User Guide

Buying Construction Rights
In RollerCoaster Tycoon, owning “Construction Rights” to a piece of land means that you do not
own the land, but you are allowed to build park attractions that extend under or over that land.
Why is this useful? Why not just buy the land outright? Well, there are a few reasons, but one
sticks out as the major motivation why you might prefer to buy construction rights rather than
purchasing the land itself–the land in question might not be for sale.
You could find yourself in a situation in which your park is bounded by a piece of land you cannot
own–a public road, for example. If there is available land on the other side of that road, and you
would like to buy and use that land, you have no other option but to purchase construction rights
for the land on which the road sits. Afterward, you can build footpath bridges, tunnels, and even
portions of rides that cross over and under the road. This tactic works any time two pieces of land
you own are separated by a parcel you cannot purchase.
To gain the rights to build over or under an area of land outside your park:
Click the Park Status button
or the Park Entrance to open
the Park window.
Select the Construction Rights
button from that window.
For a better view, use the Zoom Out button. Any parcel
of land (single square) for which construction rights
are available is marked with a tiny “For Sale” sign.
Click on any parcel to purchase the
rights to build above or below that land.
When you’re finished, click the button again
(or simply close the Park window) to remove
the signs and return to building your ride.
Now you can continue and finish building the ride.
Beyond the tragic loss of life and the grief of the families, there’s also your ongoing profit to
consider. You have quite a large investment in the attraction, but even after it’s been repaired,
inspected, and repainted, this ride is a pariah. Everyone who visits your park has heard about
the wreck, and no one is willing to get on the ride. What do you do?
You have two options: cut your losses and tear down the ride, or–wait. The public has a short
memory. Even a colossal tragedy in which hundreds of guests are sent to their death will,
eventually, be forgotten. Of course, lesser misfortunes are more quickly erased by time, and the
wait could be several months. This is, perhaps, one of the less attractive aspects of human nature,
but in this case, it works to your favour. If it makes you feel any better, you can rename the ride.
Out of Space
When the time comes to build a new ride or expand an existing one, one of the first things you
must do is find a place for it. What happens, however, when you can’t fit a ride into the area
where you want to put it? Worse, what can you do when the entire land area of your park is full?
Assuming for the moment that you don’t want to choose another location for the ride in question,
you have two options, each of which is more appropriate in certain situations.
Enlarging the Park
The more likely prospect when you wish to build outside the boundaries of your park is that you’ll
wish to simply extend those boundaries by purchasing parcels of the surrounding land. Among
other reasons, this ensures that you can add footpaths and scenery items to the newly-bought
land (which you cannot do if you purchase only construction rights).
To buy an area of land outside your park:
Click the Park Status
button or the Park
Entrance to open
the Park window.
Select the Buy Land
button from that window.
For a better view, use the Zoom Out button. Any parcel of land (single square) that is
offered for purchase is marked with a tiny “For Sale” sign.
Click on any parcel to buy the land outright.
When you’re finished, click the button again (or simply close the Park
window) to remove the signs and return to what you were doing.
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