🎢 Episode 1 · Beginner · Setup

Open the Gates
Episode 1: Get Set Up

Before you can change the park, you need the park running and a place to put your mods. By the end of this episode OpenRCT2 is installed, you know where plugins live, and you have a plan for the whole series.

👶 Ages 10+ ⏱️ ~40 mins 🎢 OpenRCT2 ✓ Free workshop
📥 Install OpenRCT2 📁 Find the plugin folder 🧩 How a mod fits 🗺️ Plan the build
🎢 Start Step 1 ← All Episodes
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Build it in our OpenRCT2 Studio too: set up a park plugin, wire up events, read the park and export real plugin files in the browser, with no install. Open the OpenRCT2 Mod Studio →
🛡️
Get a grown-up: installing OpenRCT2 and pointing it at your copy of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is a home-computer job. Do this part together.
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Ember says: setup is the least fun and most important part. Do it once, and every episode after this is just writing a few lines and watching the park change.
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📥
Install OpenRCT2
Get the free park builder running
Active
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Goal for this step

Have OpenRCT2 open and reading your RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 game files.

  • 1Go to the official OpenRCT2 website and download the installer for your computer.
  • 2Run it, then open OpenRCT2. On first run it asks where your RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 game is installed. Point it at that folder.
  • 3Open any park and make sure it loads and runs.
  • 4That is the hard part done. OpenRCT2 is a free remake, but it still uses the original game art, so keep the game installed.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What does OpenRCT2 need before it can show any rides or scenery?
AA paid subscription
BYour own copy of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 for the original art and data
CNothing at all
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Find the Plugin Folder
The one folder where your mods live
Locked
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Goal for this step

Find the folder OpenRCT2 watches for plugins, and know how to open it from the game.

  • 1In OpenRCT2, turn on the developer tools (usually a helpful shortcut like Ctrl+D, or from the options menu).
  • 2Choose Open custom content folder, then Open plugin folder.
  • 3On Windows it lives in Documents / OpenRCT2 / plugin.
  • 4Every mod you write goes here as its own .js file. That is the whole install: drop a file in a folder.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
How do you install a plugin in OpenRCT2?
ACompile it into the game
BDrop a .js file into the plugin folder
CEmail it to the developers
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🗺️
See the Whole Journey
What you will build across the series
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Goal for this step

Know the arc: from a hello-world plugin to a real park tool you can share.

  • 1Episodes 2 and 3 get a plugin loading and reacting to the park with messages.
  • 2Episodes 4 and 5 read the real park: money, guests, rides.
  • 3Episode 6 builds a practical tool that rescues guests from water.
  • 4Episodes 7 and 8 make it solid, then package and share it.
✏️
Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The whole series ends with a park tool you can with other players.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What is the final goal of the series?
AA paid DLC pack
BA park tool or plugin you made yourself and can share
CA new game engine
4
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Ready Check
The toolkit you now have
Locked
🎯
Goal for this step

Confirm the four things every later episode assumes.

  • 1OpenRCT2 opens and loads a park.
  • 2You can find the plugin folder.
  • 3You can create and save a plain text file with a .js ending.
  • 4You have a plain text editor (Notepad, TextEdit, or VS Code).
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
Plugins are plain text files, so any text will do.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What kind of program is OpenRCT2?
AA paid game
BA free, open-source remake of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2
CA website
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The Park is Open!
You have OpenRCT2 running and you know exactly where your mods go. That is the foundation for everything else.
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Next: Episode 2: Your First Plugin →