff Rankings 48 Shop Rankings 48 Chapter 6: Using the Menu Bar 50 The Park Menu 50 Restart 50 Load 50 Save 50 Park Open (O) 51 Firework Display (F) 51 Quit (Alt-Esc) 51 The Options Menu 51 Sound FX 51 Music 51 Advisor (Forward Slash) 51 Auto Buys (Shift B) 51 Sandbox/Sim/Business 52 Game Speed 52 The Display Menu 52 Toggle Screen Mode (R) 52 Ride Purchaser 52 Shop Purchaser 52 Scenery Purchaser 52 Staff Purchaser 52 Shop List (F5) 53 Ride List (F6) 53 Staff List (F7) 53 Park Map 53 Bank Requester 53 Bank Statement 53 Stock Screen (Shift-S) 53 Research Department (N) 53 Game 54 Stock Market (Control-S) 54 World Map (M) 54 Make Things Tiny (Shift-T) 54 Chapter 7: Developing Your Park 56 Park Status Screen 56 To Access the Park Status Screen 56 Using the Park Status Screen 56 Thought Bubbles 57 Stock Screen 59 To Access the Stock Screen: 59 To Place an Order: 59 The Research Department 60 To Access the Research Lab: 60 Funding Research 61 Research Vials 61 Leaving Research 62 Negotiation Screens 62 Staff Negotiations 62 To Raise Your Offer: 63 To Lower Your Offer: 63 Make, Break or Strike 63 Goods Negotiations 64 Chapter 8: The Financial Sector 66 Bank Requester Screen 66 Using the Bank Requester Screen 67 Stock Market 69 Buy!Buy!Buy! 70 Sell!Sell!Sell! 70 Chapter 9: Year End Charts 72 Red Letter Days 72 Ratings Chart 73 Year End Details Chart 74 Auctions 75 Bankruptcy 75 About Bullfrog 76 Credits 77 Notice 78 Limited Warranty 79 Chapter 1: Welcome to Theme Park "The weather looked a bit dodgy, threatening rain, but it was pleasantly warm. Near perfect conditions for a family visit to the Theme Park which had recently opened nearby. The TV ads promise a perfect day out and thrills galore, and the place looked so spectular we just couldn't resist. The bus that took us to the Theme Park was huge, with room for a couple of hundred people on board. And not all crammed in like sardines either; everyone got a seat, there was plenty of leg room and air conditioning kept us cool. We scythed through the traffic, and in no time at all arrived at our destination. A sign above the gate said Welcome to Bullfrog's World! Even I was excited, and my kids were buzzing. I bought the tickets - a bit steep for the whole family, but all the rides are free once you're in. The great metal gates swung open and in we swarmed, carried along by the enthusiasm of the crowd. And what a sight met our eyes! The place was fantastic! Rides galore, shops, souvenirs and all the facilities you could possibly wish for. A huge roller coaster - The Whirlwind - dominated the skyline, and we followed the signs straight there, hoping to be the first in the queue. Somehow a few others had beaten us to it, but we weren't made to wait for long. We climbed aboard and pulled down the safety rail, me and the wife in front, the two kids behind. Phew, what a ride. Loops, curls, corkscrews and so fast. The g-force was, to quote the kids, 'intense'. They wanted a second go immediately, but I said we should try a few of the other rides first, and bought them 'I Rode The Whirlwind' t-shirts from a nearby souvenir stand to keep them happy. Hint This is the level of satisfaction, facilities and customer service your park has to approach to have any chance of making it in the ultra-competitive Theme Park business. If you possess the skills required to make people happy while simultaneously taking them for as much money as possible, read on. Because when you play Theme Park, you're riding a financial whirlwind. A few rides later, I was getting peckish and the kids were ravenous. There was a burger stand handy, so I treated the family to burgers and fries. We ate them by a fountain in the picnic area, in the cool shade of the trees. Bliss. The food was good, but the salty fries soon had us all thirsty, so it was out with the wallet again for a few colas and the inevitable ice creams. As I put my litter in the bin I noticed the kids had left rubbish on the grass, but before I could get them to pick it up one of the park workers had whisked it away. Still, the day wouldn't have been complete without giving the kids a good telling off and their subsequent tantrums. Refreshed and rejuvenated I felt like a challenge, so I chanced my arm on the Coconut Shy. Those coconuts must have been glued in, because I hit them on the full a few times but they didn't budge. Then my son decided to humiliate me by hitting the cans for six in Tin Can Alley. Now it was my turn to sul, so I decided to cool off in the Saloon while the wife and kids went off exploring. When I emerged I needed to answer a call of nature, and the clear sign-posting meant I'd found a toilet in no time. The Super Toilet was so clean and user- friendly, I remember thinking I could have stayed there for hours. Next I headed for the Fountain, a meeting place for separated families, and sure enough the wife was waiting with the little ones. They'd had a marvellous time in my absence, had travelled all over the park by Monorail, and hadn't even minded the inevitable shower of rain because a man dressed as a chicken handed out umbrellas to protect them. Plus they rode the Whirlwind for a second time and it was even faster than before, speeded up for extra thrills. We stood and watched a spectacular firework display as the sky grew darker, and then tired but happy made our way back to the bus. All in all the family's day out at Bullfrog's World just couldn't have been any better." Hint Now that might sound easy enough, but if you think Theme Park's going to be a walk in the park, you couldn't be further from the truth. Success in business requires an awesome eye for detail, and likewise in Theme Park. You need to fine tune every ride, shop and side-show for maximum profit margin. Don't forget to check on your finances regularly at the Bank Screen, and listen to the Park Advisor's advice throughout the game on how to make the most of the Theme Park. The Aim of the Game Simply put, to be the best. To make your Theme Park not only the hottest ticket for thousands of visitors, but the hottest property on the shares exchange. At the end of every financial year, you receive a statement on the Year End Chart, rating your Theme Park against 40 rivals in six categories. The categories are: Richest Park Owner Most Exciting Park Most Amenities Customer Satisfaction Biggest Park Most Pleasant Park Only when you're numero uno in each category have you achieved your aim of constructing the ultimate Theme Park. Hint Nicknames become important when saving games. While there are only 10 saved game slots, you can save 10 parks per nickname and there's no limit to the number of nicknames you can have. The Main Menu Having successfully loaded the game, the Advisor introduces you to the world of Theme Park. To skip the intro sequence at any point, press spacebar. You arrive at the Title Screen; press spacebar again and you're asked to type in a nickname. Do so using the keyboard, and confirm with a left-click to the Tick icon. The Main Menu appears. To select a Main Menu option, highlight it with the cursor and left-click or press the relevant key. The Main Menu options are: F1 Setup New Theme Park - left-click here for the Your Player Details screen. F2 Load Game - a left-click opens the Saved Game window. To choose which park to re-open, highlight with the cursor and left-click. Press Esc to return to the Main Menu without loading a game. F3 Continue Game - Returns you to the current Theme Park the last time you saved. F4 - See Intro - So impressed you want to watch it again? I don't blame you. F5 - See Credits - Find out the names of those responsible for Theme Park. F6 - Quit to DOS - Quits the Main Menu and takes you to the operating system. Chapter 2: Designing a New Park Highlight F1 Setup New Theme Park and left-click for the Your Player Details screen. Your Player Details Give the park some personality and set-up the kind of game you want to play on the Your Player Details screen. Use the mouse to highlight a category with the cursor and left-click. Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move up and down the list, and left/right to select particular options. Your Player Details are: Your Name - Type in your name using the keyboard. Your Nickname - Type in something witty, abusive or filthy using the keyboard, to a maximum of eight characters. This nickname becomes essential when restoring saved games - it acts like a password and you're unable to resotre a game without it. Age - Lie if you like, but you're only kidding yourself. Enter your age on the keyboard. Sex - The options are Male or Female, so no surprises there. Highlight one or the other with the cursor keys, or left-click the appropriate one. Park Name - Type in nothing here and your park's known as Bullfrog's World, but I'm sure you can come up with something a little more imaginative than that. Enter the park name on the keyboard; use Backspace to erase incorrect characters. Sim Level - Choose from Sandbox, Sim and Full. Highlight the desired level of play with the cursor, and then left-click. Sandbox level is very much for beginners. You can enjoy all the fun of the fair and design a park without the stresses, strains and complications that come from visits to the Bank Requester screen. There's no need for Research and your shops can't run out of stock so there's no need to visit the Stock Screen. However, you may still need to take out a loan, and keep one eye on your bank balance to avoid going bankrupt. Needless to say, you're missing out on an awful lot of Theme Park's best features. Sim level is intermediary. You're involved in Research to develop new park facilities and the Negotiation screens pop up periodically. However, if you visit the Stock Screen and Stock Market screens you'll find that these features aren't available to you. Only on Full level do you get to utilise all of Theme Park's options. Now you're not only expected to Research new facilities, but pruchase stock for shops and shares in other parks. You're responsible for every financial transaction, and rival operators have a say in your success. On Full level, you're playing with the big boys. Park Visitors - Choose a modd from Happy, Average and Fussy by left-clicking the approriate box. The fussier your customers become, the harder it is to part them from their cash. This only affects your Theme Park's visitors for the first four years of operation, after which it's all down to you. Start Level - Choose between Easy, Medium and Hard. This decides the amount of money you begin the game with. On Easy level 200,000 is deposited in your current account, choose Medium and 150,000 is added to your coffers, while on Hard level you've a mere 100,000 to play with. Opponents - None, 4, 10 and All are the options here. If you're playing in glorious isolation the game loses its competitive element. The more rival Theme Parks that are out there, the trickier it gets to be best in all six categories and someone might just buy the park out from under you. Opponents Level - This decides how aggressive your opponents are. Choose between Easy, Medium, and Hard. You can make life a lot simpler if you hamper the opposition and make them Easy, but for a real challenge make All the opposing Theme Park owners rock Hard. First Game - No or Yes. If you select Yes you're given a Tutorial by the Park Advisor when you enter the park to help you get started (see Tutorial). When you've finished entering your Player Details, left-click the Tick icon for a look at the World Map. Hint A site close to a large European or North American city is going to be an easier proposition than one in Antarctica, but these are also the most expensive sites. So when choosing a location, make certain you've enough cash left to develop the site and haven't blown it all beforehand. The cheaper the site, the more you have to spend to make a success of it, but Theme Park is all the more challenging when you've difficult terrain and a remote location to overcome. Where in the World? On the World Map available sites are marked in yellow. Red dots mark locations you currently can't afford, while sites occupied by other Theme Park owners are marked in blue. At the bottom of the screen is your bank balance. Highlight a location with the cursor; the name and cost of establishing a park appear above your bank balance. The more salubrious and desirable the location, the greater the initial cost. No surprise then that it costs nothing to setup a park in Britain - this is your only option the first time you play Theme Park. Left-click a red or yellod dot for details of the site and the country in which it's located (see Site Details Screen). Left-click a blue dot for a look at parks already in existence on the Park Details Screen. When you find a site you're happy with, left-click Buy Land. This location appears on the World Map as a golf ball about to be teed off. To leave the World Map for the park itself, left-click the Tick icon. Site Details Screen This lists all the factors which could effect the success of a Theme Park built on a particular site, specifically population, economy and climate: Cost - How big a bite of your bank balance is this location going to take? Local Population - The number of potential customers that your Theme Park has to draw from in the early stages. Medium Population - Further down the line, a medium-sized park could attract visitors from from further afield. Long Population - When your park has grown in size and its reputation has become international, the number of potential customers grows to the figure found here. Inflation Rate - From 0-100%. The lower the better, because an inflation rate of 100% means that your overheads will double annually. Interest Rate - From 0-100%. As with the inflation rate, you want to keep this low or end up paying through the nose for every penny you borrow. Econony - Rich, Poor or Medium. This indicates how much cash customers will have to spend in your Theme Park, and the worse the economy the less disposable income is available. Hint The larger the population able to access the park, the more stable the economy and the more pleasant the climate, the easier it is to make a go of your Theme Park. Tax Free Period Years - The length of time you can run your park without paying land tax. Land Tax - The amount you pay is calculated by applying this rate to the area of land your park occupies, so keep it compact and you'll pay less tax. Weather - Rainy, Sunny, Stormy, etc. The better the weather the more likely people are to venture out of their homes and into your park. Terrain - You have to build around rocks and other natural obstacles, so choose a site that's nice and flat if there's one available. Who - The name of the park's owner. To Leave the Site Details Screen: Having digested all the information on the Site Details screen, left-click the Buy Land icon to accept the site. The Park Details appear on screen (see Park Details Screen). If you're not happy with a site, left-click the Tick icon to return to the World Map and check out another location. Park Details Screen Check out with your own park details and those of rival park owners at the Park Details screen. This tells you: Player Name - That's you (or your opponent) that is. Balance - As in 'bank'. The amount of money available for development of the site. Personality - Rated on a scale of 0-100. Vendetta - Are there any establsihed rivalries between park owners? If you find your own name here, be sure to guard against unfriendly take-over bids. Reputation - Good, bad or indifferent. If this is your first Theme Park you haven't got one, but any subsequent parks are measured against previous efforts. Number of Rides - Check up on how many rides are in the park by looking here. Number of Shops - See above. Number of Staff - See above the above. Number of People - How popular are your Theme Park rivals? As for any new park, until the main gates are thrown open there'd be more visitors to a plague pit. To Leave the Park Details Screen: When you've taken it all in, left-click the Tick icon and it's back to the World Map. Once you've bought a plot, left-click the Tick icon at the World Map and you're in the park. Tutorial When completing Your Player Details, you're asked whether this is the first time you've played Theme Park (see Your Player Details). Choose yes for a tutorial from the Park Advisor when you arrive at the Park Screen. Following the Tutorial: The Park Advisor guides you through the tutorial step-by-step. First of all you're shown how to lay paths. Next, place the first Ride. This is the Bouncy Castle. Place Entrance and Exit icons as instructed. Now connect the Ride to the network of Paths you've created with a Barrier. You must now choose a location for an ice cream stand. Again the Park Advisor instructs you how to do this. Then hire three members of staff - a sharkman, handyman and mechanic - and place them in the park as instructed. You can now continue to build your park from here. Remember, everything used in the Tutorial, including staff wages, has to be bought and paid for like all your future purchases. To skip the Tutorial, choose No when asked whether it's the first time you've played at the Your Player Details screen. Chapter 3: In the Park So, You've chosen a location and you're in the park. The site is currently a flat lot of nothing with a wall around it and a main gate; you've a lot of work to do before it's the world's ultimate tourist attraction. Using the Icon Bar The Icons Bar at the bottom of the screen is the key to creating your Theme Park. From left to right the icons are for: paths, queues, rides, shops, park features, staff, the overview map, query, park status and of the Bank Requester screen. Hint Like everything else in Theme Park paths cost money, so in the early stages when cash is tight you need to be sensible and place paths only where rides and shops are going. Laying Paths Before you can do anything else, you must lay paths around the park for visitors to walk along. Theme Park's little visitors always follow paths, and this is the only way customers can access shops and rides. They only go on the grass when they're looking for the Way Out (and complain if they can't find it). Note: Paths cannot be laid where natural obstacles such as rocks and water block the way. Left-click the Paths icon to lay plain, ordinary concrete. The cursor becomes a trowel. Right-click for the Paths Menu and choose between concrete and one-way paths or sign-posts. The latter two cost extra, but you don't need these until later in the game when vast numbers of punters need clear directions, so save your money at first. When you select one-way paths, the cursor becomes an arrow. To lay a one-way path, left-click a path square and then orientate the arrow in your preferred direction with additional left-clicks. Left-click the sign-post icon in the Paths Menu and the icon attaches itself to the cursor. The sign-post flashes until it's given a sense of direction, which you do by left-clicking on a shop, ride or feature. Now move the post to the desired position in the park and place it with a left-click; wherever it's placed, the sign points to the chosen amenity. Left-click again to rotate the sign and lead customers to a destination via a different route, so as to pass additional shops and rides they might otherwise have missed. Note: Remember to re-select normal paths from the Paths Menu after selecting one-way or sign-posts. Hint There's a good deal of psychology involved when forming queues. It's difficult to judge the length of a long queue which doubles back on itself, and punters may join then become irritated by the wait and leave. Short queues move people through the ride more quickly, but as the ride is always full some people may not have the chance to try it out at all. As always in Theme Park, it's a balancing act. To Lay Paths: The trowel cursor has a path square attached. Left-click to lay single squares of concrete. Alternatively, click and hold the left mouse button and then scroll around the park with the trowel; a path square is laid wherever the trowel does its digging. Double left-click a path square to de-select any active icon - rides, shops, staff, etc - and pick up the trowel for laying paths again. The path square disappears if you scroll over an area of the park where you can't lay a path. A border of flowers grows around paths once the disturbance of the digging has stopped. To Remove Paths: To remove a path square, highlight it with the trowel cursor and right-click. You cannot delete the original area of path around the main gate. Note: Paths are the only item you pay for immediately. You won't get the cost of any ride, shop or staff purchases deducted from your budget until the end of each month. Forming a Queue The thrill-hungry public are unable to sample the delights of a ride unless they can form an orderly queue for it. Customers can still access a ride which isn't connected to a path by a queue, but they do so only one at a time and the ride is not used to maximum efficiency. To Place Queues: Highlight the Queue icon with a left-click. Now connect the entrance to your chosen ride to the path (see Selecting Rides). Queues can be placed or removed just as you would a path; hold down the left mouse and scroll around the screen to place a queue, highlight and right-click to remove a section of the queue. Note: A queue must always be placed from a path to the start of a ride. Selecting Rides Only four of Theme Park's rides are available at the start of the game. In Full and Sim mode, you can only add to the number of rides availabe by investing in Research (see Research Department). At Sandbox level, more rides are added to the list at the end of each financial year. There are two ways to purchase rides, through the Rides Purchaser screen or using the Quick Menu. To Access the Ride Purchaser: Left-click the Ride icon for the Rides Purchaser screen (see Purchaser Screens) and some in-depth information about the attractions currently available to you. To Access the Quick Menu: Alternatively, right-click the Ride icon for the Quick Menu. Left-click an item from this menu to select your ride. Each one has a price tag; if you don't have enough cash for a particular ride, the ride icon has a red background. Having made your decision, the Quick Menu disappears and the chosen attraction is stuck to the cursor like chewing gum to a set of false teeth. To Place a Ride: Left-click in the area of the park large enough to accommodate the ride. You now need to place the ride's Entrance and Exit. To Place the Entrance: Once a ride has been positioned, the entrance icon appears. Moving the mouse lets you move the entrance anywhere around the ride, and a left-click locks it in place. To move the entrance again, choose the appropriate icon from the information screen (see Information Screens). You can change the orientation of the Entrance of User-Definable rides (see User- Definable Rides). Hint Food and drink stands are essential to the running of your park, as people will head for home if they can't get a drink and a bite to eat. However, souvenir shops and side-shows, for which you needn't buy stock, can turn you the healthiest profit. Hint Visitors only buy souvenirs if they're having a good time, so place souvenir shops near to your park's best rides and watch the money roll in. To Place the Exit: The Exit is a short flight of steps that takes your punters back to terra firma. Place this as you did the Entrance. Remember, you MUST link every ride's exit to a path or when your punters leave the ride they become lost and mill around on the grass. Once the ride's Entrance and Exit have been placed, the Tune-Up icons on the far right of the control Bar become active. See Tune-Up icons for details of their functions. Buying Shops Shops fall into three categories: Food & drink stands (for which you must purchase stock - see Stock Screens), souvenir shops and side-shows. While it's the thrill rides that draw in the crowds, you need to keep visitors happy (and earn extra bucks) by supplying refreshments, and hopefully entice them into going home with a Theme Park souvenir or two into the bargain. To Purchase a Shop: Left-click the Shop icon for the Shops Purchaser screen (see Purchaser Screen) and an in-depth look at the available shops. A right-click brings up the Quick Menu. Left-click an item from this menu to select a shop. Each one has a price tag; if you can't afford the chosen shop, its icon has a red background. Having made your selection, the Shop Menu disappears leaving you to place the shop where it's likely to attract the most custom. A left-click does the job. Hint Don't just ignore features such as walls. They not only tart the place up a bit, but improve your safety record by keeping customers on the straight and narrow, preventing them from wandering into the danger zones around the rides. Park Features What with Most Pleasant Park being among the categories on which your Theme Park is judged, it's a good idea to beautify the place with trees and fountains. Plus, the park won't stay beautiful for long without proper toilet facilities and clear signposts showing people where they are. To Purchase Park Features: Left-click the Park Features icon for the Features Purchaser screen (see Purchaser Screens). Alternatively, right-click the Park Features for the Quick Menu. Left-click an item from this menu, and then click once on the Park Screen for every tree you want planting. If you're putting up a fence, digging a lake, hold down the left mouse and scroll through the park. Right-click to remove any piece of scenery, fencing or facility placed in error. Toilet Training With all the food and drink you (hope to) sell, visitors are going to need somewhere they can off load any excess. Forget to place toilets around your Theme Park and things are going to either get very messy, or visitors will head for home the moment nature calls. The only lavatory available from the Park Features list at first is an old, wooden outhouse; not the nicest place in the world to park your backside. Customers are rather tentative about using these, and a queue forms outside while the occupant gingerly places a protective layer of lavatory paper between flesh and toilet seat. Woe betide the Theme Park owner who forgets to have these toilets cleaned. It isn't long before an outhouse, with its dodgy drainage and doubtful flushing mechanism, stinks to high Heaven. An if placed upwind of the queasy stomachs that often emerge from the more thrilling thrill rides, it's a recipe for disaster. First one punter loses his lunch and then a chain chunder rips through the crowd like wildfire. Before long your park's going to be about as popular as a bottle of barbecue sauce at the Three Little Pigs' house. You can, of course, combat this by keeping outhouses properly maintained. Send handymen to clean them regularly, and should the worst happen and the vomit begin to flow make sure there are plenty of staff to mop it up. Inject some cash into upgrading Park Features in the Research Lab (see Research Department) and soon your customers are relaxing on the luxurious, hi-tech Super Toilet. This self-cleaning lavatory is so sophisticated it does everything but sing like Noel Coward to the occupant. Far from throwing up, customers are more likely to move in. END OF PART ONE ---=========--- -^/- FULL DOCS FOR THEMEPARK -^/- PART TWO --====-- Docs typed by KaRin Hiring Staff Think you can run this park alone? Think again! There's no way you can offer the levels of service and satisfaction that your paying customers expect without staff. Admittedly, in the early stages you might be able to get away with a skeleton staff but as the litter begins to mount and the hundreds of pounding feet take their toll on the rides, you'd better have somebody to pick up the pieces. You can hire entertainers, handymen, mechanics and guards. Each have specific duties (for an explanation, see People in the Park), but they're all there to help things run smoothly. To Hire Staff: Left-click the Staff icon for the Staff Purchaser screen (see Purchaser Screens). Alternatively, right-click the Staff icon for the Quick Menu. To Place Staff in the Park: Left-click a member of staff from the Quick Menu; they become attached to the cursor. Next, left-click once on the Park Screen for every worker in that category you wish to employ. Note: The number by each staff member is their monthly wage, so remember that staff are an ongoing expense. Overview Map A left-click to this icon brings up an overhead view of the entire park. Use the mouse to move the highlight box anywhere on the map, and then left-click. You return to the Park Screen at this new location. Query Mode Left-click the Query icon and the cursor becomes a question mark. Move the cursor over any ride, shop or staff member and left-click to activate the Tune-Up icons. Depending on the object that has been queried, not all the Tune-Up icons will be active (see Tune-Up icons). Highlight a customer while in Query mode and a thought bubble appears indicating their current state of mind. Left-click and the thought bubble becomes permanent (for more on thought bubbles and their meanings, see People in the Park). Whenever anything is queried, its name appears in the text bar beneath the Tune- Up icons. Park Status Icon The Park Status icon's smiley face reflects the mood of the park visitors, and the shaded area of the box below indicates how full the next bus to arrive at the park will be. The thin red line spreading from the bottom right of the mood box shows the area of the park occupied by the paying public. When the whole box is filled in red, your park is full to bursting. Left-click the Park Status icon for the Park Status screen (see Using the Park Status Screen). Check Finances Short on cash and want to get a bank loan? Or just interested in the current state of your Theme Park's finances? Left-click this icon and the Bank Requester screen appears (see Bank Requester Screen). The figure beneath the icon is your current bank balance. At the end of every calendar month this figure is updated, with money coming in shown in black and deductions displayed in red. Right-click the Bank Requester icon for the Bank Statement screen (see Bank Statement). Hint Reducing ride length increases the number of visitors who can use the ride, although it risks their dissatisfaction. Do this only when a popular ride has a long queue to prevent people from drifting off. Hint Don't try and exceed the ride's maximum capacity, as set down on the Purchaser Screen. Hint Clicking on the spanner icon instructs a mechanic to go and repair the ride. When there's a man on the job, the mechanic's head appears over the On/Off icon for a brief moment. Tune-Up Icons When an object in the park has been queried, the Tune-Up icons on the far right of the Icon Bar are activated. These update you on the status of a ride, shop or member of staff and let you fine tune their performance. Information - this is the only Tune-Up icon for shops, and the only one common to rides, shops and staff. Left-click here for the relevant information screen (see Information Screens). This gives you vital facts about the status of any park utility, and lets you alter certain key factors to maximise profitability. Tune-Up icons specific to rides are, from left to right: Timer - the whole hour glass is filled in red. Right-click the icon and the sands of time begin to run out, reducing the length of the ride with each click. Left-click to increase the length of the ride again when the queue has subsided. Spanner icon - indicates how safe the ride is. The higher the red bar, the more dangerous the ride. The state of repair of a ride is also affected by the numbers using it and the ride speed. Rider icon - adjust the number of punters you can cram onto a ride before it starts. Left-clicks increase the number of people on the ride, right-clicks decrease it when safety levels are being exceeded. On/Off - turn a ride on or off with a click to this icon with either mouse button. The light changes from green to red when a ride has been stopped. The light is replaced by a mechanic's head when a ride is under repair. Ride Speed - right-clicks increase the revolutions per minute of your rides. If things become a little too exciting for the ride users and your park is in danger of drowning beneath a sea of vomit, retard the ride's speed with left-clicks to this icon. Chnages to ride speed take immediate effect on the Park Screen. Tune-Up Icons Specific to Staff are: Pincer icon - left-click here and the cursor becomes a set of pincers with the queried staff member attached. You can now reposition them anywhere in the Park Screen with a left-click. Zone Route icons - set a specific route for a handyman to patrol (see Zoning Staff Icons). Repair icon - for mechanics only. Left-click this and then left-click a ride in need of some attention to send the queried mechanic to work. Hint A plume of smoke indicates when a ride is on its last legs. If you don't respond quicly enough, you can send some innocent punters into orbit - there ain't no smoke without fire! Using Quick Menus There are quick menus for paths, rides, shops, park features and staff. Right-click their icon from the Icons Bar for the relevant quick menu. All the amenities available to you in that category are displayed, along with the cost of purchase. As you highlight an amenity with the cursor its name appears at the top of the menu. A left-click selects the ride, shop, feature or member of staff to be placed, and simultaneously closes the menu. Resize a quick menu by holding down the left mouse button on the bottom right hand corner, and then dragging the menu out to the desired size. To bring the menu up to maximum size, left-click the maximise icon top right. To take the menu down to minimum size, left-click the minimise icon adjacent to the maximising icon. You can close a menu without selecting an amenity by left-clicking the menu's top left hand corner. Hint Right-click the first section of track to change the orientation of the entrance. You can right-click as many times as you like to rotate the first section and build your ride in a different direction. User-Definable Rides With User-Definable rides you get to design the ride for yourself, rather than just place it in the Theme Park. There are two kinds of User-Definable rides: Raised Track and Flat Track, and they're built using different methods. Building a Raised Track Ride Raised Track rides are the Roller-Coaster, Monorail and Big Dipper, all marked on the Quick Menu by carriage icons. Left-click the icon in the Quick Menu and the first 5 sections of track appear, complete with entrace booth. A left-click locks this first section in place. Note: You can't raise or lower the first pieces of any User-Definable ride. Now scroll around the park and lay down the track with left-clicks, almost as if you were laying a path. Create hairpin bends or gentle curves as you see fit until you complete the circuit. Remove any rogue pieces of track that are heading in the wrong direction with right-clicks. Note: If the Year End screen interupts the construction of a Raised Track ride, you must access the Ride Purchaser to complete a circuit of track. Select the Track icon with a left-click, and when the action returns to the Park Screen you're then able to finish off your ride. Adjusting Height You can adjust the height of the Roller-Coaster and Big Dipper when a circuit has been completed. Left-click the base of a section of a track to elevate it one increment, and continue to left-click until it reaches the desired altitude. Right-click the base of a section to reduce height one increment at a time. A right- click at the lowest level removes that section altogether. Note: You can't adjust the height of the Monorail. Modernising Raised Track Rides To adjust the height of the Roller-Coaster and Big Dipper after opening, you need to first stop the ride using the appropriate Tune-Up icon. You can also Research upgrades for the Roller-Coaster and Big Dipper, but again must stop the ride before you can add them. Add-ons include loops and corkscrews for the Roller-Coaster and a water splash for the Big Dipper. When add-ons are complete, they become available from the Quick Menu. Left-click its icon, and then move the pointer over the ride. When you reach a section of the ride that can accommodate the add-on, its icon appears. Now simply left-click. Building a Flat Track Ride The Flat Track rides are the Rubber-Tubing and Race Car ride, which have their own icons. Right-click the Rides Icon for the Quick Menu and select the desired ride. When completing a circuit of track, you'll notice that the entrance does not come with the first section. You must complete a circuit and then return to the Ride Purchaser and select the Ride icon. Having left-clicked the Tick icon, action returns to the Park Screen and you can place the entrance booth as normal. Note: When connecting any User-Definable ride to the paths network, it's important to remember that the entrance to the ride is on the right, and the exit the left - you don't want people walking into one another as they try to get on and off your expensive new star attraction! Ride Cost The cost of User-Definable rides is calculated according to the number of sections of track used to complete the circuit, and the height to which the track is elevated. The current cost of the ride is displayed in the text bar beneath the Tune-Up icons. Keep an eye on this figure and make sure you have the budget to cover it. Only when you open the ride to the public is the final price fixed. So you can add and take away, raise and lower sections of track to your heart's desire but are charged only for the final number used in the ride. Hint Don't just open the park as soon as you've laid the first path. It might seem an attractive proposition to start earning money immediately, but you only end up chasing after visitors, hurriedly laying paths and setting up rides. Customers are annoyed by the lack of facilities, and the bad word of mouth is hard to live down. Open for Business When your rides, shops and other amenities are ready and you want to start making some money, open the park and let the people flood in. To Open Your Theme Park either: Left-click the park entrance (in Query or pointer modes only). or Press O on the keyboard. Press O again to close the gates. or Use the Park menu in the Menu Bar at the top of the screen (see Using the Menu Bar). To Pause the Game: Press P. Chapter 4: People in the Park The people that swarm around your Theme Park are divided into two basic groups: staff and customers. There's one vital difference between the two - you pay the former, while the latter pay you. Hint The more your staff are paid the more enthusiastically they work for you, so the worst member of staff is always the cheapest. If you want your park to be the best, don't be a cheapskate when it comes to hiring staff. Staff Staff are divided into four categories; entertainers, handymen, mechanics and guards. Hint When it's raining, entertainers had out umbrellas to customers to stop them rushing off home, so group them around the park entrance during inclement weather. Entertainers These are Teddy Man, Shark Man, Squid Man, Strong Man, Chicken Man and Rhino Man. It must be sheer hell inside one of those suits and not easy to keep smiling, but that's exactly what their job entails. The more entertainers you have, the more enjoyment customers get from their visit - kids especially love them. Hint Zoning the routes of handymen lets you use them more efficiently (see Zoning Staff Routes). Handymen These are the guys who keep the park tidy. If you're after the most attractive park award they mow the grass, and keep the place being labelled a health hazard by picking up burger wrappers, cola cups and other assorted litter. Crucially, handymen also keep the toilets spick, span and fit for human occupation. Mechanics When a ride malfunctions, it's going to become a danger unless there is a mechanic to fix it. They are responsible for maintenance of all the rides, and cordon off any sub-standard attraction before setting to work fixing it, blow-torch in hand. Fail to have enough mechanics and your park soon gets a reputation for unreliability, damaging visitor numbers and gate receipts. Mechanics can be diffcult to motivate into responding quickly and are often at the centre of any industrial dispute, but they're essential to the smooth running of your Theme Park. Hint It's extra important to look after your rides, because if the worst happens and one actually explodes, not only are the people using it sent into low orbit (and after that, they're likely to sue) but land damaged by the exploding ride can't be re-built on afterwards. To Repair a Ride: Query a mechanic and left-click the Repair icon from the Tune-Up icons; the cursor becomes a spanner. Now left-click the broken ride and watch as a highly-skilled mechanic rushes to repair it. You can also Query the ride itself, and then left-click the Spanner icon from the ride Tune-Up icons. Guards You may think evrything is going to be sweetness and light in your Theme Park, but think again. If you're lucky enough to be so successful that customers pour in, you're going to need someone to take care of crowd control, re-directing lost visitors onto the right path. If you're unlucky and attract the wrong crowd, these are the guys responsible for forcibly removing troublemakers from the premises. Zoning Staff Icons You can leave your handymen to meander around the park willy-nilly, but don't be surprised if they're not where you want them at some crucial moment. Instead, zone the routes patrolled by handymen to make the most of the money you're paying them. Hint Remember that you can't have too clean a park. You need to hire a handyman for every two or three shops that you open. Hint When the Research icon appears beside the Staff-Check icons and a bell rings, it means that research on a new item has been completed. Left-click this icon for information on the new amenity. To Zone Routes: After employing a new handyman, left-click the Zone Route icon from the Tune-Up bar; the Place Route and Cancel Route icons appear in the Tune-Up bar. Now, left- click the Place Route icon and the Zoning highlight appears. Highlight additional sections until the required route has been covered, and then left-click Confirm Route. To undo any zoning either now or at a later date, simply highlight the zoned area as above and then left-click Cancel Route. Staff Check Icons Use the Staff-Check Icons in the top right of the Park Screen to keep an eye on your employees. There's a Staff-Check Icon for each category of employee within the park except for guards, who remain static and so can't wander off. Left-click to zoom the park view to the nearest staff memeber in that category; repeated left-clicks let you check up on all of them. Customers The whole point of all this effort is to attract as many customers to your park as possible, and to make sure that they're having such a good time they don't notice how much money they're spending on rides, refreshments and souvenirs. Customers come in all shapes and sizes, but you can alter the age range of the people attracted to your Theme Park. The bigger and faster the thrill rides, the more youngsters are going to appear, but if you make the rides too death-defying, a rabble of thrill hungry bikers could move in. On the other hand, if the rides are more sedate you begin to notice white hair and walking frames among the park's visitors. (For details on adjusting ride speed, see Tune-Up Icons). Hints Hell's Angels are attracted to parks with a bad reputation for cleanliness and no guards, so to avoid problems with them keep your park up to scratch. Thugs When you see a bike load of heavies heading for the park, prepare for a rough ride. They do everything possible to ruin the day for the rest of your customers. They pop balloons, steal food, beat up entertainers and smash rides. Leave them too long and they get in touch with their Hell's Angel pals and before you know it, the park's overrun. The only way to rid the park of this nuisance once it's arrived is to hire some guards to forcibly eject troublemakers from the premises. However, it's no use just stationing guards at the park entrance as thugs can only be thrown out once they've committed an offence. Consumer Association Reps If your park is developing a bad reputation, whether it be for high prices or poor quality, spies from a consumer association infiltrate to check the place out. They can be spotted by a sharp-eyed park owner by the offical consumer association clipboards they refer to as they exit every ride. To beat the rap, make sure all shops and rides they use are reasonably priced and in perfect working order. That way they eventually leave the park satisfied. For information on recognising and responding to your customers' demands, see Using The Park Status Screen. Chapter 5: Purchaser Screens There are Purchaser Screens for Rides, Shops, Staff and Park Features. Left-click the relevant Control Bar icon, or access the Park Menu (see Park Menu) to bring up Purchaser Screens. Ride Purchaser For detailed information on a ride, take time out to study the Ride Purchaser. Single left-clicks to the Scroll icons take you forward and back through the rides one at a time. Left-click the Fast Scroll icons to zoom to the first and last rides in the list. The ride in the central window has its details displayed in the text box. The Ride Purchaser tells you: Ride Name and Version Number. Ride Excitement - boost this for extra thrills or slow it down and ensure reliability. Reliability - the less reliable the ride, the more often it's going to be shut down for costly repairs. Maximum Capacity - the more potential users, the shorter the period spent queuing and the happier your customers are kept. Ride Cost - anything from 2,000 to 200,000. The cost of a ride is deducted at the month end, so if you change your mind and remove a ride before a month is up, you don't pay a penny. Purchaser Screen Icons Running down the right hand side of the Purchaser Screen are various icons. Left- click any one for further details. Ride icon - a left-click takes you to the Ranking screen, where all your current rides are ranked and rated (see Ranking Screen). X icon - return to Park Screen without picking the selected ride. Tick icon - returns you to the Park Screen with the chosen ride attached to the pointer. Shop and Side-Show Purchaser This contains much the same information as the Ride Purchaser, and is operated in exactly the same way. However, it has different categories of information: Type of goods sold - burgers from the burger stand, fries from the fries stand, novelties from the novelty shop. Get the idea? If the highlighted shop is a side-show, this category is Addictiveness. Stock price - the cost to you of the stock held by the shop. If you're eying a side-show, this category tells you the value of the prize. Hint The key to maximising profit from food and drink shops is the adjustable category each one contains. Check out the information screen section for details. Sale price - the price at which you sell stock to the public. The difference between these two is your profit margin. Stock Control Bar - the amount of stock currently held by the shop, and how much is on order. Cost - what the shop or side-show will cost you to open in the first place. For your delectation, here's a list of all the shops which could eventually be available after sufficient investment in Research (see Research Department): The shops with an asterisk (*) beside them need to be restocked at the Stock screen from time to time (see Stock Screen). Arcade Duck ShootRace Track Balloon World Gift Shop Saloon Big Time Burger* Gun Shoot Steak Restaurant Big Time Fries* Ice Cream Stall* Tin-Can Alley Coconut Shy Novelty ShopToy Land Coffee Shop Pokey Cola* Hint To offset any disappointment customers might feel at the slim chances of victory, increase the value of the prize offered. Side-Shows If you're not careful you could end up paying through the nose for your side-shows. But in the finest traditions of showmanship, you can also cheat and turn them into nice little earners. To do this, reduce the probability of a punter winning at the information screen. This increases the amount of glue keeping the coconuts in their shy, and adds a few nails to the bottom of the cans in tin-can allye (see Information Screens). Staff Purchaser On the staff Purchaser information includes: Enthusiasm - rated in various categories. The lower the rating, the more likely your staff are to down tools and call a strike. Low wages and poor conditions are the factors which effect worker morale. Cost to hire - present cost of hiring a staff member from a given category, 0-1000. Monthly wage - you pay to hire them, and they want wages every month too! Is it any wonder you're losing your hair - they're bleeding you dry. Features Purchaser Only categorises Park Features according to the different costs involved. Here's a list of all the Park Features with which you can eventually decorate your Theme Park (once enough money has beenspent on Research): Apple Tree Oak TreeSpooky Tree Birch Tree Orange TreeSuper Toilet Boggy Crapper Outhouse Tropical Bush Castle Wall Palm Tree Tree Stump Fence Centre Fountain Pine Tree/Lamp Weeping Tree Lake Privet HedgeWhite Fence Lamp Post Rose Bush Information Screens Left-click the Information icon from the Tune-Up bar and the relevant information Screen appears. There are Information Screens for all rides, shops, the various toilets, staff and customers. Ride Information Screen The categories of information available are: Ride Cost - the amount each park visitor has to cough up to use the ride. People Been on Ride - the total number of park visitors who've used the ride. If it's a popular item, it might be worth buying another one. Excitement - a thrill or a bore? Here's where you find out the score. Reliability - assess how much work you can get from a ride before it needs repair. Ride Capacity - increase or decrease this as you see fit with left-clicks to the up or down arrows. The icons on the right of the Ride Information Screen are: Go To icon - left-click for the Ride Rankings screen, where you can compare the performances of your park's rides (see Rankings Screens). Move Entrance icon - reposition the entrance to a ride by left-clicking this icon. The view returns to the Park Screen, where you can more effectively place the ride's entrance and exit. Tick icon - left-click this and it's back to the Park Screen. Shop Information Screen Query a Shop and the Tune-Up icons are replaced with a bar showing the volume of stock remaining - the less green on show, the lower the stock volume. At the Shop Information screen can find out: Type of goods sold - to be frank, it should be pretty obvious from the name of the shop. Customers so far - just how popular are those burgers, fries, novelties, etc. Stock price - when you still have some stock, the two figures tell you the number of items and what each cost you. When you're all out, you're just given the unit cost for replacement stock. Sale price - raise or lower the cost to the consumer with left-clicks to the left or right arrows. Food shops also have a unique category which allows you to alter food quality in the quest for greater profits. These are: Big Time Burger - increase the amount of fat in the burgers to reduce your costs. As the burgers are less filling, you might benefit from repeat purchases, or customers might find them so revolting they'll refuse to buy another on principle. Big Time Fries - pour extra salt onto fries and improve drink sales. Pokey Cola - more ice means less cola in the carton, and lower overheads. Ice Cream Stall - increase the amount of Sugar in the ice-cream to attract the kids and keep them coming back for more. Coffee Shop - hike up the amount of caffeine in your coffee to give drinkers a buzz and get them moving around your Theme Park more quickly. The icons on the right of the Shop Information Screen are: Shop Rankings - left-click for the Shop Rankings screen, where you can compare the performance of your park's shops (see Rankings Screens). X icon - return to the Park Screen without taking into account any adjustments. Side-Show Information Screen Side-shows have separate categories of information. Addictiveness - will the punters keep coming back for more? Find out here. Wins/punters - the number of people who've played who've been winners. Probability of winning - left-click the left or right arrows to increase or decrease the chances of a win. Cost of prize - combine with the probability factor, and decide between lots of little wins or a few big wins. Left-click the arrows to adjust this figure. Price per game - a really addictive side-show can be a nice little earner, especially if you raise the price to an unacceptable level. Left-clicks do the trick. Staff Information Screen The categories of information available here are: Months employed - how long has this dead-beat been on the payroll? Monthly wage - adjust this by left-clicking the up and down arrows. The icons on the right are: You're fired icon. Go To icon - left-click here to centre the Park Screen on the queried staff member. You're Fired icon - show ineffectual workers the door, and give them a helping boot through it, by left-clicking this icon. Staff Rankings - left-click for the Staff Rankings screen, where you an compare the performance of your park's employees (see Rankings Screens). X icon - a left-click here puts you back on the Park Screen, ignoring any changes made. Tick icon - left-click this to return to the Park Screen, where all adjustments take immediate effect. END OF PART TWO ---=========--- -^/- FULL DOCS FOR THEMEPARK -^/- PART THREE --======-- Docs typed by KaRin Hint When you query a customer and they still have plenty of cash left, respond to their immediate thoughts (see Thought Bubbles) and milk them of every penny. Customer Information Screen At the top of the screen is the (often unflattering) customer name. The information available on each punter is as follows: Time spent in park - hours, minutes or days? The longer, the better. Number of rides been on - if the number's is low, it's because the rides are too full or difficult to get to. Boredom - this is key. If there's one place on Earth you expect to be wide-eyed with excitement, it's a Theme Park. If your customers aren't, it's time to act. Money remaining - customers can arrive with up to 2,000 burning a hole in their pocket. Don't let them leave with much of it remaining. Tick icon - left-click this to return to the Park Screen. Ranking Screens Left-click the appropriate Ranking icon on the Information screen for the Ranking screens. Ride Rankings Here all the rides in your park are listed and rated. Ride Name - the name of the ride. Duh. Users - number of punters that have used the ride. Ranking - rated according to popularity among the park's visitors. The icons on the right hand side of the screen allow you to switch between ride, staff and shop information. Left-click up and down arrows to scroll through the list. Left-click Sort Order to rank rides, shops and workers according to profitability. Left-click the Information icon and it's back to the Information screen. Go To icon - highlight a ride, etc from the list and then left-click here to jump to this ride on the Park screen. Left-click the Tick icon and you're back in the park. Staff Rankings On the Staff Rankings screen workers are rated according to: Working - how hard a member of staff is working. As with all percentages, it's 0- 100%. Wage - however little you're paying them, you're going to think it's too much. The icons on the right of the Staff Rankings screen work as per the Ride Rankings screen. Shop Rankings This ranks shops according to: Shop Name - not a tricky one this. Profit - which of your retail outlets is making you the most money. Sales - volume of sales. If you're stilly only turning a tiny profit, it's time to increase prices. Takings - the amount of cash the tills have rung up. The icons on the right of the Shop Rankings screen work as per the Ride Rankings screen. Chapter Six: Using the Nemu Bar The game date is constantly on display in the top left hand corner of the Park Screen, but the top of the screen also hides the Menu Bar. To activate this, move the cursor to the top of the screen and right-click. Three menu options are revealed: Park, Options and Display. The Park Menu With the Menu Bar activated, left-click Park for the Park Menu, highlight the chosen option with the cursor and then left-click. The Park Menu options are (key commands in brackets): Restart Got off to a really bad start? Restart the game with this option and you're returned to the Park Screen. Load Highlight Load and the Saved Games window opens. Scroll down with the mouse to highlight the game you want to resume, 0-9. Left-click and the Theme Park saved to that slot immediately re-opens for business. Save Highlight Save and the Slot window opens. Scroll down with the mouse to highlight a vacant slot, 0-9. Left-click now and all your hard work is safely preserved until later. Park Open (O) Left-click Park Open, the main gates spring aside and the punters flood in. Hint Remember that fireworks cost you money like everything else. Don't leave the display to run and run because as the fireworks become more spectacular so they cost you more money. Firework Display (F) Left-click to light up the night sky over your Theme Park with spectacular fireworks to pull in the crowds. Quit (Alt-Esc) To Quit the current game and return to the Main Menu, highlight Quit and left- click. The Options Menu A tick indicates which options are active. Sound FX Scroll down to highlight sound FX and then left-click to toggle ON or OFF. Music Scroll down to highlight Music and then left-click to toggle ON or OFF. Advisor (forward slash) You can turn off the Park Advisor by pressing forward slash on your keyboard. Alternatively, highlight Advisor from the Park Menu and left-click. Auto Buy Bus (Shift B) Researching facility upgrades provides you with bigger buses, but you still need to purchase the new model when it's made available. Either left-click on the old bus to achieve this, or make sure this option is activated. Sandbox/Sim/Business You can switch to an easier or more difficult version of the game at any time. However, every time you drop a skill category you lose 10% of your bank account. And just in case you were wondering, there's no subsequent increase in your bank account should you move up a level. Game Speed Is all this frantic activity becoming a little too much? Highlight Game Speed, scroll right and left-click Slow. Is the action just not coming thick and fast enough for you? Highlight Game Speed, scroll right and left-click Fast, or even Ultra if you're barmy enough. To return the game to normal speed, select Normal. The Display Menu Use this to toggle between screen modes and access all of Theme Park's Purchaser screens. Toggle Screen Mode (R) Highlight Toggle Screen Mode with the cursor and left-click to switch between normal and high-resolution modes. Ride Purchaser Highlight Ride Purchaser with the cursor and left-click. The Ride Purchaser screen appears (see Purchaser Screens). Shop Purchaser Highlight Shop Purchaser with the cursor and left-click. The Shop Purchaser screen appears (see Purchaser Screens). Scenery Purchaser Highlight Scenery Purchaser with the cursor and left-click. The Scenery Purchaser screen appears (see Purchaser Screens). Staff Purchaser Got the idea by now? Highlight Staff Purchaser with the cursor and left-click. Low and behold, the Staff Purchaser screen appears (see Purchaser Screens). Shop List (F5) Highlight Shop List with the cursor and left-click for a look at all of your Theme Park's shops. Ride List (F6) Highlight Ride List and left-click for a list of all the park's rides. Staff List (F7) Highlight Staff List and a left-click brings up a list of all the good fok you have working for you. Park Map Want to enjoy the kind of view only a) a bird or b) someone looking through the wrong end of a telescope from a hot-air balloon would normally enjoy? Highlight Park Map from the Display Menu and give the left mouse botton a good click. Alternatively, simply left-click the Park Map icon from the Icon Bar. Bank Requester Highlight Bank Requester and left-click. The screen that appears is identical to the one that pops up by left-clicking the icon conveniently situated in the Icon Bar at the bottom of the screen. Bank Statement You can also access this by right-clicking the Bank Requester icon from the Icon Bar. Park Status As well as using the icon in the Icon Bar, you can also access the Park Status screen by highlighting this option and left-clicking. Stock Screen (Shift-S)0 Instead of accessing the Stock Screen via the Park Status screen, you can go direct by highlighting this Display Menu option and then clicking the left mouse button. Research Department (N) Similar to Stock Screen in that a left-click to this option allows you to enter the Research Department without opening the Park Status screen. Game Left-click here to return to the fun on the Park Screen. Stock Market (Control-S) To leap straight into action on the Stock Market without the necessity of going through the Bank Requester, highlight this option and left-click. World Map (M) Take a look at the World Map by left-clicking here. Make Things Tiny (Shift-T) Left-click this option and reduce the size of everyone and everything in your Theme Park to Lilliputian dimensions. It's kind of fun, and actually has a useful function, allowing you to accurately place rides, shops and staff in the park when thngs have become congested. Chapter 7: Developing Your Park It's not as if you haven't enough to be going on with at Sandbox level (see Your Player Details), but Sim level introduces a whole new set of challenges. Now you're required to control the development of your park, responding to consumer needs and controlling spending on stock and research. There are tricky negotiations with staff and suppliers to conduct - mess those up and it could cost you. Park Status Screen The Park Status screen is key to understanding the needs of your customers, and if you don't keep them happy your park isn't going to last too long. To access the Park Status screen: Left-click the Status icon from the Icon Bar. Using the Park Status Screen At the top of the screen are two rows of little peeps. The back row shows the % of happy visitors, the % of undecided visitors and the % of unhappy visitors, with a key to the different colours. When more people leave your Theme Park dissatisfied than happy, take it from me you're in a heap of trouble. You are also told the number of people in the park, and the number due to arrive on the next bus. Thought Bubbles The front row shows the thoughts of the park's visitors. Beneath this is akey to what each thought bubble means. To scroll through the list, left-click the up and down arrows. Hint A good Theme Park operator responds to his customers' needs - it's only good business. Visitors to your park give signals to show their level of satisfaction or frustration. If they're AOK, you'll see it in a hand signal. One signal to pay close attention to is yawning. If park visitors begin to yawn, it's a clear sign that they're not being entertained - and after all, entertainment is what they've come for. Build some new rides, beef up the ones you already have, but do something before bad word of mouth destroys attendance figures and your park's reputation. Use the icons on the right to access the Research and Stock screens with a left-click. To return to the Park Screen, left-click the Tick icon. Stock Screen Not to be confused with the Stock Market, this is where you purchase all the stock for your shops. To access the Stock Screen: Open the Park Status screen. Next, left-click the Stock Screen icon and you're in the warehouse ready to fill it to the brim with goodies. At the top of the order form are the categories of stock available. These are: ice cream, fries, colas, burgers, beer and steak. The figure under each icon is how much remaining stock you have in the warehouse in that category. To place an order: Left-click the category of stock you need. Price per unit, amount in stock and purchase volume figures change accordingly. Adjust the volume of your order by clicking on the Place Order bar. The number of units in the order and the volume of order figures below the bar update automatically. Left-click Send Order to confirm purchase. It takes a little while for stock to arrive. As the pallet is lowered into the warehouse, don't change the order. If you do, the current order is cancelled and you're back to square one waiting for the new shipment. By that time the cupboard could be bare, your customers might go hungry, and you're certainly going to miss an opportunity to make some moolah. All stock purchases are placed in the appropriate section of the warehouse; when the boxes reach the ceiling there's no room for any more stock in that category. Don't order too much stock as you're charged for any over-capacity and the goods purchased are left to rot if there's no room for them. Remember, though, that you can increase warehouse capacity by researching facility upgrades (see Research Department). Note: The only item of stock you don't have to buy is coffee, of which you have an inexhaustable supply. When you're done ordering stock, left-click the Tick icon to return to the Park Screen. Hint In the full business game you won't get any new rides unless you pump money into Research. And how are you going to hold your head up among your fellow Theme Park owners with only a Bouncy Castle and a couple of slides in your park. The Research Department The secret laboratory of your Theme Park's Research Department is where you inject much-needed cash into developing more amenities for your park. New attractions are the life blood of any Theme Park, so unless you invest you're soon going to fall behind in the thrill stakes. But research isn't only about the big rides; you can invest in everything from new shops to better lavatories and bigger buses to bring the punters to your door. They're all vital to the success of your park. To access the Research Lab: Left-click the Research icon on the Park Status screen or press N. Hint Keep an eye on the amount you spend on research, as the money invested is deducted from your bank account every single month. And at a maximum of 10,000 a time, it soon adds up! Funding Research Adjust the amount of juice with the Research Pump. Left-click along the length of the pump to alter the amount of red stuff in the tube, or click and hold the left mouse button then drag the plunger up or down. You can also left- or right-click on the centre of the wheel to move the plunger in and out and fine-adjust the amount of juice. The figure on the left shows the amount per month you're investing in Research - it changes as you alter the volume of juice. The figure on the right is the amount you have remaining to distribute among the Research Vats. The two amounts are the same until you actually start doling out the dosh. Research Vats There are six Research Vats, all thirsty for cash. To divert money from the Research Pump into the vats, left-click along the length of the Pump into the vats, left-click along the length of the vat, or use the valve. The Six Research Vats are for: Upgrade Ride - Spend your money improving the rides already in the park. New Ride Design - Invest in completely new ways to scare the living daylights out of visitors to the park. New Shop Design - Invest in completely new ways to wring every penny out of visitors to the park. Staff Training - Are your staff sullen? Disorganised? Lacking in motivation? Improve the service they offer to customers by pouring money into this Research Vat. New Features - Say "goodbye" to the outhouse and "hello" to the Super Toilet. You can also develop more exotic plant life by spending money here. Upgrade Facilities - Enlarge your warehouse to benefit from the economies of scale you achieve buying in bulk, and get some bigger buses to bring in the crowds. The Research Barometer attached to each vat shows how close the items being researched are to completion. The more white on show, the nearer you are to a breakthrough. Hint When ride upgrades are complete, you'll notice the version number has gone up on the Ride Information screen. The maximum version number for each ride is 6.0. The Research Graph beneath each tank fills up with small white dots. When the whole graph has turned white, you've achieved the maximum level of Research possible from that vat. However much more you spend, enhancements have come to an end. Leaving Research To exit the Research Department and leavae the boffins to get on with it, left-click the Tick icon and it's back to the park. Negotiation Screens You must negotiate with staff to settle industrial disputes, and with suppliers to decide the cost of stock. These negotiations occur when the Negotiation screens appears. The more staff and shops you have, the more regularly you need to enter into negotiations for goods and services. Staff Negotiations As in the real world, sometimes all is not well between Theme Park management and the workforce. If your park's a hit, staff may want rewarding for helping you to build a successful business. And if staff numbers are low causing over-work, anxiety and stress among the few whose wages you are willing to pay, they strike for better conditions. You sit on the left, across the table from the Staff Union organiser. You both need to shake hands over a new pay deal, tentatively extending a hand across the table as you talk. However, you must come to an agreement before the biscuits run out or the negotiations fail, putting the success of your Theme Park in jeopardy. To raise your offer: As the seconds tick rapidly away, left-click ahead of the outstretched hand to raise your offer a single percentage point at a time. Note: Don't raise your offer too quickly or by too much. The Union man can smell fear on you like cheap aftershave and won't drop the workers' pay demands a single penny. Take it slow and don't lose your head. To lower your offer: Left-click behind the outstretched hand to reduce your offer a point at a time. Make, break or strike If you're bargaining is successful, an onscreen message informs you of how much the union took you for, and the new monthly wage figure for each category of worker. Left-click now to return to the Park Screen. If you fail to make a settlement, the Negotiations Failed message appears. Click the left mouse button and the action returns to the Theme Park screen where your staff leave en masse via the main gate and picket anyone attempting to enter. It's not the best publicity for your park, and when a ride malfunctions or the litter mounts up you're going to start losing money hand over fist. Far better to make a wage settlement while you can. Goods Negotiations Goods Negotiations are performed in exactly the same way as Staff Negotiations and the penalties for failing to make a deal are just as severe. Unless both parties leave the table happy before the biscuits have all been dunked and munched, no goods are delivered to your Theme Park's shops! Note: Every time you fail in your negotiations, the asking price for goods goes up by 10% Chapter 8: The Financial Sector Choose Full from the Your Player Details screen (see Your Player Details) and enter the Financial Sector. The full burden of responsibility for every financial transaction made on behalf of the Theme Park now falls to you. This not only means regular checks on your bank balance and bank statements, but you're also going to get your feet wet dealing in shares. There are profits to be made, but there's also the chance of your precious Theme Park being bought right out from under you. Bank Requester Screen Regular visits to the Bank Requester screen, however daunting, are esssential to the effective financial control of the Theme Park. You may have had unpleasant experiences at the bank, sat in an uncomfortable leather chair while the beady eye of the man who holds the purse strings bears down on you. But fear not - the Theme Park bank manager is cut from very different cloth. He puts you in touch with the financial realities in no uncertain terms (and the grimmer the reality, the less uncertain the terms become), but he also gives you invaluable advice that could save your park and keep you solvent. Using the Bank Requester Screen: Left-click the Bank icon from the Icon Bar for the Bank Requester screen. The graph shows your park's balance, based on overheads against income. Listed next to the vertical axis of the graph are the different financial results that can be looked at. Along the horizontal axis are increasing time periods that allow a long term financial forecast, 1, 12 and 48 years ahead. Left-click a box to add information to the graph. Left-click again to remove information. Beneath the graph are listed: Available Cash - the money you have instantly available for new rides, shops and staff. Park Value - the market worth of your Theme Park once the current price of all the shares have been evaluataed. When you begin Theme Park this figure is (not surprisingly) zero. Current Loan - increase the amount you owe the bank with a left-click to the up icon. If you're feeling a bit flush and park profits have increased, you may want to reduce your loan and cut down on interest payments. Left-click the down arrow and the loan figure drops accordingly. Ticket Prices - the mainstay of your park's profitability. Left-click the up or down arrow to raise or lower them. The Park Advisor gives hints on when to do this. The icons to the right of the graph are as follows: Statement - left-click here for a look at the Statement Screen. This doesn't just say 'Your Park's doing rubbish', or anything like it. Instead the Statement Screen gives you a breakdown of every financial transaction made during the previous month. It makes interesting reading. When you've seen enough, left-click the Tick icon to return to the Bank Requester. Shares - left-click here to join the bulls and bears on the financial market at the Stock Market (see Stock Market). X icon - left-click this to return to the Park Screen without taking any of the adjustments you've made into account. Tick icon - returns you to the Park Screen, where any adjustments come into immediate effect. Stock Market At the Stock Market you can buy shares in other parks, take advantage of their success and use any profits from your share dealings to build up your own park. You can also defend your Theme Park from unfriendly take-over bids by rival park owners; if someone is getting far too larage a chunk of your park, get bullish on the Stock Market and see them off. Remember, the more shares in your park that get bought up, the more of your hard earned profits are lost paying dividends. Left-click the Shares icon on the Bank Requester Screen to get involved in some financial wheeler-dealing. On the right of the Shares Statement is a list of all the park owners. The arrow by each name indicates whether the share price is rising, falling or static. A yellow page means that shares are available, a white page that you already own shares in a park, and a red page that this park owner has shares in your park. Left-click a name and details are displayed on the Shares Statement. The central bar shows the park owner name and figures for bank balance, the availability of shares and their total value. Above this on the green half of the screen are the names and financial details of those who own shares in this park. Below this on the pink half of the screen are the details of shares owned by the highlighted park owner. Buy!Buy!Buy! Choose an attractive prospect from the list of park owners on the right and left- click; details appear on the shares statement along with the number of shares available and their total value. If there are shares available, left-click the Buy Shares icon once for each share you wish to purchase. Notice how your own details are added to the list of Share Owners (or updated if you already have shares in this park) on the top half of the Shares Screen. Sell!Sell!Sell! Choose a name with a white page by it from the list on the right; details appear in the central box of the shares statement. Notice how your own name is listed along with other share owners in the top half of the screen. Left-click the Sell Shares icon and the number and value of shares available in this park increases. The number and value figures by your own name in the green half of the Shares Screen simultaneously falls. However, much needed funds are being added to your bank balance all the time. When you're done with share dealing, left-click the Tick icon to return you to the Park Screen. Chapter 9: Year End Charts The Overall chart appears automatically at the end of every financial year, and allows you to see how your park has progressed during the previous 12 months. It takes the form of a mantelpiece on which all the cups and certificates awarded to your park are displayed. The Top Ten parks are also ranked. You must achieve the number 1 position overall to have succeeded in your aim of building the world's ultimate tourist attraction. Left-click a cup or certificate for details of the award. A cup means your park provided the best service in the world in that category during the previous year. A certificate means your park was highly regarded. When you've seen enough, left-click Tick for the Year End Details screen. Alternatively, left-click the Ratings icon for a look at the Ratings Chart. Red Letter Days If you click a certificate for a close-up look and it's written in red ink, the park's in trouble! Red writing indicates that your Theme Park was severely deficient in some aspect of its operations. Take note of your shortcomings and sort them out during the next year, or you're never going to be number 1. Ratings Chart Left-click the Ratings icon for the Ratings Chart. Here your Theme Park is rated against every other in six categories: Richest Exciting Amenities Satisfaction Biggest Pleasant Study the position of your park in all six categories to find out where it's deficiencies lie and how you can improve the Overall position over the coming fiscal year. Left-click the Tick icon to return to the Overall chart. Year End Details Chart Left-click the Tick icon on the Overall chart for the Year End Details. This chart compares your Theme Park's results over the last two financial years in the following categories: Park Value Share Value Loan Maximum Loan Takings Expenses Dividends In Dividends Out Land Tax If the park value is sufficient, you are also given the options of selling it off at Auction. Left-click the Auction box to initiate this (see Auctions). When you've finished at the Year End Details screen, left-click the X icon and its' back to the Park Screen for another year of big business decision-making. Auctions At the end of each year you have the option to sell your Theme Park at Auction - if it's reached the minimum value. Left-click the Auction option on the Year End Details screen, and then sit back and watch the bidding while the seconds tick away. With the money made by selling off this Theme Park, you have the opportunity to start afresh in a new location. But if there are no takers, it's back to the Park Screen. Bankruptcy When the value of all the shares and stocks in your park won't cover the cost of loans, any interest you owe, debts to the bank and the œ20,000 leeway you're given, you are legally declared bankrupt. The park has to close, your life's work collapses around you, and there's only one honorouble way out. It's a long way down. DA END -=--=-