Proper Queue Design Continued

Author/Contributors: Steve Franks

Now that happy peeps have queued up for one of your rides, the very last thing you will want is to have that happiness level drop while they are waiting in line. Bearing this in mind, your first consideration when building a ride and positioning the station platform is how long should a queue be? Basically, this will be determined by the type of ride to be placed.

Waiting Time for a Queue

One thing you need to do is determine (with the ride's pop up window) what the average waiting time is for a peep in the queue. If a queue is over 50 peeps long, or the waiting time is over 9 minutes, you should perhaps consider shortening the queue, adding more cars to your trains, adjusting the waiting times and spacing of the trains to increase their efficiency, or assigning an Entertainer to Patrol the queue. Remember, the longer peeps wait in line, the greater the likelihood of their happiness levels dropping. You DO NOT want unhappy peeps. They inspire vandalism and lose you revenues.

Flush Loading

A real world concept that works well in RollerCoaster Tycoon is the principle of Flush Loading. This term is well known in the mass transit biz. It is a concept whereby station platforms are efficiently designed so that passengers can board trains from the left and detrain to the right, or vice versa. This means placing the entrance and exit booths on opposite sides of the platform. The second principle of Flush Loading is placing the entrance as close to the middle of the waiting train as possible. In RollerCoaster Tycoon, best placement for the entrance booth is generally on the 2nd or 3rd platform tile for roller coasters, and the 3rd to 5th platform tile for mass transit from the front of the ride. This allows peeps entering the platform to approach the waiting train mid train. The distance for a peep to walk to the lead car or rear car will then be the same. This simple principle can drastically shorten the loading times for waiting trains by 4 minutes. For this reason, never place the entrance booth at the far end of the platform! That looooong walk to the front will cut into your per hour profits by delaying the trains while they load. The exit booth, on the other hand, can be placed anywhere along the length of the platform (and preferably on the opposite side) since the distance detrained peeps must walk will not affect the waiting time of the trains.

Illustrations 10 & 11 show the high capacity loading method called Flush Loading. In both cases, it is important to place the entrance booth mid-train. This minimizes the train's waiting time in the station. Placement of the exit booth along the opposite side of the platform is not critical as detrained peeps do not delay the trains.

What if the Queue is Full?

A constantly full queue can be a real temptation for tinkering. But, even if you do see a full line, don't overdo it and make it longer. Peeps will wait in line a long time as their happiness drops, and if the ride is not so great (I am thinking Log Flume here), they will have been worse off for going on the ride. Keep wait times under 9 minutes if you can. Even less for long rides like Chair Lifts and Excursion Trains (5 minutes and more). If waits get above 15 minutes peeps will become fed up and leave the line. These peeps are ripe for committing vandalism, or leaving your park in a huff.

Boring Queues

One thing to avoid is a boring queue. Don't just wrap the queue around itself. Try to create open spaces for placing trees, fountains, themed objects, &etc. This will help to maintain, or even bump up happiness levels. Another way of creating interesting queues is to have them passing over or through the ride itself. (Refer back to illustration 7.) This is a double bonus as it not only maintains the happiness level of waiting peeps, but the ride in question also gets a bump up in its Excitement numbers as peeps ride under the queue. This is especially valuable with roller coasters.

Illustration 12 shows an example of a boring queue. Illustration 13 is the same queue but with a more "airy" design, and all spruced up. Which queue would you want to stand in?

No Queues At All

There are times when you don't even to need to build a queue. Simply place the entrance right on the main path. This is only permissible with certain types of rides (never do it with a roller coaster, for example). The best candidates for non-queues are Space Rings, Maze, Car Ride, Boat Hire, and the Slide. If you build these on a crowded enough path, then they will always be full with a queue. Peeps are never actually waiting for the ride, and therefore, never becoming unhappy with a long wait.

It should be noted that a ride with no queue still has a queue of 1 peep, except that now the peep is waiting on the main path. Personally, I prefer to always maintain a queue of at least a few tiles so that I can visually monitor the ride demand.

Entertainers

Entertainers really earn their bread and butter when they are put on Patrol Routes with the specific purpose of "working the line". It is always a good idea to hire an Entertainer for each roller coaster and limit his Patrol Route only to the ride's queue. Keeping peeps amused while waiting in line will give their happiness levels a slight boost.

Plan Ahead Before You Build

Good and thoughtful planning of ride placement, and the placement of your entrances/exits can dramatically increase the efficiency of ride operations, thereby increasing the number of riders per hour. More riders per hour = more profits per hour. Finally, thoughtful design of your queues and exit paths will go a long way in maintaining the happiness levels of peeps from one ride to the next. And, when all is said and done, raising and maintaining peep's happiness levels goes to the very heart of the engine that drives the game of RollerCoaster Tycoon. Unhappy peeps go home!

Just The Numbers

Here is a quick break down:
Flat Rides - 5 to 10 tiles
Thrill Rides - 5 to 15 tiles
Transport Rides - 5 to 15 (depending upon type of transport)
Roller Coasters - 10 to 20 tiles
Log Flumes - 6 to 9 tiles
Boat Hire - 3 to 5 tiles
Ferris Wheel - 3 to 4 tiles

References

Prima's Official Strategy Guide for RollerCoaster Tycoon and Corkscrew Follies
The On-line Strategy Guide, Compiled by Dan Simpson & Red Phoenix
Personal observations and experiences

Steve Franks
Jan. 2000

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