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Even all these years later, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is a game that I can get really addicted to. I love how easy the game is to pick up and play. Then, you can get really in-depth with the game and make sure your park is making some serious money so you can expand it and then make even more money! Pros: Tons of cool rides to use.

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Genre: Strategy

Release Year: 2002

Developer: Chris Sawyer Productions

Publisher: Infogrames

Age Rating: Everyone

Playability Status: Perfect

Tested On: Windows 8 x64

Availability: Copyright retained - Still sold

Don’t want the hassle?

Get this game pre-fixed, DRM free and ready to play from GoG.com. Fully working or your money back.

Why be a tycoon for oil, property or other such boring commodities when you can be a rollercoaster tycoon? In this strategy and simulation game you will get to build your own theme park, complete of course with huge roller coasters. Similar in concept to Theme Park World, successful tycoons will need to carefully manage their money while keeping visitors happy and re-investing in bigger more spectacular rides. If you were disappointed with the dreadful Rollercoaster Tycoon 4 that recently released on mobile devices, then what better time to dust off your old copy of the second game and build a whole new park?

Installation

The game should install from the original CD without any issues. While installing the game, be sure to choose “Custom” installation and then choose “Full Install”. Since the game places its save file in the same directory it is installed to, you may want to place the game in an alternative folder (e.g C:Games) to avoid issues with save game files later.

If you have any of the expansion packs for the game, install them too before proceeding.

Patching

There was only one patch issued for the game. The patch updates the games copy protection for users who were having difficulty starting the game. The patch can be downloaded here. We recommend all users install the patch before attempting to start the game.

Once you have downloaded the patch, double click on it to install it. Be careful when installing the patch, it does not automatically detect the games installation folder. Users on 64 bit systems should be particularly aware that the patch will install into the “Program Files” and not “Program Files (x86)” directory unless the installation path is manually changed.

Running the game

Before starting Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, browse to the games installation folder and use the compatibility options to run the “RCT2.EXE” file in compatibility mode for Windows 98/Windows Me. Without this option set, we found the game simply would not start at all. This also applies if you bought the game from a download service such as GOG.com. If you are unfamiliar with using compatibility options, see this tutorial.

Tweaking visual quality

There are only a couple of visual quality options for the game. To change them, you first need to start a new game and then go to the Options menu (the small floppy disc icon). You should then see the option to change the screen resolution and toggle Landscape Smoothing off or on. Make sure this is on and set the game to any resolution you like. The maximum possible is 1280×1024, so if you are playing on a TV or high-definition monitor, you should probably choose 720p, which is 1280×720.

Troubleshooting

Black screen after changing screen resolution:- If the game crashes or goes to a black screen after changing resolution, use the Task Manager to exit the game, make sure to disable any secondary monitors and then try again.

Problems saving games or patching:- Like many older games, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 places its save game files and various configuration files in the same directory that it is installed to. This can cause problems on more modern versions of Windows as programs are not normally permitted to write to the program files directory. To avoid this problem, either install the game to an alternate location (e.g c:GamesRCT2) or manually edit the permissions on the “RollerCoaster Tycoon 2” folder. A tutorial on editing folder permissions is available here.

General information

RollerCoaster Tycoon Wiki - A wiki dedicated to everything RollerCoaster Tycoon related

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

• 1Availability
• 2Essential improvements
• 3Game data
• 4Video settings
• 6Audio settings
• 7Issues fixed
• 8Other information

Availability[edit]

SafeDisc retail DRM no longer functions properly on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions

Essential improvements[edit]

Patches[edit]

RollerCoaster Tycoon has a number of patches available from Atari's FTP server. Additionally, Corkscrew Follies and Loopy Landscapes each have one patch. These will update RollerCoaster Tycoon to v1.08.187, Corkscrew Follies/Added Attractions to v1.10.026, and Loopy Landscapes v1.20.013.

The 2003 Deluxe release, as well as all downloadable versions are already patched to the latest version.

Downloadable Content[edit]

There are two official roller coaster collection downloads from Chris Sawyer, both available via his website. While the 'Cat' collection can be used in any version of the game, the 'Phobia' collection can only be used in conjunction with games that have either the Corkscrew Follies/Added Attractions or Loopy Landscapes expansion packs.

Game data[edit]

Configuration file(s) location[edit]

Save game data location[edit]

Save game cloud syncing[edit]

Video settings[edit]

Widescreen resolution[edit]

This hack only supports the following resolutions: 1280x720 (16:9), 1280x768 (15:9), 1280x1024 (5:4).

This hack works with the original retail release, not the GOG.com/Steam/etc. versions.^{[citation needed]}

Input settings[edit]

Audio settings[edit]

Localizations

Issues fixed[edit]

The downloadable versions are already patched to be compatible with modern systems. The fixes below are for the original release.

Compatibility modes[edit]

Setting the game to run in compatibility mode can help fix many issues with launching and playing the game. To do this, right-click the .exe, open Properties and set the game to run in Windows 98 / Windows ME, Windows XP SP2, or Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode from the Compatibility tab.

Desktop composition[edit]

Some problems can be caused in Windows 7 and Windows Vista by having desktop composition enabled. To turn this off, check the 'Disable desktop composition' option from the Compatibility menu (right-click .exe > Properties > Compatibility).

Dialog boxes not opening/unable to save[edit]

Running RollerCoaster Tycoon with visual themes enabled can prevent the open/save dialog box from opening. To fix this, check the 'Disable visual themes' option from the Compatibility menu (right-click .exe > Properties > Compatibility).

Another save game issue can be caused by not running the game as an Administrator. To fix this, check the 'Run this program as an administrator' option from the Compatibility menu (right-click .exe > Properties > Compatibility).

Other information[edit]

API[edit]

System requirements[edit]

Notes

1. ↑SafeDisc retail DRMdoes not work on Windows 10^[1] and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]
2. ↑ ^2.02.1File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/285310/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (285310) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
3. ↑When running this game without Administrator elevation, activity in %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMFILES(X86)%, and %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%VirtualStore (more details).

References

1. ↑Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
2. ↑Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16