Does Mowing the Grass have benefits beyond aesthetics in RollerCoaster Tycoon?
In the original PC release of RollerCoaster Tycoon, if playing in a scenario with a lot of grassland, I would ensure my handymen did not mow the grass as their other services seemed more beneficial to keeping the park tidy, as well as making sure the handymen did not wander off the paths. In the android release, the handymen by default do not mow the grass (that duty by default is set to off).
I know the guests will remark on the scenery and vandalism, but I have not seen anything to suggest that mowing the grass has an effect on the guests or ride construction.
My question is; does mowing the grass have any effects apart from just making the park look tidier? Does allowing it to overgrow have any negative effects?
Best Answer
A few sites claim that having handymen mow grass gives a small boost to the guests overall happiness and park value. IGN's wiki states:
...mown grass looks nicer, and helps guests happiness ratings, and park value ratings
Note that this was for Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, but I believe they share the same mechanics in regards to mowing the grass.
A Reddit Post also seems to suggest the same information, and they also mention that it's practically pointless since the impact on guests is very small:
...guests are slightly happier if they are next to freshly mowed lawn tiles. But lawn tiles that are pretty far off won't affect them. I think weed laden tiles make them slightly less happy. I usually don't bother with grass, unless I happen to have a handyman maintaining some gardens nearby as well. Obtaining a 999 park rating is still simple enough with weeds everywhere, and your handymen are better utilized on paths anyway.
If I recall correctly, having mowed grass near your attractions boosts the Excitement Rating for the ride as well, but by a very small amount.
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Answer 2
Mowed grass does nothing to peep happiness or Park rating.
Mowed grass is not mentioned in the code for park rating or the code for peep happiness and thoughts. In other words, it does nothing. You can see this in the OpenRCT2 source code. (specifically in Peep.cpp and park.c)
Additionally, mowed grass does not have any impact on the beautiful park award.
To get most beautiful park award, 1/128th of your guests must think "Great scenery", which comes from being around scenery items, and less than 16 guests are allowed to think about bad vandalism, litter, or disgusting paths. Mowed grass is not a factor in this.
Answer 3
According to Marcel Vos, mowing the grass has no effect outside of visuals in both RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 & 2. The same applies to watering plants.
It's worth noting that in RCT1, newly hired handymen have mowing grass enabled by default. This was changed in RCT2 so that new handymen start with mowing grass disabled.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ray Rodriguez, Ray Rodriguez, Adrian Gabriel, Magic K