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The folks at Hasbro Interactive were kind enough to send along these strategies for their popular amusement park simulator, Roller Coaster Tycoon. Enjoy our three-part article on how to build the best rides in town, and make a profit doing it.

Building an exciting ride isn't purely about the number of loops, twists, turns, and drops you design into the track layout. Try to think about what the riders will see, feel, and experience as they are riding, and also what the ride looks like from nearby footpaths and other rides. The ride 'excitement' rating in the game can be affected by many things, and increasing the 'excitement' rating means your guests enjoy the ride more, will pay more, and will probably come back to ride again.

Here are a selection of ideas to try, each of which can add excitement to a ride:-

Build footpaths close to the ride, or even better, a bridge across the ride at an exciting point. This allows guests walking around the park to see the ride in action at close quarters, which may entice them onto the ride. This picture shows a log flume drop under a footbridge, allowing the guests to see the action, and also adding to the excitement of the ride as riders dive under the footbridge.

Use tunnels to make drops more exciting. A steep drop into a narrow tunnel can be much more thrilling than the same drop out in the open air. This doesn't just apply to roller coasters - This picture shows a log flume drop straight into a tunnel.

With some roller coaster types, careful use of the 'head-chopper' illusion can be used to spice up a ride. Here we see a car on a single-rail roller coaster diving down under a monorail track - There's plenty of clearance, but it doesn't seem that way to the little guests rushing down the slope, all of which adds to the excitement.

Careful use of water can add interest and excitement to a ride. Here we see an inverted roller coaster train rounding a bend at speed, with the riders' legs very close to the water surface.

Try to surprise the riders, so they never quite know what to expect next. Here we see a wild-mouse style roller coaster where the mine truck cars emerge from the dark tunnel at speed, round a 180-degree bend in the bright sunlight, then plunge back into the darkness again.

Carefully combining two or more rides into the same area of land adds excitement to both the rides. Here we see a river rapids ride winding through a mine train roller coaster track, in a landscape themed to resemble an abandoned mine.

Clever use of themeing and scenery can make even the most mundane of rides a fun and exciting experience. Here we see a simple car ride enhanced by the use of scenery, themeing, variation in height, and tunnels.

Another example of adding excitement to the first drop of a roller coaster. Here we see a roller coaster train dropping at speed into a tunnel, the excitement being enhanced further by the use of scenery.

Let the guests see other rides while they are riding a particular ride. Here we see a log flume going through the vertical loop of a roller coaster - Imagine the log flume riders' surprise when the roller coaster train roars through the loop and over their heads!

Use the gentle rides like monorail and miniature railway to allow people to see the best bits of the park. This will make the ride more exciting, and will also entice them onto the more thrilling rides later. Here we see the riders on a monorail train passing near the vertical loop of a steel roller coaster.

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Page Updated Mon Feb 28, 2000 8:25pm EST