RCT2 Ride MakingTutorial

CHAPTER 2

Be forewarned, Buggy and I learned (the HARD way) that making your "dream ride" in RCT may be impossible. The underlying programming cannot be changed without crashing the game.

The ONLY thing we can do is re-skin the ride...change the artwork. That’s it. End of story. We choose an existing ride in RCT2 to use as a base (our "Base Ride"), rip it apart, insert our own artwork and animations, then re-assemble the thing and hope for the best.

Certain things about the rides are "hardcoded," meaning that they cannot be changed. The hardcoded information may be incorporated into the programming of:

The individual ride's .dat file - the file that contains individual ride information and artwork

The g1.dat file - a huge file where the graphics for many of the game's elements (tracks, supports, etc.) are stored

The game's main .exe file - rct2.exe program, which runs the game itself

Life WOULD be so much easier if these things could be altered, but wishing ain't gonna make it happen.

Keep in mind that many things in RCT are simply not possible. Sadly, your dream ride may never become a reality...but with a little creativity, you might come close.

The best thing to do is keep your ideas flexible and change them to fit the game's requirements.

HOW TO DISSECT A RIDE

Let's rip open an RCT2 Ride and look at it’s guts.

For safety's sake, create a folder on your computer JUST for your RCT RideMaking projects...we'll call it "RideFolder." Create a subfolder inside that one called "cups." Then navigate to:

c:\ProgramFiles\InfogramesInteractive\RollerCoasterTycoon2\ObjData

-- or if you are playing the "Triple Thrill Pack", the folder --

c:\Program Files\Atari\RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Triple Thrill Pack\ObjData\

Locate the file twist2.dat. Copy it to your clipboard and paste a copy into your "cups" folder.

Fire up Buggy's RideMaker and click the "SET" button. Go to your "cups" folder and double-click on the twist2.dat file. This tells the program where to put everything it’s going to generate.

Click the "LOAD" button and again, go to the "cups" folder and double-click on the twist2.dat file. This tells it what .dat file you want to rip apart.

Click "Disassemble," and when finished (could take a few seconds), click "OK."

Click "Extract Bitmaps," and when finished (could take even longer), click "OK."

NOTE: When using Buggy's RideMaker, some processes...especially extracting bitmaps...can take a while, up to a minute or more in the case of some rollercoasters and tracked rides. During this time, you may think that your PC has stopped responding or locked up, but DON'T INTERRUPT THE PROCESS! Just be patient and watch the little hard drive light blink on your computer. Everything will be fine.

Inside the "Snow Cups"

Close the RideMaker...it's a distraction...and open your "cups" folder. It's now FULL of stuff! Snow Cup Ride Guts! If using Windows XP, click view/thumbnails to make things easier to comprehend.

Let's identify the "organs":

twist2.dat - The original ride's .dat file...containing a compressed version of everything you see here.

outfile.bin - Nothing you need to concern yourself with...DON'T DELETE IT!

pos.txt - We'll get to that in a minute

A whole BUNCH of .bmp files - All 243 images necessary to create the Snow Cups ride in the game

Let's look at the pretty pictures now:

pic000.bmp - Look familiar? It's the image you see in the Ride Selection window in the game. The fancy little scalloped edges are added during game-play as needed.

pic001 & 002.bmp - Tiny little one-pixel .bmp images...dark green, for some reason. I personally have no idea what they're used for, but the game does! Don't mess with them or RCT2 will slap your fingers. You've been warned.

pic003-026.bmp - The 24 animation frames that make the ride go round and round. You'll notice that they're not all exactly the same size. We'll get to that in a minute. Try selecting all 24 of them in Windows, then right-click on one and select "Preview." Press your keyboard's Right Arrow key and you'll see a repeating slideshow that displays the animation sequence. Kinda cool.

pic027-242.bmp - The 216 images that show the happy, little riders going round and round. Doing the slideshow trick doesn't show much...just pairs of riders spinning and occasionally disappearing.

Why 216? (9 cars full of RCT Riders) x (24 ride animation frames) = 216 images needed to show the riders.

You'll notice that they're not all the same size either. Let's explain this mystery now.

When the game opens a ride, it uses 2D Geometry to figure out where to place the ride. On the X,Y plane of the screen, 0,0 is the center of the base of the ride...the exact middle of the brown dirt-looking tiles that appear when you build it. All the images are placed individually.

They're each offset by a particular number on the X and Y axis. Open the pos.txt file. How many images did we have total INCLUDING pic000.bmp? 243. You'll find 243 sets of numbers -- X,Y coordinates actually -- nestled in the pos.txt file.

To keep the size of the file small, every RCT2 image is cropped as closely as possible. To make sure that they all get put in the right position...every little rider in the correct seat...the game consults the proper line in the pos.txt file and adjusts the image’s placement accordingly.

I use a little shortcut to avoid a MASSIVE amount of figuring and testing for the pos.txt...but we’ll cover that in Chapter 8 when we get there.

The riders board this ride in pairs, so the rider images show both Riders...one in a pink shirt and one in green. During the game, the pink or green are replaced with whatever color that park guest happens to be wearing.

Next time you play the game, look carefully. If the guests ride a certain ride in pairs, only their shirts will change color...their pants will all be brown. When they get off the ride, their pants become their original color again. Never noticed that before, did you?

By the way, the Snow Cups spins, but doesn’t rotate.

(What did he say?)

There is only one view of the Snow Cups. Because it would really look the same from any angle, it doesn’t rotate with the game map when you’re playing. The game doesn’t discern between looking at it from the South and looking from the North...it’s always the same animation sequence.

So, what have we learned?

The game draws the ride itself separately from the riders
Some flat rides have only one view
Pink and green are color-changeable during the game
Some rides will make the guests have to change their pants

Studying U.F.O.'s

Intrigued? Cool! Let’s try another one. Make another subfolder in your RideFolder...let’s call this one "saucers." Go back to your RCT2 installation, find the file fsauc.dat and put a copy of it into your new "saucers" folder.

Re-open Buggy’s RideMaker and rip the fsauc.dat apart...SET button first, LOAD button next, DISASSEMBLE and EXTRACT BITMAPS. Now look inside your "saucers" folder...

FLYING SAUCER RIDE GUTS!

You’ll see some file names you recognize from the our previous exercise and by now, should understand what some of them are.

Notice that there are 32 pictures of the ride’s car...the saucer. Do the slideshow trick and you’ll see that it simply spins around. Those 32 animation frames make it...well...spin around. Since the ride’s car moves randomly in any direction, it needs all those pictures to show the ride.

How far does the saucer turn from one image to the other? (WOW! MORE Math...)

(360 degrees in a full circle) / (32 animation frames) = 11.25 degrees

That becomes important when you’re doing the animation later.

Notice the color of the saucer, too...pink and green like the rider’s shirts earlier. Those two colors will become paintable in the game.

You’ll also find 32 images of the rider...rotating the same number of degrees from image to image. You’ll also notice that sometimes you can’t see his legs! RCT cut his legs off!

Not really. But the Ride image is always put onto the screen first...the Rider is layered on afterward. The parts of the Rider that don’t show when he’s sitting in the vehicle are simply not there...otherwise he’d appear to be "ON" the vehicle, not "IN" it.

One thing that you DON’T see in those images is the weird hoverboard base that the saucers float on in the game. Remember the hardcoded (UNCHANGEABLE) items we discussed earlier? That’s one of them. Those images -- like ALL of the tracks in RCT2 -- are contained in the g1.dat file...which we can’t edit. Too bad. So sad. Have a nice day.

So, what have we learned from this one?

Paintable parts of rides are also colored pink and green
Rider images are usually incomplete because they’d overlap the ride image
Some things just can’t be changed.

Anatomy of a Tracked Ride

Okay...can you stand one more?

Make another subfolder in your RideFolder and name it "racer." Go back to your RCT installation’s objData folder, find rcr.dat, and put a copy of it into your new folder. Open Buggy’s RideMaker and rip that .dat file apart like the others. Then peek into the "racer" folder

WOW! LOTS of guts in that one.

If this were a classroom, I’d ask you to identify what each file is...but I guess I’ll just have to trust you on this one.

Okay, we have 104 images of the car. WHY SO MANY?! Do the slideshow trick to see what we’re doing and I’ll break them down:

The first 32 frames are of the car on a flat surface...a 32-frame rotating animation. (11.25 degrees, right? Yeah...you knew that.) This allows the vehicle to appear to turn smoothly on curved sections of track.

The next four are of the car facing the four corners - NorthEast, SouthEast, SouthWest and NorthWest. You’ll also notice that the car is tilted upward JUST slightly...about 11.25 degrees from level. These images are used when the vehicle is JUST starting to go up an incline.

The next four are exactly the same, but with the car tipped DOWN 11.25 degrees. That’s for when it comes OFF a slope.

Why don’t we need 32 images there? Because in RCT2, there are only four directions in which you can build an inclined track for this ride...that’s why, smart guy.

The next 32 images are another 32-frame rotation...and the car is tipped upward just a bit more...to about 22.5 degrees. That’s half of a 45-degree angle...and the same slope as the steepest track available on this ride.

The next 32 images are identical to the previous ones, but with the car pointed DOWN 22.5 degrees...for just the reasons you’d figure.

Why don’t we need only 4 images, since slopes can only go in 4 different directions? Because...because...well, I don’t KNOW why we need all those images. I’m not really convinced that the game uses them all. I believe that in some of my own tracked ride projects, I left them blank and nobody noticed. Maybe they get used during vehicle crashes, but I can’t be sure. They are there because...well...Chris Sawyer says so, okay?

Next, the rider images...a cute little guy in a green shirt (as you’d expect), with 104 frames (just as you’d expect) rotated in exactly the same positions as the car images (just as you’d expect)...with his little legs cut off (just as...never mind).

What you might NOT expect is the images that come next...pic211-242.bmp. They’re single-pixel and ALL BLACK! Think of them as 32 blank frames of animation.

Why are they there? I don’t know.

Are they important? Possibly.

Can you delete them? Absolutely not.

I suspect that they’re an artifact left over from when the game was still being developed...a different animation method was used, perhaps...or these might have been an abandoned loading sequence (which are usually placed at the end).

They’re there because they’re there. Who knows? Chris Sawyer does, but he’s not talking.

So, what have we learned?

Rides with hills on their tracks have MANY more images than those without
Sometimes in RCT2, things just are what they are and make no sense.
You ignore that silliness at your peril.

Further Exploration

From here we could go on to opening various flat rides and coasters, but we won’t. Feel free to explore them on your own and study their similarities and differences.

You should notice that Flat rides all have the same basic format...with certain little anomalies here and there. Coasters all have the same format as well, but with extra features for each one.

For instance, certain coasters CAN do diagonal sections of track, so they have EIGHT slightly sloped images instead of four. Some have an extra image for a nose-cone, end section, connecting segment or even a totally separate vehicle image for the front or rear car of the train. Be warned though, loops and corkscrews get into some pretty crazy geometry just to figure out which way to point the car!

But if you’re trying to figure out a coaster, just remember that coasters are like people...some may behave differently than others, but they’re all basically the same.

Flat rides are each different, too. Some, like the Snow Cups we looked at, have only one view and don’t actually turn when you rotate the map in the game. Others may have two views or even four. Some have HUNDREDS of rider images. Some have none at all.

Again, there are some differences, but they’re all basically the same.

CHAPTER 3

Since we are unable to program a new Ride completely from scratch, our projects must be based on an existing Ride in RCT2. This will become our "Base Ride."

Listed below are all of the animated rides available. You'll find information about the size of each, the capacity, Rider status (visible or not), hard coded items, the number of animation frames you'll need to create and any special notes about that particular ride that may help or hinder your efforts to edit it.

The Ride Table

Ride Name (.dat File) Capacity Size Hard coded items Riders Animation Frames
(Ride/Riders) Notes:

Air Powered Coaster (thcar.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Stations Visible 1,164
(774/390) Separate image for front train's "nose-cone." This is added to the front vehicle of each train during game-play

American Style Steam Trains (aml1.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Stations Visible 1,152
(768/384) Smoke from engine and it’s placement and the sound effects are hardcoded

Articulated Wooden Coaster Trains (mft.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Stations Visible 2,880
(1,440/1,440) None..it’s pretty standard for a coaster

Automobile Cars (wcatc.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Stations Visible 1,812
(604/1,208) None

Bobsled Coaster
(bob1.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Stations Visible 2,704
(1,352/1,352) Due to the beautiful (and extremely complex) swinging motion on curves, this ride requires FIVE images for every position. The flat image is first, then banked halfway to the Rider’s right, then the left. The next is FULLY banked to the right, then FULLY banked to the left

Bumper Boats
(bboat.dat) 2 Riders per car Various Dock (Station) Visible 64
(32/32) Water only...no animation. Similar to the Flying Saucers

Canoes
(cboat.dat) 2 Riders per car Various Dock (Station) Visible 112
(16/96) Water only, Animated Riders paddle as the boat moves. Uses a 16-frame rotation.

Charlift Cars
(clift1.dat) 2 Riders Per Car Tracked Cables, Supports & Stations Visible 88
(44/44) None

Cheshire Cats Cars
(ctcar.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 208
(104/104) None...just a straight forward tracked ride with gentle inclines

Coaster Boats
(cstboat.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track& Station Visible 1,728
(432/1,294) Water Splashes not editable...can’t be removed

Compact Inverted Coaster
(slct.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,360
(680/680) Separate image for front car's "nose-cone"

Corkscrew Coaster
(arrt1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 4,468
(1,908/2,560) Separate image for "joint" between cars

Dinghy Slide
(ding1.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,576
(1,288/1,288) Due to the beautiful (and extremely complex) sliding motion on curves, this ride requires FIVE images for every position. The flat image is first, then banked halfway to the Rider’s right, then the left. The next is FULLY banked to the right, then FULLY banked to the left.

Dodgems Cars
(dodg1.dat) 1 Rider per car 4 x 4 Floor, Walls & Roof Visible 128
(64/64) Cars headlights and tail lights are animated! Movement is random and cannot be controlled

Double Deck Observation Tower
(obs1.dat) 32 3 x 3 Tower Not Shown 36
(36/0) 8 frames rotate car 22.5 degrees. Far side of roof is included as a separate animation...MAKE SURE THEY MATCH UP!

Elevator
(lift1.dat) 16 3 x 3 Support structure Visible 148
(16/132) Complex Rider placement inside car. Single image rises and falls...no animation sequence to speak of

Enterprise
(enterp.dat) 16 4 x 4 Nothing Only shown when loading 244
(196/48) Very complex (and FAST!) animation sequence. Animated gates close, four frame sequence for first few rotations, speed increases and animation goes to a 3 frame sequence. Four unique views.

Ferris Wheel
(fwh1.dat) 32 1 x 4 Side supports Visible 544
(32/512) 8 Frames of ride animation in each view to rotate wheel 1/16th of a turn.

Floorless Coaster
(bmfl.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,520
(840/1,680) None...a straightforward coaster

Flying Coaster
(bmair.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 4,560
(1,520/3,040) None

Flying Saucers
(fsauc.dat) 1 Rider per car 4 x 4 Floor Visible 64
(32/32) Random movement. Floor cannot be altered

Flying Turns Coaster
(intbob.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 5,408
(1,352/4,056) Due to the beautiful (and extremely complex) swinging motion on curves, this ride requires FIVE images for every position. The flat image is first, then banked halfway to the Rider’s right, then the left. The next is FULLY banked to the right, then FULLY banked to the left...same goes for the rider images.

Ghost Train Cars
(gtc.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 240
(104/104) 32 BLANK animation frames at the end...just to be silly

Giga Coaster
(intst.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 3,624
(1,208/2,416) None

Go Karts
(kart1.dat) 1 Rider per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 208
(104/104) Motor sound effects are hardcoded and cannot be removed or changed

Haunted House
(hhbuild.dat) 15 3 x 3 Nothing Not visible 76
(76/0) An 18 frame intermittent animation (ghost at window) may be changed, but it is synchronized with a hardcoded sound.

Haunted Mansion Car
(hmcar.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Stations Visible 240
(104/104) 32 BLANK animation frames at the end...but WHY???

Hedge Maze
(hmaze.dat) Up to 16 Variable Nothing editable Visible 0 No images contained in dat file...the entire ride is hardcoded. Sorryd

Hyper Twister Coaster - Wide Trains
(bmrb.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,868
(1,426/1,442) Separate image for front car's "nose-cone"

Hyper Coaster
(arrt2.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 3,552
(2,666/886) None

Hyper Twister Coaster
(goltr.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 3,588
(1,440/2,148) Separate image for last car's rear bumper

Inverted Coaster
(nemt.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,520
(840/1,680) None

Inverted Hairpin Coaster
(ivmc1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 590
(196/394) None

Inverted Impulse Coaster
(intinv.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 936
(312/624) None

Inverted Shuttle Coaster
(slcfo.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,040
(680/1,360) None

Inverted Vertical Shuttle
(vekdv.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,040
(680/1,360) None

Jet Skis
(jski.dat) 1 Rider per car Various Station Visible 64
(32/32) Only built on water...pretty standard flat, tracked ride layout

Ladybug Coaster Trains
(zldb.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,488
(728/728) Front car different from the others. 32 spare animation frames at the end. <Sigh>

Launched Freefall
(ssc1.dat) 8 3 x 3 Tower Visible 21
(9/12) Single image moves vertically...not truly animated. Includes 3 frame guest restraint animations. Probably one of the simplest tracked rides to customize

Lay-Down Coaster
(vekst.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 4,080
(1,360/2,720) None

LIM Coaster
(premt1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 5,040
(1,680/3,360) Front car different from the others. Includes Guest Restraint animations

Log Flume
(lfb1.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 624
(208/416) None

Log Coaster Trains
(zlog.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,488
(728/728) Front car different from the others. 32 spare animation frames of unknown usefulness at the end

Looping Coaster Trains
(scht1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Stations Visible 4,320
(1,440/2,880) None

Magic Carpet
(mcarpet1.dat) 12 1 x 4 Four corner supports Visible 28
(4/24) Four corner supports and swing-arms are not removable...and lining up your artwork with those swing arms can be a real job. Four unique views.

Merry Go Round
(mgr1.dat) 16 3 x 3 None Visible 100
(32/68) Riders shown ONLY on one side of Ride. Music is not changeable. Ride has only one view.

Mine Mouse Cars
(smc2.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Stations Visible 584
(184/368) 32 spare animation frames at the end....inconceivable!

Mine Train Ride
(pmt1.dat) 2 Riders in front car, 4 in others Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,820
(728/1,092) Front car different from the others...and different capacity. Makes things interesting.

Mine Train Coaster
(amt1.dat) 2 Riders in front car, 4 in others Tracked Track & Station Visible 2220
(888/1,332) Front car different from the others...and different capacity. Makes things even MORE interesting.

Mini Golf
(golf1.dat) Various Various Golf Holes Visible 149
(0,149) Only Player animations are editable, but since the holes are hard coded (and unviewable) it truly wouldn’t make much sense...I mean, how would you line everything up?

Mini Helicopters
(helicar.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 864
(416/416) Includes animated propeller...and the guests bob their heads as they ride! Never noticed that before...

Monorail Cycles
(monbk.dat) 1 Rider per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 256
(128/128) Includes animated cycle and Rider...their little legs move and everything.

Monster Trucks
(4x4.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 424
(196/196) 32 spare animation frames at the end...go figure

Motion Simulator
(simpod.dat) 8 2 x 2 Nothing Not Shown 140
(140/0) Four unique views. Four frame door animation, followed by 32 frames of movement. Movement SEEMS to be random -- haven’t really investigated it for a pattern -- and cannot be controlled.

Motorbike Races
(steep2.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 256
(128/128) None

Multi Dimension Coaster
(arrx.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 28,224
(?? / ??) Didn’t count Rider vs. Ride frames, but I’d guess it’s evenly split. Due to the ability to "program" the car’s position on any section of track, it would be like building a complete coaster for every rider position possible. I know I won’t be building one of these, myself.

Observation Tower
(obs1.dat) 20 3 x 3 Tower Not Shown 36
(36/0) 8 frames rotate car 22.5 degrees. Far side of roof is included as a separate animation...MAKE SURE THEY MATCH UP!

Pickup Truck Cars
(truck1.dat) 1 Rider per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 264
(116/116) 32 spare animation frames at the end. (Whatever...)

Pirate Ship
(swsh1.dat) 16 1 x 5 Triangular Support Frame Visible 342
(38/304) Two views...repeated for map rotation

Racing Cars
(rcr.dat) 1 Rider per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 240
(104/104) Amazingly, there are 32 spare animation frames at the end

Retro Monorail
(mono3.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,152
(384/768) Front car different from the rest of the train.

Reverse Freefall
(revf1.dat) 8 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,560
(312/1,248) None

Reversing Coaster
(revcar.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 936
(312/624)/ Sliding Spin Slate is animated separately

River Rafts
(rftboat.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track (water) & Station Visible 96
(32/64) None

River Rapids Boats
(rapboat.dat) 8 Riders per car Tracked Track (water) & Station Visible 360
(72/288) 8 frames animate boat turning 90-degrees. Water splashes are hardcoded

Rocket Coaster Cars
(rckc.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,776
(592/1,184) None

Roto-Drop
(gdrop1.dat) 16 3 x 3 Tower Visible 148
(19/129) 4 frame animation rotates car 22.5 degrees. Animated Restraints, too...thus the odd number of frames

Rowing Boats
(rboat.dat) 2 Riders per car Various Station (dock) Visible 128
(16/112) Water only, Animated Riders paddle as the boat moves

Side-Friction Coaster Cars
(sfric1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 624
(208/416) None

Ski-Lift Cars
(clift1.dat) 2 Riders Per Car Tracked Cables, Supports & Stations Visible 88
(44/44) None

Small Monorail Cars
(mono2.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 420
(140/280) None

Snow Cups
(twist2.dat) 18 3 x 3 Nothing Visible 240
(24/216) 24 Frames rotate ride 120-degrees. Riders require ALL 216 FRAMES to reach their original starting point.

Soap Box Derby
(sbox.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 384
(128/256) None

Space Rings
(srings.dat) 4 3 x 3 Animation Position Visible 704
(352/352) Four individual animations of one rider each. Four unique views. Animation is repeated a number of times. Sections of the animation MUST be able to run BACKWARD without looking silly.

Spiral Coaster Cars
(spdrcr.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,496
(624/1,872) None

Spiral Slide
(hskelt.dat) 5 2 x 2 Not Editable Visible 0
(0/0) Nothing editable - completely hard coded. (DARN!)

Splash Boats
(spboat.dat) 16 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,688
(184/1,472) Splashes hard coded. 32 spare animation frames at the end...I dunno...

Sports Cars
(spcar.dat) 1 Rider per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 240
(104/104) 32 spare animation frames at the end...SURPRISE!

Stand-Up Twister Coaster
(bmsu.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 3,348
(1,668/1,680) Separate image for front car's "nose-cone"

Stand-Up Coaster
(togst.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 4,468
(1,908/2,560) Separate image for joiner plate between cars

Steam Trains
(nrl.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,152
(768/384) Separate Engine, Coal Car and Passenger car images. Smoke/Steam placement and sound effects are hard coded. It’s like making three separate tracked rides...but together. (Did that make sense?)

Steam Trains w/ Covered Cars
(nrl2.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,152
(768/384) See note in previous entry for Steam Trains...it all applies here, too

Steeplechase
(steep1.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 256
(128/128) None

Streamlined Monorail
(mono1.dat) 10 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Not Shown 420
(420/0) Different images for front, center and rear cars...140 frames each

Submarine Ride
(submar.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Not Shown 88
(88/0) Cars are horizontally split at the water line. Separate images for each half.

Suspended Flying Coaster
(skytr.dat) 1 Rider per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,400
(700/700) Due to the beautiful (and extremely complex) swinging motion on curves, this ride requires MULTIPLE images for every position. The flat image is first, then banked halfway to the Rider’s right, then the left. The next is FULLY banked to the right, then FULLY banked to the left...same goes for the rider images.

Suspended Monorail Train
(smono.dat) 8 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 700
(140/560) None

Suspended Swinging Coaster Cars
(arrsw1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 4,620
(1,540/3,080) Due to the beautiful (and extremely complex) swinging motion on curves, this ride requires MULTIPLE images for every position. The flat image is first, then banked halfway to the Rider’s right, then the left. The next is FULLY banked to the right, then FULLY banked to the left...same goes for the rider images.

Suspended Swinging Plane Cars
(arrsw2.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 4,620
(1,540/3,080) Due to the beautiful (and extremely complex) swinging motion on curves, this ride requires MULTIPLE images for every position. The flat image is first, then banked halfway to the Rider’s right, then the left. The next is FULLY banked to the right, then FULLY banked to the left...same goes for the rider images..

Swan Boats
(swans.dat) 4 Riders per car Various Station (Dock) Visible 64
(16/48) Built on water only

Swinging Coaster Cars
(batfl.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,280
(640/640) None

Swinging Floorless Coaster
(vekvamp.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 3,080
(1,540/1,540) None

Swinging Inverter Ship
(swsh2.dat) 12 1 x 4 Base plate, platform & rear support Not Shown 174
(150/24) Although Rider and door opening animations are included in the .dat, they're never used in the game.

Tobggan Cars
(jstar1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,776
(592/1,184) None

Top Spin
(topsp1.dat) 8 3 x 3 Nothing Visible 576
(268/308) Extremely complex and specific animation sequence. Five separately animated sections to line up and deal with...and be careful -- they overlap in a SPECIFIC order!

Trams
(tram1.dat) 10 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 800
(130/638) 32 spare animation frames at the end...what a concept!

Twist
(twist1.dat) 18 3 x 3 Nothing Visible 240
(24/216) 24 Frames rotate ride 120-degrees. Riders require ALL 216 FRAMES to reach their original starting point.

Twister Coaster Car
(bmsd.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 3,348
(1,666/1,682) None

Twister Heartline Coaster
(utcar.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,592
(864/1,728) None

Twister Heartline Coaster - Reversed
(utcarr.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,592
(864/1,728) None

Vertical Drop Coaster
(bmvd.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,880
(720/2,160) None

Vintage Cars
(vcr.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 240
(104/104) 32 blank animation frames at the end...hee hee hee

Virginia Reel
(vreel.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 360
(72/288) 8 frames turn the tub 90-degrees in nine different views.

Water Tricycles
(trike.dat) 2 Riders per car Various Station (Dock) Visible 64
(32/32) Trike's wheels and Rider's legs are both animated. Built on water only.

Wild Mouse Coaster
(smc1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 620
(196/392) 32 blank animation frames at the end. Don’t worry...be happy.

Wild Mouse - Mouse Cars
(wmouse.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,136
(552/552) 32 blank animation frames at the end. YAY!

Wild Mouse - Mine Cars
(wmine.dat) 2 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 1,136
(552/552) 32 blank animation frames at the end. Yeah, baby!

Wild Mouse - Spinning Cars
(wmspin.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 4,608
(1,536/3,072) None

Wooden Coaster Trains
(ptct1.dat) 4 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,160
(720/1,440) None

Wooden Coaster Trains - long
(ptct2.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,880
(720/2,160) None

Wooden Coaster Trains - Reversed
(ptct2r.dat) 6 Riders per car Tracked Track & Station Visible 2,880
(720/2,160) None

What does all this stuff MEAN?!

Many things! It also gives you clues to understanding the underlying mechanics of any particular ride.

For instance, look at the Wooden Coaster Trains above. It has 2,160 total images -- 720 images for the vehicles themselves. The Riders board it in pairs, so each rider image shows TWO guests...one wearing a green shirt and the other pink. Because each car has TWO sets of seats, there are TWO sets of Rider images...one for the front seats and one for the back. So, there are exactly TWICE as many rider images as there are vehicle images.

Now look at the one below it: Wooden Coaster Trains - Long. It’s got THREE rows of seats and holds SIX Riders per car. Thus, there are THREE times as many rider images as vehicle images.

Most of the tracked rides work that way. If you divide the number of rider images by the number of vehicle images and it DOES NOT come out evenly, it means one of two things:

I messed up when counting the things

There’s probably something funky like an animated loading sequence (lap bar coming down, door closing, etc.) or an extra piece (nose cone, joint between cars) used in the ride somewhere.

These funky things are usually added toward the END of the group of images, so you know where to start looking for them.

Ride Capacity

While it IS possible to change the capacity of a ride using Buggy’s RideMaker program, it CAN make the ride unstable or act in peculiar ways.

Making the ride hold FEWER guests isn’t generally a problem...the game just ignores the other sets of rider images. If they normally ride in PAIRS and you want them to ride SOLO, be sure you make the IMAGES look like only one rider...otherwise they’ll all become Siamese Twins when they board the thing. If you look at the images for my "Waterslide" ride, you'll see that I did exactly that.

However, making the ride hold MORE guests than it’s programmed for can cause problems. Let’s look at it from the game’s point of view.

Suddenly, you’re told that there will be two more guests than normal on this ride. (WHAT? Um...okay, I guess.)

Which rider images do I use to display them? (Gee...my programming doesn’t say.)

Where do I put these rider images on the screen IF you find them? (Um...dunno that either. Pardon me...I need to freak out for a minute.)

RCT does NOT like to be confused...and like a person, becomes erratic an unstable when in that situation. Play it safe and don’t tick it off. It thows tantrums like a 2-year-old kid.

Rider Visibility

Is it possible to make visible riders invisible? Absolutely! That’s easy...you just don’t draw any rider images. You STILL will need images as placeholders, though or the game will freak out. Single-pixel, BLACK images would do fine. (RCT2 can be picky, but is sometimes easily appeased.) The pos.txt must also include lines for them...but the coordinates can all be 0,0.

Can you make Riders appear on a ride where they don’t normally show? Short answer: no. Long answer: Yes, but I wouldn’t.

You can draw riders directly onto the ride image itself. But keep in mind that they will ALWAYS be there. Their numbers won’t change if the ride is full or empty. Think of them as mannequins..."Fake Riders."

There are folks who have incorporated Fake Riders into their rides. I’ve never liked it, myself. It’s like making a fully functional ride that isn’t FULLY functional...no better than scenery, in my humble opinion. But it’s a personal decision. I, myself, strive for quality. (Not saying I MAKE it, but I STRIVE for it.)

One way around the problem is showcased in my ride "Rounded-Up." It’s based on the RCT2 Enterprise, which shows riders when loading but NOT when the ride is in motion. Riders are visible as they ENTER the ride and then doors close to cover (hide) them.

So, I incorporated wire mesh "doors" on my version of the ride. The riders board and stand on their places, but then the doors hide them from view. The thing goes SO fast that you really can’t see them when it’s moving anyway.

See? There are generally no mesh doors on the real-life ride on which this is based, but with just a little creative design and the thing becomes an RCT2 reality.

CHAPTER 4

I'm certain you've already got a ride in mind that you'd like to make. Get a piece of paper and WRITE DOWN the following things about your idea. (I’m serious! Writing it down helps you to focus...DO IT! DO IT NOW!!!):

SIZE - Not the height, but the footprint it will have. How many tiles it would cover.

BUILD MODE - Is it a Flat Ride or a Tracked Ride?

MOVEMENT - Can you work with one animation mode or will different modes be necessary? (One mode is advisable for most Base Rides)

SIMILARITIES - Are there rides in the game that are even REMOTELY similar to what you're planning?

RIDERS - Would the Riders NEED to be visible?

CAPACITY - How many Riders can ride your creation at a time?

Once you have those, you need to choose a ride whose programming will serve as a "Base Ride" for your project. The previous chapter includes a table listing all of the rides and car/train types in RCT2. I've included all the pertinent information you'll need to find one that fits your needs.

I’ve said it MANY times so far, and I’m sure I’ll say it again. (Actually, I know that I will...I’m about to say it.) Your design MUST BE FLEXIBLE. Many ride concepts simply WILL NOT WORK within the bounds of RCT2. Since we cannot change the game’s programming, WE must be what changes.

FLEXIBILITY STUDY: "The SWINGER"

When creating The Swinger, I completely 3D modeled the ride from scratch...giving it 18 swings and Riders (9 sets of two swings each) instead of the three dozen most real-life rides of it’s kind can hold. Since we can't increase the ride capacity...the ride becomes very unstable when you do...I had to bend my idea to fit what the ride's programming would allow. FLEXIBLE!

I also noticed that the Twist/Snow Cups (their programming is identical) used 24 frames of animation to turn the ride 120-degrees...1/3 of a rotation.

Watch the ride carefully and you'll notice something else, the riders use nine FULL rotations to return to the exact same point on the ride. This meant that the Swinger riders would NOT go 1/3 of the way around the ride in my 24 animation frames, but 4/9 or 160-degrees.

At the end of that 24 frames, the Rider is replaced by the one that STARTS the animation in that position at the beginning of the sequence...which is why the seats on RCT Flat Rides must all be the same color. (If you look closely at the Swinger, you'll notice that there are 18 stripes on the purple canopy...for exactly the same reason.)

In the original SimRide (Scenery) version, the Swinger also moved up and down...like the real life ride does. That kind of movement would necessitate a second animation mode that kicks in after the ride starts spinning. Because the programming of the Twist doesn't support that kind of movement -- a single animation that merely speeds up and slows down -- the upward movement had to be sacrificed. Again, bowing to the limits of the game.

It WOULD be possible to create a Swinger that increased speed (causing the swings to move outward) and then rose upward. The programming of the Enterprise supports something similar to that. BUT, the Enterprise does not show Riders...it's programming doesn't allow that. The ride would have to be ALWAYS full or ALWAYS empty, making it no better than the non-functioning SimRide version.

So, I had to make a few changes from my original idea...fewer riders, seats not swinging outward, ride not rising upward, etc. But if I HADN’T allowed these changes, the ride would never have become a reality in the world of RCT2.

FLAT RIDE MOVEMENT

Don’t be locked into what you see happening on the screen during the game. The animation of any ride comes from what YOU give it during the picture-drawing process. You may look at the Twist and say, "Can’t use that one...it spins around. I want to make something that bounces up and down." WRONG!

If you were to assemble a 24-frame animation of a ride going up and down and plug it in to the Twist’s programming...your ride would go up and down.

However, the Twist does NOT always stop in the same position every time, so your ride MIGHT stop to load/unload Riders while the thing is still up in the air! That’s something to consider.

Another example is my "Ripsaw." It’s based on the RCT2 Swinging Ship which doesn’t spin...yet the Ripsaw does! I simply made it turn in my animation sequence. The game doesn’t care...it’s just displaying the pictures.

You’ll notice that the ride doesn’t spin completely around (as I’d hoped). The Swinging Ship uses it’s animation frames both forward AND backward, so there was no way to accomplish that in RCT2.

One final example is the "Chaotic" which uses the RCT2 Enterprise as a base. The cars/pods flip around in the Chaotic, but DON’T on the Enterprise. I simply added that to my animation.

One other thing about movement...SPEED! Certain rides move faster than others. There’s really no way to really slow them down or speed them up.

However with that being said, you MAY be able to alter it SLIGHTLY via your artwork.

Say a ride uses 16 frames of animation per revolution (most rides spin). By making it spin only HALF that distance in those 16 frames, the ride would appear to move more slowly. Likewise, making the animation into only eight frames (and duplicating them to complete the cycle), it would spin twice as fast.

It’s very limited...but possible depending on the ride.

FLAT RIDE LOADING AND UNLOADING

Most flat rides load and unload completely when they stop. If that’s what YOUR ride would do, that’s wonderful. If you want to stop on individual cars and load incrementally, there’s only one option in the game...the Ferris Wheel.

I’ve had many requests over the years for a "Zipper" or "Double Ferris Wheel." The ONLY ride to support their incremental loading patterns is the Ferris Wheel. So far, so good...Ferris Wheel as a Base Ride.

However, the Ferris wheel has only a FEW frames of animation (8, I think). Since the movement of each ride requires them to turn completely around, that would make the ride turn incredibly fast...ruining the illusion of reality we’re trying to create. There’s no way to slow it down enough with that small number of animation frames to make it believable. That’s why I’ve never made one.

Some things in RCT2 just aren’t possible.

HARD CODED RIDE ELEMENTS

Sometimes you'll find that a ride already moves and loads like you need it to. That's great! Although there may still be hard coded elements in the way.

Not ALL of the artwork is included in the ride's .dat file; entrance/exit buildings, station platforms, splashes on water rides and even the support structures are generally not changeable. Hardcoded items are listed in each ride’s entry in the previous chapter.

When I created the "Super Looper," I found that the Swinging Inverter Ship moved just like I needed it to. It didn't have any programming to show Riders, but for my design, it didn't have to.

The problem is, the rear support for the Inverter Ship is hard coded and NON-removable. Since that was the ONLY ride available that moved in that fashion, all I could do is attempt to work it into the design as best I could. (Making it look like it was holding up a ride sign helped...but I still HATE that it's there!) Hard-coded elements are also something that you will need to take into account when choosing a ride to use as a base.

Sound effects can also be hardcoded into a ride...can’t be changed or turned off. If they are there, you’re stuck with ’em.

CLEARANCE

One other thing to think about is the clearance of the Ride you're making. (NOTE: If you don't know what "clearance" means then you've never made any scenery for RCT. Rides should NOT be your first project! Go make some scenery and come back when you're comfortable with that.)

If you've created a piece of scenery, static or animated, and exceeded the clearance limits, you've seen what happens inside the game...the top vanishes or "strobes" when something passes near it, etc. The same thing will happen to your ride if you make it too much higher than the original Base Ride.

For example, I once attempted to make a rocket-themed Huss "Condor" ride based on the RCT2 Double-Deck Observation Tower. The ride was modeled, fully animated and looked AWESOME!

But when I finally got to the testing phase, I found that the clearances simply wouldn’t allow for a ride vehicle that big. As you can guess from the image, it was a sad, sad day.

It's devastating to work long and hard on a ride only to find that it gets cut off at the top or sides...so plan in advance and you'll save yourself from banging your head against your monitor later on.

FOOTPRINTS

The number of tiles a ride covers cannot be changed. If a base ride uses a 4 x 4 tile area (it’s "footprint"), then you can’t make it use 5 x 5 or 2 x 6. There are certain rides that I’ve not been able to make simply because they required too much space.

If you try to extend your artwork past the horizontal boundaries prescribed by the ride’s programming, stuff will simply get cut off and disappear. You can’t go beyond the brown tiles.

You CAN make a ride smaller...a kiddie ride for example. Nothing says that you MUST completely fill the Base Ride’s footprint. However if you use a base ride that requires 3 x 3 tiles, it will STILL require 3 x 3 tiles in the game...the brown tiles will fill in automatically.

Now, keeping ALL that stuff in mind...let’s get to work on your ride. If you allow your idea to remain pliable, you just may find a way to make it work...

CHAPTER 5

Now, let’s get one thing straight. This section will simply give you the finer points of making sure YOUR model works in the realm of RCT RideMaking. I am NOT going to teach you how to do 3D Modeling.

Take a class someplace if you have to. Do the tutorials that are available for whatever 3D program you’re using. I’m going to be assuming that you know your way around the tools.

Speaking of which, I’ll be using the program I’ve used for years, Amorphium...version 3 at the moment. I highly recommend it. It’s extremely intuitive. It’s similar to working with a ball of digital clay. And it’s about $140 bucks.

As we discussed in the "Tools" section in Chapter 1 of this little tutorial, many 3D programs are available. Links can be found in that section to suitable programs that are downloadable, cheap and some even FREE!

Since I have no idea what program you’ve selected, I can’t relate to specific tools in those programs. But they’re all pretty much the same. You’ll just have to interpret my instructions for your own program.

Step one is to open an RCT2 park and take a screenshot...one with a few park guests ("Peeps") in it. The more the merrier, I suppose. Somewhere near the center of the screenshot, place nine full-tile, square building blocks arranged in a square as shown in the example. Make certain you can see ALL the edges of it.

Save the screenshot someplace that you can find it easily. You’ll find out what it’s for later on.

Setting the Stage

Open your 3D program and let’s get busy.

The first thing we’ll need to adjust is the camera position. RCT2 uses an "Isometric" view...but like everything else in the game, it’s not quite a standard Isometric view. (It’s a little bit off...to keep us on our toes, I guess)

Draw a cube in your 3D program and place it in the dead center of the stage. This will be our focal point. The camera should NOT be facing the dead-on front of the cube. Rotate the camera so it’s looking directly at the corner of the cube...a 45-degree angle from center. The image shows a top view of the camera position -- looking directly down on the cube.

Now we need to tilt the camera DOWNWARD at a VERY specific angle. Standard Isometric View would be 30-degrees, but as I said, RCT2 isn’t quite a TRUE Isometric view, so you’ll need to adjust it a little.

Render that cube with your RCT screenshot behind it. Amorphium lets me set that image as a background. Set it accordingly and render the image.

Compare the top of your cube to the top edges of the nine square building blocks. The cube is probably just a tiny bit wider (top to bottom) than it should be. Adjust your camera angle and render it again until they’re as close to matching as they’re gonna get.

PERFECT! Save your 3D file IMMEDIATELY...unless you want go through that adjusting process all over again. (Some people like to do things the hard way.)

I generally name that camera "Cam 1." Duplicate that camera and rotate it around your model 90-degrees. This one will be named "Cam 2." (I’ll bet you can guess where I’m going with this...) Continue around the model until you have four cameras, all pointed toward the center and all viewing the cube from the same, adjusted Isometric angle...but from each of the four corners. This will make things easier later on...trust me.

Now you have the ability to easily view your object as the game would see it when the map rotates. Cool, huh?

Let there be LIGHTS!

Lighting your scene is VERY important. The lighting in RCT2 ALWAYS comes from the right side. No matter which way the map is rotated, it’s ALWAYS coming from over your right shoulder as you look at the screen. This needs to be reflected in your 3D model as well.

Now that the cameras are adjusted, positioning the lights will be a piece of cake. They go in EXACTLY the same positions (and angles) as the cameras. The only difference will be in naming them.

When viewing your model through Cam 1, the light immediately on your RIGHT should be used...so, name it "Light 1." (This will save your sanity later.) Likewise, the light on Cam 2’s RIGHT should be named "Light 2." Continue with the others until all four lights are matched up with their camera counterparts.

Isn’t that slick? Now you can adjust your camera view AND lighting by selecting the camera you want and turning on the proper light.

We’re not completely finished, though. I use a FIFTH light on most of my models... placed directly above dead center and pointing directly downward. It’s placed at the same distance from the model as the other four, but NOT at full strength -- about HALF the intensity. It helps to bring out the details of the models and makes them to match the game a bit better.

SAVE YOUR 3D FILE NOW! This will become a basic template for ALL of your RCT2 models. Maybe save it twice...backups are always good.

If you are using Amorphium 3 (the program I use), I have made a Blank Template available which INCLUDES all of the lights and cameras....already set up for you. The .zip file can be downloaded HERE.

Rendering Tip - Aliasing

When rendering your 3D models, make sure that "Aliasing" is turned down as low as you can get it...OFF is even better. Aliasing makes your 3D model just the tiniest bit blurry, which is great when you’re going for photo-realism, but we’re not.

See, our final rendered images will be against a True Black (0,0,0) background. Because Aliasing slightly blurs the edges of your model, you’ll end up with a black line or "halo" around your image. (TRUE Black is seen as transparent by the game, but the edges would be just a shade off from True Black...so they don’t disappear.) Those halos have to be removed one pixel at a time, "pixel-pushing," which we avoid like the plague.

Granted, your models will have "jaggies" around the edges. Such is the nature of bitmap images...especially transparent ones. Look closely and you’ll see that ALL images in RCT2 have jaggies. Yours will fit in perfectly.

Be our Guest

FINALLY! We’re about to create Riders!

People have emailed me over the years, literally BEGGING for my Peep model. Truth is, it’s not difficult to make one. Look at the image. Analyze it. What EXACTLY are we looking at?

The Head - It’s a tan ball...with eyes. The back is painted brown to look like hair.

The Torso - A tapered, slightly flattened cylinder, rounded at the top, bumped out a bit at the belly and painted green.

The Arms - A capsule (ball that’s stretched in the middle), painted tan and green

The Hips - Another, shorter capsule, painted brown

The Legs - MORE brown capsules

The Feet - Half a capsule...painted brown. Whoopie-doo.

That’s it! There were a couple of reasons I never shared my model. First, Amorphium doesn’t "play well with others." It can export meshes/objects, but they seldom come out well in other programs. (I know that objects from other programs don’t IMPORT well, for sure.)

The other reason is that they seemed so fascinated with the thing and were expecting something almost "magical." And it was really just this bunch of standard objects...painted tan, green and brown. I was almost embarrassed by it’s simplicity, really.

But the point isn’t that the Peep model must be perfect. Just the opposite, in fact. When it’s seen in the game, it’ll only be a few pixels high. Detail will be lost completely! Save the Michaelangelo stuff for your ride, itself.

I’ll be putting versions of my Peep model -- in different formats -- into a .zip file that will be available for download at RCT Space with this tutorial.

Now, let’s get into the details. The model isn’t perfect, but it DOES have some features that may not meet the eye at a casual glance.

The head is just a sphere painted tan and brown. One important thing to remember, by default RCT Rides use True Black (0,0,0) as their transparent background. The hair is a medium/light brown so that when it is in shadow, those shadows will NOT be truly black. If ANY part of the model shades as true black, you’ll have to recreate it pixel-by-pixel later on. Save yourself some trouble and experiment a little to find the right shade of brown for your program(s).

The eyes are also brown. If we made them black, they’d disappear in the game. I make them the same color as the hair for safety’s sake. Later they’ll only be ONE pixel, so it’s not a really big deal WHAT color they are.

The skin tone is matched as closely as I could get to the color on the Guests in the game. It took a lot of experimentation...which you can see in some of my earlier work, the "Runaway Reindeer" ride especially...the Riders look just a little bit "Eskimo" in that one.

The pants and shoes are just the same dark brown as the hair.

The shirt? Ah...THAT color is important. It’s a TRUE Green (0,255,0)...which is the color the game changes to match the shirt of the guest your Peep will represent on the ride. Remember we discussed that stuff back in Chapter 2 - "How Rides Work"? Go back and re-read that if you have to...there’s no shame in it, really.

But weren’t some Rider images wearing PINK shirts? Very good! Yes, there were. That pink is a very special shade as well. It’s close to Magenta (255,0,155), but not a TRUE Magenta (255,0,255). I’ve found that later on, TRUE Magenta often is read by the various Bitmap Editors as a strange shade of purple. Backing off on the blue seems to fix that just about right.

Note: These colors are approximate. I’ve tweaked them over the years and ALWAYS had to do a little bit of pixel-pushing later...fixing problems here and there in a bitmap editor. These colors aren’t perfect, but they’ll get you pretty close.

Remember, colors are also interpreted differently by 3D programs according to the lighting in your scene and the properties of the material. As I said, they’re a good starting point, but you may have to adjust them for your own set of programs.

If you are using Amorphium 3 (the program I use), I have made a copy of my Rider Model available which INCLUDES all of the lights and cameras....already set up for you. The .zip file can be downloaded HERE.

I'm also making a .3ds version is available. It's a direct export of my Amorphium3 3D Model. I make no guarantees as to it's usability after you import it. The conversion process can do some strange things.
You can download the .zip file HERE.

Peep Sized

Okay, now that we’ve created the Peep, we need to step back a bit...literally. As I said before, he’ll only be a few pixels tall in the game. So we’ll zoom out on your camera so he’s really small.

How small? That’s where the screenshot you took earlier comes in to play again. Set it accordingly and render the image.

Hmmm...still looks too big. We want to get him the same size as his counterparts in the screenshot. Zoom out a bit more...PERFECT! (Neat little trick, huh?) Adjust ALL FOUR CAMERAS to that same distance from your model and SAVE THE TEMPLATE.

Here’s a little test...since you CAN make scenery objects in RCT2, right? That IS a prerequisite for this tutorial, remember? Render the image of the Peep and turn it into a scenery object...and I think you should name him Herbie!

This will also test the green or pink you’re using for the shirt. Dr. J’s Object Editor uses exactly the same colors to make objects paintable as the game does to change the guest’s shirt color. If the color isn’t quite right to mask easily in Dr. J’s Editor, adjust it on your 3D model.

Now, open the game and test Herbie. Stand him next to a path somewhere and compare him to the other guests that enter the park. Does he look like he fits in with their crowd? How’s his skin tone? Too dark? Too light? Adjust that on your 3D model and try it again.

A SLIGHT difference will not be noticeable. After all, THIS Peep will only be seen on your ride...away from the rest of the maddening crowd. But if his skin is WAY too pink or a BIT too yellow, people will notice.

To make modeling easier, you may want to duplicate your cameras and rename them. This will allow you to zoom in and out on your model with the new cameras, while keeping the old ones available for rendering at game size. You DON’T want to lose those settings on the originals, right?

--Chap. 6--