Decorating rides

[StaceyUK]

I'm a newbie to parkitect and one I am struggling with is the decoration of rides. What are the best things to use to improve the ride decoration score.

[zarino]

Things I do:

• Build roofs over flat rides. Not only does it mean the rides can continue making money in rainy / stormy weather, but all the pillars, cornices, borders, and roof pieces add to the decoration score.
  
• Build fences around flat rides. If I'm feeling particularly lazy, just some custom fences and some bunting or string lights are usually enough to push a ride's deco rating from Low to Medium.
  
• Many flat rides have empty space in their corners - try plopping some of the Small or Medium props there, or planters, or rocks. I find just a few barrels and sand bags can help, and it's a first step towards a bigger 'theme' for the ride, like a pirate theme, or a medieval theme.
  
• Don't forget to decorate and/or cover the queue lines. Peeps don't like waiting in the rain. Longer queues, with lots of space around them for trees, rocks, etc, not only look more realistic, but (I think) improve the ride's deco score. I think TVs on queue lines also count towards decoration, and also help to keep people happy during long queue times.
  
• Check there aren't any nearby staff buildings / toilets that are artificially lowering your deco score. These buildings should always covered up, ideally fully enclosed by custom walls and roofs. Make sure to activate the deco view for your coasters too, either while building in the ride editor, or afterwards in the ride information window, to check the high bits of your ride aren't accidentally overlooking a negative deco object.
  
• Cost appears to be a major factor in deco calculations, so if you get really desperate, just spam really large, expensive scenery items near your ride. You'll see quite a few rides on the Steam Workshop that use three or four water towers to pump up the excitement rating (because deco contributes to excitement).

[StaceyUK]

Thanks for the tips.

[Sithina]

Originally posted by zarino:

Things I do:

• Don't forget to decorate and/or cover the queue lines. Peeps don't like waiting in the rain. Longer queues, with lots of space around them for trees, rocks, etc, not only look more realistic, but (I think) improve the ride's deco score. I think TVs on queue lines also count towards decoration, and also help to keep people happy during long queue times.
  

A warning about this advice: Peeps do not like waiting in long queues AT ALL, raining or not, pretty decor or not. Long queues may be pretty and realistic, but they have very little positive effect on guest happiness. The queue is separate from the ride's excitement rating--your 90+ excitement rated ride does not spill over to peeps waiting in that ride's very long queue (so, no, your peeps are not experiencing 90+ excitement while waiting in line). The queue may be deep green due to deco, tvs, theming, etc, and if it's close enough to the ride it will increase the ride's decoration score, which is always good, but it doesn't make your peeps any happier while they are waiting in massively long queues (the tvs may give a small boost to patience, but that won't save a guest's mood). Their needs are not being met, they are hungry, tired, needing the bathroom, etc. and no matter how great a ride is, it's rare that it will completely reverse an angry/unhappy guest's mood once they get through that line and on the ride. The "pretty" only buffs peep happiness so far when they are angry about everything else.

The only thing that makes a difference to angry guests in a queue line is an Entertainer. Don't discount the affect they have on guest happiness, especially in a queue or during a scenario where guest happiness is a requirement. Hire a good number of entertainers, as well as security guards to help with any potential angry vandalism (unhappy guests can vandalize, and they don't wear the vandal bandana, so they aren't easily spotted), if you want to use long queues.

You also lose money/profit with long queues. This might not matter in sandbox play with unlimited finances, but it matters in the campaign or when finances are on. Guests waiting in long queues, even for pricey coasters, are not spending money. They aren't shopping, eating, or paying to ride other rides. They are standing around. So, use caution when placing long queues.

Use queues that match the ride's capacity. Each queue tile holds 4 guests. Your flat ride queues should ideally be as long as a full capacity ride. If a flat is super popular, duplicate it instead of lengthening the queue. There's no penalty for having more than one flat in a park. Choosing different themes even allows them to not just be carbon copies. Guests will have more things to ride and will not be waiting around in lines. For coasters, a queue equal to two full capacity trains is good. If the coaster is low capacity or loads slowly, go even shorter with the queue, because guests will be waiting even longer to board. If it's a self-propelled boat/canoe/swan ride, a queue of one tile is the max you should have. Those rides are horribly slow loading and low capacity, and peeps get absolutely furious being stuck in those lines. Short queues can still be beautifully themed.

[kingjames488]

trees.
my decor usually just consists of some trees placed around and a simple pavilion style covering over the station (just pillars, cornice, and a roof).

I put more effort into hiding the utility buildings in the food courts TBH, and in doing that it raises the decor of everything around it.

also keep in mind that taller rides (and guests on elevated paths) can see over fences, so if you just have a bunch of fences around everything that's probably why your coasters have low decor.

[editbayrat]

Make sure that any "backstage" area is blocked from view by fences or something else. The animated gates help with this a lot.--you can add a sign to keep out the guests and then use standard paths instead of employee paths. I use the "Decoration" filter in the visualizers extensively to find spots where peeps can see stuff they don't want to. If I'm just trying to bring my overall deco score up, planting a bunch of water towers around the park usually gets the trick done.