Questions About Custom Scenery

I have never used CS in Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, but after seeing a few parks that use it, I see that it can make make my parks much better. Before downloading it I have many questions. Is CS safe to download? What website is the best place to get CS? Do you need to download any programs to use CS? How do you get CS into your game? Will too much CS slow down your game or computer? Thanks for the help. I apologize if this has already been brought up, but searching "custom content" gave me over 150 pages to look through. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Thanks for the links, but I still need more information before I feel safe downloading CS onto by computer. I also still need to know how to do it and if any programs are needed.

Custom content is safe i'v never had any problems. Yeah it does slow down your game a little, the more you have and put in your parks the slower they run. All downloads contain a 'read me' file that will tell you how to important it normally in 'Style/themed'. Best websites are RCTgo, CSdepot, Realtycoon3, thats just the ones I use. They do improve your parks drastically if used well, but if the files are imported into the game incorrectly they will crash the game every time you use that particular custom set. But removing the files you imported and re-importing them will solve the crashing.

Custom content is safe i'v never had any problems. Yeah it does slow down your game a little, the more you have and put in your parks the slower they run. All downloads contain a 'read me' file that will tell you how to important it normally in 'Style/themed'. Best websites are RCTgo, CSdepot, Realtycoon3, thats just the ones I use. They do improve your parks drastically if used well, but if the files are imported into the game incorrectly they will crash the game every time you use that particular custom set. But removing the files you imported and re-importing them will solve the crashing.

And also I forgot to say, if you'r using a Mac, your need to download a RAR Extractor program to open the CS files to import into the game that are intended for PC users.

I'll break this down bit by bit:

after seeing a few parks that use it, I see that it can make make my parks much better.

Not necessarily. While they do expand the options you have in theming a park, they cannot mask crappy work. However, I'd still recommend using them if you're relatively comfortable with some of the scenery sets in game.

Is CS safe to download?

I haven't had any issues with Trojans, viruses, or anything in what I've downloaded. However, make sure you have your antivirus running just to be safe. Just because I haven't had any doesn't mean there's no sets with them. But for the most part, they're clean.

What website is the best place to get CS

There's lots of websites that host scenery. Some good go-to sites are Shyguy's World, RCTGo, as well as the personal sites for some major content creators (Weber, ImagineerJohn, Old-Spice, etc). Feel free to browse their collections, as you can find some files you may have not initially thought you needed.

Do you need to download any programs to use CS?

Not generally unless they're .rar files (several free extraction programs exist, and that's about all you'd need). Some scenery packs will have self-extractors and installers, but those are generally included in download. However, you often need to have both of the game's expansion packs to properly use the files.

How do you get CS into your game?

Generally, the files go into your system folder's RCT3>Style>Themed folder (In your hard disk files, not personal documents). Be sure you're accessing the right directories in both the game files and your scenery. Faulty importation can crash your game if you mess up install (generally a "No :svd for :sid" error).

In game, your sets will generally be found in the Walls files, but some (such as shyguy's Rocks) are found in the normal Scenery Objects folder or in other locations (just depends on the set). Just browse around to locate your set and make sure it was properly installed by placing some items in game to make sure it doesn't crash.

Will too much CS slow down your game or computer?

Yeah, but it depends on both how much you're using and how powerful your system is. If you have a lower end processor (<1.5-2GHz), you'll notice the slowdown pretty heavily when you're using a lot of items. On a faster processor that can handle it, changes in the game quality are so minor that they are pretty hard to detect.