8 Beginner Tips For Planet Coaster 2

Frontier Developments’ Planet games (including the Planet Coaster series and the Planet Zoo game) can seem incredibly complex for new players – but once you get a handle on the basics of the game and what you need to pay attention to, these games turn into some of the most satisfying tycoon-type games ever made.

Before daydreaming about your ideal theme park in Planet Coaster 2, though, you will need to know the basics of the game. Whether you are a theme park simulator aficionado or a complete novice to the genre, these Planet Coaster 2 beginner tips will help out players of all skill levels as they become familiar with the game and learn how to make a successful park.

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The first thing every Planet Coaster 2 player should do is spend some time learning and gaining familiarity with the new customization tools. There are new Path settings, new ways to manage and view your Park, new Roller Coaster tools, new Camera tools, and lots more that even experienced Planet Coaster fans will have to re-learn.

If you dive into Planet Coaster 2 without knowing how to work with the games‘ numerous tools, you won’t have much success in building the theme park of your dreams. Spend some time in Sandbox (Creative) mode, and finish the first two Scenarios of the Planet Coaster 2 tutorial campaign, to build your skills before trying to take on Career mode or Challenge Sandbox mode.

Pause, Then Use Paths, To Plan New Areas

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One of the best ways to plan out your park is to use the Path system and the Undo key. If you are planning an addition to your park, like a major Plaza connected to several other Rides, Pause the game, then open up the Path tool. Plan out the area roughly with the smallest version of the Hexagon Stamp tool for the fastest method, or the Line or Draw tools if you want to be more precise.

As long as the game remains paused, it essentially doesn’t matter what you spend on Paths, as you will be refunded the full cost if you Undo or Demolishy your work. Instead of spending tons of money on a new feature, only to find that it doesn’t quite work with your layout, treat the Path system as a kind of Tape Measure – just make sure that the game is paused, or you will have to rely on the Undo button to get your money back, which has a limit on how many actions it can remember.

Pay Attention To Guest Thoughts…

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One of the biggest mistakes that new Planet Coaster 2 players often make is not paying attention to their guests. Guests are the source of the best information in your park, and usually they will outright tell you what needs to be fixed to increase satisfaction.

There are three levels of satisfaction: green indicates content, yellow indicates that the issue will need attention soon, and red indicates that this is a major problem that needs to be fixed.

Guests will remark on their level of Entertainment, their Thirst and Hunger, their Energy, their Nausea, their Panic, and their Luxury. If any of these are red, consider buying a Facility to meet their needs or improving a Theme Park feature to meet their standards.

You can check Guest Thoughts by clicking on any guest in your park, which is a good way to get a feel for general guest needs, or by clicking on a Ride (or other feature, like a Shop) and tabbing over to the Guest Thoughts tab. Here, you can see what guests thought of the selected feature, guiding your decisions for that feature specifically.

…And Don’t Forget To Hire Staff

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Planet Coaster 2 is as much about the coasters as it is about managing people in your park – including your staff. Staff management is critical to success in Planet Coaster 2, and if you ignore your Staff’s needs, they will underperform or even quit, affecting your park in a major, sudden way.

You need more staff than you might think – enough Mechanics to reliably repair rides and machinery when it breaks down, enough Janitors to keep the park clean, Entertainers to keep guests Entertained in areas with high traffic. Ride Operators, Shop Staff, and Lifeguards will automatically be hired when you build their respective features (Rides, Shops, Lifeguard Seats).

Open up your Staff Management menu and tab over to the Staff screen to get a quick glance at the state of your employees. Here, you can give employees Raises to maintain morale and re-assign them to new areas if needed. You can also click on individual members of staff to see what they are currently doing and what their level of Morale is.

Place Scenery To Boost Ride & Park Appeal

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Scenery is more than just decoration; in Planet Coaster 2, Scenery contributes to the Prestige of your rides and the overall appeal of your park. In Planet Coaster 2 Scenery can significantly enhance the appearance of your park and Guests will appreciate it in general, but you don’t exactly have to go all-out.

The game doesn’t exactly recognize when something looks good vs bad to the human eye, and it won’t judge your aesthetic choices. It’s a numbers game, essentially, and if you have enough Scenery in the area of a feature, it will count towards its Prestige.

Though getting really into the Scenery of your park is a great way to lose track of time, if you need to quickly boost the Prestige of a ride or feature, just place some Scenery objects nearby.

Rely On Pre-Built Rides & Features, At First

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Planet Coaster 2 has some of the best Roller Coaster and custom ride building features of any video game, and once you do decide to learn the ins and outs of what makes a good Coaster, it’s incredibly satisfying. But it can take dozens, if not hundreds, of hours to get a good understanding of how Coasters work in Planet Coaster 2, and it’s way easier to just build pre-built rides when starting in Planet Coaster 2.

This is one of the best beginner Planet Coaster 2 tips because it lets you focus on learning all of the other features of the game without worrying about this complex custom coaster mechanic. If you don’t like any of the options available in-game, you can also go to the Frontier Workshop to find player-made coasters and other customized rides that suit your taste or your park’s chosen Theme.

It’s definitely worth learning how to make roller coasters in Planet Coaster 2 from scratch, but when you’re just starting to learn the game, stick with the pre-builts.

Learn Major Keyboard Hotkeys

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One of the best beginner tips for Planet Coaster 2 is to learn the game’s most important Keyboard shortcuts. If you are playing on Console this doesn’t apply, but on PC, there are numerous ways you can speed up your time customizing and editing elements in your park.

For example, you can hold down Z to rotate an object you are about to place. Ctrl-Z and Ctrl-Y will Undo and Redo your last actions, respectively, and L will turn on a Torch where you are looking, an invaluable tool for navigating indoor rides and spaces.

One important new Planet Coaster 2 hotkey is the Alt button, which brings up a Radial menu. This is useful for quickly swapping between menus on the fly, and can be used when the normal tabs at the bottom of your screen are not available.

There are dozens and dozens of keyboard hotkeys Planet Coaster 2 beginners can learn to improve their experience while customizing their park, so be sure to check out the Mouse & Keyboard Settings in the Options screen to see the full list of Planco 2 shortcuts.

Play Through Career Mode To Learn Advanced Tips

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In addition to everything else on this list of the best beginner tips for Planet Coaster 2, playing the tutorial and beginner Scenarios in Career mode is one of the best ways to quickly learn the game and get used to management and controls. The two tutorial scenarios take players through a step-by-step guide to setting up the basics of a park, like Pathing, building new Coasters and Flat Rides, maintaining your park facilities, and more.

The second of these two Tutorials is based on the new Pool mechanics, so definitely check this out before trying to make your first pool from scratch.

The first Scenario gives the player control over a park that was recently unearthed and charges them with fixing up decrepit rides and accomplishing other general park goals. It’s an excellent way to get a feel for what a park needs to be successful, and it’s well worth taking on at least this very first Scenario to build your skills with a partially-complete park.