What retired people do

[CharlieP]

I have been a member for about 6 months now and I would like to tell everyone how much I enjoy reading about issues and responses, helping with problems that I think I can help with and learning more about the workings of OpenRCT2 and RCT2 than I thought possible. I am 69, retired with a terminal lung disorder so I have plenty of time (right now) on my hands to indulge myself in this (@#&%$#@*^%#) addictive game.

I started playing RCT on a windows 98 computer when the game first came out and progressed to RCT2 on XP when it arrived. I finished ALL of the RCT scenarios (even Micro Park) and many of the RCT2 parks. And yes I also beat Amity Airfield (it took 2 tries). But what got my attention was the Scenario Editor and the capability to modify and create new scenarios. I started to download other peoples’ parks from the RCTSpace website and either used the park as is, modified it or simply used the landscape and created my own scenario from it.

I have downloaded over 700 parks since 2005 and have a log of where I got them from and as to which ones I kept, which ones were not re-useable and which ones I kept and modified. I currently have 375 different parks which I have made into playable scenarios all with from 4 to 5 different goals that’s over 1,800 scenarios (try playing Jolly Jungle and trying to get $15,000 in ticket revenue or $1,800 in food and merch).

Although many/most of you are/seemed to be into building beautiful parks, I am into playing and finishing the goal set for that particular scenario and if the goal is too simple, making it more difficult. Although I used 8cars, OpenRCT2 and a variety of other cheats to construct these parks, I do not use them in trying to gain the final goal.

I am curious as to how many of you are into building and playing parks/scenarios or whether you are into just building beautiful parks? I am jealous of many of those of you who build these fantastic looking parks (I don’t have the patience).

There is something I feel that I must pass along. I you are downloading parks from NeDesgins just beware that many of the parks uploaded there were created using corrupted or pirated versions on RCT2! I know several of those who use this forum have uploaded their parks and theirs work just fine. Over the last four years I have downloaded many many parks which open ok and if they are of the playable type do so from that point on ONLY. But if you try to use the Scenario Editor or try and turn them into a new scenario they will cause the error-trapper. Many of the DATS used are re-creations using the same dat name but have different flags. In one instance I downloaded three different parks from the same person which contained the same dat name and each one had a different flag. When I used NeDesigns dat lookup I could find two items and upon inspecting them they each had a different flag and were NOT any of the three, so beware!

Well time to go. I have only completed 121 games which is only 6.5% of my total so I had better get humpin’.

Rode VALRAVN (3 times) at Cedar Point last Friday with my daughter. What a rush. World’s tallest and fastest drop coaster. (214’ 90 degree first drop @75mph, 165’ Immelmann, 131’ second hill, dive loop, 270 degree roll and 3,415’ long) Sometimes it’s great to be handicapped with a scooter – no waiting in long lines.

[BlazingEmpireHD]

This is all quite nice! But, you have cancer? Man, I wish you luck! And a great rest to your life (if it should head that way).  

[X7123M3-256]

4 hours ago, CharlieP said:

There is something I feel that I must pass along. I you are downloading parks from NeDesgins just beware that many of the parks uploaded there were created using corrupted or pirated versions on RCT2!

The only significant difference between the cracked versions of RCT2 and the official copies is that the disk check is patched out. I doubt this affects the saved files in any way - it could be as little as replacing a 0x74 opcode with 0x90. If you are getting error trappers, it's more likely to be a result of 8Cars or other trainers, as many such tools can corrupt the game's memory. OpenRCT2 does aim to support hacked files, though, so you can probably report it as a bug if you find a park you can't open that works in vanilla.

 

4 hours ago, CharlieP said:

Many of the DATS used are re-creations using the same dat name but have different flags.

I'm afraid this might be my doing. I've updated my DAT files several times, using the same name each time. The assumption was that if someone had an older version, the newer one wouldn't be installed automatically because the DAT file headers are identical, but I think it does get installed anyway. I've now got about 3 copies of most of my DATs now and I'm not sure where they came from if not from opening parks that were made with an older version. However, since the object code was refactored this should be fixed in OpenRCT2 - I believe it will not install a new object if another object of the same name exists, even if they differ.

 

Another possible source could be WW/TT objects that have been modified to make them exportable - but I think these usually use a different name, and they invariably have a different checksum, so I doubt they would cause a problem.

[CharlieP]

160208-rct2-murdock-finnwood_castle160208-rct2-murdock-finnwood_castle@BlazingEmpireHD No I don't have cancer I have a lung condition Idiocratic Pulmonary Fibrosis which means that my alveoli (lung air sacs) are slowly being destroyed. This was caused not by smoking (never did) but my working for 35 years installing phone systems and computer network cabling above ceilings and in basements and crawlspaces breathing in the dirt, asbestos, insulation, etc.

If any of you do ANY kind of work that takes you into places like that - get a mask and WEAR IT.

By the way I have downloaded many of your creations from RCTgo.

 

@X7123M3-256  I would like for you to take this park and see if you can:

1. Change the size of the park and see if the size changes on the drop down box.

2. Open the Convert saved Game and try and change the park name and scenario name.

None of the above work!

These are the types of things (crap) that I have run into but from ONLY the NeDesigns website. I have downloaded parks from RCTSpace, RCTgo, RCT Station and many more even some German websites (I sprechen zie Deutsch) and never had the trouble that I have with NeDesigns. The problem is they have some very nice looking parks.

When I am going to start downloading things I have a virgin ObjData file that I use so I know what has been added. I then put the park in sandbox mode and open either the Object Selections or Inventions List and make a change. If closing that popup box causes the game to crash, it means that I won't be able to make changes which means I don't want it! If that works and it (park) looks useable I then sort the ObjData file by date to what was added. I then use ParkDat to replace any used dat with one of mine. I then delete any dat which is not used (unless it looks like something I might want to keep). At that point I usually have a park with rides, scenery and buildings. If I only want the park for its landscape, I clear everything I don't want and start from there.

By the way I LOVE the Map Generation portion of the scenario editor. I just wish I had time time to figure out all of its nuances.

 

160208-rct2-murdock-finnwood_castle.zip

Edited August 25, 2016 by CharlieP

[BlazingEmpireHD]

@CharlieP, Oh, I guess that's better somehow. Still awful though.

 

 

Also, you downloaded my things from RCTgo? Cool! Do you have a favourite?

Edited August 24, 2016 by BlazingEmpireHD

[CharlieP]

I took a fancy to Christmas Creek, Whitewash Cove and Krystalite Cavern.

I have taken Orange Hill Park and created a scenario of $18,000 in ticket sales and the park is only 526,000 sq ft!

[BlazingEmpireHD]

Nice! I am glad you liked them! 

 

Seems like your scenario is cool! 

[X7123M3-256]

 

 

15 hours ago, CharlieP said:

These are the types of things (crap) that I have run into but from ONLY the NeDesigns website. I have downloaded parks from RCTSpace, RCTgo, RCT Station and many more even some German websites (I sprechen zie Deutsch) and never had the trouble that I have with NeDesigns. The problem is they have some very nice looking parks.

Users on NE use trainers very heavily. Trainers cause this sort of corruption - that's why you're likely to encounter problems with these parks that you won't get with parks elsewhere. These parks are not really intended to be edited - if you try to edit them, it can be very easy to accidentally do something that crashes the game, as many of these hacks are quite delicate. Hacked parks can end up corrupting the games memory or invoking undefined behaviour, and some people don't seem to care. It wasn't that long ago that OpenRCT2 was unable to open those parks at all because of this.

I have downloaded the park you linked  - I can reproduce both the issues you mention. The first, I am not sure the cause of - resizing the map can be temperamental because it removes map elements from the map, and if something else then tries to reference the missing element, it can cause a crash. I expect it is probably a bug somewhere, but would need to investigate a bit more before reporting it as such.

The second issue, however, is not a bug and it has nothing to do with trainers or where the park was downloaded from. You can't change the park or scenario name because the map has a scenario text file loaded, and this overrides those fields with the text in the file. Any park built on a default scenario will have this - if you want to change the name, you have to unload the scenario text file in the object selection (which is possible in OpenRCT2, but wasn't in vanilla), and then you can change the name. Scenario text files are used to provide multilingual support - the scenario editor only lets you enter the name in one language. I have only seen these used on default scenarios, but custom ones can be created.

[CharlieP]

Thanks for looking into that for me and giving an explanation.

I wasn't actually resizing the physical size of the park landscape, just changing the park's size.

The text file you refer to is that the one that in ParkDat shows up as slot 720?

Don't waste anymore of your time on this. You have explained a lot of why I have had sooooooo much trouble with parks from there. I have made a list of park builders with which I don't have problems with. It is a shame because some of the landscapes alone would make a good basis for starting a park.

One last question - Do you know if a park was designed in vanilla and then played in OpenRCT2, which version does the AI follow?

[X7123M3-256]

 

1 hour ago, CharlieP said:

The text file you refer to is that the one that in ParkDat shows up as slot 720?

I no longer have ParkDat to check (OpenRCT2 does basically everything I used it for now), but the scenario text files all have names beginning with STEX. If you see one of those in, deselect it and you should be able to change the scenario name.

 

1 hour ago, CharlieP said:

One last question - Do you know if a park was designed in vanilla and then played in OpenRCT2, which version does the AI follow?

If it's opened in OpenRCT2, the AI will be OpenRCT2's (which should be more or less the same, but has a few extra features and a few more bugs). There is (AFAIK) no way to tell if a park was saved in vanilla or OpenRCT2 (unless it uses OpenRCT2 only features) - the game doesn't change it's behaviour when loading a park from vanilla.

 

1 hour ago, CharlieP said:

I have made a list of park builders with which I don't have problems with. It is a shame because some of the landscapes alone would make a good basis for starting a park.

It should be possible to get rid of everything and have just the landscapes, it's just that these parks can be a bit unstable is all, so I wouldn't be too surprised if they crash. I do not usually have problems editing these maps, but doing certain things may cause problems. Double closing all rides first will reset a lot of hacks and remove stray vehicles - that may help. If the game crashes, it's a bug either way - it is supposed to handle hacked maps gracefully, and it's improved a lot since the project started. I was going to give a specific example of something that would crash the game, but all the ones I knew about have since been fixed, so that's something.

If you're having problems with a specific park I can have a look at it - I can if necessary run it under a debugger to find out where the crash occurs.