Main Menu[edit]
After a brief intro showing off the companies and creators involved, the game displays a roller coaster in action with four buttons at the bottom, each containing a spiral slide. The first button that has a shiny light is for starting a new game, which will show off a list of scenarios to play. The second button with the floppy disk will load a saved game. The third button with the graduation cap is the tutorial, which will allow the game to take control of the cursor and play the first scenario, RollerCoaster Tycoon/Forest Frontiers. The final button with the door closes RollerCoaster Tycoon.
After clicking the new game button, a menu with all available scenarios will appear. If you're playing the Deluxe version, the scenarios will be divided into categories: Original, Corkscrew Follies, Loopy Landscapes, "Real" Parks, and Extras. Scenarios that are greyed out are locked; unlocking scenarios requires beating previous scenarios. At the start, five scenarios will be available to play. Scenarios that are already beaten will have a checkmark, the player's submitted name and the park value of their game.
The tutorial starts off with Forest Frontiers, only the game will be controlling the cursor to show how to place pathways, open the park, build rides, hire workers, construct roller coasters, and a few other things. You can take control of the tutorial at any time by clicking the left mouse button.
Starting a New Game[edit]
When the game begins, you'll find most of the screen taken up by an isometric view of the park with the toolbar at the top. There will be a small window giving you a short description of the park and the main objective. The bottom left of the screen contains the amount of money you currently have, the amount of guests in the park, and the rating of the park from a scale of 0 to 999. The bottom right shows off the current month and year as well as the tempreature and weather. Between those two is the ticker, which will show you important news and updates regarding your park such as awards, guest dissatisfaction, or accidents.
Mainly, the mouse is used to interact with the game. Besides the buttons at the top, the cursor can click on rides, guests, and other people or objects. It will bring up a small window with more information about that object or person. Windows can be closed by clicking on the X button at the top right of the window. Windows can also be dragged around with the cursor. Dragging the cursor to the edges of the screen causes the view to scroll in that direction (this does not work when the game is in window mode). Holding down the right mouse button while moving the mouse will also shift the view of the park.
The Toolbar[edit]
The toolbar located at the top has twenty buttons used to manage the park, the rides, the guests, and the game itself.
Pause: Stops the simulation. While the game is paused, rides cannot be built or modified.
Game Options: A basic menu that allows you to start a new game, save your current game, and load a different game. It also has the options menu where you can customize a few aspects as well as how the game runs.
Sound Toggle: Switches the sound on or off. When the sound is off, a red x is over the ear.
Zoom In: Makes the view of the park larger.
Zoom Out: Makes the view of the park smaller.
Rotate: Turns the view of the park 90 degrees.
View Options: The eye contains the view options where you can make scenery or rides transparent to see certain areas better as well as toggle seeing underground or underwater.
Map: Brings up the map screen. It shows the paths, rides, and guests marked as well as the land owned by the park in a lighter shade while land not owned is in a darker shade. Clicking on the map will move the view to that clicked area.
Land: It allows you to landscape the area by raising and lowering land as well as creating slopes and cliffs.
Water: Create bodies of water as well as adjust existing ponds and lakes.
Scenery: Opens a catalog of scenery, shrubbery, benches, lampposts, and signs.
Footpaths: For placing paths and queue lines to guide your customers.
New Ride: Opens a window where rides and attractions can be built, separated into six categories for convenience.
Finances: Shows off the park's revenue as well as it's value and marketing campaigns.
Research: Brings up the research and development windows where new rides, stalls, and scenery can be discovered for the park.
Rides Info: A list of all rides and attractions in the park.
Park Status: Shows a window of the park entrance containing park statistics, the admission fee, the main objective and rewards. It's also the only place where you can close and open your park; keep this in mind as some scenarios start with the park closed.
Guest Info: A list of guests. You can see their current actions and thoughts there.
Staff: Produces a window where you can hire, observe, and fire your staff members. There are four types of employees: handymen, engineers, security guards, and entertainers.
Messages: Contains a history of the messages you received.
Game Options[edit]
- Load Game: Lets you load a saved park.
- Save Game: Saves your current park.
- New Game: Returns you to the main menu.
- Screenshot: Takes a picture of what's currently displayed in the game. It saves it as a PCX file.
- Save Track Design: When you have a custom-built ride selected, choose this option to save the design of your ride. It will appear in the list of pre-built tracks.
- Options: Opens up further options to customize the display, sound, and a few other things.
- About 'RollerCoaster Tycoon': Displays a window that gives credit to the creators of the game.
- Quit Game: Closes RollerCoaster Tycoon.
View Options[edit]
- Underground View: Makes the land transparent to show everything that's underground.
- Underwater View: Makes the water surface transparent to show everything inside the water.
- Remove Base Land: Renders the top of the land invisible.
- Remove Vertical Faces: Renders the cliffs and walls of the land invisible.
- See-through Rides: All rides, stalls, and attractions become invisible.
- See-through Scenery: All statues, trees, and other scenery become invisible.
- Invisible Supports: The supports that hold your rides up are gone.
- Invisible Supports: The people of your park, customers and staff, are gone.
- Gridlines on Land: The land is divided with a grid that marks every land square.
- Height Marks on Land: Every square of the land are marked with a number to determine its height.
- Height Marks on Ride Tracks: Every ride piece such as roller coaster tracks are marked with a number to determine its height.
- Height Marks on Paths: Every pathway and queue line are marked with a number to determine its height.