PARK AND COASTERS: Meet the "Minis"

[davidmc]

Imagine the largest, most complex, fastest, and most expensive coaster money can buy. Now, imagine trying to buy that and still pay off that loan, or trying to fit that in the spot where you just erased a couple of thrill rides. That's where the "Minis" come in. These were created with one goal in mind. Build coasters with small footprints, with pretty good excitement/intensity ratios, and also reasonably priced (some in the $2-3K range). In tests, many of these coasters paid for themselves in a single year or less. More to come as I get new ideas on a small scale.

The Screenshots
Mini Bullseye (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniBullseye.jpg)
Mini Death Drop (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniDeathDrop.jpg)
Mini Threader (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniThreader.jpg)
Mini Star Seeker (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniStarSeeker.jpg)
Mini Johnson (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniJohnson.jpg)
Mini Ginny (New - 11/21/2004) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniGinny.jpg)
Mini Pinky (New - 11/21/2004) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniPinky.jpg)
Mini Vertigo (New - 11/21/2004) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniVertigo.jpg)
Mini Strativarius (New - 11/21/2004) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniStrativarius.jpg)


The Coasters
Mini Bullseye (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniBullseye.zip)
Mini Death Drop (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniDeathDrop.zip)
Mini Threader (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniThreader.zip)
Mini Star Seeker (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniStarseeker.zip)
Mini Johnson (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniJohnson.zip)
Mini Ginny (New - 11/21/2004) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniGinny.zip)
Mini Pinky (New - 11/21/2004) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniPinky.zip)
Mini Vertigo (New - 11/21/2004) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniVertigo.zip)
Mini Strativarius (New - 11/21/2004) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniStrativarius.zip)

Notes: Several of my newer Minis are not dirt cheap, but are still fun and have small footprints. The Mini Ginny is not as cheap as even the pre-built coasters, but I wanted a Virginia Reel that was small but still had a good excitement level. As with any VR, First Aid stations are very helpful nearby. As with all coasters, training the vendors will greatly help the bottom line if you are charging for the ride. The original 4 minis (the first 4 in the list) are dirt cheap money makers, if that's what you're looking for.


Edit: Changed the coasters from a single zip file to individual zips per coaster, so that you don't have to keep downloading the full pack just to get a single new coaster you might like.

[rlrcstrfreak]

on that death drop one, does it go over the edge of the track and fall of? or does it come back?

pretty cool coasters!

[Bitter Jeweler]

Nice minis!

I like small footprint coasters!

[Your_Name_Here]

Those are great! But to maximize the stats, you should have some more track between the station and the inversions. It'd give it a more realistic look to them.

But they look great, especially the first one. If I had the game, I'd download 'em!

[davidmc]

rlrcstrfreak, just barely under half of the cars go completely over the top, and then it comes back home. I tested it thoroughly, in case the coasters had any variances between rides (they don't seem to), and it never actually lives up to its name. In the screenshot of the park below, you can see it near the end of its path. If the coaster would have allowed more than 10 cars, I would have pushed it even further over, but within the limitations, that's about as far as I can go without killing the riders.

Bitter Jeweler, thanks for the compliment. I've been working on some buildings on the side, but even my very best buildings so far don't look as good as the stuff you probably destroy after 10 minutes of work.

Your_Name_Here, I actually experimented quite a bit as I also wanted to achieve some semblance of realism. I found that I had to either give up the footprint or the ratings to accomplish that. Since those were my primary goals, I sort of fudged on realism.

To give you an idea of why I wanted to do this, other than help folks that were having issues getting through some scenarios, I wanted to build a tiny park, as the starting point of a scenario I had dreamed up one day. The park needed to be tiny, but highly efficient for this. In the screenshot below, the park has 4 roller coasters, 4 thrill rides, 1 gentle ride, and 30 shops and facilities. All of that in a 26 by 29 square. To give those who haven't played much an idea of how small that is, the second screenshot is shown side-by-side with a pre-built laydown coaster that comes with the game (The Whirlpool) for comparison purposes.

With the exception of the Motion Simulator and the Circus, every single ride paid for itself well within the first year of operation. Those two did quite well, thanks to the large crowd in such a small space, but due to low prices didn't quite meet that criteria. While all of the coasters made great money, the Mini Death Drop is a gold mine, as it costs just about $2.2K, made more than double that in the first year (at $5), and fits in a 14 by 1 space.

The Mini Park (Screenshot) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniPark.jpg)

The Mini Park (Download) (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniPark.zip)


The Mini Park vs. The Whirlpool (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniParkComparison.jpg)

[SoSilencer]

This is totally awsome.

[Demon Xin]

That's...brilliant!

I always get the weird urge to make coasters as large and impressive as I can..

As soon as I get the full game I'm going to download those minis!

[zordork]

mini johnson is the best looking of theses and it is a cool mini

[ticklemeshell]

I love this idea! I'm always trying to build tiny and/or cheap coasters to fit the given land and my wallet. Those tiny coasters are much easier to buy and fit than the big ones. The peeps love them while you save up for the big ones. I'm going to download them and try them out today.

[CycloneGU]

Originally posted by davidmc
Mini Star Seeker (http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniStarSeeker.zip)
Cyclone hears a buzzer go off...BZZZZZZT!

That URL is incorrect. The correct URL is http://webpages.charter.net/davidmcf/MiniStarseeker.zip - with a small s, not a capital S. At least, so it is until David fixes the filename on the server, or changes the URL above, thereby making me look like an idiot. :D

Cyclone

[davidmc]

The bad link you saw was never there. The edit message in the OP is a figment of your imagination. Those black helicopters you think you see are really very large birds.

You will forget you ever saw this message in 15 seconds.

[Thergothon]

They are some awesome money making rides. I especially like mini pinky because it actually looks like a ride, rather than a quick 10 second way of making cash. ;) Death drop is very cool also. :up:

I used to build a lot of these types of coasters in RCT1 when I didnt have unlimited cash. I would have a station, then a loop and then a hill. Put two of them side by side and syncronise it for loads of cash. Even better was to make the stations varying lengths (to fit in entrance and exits) and have 6 of them synchronised. ;)

Another cheap and effective one was to have the station and two corkscrews followed by a hill. Again, stagger the placement of the stations and synchronise them to get the trains spiraling around each other and watch the money flow in.

[GardenGuy]

Sweet and petite! Thank you SO much for these!

[Funtastik]

Minis are great, too!
They're cheaper and easier to place.

Thanks for posting those ones -- they are great!
I also LOVE your Mini Park -- it's so nice!

[davidmc]

Thanks for the kind words. Funtastik, that little park actually holds up to 800 people, and while it does feel like a busy park at that level, it doesn't feel overcrowded. The park also seems to keep the peeps nice and happy.